In the Shadows - Sebastian Sallow x reader (English)

Chapter 45

I woke up in the middle of the night because my bladder needed my attention. I carefully pulled myself out of Sebastian's arms and wearily padded into the bathroom to let nature take its course. Cleaning up felt different than usual. Somehow... slipperier. Confused, I looked at the toilet paper in my hand and was shocked. There was blood everywhere. Bright blood. Shit. Suddenly, I was wide awake. I knew that you could bleed after sex, especially after the first time, but I hadn't expected that I would do so as if I had been stabbed. I quickly cleaned myself up, put a pad in a clean pair of underpants as a precaution and scurried back to the bedroom. Shit, what if I bled into the bed too? In a panic, I searched for my wand on my nightstand. In the rush, I knocked over my empty teacup. It rolled down, and a clatter let me know that it had shattered on the floor. "Fuck!" I cursed quietly. Sebastian seemed to be sleeping peacefully. Honestly, that is. A horde of trolls could be raging next to him, and it wouldn't bother him. I felt around the bedside table for my wand and finally found it. "Lumos!" Grumbling, Sebastian pulled the covers over his head as the tip of my wand began to glow. I crawled onto the bed and pushed the bedding aside. No blood. I breathed a sigh of relief. Sebastian grumbled under the soft feathers. He turned over the covers and blinked at me with small eyes. "What's wrong?" he asked sleepily. "Nothing bad," I soothed him. "I was only bleeding a little and was afraid I had bled into the sheets. But it's all good." I crawled back under the covers and snuggled up to Sebastian's chest. I used Nox to turn off the light on my wand and put it back on my nightstand. "You were bleeding?" Sebastian asked, now much more awake. "Yes, but it's really not that bad. That can happen. Especially after the first time," I assured him. Sebastian pulled me closer to his chest. "Did I hurt you and not notice?" he asked uncertainly. I stroked his cheek soothingly. I couldn't say which of us I was trying to calm down at that moment. Maybe both of us a little. "No. You didn't hurt me. Don't worry, okay?" I snuggled up closer to him, and he buried his nose in my hair. "Okay," he murmured. Arm in arm, we fell asleep again.

The following day, I woke up feeling well-rested despite the small moment of shock during the night. I stretched until a loud grumble escaped me. Sebastian woke up next to me with a hum. Apparently, I had stretched too loudly. "Good morning, Sleeping Beauty," I greeted him and gave him a mischievous smile. "Good morning, my prince," he replied, pulling me into a gentle kiss, which I giggled into. "Did you sleep well?" he asked. I nodded. "And you?" "Like a princess in a hundred-year sleep," he picked up on my allusion and winked at me. I laughed and brushed a few brown strands of hair from his forehead. "I don't know how you are, but I'm starving right now." As if to agree with me, my stomach growled loudly. Sebastian gave me a flirtatious smile. "I was hoping you would be my breakfast." My face heated up. As his words registered in my head, I grabbed a pillow from behind me and threw it in his face. "That was the smarmyest comment I've ever heard from your mouth, Sebastian!" The brunette laughed into the pillow. "I'm disgusted with myself right now," he admitted as he put the pillow aside. "No wonder," I teased him. "That was really bad." I patted his cheek. "Come on, before I pounce on you. But not in a good way." I rolled out of bed with a swing and stood up. Suddenly, I felt a stabbing pain in my left foot. With a cry, I flopped back onto the bed. There was a shard of pottery stuck in my foot. I had completely forgotten about the broken cup. "What's wrong?" Sebastian asked worriedly and was with me in the blink of an eye. When he saw my bleeding foot, he sucked in a sharp breath. "I'm taking you to Nurse Blainey." Just as he was about to get up, I stopped him. "No! First of all, we're not dressed. Second, how will we explain to her that you were with me when I stepped on a shard barefoot?" Sebastian frowned. "Good point. I could also try to close the wound, but it definitely won't be as pretty as a professional." "It's not supposed to be pretty, Sebastian; it's supposed to stop bleeding," I hissed. "Okay, okay!" Sebastian raised his hands in a placating manner and stood up to get his wand from his bedside table. He knelt down in front of me again and looked at me from below with a questioning look. "That might hurt a little," he warned me. I took a shuddering breath in and out before nodding to him so that he could start. Sebastian carefully took my injured foot in his hand and reached for the shard that was still stuck in the sole of my foot with his other hand. "Okay, I'll pull it out on three," he warned me. "One." I took another deep breath. "Two." Suddenly, Sebastian pulled the shard out of my foot, and I let out a quiet cry. "You said you wouldn't pull until three!" I hissed and gave him an angry look. "If you know when the pain is coming, you're more likely to be afraid of it and maybe back out," Sebastian explained in a calm tone, unimpressed by my anger. "I'm not a coward," I hissed. "Should I put it back in, and I'll pull it out on three this time?" Sebastian asked with a raised eyebrow. "You're an ass." I resisted the urge to throw my pillow in his face. After all, he still had my bleeding foot in his hand. Sebastian quickly swapped the shard for his wand and closed my wound with Episkey. I watched in fascination as the bleeding stopped, the edges of the wound grew back together, and nothing but a fresh pink scar remained. "Now we just have to clean up this mess. But we'll do that in a minute. Tergeo." Sebastian waved his magic wand, and my blood was washed away. "How convenient that we can do magic," I commented with a grin and repaired my teacup, which was still lying shattered in front of my bedside table. Sebastian laughed quietly. "And yet, sometimes I have the feeling that you forget exactly that." "Pff. It's easy for you to say. You grew up with it. I've only known for a year that I can do magic. It's easy to forget that," I defended my goldfish brain. "You are forgiven," Sebastian said with a grin. "How generous of you." We grinned at each other and then got ready for the day.

"Something's different." We were sitting at breakfast, and Nellie looked me up and down. "You're so... glowing." I felt the heat rush to my face and almost choked on my toast. Confused, Nellie raised an eyebrow. "Why are you blushing so much now? And Sebastian, why are you grinning so- Oh." A knowing smile spread across Nellie's face. "You two rascals." "I don't know what you mean," I replied, trying to sound as innocent as possible. Nellie's grin grew wider. "Of course not." With a conspiratorial smile, she took a bite of her apple. Sebastian nudged me under the table with his knee and gave me a gentle smile, which I timidly returned.

"Yes, it was Prewett!" Startled, I listened to the conversation at the next table. "Or have you seen him since then?" a boy's voice asked his conversation partner. "No, you're right," the other boy agreed. "Who do you think he harassed?" "It's hard to say. He went after every girl. There was definitely more than one."

Goosebumps covered my body, and I couldn't help but shake. "Are you okay?" Sebastian asked next to me. "You're as white as a sheet." I felt like I was going to throw up at any moment. "They know," I whispered, but a clear question mark appeared on Sebastian's face. "Who knows what? You're speaking in riddles, mo gradh." "Leander," was all I could say, and it was enough to make Sebastian understand. "Breathe, Y/N. That doesn't mean anything. And there are a lot of girls here. The chance of someone finding out is smaller than someone being struck by lightning." He stroked the back of my hand soothingly with his thumb. I took a deep breath and nodded. He was right. No one would know that I was behind Leander's suspension.

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It's hard to believe, but the chapter is finally here after half a year! I want to apologize for the long wait. Unfortunately, I've been pretty miserable over the past year. I've been diagnosed with severe depression, and because of it, I often have days when I can't get myself to do anything. Not even the things I actually love. I hope that things will get better in the future and that you don't have to wait so long again. Then, I would like to say a big thank you. Despite the long break, a few readers have joined, which always put a smile on my face. Thank you for still being here or for joining despite my break. Really! Thank you very much!