seize

Hello fellow Wattpadians!

Thank you for all the kind DMs asking about how my exams are going! You are all so kind and I appreciate every message I get.

As for comments for this chapter, I don't have much to say except that it has some foreshadowing... ;)

Hope you have a week as fabulous as Benedict Cumberbatch was on SNL!

Percy

P.S. What do you guys think of Logan Lerman as Sebastian? I know I had a different idea of how Sebastian might have looked in the story, but as this story and his character have developed, I think Logan fits him better.

*

Rebekah felt her stomach coil so tightly that her stomach hurt. Adrenaline pumped through her veins as she pulled away from Sebastian.

"Seb," she whispered, panic lacing her voice. "Seb, that's my mum."

He froze. "Fuck." He jumped like he'd been stung by a bee and promptly fell off the bed in a tangle of arms and legs, his head hitting the bottom of the bed as he hit the carpet with a quiet 'oof'.

Without hesitation, Rebekah let out an unladylike snort and almost collapsed in a heap of silent laughter. Sebastian responded by chuckling softly to himself and shaking his head at his own clumsiness.

When she was sure that he was alright, Rebekah scanned the room, her brain racing at a million miles per hour. The first place that sprung to mind was the closet, but it was too small for Sebastian to fit inside comfortably.

She chewed her bottom lip, trying to think of a way out.

There were very few hiding places in such a small room. Maybe she could get him out the window? They were only on the third level. Since he was no longer blind, maybe he could climb down.

Her mum knocked on the door again. Rebekah let out a squeak of consternation then clapped her hands over her mouth, eyes wide. She caught Sebastian's steady gaze and shook her head, feeling her heart beat wildly in her chest.

The deafening silence that followed was loud enough to shatter her eardrums.

"Honey? Are you in there?" Her mum's quiet voice was muffled as it broke the silence. "Is someone in there with you?"

Rebekah clenched her jaw, but before she could say anything, Sebastian's face split into a goofy smile. Placing a chaste kiss on her cheek, he slipped under Rebekah's bed and winked as he disappeared from her sight.

Rebekah felt herself smile. He was so ridiculous.

Smoothing out her dress, she ran a hand hurriedly through her hair before she opened the door to her room.

"Aunt Beck!"

A blur shot through the threshold before a small body threw itself against hers, temporarily knocking the wind out of her. She fell back onto her butt, wincing as her tail bone bruised.

The little boy on top of her didn't seem to notice her discomfort. Or the fact that his leg was still in a cast.

"Aunt Beck! I missed you! I have so much to tell you."

Rebekah laughed, brushing the hair from his eyes. His dark eyes were glowing as he settled himself on her lap. Grinning, Rebekah glanced up to see her mum looking around the room. When she seemed to find nothing out of place, she turned to Rebekah with a pleased expression on her face.

"He's been bugging me all week to bring him to see you."

And you decided to bring him tonight? Of all nights?

"Well, I'm always glad to see you guys." Rebekah pinched Finn's cheeks. Gingerly, she pushed her nephew off her legs and climbed to her feet. When she was standing up straight, she realized that her mother was scanning her outfit with a frown on her face.

"Is that Chloe's old dress?"

Rebekah nodded.

"It looks awfully short on you," her mum noted.

Rebekah felt her heart drop to her shoes. "You were fine with Chloe wearing it."

"I was. Until she went to a party with that dress and came back with a new member of our family," Shye scoffed. "I told her to throw out that dress. Clearly, she didn't." She shook her head.

Rebekah sighed. "I'll go and change if it bothers you."

Her mother shrugged. "You're free to wear whatever you like. It's your life, your body. If you want to dress in such an indecent manner, I won't say anything."

Rebekah narrowed her eyes. Her mum's passive-aggressive tone was doing little to allay her annoyance at her mother's bad timing.

"Mum, I'm always glad to see you, but I really wish you'd called earlier. I have a dinner with my friends." Rebekah hesitated. She hated lying. It was wrong in every way snd the truth always found a way to come out. "It's - uh- it's my room mate's birthday today."

Rebekah watched her mum's face fall as she realised the implications of Rebekah's words.

"Oh." Shye rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly. Disappointment crept across her features. "But we drove all the way out to see you."

"You're still going to have dinner with us, right?" Finn's hand slid into hers as he looked up at Rebekah with big doe eyes. Rebekah felt her heart melt.

"No, it's okay. I'll just message my friends and tell them that I can't make it."

Rebekah thought of Sebastian still hiding under her bed. She'd have to make it up to him at another time. Her defences and lame excuses were nothing compared to Finn's puppy dog eyes. She could never say no to that face.

"Yay!" Finn threw his arms around Rebekah's waist. "I wanna sits next to you. Also did you know that I know how to spell my name and your name and mummy's name and at school, we're learning-" the boy scrunched up his face in concentration. "Mul-multi-pli-decktion tables." He grinned in triumph when he'd gotten the long word out.

Rebekah smiled. Multiplidecktion tables. Somehow, those sounded more fun than the multiplication tables she'd been subjected to at school.

Leaning down, she bent down and kissed his forehead. "That's so great, Finn. I'm so proud of you."

A giant smile proceeded to cross Finn's face, threatening to split it into half. He looked so happy that he almost physically swelled. Rebekah laughed and took his hand. "C'mon. Let's go to dinner. I want to hear all about your last six weeks."

*

Dinner turned out to be pretty fun. Rebekah's initial annoyance at her date being interrupted was forgotten as she played with her nephew and talked with her mum over steaming bowls of noodle soup. She'd forgotten how much she missed dinners with the family.

When they finished, her mum drove her back to campus and pulled up in the guest parking lot.

"Thanks for coming, mum. I had a lot of fun." Rebekah leaned in to place a kiss on her mum's cheek.

"I'm glad you had fun. I'm just sorry that I made you miss your friend's birthday dinner."

Rebekah grimaced internally. She'd forgotten about that lie.

"And I'm sorry for having a go at you about the dress," her mum said. "I've just had a tough week."

Rebekah looked at her mum in surprise. "Work?"

Shye shook her head. Crows feet appeared at the corners of her eyes as she contemplated her next few words. "Worse. Your father came to visit."

For several moments, Rebekah failed to process what her mother had said. Her father? As in the guy who left her mum when she was still a baby? He was still alive?

Rebekah shook the last thought from her head. Of course he was still alive. He was only dead to her, not dead in real life.

"What... what did he want?" Rebekah could hear the tension in her voice.

"He said that he was sorry for leaving, that he wanted to make up for all the mistakes he's made, that he heard that he was a grandfather now and that even though he's screwed up everything else, he wants to do right by his grandkid." Shye turned around in the driver's seat to look at her slumbering grandson. "I told him to get out, but I know he'll be back. He's a persistent son of a bitch."

Rebekah felt repulsed. An acrid taste filled her mouth when she thought of her father. It wasn't as if she hated him; she just... didn't care for him much. He'd turned his back on his family for political and monetary gain, and for Rebekah, that was all she needed to know about him.

Despite not carrying for him, she hadn't been able to ignore his presence in the world entirely. Being the CEO of one of the mining conglomerates in Australia made his personal life fodder for newspapers and social media ridicule. Like, for example, she knew that a few years ago, he'd ended up marrying his secretary, only for them to divorce a year later in a very public and messy split that was splashed out across the front pages of the tabloids.

Rebekah had felt a twinge of sympathy for him when she'd found out about his divorce, but she didn't care enough to feel too sorry for him. She didn't hold any grudges against him for leaving his family behind, but she sure as hell wasn't ready to just accept him back into her life either.

And he could go fuck himself if he thought that she'd let him have a part in her nephew's life.

"Don't worry about him." Shye smiled. "I'll deal with your father."

Rebekah felt her heart squeexe. This was why she loved her mum.

Because, no matter what her mother's flaws were, she'd stuck around to raise two girls all by herself. It hadn't been easy to be a single mother with only one source of income to raise two girls, but she'd done it. She'd been to every netball game and hockey match, dance recital and award ceremony, spelling bee competition and birthday party that Rebekah and Chloe had been in, making the time for them even when she had none.

Because, despite the little things that her mum did that annoyed her, Rebekah knew that her mum would go to the ends of the world for her.

Rebekah returned the smile. "I know, mum. I know."

*

When she returned to her room, no one was there. She didn't know where Elise was, but she suspected that it had something to do with one of the parties being thrown by one of the boarding houses.

Pulling out her phone, she typed out a quick text to Sebastian.

Sorry to have had to take a raincheck on the date. I'm still up for dessert if you are :)

Rebekah had barely pressed send before her phone buzzed with an incoming message.

I don't think you and I have the same idea for dessert, but I'll be right over.

Rebekah read the message several times. She wasn't sure what Sebastian meant. Wasn't there just one kind of dessert? Maybe he meant the savoury kind. Rebekah's mouth watered at the thought. A sweet and savoury dessert sounded delicious.

She was in the midst of changing into a pair of jeans and a shirt when the knock came at the door.

"Gimme a sec!" Rebekah pulled her pants up and zipped them. Picking up the now discarded dress from the floor, she checked that she was decent before yelling, "Come in!"

The door opened and Sebastian's head popped through the doorway. His eyes were screwed shut. "Are you decent?"

Rebekah rolled her eyes. "Yes, you can open your eyes now."

Sebastian grinned and entered the room, shutting the door as he did. "How was dinner?"

"It was good. I had fun with my nephew and my mum." Rebekah hung the dress in her closet as Sebastian jumped onto her bed and made himself comfortable. "Do you want to go for dessert? We didn't really have any because Finn had too many sweets in the afternoon."

A smirk crossed Sebastian's face. His dark brown hair was messy and spilled over his forehead as he sat up on her bed and swung his legs over the side. "Sure. What do you feel like having?"

"I'm really not too sure. What about you?"

Sebastian licked his lips. "Your... ice-cream."

Rebekah turned around and looked at Sebastian, completely befuddled. "My ice-cream? But I've never made ice-cream in my life." She placed one hand on her hips as the other one held her phone. "I think there are some good ice-cream places around here."

As she spoke, Sebastian jumped off the bed and walked towards her, a mischievous glint in his dark blue eyes.

"Maybe Geronimo's? I heard they have some amazing gelatos there. Or Hetty's Place? It has really good reviews but-" She stopped short when she felt Sebastian's hands on her waist. "What're you doing?"

"Kissing you."

Without another word, his lips touched hers, making fireworks explode in her body. She loved how his lips slanted across her; how his hands crept across her body hesitantly as if asking for her approval; how he knew when to deepen the kiss and make her feel like she was floating on cloud nine.

When she eventually pulled away for air, she spotted her reflection in Elise's mirror. Her lips were swollen and her cheeks were flushed. If anyone walked in on them now, it'd be only too clear what they were doing.

"Do you still want dessert?" Sebastian's voice was low and his eyes impossibly darker. "Because I just had mine."

Rebekah tilted her head. "Really? When?"

Sebastian chuckled, his warm breath caressing her lips. "Just now. You're my dessert."

She threaded her fingers through his hair. "Don't be silly, Seb. You didn't eat me. You can't eat me. That'd be cannibalism."

He rolled his eyes and leaned in to press his lips against hers. "Don't worry, babe. I'll show you what I mean one day." One of his hands skated up her figure and cupped her cheek gently, his eyes piercing hers with such intensity that she felt a shiver run down her spine. "Mon amour. Ma chérie. Fuck, it feels amazing to be able to say that to you."

Rebekah chuckled. "Tu es incroyable et bizarre," she murmured as he placed a kiss at the base of her neck.

"I know." Sebastian looked up at her with a cheeky grin.

"Let's not forget incorrigible."

"True, but you love me."

Love.

The word reverberated through Rebekah's skull. She sighed, her hands moving of their own accord and roaming through his thick hair.

"Seb..." she started hesitantly. She couldn't do this. She needed to tell him.

He pulled her closer so that there was no space between their bodies. A look of concern crossed his features.

"I need to tell you something." Rebekah felt sick. Her stomach began churning and her palms were suddenly clammy with sweat. Sebastian's brow furrowed as he reached up to tuck a strand of her hair behind her ear.

"Babe?" His dark eyes searched hers.

Rebekah swallowed.

Just say it.

Rip it off like you're ripping off a bandage.

She took a deep breath, then expelled the words on her exhale. "My mum has arranged for me to get married to someone else."