Sebastian Bear (complete)

TWENTY-FIVE

TWENTY-FIVE

Dinner was a mountain of finger sandwiches on metal plates served with white warmed chocolate that felt like velvet down your throat. There was music, somewhere soft and far off. Madeline couldn't quite pinpoint where it was coming from. She looked at a few of the faces of the couples that ate dinner around them. The place was very quiet, all smiling mouths and holding hands. Madeline laughed as Sebastian downed half the sandwiches in very little time at all. She couldn't blame him. Everything was delicious.

"Are you having a good time?" Sebastian asked her. She nodded, a slight blush tickling the apples of her cheeks. "You're not mad at me anymore?"

"I wasn't mad at you," Madeline sighed. She picked at a chipped place at the mouth of her mug. She admired the scratchy feel of jagged porcelain against her skin. It was so hard to see that world as anything other than perfect normally.

"You were definitely mad." Sebastian finished the last bit of food and chugged his beverage.

"Not mad," Madeline disagreed. "I just don't like the thought of you running around doing stupid stuff over me. I am actually really really really... really bothered over it."

"Why?"

"You know why," Madeline rolled her eyes. "I don't want to be the reason for your downfall."

"I would love nothing more than to fall down in your honor. Well, apart from living for you. I'd much rather live for you but I would gladly die for you... a close second."

Madeline closed her eyes at his incessant talking. He had to stop with his perfection. It was almost annoying to hear him pledge his allegiance to her.

"Stop saying that!" She hissed. She glanced around to make sure they weren't attracting attention from the other happy couples. "Stop saying you would die for me. I don't want you to die for me."

"Okay, Madsy." Sebastian smiled his cheeky smile. She watched him carefully. He was so relaxed, leaning back like some king against his throne. His arms were crossed over his chest, his eyes studying her every move.

"Okay,"

"Okay," he nodded.

"Okay." Madeline narrowed her gaze. She wasn't sure what he was thinking but knew it was entirely inappropriate. He was Sebastian, after all. There was no reason to think otherwise.

"So what are you going to do for me?"

"What?" She was truly confused. 

"I promised you something, dearest. Promises aren't free are they?"

"Sure they are," Madeline giggled.

"Not here, they're not."

"I'm not from here," she countered. She matched his stare head-on.

"But we are here now."

Madeline grinned, taking a sip of her warm drink. She also wanted to hide the blush on her cheeks. It was too much fun arguing with Sebastian. It brought out a silly part of her that had been gone for far too long. She wasn't sure if she had ever felt so at ease with a person. Even Nolan seemed to pull something serious out of her. There was always something trying about their friendship. There were moments of good but there were far more times that Madeline felt like she had to try so very hard to keep him around, to keep him interested.

Then there was Sebastian, sitting and smiling at her. He gave her his complete attention. She wasn't even sure what to do with most of it but would hate it so much if he ever decided to take it away.