Three's A Crowd

Seventy Six | My Secret Love Song

You could hear it in the silence... you could feel it when the lights were out...

Even through all the miles apart... when things would start sinking south...

It was a fabric comfort in the color of plaid... in a mattress ocean on a winter night...

Present was one when a thought struck your mind... one that told you too much was maybe just enough this time.

One year ago, in New York City...

Robin and Christopher were sitting on the edge of the open back trunk of the black Toyota, munching on their sandwiches as they watched Sebastian fix up his luggage, all dressed in comfortable casual clothes, sunglasses perched above his head.

He was in the corner of his eye, sauntering down the driveway with the keys jingling from his belt loop, baseball cap on backwards channeling his inner frat boy, and an all too familiar stride.

"Alright, me and Uncle Chris gotta go. I'll see you boys soon enough." Sebastian tells the twins, walking towards them both and helping them off the trunk, ruffling their hair before they race each other back into the house and past Chris, who looks back fondly at the two boys.

"Don't run!" he calls over his shoulder, eyes still set on them to make sure they slowed their pace into the house. Sebastian chuckled softly, pulling the trunk door shut.

"If you told me you were driving me, I wouldn't have finished up as quick as I did." he joked, turning around to face the blond.

"That eager to get away from here?" Chris jokes back in a lighthearted manner, taking the keys from the belt loops of his faded blue jeans and into the driver's seat. As he rolls the windows down for fresh air, Sebastian rolls up to the window and leans into it.

"You're making me sound like a jerk."

Chris raises an eyebrow up at him, challenging and teasing him lightly. "Why do you think I'm the one driving you?"

"Do you trust me?"

Sebastian huffed, patting the hood once before pushing himself off to round the car and get into the passenger's seat. Chris fixes the rearview mirror as he waits, watching the street carefully and waiting for the car to shift off to the right, a little indication that Sebastian was getting into the car.

Chris' fingers drum against the leather of the steering wheel, questions swirling around his head, begging to be asked.

"Why didn't you tell (y/n) you weren't flying back with us? I had to get Elizabeth and Renner to take the flight altogether." Chris asked as he looked out to the back while backing up the car, the slow beep of the sensor radar filling the quietness that should have been Sebastian's response.

Chris sighs quietly and continues. "Did something, I dunno, happen? Except for the fight?"

"Yeah."

"You guys aren't like this... I haven't heard your side and the drive's a perfectly good amount of time for interrogation." Chris sounded like a stern father

Sebastian stops astounded at what he had just said. He tries to slowly swallow the small lump in his throat, poking his tongue out to wet his lips. "Um... y-yeah, sure."

"Mhm... like you're the guy to stutter on purpose." Chris smirked a little bit, eyes averting towards Sebastian for a second before setting back on the road. The smirk quickly fades at the worried look washed over Sebastian's face.