𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐮𝐬𝐭 ~ 𝐄𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧

𝐄𝐥𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧

Once Sebastian had dressed himself into a long sleeved shirt and baggy sweatpants, he removes himself from the bathroom, rubbing his hair with his towel.

"Hey Chris?" He asks, walking into the bedroom. "What'd you think we'll do for dinne— oh." He drops the towel at the sight of Scarlett and Anthony comforting a tear stained Chris, lips between his teeth. "He-

Scarlett nods. She gets up from the bed and wraps Sebastian in a hug, chin tucked in the crook of his neck. "You aren't alone anymore," she whispers, pecking his cheek in a calming manner. "Whatever it is your going through, we're here for you every step of the way. It will pass."

Sebastian has no choice but to hug back, biting his lower lip to stop the tears. More lies. More people getting involved. This wasn't good.

"We'll leave you two to talk," Anthony speaks up, clearing his throat. "Come on Scarlett."

Scarlett nods and breaks away from Sebastian, patting his shoulder gently before moving onto Chris. Sebastian watches as they hug, Chris not wanting to let go, and drops down onto the edge of his bed, feeling the guilt eat away at him.

He trains his eyes to the floor, listening as Chris sees his friends out. "You'll be okay," he hears Scarlett whisper, "just talk to him, yeah?"

"You'll both be able to ease the tension if you talk," Anthony reassures. "I swear to you."

Sebastian ignores the rest of the conversation, not wanting to be nosy, and begins tugging frantically at his hair. If his father were to find out about all of these people knowing his lie, he hadn't a clue what he'd do. All Sebastian knows it wouldn't be good.

Chris walks into the room then, cutting Sebastian from his thoughts, and takes a shaky seat across from Sebastian, fiddling with his hands. "Seb?" He whispers hoarsely.

Sebastian lifts his head, eyes welling with tears at the pain in Chris's voice. "Y-yeah?"

"I'm sorry."

Sebastian is shocked at the words. He's sorry?

"I know it wasn't my place to tell them," Chris continues, lips wobbling, "but.. I just.. I needed to tell someone, my head.. was all over the place and I'm— I'm sorry."

Sebastian shakes his head. "It's okay," he says, almost a whisper. "Their your friends. Of course you needed someone to talk to. If anyone should be apologising, it's me. I shouldn't have dropped it all on you so fast, it—

Chris cuts him off. "No, don't. I knew there was something you weren't telling me. It was bound to come out sooner or later."

Sebastian shrugs. "Still, I'm sorry to put you through that."

Chris decides to ignore the apology and fires back with a question that had been bugging him since he had found out. "Do you go see anyone? A therapist maybe?"

"Not as often as I used to, money's tight for my dad and I." The lie comes out smooth and easy, having been drilled into his mind for months on end. "But I still go at least once a month."

Chris nods, seemingly relieved at the response. "That's uh.. that's good," he scratches the back of his neck, "you uh.. you hungry?"