His mother watches us with thinly veiled disgust. His father, pale and silent, looks as though he’s only just begun to grasp what he’s lost.
Sebastian opens the door. I wheel the suitcase out into the morning air.
And just before the door swings shut behind us, he turns back, voice clear and cold as glass.
“Oh, and by the way? Consider May fired.”
SEBASTIAN
I cling to Remi like a limpet as we follow the riverbank, putting as much distance as we can between us and my parents’ house. I hate being so clingy, but I can’t help it. Right now, I need him more than I need air.
Thankfully, he doesn’t seem to mind. He keeps one arm wrapped tightly around me, like he’s afraid I might disappear if he lets go, and with the other, he pulls my suitcase behind us without a word.
I have no idea where we’re going, and I don’t care. Maybe back to London, maybe not. It doesn’t matter. What matters is that I’m not alone. I’m safe. I’m with him.
I still can’t believe he came. That he found me.
I glance up, about to ask how, when he suddenly stops beside a parked car, and it all clicks into place.
“Wait… isn’t this Ian’s car?”
Remi lets go of the suitcase and places both hands gently on my shoulders. His voice is soft, almost cautious. “I hope you’re not upset, baby. You stopped replying to my messages, and I got really worried. I didn’t know who else to turn to. If I’d called Anne or the others, they would’ve started asking questions I wasn’t ready to answer. So… I called Ian.”
His concern reaches straight to something raw and tender inside me. Without thinking, I wrap my arms around him.
His hands slide from my shoulders to my waist, holding me close with quiet, steady strength. I sink into him, into his warmth, into the safety of it, and breathe in the scent of his hoodie, ofhome.
“Don’t apologise, Remi,” I whisper. “You’ve done nothing wrong. I’m just so glad you came, I can’t even begin to tell you how much it means to me. If anything, I should be the one sayingsorry. I was so caught up in my own mess, I didn’t stop to think how much I must’ve worried you.”
“It’s okay, baby. I just want you to know you can always count on me. Always.”
He hesitates, then lets out a soft chuckle. “Honestly, I was half-expecting you to scream at me for showing up uninvited. If I hadn’t been so scared, I’d never have done it.”
I pull back just enough to meet his gaze. “Enough with the apologies,” I say, brushing my fingers gently over his cheek.
He smiles, the tension in his shoulders easing a little. That smile, quiet, sincere, makes something loosen in my chest.
“If you hadn’t come to get me…” I pause, swallowing the lump in my throat. “I don’t know what would’ve happened. I wanted to call, I really did, but I was so afraid you’d start to see me as a burden. And Iamone, let’s be real. But I’m starting to think… maybe you don’t mind carrying me anyway. Though I honestly don’t understand why.”
Remi laughs, the sound warm and certain. “You’re not a burden, Seb. But even if you were… you’d bemyburden.”
Then his expression shifts, growing serious. He cups my face in his hands and leans in, his voice low, careful. “Can I?”
“Yes,” I breathe. “Please.”
His lips meet mine, soft at first, tentative, tender, as if asking again. Then deeper, hungrier. I open to him without a second thought. It’s like I’ve been starving, and he’s the only thing that can make it stop. The way he holds me, like he can’t bear to let go, tells me he feels it too.
For long, breathless minutes, we lose ourselves in the kiss, in the warmth, in each other.
When we finally break apart, gasping, I feel the unmistakable press of his arousal against mine, even through our clothes. He flushes, and the sight is so endearing it makes my heart squeeze.
“Uh… maybe we should get going,” he says, breathless. “I really want to get out of here.”
“Me too. Are we heading straight to London?”
He pauses, catching the hesitation in my voice. “You don’t want to go back?”
I shake my head. “Not right away. I love the city, but… I need somewhere quiet. Somewhere to think. What happened back there broke something in me. I was naive. I really thought… I thought maybe they’d surprise me.”
