Sebastian felt Rayne stirring in his arms. He opened his eyes to look at her, only to find her already staring at him. It made both of them aware of each other's gaze and they quickly broke the eye contact.

"Hey," he cooed softly.

"Hi," she replied in the same tone.

"What time is it?" Sebastian asked, not wanting to disturb the position they were in by moving his hand to look at the watch. They were still cuddled on the couch.

"Almost 2 in the afternoon," she stated, as she looked over to the grandfather clock at the corner of the room. He hadn't noticed it before but it added a nice magestic touch to the place. Soon she wiggled out of his embrace and tried to get up. Part of him wanted her to stay there, forever, but another part of him begged to get up and stretch his limbs. They were numb from not moving for too long.

"Are you hungry? I'll cook something," Sebastian offered. The pizza at the floor of the living room stared at the two humans, who had already forgotten about its existence.

"I'll help." She stood up and raised her hand in front of her mouth to suppress a yawn. She rubbed her eyes in an attempt to completely wake up.

Her hair was messy. She didn't have any make up on. She usually wears only the eyeliner, but right then her face had nothing. Yet, somehow she looked ethereal to Sebastian. He looked at her in awe, as if he'd encountered a Greek goddess, if he had ever seen one before. 

He just wanted to stare at her all day.

How could someone be so beautiful without trying? How could someone be beautiful after crying them to sleep? I'd never know.

She caught him staring, and her cheeks grew red.

As much as he'd love to take this to the next step, he was scared. Honestly, he'd take this for not seeing her at all.

I could be her friend and watch her love someone else, instead of not being in her life at all.

"Seb?" Her voice brought him back to his senses. "What do you feel like eating?"

You.

Would it be too forward if he had said that? Yup. Thank heavens, he didn't.

Fuck, Seb. Do you even have a brain? The poor girl's just woken up after having a breakdown, and all you can think about is this?

But she should stop asking him this, if she wanted an appropriate answer. In her defence, she didn't know the things she'd done to him just by looking at him.

"Ray, why don't you stay here, and I'll cook something for us?" Sebastian tried to be a good man.

"No, I want to help. Just don't leave me alone," she mumbled against his chest as she quickly erased the distance between them by hugging him. It felt so right to Sebastian.

He immediately hugged her back, not wanting to let go.

After a minute, she moved. "We should get going now," she decided and led him into the kitchen by holding his hand.

If you lead me like this, I'll follow you anywhere.

Once they were in the kitchen, he lifted her in one quick motion and sat her on the counter. She tried to wiggle out if it - wanting to help him with cooking - but he demanded that he'd like to treat her. So she stayed there and watched him cook. Okay, that might have been an exaggeration. She stayed there and watched him struggle to cook. Now, that was what happened.

They argued for a minute on what they wanted to eat, and finally Sebastian caved and decided to make what she'd wanted. Omelette.

Who cares what the time is? We should eat what we want to eat. No, pun not intended.

He started by chopping up some onions, and that made him teary. He rubbed his eyes intensely in an attempt to make the them go away, but ended up making it worse, since he didn't wash his hands. Rayne laughed at him and his impractical cooking skills. Then, she hopped off the counter and neared him. She made the almost 40 year old child wash his eyes in the kitchen sink. By that time, Rayne had forgotten all about the commotion with Sean and focused on the human in front of her.

✵

They were sat on the couch again. It reminded Sebastian of holding her in his arms, smelling her hair, hearing her breathe and being close to her in general. And just like that, he lost his appetite.

"So, I should explain," Rayne started. They were seated next to each other, his right knee grazing her left one.

"You've gotta stop saying that, Ray," he asserted, "Tell me when you're ready to, not just because you feel the need to." He didn't want her to feel pressured into telling him every aspect of her life.

"I am ready, Seb. I want to. And I want you to listen," she insisted. She raised her eyes from her plate, and slightly moved her head in order to look at him.

He maintained the eye contact. She visibly gulped and then started talking.

"Our chief is retiring. And he's been replaced by," she paused, looked down at her plate, and looked at him again - whatever she was about to say visibly hurting her - but Sebastian could guess who it was before she even spoke, "Sean."

Sebastian could feel his heart thumping faster. He didn't want that bastard anywhere near her, let alone be her boss. He just wanted to punch Sean again. He tightened his knuckles, which were a shade lighter than his skin tone now.

But he organised his thoughts and loosened his arm. He wanted to be there for Rayne.

Sebastian slightly shuffled in his seat, and faced Rayne. He went closer and held her hand. At that, she set her plate down on the coffee table in front of them and turned to look at him. He followed suit.

Rayne took a deep breath, and her lips trembled a bit. "He's being unprofessional, Seb, and it's not even day one," she whimpered. As if on command, her eyes started tearing up. Sebastian couldn't bear to see her like this. 

"Can't you file a complaint or something?" He asked rubbing circles on her hand.

"No, he's my superior, no matter what I say, they'll dismiss me. I won't stand a chance against them," she spoke and then corrected herself, "I won't stand a chance against him. Because he's not just my superior, he's also my ex. But to be honest, I don't even want to do anything. I'm scared. I'm weak."

When Rayne admitted that Sean was her ex, Sebastian felt a different urge, one he hadn't felt before. he wanted to hurt him. He wanted to put Sean in his place. In the trash.

Then, the last sentence took him off by surprise. Weak? Rayne thought that she's weak?

She was anything but weak. If she didn't know this, I'd spend the rest of my life trying to prove that to her.

Sebastian took both of her hands in his, she responded by  shifting her whole body towards him. There were still tears in her eyes. He gently moved my hand towards her face and wiped them off of her cheek. "Rayne Harris, you're one of the most strongest women I know," he whispered, somehow not being able to raise his voice. Hearing this, she looked down at her hands, not being able to hold the eye contact anymore. He raised her face to look him in the eyes by holding her chin, "Look at me," he instructed and she did.

"You may not realize this yet, but you're so strong. I know for a fact that you've faced bastards like these before. You'll get through this. You don't have to file a complaint against him right now. Do that only when you feel comfortable. I will support you through that, in any way I can," he paused, trying to steady his breath, "If you don't feel safe enough to fight him formally now, I'll help you get through this. I'll be here whenever you need me. I'll be your shoulder to cry on. I'll be your punching bag. But - but when you feel strong enough, when you feel ready, you'll fight back. You'll look him in the eyes and you'll speak your mind. And, I'll be there, supporting you and every step you take. Because, Ray, you don't know your strength yet, and I'll help you find it."

As soon as Sebastian's words reached her, as soon as Rayne realized the weight of his words, tears started streaming down her face. Sebastian wiped them away, slowly lowering his hands to hold each one of her shoulders. When he heard her whimpering again, he nudged her forward into his chest and held her close to his heart. Like she had always been. Like she would always be.

✵