Exile || Sebastian Sallow

44 | 'You and I'

Woops, sorry for hiatus. See comment for some story refresher ^.^

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"We can make it 'til the end."
-One Direction

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44 | 'You and I'

Belle Darcy

1st of August - The summer before fifth year

"Sebastian, have I got this right?" Belle, with her hands sprinkled with flour and hair braided back, turned her head to the freckled boy whom she'd been spending most of the summer days with. Sometimes she couldn't help but wonder if he was getting sick of her presence at all.

The amusement twinkling in Sebastian's eyes while he measured some butter on a scale told her otherwise. "You've got it! You're doing fantastic. Now, go ahead and just whisk the flour and sugar together, please."

"Uh, what about the cinnamon? Just the tiniest bit into the bowl, I take it?" She eyed the bolded words on the recipe book.

Sebastian winked in approval. The sun rays peeking through the small windows brought out the red tints of his brown hair, and Belle could not help but admire the sight. She only gave herself a heartbeat before flickering her gaze away.

She'd never done this before. Baking, she meant. Not the spending-time-alone-with-a-boy-in-his-house bit, though that would also be a first. Mia would probably kill her if she found out Belle was alone in the house with him.

Early in the afternoon, she had met with Sebastian at their usual spot-the gazebo in the meadow where Feldcroft and Irondale met in the middle. After providing her address to him a few weeks before, and his to her, they've sent each other letters back and forth countless times.

The first letter he'd sent was jarring. After all, she hadn't expected an owl to come knocking on the window. Mia hadn't seemed surprised at all though.

"Oh, a letter, hm? Could it be from a boy?" Mia had asked that day, a smirk on her lips as she pinched Belle's cheeks.

"I love you, Mia, but please stop it," Belle answered her before trotting to her bedroom giddily. She could have sworn Mia laughed just before her door had closed.

A few weeks later, Sebastian invited her to his cottage home. Belle had chuckled at his letter because she felt his fluster through it. He assured her many times that he meant nothing more about the invitation than to use such a private time to teach her the shortbread cookie recipe she so desperately wanted to learn. She was more than happy to oblige.

And so here they were, filling the vacant space with the aroma of Sebastian's childhood and sharing it with a new friend. Belle. Both unbothered by the summer and oven humidity.

His uncle and sister were off to some wizarding hospital because his sister was still sick somehow. She did not want to ask more, sensing Sebastian truly just wanted company. He'd tell her at his own time. She believed that.

When they combined both their ingredients together, Sebastian gave Belle the honour of dumping the dough onto the table and shaping the first cookie. His chest brushed against her upper back while he gave verbal instructions. She stiffened a little. Heat ran through her skin, though she swore it was only from the weather and nothing else.