Kawaii-Cherri: Discombobulated, it's a long word and annoying to spell, haha. Sorry for making you feel that. Here is the result of Sam's weird and kinda silly plan. the things we do for friendship huh. I'm honestly not very happy with the chapter as it feels silly, but we all have these moments so i hope it's understandable. I'll attempt to update often, i promise. Thank you for reading and reviewing.

A/N: This was saved in my laptop as chapter 13, uploaded as chapter 17 but gets marked under chapter 18. It's a whole mess over here.

Chapter 17: Snap decisions

It was past midnight when Rina finally got back to the house. Mochi mewled and wound himself around her legs as she greeted him. 'Hey, sweetie,' she said. 'I would stroke you but I'm not clean at the moment,' she said as she looked down at her jeans and hoodie. Rina caught sight of the bouquet that she had left in the sink and sighed, 'oh right… that,' she muttered with a sigh. She moved and picked up the flowers, placing them on the side so that she could wash her hands. 'If I'm lucky I might be able to wash these stains out of my clothes, instead of having to burn them,' she said to Mochi who jumped onto the counter to lap from the running tap. Once her hands were clean, she opened a can of food for him; it was late yes, but she felt bad for having been in the barn all evening.

'Alright, I'm going for a shower,' she said with a yawn as she picked up her phone and looked at the screen. 'Oh… fuck!' She blurted, scaring Mochi and making him jump. He yowled at her in annoyance and flicks his tail. She had several missed calls from pretty much everyone who had her number. There were voicemails and so she listened to those first, clicking through them in her worry

'Rina! Have you spoken to Seb-'

'Rina! Is Sebby with you-?'

'Can you give Seb a call-?'

'Give me a call when you get-'

She frantically skipped past the messages, hearing Sam's, Robin's, Maru's and even Demetrius' voice. 'What the hell is going on?' Rina looked at Mochi who stared back in feline ignorance. 'Why has he suddenly dropped off the face of the planet?' She pulled her hoodie off and put her phone on speaker as she called Sebastian's number.

'This number is currently unavailable, please try calling again later. If you would like to leave a message, please speak after the tone.'

*Beep*

'Bastian! I have missed calls from almost the entire town. What's going on? Where are you? Everyone is worried about you!' Rina said in the direction of her phone while attempting to change. 'When you turn your damn phone back on, please let your mother know that you're still alive! I don't know what's going on but clearly you've gone somewhere? I know you're upset about the whole bouquet thing but this isn't the way to go about handling shit!' Rina practically shouted at her phone as she struggled into cleaner clothing, staggering around as she yanked on her jeans. 'Please, call me back!' Rina finished the call and shoved her phone into her back pocket. She was going to have to join the search seeing as it was late night, he could be in serious trouble for all they knew. It could have nothing to do with the earlier upset of the day, he could just be injured somewhere.

Rina pulled on her boots once more and grabbed her sword belt, buckling it around her waist. 'Mochi, I'm going to look for that dumbass. If he's not hurt, he's soon going to be!' Rina scowled; her anger derived from the fear that Sebastian could be in danger. Mochi barely looked up from his bowl and continued, oblivious to his owner's manic whirlwind. She grabbed her keys and backpack which had her mining gear in it; which included medical supplies. 'Don't wait up!' She called as she ran out the door and straight into Robin.

'Rina!'

'Robin! What's going on?!' Rina asked as she apologised for bumping into her. Robin was on the verge of tears and it was clear that she had already been crying. 'What's going on?!' Rina asked again.

'I don't know! Sebby came in and he was all… sharp and cold! He went into his room but he must have slipped out at some point because I went to go give him some dinner and… he wasn't in there. If he goes out to a friend's or to here, he sends a text or leaves a note or something! And it's been hours, and… and his phone is off!' She said with a choked voice.

'Alright, alright, just… let's get you home and you need to stay there in case he comes back. I'll set my alarms, if he enters in the code to the box, we'll know he's here as my phone will notify me,' she said as she began to move Robin off her porch. Time was of the essence. 'Did he take his bike?'

Robin shook her head and Rina escorted her home, there were a group of people outside the house. Maru spotted them first and ran over to greet them. The weather was getting worse and it had begun to rain. 'Why didn't you answer your phone?!' She asked Rina as she waved her dad over to take care of her distraught mother.

Rina sighed and shook her head, 'it wasn't on purpose! I left my phone in the house when Fergie kicked off. Turns out the calf that she wasn't supposed to have for another couple of weeks decided to pop out early. I had to hook up the extra radiator in the barn and add more straw, not to mention, keep an eye on the birth,' she explained. 'I was covered. Thank Yoba, for Marnie's lessons.'

Maru's hackles settled down for a moment, 'aw, everything okay with the little one?' She asked, understanding why that would cause a rather large distraction,

'Four hooves, two eyes, ears, and an adorable nose,' Rina smiles. 'Little boy, so that's new. Looking forward to having my own bull,' she added. Then she shook her head, 'so what's going on?' She asked nodding towards the group of people. 'Is Sebastian really in trouble?'

She gave Rina a serious look. 'Seb has always stuck to the rule that mum put in place. If you're leaving the house, let someone know where you're going or when you'll be home. If plans change, you let her know. Other than that, we pretty much had free rein as teenagers. We stuck to the rule, even now. It's just about keeping one another safe,' she said quietly. 'I think after what happened to Seb's dad… Mum worries about us never coming home after being hurt,' she mumbles, avoiding Rina's gaze. 'So, Marlon is checking the mines; Sam is going down past Marnie's and Leah's. I'm going to stay here with mum and dad is going down the beach,' she explained. 'We've already done one search but we've got to keep trying until we find him.'

Rina hugged Maru tightly. 'Don't worry, we'll find that stupid idiot,' she said softly. 'Look after your mum, I'll let you know as soon as we find him,' she assured. Maru nodded and went back to her mother and Rina looked around in the darkness, the rain was getting heavier. Soon she would be soaked through, it didn't matter though. She had a job to do. Rina pulled up her hood and began to walk as the others began to go down their own paths. She would check all his usual hangouts, places she knew he liked, even if it took her all night. Rina was determined.

It was a few hours later when Rina finally got to the last spot she could think of, it was just outside Pelican town, in the forest. 'Sebastian?!' She called as she used her torch to scan the area, I hope the battery lasts, she moans in her mind. 'Sebastian?! Where are you? Come on! Everyone is looking for you!' She shouts. The small cabin came into view, it was broken down and barely standing but Sebastian had discovered it as a young teen and it became a place of solace for him.

He had shown her this place earlier in the year, just before the end of spring. It was at the beginning in their friendship and they were getting bored of the assumptions and insinuations from others. All they wanted was somewhere to talk and hang out without interruptions. Every time they were at her farm, someone would "happen" to need something from her. It had gotten frustrating and in the end, Sebastian had taken her this small run-down shack.

She could see that there was some type of light flickering inside. Rina's breath caught in her throat and she began to run towards it. 'Sebastian?!' She calls out. She found him standing under what could barely be called a roof; it had so many holes. He was leaning against one of the walls and smoking. Rina slipped and skidded in the dirt as she tried to slow down. She was drenched to the bone and had mud splattered up to her knees. Sebastian was also soaked and had his hood pulled up; the tiny light was coming from a weak gas lamp that had been placed under the only dry bit of the shack.

'What are you doing here?' He asked, flicking the cigarette butt to the side and simply taking out another to light up, the flame highlighting his features for a brief moment.

Rina scoffed in disbelief, shaking her hands and flicking water around. It was useless but she attempted to wipe her forehead and brush her hair away from her face. 'Sebastian Vance, are you fucking serious right now?' She stood in the mud looking over at him from a few metres away. Gingerly, she stepped over a bit of floorboard as she came closer. 'You're not answering your damn phone! You didn't tell anyone where you were going and the last thing that most people know, you just disappeared!' Rina snapped at him, becoming angrier as he just calmly smoked. 'By the way, what the hell was that about?!'

'Doesn't matter-'

Rina had literally just sent a mass text to everyone to get them to stand down and relax when he spoke those two words. 'Ex-fucking-scuse me? Oh, no, no, fucking way!' She glared at him with anger and frustration. Her heart beat loudly against her chest, hurting with ribs with every pound. The fear had barely begun to dissipate. 'You don't get to stand there in the rain like some fucking… I don't know… some… emo… teenage, boy band singer and tell me that it doesn't damn well matter!' She said as she got close enough to snatch the cigarette out his fingers. Rina dared him to defy her, staring straight into his eyes by what light she could see, 'you owe me an explanation!'

His brow furrowed. 'I owe you? I fucking owe you?! Get off your high horse, Rina. You're the one that's been… I don't know… fucking around with my best mate without saying anything!' He pushed past her and began to walk away, then he turns back as he couldn't leave it like that. 'Then the way I find out about it is by some damn coincidence?!' Sebastian knew he was being an asshole; he knew that this wasn't the real reason he was so upset. He had come to the conclusion that he had to admit to himself that he wanted her. As more than a best friend and to think that he could have missed his chance was… soul destroying as it was nothing but his own fault. 'I thought we told each other everything-'

'I would tell you everything if you would actually shut up and fucking listen!' Rina almost screamed at him, furious that he called her by her name. The last time he had done that was when they first met. Literally the first night and he hadn't done it since. It hurt. Made her feel like they were strangers once more.

Sebastian opened his arms in a mocking way, 'well I'm here. I'm listening,' he said. For the first time, Rina was truly seeing his dark corners. The side he tried to keep locked away. The bitterness, the self-serving pity, a well of depression that seemed to just spiral ever onwards. He hated himself for it but the demons had broken free and causing havoc in his mind and heart.

She scowled at him and walked closer, slipping a little on the mud. Rina takes a deep breath on the cigarette she'd stolen from him before flicking it aside. 'First off. You're being a total bastard. Making your mother worry like this! People are searching for your sorry ass all over town. They think you're lying in a damn ditch somewhere, dying!' The rain had eased off for a moment and she was able to brush the water from her face once again and wave it off her hand. 'Secondly, the thing about Sam and I… Well, there isn't a thing. Sam and I aren't dating. I'm not interested in him. In the slightest! There is nothing going on with me and Sam. He asked, I said, no!' She got close enough to poke him in the chest with each statement. 'To round it all off, what the fuck is this about, Sebastian? All this? What the hell?'

Sebastian couldn't look at her, he knew that everything that was going to come out his mouth would be a lie. Perhaps a convincing lie. At least his pain would give some semblance of truth to his words. 'We're close… and the idea of you and Sam… that you were dating him and… you… you hadn't ever said anything to me about him before… It fucking hurt. It hurt so much because it felt like you didn't trust me,' he whispered. 'Like you felt that you had to hide it.'

Rina shook her head, 'I get that it would be a shock but come on, you didn't even let me explain, you wouldn't even let Sam explain. Then you just bailed on everyone!'

His heart clenched. How was he supposed to tell her it was because he was desperately in love with her? It just felt like more of a betrayal. That he had been lying about their friendship. 'I'm… I'm going to be leaving soon and… and what if… we aren't as close? What if I lose you as a friend because I'm in the city,' he mumbled. 'What if the distance between us creates an actual distance?! I know it's selfish but I'm terrified of losing you,' he babbles, staring at his lighter. Hoping that in any way it made sense and she didn't call him out on his, what seemed to be obvious bullshit. 'What if this was just the first step to everything fucking up? -'

Interrupting him, Rina sighed and pulled him into a rough and incredibly damp hug. It silenced him and almost knocked the air out of him as well. 'You're a fucking idiot and in no way does anything you said make sense… but I get it,' she said softly,. 'Remember the time I freaked out at you? After the doctor appointment? I get how it feels like that at times,' she murmured as she wrapped her arms around his shoulders. He didn't reciprocate at first and Rina knew it might take a little while. After a minute or two, she heard a sniff and then felt his embrace, gentle at first before tightening like she would vanish.

The wind moved the trees and the rain became heavier for a moment before it lightened. There were a few minutes of silence before he spoke again. 'I shouldn't move to the city-'

Rina jolted back out the hug, 'woah, what the fuck are you going on about? Look we'll talk about this when we're at home.'

Sebastian shook his head and looked at her, 'I don't think it's a good idea-'

'You've wanted this for years, what the hell changed?' Rina said completely confused and whiplashed by the entire conversation shift. She shook her head to ignore him and tried to walk away so that he had no choice to follow.

He sighs as he takes a step forward, 'it's just that I can't leave the people I love-' Deep inside he was glad that the topic had moved away from his massive fuck up of an assumption in regards to Sam. Though he knew it was far from over,

'Bullshit!' Rina interrupted again. 'That's bullshit because you listen to me. Love is not enough to keep you here. It's not a good enough reason!'

'Love isn't good enough?' Sebastian scoffed.

'No! Of course, it's not!' Rina said simply. 'What's changed in the last year? Really? Come on, tell me,' Rina demanded, Sebastian floundered for a moment and she answered for him. 'I'll tell you. It's not much! I mean, yeah, we became best friends but that's not enough! You've known Sam for almost your entire life and he's much more of a best friend than me and you weren't going to stay for him! Though you get on better with your family, that's just gonna make it easier for you to go!' She sighed and shook her head. 'Can we just go back into town? Please? It's too late for this and I had one of my cows calf earlier and I'm exhausted,' Rina muttered.

'Yeah… of course,' Sebastian said quietly. The disappointment in her tone staked him deep in the chest. 'Rina… I'm sorry… for all of this,' he added.

She nodded, 'I know. It's just… gonna take me a couple of days to calm down and honestly, you owe Sam and your family more of an apology than me,' she said honestly. 'Come on… oh and actually… the real, final thing?' She said as she stopped in her walking and faced him. 'You ever call me by Rina, again, I'll break your damn finger. One of the important ones,' she said pointedly motioning to his hand.