Verse Four

The sharp rain drops fell in icy shards against my skin, impervious to the shielding that Sebastian was trying to do with his body over mine.  My hands subconsciously rose to my face to wipe my flooded eyes and I couldn't think of another more embarrassing situation than the one I was in as I quickly put everything back into the trunk of the car.

Then I remembered those damn false eyelashes.  Oh well, I was in the middle of a rainstorm with Sebastian Jennings changing a flat tire.  What more could the universe throw at me, a fake eyelash sliding down my cheek while I gazed adoringly into his eyes?

Probably.

I rushed the final parts of changing the tire and we just left the ruined tire on the side of the road and put everything back in the trunk and got in the car, but not before I checked my reflection in the rear view mirror while Sebastian was busy putting the things away.

The eyelashes must have been stuck to my eyelids with superglue or something because they weren't sliding halfway down my face, and luckily I somehow didn't look like a drowned rat.

I rushed into the passenger seat of the car and shut the door at the exact same time Sebastian did, creating a sort of awkward yet sultry ambiance in the atmosphere of the car that made me want to do dangerously bad things to him...

I cleared my head of all of my dirty thoughts and brought my attention back on Sebastian, who was looking into his phone looking like he was thinking something through very intensely.

"So, game plan?  Where to?  What next?" I asked him, knowing that my fun little escapade with a rockstar was bound to end sooner or later.

"Well, we are both soaking wet.  You may have had a little too much to drink tonight and I just missed an appearance that I was supposed to make at a friend's party.  So I say we escape this night and I'll drive the car to my place.  I'll have one of my people return it to your friend's home-new tire and all- and you can either stay the night in my guest room or I'll have a car service take you home, its up to you."

"Thank you that's very kind of you.  I guess you owe it to Josie considering you kind of stole her car and kidnapped me in the process soo..." my voice trailed off sarcastically.

"Oh please, this definitely isn't a kidnapping.  I couldn't kidnap anyone, they'd all be willing," he said as we pulled off of the dirt road from where were and maneuvered the car back onto the open street.

My throat constricted in laughter at his insinuation.

"Oh yeah and what is that supposed to mean?"

"It means that anyone would kill to be in your position right now."

His eyes were dead serious, no hint of sarcasm or mirth on his lips.

"Just because you're famous doesn't mean that everyone loves you or is a fan."

"But you are."

"Actually..." I trailed off but he interrupted me before I could finish what I was going to say.

"You were in the front row of my concert, singing along to my songs that-"

"Correction- I was singing along to a song that you were covering by one of my favorite bands.  That doesn't necessarily make me a fan of yours, it makes me a fan of the music that you like to cover.  And I was in the front row of your concert because my best friend dragged me to it and because I didn't want to stay at home on a Friday night with my mother yelling at me about my college choices and feeling sorry for myself while everyone else went and partied."

I cursed internally, wishing that I hadn't vomited all of my words onto him, and I couldn't believe that I'd entrusted him with those feelings to him.

I basically just told him I wasn't a fan of his whatsoever and made myself seem like even more of a loser than I already thought I was.

"Really?  Someone like yourself seems like she'd be out on the town every weekend.  No boyfriend to take you places?" he asked and I was surprised he brought up the boyfriend question.

Glancing over at him briefly I noticed that he would stare at me every few seconds or so after looking back at the road. It made a searing heat encapsulate my skin and I could feel the sweep of his verdant gaze penetrate me with his intensity.  All other sounds disappeared in the vehicle except for the pounding of my heart in my ears, over and over again he was all  I could focus on and I hoped it was only because of the alcohol running through my system.

"No, he decided that he wanted the girl who was out on the town every weekend, not the one who just wanted to stay in.  I guess I was too low key for him and he wanted something more..." I trailed off, looking away from his penetrating gaze and stared down at my cuticles like they were the most interesting thing in the world.

"His loss."

The heat that was reverberating all over my body rushed to my cheeks in that moment, so I decided to change the subject before the conversation veered somewhere I wasn't mentally prepared for it to.

"Sorry you had to miss your 'appearance' or whatever you call it."

"Eh, it's fine, I wasn't really looking forward to it anyway.  It was supposed to be a launch party for my new album, the one that I haven't even started writing yet.  That's why I'm back here in California, where everything started for me.  I grew up about thirty minutes away from that arena I just sold out.  It makes everything seem full circle, you know?"

"Well, I wouldn't know anything about playing to sold out arenas but I do understand the full circle analogy.  When I was twelve, we moved away because my parents divorced and I just recently moved back in with them together because of some...well, anyway yes I do get the 'coming full circle' because I feel like a completely different person now than I did when I used to live here, but it still feels like I never left."

I didn't have a single clue why I was pouring my heart out to this random stranger, even if he was one of the most famous people in the world, but it was just so easy to talk to him.  It was unreal, the strange connection that we seemed to have.

Unless I was making it all up...then I take it all back because if I said that out loud to anyone it would be cringe fest times a million.

"That's exactly how I felt coming back, I just couldn't put it into words!  That's strange you know?  How two people can feel the exact same thing after going through two completely different experiences?" he asked me rhetorically and I nodded in response, the words dying in my throat as we came upon a luxurious mansion.

"Exactl-wait, is this your house?" I asked him, my mouth hung agape in the air.

"Yeah, it is."

A sheepish grin tangled up his mouth and he brusquely typed a code in a gate and the doors swung open, allowing us entrance to the massive driveway.

It was sleek, a white mansion with pillars decorating the front.  It had to be at least four stories tall, larger than the White House and I was sure that the back side was even more extravagant.  No doubt there was a pool fit for a five star resort in the back.

"I'm jealous." I said out loud, not caring what I said around him since I would probably never see him again for the rest of my life.

The husky chuckle that escaped him did certain things to my body, and my heart wanted to contradict the thought that I'd never see him ever again in my life.  I didn't want that to be true.

"Don't be.  It doesn't matter how rich or poor you are, loneliness isn't prejudiced."

"Wow.  That was so deep."

And that earned me yet another deep, reverberating bark of laughter that made my insides light up like the fourth of July.

I loved it when he laughed.

Black vans dotted the driveway, and it wasn't the usual party goer vehicles, either.  His lawn was decorated with paparazzi and I felt my heart clench in my chest with nervousness.

"What's going on?"

"This is the after party."

Of course, I felt absolutely stupid for even asking that question.

And then the bombardment of flashing lights, shouting and pushing against our bodies began, and I wished we'd stayed in the safety and sanctuary of the car.

"Dammit who let them in?!" he all but screamed as I shielded my eyes and my body from the harsh lights of the cameras.

"What do we do?"

"We run."