Fortuity // Seth Clearwater

.6.

"Oakley, wake up."

I grunted in response.

"Oakley, you're asleep at your desk, this has to stop."

I lifted my head confused, looking around to see an almost empty office, my desk covered in cups of coffee, and Paul standing concerned beside me.

"Fiona called me. Said you've been here since yesterday. Oakley, this isn't healthy." he scolded, allowing his extreme concern to peak through as he knelt beside me and analysed me.

He sighed when I didn't respond. "I'm taking you home."

"No, no no I'm good. I still have some work to do," I lied, knowing I was overworking myself.

"No you don't. It's 1am on a Friday night. You're coming home."

I didn't have another chance to protest when Paul picked me up out of my chair effortlessly, turned off my desk lamp, and proceeded to walk me out of the office. At the state of how tired I was, I couldn't even fight him, letting my head fall against his shoulder.

We drove in silence as I drifted in and out of sleep beside him, knowing he would lecture me if I was fully awake.

When we finally pulled up to the house, I wasn't expecting to be greeted with Christian sitting on the front porch while Seth and Embry attempted to persuade him to leave. My heart sank.

"Oh god..." I sunk down in the seat and attempted to hide myself, though I knew he had seen me already. 

Paul groaned. "I'll handle this," he promised.

I watched as Paul got out of the car and approached Christian. Already at the sight of Paul, he visibly cowered and looked like he could run away. 

"Do I need to refresh your memory? Was last time we met not enough to keep you away? Nice shiner," Paul threatened, clearly referring to a fight they had. That would make more sense as to what Paul lied about and why he seemed so defensive about what went down between them.

Christian still tried to remain calm and faced up to Paul. "You don't scare me." he said confidently, until Paul flinched and Christian let out a high pitched gasp, covering his face in fear.

Embry snorted at the sight and I could tell Paul was smirking without even seeing him.

"Let me just talk to her. I'm begging you. I need to know how she's feeling."

Embry and Paul continued to fight the man off, when Seth came to sit in the car with me so I wasn't alone.

"Do you want to talk to him? Or would you prefer stay here? Whatever you want, I'll make it happen." he assured, giving me a sweet supportive smile.

I nodded. "I think so. But I don't want to be completely alone..." I trailed off, unsure of how to proceed.

Seth smiled lightly. "Okay. I'll bring you over, stand a bit away and let you talk, and I'll be there to make sure you feel supported. Does that work?" he offered.

The fact he didn't even question my wishes or judge them, just totally understood and went along, made my feel hopeful for the first time in days. He was so respectful of what I needed, even the fact he came over to ask me what I wanted instead of fighting Christian blindly. 

I nodded and smiled gratefully, allowing him to open my door and guide me over to the collision that was happening between the three.

"Guys let's give them a few seconds to talk. We'll just be floating." Seth announced. 

Paul turned around confused and ready to fight Seth's idea. "What the fuck?" he shrieked, still very much not trusting Christian.

Embry caught on that it was what I asked for, and placed a hand on Paul's shoulder. "Come on dude we'll just stand over here. Let her do this." he insisted, sending me a nod of encouragement as they all walked away. Seth squeezed my hand one last time before joining them, all of the guys bickering about how far away they wanted to stand and what degree of privacy they should give me.