Degrees of Separation | Sebastian Sallow

Chapter Five - Conflict, No Resolution

| - | - | - | - |

For a moment, the world goes still- silent. Not even the wind howled, despite the cool bite to the air as it chilled me to the bone, raising goosebumps in its wake.

Nothing could be heard above the sound of the thunderous beat of my heart, threatening to break apart my resolve.

Not until he speaks, at least, forcing me to step back out of shock as soon as the words leave his mouth. "What- what do you mean? H-How?"

Sebastian only looks at me, his expression unreadable, but his eyes never leave my own, almost as if he were afraid I would disappear if he tried to look away.

He doesn't respond right away. Instead, he holds out a hand towards the dock, signaling for me to sit next to him.

I'm hesitant, but I follow his lead against my better judgement, putting enough space between us in fear that he would be able to feel the way my body shakes in his presence.

Drawing my knees up to my chest, I chance a glance towards Sebastian as he sits closer to the edge of the dock, turning my head enough that I catch the way the moon highlights his features. He tilts his head back to the stars, his chest rising with a few deep breaths, heavy and stuttered, as if he were struggling to take it all in himself.

Being back here after being gone for so long must be strange, as strange as it had been for me to see him here, in the flesh, right in front of me.

But things felt... normal again. If only for a single, fleeting moment.

As long as neither of us spoke, I could pretend that we were back in time- just two kids sneaking off into the shadows, getting into nothing good.

"Do you remember back in fifth year, when we'd snuck off into the Restricted Section of the Library?" Sebastian's voice is soft, if not a bit raspy, getting stuck on a breath when he turns to meet my gaze. His eyes are filled with a melancholic light that tugs something deep and familiar into my chest, the very mention of our first escapade now suddenly brought to the forefront of my mind.

"How could I forget? It was the first real trouble I'd gotten into when I got to Hogwarts." I shake my head, unable to suppress the laugh bubbling from my throat, feeling my lips tug up on instinct at the face he makes in response.

"As if getting attacked by goblins and dragons and trolls wasn't enough trouble for your first week. I figured you could use a bit more," he cracks, his tone light and playful; warm... familiar. "Besides, if I remember correctly, I was the one who got detention for all of that. I covered for you."

I can only roll my eyes in response, leaning my chin against the tops of my knees, bringing my arms to wrap around my legs that I keep drawn to my chest. I stare into the water below, watching it ripple and shudder beneath the light of the moon.

"I remember," I whisper, voice low and airy, as if tasting the memory on the tip of my tongue. The thought of it stings, even when I know that it shouldn't. But, I'd worked hard to bury a lot of those memories, so actually thinking about them now was a bit painful.

"Well... I never found what I was looking for that day," he tells me, more softly now, pulling my mind back from the faded, distant memory. And for a moment, when I sat up a little straighter, I chanced a glance back over to him, catching a flash of the boy he'd used to be.

Messy curls, freckled cheeks. The sweater he wears is rumpled, knit, rolled up to his elbows. He leans back onto his hands, legs dangling from the dock, head still tilted towards the skies as his eyes trace the constellations.