As Sebastian drove to Savannah's house, he was perturbed at the amount of anxiety that was plaguing his mind. He felt like he was in high school, going on a first date with his crush. His throat felt tight, his heartbeat erratic, and his hands shaky as he gripped the steering wheel tightly.

He hadn't felt this feeling in forever. As upsetting as it sounded, he had not genuinely liked a girl ever since he became a musician. All of the girls he spent time with were products of lust, not love or liking. Hell, most of them probably weren't even attracted to him; they just liked being able to say that they had slept with Skid Row's lead singer.

But, he did like Savannah. And he'd be spending time alone with her. At her house. Away from the band.

He swallowed down a nervous lump in his throat. He didn't like feeling this nervous. Not one bit. He almost wished that he would revert back to the oh-so-familiar state of not liking any girl.

Almost. Despite the annoyances of it all, the euphoria he got when just seeing Savannah made it all worth it. When he got to sneak in a couple touches, like grabbing her hand and pulling her somewhere, it was worth it. The very feeling of her flesh against his own was enough to make his mind fuzzy with ecstasy. He couldn't imagine what kissing her would be like, since he got such a high from something as simple as hand-holding.

The ride was short, and Sebastian thought about purposely making a wrong turn to postpone the inevitable. But, instead, he pulled into the driveway of what his GPS told him was Savannah's house. He thought it suited her, her house. It was small and modest, just like her. It was light blue, absent of an upstairs, and it had a lot of trees in its front yard.

The smallness of the house made Sebastian slightly envious. Her house seemed cozy, simple. He found himself drowning in a never-ending pool of complexity in his life, and he craved that simplicity. If he had just had this type of house, with no bandmates living with him, he'd have been so much happier. Being in a band was stressful, and emotionally taxing.

He realized how entitled he sounded, however. He had money, friends, and a job that hardly counted as work, something people would kill for. And there were still times where he loved his job. Like when he was performing live, seeing the giddy faces of the Skid Row fans. Like when the band got along and had beers together. Like when he got to listen to what he had helped create and be filled with pride.

But, lately, he found that those times were becoming less and less frequent. Now, it seemed like an endless loop of the band being at his throat, and being so overwhelmed that all he could do was hit the bottle.

As he removed his key from the ignition, he thought with some relief that he could let go of all that, just for a bit. Savannah would surely be the remedy to his dwindling patience, and his still boiling rage.

He opened the car door, stepping out of the vehicle afterward. He shut the door, his stomach in knots. He subconsciously began to fiddle with his bracelets, which was his most noticeable nervous habit, as he approached the front door. He knocked on it gently, part of him wanting to just abandon this operation entirely and run.

But, before he could, Savannah opened the door, in all her glory. His heart broke; she looked awful. Not physically awful, no, she never did. But, he could see the emotional strain that the day had put on her. Her eyes were heavy, her face slightly red from crying. In a weird, twisted way, she looked beautiful.

"Hey, Baz," she said quietly, smiling at him. Her smile didn't necessarily look fake, but it was so much smaller than it usually was. It didn't quite reach her eyes. Sebastian hated that he was the one who had done this to her. He hated that his recklessness and his inability to restrain himself led her to this point.

"Hi, Sav," he replied, suddenly feeling tears well up in his eyes. He blinked them away, not wanting to show weakness in front of her. He wanted to be strong for her. But, seeing her beautiful face only forced out the sadness that he didn't even know he felt. The sadness had been hidden behind his rage, the rage which had now partly subsided.

Her eyes filled with tears in reply, and she took his hand before pulling him into her house. "Come in," she whispered.

   He obliged, walking inside with her. He kicked the door closed behind him, both of them silent as they sat down on her couch.

   The silence was long, but not uncomfortable. The two were just staring at the floor, occasionally glancing at the other, silently admiring before averting their gaze again. The silence was pondering, each reflecting on the events that led them to this point.

Eventually, Sebastian broke the silence. He looked at Savannah and mumbled, "I'm sorry about all this. I know I told you over text, but. . .that doesn't do what I did justice. I needed to tell you in person."

She looked at him in return, grabbing his hand and squeezing. His heart hammered painfully in his chest in reply, and he couldn't help but smile a little.

"You don't have anything to apologize for," she told him quietly, smiling back at him. "You just had the balls to do something that I've wanted to do for. . .God, a while."

"But, still, if it weren't for me, we wouldn't be in trouble."

"I don't give a fuck if we're in trouble." Realizing her error, Savannah amended, "Okay, well, I do care. It does suck. But, I don't regret getting in trouble if us almost kissing is what brought us here. It was a beautiful moment. So beautiful that it was worth it, regardless of what happens." Amending her previous statement once more, she added, "Except for either of us getting fired, that is."

   Sebastian sighed. "And I'm worried we will. Or, I will, I guess. Rachel told me that he wanted you working from home, but he didn't tell me what was in store for me. I mean, I guess over the yelling and me storming out, it was kinda hard to."

   "He wants me working from home?" Savannah asked. She knew that Rachel was protective, but it was times like this that his protection felt overbearing. It was true that she felt bad for disrespecting Rachel's wishes, but she knew that it was also true that he was overstepping his boundaries. "That's fucking stupid."

   "I know." Sebastian buried his head in his hands and sighed again, heavier this time. "I punched him. And I think that may have convinced him to punish you more."

   Her head whipped over to him. "You did what?"

   "I punched Rachel. He said. . .awful shit, Sav. I don't even wanna repeat it."

   "I'm not twelve, Baz. I can handle it."

   The notion of speaking the words Rachel had spoke left a sour taste in his mouth. They would feel impure to speak, because they were vulgar and simply untrue. Sebastian knew he was probably the king of vulgarity, but not in this context. Not with the girl he liked.

   But, still, he swallowed down the lump in his throat and told her. "Rachel said that I shouldn't be acting this way toward you because. . .he said he knows that I'm just using you, and that I want you to be my—God, this is awful—whore for a week or two. He said you'd be willing to do it, too. And that you're just another bitch for me to fuck." He lowered his head and shuddered. "And that's not true. None of it."

   Savannah felt a sharp sting in her heart. How could Rachel have had the indecency to say that stuff about her? All because of an almost kiss? How could he have sat there and said that she'd be willing to be Sebastian's whore, when he knew her better than anyone else? How could he have objectified her and reduced her to a mere "bitch" for Sebastian to fuck? And, worst of all, how could he assume the worst of Sebastian, someone he had called his friend?

   When she didn't say anything, just stared at the ground sadly, Sebastian continued. "So, I punched him. I didn't like him talking about you like that."

   She looked at him and smiled through the pain, her watery eyes making Sebastian's heart break for her. "Thank you. For punching him, I mean. He seemed like he deserved it."

   "He did." Sebastian smiled back at her and nudged her playfully. "The look on his face was priceless. He bled, too."

   "Damn, you punch hard!"

   "Of course! I've had a lot of experience." His eyes briefly darted away from hers before meeting them again. "Bar fights," he added guiltily.

   She nodded, but otherwise didn't comment. That was a breath of fresh air to Sebastian. Whenever he mentioned his less than mature conquests involving physical violence, Skid Row would be up his ass about it. He knew his band was not overreacting like they were with the Savannah situation, but still, it felt nice not to have his flaws pointed out for once.

   After a few more seconds of silence, Savannah quietly spoke, the tears detaching from the corners of her eyes in order to roll down her cheeks. "Why can't Rachel just let us be adults? Let's both just face it, Baz, we know you're the main reason. But, even so, we're old enough to make our own decisions. I guess he can feel hurt that I don't care about your flaws, but he should not fucking restrict us like this!"

   "He's like our mom," Sebastian added bitterly, resting a hand on her knee comfortingly. "I honestly don't understand why he can't rein his protectiveness in. I'm sorry for that."

   "Stop saying that. You've done nothing." Anger burned in her eyes, and it unsettled Sebastian; he had seen her sad, sure, but never angry. He didn't think she even possessed the ability to be angry, she was so levelheaded. "It's all Rachel!"

   "Hey, it's not all Rachel," he cooed softly, wondering what she would do. The look in her eyes told him that she wanted to explode, so he had to disarm that want from within her. "The rest of the guys are against us, too. But not because they hate me, but because of professionalism." Somehow, the professionalism notion was more irritating to him than Rachel's disdain for him. He had to keep the darkness out of his eyes for Savannah.

   "That's even worse," she groaned, burying her head in her hands. "Why should they fucking care? They're not even hiding under the guise of protection. They're just being selfish."

   "I completely agree," he muttered, gently grabbing her hands and removing them from her tear-streaked face. He smiled sadly at her, swiping at a tear just below her right eye with his thumb. "It'll all be okay, I promise. Things just have a tendency to work out for me." He grinned cheekily, but he wasn't sure if that would be the case this time. After all, he had assaulted a bandmate, and that bandmate had proven himself to be batshit crazy when it came to Savannah. But, still, he had to put her at ease, no matter what lies fell from his lips.

   He knew, though, that even if his statement ended up being a lie, he would try his very hardest to make it a reality.

"Yeah, they do," she mumbled, entranced by the gentle swipe of his thumb on her skin. The thought of his lips on her own flitted into her mind, and her heart raced at the fact that no one else was here. They could do whatever they wanted, and Rachel would be none the wiser.

Sebastian had the same thoughts as her. Heart racing wildly at the fact they wouldn't be interrupted this time, he leaned in a little, eyebrows raised in questioning. He wanted the go-ahead from her, plus it would give him some time to mentally prepare.

She nodded with no hesitation, her heart racing, too. As she saw him approach, eyes flicking from her own down to her lips, she thought she'd hurl. But, she kept her composure and advanced in reply, until the pair's lips finally met.

An electricity that Sebastian couldn't describe shot through him, an electricity that made him grab her hips and pull their bodies closer. He hadn't felt so alive, so free, in forever. He couldn't even describe the feelings running through his head, and the way Savannah's lips moved against his own discarded any words that he could have used to describe them.

She, too, was in a state of total bliss. Now that the anticipation had worn off, she felt less scared; in fact, she felt elated. Sebastian's lips were so soft, and his hands were so gentle, and he smelled so good. Some voice told her she'd never find a man like this again, and that she couldn't let him slip away. Even though she felt so positively, however, her heart was still beating fast. So fast that it was hard to breathe, but it's not like she cared.

The pair only broke apart when Savannah's cell began ringing. Sebastian grabbed the hand that was reaching into her back pocket. "Leave it," he begged.

"What if it's important?" she asked, her voice weak from the nerves she had been feeling around two minutes prior.

With a disappointed sigh, he nodded and released her hand.

She took her phone out of her pocket and looked at who was calling. Her eyes darkened. She showed who was calling to Sebastian, who responded equally negatively.

Rachel.

"Sav—" Sebastian started, about to tell her to ignore him, how he wasn't worth her time.

But, he was cut off by her thumb coming down on the decline button, the devilish little smile on her face making him smile in return. Both of them knew that that would probably only get them in more trouble, but neither of them cared. To them, all that mattered in that moment was each other. No one else, nothing else. Just each other.

He pulled her back in, whispering compliments against her lips. She smiled against him and wrapped her arms around him, blissfully unbothered by the possible repercussions of hanging up on Rachel. She would make up with him later. Or not. She didn't know, and she didn't care. She had Sebastian, the most gorgeous man in the world, between her arms, peppering her face with kisses. Why would she waste time thinking about something else?

Neither Sebastian nor Savannah knew what was in store for them. Not just with the band, but each other. Were they dating? Were they exclusive? Would kissing like this become a regular thing?

They didn't know, but they both pushed those thoughts away. They had to live in the moment.

And this moment, regardless of what may or may not have followed, was beautiful.