Chapter 4--

Exhausted. Exhaustion had taken over his mind and body as he was sprawled on the living room couch.

A slight pencil tip kept penetrating the back of his left eye as his head slightly twitched. Long photoshoots always burnt him out. Holding the camera, constantly focusing, and being creative for hours on end. The inside of his right palm was in a state of painful numbness.

Tick. Tock.

Click. Clack.

He felt her presence loom over him after a few seconds of her shoes echoing through the room. Her breathing tickled his face. Freeze up. Pretend to be asleep. See what she does.

One hand goes his chest. A leg swings over one of his and then the other. And the next second she was resting on him and breathing out a sigh of contentment.

He turns his head ever so slightly and shifts his body to accommodate her tiny one. An arm drapes itself over her waist and her head nuzzles into his chest a little more.

It's funny how most of the photos you want to take are the ones that would ruin the element of the moment you want to record forever. And all you're left with is a ghost of a memory. I keep wanting to go back to her. Keep wanting to break my resolve. But my ego won't allow me to do so.

Goosebumps pop up on my arms despite the warm air around me. The past refuses to escape my mind.

Ring

Ring

I slowly pull my cell phone out of my bermuda shorts and look at the caller id in apprehension.

Blaine.

"What's up Tuttle?"

"Sebastian…"

Freeze.

"I'm not taking no for an answer. Meet me at your place in 10 minutes."

Click.

What. The. Hell.

Goddamn it! FUCKING HELL.

I got up in a fit and started swinging my arms in the air. Punching. Kicking. And I fall down onto the sand again after exhausting myself.

Burying my face into my hands, I scream in frustration. Goddamn bitch.

Creak of the door.

An asshole fucking her from behind as she moaned in pleasure.

Watching it like a voyeur. Feeling perverted, tainted,

She told me she was fucking mine. After all the games, deaths, mazes.

I hesitated at the backdoor. My hand twitched at the thought of seeing her again. Then I felt it. Her presence. She pinned herself behind me and slipped her arm in between my side and arm, turned the doorknob, and opened it a few inches.

I closed my eyes and felt my left eye twitch before I lifted my arm over hers and slid into the house. Walking over to the kitchen counter, I thought of all the ways I could kill her right here with all the knives lying around. I turned around, leaned on the counter, and looked over at her.

Still fucking beautiful as ever. Goddamn her.

She closes the door gently and proceeds to lean on the other counter across from me.

"I want to explain."

"Well has it ever fucking occurred to you that I don't want to fucking hear it? You've made it perfectly clear to me Kathryn."

Her face twitched as she held herself off from an unknown emotion.

"Sebastian, can you just…"

"No, I'm done…"

"GODDAMN IT SEBASTIAN! Let me fucking talk! You have no fucking idea how long it's taken me to talk at all. Do you have any fucking idea how long I was completely coked out and in isolation from everything?! Six fucking months Sebastian. I didn't see anyone. I didn't eat. All I did was drink, take hits of cocaine, blackout, and re-expose film. Most of the time, I just blacked out. The only reason I'm standing here today is Blaine figured out a way to get in and caught me right before I completely OD'ed. You shut off your phone. Moved. Dropped off the face of my reality. And you didn't even hear the whole story. You just fucking left. God, I…"

Before she could finish, she slid down to the floor and I finally noticed how pale she had gotten. How her bones jutted out more, and how completely fragile her body had become.

"Kathryn…"

"NO. Let me finish. Look, I'm not the sappy kind of person. The ones that get written about in dramedies. The ironic bitch that lets her guard down for someone they deem worthy. We're one of a kind Sebastian. Fucked up people that can live with the other. We destroy lives, reputations. We've learned to work together. I'm accustomed to it. To share the afterglow of it with. I… Goddamn it. I feel so physically weak right now."

I knelt down in front of her and placed my hand over hers.

"Take your time. I'm not leaving."

A sudden numbness then slowly started seeping into the back of my brain. I removed my hand from her mouth and placed it on one my temples. A feeling of dizziness took over my senses and I fell from my kneeling position. She looked over at me in concern and reached out to me.

"Sebastian, are you ok?"

I groan in response and tried to focus on her face. The more I tried to focus on her, the more she blurred.

What the hell was going on?

I tried to get up and started grabbing at any kitchen drawer handles I could get a hold of.

Collapse.

"Kathryn… I…"

With one more spin of the mind, my vision of her completely blurred up and all I was left with was darkness.

The cool glass alleviated the heat radiating around me. Sweat. That's all I could smell. Moving sex.

Sip. Instant relief. The liquid slipped down my throat like a snake.

The club beat pounded through the air like a trance and my head involuntarily started bouncing to it.

A hand slipped its way around my waist and turned me around.

"Hey stranger."

"Hey sis."

I smirk as she pouts at this term of endearment.

"You know I haaatteee you calling me that in public."

I laugh easily and loudly while she continued pouting.

"Kathryn, no one is going to hear us. Have you noticed how fucking loud it is in here?"

"Still…"

"You're cute when you're drunk. You lose all control of what you say. Come on. Let's dance. I can think of a few positions we haven't tried on the dance floor that we can one-up people with."

She smirks at this and pulls me toward the bouncing swirls of bodies until we were right in the middle of everything.

Wow, that was quick of me. Enjoy.

S: Kindred spirit? Dear god.