You Only Live Once

Chapter Fifteen

When Jamie woke, it was to the sound of footsteps walking past the bedroom door. Chris must be home. She looked up at the clock then looked over at Sebastian, seeing he was still asleep.

Jamie slowly slid out of bed, trying not to wake Sebastian in the process, then got dressed. Throwing on some clothes, she tiptoed into the hallway and shut the door behind her then walked down the hall and found Chris sitting in the living room with a book.

"Good Afternoon," Chris smiled as he turned the page of his book. "Have a nice nap?"

"Mmhm," Jamie nodded, still not completely awake. "What did you get up to today?"

"Went to an audition this morning, then did a little shopping for myself. What did you do?" Chris asked in return. "I know Sebastian's knocked out... takes a lot to do that after a good night's sleep."

"Oh, we, uh... went for a swim, and then worked out a bit," Jamie replied, glancing at him nervously. "I guess it was more cardio than he thought it would be."

Chris chuckled. "If you want to call it that." He looked up from his book and smiled. "I'm not upset about it Jamie. I know this evening will be hard."

Jamie nodded. "I don't know that it has fully hit me yet that he's leaving. Though, I'm sure it will come down on me like a ton of bricks once he is at the airport."

"I know. I'm here for you though," Chris replied. "I'm here for both of you, and I hope you know that either of you can talk to me about anything. Seb is like a brother to me, I might as well adopt you too," he smiled.

Jamie smiled back. "Thank you, I appreciate it." She sighed. "I've never done this long-distance thing before. Let alone the fact that he is a celebrity. It's all new territory for me... I guess I'm just nervous, ya know?"

Chris put a bookmark in his book and put it off to the side, then patted the spot beside him. "I understand completely. It's going to be a bit different for Sebastian too. Long distance relationships are something we have to deal with a lot because we travel so much. But there are ways around it. We travel to make sure we see the one we care for, we talk to them whenever we can, or we fly the person to us. We make it work."

Jamie nodded, taking a seat next to him. Chris pulled her close, wrapping an arm around her shoulder. "I know. I just..." she trailed off, looking down at her lap. "I can't help but shake this feeling like... I don't know... I mean, we've known each other for, what, three weeks? Who's to say that once he leaves, he'll want to keep in touch? Let alone keep up a relationship with someone he hardly knows."

"Jamie, honey... if Sebastian views this as a fling, he wouldn't be doing anything that he has. He wouldn't have invited you here, nor would you have gone on two dates already." He smiled at her as he rubbed her shoulder. "He really cares about you Jamie. Believe me when I tell you that. Today will be just as hard for him."

She took a deep breath. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm sure you're right. I'm probably just letting the anxiety get to me," she tried to smile up at him.

"It gets to us all." Chris pulled her in for a side hug just as he heard the bedroom door open. "Your man is awake," he smiled.

Sebastian walked into the living room in a hurry only to slide to a stop in his socks when he saw Jamie sitting on the couch. "I thought you were gone," he murmured.

"I'm sorry," Jamie stood from the couch and walked over to him, standing on her toes to kiss his cheek. "I just didn't want to wake you. I'd never leave without saying goodbye, I promise," she whispered.

The scent of vanilla surrounded him as he wrapped his arms tightly around her and buried his head in her neck. "I know I just... I had a dream that you left. That everything we've done was a lie."