Bound by freckles (Sebastian Sallow x Garreth Weasley x f!MC modern AU)

23rd chapter - Family

We said goodbye to Jennie, and walked back to my place. We walked a different way to make sure we wouldn't meet Marcus or any of his friends.

Safely and without any incidents, we got back to my house, where my father seemed to be arguing on the phone. We sneaked up and tried to listen in. My dad was actually always very relaxed, to see him ranting like this was definitely something unusual.

"No! You have no right to do this, and I won't support it," Dad scolded, "Yeah, well stop paying the rent, for goodness sake. We'll pay it then, but you have to understand at some point that the two, or rather the three, are adults ... No! Obviously you don't understand! Because you don't want to understand! ... You don't even know the boy! .... Yeah, we do! Because we were good friends with his parents. Two university professors. Wonderful people. And neither Fayette, nor I, nor Ellie got the impression that he wasn't good for them. Quite the opposite. ... Gwen, do you think he forced him? Garreth wanted this years ago. Of course he'd take the first chance he got in freedom to do something like that... I really don't feel like arguing with you any more.

We have no doubt that the boy is good for our children. You should have seen the three of them when we went to visit them. They were really happy. But well. You know where to find your son when you can finally accept him for who he is ..... Bye.", Dad put the phone back on the kitchen counter, "That old hag is getting on my nerves. My goodness... Darling? We'll have to take the Weasleys' part of the kids' rent. They want Garreth to move back to Devon, so they refuse to support him any more," he shouted to Mum.

Part of the rent? I entered the kitchen where Dad looked at me in surprise, "How much did you hear?" "From the part about the rent.... You pay part of our rent?", I enquired. Dad nodded, "Yes, we wanted to make it a little easier for you." "That's very sweet of you. How much is the rent altogether then?" "650 pounds..." "And if I had to prostitute myself to pay the rent. I'm not moving back here under any circumstances," Garreth said angrily. Sebastian just looked shocked and was unusually pale, "I don't want to put you to any trouble. If it's better, I'll get on a train and return home," he said quietly.

"Sebastian, there's no need for that. You're welcome here and we're glad to have you," Dad said, putting a hand on Sebastian's shoulder and pushing him towards one of the kitchen chairs. "But your parents don't want me here either," Sebastian said quietly as Dad put tea down for us.

"This isn't about what my parents want though. They are guests here and have no say in the matter. Your two sweethearts and also Fayette and I want you to be here. And about the flat, just don't worry about it. We'll work it out." "It's all good, Dad. We were thinking of moving in with Sebastian anyway, this way Garreth can take Helia with him."

"Oh, that's sweet. If you want, we can all go to Inverness together after Christmas and help you rearrange. After all, we'll have plenty of places to sleep then," Mum said, smiling as she joined us in the kitchen.

"If you're up for it?" "Sure. Going to the old hometown is always nice, isn't it? And Ellie's happy as long as she's got her drawing tablet. So, do you want to?" asked Dad, smiling at the three of us.I nodded happily, Sebastian also smiled and nodded, but Garreth didn't respond. When we looked to him, we noticed that he was about to fall asleep. Sebastian got up, pulled Garreth to his feet, lifted him, and carried him towards my room.

"Good. I guess we'll join you then," Dad said, grinning widely, "But first, let's have a really nice Christmas here!"

It was the 22nd of December and so we still had a little time to get everything ready together, but I too was longing for sleep. Because of my insomnia, I was used to sleeping little and so was doing better than Garreth, but I noticed how it kept closing my eyes.