#when its raining

"Come in," I called. But she was already peaking her head through the door.

"Good morning," she greeted. She was smiling, but she was obviously almost as tired as I was. She was wearing her signature pyjamas. She sat on my bed by my feet and handed me my water bottle, the same one from Season 2. "Thanks for putting me to bed last night. I would probably be passed out on the kitchen floor if you hadn't." She giggled at her own joke.

"I don't really remember doing that, but you're welcome." I chugged my water, savoring every drop. The bottles were cold, which lead me to believe I must've put them in the fridge last night before putting myself to bed. I don't remember doing that though.

"It was nice of Seb to pick us up," Chelsea said with a cheeky wink.

"Wait. What? Seb?"

Seb lived nearly an hour away in Liverpool. Why would he...

Speak of the devil and he shall appear. Seb appeared in the doorway, knocking lightly on the open door.

"Good morning, ladies." His smile was warm and comforting, yet there was something unreadable in his eyes as he asked, "How'd you sleep?"

"I slept surprisingly well, thanks!" Chelsea answered. "Last night was fun, I think. Other than... Y'know..." She avoided eye contact with me as she shrugged and jumped up from her seat. "I'm going to make tea," she announced before making her exit.

Seb stood in the doorway, and neither of us spoke. What happened the night before?

"I'm afraid I'm not being a very good host," I joked as I slowly shifted my legs off the side of my bed. Seb didn't chuckle like I hoped he would. He just sat next to me as I tried to fully wake myself up and recall last night's events.

"Did you pick us up from the pub?"

"Yeah."

"Why?"

Seb shrugged. "Chelsea said you needed me." His nonchalance failed him once he said that. He lowered his head and stared at his hands.

"What am I missing here?" I finally asked. "Did I say or do something stupid?"

"Not really... If anything, I did something stupid," he answered ominously.

I tried to recall what he might have done. I had fuzzy memories of rain through windows. I remembered talking to Seb about something. I remembered...

"We agreed to talk about something."

"Yeah. We did." Now his eyes were on me. They burned a hole through me.

"What was it? And what stupid thing did you do?" I asked with a feeble laugh in an attempt at bringing levity.

His face was serious though. I could see the thoughts rushing through his head.

"Well..." he started, leaning away from me slightly, "I may have kissed you."

What?

Seb looked at me finally and his eyes went wide.

"Not on the lips! Uh- I had kissed your neck- Well, that's not that much better. Fuck. Fuck, I'm sorry-"

"Seb! Seb, relax." I scooted closer and hugged him to calm his nerves. His body was rigid, and he had his eyes screwed shut. He rubbed his face with his hands. "Seb, please, just explain how it happened..."

*

We sat on the bed in silence. I hugged my pillow and had my face buried in it. More than anything, I was embarrassed by the way I had apparently acted. I wriggled indignantly in place.

"We've all had our nights, Clarice," Seb said with a chuckle at the sight of me.

"I'm surprised I didn't do more," I said into the pillow. Seb must have understood, as he laughed.

"You might have, if you were in a better mood."

"So..." I looked up at him, my face still half covered my the pillow. "Now we're talking about it. And I'm sober."

"Kinda wish I wasn't," Seb joked. At least, I assumed it was a joke.

"I'm going to make this easy."

"Oh?" He raised an eyebrow at me.

"Do you want to kiss me again?"

The question hung in the air as Seb stared at me. His eyes flickered down, then back up.

"Well, I can't with the pillow in the way, can I?"

I laughed and threw the pillow off the bed. Maybe I should've been embarrassed by how clumsily I jumped across the space between us, but Seb wrapping his arms around me and kissing my lips made me forget my insecurities for the moment.

Chelsea's excited squeal cut the moment short. I watched her stomp her feet excitedly in the doorway, two mugs of tea in her hands, before she ran off. Seb and I laughed and Seb shook his head.

"I don't know why you're shaking your head. I'm the one that's going to have to recount every detail 5 times over," I said. I rested my head against his shoulder.

"Let me know when you expect it to start so I can head out."