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A little while later, she heard the front door of the apartment open and Sebastian appeared beside her on the balcony. She smiled up at him and he returned it easily, the smile crinkling his eyes in a way that made her way to touch the corners of them.
"You look good," he said, and then seemed to automatically feel weird about how he'd said it. "I mean, you look... happy. Much happier than you did last night, anyway."
"That's probably because I'm much happier than I was last night," she told him and he smiled again.
"Look, Seb, I just want to thank you so much, okay?" she said, and he started to say something, but she shook her head and continued. "No, wait a sec. I want to get this all out. Thank you so much. I don't know what would've happened to me if you hadn't been outside that bathroom door last night. I don't know what would've happened to me if you hadn't let me come home with you. He might've killed me, and I'll be eternally grateful to you for stopping that from happening. But I just want you to know that you don't have any sort of commitment here, okay? You don't have any responsibility. You don't have to have sympathy for me and you don't have to let me stay here. I can figure out a way to get ahold of my parents, I can go to a shelter... you don't have to be nice to me just because you feel like you have to," she rambled, not making eye contact with him because she was afraid if she did she wouldn't have the courage to keep speaking. When she was done, she looked up at him to see that he was beaming at her. Confused, she cocked her head to the side in question.
"I don't want you to leave, Wren. I don't feel responsible for you and I'm not being nice to you because I feel like I have to. I'm being nice to you because quite honestly, you're the girl of my fucking dreams. You always have been. I never had the balls to tell you this in high school, but I was in love with you, Wren. I won't say I am now because we've officially been reconnected for all of less than twenty four hours, but I definitely was then. And now that I've told you that, nothing at all has to come from it if you don't want it to, but I care about you and I have absolutely no problem letting you stay here and helping you out for as long as you want. If you want to find your parents, you can. You can do whatever you want. But one thing I'll tell you for sure is that there's no way in hell I'd ever send you to a shelter," he told her, making her eyes go wide. She'd had absolutely no idea he'd had actual feelings for her in high school. If she had, she would've told him way back then that she'd also been in love with him, and both of their lives probably would've ended up much differently.
Nonetheless, as she sat there staring into his beautiful eyes and processing all of the wonderful things he'd just said to her, she felt herself overcome with the urge to kiss him. She wasn't sure if she should, she wasn't sure if it was a good idea, but she didn't let herself think about it. She'd spent way too long being some broken shell of herself and it was about damn time she took control of the wheel of the car that would turn her life back around.
She stood, closing the small gap between them and throwing her arms around his neck. He snaked his own arms around her waist, holding onto her in a way she hadn't been held maybe ever. His touch was tender and soft but also completely comforting.
Before she could even think about it, she pushed her lips onto his gently, experimentally. His lips moved with hers at once and she melted into him, moaning quietly at the pure joy of the kiss. He smiled into her lips, making her smile right back at him.
They pulled apart a moment later and he leaned his forehead into hers, smiling again.
"So, does that mean you'll stay?" he asked, and she laughed.
"Yeah, I'll stay. But I've got to warn you, it's not... it's not all going to be like that just was. I'm fucked up, Seb. I have anxiety, I have bouts of depression that sometimes last for weeks at a time, I have nightmares almost every night, I'm covered in scars, I don't know how to live like a normal person, there are days when I can't even really remember who I am because I lived so long as some shell-like version of myself," she told him, and his gaze didn't falter for a moment.
"You're not fucked up. None of those things are your fault, Wren, and I am fully up to the task of being here for you, whatever you need," he told her, and she shook her head.
"You're not real. You can't be," she said quietly, and he laughed.
"How so?"
"Nobody can be this perfect."
"You deserve the world, Wren. You do," he whispered, kissing her nose gently and making her giggle.
•••••
a/n: the end!! i know it's pretty short but tbh that's kind of how i always imagined it. i just wanted it to be short and sweet and really fluffy and i'm actually really satisfied with how it turned out. thanks for reading!! 💜💜💜
