Sebastian

Chapter Forty-Five

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Sebastian decided that we'd do most of our running during the day, instead of running at night. He'd said that people are more likely to assume that you'd be running at night, and that we'd probably be safer just doing it in sunlight. Before any of this, though, he wanted to stay in our borrowed house for a couple of days, because he spotted a large group of people making a sweep through the woods with various weapons. He wanted to make sure we were all safe, and we had plenty of food, so we settled in.

Isaac sat on one of the mattresses and Elmer hopped into his lap. Sebastian, in an uncharacteristic gesture, flopped down on my mattress and wrapped an arm around me. I looked at him, surprised, and he met my gaze calmly. I liked it there, in his arms. Isaac was looking at us, and when he caught my eyes, he grinned boyishly. Sebastian turned his head into my neck and placed a light kiss there, making me shiver.

The sky was darkening, and Elmer chirped loudly as he caught different kinds of bugs that found their way inside. Sebastian stayed by my side the entire day, giving me little kisses and other gestures of affection that made me smile. When it was finally dark enough to use the fireplace, Sebastian made Isaac do it and laid down beside me, his arms tight around my waist. It didn't take long for the fire to catch, and soon, the room was delightfully warm. Isaac sprawled across his mattress, and Elmer immediately made himself comfortable on his bare chest. He turned his head and looked at us.

"We need to take a bath soon," He said. "You may not have to worry about smelling bad, but Elizabeth and I still need to maintain some kind of hygiene."

Sebastian nodded.

"There's a bathtub here, and a lake nearby with running water. The bathroom has old soaps in it; some of them were never opened, so they're fine to use."

I cringed a little at the thought, and Sebastian rubbed a cool hand over my arm reassuringly. Isaac nodded, and rolled his head around to look at the ceiling.

"So tomorrow, then." He said. I sighed and nodded; it wasn't like I could go without a bath for however long the trip would be.

I settled into the blanket I'd draped over the mattress and drifted off to sleep, wondering how everything even began.

When my eyes opened, light was pushing its way through the dust-covered windows. The mattress creaked as I sat up, and I grabbed the brush to take care of my hair before Isaac could laugh at me again. I tied it into a ponytail and looked around, searching for Sebastian. I found Elmer curled up by Isaac's neck, and Isaac had an arm slung off the edge of his makeshift bed. I slowly got up and padded through the house, trailing my hand along the rough wall. He wasn't in the kitchen, or the bedrooms, or the bathroom. I opened the door and looked outside for him, to no avail.

Two strong hands appeared on either side of the doorway behind me, and I shrieked and whipped around. I came face to chest with Isaac, and when I looked up, his green eyes were serious.

"It's not safe for you to be looking outside like that, Elizabeth," He said. He wasn't angry, but I could see the seriousness of his eyes as he spoke. Still, I bristled at the obvious command in his voice.

I took a deliberate step back, farther outside. His eyes widened in shock for a moment; being an alpha, he wasn't used to being refused.

"I'm not kidding around, come back inside." His voice changed into something entirely different, and I easily recognized it as the tone he'd use to order one of his people around. It didn't affect me, and I glared at him.

"No."

He took a step forward, and I almost flinched at the sudden authority in his eyes. I wondered how in the world I ever looked at him and didn't see a leader.

"Elizabeth." His voice was still calm, and he still wasn't angry. Something about that made it harder to say no. I crossed my arms over my chest.

"I'm looking for Sebastian." I snapped. He rolled his eyes.

"He'll be back. Just come inside and eat. I've gotta go get water for a bath."

I gave up, not wanting to stay out in the cold for long. I shuffled into the house, ignoring his chuckle as I passed him.

He'd found four old, large metal buckets, and went out to find a big enough branch to snap off and use to carry them when they were full of water. He promised he'd be back in no time, and off he went, still shirtless. I watched him go, wondering where Sebastian was. Isaac said he'd be back, so did that mean he knew where he was? I'd made sure to keep Elmer in one of the bedrooms while I had the front door open, so I had time to sit and think.

Isaac was back in a blink, with the four buckets full of water that sloshed around as he walked. When he got inside, he immediately headed for the fireplace and I grew confused.

He saw my expression and smiled.

"I'm heating the water up. I figure you wouldn't want to take a cold bath?" He asked sarcastically. I quickly shook my head and he laughed.

"Sebastian cleaned the bathtub out last night, so do me a favor and put the little rubber plug over the drain, please. I don't want to lose all this water."

I nodded and went to the bathroom. After plugging up the drain, I studied the soaps. I found a small bottle of coconut-scented shampoo, and when I squeezed it into my hand, it came out looking like I'd just bought the shampoo a day before. I hunted around for body wash, and found a bar of soap still in its wrapper. I placed my findings on the old sink.

Isaac had heated up two of the buckets of water, and was working on the third. When he saw me, he moved the bucket away.

"I've got three of them warmed up. Let's see how much water we have."

We walked back into the bathroom, where Isaac poured the steamy water into the tub. The three huge buckets filled it up to just below halfway; it was a small bathtub. He went to go heat the fourth one up, and it filled the bathtub up to an acceptable amount. 

Isaac left again to go fill up the buckets for his bath, and I brought Elmer into the bathroom with me. After getting my change of clothes, I sunk into the water, sighing as the hot water soothed my tense back. The bathtub wasn't big enough to stretch out in, but I didn't care. I washed my hair with the shampoo and ran the bar soap over my body, and got dressed feeling clean and optimistic. When I stepped out with Elmer, Isaac was heating up his secon bucket. He saw me and laughed.

"Did you take Elmer into the bathroom with you?" He asked. I nodded, and he grinned.

"Is Sebastian back?" I asked. He shook his head. His face was perfectly composed as he maintained the grin he had while he heated up his third bucket, but I knew something was wrong.

Sebastian's behavior the previous night suddenly came into my mind. He was always close to me, kissing me and hugging me and petting my hair as I fell asleep. Did he know that the next day he'd be doing something that he'd take a while to come back from? Was it so serious that he'd felt the need to make sure I knew his feelings for me?