“I didn’t say there was,” Mikey pointed out.
“I know that look,” Sebastian drawled as they made their way to the park.
“There wasn’t a look,” Mikey said with a heartfelt sigh.
“And I know that sigh,” Sebastian said as they cut through a path in the woods.
“Then, you know that you should just tell me what’s bothering you before I’m forced to hurt you,” Mikey reminded him, watching as his lips twitched with amusement as they headed around the old tennis courts towards the library.
“Or you could tell me what you’re hiding from me,” Sebastian said, throwing her a questioning look as she headed towards the library, only to end up grumbling when he grabbed her arm and steered her away from the library and headed towards the fire station instead.
“I’d rather change the subject,” Mikey assured him, not really in the mood to talk about her fan club tonight.
“Fair enough,” Sebastian murmured absently as they made their way to Uncle Devin’s house.
For a moment, Mikey considered taking her interrogation to the next level, but after the week she had with starting school, dealing with her new fan club, and going to another doctor’s appointment, she just wanted to forget everything for one night and focus on annoying her best friend.
It was honestly her favorite way to pass the time.
“What should we talk about?” Sebastian asked as he moved to take a right onto Elliot Road, but she had other plans.
“We could discuss why you’ve been avoiding me all day,” Mikey suggested.
“What the hell are you talking about? I spent the entire day with you,” he said, frowning down at her.
“Does it really count if you spent the entire time glaring at me?” Mikey said, blinking up at the teenage boy who was making her job harder than it needed to be.
Sighing, Sebastian reached up and rubbed the back of his neck as he admitted, “I’ve been debating something.”
“And that something would be…” Mikey said, letting her words trail off as she waited for an answer that wasn’t going to force her to hobble him.
“Why do you look like you’re debating hobbling me?” Sebastian murmured, watching her curiously.
“I think you know the answer to that,” Mikey said with a sniffle and a gesture for him to get on with it.
“It’s nothing,” Sebastian said, dropping his hand away with a sigh as they made their way down Uncle Devin’s driveway.
“Why don’t I believe you?” Mikey asked, narrowing her eyes on the stubborn teenage boy, hoping that the move would be enough to break him.
“Because you’re paranoid,” he drawled as they made their way to the front door.
“And you’re hiding something,” Mikey said, knowing that she was right when he couldn’t quite meet her gaze.
* * *
He could do this,Sebastian told himself as he released a shaky breath and-
“Why are you staring at Mikey?” came the curious question that had him tearing his gaze away from Mikey to find his little cousin watching him curiously.
“Because she’s evil,” Sebastian said, watching Dustin take a sip from his juice box as he glanced back at Mikey and-
“I’m keeping her,” Dustin announced, shrugging it off as he returned his attention to the box of crayons in front of him.
Frowning, Sebastian opened his mouth, but before he could ask his little cousin what he meant by that, Abbi was crawling onto his lap. “I’d like to discuss my fluffiness options for the night,” she announced with a heartfelt sigh.
“I suppose we could do that,” Sebastian said, biting back a smile as he focused on the little girl who was determined to do whatever it took to get her very own petting zoo.
Nodding, Abbi took a deep breath before she said, “I need more fluffiness in my life.”