trois

It took a full three seconds before Rebekah could regain her senses fully, but when she did, she slowly disentangled herself from the small boy who had wrapped his arms around her torso.

"Finn! What're you doing here?"

Her nephew beamed up at her with all the charm in the world. "Mummy said we can get a puppy."

Rebekah frowned. That response didn't seem to answer her question one bit. Slowly, she pushed herself onto her feet and stood up gingerly, ignoring the small human still clinging to one of her arms and talking incessantly.

"Finn," Rebekah interrupted his flow of words. "Where's mummy?"

"She said she's coming."

As if on cue, a tall slender figure strolled through the grass towards them. She had an amused half-smile on her face and her hands were shoved into her coat pockets. Even from several metres away, the familial resemblance with Rebekah was hard to miss.

"Chloe," Rebekah couldn't hide the confusion from her voice. "Why're you here? Shouldn't you be working today? Why isn't Finn at day care?"

Her sister slid her sunglasses so it sat atop her head and sighed. "I took a day off. Apparently, Finn's dad got him a puppy without my approval and now he," she gestured at her son, "won't shut up about it. It sucks because if I don't let Charky stay with us, I'll look like the lousy mother who won't let her son have a puppy."

"His name's Charky," Finn quipped. He was basically shaking with excitement. "I wanted to name him Charcoal but then dad changed it to Charky."

"Charky, huh?" Rebekah bent down so she was at eye level with her nephew. "So what kind of dog is he?"

Finn beamed. "He's a sch-sch," his face scrunched in concentration. "Sch... Mummy, how do you say the word? I know it, but I can never say it."

"It's called a schnauzer, hon."

"That's right. A sch... schnauzer." Finn grinned proudly at his aunt, obviously pleased that he had managed to pronounce the word. Laughing, she ruffled his chocolate brown hair affectionately. Her nephew's looks reflected his mixed heritage and, while he was still oblivious now, he would have to learn one day about how he had been conceived and why his mummy and daddy didn't live together, but Rebekah hoped that that talk was still a long way off.

"Schnauzers are cute," she declared optimistically and Finn nodded his head so hard that his chin hit his collarbone. His dark eyes were like two stars, twinkling with undisguised excitement. "So we're going to have a dog from now on?" Rebekah directed the question at her sister as she stood up and pulled herself to full height.

Chloe made a face. "Sort of. Michael and I agreed on a joint custody of the dog. He won't have to leave Finn's side. Since Michael gets Finn one week per month, Finn'll bring Charky with him when he goes to his dad's place and when he comes back, we get Charky for three weeks every month."

"That sounds like fun."

Both sisters stopped in their tracks and whirled around to see who had spoken.

"Sorry." Sebastian gave a little wave. "I just thought that I should remind you guys that I'm here and kind of eavesdropping on your whole family situation. I mean, I didn't mean to, but seeing as how I'm lost and waiting for my guide, I didn't really have anywhere else to go."

Rebekah bit her lip. She had completely forgotten that he was still there.

"Um... okay." Chloe shot Sebastian a strange look before turning her attention back to her sister. "We have to go now anyway, Beck." Chloe placed a hand on her sister's shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze. "I just thought we'd drop by your campus and say hi since it's on the way to Michael's place and we're on our way there to pick up the puppy now." She glanced distractedly at her son. "Finn, zip up your jacket. It's cold this morning. I don't want you falling sick"

"I'll give Charky a hug and a kiss for you, aunt Beck," Finn told his aunt as he fiddled with the zip on his jacket. When he had failed to zip his jacket up on the fourth try, he groaned and lost both his patience and his concentration. Looking up, he noticed the tall stranger idling nearby. Unafraid, he walked up to Sebastian and spoke. "Hi. I'm Finnick."

Rebekah's eyes widened but before she could react, her sister had already grabbed Finn's arm.

"Finn," Chloe was saying, "Don't just go talking randomly to strangers."

"But why?" The little boy looked genuinely confused. "He looks lost."

Sebastian had a wry smile on his face. "That boy's got a point."

"He's not a stranger, Chloe," Rebekah hurriedly said. "Well, not really. He's my roommate's brother. We just met this morning."

Her sister's hold on Finn didn't loosen. "Oh."

"I swear, I'm not dangerous," Sebastian chuckled. "Although I'm also aware that kidnappers and axe murderers tend to say that too. I guess you kind of have to trust me then." When neither sister responded, Sebastian bent down into a crouching position and held out his hand."Hi Finnick. Can I call you Finn? I'm Seb."

The boy furrowed his brow in confusion. "Sure, but why're you facing the other way? I'm right here." He pried his mum's fingers off his arm and stepped forward to tap Sebastian's back. "Seb, I'm behind you."

It was so fleeting that Rebekah almost missed the look of embarrassment that had crossed Sebastian's face when Finn had spoken. But, as quick as it had come, it disappeared and was swiftly replaced with a charming smile. By the time Sebastian turned around to face the child, the only sign that he was embarrassed was the slight pink tinge in his cheeks.

"Sorry, my mistake," he said. "I'm such a klutz. I'm always doing and saying the wrong things."

"Rebekah," Chloe was suddenly next to her and whispering, "Is he, like, blind?"

"Actually, my family likes to call it 'visually impaired' or 'visually challenged'," Sebastian responded. His head was tilted so that it neither faced Finn nor Chloe but was somewhere in between. "But those are just fancy ways of saying that, yeah, I'm blind."

Chloe gasped and Rebekah just shook her head. This had just gone from being embarrassing to utterly mortifying.

"I-I'm so sorry," Chloe stammered. "I didn't mean to be rude. I was just, uh-"

"It's okay," Sebastian had a tight smile on his face. "As I was just explaining to Rebekah just now, my hearing is extremely sensitive but my feelings aren't," He paused before adding, "Luckily for you."

"What does 'blind' mean?" Finn asked suddenly. "Is that when you can't see stuff?"

"Chloe, don't you and Finn have to go and pick up a puppy?" Rebekah was glaring at her sister now. Chloe was only too happy to take the hint.

"Yeah, and we're already running late. Finn, c'mon, we have to go."

"But I want to hang out with Seb. He seems nice," Finn protested.

"We can hang out on another day Finnick," Sebastian promised as Chloe half-dragged her son away. "Bye little buddy. I'll see you around."

"Bye Seb! Mummy, stop holding my hand so tight! Mummy, I didn't get to hug aunt Beck goodbye... but I want... but dad says I..." Finn's voice gradually faded as both him and his mum hurried off-campus. When he could no longer be heard, Rebekah turned to Sebastian and opened her mouth to say something but was cut off before the first word could leave her lips.

"Is that boy named after Finnick Odair from The Hunger Games?" Sebastian seemed genuinely amused as he stood up straight. For a moment, Rebekah was too stunned to respond. That had definitely not been a question that she had expected to hear from Sebastian.

"Actually, yeah," Rebekah replied. "His father wanted to name him either Lucas Skywalker or Han Solo but my sister has always been more of a Hunger Games fan. In the end, they agreed to a compromise. Finn's full name is actually Finnick Skywalker Salt."

Sebastian chuckled. "I like that name."

"I do too, actually. Just don't tell my sister I said that."

"I won't tell her if you take me to a nice café right now and let me buy you some coffee."

Rebekah shook her head. "I don't drink coffee."

"Okay, how about tea?"

"Not a big fan of that either."

Sebastian was smiling ironically again. "How about lunch?"

"I already have-"

"You know," Sebastian interrupted her again. "For someone who seems incredibly sensitive, you can be pretty dense sometimes."

"I beg your pardon?" Rebekah frowned. "That's not a very nice thing to say, Sebastian."

"True," he responded. "It's probably why my sister says that I'm a dick. And she's absolutely right. I am a dick. A dick who's trying to ask you out on a date."

Rebekah felt her jaw go slack. He was asking her on a date? Why couldn't he have just said that?

"Oh."

"Is that a no?"

"No, it's not a no. It's an 'oh'." A billion thoughts were running through her head. "Why would you want to go on a date with me right now? We just met. You don't even know me."

"Let's call it love at first sight."

Rebekah frowned and narrowed her eyes at him. He grinned.

"Sorry," he chuckled. "I couldn't resist."

Rebekah paused then shrugged. Life was short. One coffee couldn't make that much of a difference, could it?

"Okay," she said finally. "I know this little place just off-campus, if you still want coffee. But we'll be skipping class."

"I obviously haven't made it clear enough that I'm not really interested in the coffee," Sebastian said in a monotone, but the corners of his lips were pulling up into a smile. He ran a hand quickly through his hair. "So let's make it clearer: I'm not really interested in the coffee and I don't give a flying fuck about class. I'm more interested in getting to know you."

Rebekah resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "Let's see if you're still this interested at the end of this so-called date."

That was when Sebastian smiled and Rebekah felt her heart melt a little. It was a warm, genuine smile that sent shivers running down her spine and made her skin tingle. When he spoke, his voice had dropped several notches and Rebekah had to lean closer to him to hear.

"Qui vivra verra."

A/N Hello fellow Wattpadians!

I hope you liked this chapter! I've attached a photo of baby schnauzers to this story because... well, let's face it- everything is better with cute puppies.

I know this chapter isn't perfect and I haven't had a great deal of time to edit it, but just in case some things aren't clear, I'll just to clarify them now.

Chloe is Rebekah's older sister and when she mentions Michael in her dialogue, she's actually referring to her son's (Finn's) father. Chloe and Michael aren't married and they share custody of Finn. That's basically all there is to know at the moment. You guys will learn more about them and how Finn came into existence later on in the story ;)

Hope you guys have a wonderful day!

Stay safe and stay awesome.

Percy