Page 100 of Sebastian's Baby

“To get in here, you have to walk straight in from the street. Once they know where you live, it means you could be facing paparazzi at your door every day. Having to get through them every time you come in or out of your place.”

The thought of it alone scares me to my core. They might get too close, push her accidentally and cause her to fall. All the worst-case scenarios are there.

“I would get an apartment where there’s secure underground parking. Your bodyguard will be able to come get you and drive you safely in and out of there, so you can come and go as you please without having to face them.”

Lita looks at me with a frown on her face. “I’ll think about it, Seb. We don’t even know if they’ll find my name, let alone my apartment.”

“You’re being naïve, princess; they will definitely get your name. Shit, it’s been a few hours now; they probably have more information already. Once they have that, you’ll be surprised by what they can find out about you.” I grimace, knowing exactly the kind of shit they can find out and how quickly.

Lita doesn’t say anything in response. She just gets out of bed and leaves the room. I have time to worry that I’ve upset her somehow before she appears again with her phone in her hand.

She’s looking at the screen as she climbs back into the bed with me. “Shit. You were right.”

Notifications are popping up constantly, each new notification replacing the previous one. Most of them are from the Reddit app. She opens the app and goes to the Cruise Control subreddit and opens the post at the top of the page. I’m assuming this is her post, and I smile at her username, codinggatta.

Tell me what it’s like to meet the band…

So, I've been freaking out since I found out, but I won the competition on Cruise Control's website to meet them. I'm flying from Seattle to Chicago on the 18th and we're meeting them on the 19th. I want to hear experiences about meeting them, are they nice? I'm worried that I'll meet them and they'll be jerks. I know people generally say they're nice, but I know Reddit will give me the truth!

She’s staring at the screen, and I have time to read the post before I say, “You’re so fucking cute, fangirl.”

“Shut up.” Lita blushes. “You were never meant to read this!”

I drop my head and kiss her lips quickly. “I think it’s adorable that you were so nervous about meeting us. I see you thought I might be an asshole, of course.”

“Well, not just you…but, yes. I was so worried I’d meet you, and all you guys would turn out to be dicks. As it turns out, though, there was only one dick I needed to be worried about,” she smirks at me.

She’s scrolled down in the thread now, and her replies from June are at the top with lots of comments replying to her. She had apparently been having a conversation in this thread before she came to meet us. I feel sick at the thought of everyone in the world being able to read this now.

“Lita, how much do you use Reddit?”

“A lot,” she laughs. “Probably too much. Why?”

“Have you ever posted identifying information on there?” I cringe because I know the website doesn’t even require a login for people to read the posts.

“No, I’m not fucking stupid.” Lita rolls her eyes at me.

“Okay…so, you would never have posted about being a video game programmer, or said you’re Italian, or, I don’t know, that you live in Seattle or anything?”

Lita’s expression falls, and her mouth drops into a round ‘O’ of horror. “Shit. I mean, even this post says I’m flying there from Seattle, and I post in r-slash-programming all the time.”

“Can you wipe your account?” I ask, hoping like hell that she can.

“Pointless. The posts would still exist. Even if I delete them, there are sites you can use to see the deleted posts. Some of the subreddits even have bots that auto-post a copy of the original, so it will always be there.”

I blow out a breath of air, frustrated that she would be so careless. “Fuck, Lita, you’re a programmer; I would’ve thought you’d have been more careful online.”

“Sebastian, this is the birth control pill conversation all over again,” Lita laughs. “I didn’t know I was going to meet you and that the entire world would check my post history to piece together the story of my life. I was just interacting on my favorite website like anybody else does.

“I never gave out my real name or address. I followed the basic rules of internet safety, but what we’re dealing with now is far beyond the realms of regular life. I’m dealing with the Cruise Control world now. To be fair, I should’ve thought about my online presence from the day I found out I was pregnant. I could’ve tried to clean some of it up before now, but I didn’t, and I can’t change that.”

All I can think about is how much information people will be able to find out about her, and I feel so guilty again that this is my fault. I brought her into my world, and now she’s going to suffer the consequences of that. I chew my lip as I consider how quickly they’ll be able to find her with what is already known, and I desperately want her to leave this apartment to go somewhere safer.

“Look, Seb, I’ll consider your offer about the apartment as soon as we have real proof there’s a reason to be worried, or somebody knows my name. I’m going to have a bodyguard as soon as you canorganize one. It will be okay.”

Her words are some small comfort, and no matter what, I’m going to start apartment-hunting tomorrow and see what I can find.

“I’m getting the apartment whether you choose to live in it or not, Lita. I can’t keep staying in hotels like I have been, obviously. I should’ve taken the time to find one much sooner than this. I haven’t asked you, but can I crash here in the meantime?” I smile down at her, doubting she’ll say that I can’t, but I offer, “I could get a hotel, of course, but I’d definitely rather be near you.”

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