A/N: I have edited this chapter significantly. For those of you who have already read the pre-edited version, I have put the edits in bold. Thanks! -Angie

Chapter 13
Harmony

Sebastian heard the lock click on Kathryn's door, but didn't quite believe that she would lock him out. No matter what had gone on between them – even after the accident when things were at their worst – neither of them had locked their doors. They had come and gone freely, whether it was to snipe at each other or simply be together. His heart sank as he tried the knob, and confirmed that it was in fact locked.

Resting his forehead against the door, he pleaded. "Kathryn, let me in." There was no answer. She was hiding from him, and that was totally unlike her. Kathryn never hid from anything, wasn't afraid of anything. Except her mother. Glaring in the direction of the master suite at the end of the long hallway, he felt the sudden desire to barge right in and strangle Tiffany with his bare hands. Fucking evil bitch, he thought. When he said it about Kathryn, it was almost always a compliment. But It definitely wasn't in Tiffany's case. He stood in the hall, trying to will Kathryn to open the door. He heard faint sounds of gagging and knew what she was doing.

After several minutes, it became obvious that Kathryn wasn't going to relent and he finally went to his room. He lay down and was immediately immersed in her smell. They had been in his bed tonight, before Kathryn had gone downstairs for a snack and he'd followed her. It made him feel horribly lonely. What if she never came back? What if she'd locked him not just out of her room, but out of her life for good? After an hour, he fell into a fitful sleep.

He woke up suddenly and turned his head. Kathryn was laying on the other side of his bed, right on the edge, watching him, her face puffy and her eyes red from crying. Despite that, she still looked achingly beautiful in the soft red-tinged glow of the rising sun that spilled through his windows. "I don't want to be alone," she said softly.

There was so much sadness in her eyes. All her masks were gone, courtesy of Tiffany's earlier assault. She was simply the lonely little girl who just wanted to be loved that he'd always suspected she was inside. He wanted to hold her, protect her, but he sensed that if he tried to reach for her she would run again. He had to somehow get her to come to him. "I meant what I said downstairs. I love you, Kathryn."

She winced as if he'd insulted her. "Sebastian, don't –"

"Listen to me," he cut her off gently. "I'm going to be painfully and sickeningly sincere right now, so I suggest you pay attention. This might not happen again for another eighteen years. I know you better than anyone else. I know everything there is to know about you. I understand you. I love you, Kathryn. Not your damn Marsha Brady act, or the fact that you're a fucking sex goddess, or what size dress you can fit, or how good you look on my arm. I love you. Every idiosyncrasy, every flaw, everything. It took me a very long time to admit that to myself. Because we're us and love just isn't something we do, but I can't help it. I don't want to help it anymore because loving you is the only thing that makes sense to me. I didn't think it could possibly work because we're both so damn fucked up, but ironically, I think that's exactly why we do work. All our jagged edges just fit. I'm not asking you to tell me you love me. I'm not asking for forever. I just want right here, right now."

She looked at him silently for a few seconds. She seemed to want to say something that she couldn't quite bring herself to say. Finally she moved over and laid her head on his chest. He wrapped his arms around her, grateful that she had come back to him. "Nothing matters but us," he said softly.

"I hate her, Sebastian." Her voice was so cold and flat, that he believed that she really did. Finally, he thought. Maybe now Tiffany's hold on Kathryn would finally be broken for good.

"Would you have really done it?"

"Done what," Sebastian asked absently as he checked his appearance in the mirror. They were getting ready to go down for dinner, having slept through breakfast and screwed through lunch. They had been loud, and he hoped that Tiffany had heard them.

"Hit my mother."

"Last night, yes. She's lucky I didn't fucking strangle her. I hated seeing what she did to you." Especially since it had reminded him of what he'd nearly done to her. He looked over at her and watched her apply her make-up. She was so beautiful, and he loved sharing a bathroom with her. Yet another thing he never thought he'd feel. He put his arms around her waist. "But I don't think I'd do it now. There are so many more satisfying ways to hurt someone without resorting to physical violence." The smirk she gave his reflection mirrored his own.

Tiffany and Edward came downstairs to find their children already seated at the table. Actually, Sebastian was seated at the table, and Kathryn was on his lap with his arms wrapped loosely around her. They were talking in hushed voices and laughing.

"What is the meaning of this," Tiffany asked, clearly angry.

"I would have thought you'd figure that out after last night, Mother," Kathryn said coldly.

"Or this afternoon," Sebastian chipped in happily, his hand dipping a little below her waist.

"What has gotten into you?" Tiffany looked at her daughter as if she didn't recognize her.

"You mean other then Sebastian," she asked almost innocently. Sebastian snickered. God, he loved her when she was like this. He was tempted to just take her back upstairs. Who the hell needed food? "Let's just say I'm tired of being your fucking puppet, Mother."

"How could you turn on your own mother for this… boy?" She spat out the word 'boy' as if it were a curse and Sebastian rolled his eyes.

"Mother, just give it up! I've made my choice, and there's not a damn thing you can do about it. Most of my money is already in trust and you can't take it away. Besides, I seriously doubt Father will give a damn who I'm currently fucking."

"Don't tell me you actually believe his declarations of love! I didn't raise you to be so naïve that you would drop your panties for some smooth talking Lothario just because he swears his undying love! He'll be finished with you in a week, and that will be the end of you. Everyone will think of you as that poor girl who could have been something special if she hadn't been ruined by that Valmont boy." Sebastian tightened his grip on Kathryn as he listened to Tiffany describe exactly what his original plan had been. He longed for the days when he didn't feel guilt. Frankly, guilt sucked. "The sex can't be so good that you're willing to throw your entire future away for it."

"You're wrong about us. We're going to prove you wrong."

"God help you if you don't." Tiffany actually looked defeated, and Sebastian may have even felt sorry for her if he didn't hate her so much. He wondered if somehow, in her warped way, she had actually cared about Kathryn and had just been doing what she thought was best for her only daughter. It didn't really matter, though. Whatever Tiffany's true motivation, she was even more toxic to Kathryn then the coke or the purging had ever been. She turned to leave, but Kathryn called out to her before she got to the door and she turned, a slightly hopeful gleam in her eye.

"Just for the record? The sex is that good."

Fury passed over her face and for a moment, he thought that she was going to say or do something but she turned and walked away, leaving them with Edward who merely sat down to eat. Kathryn had a plate sent up to her mother, but other than that didn't seem to give her a second thought. Kathryn sat next to Sebastian, and the two kept making excuses to touch throughout the meal. He half expected his father to say something, but he simply glanced at them now and then and remained silent. Until Sebastian and Kathryn excused themselves at the end of the meal and he asked Sebastian to stay behind for a moment.

Sebastian waited until Kathryn left the room before speaking. "Don't tell me you let that harridan get to you. You're not about to threaten to cut me off, are you?"

Edward laughed. "Don't be so dramatic. I just thought I should give you a little advice."

Sebastian snorted. It was amusing that his father was sitting him down to give him advice now, when he was an adult.

"I know. I haven't been much of a father to you. Though I have my own totally inadequate reasons, I'll not bore you with them. I would like to see you avoid some of the same pitfalls that I had, if at all possible."

"You mean like driving my wife to commit suicide," Sebastian asked coldly, his voice bitter. The second it was out of his mouth he regretted it. So much for his much vaunted self control and carefully constructed indifference.

"Vous avez raison, naturellement. Ce devrait être au dessus de la liste d'erreurs à éviter." 'You are right, of course. That should be on the top of the list of things to avoid.' Edward pulled a pack of cigarettes out of his picket and lit one with a slightly trembling hand.

"Pardon." Sebastian suddenly felt hollow. He remembered how much of a mess his father was after his mother died.

"Why are you apologizing? You meant it. Perhaps the one good thing that I've taught you is to never apologize for saying what you mean. I blame myself far more then you do."

"So what's your advice?"

Edward smiled slightly. "My advice is to be honest with yourself about whether you can be faithful. And if you can't, leave her now. Before you destroy her life."

"Kathryn knows what I am. And she's tougher then Mom was."

"You mother had a bigger pair of balls then I did, and she knew what I was too. When a woman loves you as much as Kathryn does, going into it with her eyes wide open won't make it hurt any less." Edward's eyes stared blankly at something in the difference, as if he were seeing his wife again. "Noelle fell apart right in front of me, and I didn't even see it. I didn't want to see it. I was too selfish and couldn't imagine my life without her. You may have her eyes and her smile, but you are still my son. It's not so easy for men like us to change."

Sebastian went upstairs to find Kathryn, thinking about what his father had said. He may have even asked her about it, perhaps starting one of their hours-long discussions, but there was something about the way she was sitting on her bed waiting for him that made every thought he had disappear. He wondered for perhaps the thousandth time how being so lewd never seemed to cheapen her.

"There you are. I'm in the mood for a little… worship." She smiled at him, her eyes dark, as she uncrossed her legs and opened them lewdly.

He closed the door behind him and crossed the room. Kneeling in front of her, he said, "I suppose every goddess deserves to have someone worship at her alter every once in a while."

He smiled mischeiveously as he began teasing her mercilessly by stroking, kissing and licking her thighs and never getting to close to where he knew she wanted him, ignoring her demands that he 'stop fucking around and eat her already.' Until she finally gave in and begged. He may be whipped, he thought with a satisfied smirk, but he wasn't that whipped. As much as he might love her, he wasn't about to become her bitch.

Tiffany steered clear of them the next day and left as soon as possible. The Bahamas, he thought his father said. Edward disappeared at the same time, but it wasn't clear to either him or Kathryn if they had gone together. It really didn't matter either way. Their parents were irrelevant and had been for a long time. Kathryn was even able to be at her deliciously cold best around her mother now. He knew disappointing Tiffany still bothered her, but he was proud of her for not showing it.

Sebastian was at the refreshment table pouring more vodka into the punch – whoever had done it before had been far too conservative – when Annette suddenly appeared beside him.

"You could get expelled for that."

He glanced over at her. She looked lovely in a soft pink gown. He smiled fondly at her, thinking that Kathryn would rather slit her wrists with a dull butter knife then ever wear that color. "Yeah, well, I've already got all my credits, and I'm enrolled at New York University for next fall. It's not like I'm actually coming back. I really don't give a fuck if I march down the stage. That's more Kathryn's department then mine."

"So you're staying? I thought you wanted to get away from New York."

"Eventually."

"Once you can convince Kathryn to leave?"

He regarded her silently for a second, admiring her astuteness, before he started filling glasses for himself and Kathryn. "Something like that. You look amazing, by the way. Have you lost a little weight?"

She shrugged and looked away for a second. "Thank you. I did lose a few pounds."

"Are you here with… what was his name again?"

"Bobby. Yes, he's here."

"That's good. Something tells me that you didn't come over here to exchange pleasantries though."

She smiled slightly. "I came over to ask you to help me with something."

"What would that be?"

"Harmony."

"Oh, that." The silly bitch had publicly embarrassed Kathryn, accusing her of fucking her boyfriend. People had actually laughed, and that couldn't be tolerated. To add insult to injury, it wasn't even true. Kathryn hadn't been with another man since the first time with Sebastian. Kathryn had mercilessly cock teased the bastard, but that was as much his fault as it was Kathryn's. Personally, Sebastian didn't have any sympathy for the stupid little slut. If she had publically embarrassed anybody, it should have been her idiot boyfriend. It was beyond him why women always blamed the other woman and not the cheating jerk who was supposed to be committed to them. Besides, Harmony had to learn that you couldn't just go around half cocked insulting the people who had power. It was a good way to get squashed. Annette knew that, which was why she was pleading Harmony's case. She also knew what a vicious little piece of work his Kathryn was, Sebastian thought with a slight smirk. "Sorry. That's completely out of my hands."

"You're the only one who can stop her, Sebastian."

"True. But I'm not going to."

"How can you just stand by and watch her destroy people? Don't you have a conscience at all?"

"Actually, I do. It's not much of one though, since I rarely feed it and seldom let it out. It's very frail and any shock to its system could very well kill it off for good, so it generally lurks in the dark recesses of my mind hiding from reality. Harmony's destruction won't bother it one bit I'm afraid. It probably won't even notice." In fact, he had helped Kathryn pull it off. And it was some of his best work yet.

"I can't believe… who are you?"

"The only person standing between you and Kathryn's wrath. In all the time we've been together, you were the one thing that ever managed to come between us. Do you honestly think she doesn't want to crush you into dust for that? You're not naïve, Ann. You must know on some level that what she has planned for your little friend is nothing compared to what she wants to do to you."

"She has you back. Why would she care about me?"

"Because I'm the only person that I know of that Kathryn's ever forgiven for anything since I've known her. Because I recognize the look in her eyes whenever she says your name. She's just biding her time."

"For what?"

"Till you forget. Till you let your guard down and you're happy. Then one day, Kathryn will be standing over the ruins of what was once your life looking down at you with that self-satisfied smile of hers. You'll never know what hit you."

She looked disgusted and Sebastian almost laughed. If she had been anyone else, he would have. "How do you know she's not planning the same thing for you?"

"I don't. Although I do believe that she thinks the accident was punishment enough. I don't think she has the stomach to really hurt me any more than that. As long, of course, as she never finds out about what I originally planned to do to her I should be able to protect you."

"How could you be with someone like that?"

"Because we're the same, Ann." His voice was gentle as he tried to cushion the blow that he knew this revelation must be. "I told you that I wasn't who you thought I was. I can be even crueler then Kathryn. She only strikes out when she feels she has to. I usually do it… simply because I can. Or, on occasion, to please Kathryn."

Part of him wanted to warn her that Harmony would met her fate tonight, within minutes, just so that she would be prepared but he knew that if he did that Ann would just take her new friend and leave. Kathryn would do something much worse than the original plan. She never liked having her fun spoiled. Besides, he hated when his plans went awry, and he'd put a lot of energy into this – his first game with Kathryn in almost a year. He simply left her standing there, looking stunned. It was better this way. Better that she knew the truth about who he was. When he leaned in for a kiss, she pulled away.

"What was that about?"

He sighed. "She was just begging for mercy on Harmony's behalf."

"Did you tell her?"

He gave her an evil grin. "And ruin our fun? You're kidding, right?"

She kissed him then, her momentary doubts allayed. "You're sexier when you're bad, Valmont."

"Speaking of which, I think that we should go find an empty classroom once the festivities are over. You know how hard it makes me to watch you destroy someone."

"You did most of the… heavy lifting."

"Which always turns you on. And I for one don't want to wait until we get home to fuck your brains out." He traced the side of her face, amused no one watching had the slightest idea that they were plotting the downfall of one of their own. They probably thought they were whispering sweet nothings and I love yous like some insipid couple.

The lights dimmed before she could respond. "Ooh. Showtime."

They turned towards the stage where a collage of photos from the school year were being projected against a screen while a student was intoning an insipid, but occasionally funny, narrative. At least that's what was being shown on the screen at first. Suddenly, the photos started taking on a decidedly pornographic nature. The narrator didn't notice at first and was going on about the struggles that had been overcome by their winning lacrosse team. The pictures featured a young woman with striking features and long read hair, doing some rather naughty things with an unusually large dildo. The thoroughly fuckable Harmony Masters.

About four of Sebastian's works of art flashed across the screen before the flustered student operating the overhead projector finally managed to turn it off. The last picture had been Sebastian's favorite. Harmony was spread eagle on the bed, her nipples erect, the dildo nearly completely inside of her. She was in the middle of an orgasm. There was something about watching a woman cum that just did it for Sebastian. The more he had to do with it, the more it turned him on. The pictures really were good. He felt slightly disappointed that no one would see the rest of them. At least not until they found the website that Tuttle had set up.

When the lights finally came back on after a long hesitation, which Sebastian guessed was due to shock, he glanced at Kathryn. It was her that he liked to watch when one of their little plots came to fruition. She had her best shocked and disgusted face on, hand slightly covering her mouth, as she looked over at Harmony. Everyone in fact was looking at Harmony, who started to cry and finally bolted out of the room, Ann following behind. Some guy with gray eyes and sandy hair was left behind. Must have been Bobby.

He didn't have time to ponder it though. He needed to find that empty room. Kathryn was flushed from watching her kill, and he was hard as a rock from watching her. They slipped out unnoticed in the commotion and went to a different floor, where he pulled her into an empty room.

"Did you tell her that you took the pictures," she asked as they began undressing each other frantically. "That you tutored innocent little Harmony on how to pose like a good little slut?"

"No. I'm sure Harmony will fill her in on all the grisly details."

"Did you fuck her? You did have her in your room an awfully long time." It was the first time she'd asked and he pulled away to look at her.

"No. Did you want me too?" He felt a little put off at the possibility, but then was relieved to see from the look on her face that she hadn't.

"It doesn't matter," she said coolly.

"Well," he whispered in her ear, "my lying little cunt, I just want you to know that I'm not going to be gentle with you."

"Who the fuck asked for gentle, asswipe?"

He turned her around so that her back was to him and bent her over the desk. She let out a surprised little yelp and he smiled. "Just wanted to make sure we were clear."

Thanks for the reviews!

fab84, it was almost as if they don't even have parents most of the time.

LOL FemminaPerfetta, S&K suddinly found more to say, so it's been extended by at least two more chapters. But the sequal is still being planned.

-Angie