A/N: Had an awesome a/n that stupid lost. -_-
Apologies for the angst! And, yes, there will be more. :P
XOXO, LaLa
"I dunno. Maybe I should just go for Tybalt or Mercutio."
Loki frowned as he ran his knife through the broccoli on his cutting board. "Why do you not think you are a Romeo? You have two shining examples of him as your fathers," he said with a grin. Sebastian snickered but rolled his eyes. "Do not underestimate yourself, love. Go for the role that is the most challenging; not the one you believe you can skate by on."
Sebastian only shrugged his shoulder. He reached a long, slinky arm over the island between him and Loki and snatched up a small floret of broccoli. Loki clucked his tongue at him, but he popped it into his mouth before he could do much else.
"Honestly, I think you are very much the other side of Romeo." Loki scooped up the broccoli, dumping it on the saucepan next to him, and moved on to the cauliflower. "At least, I would hope you are not the lovesick teenager who acts much too rashly. But…he is the eldest son of a very important man. He is quiet, sensitive, and a little broody." He smirked up at his oldest boy. "I believe you have all those colors in you."
Sebastian's lips quirked, mirroring the smirk on his father's face. "I'm not sensitive," he mumbled.
"All right…" Loki murmured concentrating on his cutting. He scooped the cauliflower into the pan and reached for the carrots next. "Will you be digging up your old accent? Or will this be an American version?" He bit back a big smile when Sebastian let out a tickled laugh.
"I don't know what the teacher wants, but I'm sure I can sound like my old self again. Though I'll probably sound more like you. Heh."
"You say that like it's a bad thing, my boy. So, what made you decide to audition for the play? You have never shown an interest in acting. Are you giving up on your music?"
"No." Sebastian nibbled on a chunk of carrot. "I'll still play. It's just…" He continued to chew thoughtfully, not noticing Loki watching him closely. "Someone told me I should go for it."
Loki suppressed a smile. "Someone…who perhaps is going for the role of Juliet?"
Sebastian gave him a very impatient look, but Loki could see the tinge of pink on the one cheek not hidden by his black hair. "Pop…" Loki raised his hands in surrender and carried the saucepan to the stove.
A little part of him was heartbroken that Sebastian had stopped calling him Pappa about a year before—around the time his voice dropped—and chose to adopt the less childish, Pop. Like I'm a damn soft drink, he would often think to himself. But these days he had to take what he could get and just counted himself grateful they hadn't had any incidents the last few days. He hoped it was coincidental that Tony happened to be out of town in those few days. "You know I did a paper—well, actually a few papers—on Romeo and Juliet."
Sebastian's only response was a lift of his eyebrows as Loki turned back to the island.
"And I spent some time on a stage or two in my day." He smiled softly. "I can help you prepare a piece for your audition. If you would like," he added belatedly.
The boy only shrugged noncommittally. "Maybe…"
Loki kept the smile on his face but all he could think was, You are too much like me. He returned to the stove to check on the chicken baking in the oven and to hide the slight hurt he felt. He wished he understood why Sebastian had grown to pull away from him. He wasn't overly talkative with anyone, withdrawn just as Loki had been at his age, but he was less hesitant with Sif and his siblings, and even with Tony a little. But it took a lot of patience and tongue-biting—on both sides, he imagined—for him and Sebastian to talk to each other. Considering it was a problem he was simultaneously having with Tony, Loki wondered if maybe he was the problem, after all.
"Pappa! Pappa!"
Audrey pulled him from his dire thoughts and he forced his lips to curve in the semblance of a smile. "Yes, my sweet?"
"Look!" She held up a large piece of lined paper, showing her attempt at writing the alphabet. "I finished my letters."
Loki took the paper and studied it briefly. "Is this cursive?"
Audrey swung herself from side to side. "Uh-huh."
"Well, look at that. Marvelous." He bent a little and took her chin in his hand, tipping up her tiny face. "I insist you stop, my sweet girl. You are growing up far too fast."
Her eyes went wide when he told her to stop then her lips spread in a wide, baby-toothed smile and she giggled. "You're silly, pappa."
Loki laughed with her, handing her back the paper, but something deep inside him ached. He quickly turned away and checked the food on the stove.
"When is daddy coming home?"
"Oh, he should be back tonight. But you know your father; he can be very unpredictable." He switched off the heat under the pan the rice was in and once more checked the chicken. Deciding it was done, he pulled on some oven mitts and took it out.
"Can I stay up to see him?"
Loki chuckled and glanced at his little girl, crawling up onto a stool set at the island. "You should be a comedienne, my dear."
"Please, pappa? I miss him." Her little legs, in long jean shorts decorated with glitter and skulls, dangled over the edge of the stool.
"Well, we all miss him, my sweet. But it is a school night." He turned to face her, leaning one hand on the island and crossing his feet at the ankles. "And you will be all tight and snugly in your bed, asleep, before he gets here."
Audrey threw her head back, in that dramatic fashion that children do, slumping on the stool. "Pleeeease, please, please, please…!"
Loki chuckled. "You sound just like your dad—"
"Will you just tell her yes, so she can shut the hell up?"
Both Loki and Audrey went quiet, turning their heads in unison to look at Sebastian. Audrey slumped differently now, aiming a very angry expression at her big brother. "Hei." Loki waited for Sebastian to look at him, a stern gaze pinching his features. "Det ikke er behov for det."
Sebastian's jaw clenched. "Why do you always take her side?"
Loki straightened. "I am not taking her side, Sebastian. I don't want you talking to her—or anyone—like that."
"Whatever," he scoffed, picking up his copy of Romeo and Juliet and started to walk out.
And we're back, Loki thought with a sigh. "Stay here, Audrey." He followed Sebastian, catching him just as he was heading up the stairs. "Sebastian."
"What?" the young boy snapped, stopping halfway up the staircase.
Loki's brow furrowed. "Mind your tone."
"I don't have a tone."
"Actually, young man, you do. And I don't like it. I won't have you talking to anybody in this house like that, do you understand me? Now I want you to go in there and apologize to your sister."
"For what? She was whining like a little baby. It's not my fault she acts like that. She probably learned it from you."
A mixture of hurt and indignation swirled inside Loki, and slowly, he moved up the few steps that had him towering over Sebastian. "What did you say?"
Sebastian stared back, his emerald eyes defiantly locked on Loki's, pinching his lips together. "I didn't stutter," he said softly, but acerbically.
Dear gods, Loki was actually feeling sorry for Odin having to deal with him and Thor at this age. He sighed sharply and lifted his chin, glowering down at Sebastian. "No. You didn't. But you have just earned yourself two weeks of extra chores and no phone or computer privileges outside of schoolwork."
"What? Why?" Sebastian's eyes went wide as saucers. "That's not fair! I didn't do anything."
"Disrespecting me is not doing anything?" Sebastian didn't respond, only glared at the carpeted stairs. "I don't enjoy punishing you, Sebastian. But you give me no choice when you behave this way."
His head snapped up, his mouth still in a tight pout. "You sure act like you enjoy it. Dad wouldn't have punished me."
"Oh, no? You think he would have allowed you to tell your sister to shut up. He would not," he snapped, silencing whatever tart remark Sebastian was about to let out. He sighed, upset that he was near to losing his temper. "Go to your room; I'll call you for dinner."
"Faen dette," Sebastian muttered under his breath as he started to turn away.
"Excuse me?!" Loki shouted loud enough to have Sebastian hunch his shoulders and freeze. "Did you just say what I think you said?" Sebastian turned halfway, but didn't look directly at him. "Svar meg!"
"Yes!" He yelled back, facing him fully.
Loki's eyes were tight and his lips pressed together. "I can only guess where you heard that word, but don't you ever use that language in front of me again, do you understand?"
Sebastian mumbled a yes and Loki excused him to his bedroom again. The preteen huffed quietly, turned and stomped his way up the stairs.
Loki slumped against the wall, pressed his fingers to his eyes, wondering if anything that had just transpired in the last ten minutes would have been different if Tony was there at that moment. He would never know.
"Pappa, the pot's bubbling!"
"Shit. Shit," he repeated at his own swearing, after scolding Sebastian for using the 'F' word, and sprinted back to the kitchen. "Thank you, darling." He kissed Audrey's forehead as he passed by her and turned the heat off under the steaming vegetables. He looked down at a tug on his shirt, surprised to find Audrey had climbed down from the stool on her own. This was why Tony called her Monkey. "Yes?"
"Can I please stay up?" she asked softly, pushing out her bottom lip.
He barked out a laugh, knowing full well who she learned that little trick from. He hooked his hands under her armpits and hefted her up, pressing a kiss to her cheek as her short arms went around his neck. "Just this once, all right?"
"Yay!" Audrey cupped his face and pressed a smacking kiss to his lips.
"Tell your brothers to wash up." He set her down, lightly patted her bottom. "And tell Jameson it's his turn to set the table."
"'Kay. If he ever stops pouting like a big old baby," she muttered under her breath.
"Don't forget your homework." He took it from the counter and held it out to her. She ran out and Loki moved to the refrigerator to look at the calendar attached to it, with the family's schedules. Tony had gone to Tokyo this time, since Pepper had gone the previous trip, but was due back on a late flight that evening.
The rest of the space of the refrigerator was covered here and there with pictures of the kids, of him and Tony, handmade magnets and precious works of art going as far back as a picture Sebastian drew for him when he was six. Studying a picture of him and Tony, from a few years back, before things started going downhill, Loki thought back to a time when it was just four of them, and the boys were small. When Tony would go on his business trips, Loki would leave them with Pepper and meet Tony at the airport to pick him up. They would often have to stop at the nearest hotel, barely making it out of the place without mounting each other right then and there. It was still a honeymoon phase when going a day without each other was torture.
Loki missed the days when they would spend one entirely in bed, wrapped around each other. Those days were long gone—and not just because of the children. As it does, life and responsibilities got in the way. He didn't know for sure when things between he and Tony changed; he just wished he knew how to fix it.
He blamed himself. He was so concerned about the kids and raising them right and making sure they were healthy and happy, he felt maybe he had let himself go. He hadn't gained any weight, but rather he had become much too lean. He still wore his hair shoulder-length, but he had noticed that between those jet-black strands, peeks of silver were starting to poke through. That frustrated him more than it should; he was going to be forty in a few months, after all. Still, the salt-and-pepper look didn't work on him as it did on Tony. Tony looked distinguished and it made him even more handsome. On Loki, it just looked…wrong.
He could feel himself falling, day by day, deeper and deeper into that dark place; a place he hadn't been in since before Tony became the light in his life. And he felt ashamed for it. He loved his children, and despite this rough patch they were in, he loved his husband, dearly. He had a nice home, a good life—he had no business feeling the way he did. And that only served to make him feel worse.
He would often watch Clint and Natasha with their two young kids, a newborn, and two successful careers—something Loki couldn't lay claim to anymore. He still wrote in his free time, what he had of it, but he hadn't worked at an actual job since they left New York. He wondered how the Romanov-Barton household pulled it off.
"Neither of them has to travel for their jobs," he whispered to himself, touching a long finger to Tony's face on the silver door. He was violently pulled from his reverie when Jameson came speeding into the kitchen, avoiding looking at Loki, and headed straight to the drawer with the utensils. Letting it slide, Loki began to pull four plates from an upper cabinet and moved to the stove.
"Pappa, are you gonna tell daddy what I did at school?" Jameson asked softly.
"Yes, of course, I am." He handed a full plate to the little boy, who pouted just like Audrey said he was doing.
"Am I grounded?"
Loki laid a hand against his cheek, tapped it lightly, and returned his attention to pouring food on the second plate. "We will discuss it tomorrow with your dad."
Jameson groaned. "I'm so grounded."
Tony couldn't deny that he was a little disappointed when, upon entering the house, there was no one there waiting up for him in the living room. He knew the late time he was getting in was partly to blame, but it still would have been nice to see his little girl running to him and slamming into him with a hard hug. Or Jazz tripping his way to him. Or even a small smile from Sebastian.
Would it have been too much to hope for Loki to welcome him back with those five little words he uttered every time Tony would return to him, going back to their college days?
Exhausted, he dumped his bag by the stairs, careful not to leave it where anyone—namely clumsy little Jazz—could trip over it, then climbed up the steps to the second floor. He was about to turn and head toward the boys' room, just to check in on them, but he noticed the light coming from under the door of his own bedroom. Loki was usually asleep by this hour. His curiosity won out, so he instead headed for their shared room. He pushed open the already slightly ajar door and leaned against the doorjamb with a small, satisfied smile.
Loki was sitting up on his side of the bed, a book spread open on his chest, fast asleep. Audrey was curled up in the middle facing Jazz, who was stretched out like a starfish on Tony's side. He glanced back over his shoulder, wondering why Sebastian wasn't in there with them.
He watched them sleeping for a minute, enjoying the rare quiet. He had to press a hand to his mouth, stifling a chuckle, when Jazz twitched in his sleep and raised his arm, hitting Audrey as he dropped it back down. She whined and kicked out her leg, hitting Loki, and his book started to slide from his listless hands.
Tony sprinted across the short distance to the bed, catching the hardbound book before it thumped to the floor. He flipped it over and grinned to himself at Loki's penchant for rereading The Count of Monte Cristo, in French, every year.
"You're home…"
Tony's eyes shot to Loki, sleepily looking up at him through half-lidded green eyes, and smiled at him. He set the book on the nightstand, sitting beside Loki on the bed, hiding his disappointment that those weren't the words Loki used to say. "Yeah…" He shot a glance toward the other side of the bed and gave a short nod. "Gone for a couple of nights and you give my spot away?"
Loki's lips curved lazily. "They begged me to let them wait up for you. Jameson fell asleep first. Poor Audrey. She held on as long as she could." He started to push up. "Let me take them to their rooms."
"No, no." Tony laid a hand on Loki's stomach, urging him back down. "Just let them sleep. I'll bunk in the lab tonight."
"…Are you sure?"
Tony enjoyed the look of distress in Loki's eyes and the way he laid a pale hand over his, still on his belly. "Yeah, it's just one night." He rubbed his hand over Loki before he removed it and bent down to begin untying his shoelaces. "Where's Bash?"
"He opted to stay in his room." He sighed, then said, "He's upset with me. Well, we're upset with each other. We had a bit of an argument."
Tony turned his head. "Again? What happened this time?"
Loki shook his head, letting out a long breath, and launched into a brief explanation of his and Bash's exchange of words. Tony was shocked. Sure, every once in awhile a shit or a damn would slip through in front of the kids. But they both were conscious about reserving the big F word for when they were alone. "He scowled all through dinner."
"Why would he think I would let him get away with that?" Loki shrugged, pursed his lips. Tony knew Bash's behavior was weighing heavy on him, heavier than he was willing to talk about with him. So he just let it go. "I'll talk to him," he said with a soft smile. "Anything else exciting happen while I was gone?"
"He is planning to audition for the school play."
"No shit?" he whisper-shouted. Loki nodded. "What play?"
"Romeo and Juliet."
Tony smiled even wider. "Is he going for Romeo?"
"When we ended our discussion, he was leaning that way."
"That's my boy." Loki giggled softly and Tony smirked at him, enjoying the sound. "What about my Monkey and Jazz?"
"Audrey's got most of her letters down…in cursive," he added even softer than before.
Tony was stuffing his socks into his shoes and turned on the bed, facing Loki fully. "Shut up." Loki's lips curved, but Tony could see it was bittersweet.
"It's true." He looked down at her now, rubbing a hand over her back. "Our baby's getting too big, too fast, Anthony," he said so softly, if Tony wasn't sitting as close as he was, he wouldn't have heard it.
He twisted around to look at her, as well, and slipped two fingers under her tiny hand, rubbing his thumb over her knuckles. "She could be a hundred years old, she'll still be our baby, hon." He watched her sleep, laid a hand over her ribcage just to feel the rise and fall of her breathing. Most people thought she was a tiny version of Sif—if they knew Sif. And while she had Sif's honey-toned eyes and jet black wavy hair, to him, she was just a more delicate version of Loki—which was probably why he doted on her. He sighed heavily, yawned, and righted his body. "I'm beat. I'm going to head down to bed."
Loki's fingers caught his wrist before he could rise. Tony looked at him expectantly and he seemed hesitant. "We need to talk about Jameson."
Tony frowned at the seriousness in Loki's tone, and because it seemed like that wasn't what he originally wanted to say. "Why? What happened?"
"He was suspended from school for three days today."
His frown deepened and he scoffed. "What? He's in second grade. And it's barely been a month of school. How does that happen?"
Loki chuckled lightly, his fingers loosening around Tony' wrist, but not falling from it. "Actually, it's been almost two months. He's not been very forthcoming with the details, but from what the principle explained to me, he created some sort of sodium solution that caused an eruption in the boys' bathroom."
Tony squeaked out a laugh and hurriedly covered his mouth to stop it. Especially with the look Loki was giving him. "How did he know—oh my god, that kid."
"Your child, clearly," Loki muttered with a small smirk. "He would like to spend his three days of suspension with you at work…" Tony grinned excitedly at that. "But I am afraid that would not be very much of a punishment."
He deflated a little, but chuckled softly. "No, I guess it wouldn't… Let's talk about it tomorrow. Since I got in so late, I'm gonna work from home."
"Oh…that's too bad." Loki smiled almost apologetically when Tony looked up. "I will be busy and away tomorrow. I've promised Natasha I would help her prepare for the party on Saturday. She's running a little ragged with the baby having come early. So I may not be around to get your lunch."
Tony shrugged, grinned, enjoying that Loki was even concerned about that. "Then I'll just have to make my own tuna sandwich." He started to place his hand over Loki's, still on his wrist, but the younger man removed it before he could. "Hey, uh, don't get mad at me, but what party is this on Saturday?"
Loki sighed softly and his lips tightened a little. "It is their usual Back to School BBQ they throw after the first month of school. Natasha is cursing Clint's name every five seconds, but it gives all the parents a chance to get to know each other. And the children seem to enjoy it. It was delayed, of course, because of Alexander. But they are determined to still have it."
Tony sighed. "Great. Can't wait," he said very unenthusiastically. "I'm gonna go…" He yawned again, rubbed a hand over his tired eyes.
"Anthony…stay here."
Tony started to protest again, but Loki had turned to roll Audrey closer to him. In her sleep, the little girl curled herself around her father, her tiny hands fisted into the hem of his cotton t-shirt. He chuckled and let her settle, reaching for Jazz's arm and leg, dragged him closer and put him on his side, leaving a larger space for Tony. He grinned sleepily at his husband. "Thanks."
Loki's lips curved a little and their eyes met almost accidentally, and held. He looked so beautiful in the dimmed light of the lamp next to their bed, soft and mussed from his earlier sleep. There was still so much love here; it was probably why they hadn't separated, trudging through the hard time. Tony raised a hand to Loki's face, sweeping a few strands back from over his eyes, and let his fingers trail down the side of his angular face. He wanted to kiss him, to just brush his lips over his, to feel them give and part against his. And he could tell Loki wanted him to.
They both froze when Audrey murmured pappa in her sleep and burrowed into him.
The moment gone, Tony simply squeezed Loki's hand and walked around the bed to slide in on his own side.
"Where the hell did you even learn how to do that, Jazz?"
Tony sat in the chair from Jazz's desk, across from the little boy who was perched on the edge of his twin bed, set against one side of the bedroom, as far from Sebastian's as the older boy could get it.
Tony hadn't had the best night of sleep. When he wasn't having some of the steamier dreams of Loki that he'd had in quite some time, he was being aggressively awakened by tiny hands and feet digging into his back and pushing at his head, and reminded why he and Loki had stopped letting the kids sleep in their bed. By the time he was able to get comfortable, and before the alarm even went off, he could hear hushed giggling and feel little fingers gliding in his hair, poking at his cheek, and pinching his nose. Loki came to his rescue and dragged his laughing monsters away, letting him sleep just a little longer.
Once he was up and dressed, he made his way to the boys' room, forced Sebastian to go down for breakfast, the preteen grumbling the whole way, and set Jazz down for a little talk.
He shrugged his little shoulders. "I dunno."
"That's not an answer, buddy."
His fingers started to twitch and he brought them together in front of him, wringing and twisting them together. "I read it in my science book…?"
Tony frowned, cocked his head. "Was that a question?"
Jazz sighed heavily, almost whining. "I asked Jarvis," he finally admitted.
Tony had to stifle a giggle. "You…" He cleared his throat to hide the chuckle that bubbled up through his throat. "You asked Jarvis? When did you ask Jarvis?"
The little boy scratched at his head, shrugged again. "Um…I don't 'member," he almost whispered.
Tony leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees and clasping his hands together over his mouth. "Did you go into my lab, Jazz?" He stared at him unmoving, brown eyes wide, for a moment. "Jameson."
He squeezed his eyes closed and let out a muffled whine. "Yes."
"You know you're not supposed to be down there when I'm not here. Right?" He nodded, lowering his head to stare at the carpet. "So you not only broke the school's rules, you broke mine. For two weeks, when I'm working, you're downstairs sweeping up the lab and doing whatever extra chores I can find for you, you got me?"
Jazz's eyes lifted briefly to Tony's, a smile curving his little lips, and nodded. A punishment, yes, but he still got to be in the lab. "Can I go to work with you today?"
Tony shook his head. "Sorry, hon. You'll be with your pappa all day, helping out your Aunt Natasha," he said, getting to his feet and replacing the chair to the desk.
The little boy made a disapproving clucking sound. "Why?" he asked, drawing out the word. "Why can't I go with you?"
"Because going with me isn't punishment, buddy," he said with a lighthearted laugh. "Go down and get your breakfast before you're pappa has a heart attack."
"Why do I still have to get up if I'm not going to school anyway?" he complained as he dragged his feet to the door.
"You're not on vacation!" Jazz screamed excitedly as Tony snatched him up and hauled him over his shoulder to carry him downstairs.
After the kids were fed, they all piled into cars and went their separate ways again. Tony was merging onto the freeway, heading toward Sebastian's school, and reached over to turn down the radio.
"I like that song," Sebastian mumbled.
"Me, too, but I've got to talk to you."
"Gee…let me guess what about."
Tony glanced at him. He was staring out the window, his lips in a pout. He shook his head at the thought that he looked so much like Loki it was ridiculous. "Bash…what's going on with you?" He got no response. "O-kay…you wanna play the silence game. I can do that. I was going to try and treat you with a little dignity and have a conversation. But if you'd rather me talk at you, so be it."
Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Sebastian turn his head just slightly his way.
"Since I'm talking at you, I'm going to tell you what you're not going to be doing from here on out." He checked his blind spot, flicked on his blinker and moved into the right lane to pull onto the off-ramp. "You are not going to talk to your father like that ever again, I don't care how upset you are with him. You are not going to tell your baby sister to shut up—or anyone else for that matter. There are easier and even more fun ways of getting people to stop talking. Being a dick about it isn't going to win you any friends."
He glanced at the boy and caught the roll of his eyes.
"What? Oh, I see. Big, bad Bash doesn't need any friends, right?" Sebastian shifted a little, looking uncomfortable. "Why would you ever think I'd be okay with you talking to them like that?"
"I never said you would be."
"Really, because that's not what your father told me."
He shifted again. "All I said was that you wouldn't have punished me for it."
Tony pulled up to a stoplight and chuckled softly. "Well, you're wrong, son; I would have done exactly what your father did. You know you're lucky, Bash. The first time I used the F-word in front of my dad, he smacked me right in the mouth. And I was fourteen." He remembered it wasn't long after that that he had tried to kill himself and pressed his lips together.
"Fine. I'm already grounded."
"Can you even hear yourself?" He pulled the car to a stop behind a line of cars leading up to the school. "You sound like the most miserable person on this planet and I cannot for the life of me understand why."
Sebastian finally looked at him, his green eyes wide, and his lips still in a pout. "I'm not miserable," he defended softly.
The car moved up a few feet and Tony raised his eyebrows even higher. "Then what? Bash, the last few months you've walked around the house like a goddamn zombie. Shit, don't tell your father I said that. Or that."
Sebastian chuckled softly.
"Oh my god, did you just laugh?" Tony reached over and playfully shook Sebastian by the arm, as the car moved closer to the school. "Jesus, we're gonna have an earthquake or something! You cracked a smile! Hallelujah!"
Sebastian giggled again, swatting at Tony's arm.
"Listen, kiddo, I don't know what's going on with you. But you know I'm always here to listen. I don't always have great advice—you're better off going to your father for that. Then again, I'm a genius; I could invent a solution."
Tony pulled the car to a stop and waited as Sebastian unbuckled his seatbelt.
"Hey." Sebastian was halfway out the door and looked over his shoulder back at Tony. "Just promise me you'll work on your attitude a little bit?" The young boy made a face but nodded. Tony held up his fist toward his son and Sebastian limply bumped his fist to it. "Love you, kiddo."
"Same," he mumbled before stepping out and closing the door behind him. He watched his dad drive off, drawing attention as the wheels of his black Audi skidded along the pavement, and hunched into himself at the stares, giggles and fingers aimed his way. Feeling himself turn red, Sebastian turned and ran from the school as fast as he could.
