Lifeline (Sebastian Vettel)

Chapter 58: Starting Again

Tully pushed the front door of the townhouse open suspiciously, listening carefully for any sounds from Heikki or Casey. Nothing but silence met her ears.

She closed the door behind her quietly and leaned back against it, letting out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding. Through the wood, she heard the faint sound of tyres on gravel as Seb pulled out of the driveway and left.

She massaged her temples, finally acknowledging the headache that had been nagging her for the past hour or so. With a frown, she pushed off the door and made her way into the kitchen, retrieving some painkillers and water. As she sipped at her glass in the darkened kitchen, her eyes wandered out the window across the lake in the general direction of Seb's house. Behind the houses lining the lake in between, she could faintly see headlights, which, sure enough, extinguished as they reached his two-story home.

She kept watching as a downstairs light turned on inside the house a few moments later. A figure moved through the windows, disappearing for a few minutes before reappearing in an upstairs room and standing at the window. He might have been looking directly in her direction, though with no lights on in her house, he'd never know she was watching right back.

He stayed there for a while, standing completely still as Tully let her mind run over her day with him. From earlier that morning where he'd told her he was still in love with her, to trying to watch a movie with him, to kissing him again for the first time, then later their dinner. What struck her most was how normal it all seemed to her. It felt so normal to kiss him, to watch a movie with him, to go out with him. Because, she supposed, she'd done it all before. Even if she didn't know it.

She watched as Seb's distant figure appeared to begin undressing, snorting to herself as he seemed to struggle with his jeans. She felt her heart flutter at the thought of seeing him again tomorrow. She could only hope she woke up and still felt that way.

---

Upon getting home, Seb trudged up the stairs to the second landing, sighing as he eventually pushed his way into his bedroom and glared at his empty bed. He hadn't been ready to end his night with Tully. But then, he probably never would be. It was torturous how close he was getting to making significant progress with her, after so long, yet still feel so disconnected. He wandered over to the floor-to-ceiling Northern windows and cast his eyes across the lake, toward the general direction of the townhouse. Everything in that direction was completely dark. He waited a bit for his eyes to adjust to the darkness, but there was nothing.

He gave up and pulled his phone from his pocket, at the same time pulling his shirt off over his head.

He had a new message from Britta.

"Don't forget our appointment tomorrow."

"Haven't forgotten." he replied before throwing his phone down onto the mattress. It had been awhile since they last caught up in person. She probably would need an update on just about everything that had been going on. He realised a few moments later that Britta and Tully would probably overlap tomorrow for the first time in a long time.

He started the process of peeling his jeans off before picking his phone back up to add another message to Britta, "Tully should be around tomorrow. She may/may not recognise you. Just FYI."

Another reply came through moments later. "How's everything going with her?"

"We had a really big day today. Things are getting better now, I think."

How he was going to get any sleep that night he did not know. How could he after everything that had happened that day? She'd kissed him. She had kissed him. Multiple times. That had been unexpected. He'd always imagined himself being the one to have to break the ice. But then Tully always seemed to have a knack for surprising him.