Defeated (D.J.S)

The note

Previously: I unlock and open the door to reveal...

Isabel's POV:

"Sebastian?!" I practically shout as I stare at the guy standing outside the door.

"Is that any way to greet a friend?" He says slyly, taking off his Fedora which matched his surprisingly fancy attire.

"You are always full of surprises, aren't you?" I say giving him a long hug before letting him inside the house.

"Hey uh, what's with the whole Neal Caffrey look?" I ask, eyeing his extremely clean grey suit.

"Very funny. I actually just came from a date with Diane." He says proudly. Diane is his girlfriend, whom he has been with for quite some time now.

"So you left her to come visit me? Im flattered." I joke as we walk through the hallway.

"You wish. I didn't leave her, our lunch date ended and she had to go back to work. Also, you look different... but it's like, a good different." He says, smiling.

"Ahh. Tell me, how did you know I was here?" I ask curiously, as I stop to look him in the eyes.

"A little bird told me." He says smirking.

"Mhmm. And does this... little bird, have a name?"

"Well, what's the fun in giving you my sources?" He spoke lowly. I narrowed my eyes at him while he just shrugged.

"Sebastian!" Jazmyn's excited voice interrupted our staring contest. "It's so nice to see you again! Especially now that it's on better terms." She trailed off. The last time we had seen Sebastian was at Kelly's funeral. Which is why seeing him was surprising.

"It's really good to see you too." He responded, giving a small smile. "Now, do I smell cookies?"

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"So why are you actually here?" I question.

After snacking for a bit Jazmyn, Sebastian, Gabbie and I sit on the light brown couches as Lav played with toys near the couch.

Sebastian sighs. "The real reason I'm here is to see how you are doing. And don't even try to lie to me. I want the truth. All of it."

"All of it..." I mumble, and he nods. I look to Gabbie and Jazmyn, and they nod, as if they want to know too.

Well here goes nothing.

"Where do I start. I-I miss Kelly. More and more everyday. I feel like a piece of my life puzzle is missing, and I know I'll never be able to find it. It's the little things. The little things that remind me of her. Like the scent of Vanilla, which was her favorite. Or the little thrift store that we used to go to all the time as kids. And I don't want to forget her. But I can't grieve forever, you know? I guess I'm in that stage of leaving the grieving process, and that hurts me a little. More than I would like to admit." I sniff, wiping a runaway tear. The three nod their heads in agreement while Gabbie, who is sitting next to me, takes my hand and gives it a small squeeze. I give her a small reassuring smile.

"And on top of that you add the whole Daniel situation." I sigh frustrated.

"I want to forget him. Push all my feelings away for good. But... I just can't. There is a small part of me that can't let go. And for some reason I want that small part of me to hold on and take over." I breathe out.

"Then let it." Sebastian says after a few seconds.

"That's the thing. I can't! I've tried. I'm just so- so scared.

"Mm. You're scared of love." He says blatantly. It's like he can read my mind. I never wanted to admit it but that was just it. I was basically just scared of love.

"Why? Tell me why love scares you?" He asks.

"Love doesn't scare me really... I love many things. My family and close friends, food, serenity- you get the point. I guess I'm not scared of love, but more of loving the wrong person. If I love the wrong person, and I love them with everything, and yet in the end it was all for nothing. It was all some game. Or all a lie... I would lose. I would lose them. I would lose the love. I would lose myself. And that's what I'm truly afraid of. Losing the people I love..." I whisper at the end, pressing my eyes closed as tears threaten to fall.

And then, what I said next was what I had meant to say all along.

"He was never mine to begin with, yet losing him broke my heart." I say as the tears finally fall. And through the tears I see Sebastian give me a smile, before enveloping me in a hug, and the other girls joining in.

"Thank you for telling us. I can't even imagine what you're going through, but we are always here for you, okay?" Jazmyn says softly. I nod as I continue to sink into the group hug.

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"Can you stop with your obsession of what I think?"

"It's not an obsession... It's a mild curiosity." Sebastian stated.

"Whatever. I think she's a bitch, okay?" Gabbie answered, and all of us were quiet. Sebastian was asking Gabbie what she truly thought about Jess. Honestly, I didn't want to be in the conversation, but where was I supposed to go?

"Alright well... That settles that... Jess is officially bitch of the year." Sebastian mumbles.

The doorbell rings, accompanied by three knocks. Sebastian jumps up almost running to the front door, leaving the awkward situation in the living room.

I hear the door open, and Sebastian having a conversation with someone, but I can't hear anything he is saying.

"Were you expecting someone?" I ask Jazmyn, and she shakes her head 'no'.

Sebastian comes into the room with a nervous expression.

"Um, Isabel, I think you should go talk to the person at the door." He says with a smile telling me everything is good, but his eyes saying something is off.

"What's wrong Seb?" I ask, but he just points to the door. I cautiously make my way over to the door and take a breath before slowly opening it. To my surprise no one is there, and all I see is a black car driving out of the driveway faster than normal, and a small piece of paper on the ground in front of the door.

I pick up the paper, utterly confused.

I open it up to find two words. 'Im sorry'. That's all it says. And I gasp.

I don't gasp because of what I says, or because of the situation at hand. I gasp because I recognize the handwriting.

It's Daniel's.

A/N:

IT. HAS. BEEN. WAYYY TOO LONG.

I'm so sorry for the long wait! I hope it was worth it. I wrote this at one in the morning haha. So I am slowly trying to find time to write. I start school in about a week, so we shall see how that goes.

Let me know your thoughts on what you think is gonna happen in this story!! I'm super excited because I think we are more than half away done with the book... but nothing is set in stone.

I hope you all are staying safe! Love you guys!

~Ari