Sebastian's Time in Portia
Day Six – March 6 – Unnoticed

Hearing nothing from Sebastian worried Sam; he still wondered if he overstepped by asking his friend about maintaining his med schedule. Sam knew Sebastian – as a private person – found revealing the fact he took medication for depression difficult. He didn't want to overstep again if he already had, waiting patiently for another message other than "I'm okay."

Friday night, Sam headed towards Stardrop Saloon without Sebastian sending another message. Sam shoved his hands into his jeans pockets, hoping in the back of his mind Sebastian might join him in the game room for a game of pool even though his best friends hadn't done so since Abigail's pregnancy scare. Seeing nobody in the arcade, Sam flopped down onto the couches.

Letting out a sigh, Sam looked up at the ceiling waiting for Sebastian to show. The jukebox played in the background allowing Sam to zone out until he heard someone speak.

"Is Sebastian coming?"

Sam's eyes blinked upon hearing Abigail's voice. He slowly sat up, looking at her while his mouth twisted into a frown. She smiled as if nothing happen, or at least Sam thought so on his first observation. The slight twitch of the corner of her mouth indicated the pregnancy scare did, in fact, get to her, although she tried acting as if nothing happened. Sam's eyes blinked again.

"That's…" Sam almost snapped at her but instead sucked in a deep breath.

"Well?" Abigail's eyes pleaded with him. "Sebastian and you message each other, don't you?"

Sam took a deep breath, his hands still jammed into his pockets. Sebastian not showing now made sense given the fact Abigail typically sat on the couch watching them play pool. "I think he's avoiding you."

"That…" The smile on Abigail's face fell. "That's not fair."

"Not fair?" Sam's tone of voice rose slightly. "What you did – that's not fair to Sebastian."

He watched her swallow. "I don't know what you mean?"

Sam's eyes closed. He made the decision to stand up, letting out a sigh after he stood. "You don't think Sebastian would have told me that of all things? Don't make me spell out for you by what I mean by that as I really don't want to have this conversation right now. I'm worried enough about him as it is."

A shudder ran through his body followed by Sam letting out a breath of air. Getting that off his chest made him feel better, if ever so slightly. Walking home, he felt frustrated Sebastian never showed, yet Sam couldn't blame his friend for not wanting to show up where Abigail might be. Arriving home, Sam flopped onto his bed looking up at the ceiling.

He realized things might not ever return to normal.

"This sucks." Reaching for his phone, Sam messaged Sebastian. "Missed you tonight in the arcade. Don't blame you though given the fact Abigail was there. Looking forward to our jam session tomorrow. If you don't show, I'll be coming by to check on you. Yes, that is a threat."

Sebastian didn't show.

Sebastian didn't show despite the fact Sam threatened his friend with a visit.

Letting out a deep breath, Sam left his room. He heard his mother in the kitchen preparing dinner. "Mom. I'm heading over to Sebastian's."

"What. Hold on."

He hoped he might escape before his mother got another word in.

"Sebastian isn't having dinner in your room like you two usually do?"

Sam stopped moving. "Sebastian wasn't even here. I'm going over because I've not seen him in a while."

"I didn't know."

Sam let out a sigh, not knowing how he should respond. Instead, he left and headed towards the lake.

~PS~

"Give him some time. Then you can talk to him about having unprotected sex."

"I'm not looking forward to having that conversation with him." Robin shook her head, the conversation with Caroline and Jodi stuck in her head. The last time Sebastian opened up to her was now a faint memory. In fact, Sebastian didn't speak much and instead kept to himself, meaning she didn't know when she would end up having a conversation with him. Her anger also added fuel to the problem yet remained a reason why she'd avoided her son since the pregnancy scare with Abigail.

In the weeks since she'd also avoided going down into Sebastian's room each week for her usual cleaning. Sebastian disliked her cleaning routine, complaining about her not putting things back, so she suspected he enjoyed the lack of intrusion. Restarting the cleaning routine, she headed down the stairs; she planned on no longer avoiding having a conversation with Sebastian if he was in fact in his room.

Arriving downstairs, she found Sebastian nowhere in the basement.

In a way, she suspected this, having developed the routine of leaving an hour after Sebastian with Demetrius knowing full well when her son left on Friday's for the arcade. Relief washed over her knowing Sebastian wasn't still holing himself up, yet the ultimatum she'd given herself heading down the stairs felt manipulative on her part – a way to avoid conversing with Sebastian.

Robin cleaned the room, the entire time thinking everything might return to normal despite how she still felt regarding the situation.

She didn't expect Sam showing up the next day when Sebastian would normally leave the house for some fresh air and sunlight as he walked all the way to his best friend's house for whatever the two did over at Sam's place. Her eyes blinked a few times. Sam headed straight towards the stairs which led down into Sebastian's room, which in itself wasn't unusual given the fact Sam did come over at times.

She didn't expect Sam to come back upstairs with his usual smile missing. "Ms. Robin?"

Robin stepped from behind her counter, looking Sam in the eye. "Sam, is something wrong?"

"Sebastian's not in his room."

"I don't see why that's a problem. Doesn't that mean he's headed out to the mines for some spelunking like he sometimes does despite the fact he knows I don't like him doing that? I mean, the fact he went to the arcade with you last night means he's no longer holing himself up, doesn't it?"

Sam stared at her, his mouth opening wide. His eyes blinked, his throat clearing. "Uh. Ms. Robin. I didn't see Sebastian last night. In fact, I've not seen him since, well, the Saturday after you no what. That was only briefly."

Robin contemplated what Sam said carefully. Taking in a deep breath. "Wait, you're saying Sebastian wasn't at the arcade with you last night."

"I thought you knew."

Her eyes closed. "No, I didn't know. I thought he was either in his room or following his normal routine." Her eyes opened, her mouth twisting slightly in frustration. "Could you do me a favor Sam? Could you send him a message saying I want to talk to him?"

"I…" Sam glanced away, one hand rubbing the back of his neck. "That's just it. I've not really heard from Sebastian since Monday when he finally responded to another message I sent when this whole thing started saying he was okay. He's not responded to any of my messages since then, so I am a little worried."

"You mean to say Sebastian likely hasn't been in his room since Monday, but I, his mother didn't even notice?" Robin swallowed. Her throat tightened slightly. She watched the look of worry on Sam's face increase. "Sam…"

"I think…" Sam stammered out the words. "I think I should head home." He turned, meaning to leave, but stopped. He turned his head over his shoulder looking at her. "You'll tell me if you hear anything?"

"Yes. I will."

~PS~

"I should have told her," said one of the voices in Sam's head while the other replied with, "telling her would be a betrayal of Seb's trust." Sam walked home quickly, the concern he felt growing. "Please don't let you telling me you're okay be you telling me goodbye. That's not being okay." Sam's teeth ground together; his hands shoved into his pockets. "Shit." Glancing up, he saw Maru heading up the path. "Double shit."

"Well, that's not very nice."

"Uh…" Sam glanced down, unsure of what he should say to Sebastian's sister regarding Sebastian's disappearance. "I've got to go." Unfortunately, the voice in the back of his head piped up again. "Tell her what you know. It's important." The other voice responding with, "Seb would like Maru finding out even less." Sam's eyes closed. "Ugh. Not my day."

"I surmised that much from the way you responded to seeing me just now." Maru's words made Sam open his eyes so he might look at his best friend's younger sister in the eye. "Didn't you say you needed to go?"

"Should I tell her?" Sam swallowed.

"Okay, what are you not telling me?"

Sam swallowed again. Sebastian once warned him Maru inherited her mother's temperament. What he saw in front of him honestly reminded him of when he did see Robin lose her temperament. "Maybe you should talk to your mom."

"Really?" Maru folded her arms across her chest.

"Should I tell her? Any of it?" Sam closed his eyes, rubbing the back of his neck. "Um, look…"

"Just spit it out already!"

"Nobody's seen Sebastian since last Sunday."

"What do you mean nobodies seen him since last Sunday?"

"I mean nobodies seen him since last Sunday."

"You mean he ran away?"

"Ran…" Sam's eyes blinked, heading down the path muttering, "I need to get home" under his breath. All thoughts of telling Maru what he'd debated telling her – even Robin for that matter – disappeared. "Fuck. Everyone's going to make assumptions again."

He arrived home, finding his mother already finished dinner by the time he arrived. "Oh good. Dinner's ready."

"I'm not hungry. I think I'll just go to bed."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah." Sam flopped onto his bed, looking up at the ceiling, wishing he knew what Sebastian was up to. Telling someone about Sebastian's med routine and the worries which went along with said knowledge still felt important, yet… "How can I tell anyone what I'm worried about if they think he's simply run away? That's not like him. Not at all."