'cause he's a scumbag, don't you know?

riding shotgun underneath purple skies || lola and sebastian

Lola glanced at him, before looking over at the dash so that he definitely wouldn’t see the little curve of her lips. She forced herself to stop, looking stony faced as ever before shrugging. “It’s more fun when you can get caught.” She explained, wondering if he would ‘behave’ more from now on now that he knew the option was open. She almost didn’t want him to, it was better fun when he didn’t.

“Yeah?” Seb asked, staring at the girl curiously. She honestly didn’t give a flying fuck what happened. It was thrilling and a bit scary, and Sebastian wished he’d just stuck it out and kept quiet. Fucking on the beach; it was so picturesque. “So what you’re saying is that you’d have sex with me?” He asked, looking back at Lola, careful not to look too smug at the prospect of shagging Lola Howlett. He took another drag, and then tutted as some of the gray ash fell down the front of his shirt.

riding shotgun underneath purple skies || lola and sebastian

“With me though?” Lola said quickly like it was ludicrous though with her the rules could change randomly to whatever she felt like that moment. She watched him with little interest while he smoked, not feeling like moving to steal it from him. “Only cause you were being such a baby, fucking hell. You ruined all our fun, we could have fucked on the beach or something and now we’re still outside school doing nothing.” 

Sebastian’s jaw dropped open and he frowned at the injustice of it all. “Well if you’d told me the stakes earlier, I would’ve just gotten over it and behaved! Jesus, Lol,” he muttered, taking another drag from his cigarette. “Fucking on the beach, eh?” He asked after a tick, grinning at her, flicking ash out of the window.

riding shotgun underneath purple skies || lola and sebastian

Lola rolled her eyes and leaned her elbow against the widow, head against her hand. “Don’t be a little shit.” She muttered at his comment, uncertain why she was lashing out but feeling like she needed to anyway. His reaction was almost an insult to her driving, she decided, and he’d wrecked their plans of getting out of town for a bit. “Have I ever fucking minded?” Her leg bounced in the footwell for a minute before pulling her knees to her chest and laying her legs across onto his lap.

“Well, I don’t know if rules are different in cars, do I?” Seb just rolled his eyes and shook his head dramatically, cigarette hanging from his lips as he reached for a lighter and lit up, rolling down the window a couple of inches. He took a drag and rested his free hand on her shins, tapping absently before stopping. “I guess I am sort of a wuss,” he spoke after a little while, thinking on it. “But I think you enjoy scaring the shit out of me,” Sebastian chuckled, taking another long drag.

riding shotgun underneath purple skies || lola and sebastian

Lola glared across the seats at him and gave a questioning look. “I stopped. God.” She huffed looking front again and as soon as the light went green, beeped loudly at the cars in front, laughing when one of them swore out the back window. “Ugh, fine.” She groaned, cutting into another lane and turning off to the right. She drove slowly down the road to make him wrong and pulled into a near empty coffee shop car park. “Happy now? Wuss.” 

Sebastian gave a labored sigh of relief and nodded. “Exceedingly. And I’m not a wuss,” he shook his head, though he the scream he had just emitted sure sounded an awful lot like before he went through puberty. “This place is certainly packed,” Seb commented on the coffee shop, glancing around, heart still trying to stop racing. He plucked a pack of cigarettes from his shirt pocket and shook one of the three cigarettes out of the box before looking up at Lol. “D’you mind?” Seb asked, thinking it might calm his uneasy nerves a bit.

riding shotgun underneath purple skies || lola and sebastian

Lola glanced over at him, turning right through a red light. It wasn’t that busy anyway, so she didn’t think it a problem. It wasn’t her car so any tickets were good. In fact, it gave her more reason to speed. She smirked at his comment, forcing it down to her regular plain face. “I don’t know, sixty?” Lola offered, turning right again. “What, no cars in England?” Lol asked while slamming on the brakes because of a queue at the lights. 

“No, there are cars---JESUS,” Seb let out a screech as Lola slammed on the brakes, and squeezed his eyes shut tight. After a beat, he popped one open to make sure they’d not crashed, and then tried to settle back into his seat. “There are cars, I’m just not used to it,” he swallowed hard, his mouth running dry. “I’ll get there,” he breathed out, trying to compose himself. “Maybe we could just pull off somewhere,” he suggested, even though it might put a damper on the plans of getting out of town.

riding shotgun underneath purple skies || lola and sebastian

Lola hummed for a second, tapping her fingers on the wheel while he belted up. She didn’t bother, no need. “Dunno. There’s jackshit around here really.” She grumbled, starting the car and slamming her foot on the gas pedal. They were up to speed quickly and she let the car drift around the corner but she made note that he was not invincible. Lola slowed down to the speed limit. She wouldn’t ever admit it to him, but she wouldn’t like if he died. 

When Lol took off like a bullet, Seb instinctively reached up and grabbed the handle on the door, not that it would keep him any safer. He gave her a little grin, trying to mask his unsettled reaction, and slowly let go of the door. “Yeah, after a couple weeks, it loses its small town charm. What’s the speed limit around here, fucksake,” he slipped up, and grabbed the handle again. “Not used to driving, me.” He chuckled, as though that might soften the blow of his utter cowardice.

riding shotgun underneath purple skies || lola and sebastian

“Good.” She turned away and pressed the button on the keys to make the lights flash, for her just as much as him and started towards it. “Pay attention then Bash.” She called back, even though she’d actually pickpocketed the keys before he’d seen her. She wasn’t that great at it, but the man looked so lonely that he was probably just shocked she was talking to him. She climbed in the front seat and waited for him, starting up the engine and ignoring the seatbelt.

Seb dropped his cig to the ground and toed it with his shoe before slipping into the seat beside her. “So, any ideas?” He asked, looking out to the road after he buckled his seat. Sebastian rubbed his legs a bit as he settled into the car; he didn’t drive much back home, and he never could get quite comfortable in a car. Must have been something in him that was calling him to a different mode of transportation. “Or are we just driving?” Seb asked, turning to the girl with a grin. “All in your hands, Lol.”

riding shotgun underneath purple skies || lola and sebastian

“Good.” She said plainly and looked around, trying to figure out something for them to do. “I’ve got a car. Let’s drive somewhere.” Lola pulled out a pair of car keys and let them hang from her fingers. “Are we near a desert? Out of town basically, away from this fucking school for a bit, yeah?” It was more of a decision than a suggestion, but she was pretty sure he’d agree with her. He usually did. She walked over and grabbed his cigarette from his hands, puffing on it a couple times before handing it back to him and walked away, headed towards the car down the street.

“Don’t know what’s around, but I wouldn’t mind going for a ride,” he replied, watching as she smoked his cigarette. If only I could be the cigarette those lips were round, Bash thought to himself. And then wanted to kick himself for even thinking something so cheesy in her presence. She’d probably tease him endlessly if she could read his mind. “I didn’t know you had a car,” Seb commented, scratching his head before taking the cig back for a smoke.

riding shotgun underneath purple skies || lola and sebastian

Lola ran her tongue along her teeth and laughed. “Yeah I fucking know dipshit, you’ve been wearing the apron the whole time.” She told him, shaking her head for a minute trying to stop herself from smiling. “Yeah? Nothing to get from inside?” She asked, meaning both alcohol and his bag or whatever he should have brought. Secretly she was glad that he was coming off work, wanting to have a laugh. Her day had been fine, but she was slightly miffed that her teacher called her in afterwards to “see how she was doing”.

Seb just chuckled sheepishly, knowing he wasn’t the best at coming up with a lie on the spot. “No, I’m all set. Unless you want some wilted produce, I think I’m ready to get out of here,” Seb chuckled, shoving his hands in his pockets. “What’re you thinking?” He asked, pulling out a pack of cigarettes and lighting up, leaning back against the brick of the storefront and taking a drag. The lanky boy had wanted to get back to his dorm and maybe pass out for a few hours, but seeing Lola made him feel a little energized; her presence was magnetic, no matter how much she berated him for whatever he was doing.

riding shotgun underneath purple skies || lola and sebastian

Lola’s eyes narrowed, irritated that he was still lying to her. Instead of getting angry, she decided to call his bluff. “That’s sweet, I guess.” She pulled a face of disgust, but then smiled. “You know what, I’d like to meet granny sparrow. Give her a ring and we can take her out to dinner. What were you thinking sending her off all alone?” She tutted, shaking her head at him. “I’m sure there are some OAP friendly places around here, not too loud with tea and everything. It’ll be like a tea party.”

Seb stood there with a plastic grin smattered on his face, hands still on his hips after her suggestion. He looked down and gave a little chuckle, ready to carry on with the façade, but then dropped his shoulders. “Alright,” he muttered. “She’s not my gran, she’s a customer,” Seb shook his head and raked a hand through his hair and chuckled. “I work there,” he nodded at the store, as if she might not have realized that already. The boy pulled his apron over his head and rolled it up, tucking it into his back pocket. “But I’m off now. Shall we go?”