Evening Promises

six.

"How long were you waiting?" A familiar voice asks from behind me and I turn to make the sight of them.

Sebastian walks my way with his usual grin and his arms overlapped behind him. He pulls his hood from his head, inviting his fresh curls to have a view of the night sky as the stars stare back at us.

"Thirty minutes too long" I smirk eyeballing him as he sits on the swing beside me.

"You could've waited longer," he says shrugging his shoulders and standing to his feet. I open my mouth in shock and grab ahold of his arm to sit him back down while giving him an earnest laugh, "Sebastian!"

His abrupt smile reaches mine as he sits back down sticking his hands in the pockets of his jet black trousers, "I like hearing my name leave your lips so I'll let that one slide"

The heat rises to my lips while my finger grazes over them as I imagine his name leaving my mouth in many other ways. No, I can't think like that, Sebastian most likely isn't thinking that far ahead. I turn to Sebastian watching as he stares down at his feet.

He looks back up at me and down to my hand before tilting his head as his eyebrows furrow, "Whatcha got there?" He asks referring to the small bottle tucked between my fingers.

I look down at the bottles, reminding myself that I had indeed brought alcohol with me for the both of us, "oh this thing?" I question examining it with a shrug, "Just a bit of alcohol; see, you want some?" I say holding the bottle up with a smile swaying over my lips.

His eyes grow wide causing my smile to weaken as I sit the drink beside me, stuffed between the wood chips. He shakes his head laughing to himself, "I'm sorry I just promised myself to avoid alcohol" he admits.

"But it's okay if you drink it, don't let my escape discourage you" he jumps to reassure me while nodding his curls.

I throw my hand out dismissing what he is saying as I shake my head in between, "I'm not a frequent drinker Sebastian, I only drink on occasion so it doesn't bother me. Now I know not to bring it around you" I say.

He smiles pulling his hands to wrap around the rails of the swings, "Want to know why?" he asks looking back at me and I smile brightly nodding back to him. I've been waiting on the day for him to bring up the past to me, the thought of getting a step closer to Sebastian warms every corner of my lone heart.

"Enlighten me" I hum.

He shuffles in the swing to get a better feel as he picks up a stick and kicks the wood chips away creating space to draw in the dirt, "as a teen, my dad expected so much from me, being an only child as well; he saw me a certain way—" he stops to make eye contact with me, "—an unhealthy way at that." he says going back to his previous activity causing me to cock my brows while widening my eyes in fear; hoping my horrific thoughts are nowhere near to the point of reality.

"He stripped the fun away from me, wanting me to be as successful as him and overstudy in school. I don't think his intentions were bad but I also don't think he realized how overwhelming it was for me as a teenager, I wanted to live life and be free at an inexperienced age without a mile of responsibilities—while juggling good grades as well— instead of being pushed towards something I wasn't. I wanted to take advantage of that because I knew what the real world would be thrown at me," he admits with a small chuckle while shaking his head in disbelief.

"Me being the child that wanted nothing more than the approval of his father added on to me following his every command, even if it was deliberately ripping away my humanity. As a teen, it's vital to have moments to find yourself; no matter how impossible it seems or how far away you feel you are from discovering your true potential in life, you know? You still need that moment in time, even if it's only a few months to uncover but I wasn't even given an hour." he confesses while still doodling in the dirt, erasing and drawing new things from time to time as I nod involuntarily to his rhetorical question.