summer in the city 「 s.stan 」

DAY 15

— AUGUST 15TH —

Your belated birthday party for Sebastian had only served to make things even more complicated. Of course, spending an entire day with him was wonderful – but that was exactly the problem. He was too good to be true, and you wanted him, but you couldn't have him.

Over breakfast, you reluctantly switched your phone back on with a sigh. The media attention had calmed down a little; most of the fans seemed to notice that neither you nor Sebastian were going to address the current situation, so they'd lost interest, which was lucky.

However, the same couldn't be said for your friends. Allie, Sophia and Luca had each messaged you hundreds of times, practically begging for an explanation, even creating a new group chat before adding both you and Sebastian, and then passive aggressively naming it 'WE WANT ANSWERS'.

Quite frankly, they deserved answers; you'd neglected them this summer and they were undoubtedly wondering why, since you hadn't really kept them in the loop about anything. So, after checking with Sebastian, you fired off a short message to them all, asking them to meet up for lunch so that you could finally come clean.

You wouldn't have been surprised if they'd all declined out of anger. But, within a few minutes, a restaurant reservation for five people was booked for midday, leaving you a few hours to get dressed, get out and get your shit together.

Sitting by your side, Sebastian saw the way that you began to take slightly deeper breaths than usual, in an attempt to calm yourself. He placed a reassuring hand on your shoulder – well, it should've been reassuring, but in reality, the fact that he was touching you only made you more nervous.

"It'll be fine," he murmured, almost trying to convince himself too. "They'll understand."

Deep down, you knew he was right – you'd been friends with these people for decades and, although they might be frustrated with you for a while, nothing bad would come out of it. This summer would inevitably end, and everything would go back to normal.

"I guess so," you replied, gritting your teeth in a worried grimace as you walked away, hoping to take a cold shower to waken your senses a little. You definitely needed it.

How were you going to explain the situation to your friends when you didn't even know what was happening yourself?

⋆

Ten minutes before you had to leave, you carefully walked downstairs again, ready to meet Sebastian by the front door. You'd dressed maybe a little too formally for the occasion, but you wanted to at least try with your appearance; after all, if you looked more put together, maybe it would boost your confidence.

You stopped in your tracks when you saw Sebastian. His hair was still a little wet and naturally curly, while his all black outfit brought out the pale hue of his ridiculously pretty eyes. You couldn't help but stare at him, momentarily forgetting about everything else that was going on.

Instantly, his eyes met yours, before slowly roaming your body. He didn't want to make you uncomfortable, but he truly couldn't help himself; he thought you looked amazing in a silky, somewhat clingy white dress.

"We're... we're opposites," you stuttered, referring to the colours of your clothes, trying to alleviate the tension. And opposites attract, you wanted to add – but it would've been unnecessary, anyway, because it was painfully obvious how attracted you both were to each other. Neither of you could hide it anymore.

Sebastian didn't respond. He stepped towards you, his breathing slightly staggered as he came to a standstill mere inches away from you. He let his hand rest at the curve of your waist, his thumb lightly tracing circles over the material of the dress that he loved so much.

You didn't know who leaned in first – it didn't matter. Because suddenly, his lips were on yours, kissing you as if he was making up for the days of awkwardness, drama and lost time between you. And then you were stumbling backwards, collapsing messily on the couch with him hovering over you, your legs tangled together, your hands in his hair, his lips moving to your neck as any rational thought processes completely disappeared.

You never made it to dinner.