The Other Side (A Sebastian Stan Fanfiction Story)

That Side - Breathless

"Jesus, Sebastian, where are your manners? Come and say hello to the wonderful lady who fed us this evening!"

This is it, Sebastian told himself. He said a silent prayer before stepping out from behind Chris and was met with the most mesmerizing, round, brown eyes he'd ever seen.

It was probably a good thing he didn't beat himself up by imagining how she looked like, as he would never trade the sheer headrush of seeing her for the first time for anything in his life.

"I'm Sebastian," he finally introduced himself, his voice surprisingly calm and normal. "The food was awesome."

His hand easily enveloped hers in a warm handshake. Her hands though felt a little cold, he could quickly tell by the way her brown eyes slightly dilated she was as nervous as he was.

"Thanks, I'm Charlie," Charlie responded. "If someone told me two days ago I'd meet all of you today, I'd probably be in jail by now."

Jesus H Christ, Sebastian thought as he suppressed a groan. Oh he heard her good alright, all the way down to his toes. Her voice sounded like heaven and hell rolled into one throaty, breathy sound. She sounded even better in person than when they conversed over the phone.

But what struck Sebastian the most was her overall demeanor. It's like Charlie almost knows she's a beautiful woman by the way her raven hair fell in soft waves just below her shoulders, and yet her stance as she shook his hand says 'I don't want to be called pretty nor beautiful'. Her features clearly indicate she's Asian, only just a tad bit more on the delicate side. Attempting to put into words how she looked would be an exercise in futility, it was just something that can't be done, otherwise his brain might short circuit entirely.

"Um, Seb, you can let go of her hand now," Tom's English accent slowly made its way to his ear, snapping his eyes back to their joined hands as he realized he'd been holding hers for longer than a normal handshake should be.

"Oh crap," Sebastian quickly let go of her hand and he immediately regretted the loss of contact. "I'm sorry."

Charlie shook her head and smiled shyly at him. "Nah you're good," she murmured. "I thought my hand still had gravy on it that stuck to yours."

Their group stayed on for about another hour, the flow of conversation easy and light. Sebastian was still reeling from the fact that he finally met Charlie, although he had to keep reminding himself she still doesn't know it was him she met on the fiction site.

Chris elbowed him suddenly but discreetly enough that the group didn't notice. "What are you doing? You're staring bro. Stop it, you're gonna freak her out," he muttered under his breath, plastering a smile as he did so while keeping his eye trained to the group.

Sebastian did as he was told, recomposed himself and joined in on the conversation.

"Ah, glad you could join finally join us, Barnacle," Robert mused. "I thought you went method on us and channelled Winter Boo Bear."

"Yeah, where were you at anyway?" Lizzie asked, prompting curious glances from nearly everyone at the table.

Sebastian shrugged. "Just here, sorry. Must've been these chocolate bars."

The buzz of conversation swelled again at the mention of Charlie's devilishly delicious dessert. He snuck a glance at her and noticed she was just smiling , answering questions when asked, but not really getting into the flow of animated talk. She caught him looking at her, immediately averting her eyes away after locking gazes for a super charged split second.

Tom put a hand over her shoulder and seemed to ask if she was alright. He was envious of the way Tom spoke to her, as if they were old friends even when they only met formally a few hours ago. He realized they were somehow like that, friends, but because he chose the dumb route and keep his identity a secret, he had to endure being merely an acquaintance to her for the time being.

He was a little disappointed that Robert and Susan had to announce they needed to go home as it prompted everyone else to call it a night as well. Chris sensed this and Sebastian was secretly appreciative that his friend tried to stall until they were the absolute last ones to leave.

"I think I like you a little bit better now, Tommy," Chris joked, clapping the slightly shorter guy on the shoulder. "We should do this again, you're lucky you caught me while I'm here."

"I agree, dinner wasn't so bad, Thomas," Sebastian chimed in. "Should we expect you to gain some more weight? Your chef was the bomb."

Tom eyed Sebastian knowingly. "I know, you couldn't seem to take your eyes off her, you bloody perv," he lightly pushed him and Sebastian blushed. He looked to Chris for help, but the blonde could only shrug at him as if to say, 'you're on your own on this one, pal.'

"I was not—"

"Oh god, yes you were! I have to admit, she's really absolutely lovely to look at. Isn't she, Chris?" Chris nodded.

"Yep, I mean, she's totally Seb's type," he replied in a singsong voice.

By this time, Sebastian could've been mistaken for a strawberry by the way his neck and face have become so red. "I hate you both," Sebastian grumbled like a little kid, causing the other two men to laugh so hard at him.

They ribbed him for a few more minutes, somehow making plans to get together again before Chris flew back to Boston.