p class="MsoNormal"He wasn't sure how long he cried on Mariah's shoulder, but as his tears slowed Mariah suggested they go back home. Sebastian nodded his head dully, pulling away from her and wiping his face on his hoodie sleeve. Sebastian felt pathetic and a bit like a small child. He became increasingly aware of his throbbing headache as they rode up the elevator. He ended up clinging onto Mariah as they made their way back towards the farm, feeling even more pitiful. His mind was swirling once more, but he didn't allow himself to focus on any of the thoughts. The shadow coverage from the trees on the mountain path leading down to their home was very welcome. By the time they got inside the farmhouse Sebastian felt more in control. The environment had surprisingly come to be a source of comfort for him./p
p class="MsoNormal"Abby, Carver, and Morgan were nowhere to be seen, a fact that Sebastian was eternally grateful for. He felt a bit like he had been hit by a truck./p
p class="MsoNormal""How are you doing?" Mariah asked, sounding concerned./p
p class="MsoNormal""Better, but awful," Sebastian said, "If that makes any sense."/p
p class="MsoNormal""Want to lie down for a bit?" she suggested, "It's been a long day."/p
p class="MsoNormal""Should we talk about…..?"/p
p class="MsoNormal""We don't have to," Mariah shook her head./p
p class="MsoNormal""I don't know how to organize everything in my head," he sighed, rubbing his temples, "I don't even understood what happened to me."/p
p class="MsoNormal""I'm so sorry you're going through all of this Sebastian," Mariah patted his arm, "Is there anything I can do to help?"/p
p class="MsoNormal""I don't know. I don't know what to do," Sebastian shook his head, "Maybe I should lie down."/p
p class="MsoNormal""Absolutely," Mariah nodded, "Take the bed. I'm sure that couch hasn't been the most comfortable."/p
p class="MsoNormal""Will you stay with me?" he had no idea why he asked./p
p class="MsoNormal""Oh," Mariah had a look of surprise, "I can yeah. If you want me to."/p
p class="MsoNormal""Uh, yeah," Sebastian felt awkward, but the request was out there. He wasn't about to lie to himself and deny that the thought was soothing. How and when had this stranger become such a source of peace for him? em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"Because she's not really a stranger. She's your wife. She's been a major part of your life for the last six years. Your memories of her are in there. That part of you, the part of you that fell in love with her, is just in there fighting to come out. Calling out to her. No, not to her, calling out for her. Is that what happened back in the mines?/em/p
p class="MsoNormal"It was as if Sebastian had blinked and he was lying down, cocooned in the puffy burgundy comforter of the bed. He couldn't bring himself to mentally identify it as his, though his body had no problems accepting the embrace of the familiarity. He could sense Mariah in the overstuffed armchair, that same part of him that had been calling for her, now aching for her touch. And he was babbling. Utter word-vomit and he had absolutely no idea what he was saying. The words just flowed from him like a fountain, he'd be unable to repeat himself if he'd ever have such a desire./p
p class="MsoNormal""And it hurt. It just hurt so bad. Worse than anything else. Worse than anything my dad did to me, or what I've done to myself. I couldn't, wouldn't, didn't. I never did. I swear to you, I never did it. Everything was just there pouring over me and you were at the center like this blinding light trying to help me out. And Abby just- well you didn't punch her. All this anger was just there and I couldn't do anything about it. It wasn't me. I just want it all to go away. It's so hard. I'm trying. I'm really trying but I can't break through."/p
p class="MsoNormal"It was nonsense. It had to be. There was no other explanation. But he was crying. And he could have sworn she was too./p
p class="MsoNormal""Morgan and the witch. You too. I'm sorry. I'm so very sorry. I won't let it happen. I can't. I shouldn't have even…But you understand? You'll forgive me. You don't deserve this. None of you. I just want to make it better."/p
p class="MsoNormal""Seb," came a choked out request. Yes she was definitely crying. Why was she crying? em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"Did you make her cry again?/em/p
p class="MsoNormal"But still he continued, "Overwhelming. Everything is overwhelming. I'm overwhelming. But that's the point right? It won't get better unless this happens. I have to…I have to."/p
p class="MsoNormal""Seb," this time louder, she was closer./p
p class="MsoNormal""I don't want to do it. I'll do whatever I can not to do it. And you've helped. You've helped me so much you don't even know. You keep saying it's me, but it's you. You're doing so much more than you know. The pain is still there. All the suffering, but it has to be."/p
p class="MsoNormal""Seb you need to breath," she held back a sob, touching his arm, "You have to breath," she repeated and Sebastian drew her closer, "You're not making any sense," she practically whispered to him, "It's scaring me."/p
p class="MsoNormal""Lie down with me," his voice was small, but clear. He could see the shock at his composition on her face./p
p class="MsoNormal"There was near silence as Mariah made her way across to the other side of the bed, getting under the covers with great care. He rolled to face her, their tear streaked faces mirroring each other. Sebastian could see with great clarity the wide eyed confusion, concern, and hurt that she wasn't able to contain. What had he even said? He closed his eyes, trying to force the image to dissipate from his mind. She sniffed next to him and he could feel the shift of her wiping at her face./p
p class="MsoNormal"It felt as though Sebastian lost control of his body. He opened his eyes, and his left hand found her right. Fingers intertwined. Mariah startled at the change, but did not pull away from it. She looked down at their laced fingers and then back to his face again. Had they both stopped crying? He began to hum, and after a beat he heard her humming along with him. He closed his eyes and leaned closer, his forehead coming to rest against her./p
p class="MsoNormal"Mariah let out a gasp, "Bash?"/p
p class="MsoNormal"Sebastian stopped humming, his eyes fluttering open. He pulled away from her, "I….sorry. I don't know what I was doing. I shouldn't be in your space like this. Sorry."/p
p class="MsoNormal"He was going to pull his hand away from hers but he felt her palm flex against his so he hesitated./p
p class="MsoNormal""It's okay," her breath was shaky, making her words sound untrue. Yet somehow he felt that they were real./p
p class="MsoNormal""I don't think it is," he said, "But I don't really know what's happening. I don't feel like me. Things are just….off. I don't know what I'm doing."/p
p class="MsoNormal""Are you okay?" she had the most sincere face./p
p class="MsoNormal""I don't know. So I guess not," he shrugged, pulling his hand away, missing the warmth as soon as he lost the connection, "I've felt like I haven't had control a lot this afternoon. I don't know what I was saying, or why I just did what I did. I'm sorry. It was almost like I was watching it happen to me but I wasn't actually doing it and couldn't do anything to stop it."/p
p class="MsoNormal""That sounds really scary," Mariah said, "It was kind of scary to me so I can't imagine how much worse it felt for you."/p
p class="MsoNormal""Can we just lie in in silence for a minute?" Sebastian asked, rolling onto his back./p
p class="MsoNormal""Yeah," Mariah agreed./p
p class="MsoNormal"Sebastian closed his eyes, feeling Mariah move next to him. The air felt thick between them, but not in a way that Sebastian couldn't bear. He focused on his breathing as best he could, the way Dr. Tan had instructed him to, centering himself. Time passed, though how much wasn't clear, but one thing was certain, Sebastian was over Abby waking him up./p
p class="MsoNormal""Hi," she said looming over them, as Sebastian blinked his eyes, "You guys may be adorable, but you're incredibly boring. I was terrified of coming in here and finding you guys in the middle of sex or maybe post sex, but no. You're just here fully dressed and napping. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't something I wanted to see, but it's just a little sad that you've got the babysitting covered and you went for the nap instead of the sex."/p
p class="MsoNormal""Fuck off Abby," Mariah grumbled./p
p class="MsoNormal""Yeah, yeah," Abby said waving her hand, "Morgan is eating dinner, just so you're aware. There's more for you guys if you want it. Take your time, we're all good."/p
p class="MsoNormal"She turned, brushed some hair behind her ear, and left the room./p
p class="MsoNormal""Sorry," Sebastian mumbled groggily./p
p class="MsoNormal""For what?" Mariah questioned with a groan as she stretched./p
p class="MsoNormal""I 'unno. Everything. This afternoon. I feel like I fucked something up," he said./p
p class="MsoNormal""S'all good," Mariah sat up and shook her head, "You didn't do anything wrong."/p
p class="MsoNormal""We were fighting, I made you cry, I...got weird."/p
p class="MsoNormal""Don't worry about it," Mariah said, standing up, her back to him./p
p class="MsoNormal"Sebastian watched her move around slowly, trying to come to grips with things himself before getting up./p
p class="MsoNormal""How are you feeling?" she asked, turning to look at him, pressing her hand to her lower back./p
p class="MsoNormal""Okay, I guess," he shrugged, "Better than I was before anyway. I think." It was his turn to stretch and get up. Far for comfortable than sleeping on the couch./p
p class="MsoNormal""That's good," she nodded./p
p class="MsoNormal"Sebastian wanted to say something more. It seemed like Mariah did too, but he didn't know what to say. For that matter he didn't really know what to do with himself either. Where did they go from here? What had happened to him this afternoon? Would it happen again? Did he have more of his memory back? All of his questions would remain unanswered, at least for the time being. Mariah disappeared, and Sebastian took a moment to take a few deep breaths before venturing into the house. Morgan was excitedly sharing with Mariah what she had spent the afternoon doing with Abby and Carver while she ate her dinner. She beamed when she saw Sebastian coming to join them, putting her mouthful of food on display./p
p class="MsoNormal""Chew and swallow your food please," Mariah instructed, which Morgan promptly did before her excitement resumed./p
p class="MsoNormal"Abby and Carver helped clean up from dinner and left shortly after, getting many thanks from Mariah. The next hour or so was a blur as they got Morgan bathed and into bed. Mariah let out a heavy sigh when they got back downstairs, sitting in one of the living room chairs./p
p class="MsoNormal""So," Sebastian said sitting down, but the front door opened, drawing their attention./p
p class="MsoNormal""Hey," Sam said softly, coming into the house and looking around "Morgan's in bed right?"/p
p class="MsoNormal""Hey Sam," Mariah sounded tired, "Yeah she's in bed. You working tonight?"/p
p class="MsoNormal""Er, officially, yes, but I really came to check in on things. Abby mentioned you had a panic attack?" he looked at Sebastian with concern in his eyes./p
p class="MsoNormal""Yeah, we can call it that," Sebastian said./p
p class="MsoNormal""Worse than that?" Sam asked, brow furrowed./p
p class="MsoNormal""Definitely," Sebastian nodded, "Panic attack yes. Insane headache yes. Weird moments that I didn't feel like I had control of myself, yes."/p
p class="MsoNormal""It was rough," Mariah confirmed./p
p class="MsoNormal""What do you mean weird moments you didn't have control?" Sam asked, coming closer to where Sebastian was standing./p
p class="MsoNormal""I don't really know how else to describe it," Sebastian said, "I wasn't myself. Things were just happening and I was just like a bystander or something."/p
p class="MsoNormal""It was impulsive, and out of the blue," Mariah added, "In the mines. And then when we got back here. He was… talking. A lot."/p
p class="MsoNormal""Babbling," Sebastian confirmed, "I have no clue what I was saying."/p
p class="MsoNormal""It didn't make much sense," Mariah continued, "It was kind of scary."/p
p class="MsoNormal""I made her cry. Like a lot. We were fighting. When we got up the mountain I started having all of these memories…And then when we got back here and I was doing that, and there was this moment.." Sebastian said./p
p class="MsoNormal""Moment?" Sam questioned./p
p class="MsoNormal""For a second I thought he was back," Mariah filled in, "It was…startling."/p
p class="MsoNormal"Sam and Sebastian both frowned, "Startling?" Sam asked studying her./p
p class="MsoNormal""Yeah," Mariah said, "When he was just spouting all this non-sense it was like he was fighting with himself. Like my Sebastian was in there, trying to talk to me, trying to come out. He was lying down in bed and asked me to come lie down next to him, which I did. He started humming, and put his forehead against mine. I kind of freaked out a little bit."/p
p class="MsoNormal""You freaked out? I freaked out," Sebastian interjected, "But yeah, I had no clue what was happening. It was just happening and I was just like…there."/p
p class="MsoNormal""Well that's a good thing right? Maybe?" Sam said, "Something's happening."/p
p class="MsoNormal""I don't know," Mariah shook her head, and sighed, "But I hope so. I'm just trying not to get my hopes up. Today has been really difficult. The last few days have really felt like a month honestly. Everything is just blurring together. If I feel this way, I can't imagine how you feel," she looked over at Sebastian./p
p class="MsoNormal""I'm so sorry you guys are going through this," Sam said, touching Sebastian's shoulder, "I'm also sorry my date plan didn't work out. I was hoping… oh well. Any idea what happened that caused the panic attack?"/p
p class="MsoNormal""I think it was just being by the house," Sebastian said, "I haven't been up there yet. Brought a lot of stuff back."/p
p class="MsoNormal""Mmm, that makes sense," Sam nodded, "Sorry. But suffering is good right? I mean I know it's not actually, but for the curse… you know what I mean."/p
p class="MsoNormal""Yeah Sam," Sebastian nodded, "We know what you mean. We've been talking about that a lot. Greater good and all that."/p
p class="MsoNormal""I still hate it," Mariah shook her head./p
p class="MsoNormal""Anything coming back?" Sam asked./p
p class="MsoNormal""Well I remembered a couple bits of things during the panic attack," Sebastian said, "Other than that I'm not really sure. There's no good way for me to tell until something comes up. It's not like I can go through and try to remember things to see if they exist or not in my head. I don't even know what I'm looking for. Stuff just comes as it comes."/p
p class="MsoNormal""Maybe we should try hitting you over the head really hard. Like they do in the movies," Sam suggested./p
p class="MsoNormal""Sam I honestly can't tell if you're joking or not," Mariah said giving him a side eyed glance./p
p class="MsoNormal"Sam let out a nervous sounding laugh, "I am kidding. Of course. That would be a stupid idea."/p
p class="MsoNormal""You weren't joking," Sebastian stared at him, "And I'm glad to see you're still a terrible liar."/p
p class="MsoNormal""I was only partially serious!" Sam defended, "I wasn't actually saying we should do it. It was more like bringing it up in case no one had thought about it before."/p
p class="MsoNormal""Yeah I'm willing to do things I don't want to do to suffer and break the curse, but I'll pass on the potential brain injury," Sebastian shook his head at Sam./p
p class="MsoNormal""I wasn't gonna do it!" Sam insisted, grumbling./p
p class="MsoNormal""To entirely change the subject," Mariah said, "Did you finish your speech for tomorrow Sam?"/p
p class="MsoNormal""Liz made sure I did," Sam nodded, "And she's holding onto my note cards so I don't lose them."/p
p class="MsoNormal""Smart woman," Sebastian nodded, "Someone should probably prep me on her before the rehearsal, since I'm assuming she's going to be there too."/p
p class="MsoNormal""Yeah she will be," Sam nodded, a big smile spreading across his face, "She's incredible. She's smart and funny. She knows like an obscene amount of music. She's a great cook, she's patient, and she's one of the sweetest people I know."/p
p class="MsoNormal""And she puts up with you," Mariah added, giving Sam a teasing smirk./p
p class="MsoNormal"He sighed, "And yes, she puts up with me."/p
p class="MsoNormal""She's going to end up as the mayor whenever the next opportunity to get rid of Lewis comes up," Mariah added./p
p class="MsoNormal""Really?" Sebastian asked, looking between Sam and Mariah./p
p class="MsoNormal""It wouldn't surprise me," Sam said, "She already does a lot for the town. And she'd loved a reason to stop going into the city so frequently. Honestly the two of you could probably start a coup and just take over and no one would question it."/p
p class="MsoNormal""The two of them?" Sebastian questioned, looking over at Mariah./p
p class="MsoNormal""Well yeah, Mariah did more for this town in the first year and a half she was here than Lewis has for I 'unno, ever maybe?" Sam explained, "When Liz was first introduced to some of the town's festivities, she saw areas for improvement and practically pounced on Lewis with her suggestions. She's taken on the role of 'Cultural Coordinator of Pelican Town' and is in charge of all the festivals and other events. So Lewis basically does nothing expect collect taxes, marry people, and make dumb speeches. People are still coming to you with town improvement stuff right?" he looked at Mariah who nodded./p
p class="MsoNormal""Uh, why?" Sebastian asked./p
p class="MsoNormal""Because she got the bus running again, provided like everything for Gunther to curate the museum, fixed up the Community Center, got the movie theater built where the Joja Mart was, helped Willy fix up his boat, got a resort built on Ginger Island, and we all know she's the one that helped your mom build Pam and Penny's house even though she plays dumb about it. She's helped plot out places in town that can be built up for houses and stuff without having too drastic of an impact on the environment. Plus she essentially single handedly caused an economic boom in town the way Joja had claimed they were going to and didn't," Sam rattled off, checking things off on his fingers as he went./p
p class="MsoNormal""Holy shit," Sebastian looked at Mariah, "Why not just be mayor yourself."/p
p class="MsoNormal""Pfft," Mariah snorted, "I don't actually want to be responsible for that shit. Everything I've done 'for the town' I've done at my leisure and completely without any thought towards what any town laws may dictate. I really don't want to have to deal with bureaucratic bullshit. I'd rather just get shit done without having to work around red-tape. Plus a lot of what Sam just listed I had magical help with. Liz is creative and innovative. I just fix shit."/p
p class="MsoNormal""The only reason I'd say Liz would need Mariah by her side to overthrow Lewis is because she's too new to the town. Mariah is a prized member of the community and the six years she's been here has been enough for all the stubborn, more traditional folks in the town to accept her. She could overthrow Lewis on her own if she wanted, but as she's established, she doesn't. Meanwhile Liz would be happy to take over the town, but would want to follow the rules," Sam continued, "She's softer than Mariah. No offense."/p
p class="MsoNormal""None taken. Although, somehow I feel as though we've gotten incredibly off topic," Mariah said./p
p class="MsoNormal""Yes, but I'm also interested in what I can do to convince you to overthrow Lewis," Sebastian said, "So we don't have to wait until the next election."/p
p class="MsoNormal"Mariah snorted, "Are you forgetting all of the other things currently impacting my personal life?"/p
p class="MsoNormal"Sebastian shrugged./p
p class="MsoNormal""What Sam is forgetting to mention," Mariah said, "Is that Liz is still working as a part-time producer on the kid's show that Sam does the music for. I think I mentioned to you that's how they met. They officially live in town, but they both have to go into the city to do stuff for the show from time to time. Liz spends, what three days?" she looked at Sam for confirmation, "Out there every other week, and is able to work remotely for the rest of the time she has to. Sam you should probably show him some pictures of her."/p
p class="MsoNormal""Oh right!" Sam said, pulling his phone out of his back pocket. He leaned in closer to Sebastian showing him pictures of a woman with the same strawberry blonde hair he'd seen on Sophie the other day. She had heart shaped face with apple cheeks and a sweet, toothy smile. In the pictures that included Sam, he was positively beaming./p
p class="MsoNormal""You guys look really happy together," Sebastian glanced up at his friend, giving him a small smile, "How, uh, how do I get along with her?"/p
p class="MsoNormal"Sam chuckled at his friend, "You guys get along great. And I promise I'm not just saying that. It doesn't hurt that she and Mariah are so close."/p
p class="MsoNormal"Mariah nodded, corroborating Sam's comment, "You'll like her. And she won't get weird if you're quiet."/p
p class="MsoNormal""Cool," Sebastian nodded, "That's a bit of stress relief."/p
p class="MsoNormal""How are you feeling about the rehearsal and the wedding stuff?" Sam asked, studying Sebastian's face. span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal""Stressed," Sebastian replied, "I haven't actually seen any of my family except for my mom when she came to babysit the other day. The idea of being Maru's man of honor kind of freaks me out. That's not the relationship we have at all. Plus I don't really want to see Demetrius. Been kinda nice not living in the same house as him."/p
p class="MsoNormal""Glad I'm good for something," Mariah snorted./p
p class="MsoNormal""Hey, I, uh, I, I didn't…." Sebastian stuttered flushed./p
p class="MsoNormal""Seb I'm teasing," Mariah shook her head at him./p
p class="MsoNormal""I am glad to hear that you guys have been living together okay," Sam said, "It hasn't been too weird?"/p
p class="MsoNormal""Of course it's been weird," Sebastian and Mariah said at the same time, and then turned to look at each other, blushing./p
p class="MsoNormal""Yup, that's about right," Sam laughed./p
p class="MsoNormal""It's not any one thing either of us are doing or anything," Mariah elaborated, "The whole situation is just weird."/p
p class="MsoNormal""Honestly it's really bizarre feeling as comfortable here as I do," Sebastian added, "Everything is foreign but I feel relaxed here. Just like how I feel with you," he glanced over at Mariah, blush creeping back across his face. She smiled briefly, looking down./p
p class="MsoNormal""Dude you've so got a crush on your wife. That's adorable," Sam teased./p
p class="MsoNormal""Fuck off," Sebastian grumbled./p
p class="MsoNormal""No, no," Sam put his hand on Sebastian's arm, "I may be an asshole, but that genuinely makes me happy. It's really sweet. You've known her for like four days and you're already pretty chill around her right? That's really impressive."span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal""It's because somewhere inside my head is someone who knows her," Sebastian began, "But you know what I don't even know why we're having this conversation."span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal""Aw fuck," Mariah grumbled under her breath. Sam and Sebastian both turned to look at her. She paid them no mind, hoisting herself out of the chair./p
p class="MsoNormal""You okay?" Sam sounded worried, moving over to her to help her get up./p
p class="MsoNormal""Yeah, your nephew is just beating my bladder up," she said dismissing him once she was fully style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanSam visibly relaxed as she made a beeline for the bathroom. Sebastian felt some tension that he hadn't noticed building up leave his body as well./p
p class="MsoNormal""Got any sense as to how she's doing?" Sam asked Sebastian quietly./p
p class="MsoNormal"Sebastian shrugged, "She always seems sad. Well maybe not always, but most of the time. Which I understand. I wasn't joking when I said I made her cry a lot today. Not intentionally of course, it was just a bad day. Granted I have no way to know if it's normal, or hormones, or what's going on. She's been having nightmares. Not sure if that happened last night or not; she didn't say anything. I get the sense that she's not telling me plenty of things."/p
p class="MsoNormal""She's not usually so withdrawn," Sam admitted, "I've been kind of worried about her actually. She's strong and resilient as fuck, but she lost her person. I can't imagine how hard it must be for her to fight against her instincts and natural behaviors around you."/p
p class="MsoNormal""I feel like I broke her heart this afternoon," Sebastian said, "When I didn't feel like I had control. For a split second I think she thought I was back to being him again, like for good. And then it was just me and I could see how much she was struggling to keep herself together," He sighed and stuck his hands in his hoodie pockets, "I've been having bad thoughts Sam."/p
p class="MsoNormal""About hurting yourself?" Sam's voice was low and he looked at Sebastian with concern, eyes giving him a once over./p
p class="MsoNormal""About getting the witch to erase Mariah's memory and turning the kids into doves so I stop hurting her," he filled in./p
p class="MsoNormal""That's a thing?" Sam looked shocked and a bit horrified./p
p class="MsoNormal"Sebastian nodded, "Mariah told me about it." He declined to share that Mariah had told him about it because she'd been thinking of the dove thing herself. Sam didn't need to know that, especially given how terrible Mariah felt about the whole thing./p
p class="MsoNormal""Shit," Sam shook his head, "That is not a good idea."/p
p class="MsoNormal""No shit," Sebastian shook his head, "I am aware of that. It's just that none of this is fair to them. And I hate being the reason for that. As of right now I don't actually want to do it. I mostly just think about it when I'm not in the best mental state."/p
p class="MsoNormal""Is there anything I can do to help?"/p
p class="MsoNormal""I dunno," Sebastian shrugged, "I'm not sure anyone can help. It's just all mental. So I'm not sure what if anything will help, especially since I'm supposed to be suffering you know?"/p
p class="MsoNormal""Yeah," Sam nodded his face a bit dark./p
p class="MsoNormal""What'd I miss?" Mariah asked appearing from the bathroom./p
p class="MsoNormal""Not much," Sam said quickly, his face morphing into something less glum, "We're gonna go jam though, if that's cool with you?"/p
p class="MsoNormal""Sure," Mariah shrugged nonchalantly, "Sounds great. Have fun."/p
p class="MsoNormal"Sebastian was surprised at Sam's sudden response, and Mariah's acceptance of what he felt like was a suspicious situation. She smiled at them, turning on the TV and the gaming console as Sam tapped Sebastian's arm and the pair went out the front door. Once they were a ways past the house Sam looked at him sheepishly as they walked./p
p class="MsoNormal""Sorry about that. I just thought you could probably use a break to relax a bit," he explained, "Plus I wasn't sure what you wanted Mariah to know or not. Might be good for you two to have a break from each other anyway."/p
p class="MsoNormal""Maybe," Sebastian agreed, "I'm not sure how great I'm going to be at this though. It's not like I know the songs or anything. At least I assume."/p
p class="MsoNormal""It's cool," Sam shrugged, unlocking the music shed, "This is about having fun right? So just relax. We don't need to do anything serious."/p
p class="MsoNormal"Sebastian nodded, taking in the space. It was a nice set-up, he had to admit. It was comfortable and there was something very Sam about it, just more grown-up, professional. Sebastian was impressed by his friend. Not just for this space, but overall this adult version of Sam was so much more than the version he knew. The same goofiness that he knew and smostly /sloved wasn't missing, he was just somehow a more complete person. It occurred to Sebastian that Sam was likely finally living for himself rather than just living to fulfill the role his family needed him to and that was what was making the difference./p
p class="MsoNormal"He wanted to say something, but what do you say in a situation like that? em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"I'm proud of you? I'm impressed by you? You're doing a really great job? You've changed so much, but like in a good way?/em All of that felt absurd and out of character for himself, so Sebastian said nothing. He ran his fingers along the synth and keyboard set up./p
p class="MsoNormal""Want to get into it?" Sam asked, looking over at him as he picked up his guitar./p
p class="MsoNormal""Yeah," Sebastian nodded./p
p class="MsoNormal"They didn't speak, focused on the style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanThey bounced off each other easily, the years they spent playing together making the process simple and stress free. Music had always been a passion of Sam's and more of a hobby than anything else of Sebastian's, but it was relaxing none the less. It allowed Sebastian's mind to clear and for him to relax. It was as if it was a blink of an eye and two hours had passed and Sam said his goodbyes./p
p class="MsoNormal"The farmhouse was largely dark when Sebastian went back in. Mariah was snoring lightly in the bed, but she'd left his desk light on for him. He actually considered it when he'd had the idea to climb into the bed with her rather than sleeping on the couch again. After their surprise afternoon nap had worked out fine right? But when it came down to it, he decided against it, not wanting to risk waking Mariah. He remained calm enough that once his head hit the pillow it was but a moment before he drifted off to sleep./p