Love At First Text ✔️

Him

Sebastian was quite literally shaking with anger. With panic. Unrestrained rage.

His grip was unrelenting on the steering wheel. He didn't want to drive – he could hardly see past the haze of red in his vision – but he had to get to Zoya.

He hadn't wanted to leave Eden. At all. When she'd seen him, she's stumbled into his chest, not caring about the oil that stained his clothes, or the sweat that coated his body. She just wrapped her arms around him, holding tightly to her phone and her car keys like she never wanted to let them go, and cried into his t-shirt.

It was a moment he could have never prepared for. Never wanted to, in the hope that it would never have come to pass. He stroked her hair, he whispered words to her – trying to comfort her, in some way. He didn't even know if it was possible. She was beside herself. Couldn't even explain what had happened. He all but carried her inside – Karl behind them, having forgotten all about needing to get home. He ran to their back room – the fridge where there was bottled water, the bag off fresh washed cloths. All the while, Sebastian peeled Eden from him and gently forced her to sit.

He hated looking at her. It made him sick. Yet he couldn't take his eyes away. Her cheek was bright red – not from tears, but from contact. Her lip – he skimmed his thumb over it. Swollen on one side where it has lightly split, the blood already having crusted over to scab. There was already a bruise forming beneath her eye – around a small cut which was glistening red. That was swollen too, only lightly, but he could see the plump of her skin as it worked quickly cushion the wound.

What horrified him most, though, the marks around her neck. Closer, he could tell what they were. Fingers. Two pressed into the hollow of her collar bone, one at the base of her throat. They were the worst. There was a scattering of others too.

"Who did this to you?" He asked her calmly. As calm as he could. She was still crying, shaking her head, pushing her hair away from her face. He did it for her. "Please gorgeous. Tell me what happened, baby."

"He, he went – mad." She hiccupped, her eyes flitting in a panic to look at Karl who was pouring some of the water over a rag. He didn't seem to know what to do with himself.

"Who did, Eden?" He asked again. He didn't want to lose his temper with her, but he needed to know. He needed to.

"I went to pick up my – my car, from – Caleb's." That was all he needed to hear. He stood quickly. Dizzy. Fucking livid.

She reached out and grabbed for him. "Please don't leave me." She had begged. He dropped to a crouch before her. Stroked her throat. Her face. Slanted his lips over hers.

"Trust me, please. I'll be back soon. Karl will stay with you." He pressed his lips, gentle and chaste, on hers. When he stood, Karl nodded at him. It was understanding. Thinly veiled anger. He knew what Sebastian was planning on doing without him needing to say the words.

"I'll clean her up." He promised, kneeling before Eden. She choked back a cry when he brushed the wet rag over her face. Sebastian nodded, more an affirmation to himself than anyone else, before leaving. He texted Nat before he was even in the car. He was almost outside her house before he'd pressed send on the second text.

He'd hardly knocked before she was at the door. She was only wearing a shirt, pulling it down at her waist so it covered what was underneath. There was no makeup on her, and her hair was stuck up in ever direction, a clear indication to what she had been doing before he arrived. Zoya stook behind, a frantic expression on her face, dressed much the same way.

"What, the fuck, is going on!" Natalie screeched. "I've been going fucking crazy! You can't just message me something like that and not reply, Seb! What the fuck –"