The Turning of Time ~ Sebastian Sallow

Chapter Twenty-One

I stare at the beautiful man in front of me, he has taken my breath away. Up until now, pushing everyone away was difficult but manageable. Looking at him now, I want to cry into his arms and beg for him to help me. But I can't, because he will. This man will do anything he can to protect the ones he cares about. I refuse to let him tear his life apart for me. He's just now started to patch it back up. I want him to be happy, even if it means without me. 

"Can I come in?" He  says this while still managing to keep his gorgeous smile. I realize I've been staring at him for way longer than what is considered comfortable. 

"Y-yeah, sorry." I step back allowing him room to get into the locker room. I slowly follow behind him, he goes tmy bench. His hand glides across the plaque with my name on it. I can't see his face, but I know his smile has grown. Trying not to grimace, I follow behind slowly. Luckily, he doesn't seem he notice my slow going. 

"That was amazing, y/n." He turns his head around to see I've barely made it halfway across the room. His face  darkens almost immediately. Like he had expected this but was disappointed anyways.

"How hurt are you?" He turns back to face me and with only a few steps he reaches me.  Invading my personal space in the process. We're chest to chest. He's fuming, I can't tell if it's at me or not. He gently caresses my cheek, looking almost as pained as he is angry

"That's hard to say. I will need to fo to the nurse to get an accurate assessment. But from my best guess, a few broken ribs and some bruising. I don't think anything else is broken and most likely no bleeding internally." I say matter of factly. 

"I'm going to kill them." He whispers with barely suppressed rage.

"Wait, who?" Confusion sweeps through me. Who is he talking about? It's a game, I'm bound to get hurt. 

"Hufflepuffs Beaters." He says these two words through tightly gritted teeth, rage slowly building. I put my hand on his chest, in a desperate attempt to calm him. I can feel a small object  through his silver outer robe, into what must be his shirt pocket. From the shape I can tell it's the twin to the pin I have in my ponytail. Knowing he keeps it on him makes my heart swell with love. Even when he's acting like an overprotective idiot, I know I will always love him. I smile weakly at him.

"Sebastian, stop. It's a game, it's literally their job to disrupt the other team. It was a tight match, it wasn't like they were left with much choice." He looks at me, then looks down at our feet. I can feel his racing heart under my hand. 

We stand there in rigid silence. 

He takes a deep breath.

The rage once palpable seems to be leeching with every passing second, his heart slowing.

"I appreciate that you care, but you knew I was going to start Quidditch. Haven't you gotten hurt? You're a chaser after all, the Beaters usual prey." He gently grasps my hand, leaving our entwined hands on his chest. He looks up at me with a smile only a fraction of what he came in here with.

"You're right. I'm sorry. It's just difficult to see you hurt." He releases a long held sigh, that ruffles my loose hairs.

 "Show me?" Show him what? My back? I drop his hand and step back, face flushing pink. I know that he didn't mean anything by it. But that's more than I've ever intentionally shown him, or anybody,as prude-ish as that may be. It's the truth. Even the dress for the party only showed my right leg at times, everything else was still covered. 

"Uh s-sure." I turn slowly, slower even, than how I was walking earlier. Trying desperately to regain some semblance of nonchalance. 

Once my back is completely turned, I gently cross my arms and grip my shirt on either side. My face flushing red, no nonchalance to be found. With a quick breath in and out, I slowly raise my shirt up until I reach the bottom of my ribcage. I hear his breath catch at the sight of my bruised back.