{9} - Shopping, Lunch & Friends

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Shy and Bethany and become friends through Instagram. Shy had noticed Bethany's comments on Emerson's pictures and had gotten a little possessive, until she found out that Bethany had no intentions of taking Emerson from her. Despite the fact that they'd only met in person twice the talked regularly and were good friends.
"Ooh, in here!" Bethany said, grabbing Shy's arm and pulling her into Old Navy.
"Old Navy?" They'd been shopping for an hour and Bethany had way more stuff than she'd planned to get.
"Yes! This literally the only store I've found that sells jeans that actually fit me."
"Okay." Bethany made her way to the jeans and grabbed three pair in her size. "Ooh, that's cute." She held the dress up and looked at it for a minute before holding it up in front of herself. "What do you think?"
"Cute." Bethany held it at arms length and studied it for a few more minutes before nodding and draping it over her arm.
"Ok, we can leave." She paid and they left.
"Let's go in here!" Shy said.
"Uh. . ." They were standing in front of Victoria's Secret. "I'd rather not. You can though. I'll just sit on that bench." She pointed at it.
"Oh. Okay." Shy went into the store and Bethany sat down.

———

Sebastian rarely saw people he knew at the mall, so seeing Bethany was an unexpected, but pleasant, surprise. She was sitting on bench and there was a guy behind the bench leaning over the back of it talking to her. She looked uncomfortable. So Sebastian did the only logical thing. He went to help.
"There you are! I've been looking all over for you!" He said as he walked up to the bench. Bethany glanced over her shoulder and smiled in relief.
"Sorry. My phone died." She said, playing along.
"Who're you?" The guy asked, looking Sebastian up and down and not seeming impressed.
"The boyfriend." The guy looked from Sebastian to Bethany and back again.
"I'm nineteen, asshole." Bethany said. His eyes widened.
"Really?"
"Do you want to see my license?" She asked. He shook his head.
"No! No, sorry. I'll ju-"
"Hey, Dumbass!" Someone yelled behind them. They all looked in the direction of the voice. Another guy was walking toward them. "Stop harassing people!"
"I was not harassing people!" Guy number one protested.
"He was." Sebastian and Bethany said in unison. Guy number two grabbed guy number one by the arm and started pulling him away.
"Sorry about him. He has no impulse control!"  He called as they walked away.
"Hey!"
"Shut up."
Bethany giggled as she watched them walk away. Then she looked up at Sebastian.
"My hero." She said. "Thank you for that."
"No problem." He smiled and she returned it before taking a step backward to look in Victoria's Secret. She didn't see Shy.
"I'm gonna head to the food court. Wanna come?" She asked.
"Sure." She picked up her bags and they started walking. They got pretzel bites and cokes from Wetzel's Pretzels and sat down at a table.
"I hate clothes shopping."
"Really?" Sebastian asked, looking down at the bags around her feet.
"Yes. But only when I'm with other people who like to browse. I am very much a go in, get what I want and leave kind of person. I know I want and I don't want to browse."
"Then why are you complaining?" He asked before eating another pretzel.
"I'm here with Shy. Oh, fuck. Shy!" She pulled her phone out and texted Shy to let her know she'd gone to the food court.
"I don't like coming by myself because I just look stupid wandering around by myself."
"Well if it makes you feel better, with that haircut you always look stupid." He gasped in mock hurt.
"And to think I just saved you." She stuck her tongue out at him.
"And I'm grateful. I promise."
"Mmhm. Sounds fake, but okay." She rolled her eyes.
"How's things with Larisa."
"Pretty good."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah. She's in New York right now though."
"Exciting."
"Mm. For her." He took a drink of his coke and got lost in his thoughts, focusing on something behind Bethany.
"You okay, Sebster?"
"Hmm?" He focused on her.
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah. Yeah. I'm fine. Tired." Boldfaced lies. But Bethany wouldn't push. "What about you? How've you been doing since the whole Luke thing?"
"Eh. I try not to dwell on it. It happened, it sucked, whatever." She sucked on her straw.
"The violent drinking says otherwise."
"It just still pisses me off. The fucker used me! I thought he cared! I mean, not at the end, obviously we were having issues, but to begin with I thought he actually liked me! Two fucking years I wasted on him! I gave him everything. My first kiss! My virginity for fucks sake and the dick was dating someone else the entire time! My best friend nonetheless! And I just-"
"Hey! Calm down." He grabbed her wrist gently and her eyes shot to his. She hadn't even realized that her breathing was quickening.
"It's stupid, I know, I just-"
"It's okay." To make matters worse she started to cry.
"But it's not! It hurts! I hate it! I hate that it hurts so much! And I hate him!" She rubbed her eyes with the sleeve of her sweater. "I hate feeling like this! He's not worth it and I know that, but-but I liked him, damn it! And he's a fucking dick! I just want it to stop! I want it to stop hurting! But it won't!" She started to sob into her hands.
"Hey-Benny? What's wrong? What did you do?!" Shy approached their table.
"Me?! Why are you just assuming I did something?!" Sebastian asked, sounding indignant.
"She's crying and you're just sitting there."
"It's a recent development."
"The more time I spend with you the more I understand why they call you super-douche." Bethany was having trouble breathing. The embarrassment of being in a public place, crying, only made her panic more.
"Shy it-oh my god, Bumblebee, breathe!" Sebastian said, finally switching his gaze back to Bethany. She was sobbing-hiccuping-panicking into her hands. Sebastian pushed his chair away from the table and stood up. He pushes Bethany's chair away from the table and knelt in front of her. He pushed her hair out of her face and made her look at him.
"Look at me, deep breath." She took a shaky breath in before hiccuping. "It's okay. Try again." She took another deep breath and wiped at her eyes with her sleeve. She could hear screams, see glass shattering. Her eyes moved from one thing to the next, not focusing on anything. Shy was panicking, albeit mildly, behind Sebastian. "Hey." Bethany made herself meet Sebastian's gaze. Sharp blue met soft gray. She focused on his face and took another deep breath in.
"Th-Thank you." She whispered. He smiled and stood up. He pulled her up into a hug. She accepted gratefully. He held her tight and kissed the top of her head. Witnessing her panic attack brought back memories of being a teenager and helping Remington and eventually Emerson when they had similar experiences. He'd spent years looking out for Remington and Emerson, his first job had been big brother and that would never change. And even though he wasn't actually Bethany's brother, in that moment he felt like he was, like it was his job to look out for her. And he didn't mind.

———

bennyharris

❤️liked by remingtonleith, innapittza, niedosyt and 198 othersbennyharris SHOPPING WITH FRENS niedosyt 😊 AND LUNCH WITH UNEXPECTED PEEPS sebastiandanzig 😝

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❤️liked by remingtonleith, innapittza, niedosyt and 198 others
bennyharris SHOPPING WITH FRENS niedosyt 😊 AND LUNCH WITH UNEXPECTED PEEPS sebastiandanzig 😝

Load more comments

user1 He is unfairly beautiful
user2 lucky bitch
sebastiandanzig i didn't even realize you took this
user3 Ugh I'm so tired of you being everywhere
user4 How's LA? I hope you like it!
remingtonleith how come I wasn't invited???
flandangerous check your dms
bennyharris 😝 sebastiandanzig SEBSTER WASNT INVITED EITHER, BESIDES YOURE AT THE AQUARIUM DUMBASS remingtonleith MAYBE flandangerous
sebastiandanzig glad you're feeling better bennyharris
bennyharris ME TOO😊 THANK YOU! sebastiandanzig
remingtonleith Fine 😭 bennyharris

———

Later that night, when she'd given up on sleep, Bethany tiptoed down the stairs. She stopped when she heard talking in the kitchen. Then music began to play. When We  Were Young. She peeked around the corner and smiled. Andy, only wearing plaid pajama pants, and Juliet, in her pajamas were slow dancing and smiling. Bethany hoped one day she would be lucky enough to have a relationship like theirs. Tears stung her eyes. Stupid hormones. Stupid Luke. Stupid, stupid. She turned and ran back up the stairs into her room, deciding not to ruin their moment. She tried calling Remington and then Sebastian. After that she tried Emerson. He answered on the third ring.
"I didn't wake you up did I?"
"No."
"Ok." She sighed.
"What's wrong?"
"Everything and nothing."
"Ah."
"Did Sebster tell you about earlier?" There was a pause.
"I'm starting to think no."
"At least he can keep a secret. I don't want to get into it, but it was embarrassing and stupid. And now I can't sleep. And I can't find my pencils and I needed someone to complain to because Panda and Juliet are being cute and coupley in the kitchen. Which also means I can't get a snack." Emerson was silent. "Em?"
"Yeah. Sorry. My thoughts got away from me."
"Oh." She yawned. "What do you when you can't sleep?"
"Draw."
"Right. Somewhere in the unpacking I lost my pencils. They're probably under the bed, but no way in hell am I getting on the floor to look under my bed at," She squinted at the clock, "3:30! Holy fuck! Why are we up right now?"
"No idea."
"I guess I should try to get some sleep. And you should too."
"Sure. Bye, Ben."
"Bye, Em. Thanks for letting me rant."
"Anytime." She smiled and ended the call. Then she lay on her bed, wide awake and wishing she could sleep without dreaming.

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