Chapter 29
During the night, Sasha kept a close eye on Sebastian. She made him promise to wake her up if he couldn't sleep. Luckily, he only woke up once, and slept well the rest of the night. The next morning, they got up late and made breakfast. Sebastian set the table as she flipped pancakes. After he finished eating, he watched her, smiling as he rested his head on his arm. She looked up, startled.
"What?!" she said, giggling. "Why are you watching me?"
"You're so pretty. You know that, right?" he said.
Her eyes widened as she blushed, setting down her fork and knife. She didn't know what to say, stuttering her words. He chuckled.
"It's true, you're gorgeous." he said. "I kind of look like a troll, how did you fall for me?!"
She giggled this time.
"I saw you when you and Sam and Abby came to introduce yourselves. You were so shy and handsome. It was pretty much love at first sight."
He grinned. "Hey, you know there is a bathhouse kind of near my mom's house, right?"
Sasha spat out her drink.
"What?! I love swimming, why didn't you tell me this!?" she said.
"I thought you knew! It's on the map…"
"WHAT?!" she yelled.
She ran over to her backpack, bringing back a rolled up map. She looked, but didn't see it.
"Where is it?" she asked.
"It's that small building near the train station." he leaned over the table, pointing at a picture of a building. "I see it's not labeled here, maybe that's why. Not many people use it, especially later in the day time, but it's a really nice place."
"Can we go today?" she asked. "I've got some errands I need to run, but we can meet there around 8."
"It's a date."
Later that day, Sebastian and Sasha met up at the bathhouse. They went in and changed, but Sebastian was already in the pool by the time Sasha got out.
"It's freezing in the changing rooms!" said Sasha.
"Why do you think I didn't wait? The pool is heated, jump in!" said Sebastian.
Sasha walked over, dipping her foot in, she turned her back to the edge of the water, heading over to the pool ladder. Suddenly, she turned back again, running towards the pool and cannon-balling in, soaking Sebastian with water. He swam over to her as she surfaced, splashing her with water in response. They played around in the water until they got tired, eventually moving over to the smaller hot-tub to relax. Sebastian wrapped his arm around her, her head resting on his shoulder. Their bodies felt different when they were this close underwater.
"This was fun Sebby; I'm glad you told me about this place." she said.
"Yeah." he said. His heart began pounding in his chest. "Sasha?"
"Yes?"
"Do you ever think about your future?" he said. His heart thumped loudly.
Sasha paused before she spoke.
"All the time." she said quietly.
"A-am I…in it?" he said.
Sasha blushed and turned to look at him. She moved closer to him, straddling him as she sat on his lap. She wrapped her arms around his neck, kissing him passionately on the lips before she spoke.
"Yeah." she whispered.
Eventually, they got out of the pool and headed to the dressing rooms. Sasha sat down in her swimsuit, leaning against the wall with her eyes closed. She heard footsteps, and a knock on the wall. She opened her eyes and saw Sebastian standing there, still in his swimsuit too.
"I couldn't bring myself to get dressed." he said.
She stood up again, walking over to him and kissing him on the lips. He hugged her body tightly as she ran her hands through his hair. The innocent kissing soon turned into a full-fledged make out session. As soon as she felt him against her torso, they moved to the shower room, stripping each other down quickly.
When they were finished, they covered themselves with towels and changed into normal clothes. Sebastian waited for Sasha outside of the dressing rooms, holding his hand out to her. As they walked back home, Sasha noticed Sebastian suddenly look up, as if he remembered something. Then, she realized what.
"Sebby?" she said.
"Yeah?" he responded.
"It's…your dad's birthday tomorrow…isn't it?" she said quietly.
Sebastian stopped walking and looked up at the night sky.
"Yeah." he said finally, letting go of her hand and dropping his to his side.
"S-Sebastian?" said Sasha again. Her voice wavered as she turned to face him. She could tell he was upset.
"Yeah?" he said. He choked as he tried to speak.
"Y-you're hurting inside, aren't you?" she said, near tears. He turned to her. Sasha could now clearly see the tears rolling down his face in the moonlight.
"Yeah. I Am." he said. He wasn't holding back anymore. "Really badly."
Sasha pulled him down, wrapping her arms around his neck as he collapsed, sobbing.
"Y-you don't understand how much I miss him Sasha…I can't take it anymore…" he said. "Sometimes, I just want to give up, b-but then I remember you…You're the beacon of hope for me…"
"Sebby…I'm here for you…please don't think like that…"
It was like something in Sebastian had snapped, and he couldn't stop crying. After half an hour, he slowed down. Sasha pulled him up and leaned him on her shoulder, making sure he felt safe. When they got home, she ran a bath for him and helped him clean up. By the time he was lying on the bed in his pajamas, he was exhausted, and Sasha did her best to make him feel better.
"I don't think I can cry anymore Sasha." he said.
"Oh…Sebby." she said. She gave him a sympathetic look and sat down next to him. "Is there anything I can do for you?"
He shook his head and closed his eyes.
"You have no idea how glad I am that you're here though." he said. "I've never had this sort of support from someone."
Sasha took his hand and squeezed it.
"I'm beginning to move on...it just takes time...please don't give up on me." he said, defeatedly.
"Never."
The next morning, Sasha woke to see Sebastian sitting upright on their bed. It was late in the morning.
"Sasha…" said Sebastian. "I'm going to take a walk…"
"Oh...Um, I suppose you'd like to go alone…" she said. Her expression fell as she sighed.
"Yeah. Please don't worry, I just need some time to my thoughts." he said, turning to face her.
"That's okay, I understand. Go get ready." she said.
Sebastian headed upstairs to the bathroom, but after he cleaned up and gotten ready to leave, Sasha had left. There was a backpack sitting on the dining room table, and a note. Sebastian opened up the backpack and spotted muffins and a flask of milk. The note read:
"Have a good walk Sebby! I'm getting some work done in the farm. I'll make a special dinner for us tonight! xx"
He smiled at her curly handwriting and stuck the note in his pocket.
Meanwhile, Sasha was hard at work in the farm. She planted a full crop of plants and began to feed her animals. It was only much later when she noticed him return.
She stood up and dusted her pants, waving at him. When he saw her, he grinned and ran over. Sasha was happy to see that he was feeling better. When he reached her, he pulled her into a tight hug.
"Hey! Feeling better?" she said.
"Much. I talked to my mom at the end of my walk, and she helped me to get back on my feet." he said.
Sasha pulled away and took hold of his face, bringing it close towards her. She inspected him, glad to see that he didn't have any dark circles.
"Thank goodness." she thought. "He looks like his normal self again…he's so…handsome…"
She blushed and let go quickly. Sebastian smirked.
"Do I look better now? I shaved too, so I don't have such bad stubble." he said.
"Yeah…" said Sasha, gazing into his eyes. She tried to speak, but found that she was stuttering.
"She's flustered." he thought. "How sweet. She looks adorable when she blushes."
Sebastian found himself blushing now too.
"It's uh, getting kind of late. Do you want to go inside?" he said finally.
"Mhm." said Sasha. They began walking back to the house. She opened the door and Sebastian was hit with a wave of heavenly smells.
"Holy hell! That smells amazing!" exclaimed Sebastian.
Sasha giggled, pulling home-made bread and stew out of the oven.
"I tried a new recipe, and I think it turned out well…"
As they dished up their food, Sebastian caught Sasha staring at him on a few occasions. It wasn't until after dinner that he confronted her about it.
"What's up cutie?" he said. She flinched, being caught off guard by the nickname. "You keep staring at me."
"Uhm...I don't wanna tell you." said Sasha. Her cheeks were flushed red, and Sebastian chuckled.
"Is something wrong? Am I so fucking ugly that you jus-"
"No!" she said, cutting him off. Sebastian frowned. "Uh...its just...i'm not really sure why, but i'm getting really nervous around you..."
Sebastian smirked, standing up and acting as if he was going to clear his plate, but the moment he set his plate down behind her, he dashed to her chair, wrapping his arms around her and kissing her neck.
"You don't have to be." he whispered. His warm breath sent a shiver down Sasha's body. She let out a sigh as he continued to kiss her neck.
"You're so...handsome though. All I can think about is you, Sebby..."
Sebastian felt himself blush as Sasha spoke.
"Do you want to...?" said Sebastian.
"No, I don't, which is why i'm so confused." she said. "All I want is to just...be with you. That feeling of holding you after we sleep together is so euphoric to me."
"Then why don't we?" said Sebastian. "Why don't we just strip down and cuddle?"
She giggled. She could feel herself relaxing. She had no reason to feel self-concious.
After they cleaned the kitchen, they got ready for bed, shut all the drapes and stripped down to nothing.
It had been a while since Sasha had been able to lie with him like this. She missed it. Sebastian hadn't realized how much he missed it too.
They'd been so caught up with everything going on that they had forgotten how it felt to just...
Love.
