Hi, Sebastian. Let's be a real couple.

Rose winced, shaking her head at the sentence. That was no way to start the conversation, she was sure.

Hey, Seb. Liked last night? Let's do that a few hundred times more.

That might be even worse.

Rose had spent the last ten minutes just standing outside the door, waiting for inspiration to strike. It wasn't exactly an easy situation, telling your husband that you might be willing to date him. 

Taking a deep breath, Rose unlocked the main door, stepping into the quiet house. Her heels clicked softly against the hardwood floor as she made her way down the hall, following the smell of food that she caught a whiff of. Each step made her heart climb slightly higher up her throat, her mind still a scrambled, unhelpful mess.

What would she even say to him?

Sebastian was in the kitchen, his back turned to her. Food sizzled on the stove as he moved around, switching between stirring the pot and dicing something up on his chopping board. For a few moments, Rose just stood there, watching him work. It was calming, strangely, watching Sebastian cook.

But she had to talk to him at some point.

"Sebastian?" 

Her voice sounded strange to her own ears. Breathy, weak.

Sebastian stopped chopping, his shoulders tensing immediately. He stayed still for a while, seemingly endlessly fascinated by the vegetables on his chopping board. Rose could feel knots start to form in her stomach with every passing second, which only tightened as he finally turned around. 

Immediately, Rose felt guilt. Immense, unbearable guilt.

Because Sebastian looked sad. She had never seen him look sad before, not like this.

"You left," he said quietly, his eyes not meeting hers. "I woke up, and you were gone." 

Her chest constricted. Rose opened her mouth, and closed it again. What could she say? He was right, she had left. 

"Is this also something we simply won't talk about, then?" 

Rose pressed her lips together, and shook her head vehemently, stepping into the kitchen. "Sebastian, I—" 

"Do you regret it?"

"What? No!"

"Are you sure?" Sebastian finally met her eyes, and Rose wanted to cry. He looked so hurt, and she had caused it. Her impulsive, unthinking actions had caused it. "Usually, if a person just disappears the morning after, it is not a good sign."

"No, no," she insisted, stepping around the kitchen island to get to him. "That's not—"

"Then why did you leave?"

"I just..." Rose bit her lip, her eyes flicking away from his. "I just needed to clear my head. To think."

Sebastian was quiet for a moment. "And?" he finally asked.

Rose fell silent, her gaze falling to the floor. All the words she had been practicing seemed to abandon her completely. Something, she had to tell him something, but no words were coming out.

"I see," Sebastian said after a beat, turning around to the pot that was sizzling on the stove.

"No, no, you don't understand," she gushed out, reaching out in an unthinking moment to grab his sleeve. Sebastian whipped around, the hurt in his eyes mingling with something more, something Rose couldn't quite place.

"What? What don't I understand?" His voice sounded strained. He cast a sharp look down at her hand, which was still gripping his shirt, before looking back at her. 

Rose's mouth suddenly felt too dry. There were words, so many words, swirling around in her head. And yet, all that escaped her lips was a quiet, strangled, "I'm sorry."

Sebastian stared at her, his expression unreadable. Then, in a sharp motion, he pulled his arm away from her grasp, turning away from her. "Lunch will be served in fifteen," he stated, his voice betraying not one emotion.

Rose's hand was still hanging in the air, where she had been holding onto Sebastian not two seconds ago. She slowly lowered it, before wrapping both arms around herself, the air suddenly feeling too cold.

"I already had lunch," she muttered, wishing the ground would open up under her.

Sebastian stopped stirring the food, standing still for a moment before turning off the stove. "My sister is in town. She asked us to come over for dinner. Hopefully you'll be hungry by then."

With that, he turned around and walked out, leaving Rose standing alone in the kitchen, the food sitting half made on the counter.

-🥀-

Everything felt wrong. 

Sebastian had locked himself in his study upstairs, and had not come out all day. Rose had paced all over the house, and hovered in front of his door for hours. But not once had she been able to knock.

She still didn't know what to say.

She still wasn't sure what she felt.

Now, dressed in a simple, knitted white dress, she sat on the edge of the sofa, her heel tapping away on the floor. The nail of her index finger pressed against her thumb as she waited, the soft tick of each passing second reverberating in her head like a death knell. The shadows outside grew longer, and still, there was no sign of Sebastian.

It was way past evening, inching towards night, when she heard his familiar footsteps descending down the stairs. She immediately got up, her eyes following him as he walked down, clad in a simple dress shirt and pants, a dark blazer tossed over his arm. 

"Seb—" she started, but he immediately cut her off, his voice still that overly composed, level one that made him feel like a stranger.

"I see you're coming. I picked up some flowers for my sister, and chocolates for Nate. We can pick something else up on the way if that isn't to your liking."

"No, I..." Rose looked at Sebastian, watching him as walked towards the door, not looking back at her. She had done this. She had ruined this. "It's okay, chocolates and flowers sound great," she mumbled as she followed him out, the all too familiar loneliness wrapping around her like a blanket of ice.

She didn't have Malachi.

And now, she had lost Sebastian too.

—🥀—

A/N: Happy Valentine's Day 😈