quatre

It turned out that making their way to the café took a lot longer than Rebekah had initially anticipated. After several stumbles and near-misses with lamp posts and fire hydrants, Rebekah finally managed to guide Sebastian through the glass doors of the small café.

Once they were inside the warm room, an array of delicious aromas assaulted their senses. The smells of chocolate, coffee and freshly baked pastries blended together into a mouth-watering combination that made Rebekah's stomach rumble and reminded her that she had skipped breakfast. Different kinds of croissants, pies, breads, tarts and cakes sat neatly behind a glass counter, kept temptingly just out of reach.

"Hi." A waitress with dark skin hurried up to them with a wide smile. She was slightly older, perhaps in her late thirties to early forties. "Would you like a table for two?"

"That would be lovely, thank you," Sebastian replied without missing a beat.

"Of course. If you would just follow me," she gestured to a table nearby with one hand as her other one grabbed two menus. She darted towards the back of the café and for a moment, Sebastian stopped moving, unsure of which direction to head in.

"Don't worry. I got your back." Rebekah linked her arm through his and tugged him gently towards the table. As she led him carefully through the maze of tables and chairs, she made sure to find the clearest route possible so that any chance of him tripping would be minimised. When the table was reached, she guided him into his chair before sliding into the seat opposite.

"Would you like a drink before you begin?"

"Actually, yes. Could you grab me a cup of tea with milk and two sugars please?"

"Of course. And anything for you, miss?"

Rebekah slung her back onto the empty chair next to her. "A hot chocolate would be nice. Thank you."

"No problems. Just call me when you're ready to order, yeah?" The waitress placed her notepad into her red apron and tucked her pen behind her ear. "I'll be back with your drinks in a sec."

For a few moments after she had hurried away, there was silence at the table. Rebekah didn't know quite what to say.

"Just ask me," Sebastian said suddenly. "I know you must be wondering."

"Wondering? About what?"

"About why I'm blind."

Rebekah's mouth fell open. This time, she really was lost for words. In truth, the thought about how Sebastian might have become blind had never even crossed her mind. She had been too anxious about not saying or doing anything that might offend him.

"It was an accident," Sebastian explained calmly as he removed his bag and placed it on his lap. His fingers felt the edges of the table until it reached the part where the chair next to him met the table. Then, he pulled out the chair and placed his bag on it. "I did something pretty stupid. I mean, Elise, she's the smart one. She told me not to do it, but I didn't listen."

Rebekah placed her arms on her table, watching herself in the reflection of Sebastian's sunglasses as he spoke.

"Is... is it permanent?" she asked hesitantly.

"My stupidity? Probably."

Rebekah felt a smile tug at the ends of her lips. "That's not what I meant."

"Are you sure?"

"Sebastian," she said patiently, "I meant your blindness."

"Oh, that." Sebastian reached up carefully and removed his sunglasses. His eyes were tightly shut and indecision was written clearly all over his face. Shaking his head ever so slightly, he slid the sunglasses back into place. "When I first became like this, the doctors told me that it would be temporary- that I'd definitely get my eyesight back. They told me that they didn't know exactly when but that time always healed this type of blindness. Well, I don't know how temporary this is meant to be, but it's been pretty permanent."

Rebekah fell silent. There was an almost irresistible tug in the pit of her stomach, telling her to say something- anything- to try and make the situation seem better but, as always, she couldn't find the words.

"This might be a little weird," Sebastian said, breaking the silence again. "But will you let me feel your face?"

"What?" Rebekah felt her eyebrows shoot up her forehead and her eyes widening to the size of saucers.

"I just want to know what you look like. I mean, it'd be a lot easier if my eyes worked but since they don't, this is the next best thing."

Rebekah felt her jaw open and shut several times but no sound came out. Finally, she managed to stutter out the first words that came to mind. "I-I don't think m-my f-f-face is very nice to t-touch."

This time, it was Sebastian's turn to look both confused and amused. "I don't care."

For several long seconds, Rebekah stared at Sebastian in a state of indecision. Finally, she leaned as far forward across the table as she possible could.

"You'll be disappointed," she warned even though she had no idea why he'd be.

A lazy smile crossed Sebastian's lips. "On va voir."

"Put your elbows on the table," Rebekah instructed. "Then stretch your arms out a bit."

Sebastian followed her directions carefully and just as he was reaching out, a burst of sunshine peeked out through a cloud and cut through the glass window. It bathed him in golden light, casting shadows over the angular shape of his face and causing his skin to glow. For a moment, Rebekah was caught up by the change in lighting before the shock of feeling his icy fingers on her face caused her to suck in a quick breath and scrunch her eyes shut.

"Sorry. My hands are really cold."

"It's okay," Rebekah mumbled through tightly pursed lips.

Slowly, the tips of his fingers traced her face from her forehead to the slight dip in her temples. They travelled over her eyes and cheekbones and, ever so slowly, lingered on her lips before lightly caressing her jawline before gliding down towards where her neck met her collarbone. There was something about his touch- the way it seemed to just gently kiss the skin- that made her feel utterly confused. Something- a feeling- was running riot inside her and she didn't know what it was. But, almost as suddenly as they had arrived, his touch disappeared and Rebekah jolted back to reality.

By the time Rebekah opened her eyes, Sebastian had retreated back to his side of the table, his lips slightly parted.

"Did it help?" she asked when she'd found her voice again.

"I think so. You feel beautiful by the way."

Rebekah withheld a snort. "Thanks." She hesitated before asking, "When did you learn to speak French?"

Sebastian smiled. "My grandparents from my mum's side are French. They insisted that Elise and I learn the language when we were little so they would only speak to us in French. I'm terribly illiterate in the language though. My grandparents never insisted that we learned to read and write French- just that we could be conversant in it. Do you speak any French?"

"Un peu. Je l'ai étudié au collège et au lycée." Rebekah shrugged. "But I've forgotten most of it now."

"Ah. I could teach you then. I volunteer to be your tutor."

"I appreciate the offer, Sebastian, but I think that I can still hold my own in a French conversation."

"But practice makes perfect, doesn't it?"

"Yes, but-"

"Let me be more direct," Sebastian interrupted her mid-sentence. "I highly doubt that you need a tutor. I'm just finding ways to spend more time with you."

Rebekah felt her face turn scarlet and she suddenly felt selfishly glad that Sebastian was blind so that he couldn't see her.

"French isn't called the language of love for nothing," Sebastian continued with an impish grin.

"That's where I disagree with you," Rebekah said. "I think that any language could be the language of love, as long as it's conveyed with the right emotions."

"True. Although, sometimes, not speaking is the best language of all. Sometimes, certain... actions convey passion and emotions better than any words can ever do." Sebastian was barely reining in his smile.

Rebekah nodded before remembering that he couldn't see it and feeling like an idiot. "My mum always says that even the smallest of actions can go a long way."

As she spoke, Sebastian began shaking his head with a look of utter amazement on his face. "That's not what I meant at all, Rebekah. But I won't explain it to you. Not yet anyway." He paused to let that statement sink in before continuing. "Look at us, having decent conversations," Sebastian had that mischievous smile on his face again. "This blind date is going pretty well, don't you think?"

Rebekah shook her head, but this time, she was the one struggling to hide a grin. There was something about Sebastian that set her at ease and made her feel happy. She hadn't felt so carefree in so long that she'd almost forgotten what it'd felt like.

Before she could respond, however, the waitress returned with their drinks.

"How're you two lovebirds going? Have you decided on what you'd like to order?" she asked cheerily.

"Lovebirds?" Rebekah was startled. "No, no. We're-"

"-enjoying our date very much," Sebastian cut in.

"Well, you look like a very cute couple." The waitress winked at Rebekah before turning her attention back to Sebastian. "She seems like a good one. Don't let her slip away, kid."

"I won't," Sebastian said soberly. "I mean, look at her. She could do so much better than me. I guess the saying is true. Love truly is blind."

The waitress smiled, not catching the irony in his tone. "You sound just like my son when he talks about his fiancée. Anyway, enough with the chitchat. What else can I get you kids?"

"I think I smelt a whiff of macadamia brownies as I walked through the door. They smelt wonderful, by the way. I'd like a slice of brownie please. What about you, Rebekah?"

Rebekah pretended to let her eyes gloss over the menus. She'd known since before entering the café what she'd wanted to order.

"I'll just have a red velvet cupcake."

"Done and done. I'll be back with your orders as soon as possible." The waitress picked up the menus from the table and walked back towards the counter. When she was out of earshot, Rebekah leaned forward.

"Love is blind, huh?"

"In this case, I'd say that that saying is quite literal."

"Sebastian! That lady now thinks that we're dating!"

"What's wrong with that?"

"I-uh..." Rebekah felt her voice trail off. She didn't want to admit to that she'd never dated before. She'd never even had a boyfriend before and it wasn't because she hadn't wanted one or because she had lacked any offers. She'd just never been allowed.

"I have to be honest with you, Rebekah," Sebastian said. He grasped the ear of his cup carefully and brought it to his lips, wincing when the hot tea scalded his lips. "You're not a complete stranger to me. After orientation week, when everyone went home for the weekend, all Elise talked about was her new amazing roommate. She praised you to the sky and she piqued my curiosity. I wanted to know who this person was that my sister wouldn't stop talking about. I genuinely want to get to know you better because from what I've heard from Elise and from the past few hours I've spent with you, every part of me is telling me that you're one of the good guys."

Rebekah felt her heart warm at his words. There was no hint of anything other than honesty in his tone and she appreciated that he was being so forthcoming, especially since she wasn't particularly adept in the world of dating. Maybe it was okay to let herself open up a little. If anything, Sebastian seemed like one of the good guys too.

"Okay," she said. "Then let's get to know one another better."

A/N Hello fellow Wattpadians!

Firstly, thank you to the brilliantly talented MelodyRush for my new cover. I'm always open to anyone who wants to make banners or covers for my stories and she messaged me, requesting whether she could make one. I think she's done an excellent job of the cover and deserves a huge shout out for her amazing effort.

So I've spent the last few days trying to figure out an updating schedule for this story and how to find time to write updates amidst my busy schedule. It's going to be tough to keep updating with final exams coming up but I promise to do my best.

Tentatively, I've decided that the updating days will be every Friday (or Saturday, depending on where you live). Most of the time, the update should be published by Friday afternoon or night but I'm pretty sure that there will be times when the update is not completed and I'll have to push it to Saturday morning.

Anyway, enough chitchat from me. I wanna hear from you guys. Did you like the chapter? What should I improve on? And lastly, do you have a ship name for Sebastian and Rebekah yet?

Stay awesome and have a lovely weekend!

Percy

P.S. if anyone knows how the Wattys works, please message me or comment because I looked it up and I'm still basically clueless.