A Man Has Horns // Sebastian Sallow

Chapter 23 - Use Your Words

"Mmmh," Sebastian softly grunted as he still held his nose. He was blinking and trying to shift his face to assess the damage.

I was still frozen but mustered to turn to him to look at the state of him.

The blood had pooled on the collar of his sweater and streaks of them had poured down his chest. He kept wiping away the still pouring blood with his sleeve, needing to twist it around his wrist as parts of it was fully saturated and not able to absorb any more of it coming.

I went to him and pushed his hand away to look. It was difficult to tell with the blood but there was some small swelling. Nothing broken.

"Are you going to heal me like you had yourself?" he grunted, raising his sleeve to brush the blood away again.

I pulled my hand back and slapped him across the face.

"AGH," he grunted, clutching his nose. "WHAT in Merlin possessed you to do that!!?" he was squinting with bared teeth holding his face.

"Why did you come out? Why did you tell him!?" I argued back upset but not angry at him.

Garreth's face was seared into my memory and the last few of the old tears that rested in the corners of my eyes ran down my cheeks.

I was too inebriated to understand the reality of the situation and he was too pitiful to be fully angry towards.

"So you're not going to heal me??" he asked again blinking hard.

"No, this is your punishment," I shook my head stubborn, enraged he thought I even would have.

"Fair enough," he cocked his head back to stop the bleeding.

It was finally slowing down.

"Answer me," I demanded him.

He shrug his shoulders. Then he threw his hand up as if to say 'whatever'.

"Sebastian, I deserve an explanation," I repeated.

"You've already received one!" he answered impatient and annoyed of my pestering. "You know why," he grunted and pulled his head back again, looking at me with one eye closed through his bloody fingers holding the bridge of his nose. "I'm not going to repeat myself."

"Ok," I gave up. "Then please enlighten me," I shifted my weight to the right side, "what was the plan? You come outside when I speak to Garreth to do what? What did you envision?"

"This works," he answered and giving a small defeated smile.

"When we re-enter the common room you will look like a two-time loser and I, a tart," I brushed him off angry, looking at his sweater in blood.

There was no point in fixing him up, people would still know something had happened between him and Garreth.

Sebastian laughed, squinting as he found out it hurt him when he did.

"I didn't expect you telling him about the broom incident," I added finally. "I didn't expect you would use that to gain leverage."

"Lilith," he sighed, grabbing the bridge of his nose with his hand again. "It escaped my mouth without thinking. I swear that was the case, but I also will be honest that I don't feel sorry."

He had his eyes closed and looked concentrated on something. The pain or the conversation, I was not sure.

I was still upset.

"Are you sure you didn't want me to tell him?" Sebastian suddenly said with a shrug. "How otherwise would have he ever known?"

I pulled my arm back to slap him again as he grabbed my wrist and stopped me before it made impact.