Awake, My Sleeping Beauty

Chapter 8

Sebastian smiled when he saw Leo, his older brother by two years, standing by the front door with their parents.

"Well, what are you doing here?" Sebastian shook his brother's hand. Leo laughed and pulled him closer, embracing him in a hug.

"Did you think I'd miss my little brother's birthday?" Leo squeezed his shoulder.

"Oh, really," Sebastian smiled weakly. "I feel so special."

"Yeah, well, you should," Leo winked. "How's everybody doing?"

"We're doing fine, sweetie," Frances hugged Leo's thick arm. While Sebastian was tall and lean, Leo usually worked out whenever he had a chance to. He had shaggy brown hair like Sebastian's, only a bit more kept, and dark blue eyes.

"So what are the plans?" Leo asked with a grin.

"Plans?" Sebastian sighed, glaring at his parents. "I said I didn't want to do anything."

"Oh but your brother came all the way from Yale," Stewart said. "We might as well make the best of his visit."

The doorbell suddenly rang and Leo immediately reached for the door and opened it. Esther walked in with a big smile on her face. When she saw Sebastian's parents and Leo, she looked at Sebastian.

"Good evening all," she greeted all of them with an awkward smile and then turned back to Sebastian. "Hi, everything well?"

"Yeah," Sebastian cleared his throat. "You remember my brother, right?"

"Oh yeah," Esther turned to Leo and shook his head. "Leo, right? My, my, it's been such a long time since I've seen you."

"Yeah, tell me about it," Leo nodded a little stiffly. "Since when do you live here in Portsen?"

"Oh, I moved here last year with my mother. My mom's sister was kind enough to let us move in with them."

"Hm," Leo nodded without a care and then turned to his parents. "What's to eat? I'm famished."

"Oh," Frances exclaimed brightly, "I had Ronald cook us a wonderful feast! Sorry, Sebastian. Don't look at me that way, you know I wasn't going to let your birthday just pass like this."

Sebastian kissed his mom on the cheek. "Thanks mom, I love you." He turned to Esther, who stood to the side feeling uncomfortable. "Let's go to the dinning room, Esther."

"Okay," Esther smiled even though she was gritting her teeth. Why the hell had his parents got in the way and ruined what was supposed to be a wonderful night between her and Sebastian. Sebastian grabbed Esther's hand and led her towards the dinning room. Leo frowned, turning to Frances and Stewart.

"Heaven's cousin – seriously?"

"Oh come on, Leo," Stewart chuckled, "She's a nice girl. Besides, they're just friends."

"He needs lots of those right now," Frances rubbed her hands nervously. "That's why I begged you to come back. Your brother worries me, honey. Esther told me that he seems to be taking on an entire new attitude."

"What do you mean?"

"She worries," Frances said and bit her lower lip, "that he may have suicidal thoughts."

"What?" Leo scoffed, "Yeah right, my brother wouldn't do something like that."

"That's why you need to get him talk to you, to open up," Stewart said.