This Love. | Professor Stan

chapter seven | burden

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"Come in!" Sebastian calls as hears a light tap on his door. He was partially hoping it was Chris bringing him some lunch, as he has be seen cooped up in his office all day out of fear he would miss you. Let's just say he had an enjoyable time finding a way to sleep well last night.

It was you. He would have stood up to welcome you, or pull out a chair for you to sit in, but he felt himself grow hard under the desk. You wore a flower dress, one that showed off your breasts and finished way too high. It was warm for the beginning of October, and Sebastian thanked global warming for the show he was about to get.

"Hello Professor Stan! How are you?", you asked, sitting down in front of him, and bringing out of notebook and pen from your bag.

"Please, Janet, call me Sebastian. You never fail to make me feel old", he chuckled whilst also grabbing your essay.

You always thought it was a perfect name for a perfect man. You tried to shake it off and focus on the fact you were about to get feedback on your improved work.

"I unfortunately haven't had the time to look over it in detail, so you'll have to put up with my slow reading. How about you tell me a little bit about your day? I can multi-task", he grins as he puts his head down and ticking and underlining some parts. It was true: he couldn't help his fingers tracing over the scribbled JANET TAYLOR in the top left corner last night.

You ramble, and he's nodding along, making some comments occasionally too. You tell him how excited you are to start working for the bookshop, the one with the coffee shop that's hidden by the metro station entrance.

Sebastian knows the one. The one where he saw you a couple of weeks ago hoarding piles of books into your bag. He didn't go there often, but made a mental note to go there whenever he could. He definitely saw you in your element being surrounded by books and coffee, considering he often saw you around campus sitting on the steps with a book in one hand and a coffee in the other.

You continue on, something about watching Gilmore Girls since it was your one day off this week.

Sebastian laughs. Genuinely laughs. One where he throws his head back and the most beautiful sounds escapes his parted lips.

"What?" You couldn't help but laugh yourself a little.

"I can definitely see you aspiring to be like Rory Gilmore", biting down on his pen in an effort to contain his laughs. "Don't burn out like she did in Yale", he says after a while, turning a little serious before smiling once more.

He's watched Gilmore Girls? I swear I could kiss him right now.

Thank goodness for impulse control.

"Don't worry si- Sebastian, I have everything under control."

"You obviously don't if you're spending time writing extra essays", and you look up to question his statement. There's a stern look in his eyes; they're almost black. He went from cute to intimidating in a split second, and you crossed your legs in anticipation.

He sighs, "Let's see if the system will let me change your grade, but no more extra work. You have other subjects to worry about."

Sebastian frowns at his computer in frustration. Of course the system wasn't working for him. He often wondered how he was allowed to teach because of how bad he was with technology.

"The fucking website isn't working. Scoot over." He spits out the profanity and your legs turn to jelly again. The room seemed to be getting hotter whenever he swore. You adjust your dress before getting up and coming to his side to look at the screen. You're leaning over the keyboard and typing things in, and Sebastian has to close his eyes for a brief moment. You're practically spilling in front of him and has to remind himself to remain professional.

"You need to put in your password for me to continue." He complies and you're able to change your grade. He puts in an A. Fucking finally. It was such hard work, and you never again were going to bother with it again. Sebastian was right after all. "Impressive grades. Good girl", he smiles.

"Oh my gosh, thank you so much!" You go to hug him, as not only were you thankful, but you really needed it. The pressure of adapting to a new environment was all bottled up, and you were still a little unsure of college as a whole. Sebastian hugging you back made you feel a little bit better. He rubbed your back and he felt warm, and you realised that you were really enjoying this.

"I'm sorry", you let out a nervous chuckle. "Feel like I'm always a burden on you. Seeing you after class for reassurance-"

"No-one is a burden. There is no need to apologise for being human. You need anything, and I mean anything, you can always come to me. A hug, a friend, a warm drink, hell, even a movie to watch to distract you, I'll be there."

"Thank you, I better get going." You move again to grab your bag, embarrassed you had even hugged your teacher.

"Okay. You know mine and Professor Evans contact details. Well done on that essay again, it was brilliant", he smiles as you leave the room. Academic validation was not what you were looking for right now, but you knew Mr. Stan had kind intentions.

You didn't realise he was trying to tear his eyes away from you as you bent over to grab whatever you had dropped, but he couldn't help himself. You were wearing a very nice dress after all. Something that would either look even better on the floor, or reignite his thoughts about you again. It was more possible the latter, but the way you seemed to innocently flirt, there was a glimmer of hope for him.

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