Page 3 of Hold On

“You have an amazing life ahead of you, don’t you?” he asks as he picks up his guitar and starts to strum it. His graceful fingers dance over the cords so effortlessly. I find myself biting my lip again as I watch him play for a few minutes. Silence fallsbetween us, but his music continues to fill the space. I feel my pull to him intensify.

“Bash,” I murmur again, and he opens his eyes as he looks into mine seated across from him. “What are you doing tonight?”

He stops what he’s doing to level me with a stare, like he’s weighing his words and what to tell me. His blue eyes are looking deep into my soul. I’m not sure how to feel about it. It feels invasive, yet I want him to look at me like that forever. “I’m going out of town,” he finally replies as my shoulders slump forward. “Problem?” he gently prods. I shrug like a five-year-old, pouting.

“I thought maybe… you could be my plus one to my birthday party,” I respond lamely, trying to make it come off like a joke. “I don’t have many friends,” I add, sounding more pathetic.

“You’re gonna be alone tonight?” he asks, suddenly looking saddened by that fact.

“My parents are traveling with my brother’s basketball team this weekend. Some big tournament out of state. Guess everyone but me will be out of town tonight,” I say with a weak laugh, feeling sorry for myself.

“That’s not happening,” Bash says with a growl.

“It’s ok. I’ll get some French fries and a Famous Star with cheese and make a fucking night of it!” I say with a halfhearted smile, while Bash shakes his head vigorously.

“You’re not eating Carl’s Jr. unless it’s with me tonight,” he says defiantly. I can’t help but smile like a fucking lunatic at the thought of having a birthday date with Bash Cox. Or the fact that he knows the Carl’s Jr. menu as well as I do.

Sebastian:

“Is it lame to admit how excited I am right now?” Lina asks with the cutest, shyest grin, her green eyes peeking out from under her dark lashes.

My heart clenches in my chest at the look on her stunning face. I’m grabbing her hand without even realizing what I’m doing. I’m just seeing it happen before me, like my movements aren’t even my own. Her warm fingers in mine remind me there’s still good in this life, even if it’s few and far between. I can tell my touch is doing something to her. She’s trembling inmyhold, yet she doesn’t even realize I’m a fucking sucker forheralready.

“You have no idea how you’ve changed my plans tonight,” I say with a surprised look at her. She sticks out her tongue in triumph as my gaze blackens at her carefree attitude. She’s dangerously close to closing the distance between our desks. All of her infectious energy is turning me on and making me feel again.

“I’d apologize, but I’d be lying,” she gushes as she throws her maroon hair over her shoulder, continuing to smile brightly.

“Don’t ever be sorry.” My words mean so much more than she will ever know.

She just saved my fucking life.

We stare at each other as we play with each other’s fingers.

Chapter Two - Now

Sebastian:

It’s pouring rain as I drive back into the shitty Northern California town I grew up in. It’s not exactly a place filled with happy memories for me. Once my music career started taking off, I avoided it like the plague, though I felt obligated to return now and then. My mom made it throughsurprisingly. She never left my dad, who luckily drank himself to death. Evil bastard. It’s always been the giant elephant in the room whenever I come around. So, I usually don’t. I’ve always hated it here, especially after Alina ghosted me three weeks after meeting her that day in detention. What little good had festered in this place disappeared entirely when she did.

I hate being home and every painful memory that inevitably surfaces when I’m here. And as I pull into the driveway of my mom’s new house, the one I bought for her and forced her to move into, I’m feelingextrasorry for myself. I grab the wheel and sigh, resisting the urge to bash my forehead into it, despite having every reason to do so.

Washed-up rockstar.

Kicked off my own tour.

Drug addict.

Alcoholic.

Rich and worthless.

And most of all,alone.

So alone, it hurts inside.

Being on tour was like pouring salt in my unhealed wounds and once I got my hands on the good drugs, it was only a matter of time before I facilitated my own downfall.

And damn, did I plummet.

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