Summary: Sebastian awakens from his drug induced night determined to set things right with Kathryn.
Chapter 19: Putting An End To Playing It Safe
Sebastian's head was going to explode. Well, maybe not physically but it sure as hell felt that way as he groggily awoke that morning. Barely lifting his head off the plush pillow under him, his eyes slowly fluttered open and he scanned the room. At first he wasn't terribly surprised to find he was in his bedroom, he was just confused as to how he ended up there.
Suddenly something damp and cool was resting on his forehead. Sebastian reached up and pulled the terry cloth fabric from his head. A hand with soft fingers and pink nails brought it back up to his face. "You're suppose to keep it on. It will make you feel better."
He recognized the voice immediately. Turning as best his body could manage Sebastian found it was indeed Annette sitting beside him on the bed. Dressed in her typical jeans and tee-shirt she smiled slightly. "Good morning."
Sebastian's throat was so dry he could barely get out "morning." Clutching the wash cloth to his head he managed to sit up somewhat in the bed. Noticing a glass of water beside him he reached for it and took a sip. "Was I hit by a car again?"
Annette laughed "not quite."
"Really? Cause that felt a whole lot better than this." Taking another sip of water he grumbled "what the hell happened?"
"According to Blaine you took something last night. Some sort of depressant, I'm not sure what it was exactly." Reaching for a bottle on the night stand she emptied a couple of pills into her hand and handed them to him. "He said to take these. They'd make you feel better."
Still not quite understanding what was going on Sebastian took the pills and swallowed them. Placing the glass down he murmured "I don't remember taking anything last night, certainly not any drugs."
"What do you remember?"
His mind was a complete blur and he had to struggle to recall anything. "Uh, we went to a party. It was at Kathryn's right?"
"That's right" she nodded. "Can you remember anything else?"
Sebastian thought back to the party but the only thing he could recall was that Kathryn had been ignoring him. He had been flirting with some girls hoping to catch her attention but she barely seemed to notice. She was far too busy chatting up her guests. That was all he could recall of the evening.
Flopping back in bed he sighed "I don't suppose anything exciting happened did it?"
He had been expecting Annette to tell him he was correct however a grimace crossed over her face that told him he was wrong. "Actually" she explained carefully "it wasn't entirely dull."
"What happened?" he asked dubiously. When Annette looked away and didn't reply Sebastian began to get anxious. "What the FUCK happened?!"
At this point in their relationship she was hardly fazed by his sudden mood swifts or bratty behavior. Annette simply ordered him "calm down. Now are you sure you don't remember anything?" Sebastian nodded his head and she sighed "okay, so when we arrived at the party we kind of split up. You had been talking with some girls then I sort of lost track of you. When you weren't around when dinner started I just assumed you hooked up with someone and left."
"Did I?"
"I'm not sure. Anyway after dinner your friend Vincent made a toast and then he started to propose to Kathryn."
Sebastian closed his eyes and shook his head suddenly recalling his oldest friends plans to marry. Not really wanting to know the answer but at the same time knowing he had to he asked Annette weakly "did she say yes?"
"Well, we didn't exactly get the chance to ask her. You sort of interrupted."
"What do you mean?" he asked bolting upright in the bed.
Annette seemed to be trying not to grin as she explained "lets just say you made you intentions towards Kathryn clear."
"How clear?"
"You told her you were in love with her."
Sebastian suddenly paled "who else heard this?"
"Pretty much the entire party." Burring his face in his hands he collapsed back into the bed and let out a pained groan. Annette snickered "oh it wasn't that bad. Actually it was sort of sweet. It might have been poetic even if it hadn't been for all the slurring."
He groaned yet again and still not looking at Annette he asked "how did she react?"
"Well she turned the color you are now. But she did chase after you once you left the party."
"I'm suddenly becoming more and more glad I can't remember any of this. What happened next?"
She shrugged "I'm not sure. Blaine found you passed out on the floor of Kathryn's old room. He took you home."
Sebastian just shook his head in response to all of this. He couldn't believe he could have been so out of it as to blurt out to Kathryn and half of New York no less, that he was in love with her. He could just imagine how Vincent would react the next time they spoke. However he found he was more concerned with how Kathryn would react. Would she be angry or pleased with his feelings for her? The only thing he was sure of was he had to talk to her right away.
Jolting up quickly from the bed Sebastian immediately began to undress as he ran to the bathroom. "What are you doing?" a perplexed Annette asked.
"I have to talk to her" he called out as he quickly brushed his teeth and washed up at the same time.
"Are you sure you're up to it? I mean you could barely lift your head off of your pillow this morning."
Running back into his closet Sebastian pulled out one of his black Prada suits. Coming back into the bedroom he explained "I can't lay around all day thinking. I need to talk to her now, I'm sick of wasting time playing these little games with her." Pushing his leg into the pant leg angrily he sneered "I need to know where I stand today."
"Okay" Annette sighed. "Well then I have to get going. I have class in half an hour.'
As she started towards the door Sebastian stood and called out to her "Annette wait a minute." When she stopped and turned back to him he asked "why did you come over here this morning?"
She shrugged "I just wanted to make sure you were okay."
"You didn't have to go with me last night either"
"Trust me I know but for some strange reason I still care what happens to you Sebastian. I know what you feel for Kathryn and even though I think it's twisted and wrong I want to see you happy. Even if it's with that little bitch"
Sebastian smiled at the sentiment. It seemed strange to him that they could be in this place now where they could discuss Kathryn and his feelings for her without it hurting Annette. Actually it blew his mind to think they could discuss anything civil after what went down a little over a year ago.
That day Annette had returned from Kansas following the funeral of her aunt Sebastian had been overwhelmed to see her. It surprised him how much he had missed her but at the same time he knew he would chose Kathryn in the end. After they caught up Sebastian was just about to explain this to her when he noticed some of the servants taking bags out of Kathryn's room. When he demanded to know what was going on they explained Kathryn was going with her mother to a clinic in Greece. In fact she was already on the plane. Sebastian and been shocked and heart broken to find she had left with out so much as a good bye. In the following days she never called or got into contact with his once. He knew he could get in contact with her if he wanted to but he had been too livid to try. How dare she make him fall back in love with her only to leave him!
It was because of this anger that Sebastian decided to devote himself to Annette. For the first month or so they were happy but slowly he began to become sick of putting on a front. Sebastian wasn't happy, rather he was angry and he began to resent being with Annette. Slowly he began to stray from her. Instead of feeling guilty over what he was doing he found he enjoyed the pain he was causing. Finally Annette found him in bed with a couple of girls and finally after a long knock out, drag out fight they ended things.
It wasn't until a year later that they talked again. At that point Annette was dating other guys and in med. school while Sebastian had gotten over his anger and was moving on with his life. He apologized for the way he behaved and eventually they grew to become friends. Still Sebastian had been surprised when she agreed to pose as his girlfriend at the party just as he was surprised to find her beside him that morning. He was well aware any romantic feelings she had for him passed long ago but it still amazed him that she could care for him.
"You're a much better friend that I was a boyfriend" he told her.
"No shit" she laughed.
Sebastian smiled and then with complete sincerity said "thank you."
Annette nodded and headed out the door. As she was leaving she called out to him "say hello to Kathryn for me."
* * * * * *
"So would you like to discuss last night or should we go on pretending it never happened?"
Sipping her coffee Kathryn glanced over at Vincent who was sitting on the couch opposite her. He was staring at her intently with an intense look that seemed so foreign on him. Ever since they had met she had yet to see him angry or perturbed until that morning. Usually he was so laid back and jovial which was part of his charm. However Kathryn knew his anger wasn't unfounded.
The previous night after Sebastian fell asleep on her floor Kathryn had gone back to the party and tried her best to hold her head up. She assured everyone her former step brother was just under a lot of stress. She was sure no one really bought it, including Vincent, but they were all pleasant none the less. When the last guest left Kathryn went back with Vincent to his hotel suite. They went to bed without bringing up Sebastian or the ill planned proposal. However when they awoke that morning she could immediately sense his tension and knew it was only a matter of time before he brought up what he was feeling. Unlike her and Sebastian Vincent was not good at concealing his emotions.
Setting down her coffee cup she asked "what do you want to hear?"
"The truth would be nice" he spat back.
Kathryn knew that was the last thing he would want to hear. Proceeding delicately she explained "Sebastian was drunk last night. I don't know what the hell compelled him to say what he did but it was totally out of the blue."
That wasn't a total lie but it wasn't the truth either. Looking into Vincent's eyes Kathryn could tell he realized this yet he managed to keep his cool. "When you told me about your relationship with Sebastian you assured me it was innocent. I know his reputation with females so I was dubious at first but I believed you when you said you didn't feel that way towards him. He implied last night you were lying so I would like the truth now."
"It wasn't..." Kathryn began then immediately trailed off. She could feel the lie in her mouth ready to come out. She knew just what to say to make him forget about this but for some reason she didn't want to lie to him. She might not love Vincent the same as Sebastian but she didn't want to hurt him anymore. Taking a deep breath she explained "we were involved at one point. For a long time there had always been something between us and after our parents divorced we slept together."
Looking away from her Vincent shook his head then asked in a weary voice "did you love him?"
"I'm not sure what I felt" she remarked softly. "Things between us got messy and things happened. When I left I was sure things between us were over with for good. I thought he had moved on."
He scoffed "well obviously he has not."
"Vincent I swear to you I had no idea he felt that way towards me. Last night came as a complete surprise to me as much as it did to you. But you have to know it doesn't change anything between us. My relationship with Sebastian is in the past." Getting up from her seat she went over to him and sat in his lap. Forcing him to look at her she explained "I want to be with you. Do you think we can get past last night?"
"Kathryn" he sighed burring his face in her neck "I would do anything for you, but I want you to be sure."
"I am sure." Even as the words came out of her mouth she knew it was a lie
Pulling his head away Vincent remarked with a smile "you know I was going to ask you to marry me last night."
"I know" she sighed. "As tempted as I would be to say yes I don't think I'm ready for that yet Vincent. Do you understand?"
If he was disappointed he hid it well. Nodding his head he smiled sadly and replied "yes perhaps it was too fast but will you promise me you'll think about it. I would like nothing more that for you to be my wife."
Kathryn nodded and then bent down to kiss him. Wrapping her arms around his neck they fell back onto the couch. Before anything could progress however Vincent pulled away. "I would love to stay here all day making love to you but unfortunately I have some things to take care of. I will be back soon though and then we can spend the day together, yes?"
"Yes" she agreed with a smile.
After one final kiss she allowed him to get up and head towards the door. "I'll be back soon" he promised. "I love you Kathryn."
"I know" she replied. When he at last left her the smile she was wearing immediately disappeared. Sitting back on the couch she stared into space wondering why she couldn't force herself to be happy. Kathryn had somehow managed to overcome all of the crap of the past two years and not only that but she had an amazing man on top of it. Vincent loved her and wanted to give her the life she always wanted but it just wasn't enough. Silently she wondered if it would ever be enough.
Ten minutes after Vincent had left a knock came from the door. At first Kathryn ignored it seeing as she had no interest in seeing anyone that early in the morning. However instead of getting the hint that they weren't home the knocking just got more insistent. Finally rolling her eyes Kathryn pulled herself off the couch and strode over to the door. She threw it open and was about to start screaming until she saw who it was.
Sebastian was leaning against the door frame with a weary expression. Dressed in his typical designer suit and black custom made glasses he looked as gorgeous as ever which just managed to infuriate Kathryn all the more. Determined not to let her guard down she crossed her arms to her chest and demanded coldly "what do you want?"
"How long did you plan on letting me knock?" he asked as he strolled past her into the suite.
"Until you got the hint and left" she retorted slamming the door. "You really shouldn't be here Sebastian. Vincent will be back any minute and-"
"He just left" he replied with a smug smile. "He has a meeting with his fathers banker, we have time."
Kathryn rolled her eyes "what is it you want?"
"I wanted to discuss last night" Sebastian explained as he removed the sunglasses from his face.
Taking a step closer she noticed how tired and red his eyes looked. Apparently she wasn't the only one who had a rough morning. "You look like shit."
"Well take what I look like and multiply it by about a hundred and you'll have a pretty good idea of how I feel."
Standing before him Kathryn reached out and caressed his face. "After last night you've got to be feeling terrible" she said her voice laced with sympathy.
Sebastian managed a weak smile. "Yeah I do."
Kathryn smiled and then quickly drew her hand back and slapped him hard across the face. "Good you deserve it!"
As he clutched his face in pain she walked past him carelessly hoping he would get the hint and leave. However instead he turned his anger on her and snarled "you fucking bitch!"
Wheeling around on her heels Kathryn spat back "how dare you come here and speak to me like that after what you did last night! You made a complete fool out of me not to mention nearly screwed up my relationship with Vincent."
"Yeah about last night you know my memory is a little fuzzy but I'm pretty sure I didn't drink enough to end up with the hangover I have now and I certainly didn't take any of Blaine's shit so something must have happened. What exactly did you do last night?"
Kathryn regarded him with surprise "me?"
"You" he mocked in a high pitch voice. "The other day when you left my house you were most definitely up to something. I know you Kathryn, I know how your twisted mind works. You came back here to cause trouble. When I arrived at the party last night I found it a little peculiar that half my ex's were on the guest list. You set that up didn't you?"
She could have just as easily denied it but for whatever reason she didn't. Kathryn wanted him to know what she had planned. "As a matter of fact I did. See I was under the mistaken impression thanks to you, that you and Annette were still together. I was hoping to throw a little wrench into your relationship but surprise, surprise I found out you already had."
Moving closer to her Sebastian asked "did you slip something into my drink last night?"
"Yes I did" she replied as if bored. "I though it would be amusing to watch you make an ass of yourself so I got some pills off of Blaine and I had them slipped into your drink. It worked just like I planned only you decided to go make a scene just as Vincent was proposing."
Kathryn had expected Sebastian to react with anger. She was surprised when a smile suddenly spread across his face and he remarked "well done. Guess things didn't go exactly as planned then did they?" He then began to laugh uproariously and collapse onto the couch clutching his stomach.
"Shut up!" she yelled at him her hands balling into fists. "Stop laughing at me!"
Drying his eyes he snickered "stop making it so easy then."
"That's it get out!"
She went to grab his arm to physically force him out the door but he grabbed her and pulled her down onto his lap. Kathryn landed at an awkward angle with her knee pressing against his groin and her face only inches away. The voice in her head was telling her to get off of his lap but at the moment her eyes were too locked into his. Before she had a chance to move Sebastian was touching her cheek and bringing his mouth to hers. They kissed first tentatively then more vigorously. Kathryn began to grind against him causing Sebastian to moan.
Suddenly realizing what she was doing she pulled away and scattered over to the opposite end of the couch. Licking her bruised lips Kathryn told him "you should leave now."
Sebastian grinned "or else what?" Slowly he crawled over to her end of the couch and pushing her legs apart he moved in between her thighs. "Afraid you won't be able to control yourself?"
"Of course not" she lied. Sebastian moved in and kissed her again this time his hands moved up her legs and squeezed her hips. Grinding against her, feeling his very stiff groin rubbing against her pussy, protected by only a thin piece of satin Kathryn moaned and bit her lip. "Why are you doing this to me?" she whimpered.
He chuckled softly against her skin as he brought his hand in between her legs and massaged her thigh. "Doing what?"
"You know I'm with Vincent" she groaned clutching his jacket tightly as he began to play with her. "You know I...agh...god..."
It was then Kathryn began to lose her train of thought. Instead of putting an immediate stop to this she pulled him back into a kiss and didn't pull away when he lifted her nightgown up around her waist. As his fingers slid into her Sebastian began to kiss her neck and nip at her flesh. "Still want me to stop?"
"Shut up" she ordered him. Reaching down she quickly undid his belt and slid her hand into his pants. She nearly laughed when she realized he wasn't wearing any underwear. Kathryn stroked him until he was groaning just as loudly as she was.
Sebastian attempted then to get inside her only the couch was to small and he instead ended up on the floor. Kathryn rolled over on top of him and straddled his waist. After quickly discarding her night gown she worked the rest of his clothes off of him and then finally pushed his cock inside of her. Kathryn let out a whimper as she got use to him being inside of her again. She began to ride him slowly and then more urgently as he began to meet her thrusts.
It felt amazing but it wasn't enough. She bent down mid thrust and captured his mouth in a kiss. Sebastian used this opportunity to flip her onto her back. He moved inside of her with deep urgent thrusts as his hand went down to where there bodies met and he rubbed her mound. Kathryn let out a loud whimper and in doing so she recalled the last time they had done this. It had been in the teachers lounge right before Sebastian had set her up for a fall. It occurred to her in that moment that it had all been a lie.
Suddenly she began to wonder if the same thing was happening now. Apparently it was written all over her face because as he continued to fuck her Sebastian asked "are you okay?"
Kathryn nodded yes and although what he was doing to her felt good she was suddenly hit with a wave of emotions. For some reason her eyes began to tear up and she felt like she was going to cry. Trying her best to forget about that she wrapped her legs around him and pulled him closer to her. Kathryn was about to cum any moment. That familiar feeling began to build in her stomach when Sebastian leaned forward and whispered in her ear "I love you."
She came a second later the words reverberating in her head. Sebastian came a moment later as she squeezed her inner muscles around him. He shuttered against her and then his body went limp as he rested atop her. Kathryn tried to catch her breath as she came down from one of the most intense sexual experiences of her life. She could feel a tear coming down her cheek and she wiped at it before Sebastian could notice.
When he eventually pulled out of her and collapsed beside her he sighed "that was incredible. How did you do that thing at the-"
"Kegel exercises" she explained with a wicked grin. "You like?"
"God yes" he laughed. "I though you were going to squeeze my dick in two though.
Kathryn snickered "it would have served you right."
The amusement gone from his voice Sebastian remarked "about last night, in a way I'm glad it happened."
Propping herself up on her elbow she asked "why?"
"Everything is out on the table now." Looking over at her he added "well at least on my end."
For once Kathryn didn't have a witty comeback. She also couldn't be sure if he was being honest with her or just setting her up to be laughed at once again. Sitting up she reached over and grabbed her nightgown and put it back on. Kathryn got back on the couch and instructed him icily "perhaps you should leave now."
Sebastian sat up and squeezed her knee. "Why are you acting like this? I tell you I love you and you-"
"Don't believe a word of it" she finished her voice hard and cold. Getting to her feet Kathryn shook her head "I'm not going down this road with you again Sebastian. You and I are in the past."
"Funny it sure as hell didn't feel like it" he remarked as stood up and put his pants back on.
"I told you I'm with Vincent now and-"
"Do you love him?"
Kathryn turned to face him "what?"
"It's a simple question yes or no? Do you love him?"
When she only rolled her eyes and turned away from him Sebastian let out a short triumphant laugh. "That's what I thought. If you really loved him you never would have me to make love to you."
"We weren't making love" she hissed.
Coming up from behind her Sebastian circled her waist and nuzzled his nose against her neck. "We could be so good together and you know it. We have fun together, we enjoy each other" he laughed "not to mention the sex. Come on Kathryn."
For a moment she allowed herself to melt into his embrace and she considered giving into him. But then all the memories of all the heartbreak he put her through came rushing back. Pulling away from him suddenly she replied "no."
"Why not?" he demanded angrily.
Spinning around to face him she hissed "say I feel the same way, say I agree we would be great together and I dump Vincent. Tell me Valmont which of us will betray the other first this time?"
He recoiled back from her as if having being hit again. Sebastian looked away then back to her "you're right. You and I have never been good at trusting each other and if we ended up together we'd probably kill one another but so what?"
"So what?" she repeated incredulously.
"You and I have never done safe sweetheart so why start now?" Stepping forward he pulled her into his arms. Caressing her neck he murmured "I could lie to you and tell you if we end up together everything will be perfect but odds are it won't be. That's the fun part, we don't know what's going to happen. I love you Kathryn and no matter what you say I know you feel the same way."
He bent forward and kissed her. Kathryn found herself returning it and slowly giving into him. However when she a picture of Vincent flashed through her head she pulled away. "I can't do this to him"
Sebastian groaned "what if I removed him from the picture."
"No Sebastian we're not playing him. I don't want to hurt him like that."
"Well neither do I. He's my friend too." Wrapping his arms around her he explained "I'm just saying if I could break up you and Vincent without hurting him would you agree to be with me?"
Kathryn eyed him dubiously "perhaps."
"Good" taking her by the arm he then dragged her back over to the couch. Picking up the hotel note pad he began to scribble something down.
"What are you doing?"
"I'm putting it in writing."
Kathryn's eyes went wide "what?"
Looking up at her Sebastian explained "well you have to admit that in the past we have not been that good at keeping our word. So I've decided we'll create a legal binding document. If I am able to break up you and Vincent without causing him any harm you will in turn declare your true feelings for me. Agreed?"
"You're out of your fucking mind" she remarked.
"That may be so" he replied "now are you going to sign or not?"
He handed over the pad where he had in fact written their agreement out and signed it. Looking up at him she asked "what exactly are you planning to do?"
Sebastian smirked and then gave her an innocent shrug. "Don't worry about it. I assure you when I'm finished Vincent will be thrilled be broke up with you."
Once again Kathryn eyed him with some hesitation. She had a feeling whatever he was up to it wasn't good but at the same time she couldn't help but be curious. Sebastian had been right when he said they weren't the type to play it safe. She realized then that's what she had been doing in hiding behind her relationship with Vincent. So she picked up the pen and muttered "what the fuck?"
After signing her name she handed it back to him and he grinned. Folding the paper into his pocket Sebastian then sprang up and began getting dressed. "Out of curiosity" Kathryn asked "what will you do if I decide I hate you?"
"Well then I guess I'll be forced to show Vincent this" he replied holding up the document.
It dawned on Kathryn then that she just handed over anyway out of this. Either way she would end up doing what Sebastian wanted. "Son of a bitch" she sighed.
He laughed as he grabbed her by the nightgown and pulled her towards him. "Ain't love grand?"
They kissed again this time with Sebastian's hands moving back down her body. Kathryn was sure they would once again end up on the floor but he pulled away from her suddenly and headed towards the door. "Where are you going?" she pouted.
"I have things to do" he explained waving the piece of paper in the air. "But I'll see you real soon."
As Sebastian exited Kathryn fell back on the couch wondering what she just did.
- to be continued (Please Review)