Scales [ON HOLD]

Chapter Twenty-Six: All Over Again

   As we were watching the final moments of the sun set, we realised that we were already late. Picking my head of his shoulder, we threw away the empty doughnut boxes and I began to panic. Cliodhna and Antonio had probably sent out a search party by now; that's how worried they can be. I wasn't keeping track of time and so it went flying past eight, but I didn't really mind because we caught up on the things we had missed out on, and I'm sure he didn't either.

   Running back to the sweet shop, we began to retrace our steps. After figuring out where we came from, we continued to hurry home, but I was already tired out; Sebastian wasn't doing that well either. If I were an animal, I would probably be a hedgehog; 'cute', evil, slow and annoying.

   "How much further?" He panted out, leaning against a lamp post. He was fanning himself with his hand and trying to calm his breathing. I smiled, remembering when we used to play Tag all the time- I would never get caught, even though I am physically unfit, but I guess he is too. Tugging back my sleeve, I checked my watch and sighed.

   "About two miles, and we are already forty-five minutes late. It shouldn't be that long though." I tried to sound confident, but my voice just couldn't be bothered. I sat down on the pavement before lying down completely, spreading my arms out next to me as if I was creating a snow angel. "I'm exhausted though."

   Sebastian was silent. I closed my eyes and lay there for a moment or two. The sounds of the insect world coming to life were extremely relaxing. Breaking me out of my relaxation, I felt an arm sliding underneath my legs and the other one just on my back. I yelped in surprise and opened my eyes.

   "What kind of a gentleman would I be to make a lady stay out so late?" Sebastian was beaming down at me. I flushed and rested my head on his waistcoat in an attempt to hide my face.

   "Y-you can put me down. Really, I c-can walk." I stuttered out. Why was I acting like this? Usually, I was a headstrong independent girl, and now I seemed helpless and vulnerable.

   He chuckled. As he did this, his chest vibrated. My heart began to beat faster and my breathing hitched. I tried to rest a bit from both the running and the sudden change in my breathing. In all truths, I really didn't want him to put me down; I felt highly safe in his arms.

   "As I said, I haven't been very gentlemanly lately, and so I must redeem myself." He answered. I could feel him watching me. I hummed in answer, and he began to walk back to my house.

   His heart beat was drumming along to the steps of his feet, and I couldn't help but breathe in time with him. I wrapped one of my arms around his waist and the other one hooked on his neck. My face was in the crook of his neck and I was happy. The familiar scent of spring strawberries and the frequent soft strokes on my head from Sebastian soon lulled me into sleep.

                                                              ~   *   ~

   "Octavia?"

   I snapped out of my confusing dream to feel someone slowly brushing one of my curls with their fingers, having a go to wake me up.

   "Are you awake?"

   I began to stir and register what I could hear around me; the sound of a door opening and closing in the distance, the constant sound of sizzling nearby and a faint voice next to me. My eyes gently fluttered open to see Sebastian's cool gaze down on me. His right hand was lightly tugging at a curl on my face and tucking it behind my ear. I blushed and sat up. Looking around, I noticed that I was in my room.

   "Octavia! You fell asleep, were you really that tired?" He asked me, both concernedly and jokingly. Picking up my pillow, I buried my head in it and nodded. Although I don't show it, I am always tired; if someone was with me to keep me safe, I would fall asleep anywhere, hence why I fell to sleep with Sebastian.

   "Anyway, I must be going. See me to the door?" He questioned me. I was still quite hazy because I had just woken up, and so it took a while for me to register everything. Nodding to his question, I stood up and stretched. He held out his arm to me and I took it. The sudden contact made my cheeks burn and my heart speed up. Walking out of my room, I decided to carry on the conversation.

   "I'm sorry about that." I smiled, looking up to meet his heart melting eyes. A stray strand of hair was strewn across his face. I stopped walking, and so he did too. When he was about to ask me what I was doing, I reached forward and carefully plucked the strand from his face and cast it off the the side of his head. "There. No more hair on your face. And thank you for bringing me home."

   "N-no problem." Sebastian stuttered, loosening his collar a bit. His face was glowing red from the touch of my fingers.

   We walked to the door in silence. It wasn't that long a distance, and so the silence wasn't awkward. When we reached the entrance, I opened the door and stood back to let him out. He was about to step out but he stopped his leg from moving. Instead, he turned to face me.

   "Octavia."

   "Yes?" I replied to him.

   Before I could do anything else, he quickly wrapped me in a warming hug. I obviously hugged back, and, when I did, I felt him loosen up a bit. His breathing relaxed a lot and his arms slowly caressed my back. I had welcome shivers crawling over my skin from each touch of his delicate fingers. His head was resting in the crook of my neck.When he took a breath, he inhaled through his nose and exhaled deeply through his mouth. With each breath, I felt myself tremble slightly. Why? That I do not know. My face was pressed up against his strawberry scented shoulder, and I couldn't help but hug him tighter.

   After a couple of minutes, we pulled away and smiled at each other, but Sebastian's smile looked almost as though he was sad, maybe even worried.

   "Are you okay?" I asked him. He suddenly smiled brighter and nodded, widening his eyes slightly.

   "Yes, I'm fine." He turned towards the open door and waved to me. I waved back. "Goodbye, Octavia!"

   "Goodbye, Sebastian."

   He walked out into the night, and I closed the door.

   I backed up against the door and slowly slid down. A million thoughts at a time were flowing through my head. I held both hands where my heart was and began to tear up. One fact was clear in my mind, but that was the one that hurt the most.

   I was in love with Sebastian all over again...