Jeff's P.O.V.
Sebastian's mourning seems like it may never subside, so Thad eventually takes him out and forces him to leave the house. By then, it's Saturday so Hunter and I are both at home. He seems awfully somber himself, but I'm assuming that it's just because of what his boyfriend is going through.
I sit down beside him on the couch, finally able to talk freely with Sebastian out of the house. He's just staring blankly out the window, immersed in his own thoughts. I put a hand on his arm, "How are you doing?"
He sighs, "I've been better, I've been worse. But mostly I've been a lot better."
I nod understandingly, "Do you want to talk about it?"
He shakes his head, "Well, I kind of do, but I probably shouldn't."
"You can talk to me, Hunter."
"I know, it's just kind of," His eyes drift down to the floor, "I would have to tell you something that you shouldn't know in order to explain what I'm feeling, you know?"
"I can keep a secret." I reply with a small smile.
He nods, "Promise? You can never tell anyone, ever. Especially not Sebastian."
"I promise." I swear clearly, making eye contact.
"Alright," he sighs, "I hired someone to kill Sebastian's friend, Cooper."
I stare at him in disbelief, "You can't be serious...why would you do something like that?"
"I can explain," he begins, a little defensive, "I knew Cooper a little bit myself, actually. Before I knew that Sebastian knew him. I never really liked the guy, he was kind of a jerk, you know? Well, anyway, Sebastian doesn't really remember it, but I put everything together and it turns out that Cooper drugged Sebastian and raped him. He actually told me all about it, I just didn't know it was Bas that he was talking about... He had him totally fooled. Sebastian really that he was his friend. I couldn't risk him getting hurt anymore..."
I pause for a moment, taking it all in. It hurts to think about it, but it does add up. I look up at him, "Do you believe that you did the right thing?"
He nods, "Yeah. Of course I do. I just feel guilty because Bas is so upset about it. I didn't want to tell him the truth about Cooper because I didn't know what difference it would make. That guy was an expert on playing mind games, he would have tried to turn Bas away from me. And he would only hurt him as soon as he had him where he wanted him..."
I can the see pain in his eyes as he speaks, it's clear that just the idea of anything happening to Sebastian really hurts him. I sigh, "Well, I don't know if I agree with you on this or not, but I understand. I won't say a word to Bas, I promise."
"Thanks, Jeff." He replies, staring out the window, "I don't like lying to him, but I know that he would never understand forgive me. You're a really great friend, you know that?"
I give him a small smile, "Thanks. But what about you, are you gonna be alright?"
He nods, "Yeah. Everything will be perfect when Sebastian gets over all of this. I'll finally be able to breath easy." He looks back at me, "What about you? How are things with Thad?"
"Good," I answer plainly, "We're um, we're really happy."
He smiles warmly, "Well that's the first piece of good news that I've heard in a while."
Thad and Sebastian get home around 7 o'clock that night with dinner for everyone. I greet Thad with a hug before he barely makes it through the doorway. He grins at me, putting the paper bag down, "Hey, baby, how are you?"
"Pretty good, how was your day?"
He lets me out of his arms to take his jacket off, "It was pretty good. Thanks."
I glance over at Sebastian, who looks like he's doing a little bit better than he was this morning. He walks over to Hunter and flops down into his arms. Hunter hugs him tightly and affectionately.
Thad smiles, "We got Chinese, I hope you guys didn't eat yet."
The four of us plate ourselves some food and sit around the table. Hunter turns to Sebastian, "So, did you guys have fun? What'd you do?"
"We went to the mall. Did some shopping and stuff. It was pretty cool. I actually got you a jacket." Sebastian answers plainly.
Hunter smiles a little bit, "What kind of jacket?"
He shrugs, "It's just a jacket. I think you might like it, though. I'll show you after supper."
There's still a negative vibe coming from Sebastian, but this is the best that anyone's seen him since he first heard of Cooper's death. I turn to Thad, "Did you get anything?"
"Not much," he mutters, swallowing what's in his mouth, "Just a couple of t shirts."
"Fair enough," I reply, "I bet you look really cute in them, though."
"Haha, I don't know. They look fine, I guess."
Hunter and I both work pretty hard to keep the atmosphere and everyone's moods up. It's almost as if there was a rain cloud fixated over all of us. Even if Sebastian was doing better, he wasn't nearly back to normal. One day at a time, I guess. It's just obvious that his sadness is taking a toll on Thad, and I feel pretty bad for both of them right now.
We clean up and head to bed relatively early, no one really feeling up to doing much that night. I lie awake in bed, cuddled up with Thad. I can't help but think about Cooper, mostly, but Hunter and Sebastian, too. I try to put myself in everyone's shoes, just trying to make sense of the situation in my head. I sigh, unable to come to a very good conclusion.
