Hold On

Protection

"I want you to put your number into my phone." Sebastian repeated himself as he finally sat down, passing me his phone in the process.

"Really? I mean..."

"Really doll. I'm being serious. You're flying to New York right? I have a couple weeks off and I want to take you out for coffee or somethin'... keep your mind off..." He trailed off, fidgeting with the bottom of his shirt as I almost reluctantly typed my number into his phone, and I felt him watching me as I typed my name "Your name is Natalie?" I bit my lip, nodding at him, and passing his phone back. His hand brushed against mine and I felt my face getting hot. Had I really just given Sebastian Stan my phone number?

"Can we talk about something else?" I pulled my phone out of my pocket, glancing at the screen and noticing several missed calls and a few texts but I chose to ignore them.

"Yeah, of course... What do you wanna talk about Nat?" I smirked to myself when he referred to me as Nat, I really only let a few people call me that. I shrugged my shoulders at him, all the times I'd imagined this conversation in my head and now I couldn't think of a damn thing to say. Sebastian noticed my nervousness and turned towards me, my eyes focusing on the headphones swinging from his neck instead of looking directly at him "Let's start with, your favorite movie?"

"Oh that is so not a fair question." I laughed out loud, causing a few people to glance over at the two of us "You're gonna laugh at my answer, and I promise it's not just because you're in the particular movie... Civil War."

"I approve of that choice..." He again ran his hand through his hair, smiling at me when he caught me looking at him "Now, favorite band?" I was going over the answer in my head when the loud speaker came on, announcing that my flight would be the next one boarding. Damn, had I really been sitting here talking to him for three hours?

"Damnit..." I muttered under my breath as I leaned down to pick up my bag, clutching it to my chest.

"Ahhhh that was your flight wasn't it?" I nodded at him as I stood up, hesitating for a moment before I started walking away.

"Thank you. For everything Sebastian. Can I ask for one more thing from you? If it's not a bother I mean, you can totally say no, because I feel like I've already overstayed my welcome with you..." He nodded as I continued speaking, agreeing to what I asked for and then standing up, wrapping his arms around my back in another tight hug. I dropped my bag on the floor so I could get a better grip, I really didn't want to cry in front of him, again.
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I kicked my bag right inside my apartment, shutting the door behind me and locking it. I pulled my phone out of my pocket, unlocking the screen and smiling to myself as I stared at the picture for the thousandth time that night. I had been so nervous to ask Sebastian to take a picture with me, knowing that was pretty much all other people cared about when they met him. He had actually seemed super excited to do it though, even taking several of the two of us with his own phone before saying a final goodbye to me. He had been so considerate, so caring as I unloaded my grief on him... I didn't even make it to my bed that night, instead collapsing onto the couch and pulling a blanket over myself.

I awoke the next morning, groaning to myself as I rolled off the couch onto the floor, finally managing to prop myself against the edge of the couch as I pulled my knees close to my body. It had not been a restful night of sleep, nightmares full of my memories with Jane... I could tell I had been crying part of the night and I started up again. I had known the emotions would hit me like a wave at some point, and damn did they hit me hard. I checked my phone again, a little disappointed that I didn't see a message from Sebastian. I mean, what had I really expected... I managed to stumble down the hallway into my bedroom, my eyes blurry from all the tears... everything was exactly as I'd left it that morning I had gotten the phone call from Jane's brother. I managed to change myself into some pajamas, and plug my phone into the charger before I collapsed onto my bed, almost instantly passing out again.