Shiny Demon

Timing in Times Like These

 Stevie kept constant watch over the opening of the yacht's on-ramp. She'd been back for about an hour and there'd been no sign of Seb or Genevieve. The boat was leaving soon so they had to be back at any moment.

But it was the doorway leading into the yacht where she eventually saw him. His arm, covered in a tangle of tattooed roses, drew her eyes like a magnet as he emerged from the shadow of the inner belly of the boat. The look he gave her made her heart twist in all sorts of knots. The recognition. The longing. It was such a gift to have him look at her like that after all this time.

She rushed eagerly toward him, ready to work it all out, spend all night talking about it if they needed to. The relief was palpable as the distance between them closed.

"I'm leaving."

He dropped the words at her feet like a grenade slipping from his hands.

"What?" she asked, her steps stuttering to a stop.

She registered for the first time that he was holding a duffel bag. Closer up, she could see the weariness in his expression.

"Nicky and I have to fly out to Ibiza. Tess and the Angry Ghosts are playing there and our manager is insisting we go catch them for an interview." Each word seemed to take a toll on him.

"But..." Her voice sounded flimsy. "You're on vacation."

"We aren't, technically." He gave the floor a grim look. "Content Cast paid for our trip so we could record the reunion episodes."

"Oh, I see..." Her heart beat against the cage of her ribs desperately, but her words were limp and useless.

"Yeah..." he shrugged, looking away from her.

The click clack of quick, chipper steps drew her attention. Viv appeared, rolling a small suitcase behind her. "Are you ready to go, Seb?" Her voice was crisp and her lips were poised in a businesslike smile.

"One minute," he begged her off. He examined Stevie's reaction closely with the morose resignation of Eeyore.

Needles of dread pricked all over her body as she tried to gather her thoughts. "Viv is going with you?"

"Content Cast offered to fly her and Elladine out too. As a 'consolation'." He said the last word with a heap of disdain.

Stevie looked over at Viv again, who was cheerfully chatting to AJ. "Why did she agree, though? Doesn't she want to stay with Ciaran?"

"She says it's a good way to dispel the rumors," he grumbled.

"What rumors?"

"Something on social media about that picture we took earlier. Some faff about lipstick shades." He shook his head and shifted his weight.

"Well... that sucks," she said ineloquently. "About earlier—"

"Look," he cut her off. "I know this makes things even more complicated. I don't expect you to wait for me or anything."

"Wait for you?" A seasick feeling rolled through her stomach. "I'm not–" she stumbled over her words. She knew there was some subtext she didn't comprehend. "It's only two days, right? The boat's headed there anyway. You'll just get there a little sooner."

He nodded. ..."I'm just saying I don't expect anything." His eyes shifted away and he shoved his hands in his pockets. "In case you thought we were getting carried away again."

The words were ill-formed and sluggish, like they didn't want to come out at all, and yet they cut with the precision of a surgical blade. "You think we're getting carried away?"