Forever

Chapter 5: Explanations, Part 2

                   

(*Author's Note: The next 2-3 chapters will be from Sebastian's POV, and will be formatted in a timeline kind of way, if that makes sense – events grouped by dates, month/year, etc. – to provide background for Sebastian's explanation; "italicized parts" (with quotes) are Sebastian speaking/explaining to OFC why he stopped talking to her) (**Warning: Language!!)

September 16th, 2015:

            "I'm being serious here, Seb, don't go scaring Chadwick off! If you do, I'm never gonna let you in on my love life – never!"

(Y/N) laughed as she playfully hit me in the arm, and I couldn't help but smile. It was the first time in the 5 years that we'd known each other that she actually asked me for my blessing of a relationship of hers. She'd had so many issues in the past with cheating, lying assholes, and I always feared she'd never let herself fall in love again. But now, here she was, begging me not to ruin her chance at happiness, so I promised her I wouldn't.

            "Okay, okay! I promise I won't ruin your chance with him – who knows, maybe there'll be little black panthers running around the sets soon enough, if you know what I mean!"

"I made a promise to myself that night that I wouldn't ruin your chance at finally being happy – at first it was just a promise I made to you so you would stop thinking I was gonna scare Chad off, but then I kinda saw it as me protecting you. So, I made sure nothing would interfere with your happiness – even if it meant sacrificing my own."

October 18th, 2015:

            "Man, do you think they're gonna bail on us again? I hate being the third wheel on your dates!"

"Really, third wheel?"

I glared at Tom as we headed towards a small restaurant in Berlin. It was getting dark out, but we kept our sunglasses on to keep attention away.

"You and Mackie always forget I'm there when (Y/N) and Chris don't show up! Honestly, I'm the fifth wheel when they show up too. It sucks, man, okay?"

"Alright, alright, relax, Holland. I'll call them all right now – see look, Mackie's already calling."

I swiped right on my phone to answer Anthony's call, and I was greeted with a very loud,

"Fuck this, alright? I'm done with this shit, man, I can't do it no more."

"Nice to hear from you too, Chocolate Chino! What's up, man? What can't you do?"

"Being the messenger, man. Ever since she started dating this mystery dude, (Y/N) has been too afraid to tell you anything because she 'values your opinion too much' or whatever other bullshit she's always saying. She just texted me – texted me, man, I'm not even worth a phone call! – to cancel on us, yet again. She said she didn't wanna upset you if you heard it straight from her, so she thought I could soften the blow somehow."

"Okay, what about Evans though? He's still coming, right?"

"Of course he's coming, he's got FOMO for crying out loud, he wouldn't miss this for anything in the world. But (Y/N), Sebastian, (Y/N)!! She's driving me crazy with all this, and what makes it worse is the fact that she still won't tell me who this dude is!"

"Did she at least give you a reason? She wouldn't ditch us last minute just to hang out with her boyfriend."

"Nah, she just told me to tell you, 'It's the date', whatever that's supposed to mean. Why do y'all gotta be so secretive? I wanna be in on this too!"

I laughed as I looked at my home screen to check the date – October 18th. Of course, it's their one-month anniversary! I can't believe I forgot. She could've just told me herself, though. Why didn't she?

"Mack-attack, don't worry about (Y/N), her reason is more than valid for ditching us. Now, hurry up and get over here, Tom and I are starving!"

"When I look back, it didn't really bother me in the beginning that you were spending more time with Chad, and why should it have bothered me anyways, right? But that night, I realized that you didn't even bother to tell me things yourself anymore. That wasn't the first time you had bailed on a night out with us, or the first time you told Anthony, or Tom, that you couldn't come, instead of me. And it did kind of hurt my feelings, but I let it slide, time after time."

November, 2015:

"Filming's almost done! I can't believe it's been 7 months already."

I looked over at (Y/N), as she pulled her hair out from her ponytail, letting it fall across her back. I looked away as I saw her turn around – I didn't want her catching me, again. I kept finding myself looking at her when she wasn't looking, but every time she'd catch me off guard, she'd say the same thing – "Why're you looking at me like that, weirdo?"

I felt a hand on my arm, and I looked up to meet her brown eyes. She smiled at me as she brought her hand up to tuck a strand of my hair behind my ear.

"What's wrong, Seb? You okay?"

"Yeah, don't worry about me. I'm just a little tired, but who wouldn't be after a scene like that, right?"

"True! I'm so excited to go back home for a while, mostly so Chad can meet the family, you know?"

"Oh, yeah, for sure. Is he excited to visit Chicago?"

"Yeah, but it's not like he hasn't been before. You got any fun plans for post-filming?"

"I'm excited to retire back to New York for some much needed rest! Especially with the press tour starting in March, so only a few months off before we dive right back in."

"Ha! Press tour doesn't start for me 'til April, since no one knows my character and she won't be in the trailer they're putting out in January."

"Lucky! I'm gonna head back to my trailer now, but I'll see you at dinner, right?"

"Hopefully, I'll let you know later. Bye, Seb!"

(Y/N) walked off towards her trailer, and soon enough, Tom and Chad joined her. I glanced down, picking my phone up from the table when I heard a sly chuckle from behind.

"Man, you have got it bad. Too bad, it's too late."

I looked up to see Anthony grinning widely, his arms crossed in front of his chest. I frowned at him, confused as to what he meant.

"What?"

"I don't get what you're saying."

"My god, you're in denial, too? Damn, seabass, what am I gonna do with you?"

"Do with me about what?!"

"It's very obvious someone has developed feelings for their good old pal, (Y/N). Too bad it's too late, since she's head over heels for Chad."

"When Anthony, of all people, had to help me realize that I had feelings for you, I knew I was done for. But, I recognized that I had to keep my promise to you. I wasn't about to let these feelings interfere with your happiness, so I had to sacrifice mine by pushing you away. And I regretted that decision every day I didn't speak to you, even though I knew I was doing it for you."