❝I'M SORRY, WHAT?❞ Caterina's voice woke Sebastian from a comfortable sleep, and he blinked as he tried to find her in the darkness. Once he did, he sat up, reaching his hand out to her.
"Babe, what's going on?" he asked, glancing at the clock. The numbers '3:03' stared back at him, and he tilted his head in confusion. What could possibly have her up so early?
"You're... kidding. Right? Please tell me you're kidding." She looked over at him, quickly switching languages when she realized he was awake. "Mamma... tornerò a casa il prima possibile. Ti amo. Buona notte." She was quick to hang up, sitting down on the bed and running a hand through her hair.
"Hey, hey, what's the matter, Cat?" he asked softly, wrapping his arms around her waist gently. "It's 3 am, and you just switched to Italian, which is a conscious choice, especially at 3 am-"
"That was my mom. Um, Luca's dead. Luca's... dead. My big brother is just... gone. We were going to celebrate his release, you know? He was almost done serving, and it doesn't matter that we're literally in our thirties, we were going to go to the ice cream place we used to go to as kids and just talk about life."
"Luca?" Sebastian froze, sighing. "I'm so sorry, Caterina. You're going home for a bit, aren't you?"
"I have to. I can't let my parents handle this alone." She sighed, trying not to cry. He could tell from the tone of her voice that she was on the verge, so he tried to get her to lay back down.
"Then I'll come with you. We can think in the morning, no flights can be booked on no sleep. We'll do the wrong thing. So get some sleep, and we'll deal in the morning."
"I-um, okay." She nodded, sighing. "I miss him so much."
"I do too," Sebastian whispered, wrapping an arm around her waist. "Goodnight, Caterina."
His words evoked no response, and he knew she was asleep. If he could only make the peace last.
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caterinastan: this picture was taken a week before you left. i think you said something stupid, and it made me want to laugh until i choked. and i remember that i just hugged you to hug you- that in a week you would be on another continent and i would be back in la with sebastian, and i wanted to remember that you were the only person who could make me feel like that. and in two weeks, you were supposed to come home. i was gonna go home for you, which i could never just do for anyone. but you aren't coming home. ever. i think that kind of hurts, a lot. i haven't cried in the past twelve hours since i've known that, and it makes me feel kind of bogus. like, what kind of sister doesn't cry over their big brother dying? and we all knew that was the risk of you joining the military, but it just doesn't happen often enough. we didn't think until it did. three am is never going to be the same. neither is our spot. and i know you don't really believe in heaven, but i hope you're there, luca. there's so much i want to say, but i'll never get to. i'm sorry. i love you so much, luc.
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iamsebastianstan: cat + luca, 2009. we'll be taking some time from social media. please allow us this time to grieve.
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[03.03.18]
hi sorry for this gutwrenching chapter but this is the fluffiest story i've ever written tbh
