Chapter 11: Story

~Stories can take you anywhere, from your home to your own version of paradise~

"Sebastian…"

"Honey, it's us…."

Sebastian opened his eyes and blinked. All around him was dark and no matter how hard Sebastian tried, he could not see a thing. He felt as if he was floating; light and weightless. He was also feeling oddly drained, not having enough energy to panic, to question where he was and why he was here. He wanted to sleep. So badly, at that.

"Sweetie…"

There was that voice again. It sounded feminine, its tone soft and warm. Sebastian slowly turned his head towards it.

"Sebastian…"

There was another voice. It was masculine but holding the same warmth as the previous voice did. It also came from the same direction. Sebastian blinked multiple times when he saw a patch of white light somewhere in the distance. It started out as faint and flickering, but it began to grow brighter until Sebastian was no longer in the dark. The surroundings became bright and now, Sebastian could clearly see two figures standing not too far away from him.

"Who are you?" he asked.

There was no answer. Sebastian strained to see who the figures were, trying his best to focus. There was a brief moment before the figures started to look clearer. Sebastian could now tell that there was a man and a woman. The woman had long wavy brown hair, creamy skin and very gentle-looking blue eyes. The man was a head taller than her, with black hair that had been cropped short, slightly tanned skin and familiar-looking green eyes.

It took Sebastian a minute, but his eyes widened as soon as he knew.

"Mom…Dad…" he breathed.

His parents smiled softly at him. His mother went nearer to Sebastian and before he could say anything, he was suddenly enveloped into a warm hug. His mother kissed his cheek before pulling him closer, patting his back. "My darling boy…"she cooed. "We miss you,"

Sebastian's father, too, approached the pair and wrapped his arms around them both. "We really do, Sebastian," he said. Sebastian remained still, too shell-shocked to say anything. But he could feel tears gathering in his eyes and threatening to fall. His throat started to feel tight. He could feel a sob trying to rise out of it.

"I…" he choked. "Mom...Dad…why…?"

His mother turned her head to look at him. She was smiling but her eyes were sad. She stroked his cheek lovingly before she began to speak. "I'm sorry we left you so abruptly," she whispered. Her voice was oddly distant despite the fact that she was hugging him close. It sounded like an echo in a cave; loud but fading away soon after. His father looked at him, his lips stretched into a thin line before they curved into a tiny sad smile. "Son, you're doing so well without us…You're stronger than we thought," he said, ruffling his hair.

The pair released Sebastian from their embrace. Sebastian looked on in confusion when they shared a look and faced him, their expressions shadowed and hesitant. His mother bit her lip. "We have to go, sweetie…I'm sorry,"

"What?"

His father looked at him and reached out to ruffle his hair. "We'll always be watching over you…"

Sebastian found himself shaking his head. "No," he said softly.

"My darling boy…" his mother whispered one more time before his parents started to fade, their figures becoming more translucent with each passing second.

"No," Sebastian said again, his tone growing desperate. "No, no, no! Don't go, don't-!"

He tried to grab hold of their hands but his own hand passed through them, as if they were not even there. He looked at them with wide eyes, his tears spilling down onto his cheeks and he made no move to stop them. "M-mom! D-dad! Please, don't-!"

His parents continued to fade away, their sad smiles remaining on their faces the whole time. They also seemed to be moving away and when Sebastian realized this, he began to run, desperate to catch up to them. But no matter how hard he ran, he just could not get closer to them. "Please!" he cried. "Don't go! I need you, please-!" Sebastian could not even bother how broken he sounded. All that mattered to him now was his parents.

Sebastian thought he felt something soft on his cheek, as if someone was kissing it, before his surroundings began to grow dark once more.

"We love you, Sebastian…" was the last thing he heard.

~*.*~

Kurt woke up to a sound of whimpering.

He groggily opened his eyes and turned to the source of the sound. He got up to a half-sitting position, propping himself on his elbow and looked around. He saw something he might as well would never expect.

Sebastian was tossing and turning on his roll-up mattress, the duvet tangled in his legs. His expression was twisted in pain and his cheeks were tear-streaked. His arm was outstretched as if he was reaching out for something but could not quite reach it.

"N-no, don't go…" he whimpered softly, eyes still shut as he tossed and turned.

Kurt swung his legs off the bed and quickly lowered himself to kneel beside Sebastian. He reached out a hand and it hovered above Sebastian's shoulder, contemplating to wake him up or not. Sebastian had begun to thrash this time, his arm flailing to the side and his whimpers increased. Kurt bit his lip before shaking Sebastian's shoulder.

"Hey, hey," he whispered. "Sebastian, wake up. Wake up, come on…"

It took him some more insistent shaking before Sebastian woke up with a gasp, sitting up so quickly that he startled Kurt. He was still shaking and he was looking around with wide eyes before his gaze landed on Kurt, who was looking at him with a cautious expression.

"Kurt…?" he said quietly. "What…why…?"

"You had a nightmare," Kurt explained. "Are you okay now?" he asked in a concerned tone.

He watched as Sebastian breathed heavily for a moment before Sebastian covered his face with his hand, groaning softly. His frame was still shaking, Kurt noted. He patted Sebastian's back in an effort to calm him down. "Hey…" Kurt said. "Look, do you want to talk about it?"

Sebastian was silent and after a few minutes, Kurt thought of giving up trying to talk to him when he thought he heard a whisper. "What?" he asked.

"It's just…" Sebastian trailed off. "So vivid," He uncovered his face and looked straight at the wall. He drew his knees to his chest and wrapped an arm around them. This position made Sebastian looked smaller and…vulnerable. "I had a dream about my parents," he said at last. He let out a breath noisily and continued. "They said they're sorry for leaving me so soon…and that they love me,"

"Sebastian…" Kurt had nothing to say to that.

"I know I'm supposed to be…over about this," Sebastian said. "But I always have these…flashbacks of them and I just…" Kurt thought he heard a sniff but he did not acknowledge it, knowing Sebastian would not appreciate it. He knew Sebastian long enough that he hated to be depicted as a weak person. "I just can't get over it, Kurt…It still hurts,"

Kurt looked at him with a sad expression. "Sebastian, it's normal for you to feel this way. It's been…what? A week?" he said. "It takes time to really get over things like that, Sebastian. In fact…"he took a deep breath and let it out slowly, turning away for a moment. "…when my mom died 10 years ago, it took me a few weeks to start eating properly again. My dad was a wreck when I stopped talking or eating much during those few weeks. It was hell for him," he looked at Sebastian. "I know how it feels…and it's okay for you to still be hurting right now. You've done a pretty good job repressing it so far, anyway," he smiled.

"How long until it stops?" Sebastian whispered. "I'm not really up for vivid dreams at the moment,"

"I wish I could give you a definite answer…but I can't," Kurt said. "But give it time. The pain will lessen before you even realized it,"

Sebastian was silent again and Kurt decided to get back to sleep again. As he was about to get up, however, he felt something tugging his sleeve. He looked down to see Sebastian's hand gripping the said sleeve. He looked at Sebastian questioningly but the boy did not return his stare. Instead, he was biting his lip and seemed to be contemplating something.

"Sebas-,"

"Can you sit here with me?" Sebastian cut him off. "Until…I fall asleep again?"

Kurt raised an eyebrow.

"It's just for a while," Sebastian said in a rush, his face somehow flustered but maybe Kurt was imagining it seeing as the room was dark anyway. "I just…I can't sleep like this…My mind is too messed up to let me go to sleep,"

"Your mind is already messed up since the beginning of time," Kurt sighed but lowered himself on the mattress to sit beside Sebastian. He gently pried Sebastian's fingers off his sleeve and flashed him a tiny smile. "Better?"

"I won't know. I'm not asleep yet," Sebastian replied.

Kurt could only roll his eyes.

The room was quiet aside from the sound of breathing and shifting of limbs. Sebastian sat very still beside Kurt and the only signs of movement coming from him was his fingers, gripping the duvet every now and then. Kurt leaned against the wall and closed his eyes. He could hear the sound of crickets chirping a while later and the sound was oddly soothing and it dulled his senses until he could feel himself on the verge of dozing off. But before he could, however, Sebastian spoke.

'Hey, Kurt…I still can't sleep,"

"It helps if you lie down, Sebastian,"

"I am,"

Kurt opened his eyes and found that Sebastian was indeed lying down, his head propped on two pillows and his green eyes were staring at Kurt. "Can you…" he trailed off and chewed on his lip again.

"You should stop that," Kurt said. "Soon, your bottom lip will be gone before you know it,"

That stopped Sebastian immediately but it did not stop him from rolling his eyes in annoyance. Kurt considered closing his eyes again but Sebastian had begun speaking to him again.

"Hey, princess…do you mind a little story-telling?"

"What?" Kurt turned to him in surprise.

"My mom…"Sebastian paused. "She had this habit of telling me a story if I can't sleep. Even when I'm a teenager right now, she still did that. It helped…take my mind of things to allow me to go to sleep,"

"Like a distraction," Kurt concluded. Sebastian nodded. "I'm not even sure if you're good at story-telling, Kurt, but I guess your voice will be good enough as a distraction," he said offhandedly. Kurt blinked. Did Sebastian insulted and sort-of complimented him in one sentence?

Kurt sighed. "Sure, whatever. What story do you want me to tell you?"

"Anything," Sebastian paused. "As long as it does not involve a prince in a shining armor. I'm not really up for fairytales right now, princess," he added as an afterthought.

"Oh shut up," Kurt huffed. He thought about it for a moment before he shrugged delicately. He did not really have a story in mind so he will have to make one up as he went along. Not that he had any qualms about that. He just hoped Sebastian would not mind and complain.

"You know," Kurt began. "There was once this one boy. He's rich and had everything-everyone even- he wanted. Everyone loved him,"

"What's his name?" Sebastian mumbled.

"Hmm….Adam, I guess?"

Sebastian snorted. "How lame…Can it be Julian instead?"

Kurt only smiled. "…Sure. Anyway, Julian was actually a very nasty boy. He acted nice on the surface, but if you're unlucky, you'll see his true nature; rude, mean and cunning,"

"Then how did everyone loved him?"

"I'm getting there," Kurt said. "No one said a thing about his bad antics if he showed any. His family was a very influential one and no one wanted trouble from them. One day, Julian met another boy. His name was Lo,"

"Lo?" Sebastian snorted again.

Kurt swatted his arm. "Shut up. This is my story. Anyway," he said. "Lo wasn't like the others. He was headstrong and refused to back down. Julian found this quite annoying. He tried to charm Lo with his great personality like he did with everyone else, but Lo was not bought. He had heard stories about Julian and he did not want to be involved with someone like him,"

"His loss," Sebastian muttered.

"They began to fight. Each time, Julian tried to break Lo's self-confidence, insulting him at every turn. But Lo would only roll his eyes and blatantly ignored him. This made Julian very frustrated. He wasn't used to people treating him like this,"

Silence.

"One day," Kurt said quietly. "Julian landed into a situation he did not expect. His parents suffered a huge loss from their business and were on the verge of being bankrupt. Suddenly, no one seemed to care about him anymore. It then dawned on him that no one truly liked him. They were only friends with him because of his money and influence. But when all that was gone, he was nothing to them. All…except for one," Kurt smiled. "Lo stood by his side, surprising Julian in so many ways he could not explain. He repeatedly questioned Lo's intention but Lo only laughed it off. When Julian asked him again for the last time one day, Lo smiled and looked straight ahead,"

Sebastian did not want to admit it, but he was straining to hear what Kurt was about to say.

"Lo said…"Julian, you're biggest asshole I've ever met. And all I want to do most of the time is to punch you in the face. But…I don't hate you, dummy. In fact, I care a lot about you, for some reason,"," Kurt gave a tiny shrug. "Naturally, the story ends with them being friends and all that. But I bet you'll find that pretty boring, huh, Sebastian?" he said, turning to Sebastian.

The said boy was staring at the ceiling, not answering Kurt at first. His expression was smooth and his eyes were half-lidded. For a moment, Kurt thought that he was falling asleep. Then, he heard a soft mutter.

"Julian's a pretty lucky guy. Getting a friend out of a situation like that,"

Kurt blinked. "Yes, well…friends come in unexpected ways, Sebastian. You should know that,"

"Do you think…if Julian had lost his parents instead…do you think Lo would have stood by his side, too?"

There was silence. Kurt stared at Sebastian quietly, rather taken aback by the sudden question. He leaned back against the wall again and thought it over.

"I…"he said carefully, choosing his words. "Yes," he says finally, this time with more conviction. "Yes, he would,"

"But Julian's a total asshole, like you said," Sebastian muttered. "Why would Lo help him after all the things he had done?"

"Because…Lo doesn't hate Julian, I told you that. He actually cared for him and was willing to be his friend when no one else was there for Julian. Their friendship may have started from pity at first…but after a while," Kurt closed his eyes. "Lo realizes that Julian isn't so bad after all. He's a dick most of the time, yes, but his brash personality grew to be something Lo got used to, even finding it endearing in the end. Julian was just someone misunderstood…Most villains are,"

Things had gone quiet after that and Kurt was starting to worry that maybe he had said too much.

"I'm glad," Sebastian whispered.

Kurt opened his eyes to look at him once more. Sebastian was already closing his eyes and the duvet had been pulled up to his torso.

"I'm glad Julian found a friend after all that…" Before Kurt realized it, Sebastian was already dozing off, his hand no longer gripping the duvet, instead it lay limply on it. His breathing was calm and his face looked relaxed. There was even a hint of a smile on his lips.

Kurt returned the smile.

"Yeah, me too,"

A/N: Thank you to OneAndLonelyThirteen for being the 100th reviewer! *claps hands* But the rest of the reviews are lovely too. One even gave a constructive criticism. That was nice of that reviewer, taking time to find ways on improving my fic. I REALLY appreciate it. Sorry for the shortness of this chapter. I haven't got time. Consider this as a filler, if you must.

Okay okay, sad news here. I'll try to update ONE more time before the holiday ends. The updates will come pretty slow (the worst case scenario is a month later…but I'm just saying. Hopefully, not!) after that seeing as I'll be very busy with school again and my exams are coming in a month's time (see why the worst case scenario is a month now?) so I have to concentrate or else my mom will give me that death glare again… Hopefully, I can update in less than a month but no promises! But I can promise ONE thing. During my Internet break, I could spend more time on typing out the updates. So when I can go online again, all I have to do is upload them! Haha :)

I'm not going to abandon this fic, I can assure you that. I hope you'll be patient and understanding (which I'm pretty sure you are :))

Reviews are lovely and appreciated.