He Couldn't Be That Bad? // Sebastian Sallow and You (spicy)

17. A Treat Before The Beach (spicy)

"Are you sure you want to go back?" Sebastian still has his eyes closed as his head is in my lap.

I'd been absentmindedly playing with his hair for the better part of an hour, it feels like silk in my fingers. But I briefly stop and say. "I should. Missing a few nights out of the common room was easier when I wasn't this... visible ."

We're sitting in the first vivarium the Room of Requirement gave me. I had filled the space with trees and made a little alcove by the waterfront with an enormous oak tree to sit beside. Leaning against it now, the perpetual sunset glimmers off the water's gently moving surface, and I feel a wonderful sense of peace.

"I'm glad you're feeling better. You're supposed to be resting." Sebastian's hands are folded across his abdomen, his sleeves rolled up and I can see a few scar lines snaking over his skin. He rolls his sleeves up around me more, and I know that it's progress.

I didn't really feel that bad in the courtyard, I liked the rest, sure. But something about Valeria made me want to keep Sebastian as far away from her as I could. A dark prickling beast had reared its head when Nattie named him in class, and that same creature pulled out its claws when I saw the way Valeria was eying him.

Noticing I've stopped, he reaches up, softly placing my hand back in his hair. "Five more minutes." He closes his eyes again with a contented smile as I resume running my nails lightly through the chocolaty brown strands.

Here in the orange glow of the sun, the feathered ends look almost honey colored. I'm having a little fun now, pushing all of it to the top of his head. It also allows me to see his face. The sun kissed freckles that dot across his nose, his strong jaw, and the way his lips soften when he's no longer scowling.

His tie is loosened around his neck enough he could slip it over his head without having to retie it. Just under the collar of his shirt I can see the remnants of a burn mark. I couldn't really see much of him when we were in the prefect's bathroom, but from what I saw, it looked like someone had tried blasting his chest open.

He still refused to take his shirt off around me, shied away from my touch or stopped it entirely. An enormous wall had been placed somewhere in his heart. I wanted to protect him from the ghosts of the past, and I wanted to smash that wall with a sledge hammer and get him back.

His eyes flutter open, and land right on mine. The warm brown of them locks me into place.

"There's still a little time of study hall left." I continue to push the hair up and off his ears.

Sebastian is gazing at me pensively. "I'd like to walk you to class this week."

"You always walk me to class." I reminded, pushing the hair off his forehead again.

Sebastian rolled off my lap, his hair is now wild like he's been standing in the wind. He situates himself up to sitting right in front of me, his arm leaning over my legs so our faces could be close.

The sun shining behind him, he almost looked angelic, a crown of light around his head, but his words contradicted that. "Because I'm going to fuck up anyone that tries to come near you."

"Seems like an overreaction." I tease, sitting forward off the trunk.

The way he's looking at me now, so intently, like he wants to burn the world down, I practically scoff.

Reaching out I straighten the collar of his shirt, retighten his tie, pressing my palms flat as I smooth everything back into place. "I'm going to be fine. Besides, you'll have to compete with Imelda for that position."

"Hardly." His eyes watch my hands as they work.

Eventually I clasp my fingers in my lap, digging at a nail nervously. "She's just as angry. Backed down Peeves to keep him away... And I don't know why, I never thought of us as really that close."