vingt-trois

Sebastian groaned and slid his hands down Rebekah's body.

"I'm going to kill the fucker at the door," he mumbled.

For once, Rebekah felt exactly the same as him. Her body was thrumming with energy and her muscles coiled so tight that it almost physically hurt.

"I'll get rid of them." She ran her hands quickly down his bare arms, loving the way he visibly shivered at her touch. If this was how power felt like, she wanted to get drunk on it.

"If you can't, I think I'm going to have to take a cold shower."

Rebekah slipped out of his grasp reluctantly. "Why would you want a cold one? It's freezing. You'll fall sick if you do that. Take a warm shower."

Sebastian chuckled. "I doubt that would do the job, love."

Rebekah frowned. She didn't see why he had to insist on taking a cold shower on such a chilly morning; whether he took a shower with warm or cold water wouldn't make a difference. He'd be clean either way.

She walked to the door, feeling Sebastian's eyes follow her every step. He was crazy- and she loved it.

Opening the door, she was surprised when she was met with a complete stranger.

"Hi," Rebekah greeted tentatively.

"Hi! I'm so sorry if I woke you up." The stranger looked confused. She twirled a lock of her long blonde hair around her index finger. "I was given the impression that this was Elise Crawley's room."

Rebekah regarded the girl in front of her. She was beautiful, her beauty accentuated with a rare sweetness in her expression; but there was something off about her. Everything about her expression screamed innocence, but Rebekah couldn't shake the feeling that this girl wasn't as sugar sweet as she looked.

"It is. She went out for a bit. You could wait here for her, if you wish."

The girl considered the proposal for a moment before shaking her head. She tugged at the hem of her dress that was barely long enough to cover her behind.

"No, it's alright. I'll just come back later." She plastered a smile onto her face. "Could you just tell her that Jane stopped by?"

Rebekah felt her spine seize up.

Jane.

This... this was Jane.

The Jane.

The girl who fucked Sebastian up.

Rebekah felt like slamming the door in her face. Instead, she forced herself to smile.

"Sure. Thanks for swinging by." Her voice sounded alien to her- as if she'd left her own body and was watching someone else speak to Jane. By the time she shut the door, her cheeks hurt from false smiling and Sebastian was wearing a blank expression.

Rebekah rubbed her temples, feeling a pounding headache explode through her brain. While she made her way to her desk and collapsed on the chair, Sebastian grabbed his shirt and pulled it back on. His face was as dark as a rolling storm cloud as he leaned against the frame of the bathroom door.

"Are you okay, love?" His voice was quiet. Rebekah look up at him and blinked several times.

"Yeah, yeah. Why wouldn't I be?" She laughed but it sounded hollow, even to her own ears.

Sebastian sighed and padded over to perch himself on her desk.

"She seems nice," Rebekah said.

"'Seems' being the key word," Sebastian replied wryly. He reached out and laced his fingers through hers. "She's a snake in sheep's clothing."

Rebekah raised an eyebrow. "Don't you mean wolf in sheep's clothing?"

"No," Sebastian answered instantly. "Wolves have some redeeming qualities. As far as I know, snakes don't."

Rebekah laughed and using her free hand, began to trace patterns over his arm.

"It seems like the universe just won't let me catch a break," she sighed. "First Finn, then my dad and now her. Fuck all this."

Sebastian's lips twitched. "Jane means nothing to me. Not anymore." He waited for Rebekah to respond, but when she didn't, he kept speaking.

"In the past," Sebastian lowered his voice to a whisper as he traced the outline of her face with the tips of his fingers. The light touch sent shivers running down her spine and she struggled not to move. "When I heard her voice, I'd get this lightheaded, gooey feeling in my insides. I'd get excited to the point that I almost wanted to pass out."

When his fingers had reached her chin, he hopped off the desk and knelt in front of Rebekah. His dark eyes were earnest as he continued to speaking. "But she's in the past. Someone made me realize that there was more to life than just one girl." He smiled. "The ironic thing is that the first time I ever saw clearly was when I was blind."

Rebekah smiled softly at his honest speech. She reached out and ran her fingers through his hair, relishing in how thick and silky it felt against her skin.

"It's not you I worry about. It's her. Maybe she's still in love with you."

Sebastian scoffed. "If she is, she needs to know that that ship sailed a long time ago."

As if to reinforce his point, he reached out suddenly and grabbed Rebekah by her hips. She squeaked as she was pulled off the chair and fell on Sebastian's lap. When she'd recovered from her surprise, she glared at him.

"That wasn't very nice."

"I wanted us to be closer." Sebastian bent his head to survey their new position. Rebekah followed his gaze, realizing belatedly that her legs were wrapped around his waist and that their pelvic areas were pressed more intimately than ever before.

"Well, this definitely counts as close. I'm not sure there's any way we could possibly be closer." Rebekah slung her arms around his neck.

Sebastian grinned roughishly. "I can think of several." He leaned forward and pressed his lips again hers, cutting off whatever she had been about to say.

When they finally pulled apart, he pressed his forehead against hers with a goofy grin on his face.

"We should stay right here and do this all day," he murmured. Rebekah chuckled.

"No way, Romeo. We've got way too many things to do today."

"Mm. I'm still going to need that cold shower though." Sebastian wriggled his eyebrows suggestively.

An unsolicited image of Sebastian with cold water pouring down his back popped up in Rebekah's mind, and she swiftly squashed it.

"Take your shower." Rebekah began the process of disentangling their limbs. "I need to call my mum to tell her about my dad and then have a chat with E."

"Why do you need to talk to Elise?"

Rebekah grinned.

"Girl talk."

A/N Hello fellow Wattpadians!

I have somewhat disappointing news- I'll be visiting friends over the next few weeks and they live in rural areas without WiFi. Hence, I don't think I'll be able to update for the rest of December. I'm so sorry, guys!

If I'm not back before the new year, I wish you all a very happy holidays and a blessed new year!

Much love,

Percy