Just Stay (25 page)

Jim turns to Evan, then.

"And who's this?" he asks, with an almost suggestive tone, and Seb clears his throat a bit.

"Evan, this is my cousin, Jim, brother of the groom." He looks back and forth between the two of them. "And Jim, this is Evan. My boyfriend."

Seb feels himself tense up slightly as he says it.
There it is.
That's the first time since they arrived here that he has introduced Evan as his
boyfriend
. And it feels just about as nervous as he thought it would. And just like he thought, Mark doesn't seem surprised.

It's obvious that the news shocks Jim, at least judging from the way he actually widens his eyes a bit, eyebrows raised. But then, his expression changes into one of somehow impressed surprise.

"Well," he says, turning his gaze from Seb to Evan, and Evan holds out his hand.

"Good to meet you, man," he says, and Jim glances at his hand, before shaking it.

"Yeah," he says, eyeing Evan up and down. Then he kind of cocks his head and leans toward Seb conspiringly.

"You did good, little brother," he says in a theatrical whisper, and Seb rolls his eyes. But the glint in Jim's eyes, and his use of
little brother
, which he has only ever used a handful of times with Seb, makes Seb relax. Jim may be kind of a dick a lot of the time, but he isn't mean, not really. And he's clearly happy for Seb, and doesn't judge. Even if he is surprised.

"Thanks," Evan says, chuckling as he lets go of Jim's hand. "I think I did pretty good, too."

He nudges Seb slightly, and Seb looks up at him.

"Really?" he says, frowning. "And here I thought you didn't appreciate my dashing good looks and perky personality."

"Well," Evan replies, cocking his head. "It's grown on me, I guess."

Seb gives him the smallest smile, which is mostly in his eyes, and Evan returns it. They just stand like that for a second, until Jim clears his throat.

"Alright," he says. "Simmer down, you two."

Seb looks at him.

"Jim, don't be a dick." Mark sounds oddly calm and serene, in a way that's positively inhuman, sometimes. Jim just raises his eyebrows at him, though.

"What?" he says defensively. "You gotta admit that there's some serious and inappropriate eye-fucking going on here."

He gestures between Seb and Evan, eyes still on his brother, and Seb actually blushes. Mark laughs.

"And that's our cue to leave," he says, grabbing Jim by the arm and pulling him away. "It's almost time for cake, anyway."

He looks at Seb, then Evan. "Good to see you, Seb. Evan."

Evan nods at him as he pulls Jim away, who gives them both a small salute as he departed. Seb groans.

"I would apologize," he says. "But it doesn't quite cut it."

Evan just chuckles, looking at him.

"It's fine," he says. "How about we―"

Evan cuts himself off as soon as he notices Seb's expression, which is suddenly stiff. Seb tenses up. Shit.
Shit.

"Seb?" Evan's voice sounds concerned, in a way that anyone else probably wouldn't have noticed. "Seb, what's wrong?"

Seb doesn't look at him, doesn't answer him right away. Instead, he swallows hard. He just spotted someone across the room, and he's keeping his eyes on her, hoping to god that she won't see him.

"Seb."

Seb looks at Evan then, those green eyes alert and concerned.

"I'm good," Seb says. "It's just..."

He glances back at the girl he saw, before turning back to Evan. He lowers his voice a bit, unconsciously.

"That girl over there," he says, seeing Evan glance over in that direction. "Dark hair, short, talking to Angie."

Evan nods, and Seb swallows hard.

"That's Olivia," he says, and as Evan looks back at him, he knows he understands, even before Seb says anything. "My ex."

Evan raises his eyebrows slightly, glancing back at Olivia again.

"That so?" he says absently, and Seb nods. He hasn't told Evan much about Olivia, or about anyone he has been with, for that matter. Evan has extended him the same courtesy. They basically decided that unless it's important, they really don't need to know about each other's past love lives; their relationship is in the present, and doesn't need any baggage.

But he knows who Olivia is. He knows that she is Seb's ex, and that she was his first girlfriend―the one his parents liked, even though the whole relationship didn't really work out. That was a long time ago, though, and Seb hasn't even seen her since after they graduated high school, over three years ago.

But still. Seeing her here is awkward, to say the least, and not something he feels he is quite prepared for.

"Did you know she was coming?" Evan asks, his tone not the least bit accusing, as he looks back at Seb.

"No," Seb exclaims, his voice still lowered. "I had no idea."

Then he cocks his head, thinking about it.

"Although," he admits. "She got pretty close with Angie while we were dating, and I think they kept in touch."

Seb groans, closing his eyes.

"Shit," he says, lowering his head and face-palming himself. "I should have thought about that."

"Hey," Evan says soothingly, taking Seb's hand and removing it from his face. "It's fine. It's all good."

Seb looks up at him, and Evan raises his eyebrows.

"You're here with me," he says, lacing their fingers together at their sides. "Man up."

Seb gives him his best
really?
-look, and Evan's small smile turns into a slightly cocky one, making Seb shake his head. When Evan smiles at him, it's impossible not to smile back, and he feels the corners of his mouth turn up.

"What would I do without you, man?" he says, and Evan just smiles.

"I could ask you the same thing," he says, before he leans in and slowly kisses Seb on the forehead. He moves his free hand up and lets his fingers gently smooth over Seb's jaw and neck, murmuring his next words against his skin. "God knows, I was a mess before I met you."

Seb closes his eyes for a moment, squeezing Evan's hand, entwined with his own.

"Careful, Mr. Matthews," he says. "You're having a chick-flick moment. And in public, no less."

Evan chuckles, moving his lips away from Seb's forehead.

"Fuck, you're right," he says, and their eyes meet. "I'd better go wrestle a bear, or something."

"After," Seb says seriously, nodding, and Evan gives him a curt nod back.

"Of course," he agrees. "Don't wanna ruin the suit."

Seb makes a face, one admitting that Evan has a point, and is just about to kiss him when they are interrupted.

"Seb?"

The sound of that voice alone makes Seb practically freeze. He turns his head, trying not to look too shocked or startled or uncomfortable.

"Olivia," he says. "Hey."

"Hi," Olivia says, her dark, curly hair up in a rather elaborate do, with pins that match her pastel pink dress. She smiles at him. "Thought you might be here. Long time, no see."

Seb just nods, suddenly feeling unbelievably awkward.

"Yeah," he musters, clearing his throat unnecessarily. "You look good."

He isn't really having a good day, conversation-wise, but it feels like a perfectly innocent and polite thing to say. Olivia does look pretty good, her round face as kind-looking as always, her dark eyes sharp.

"You, too," Olivia replies, before glancing at Evan. Seb takes the hint.

"Oh, right," he says to himself, louder than he intended. "Evan, Olivia. Olivia, Evan."

He glances between the two of them, suddenly tongue-tied, and Evan comes to the rescue.

"The boyfriend," he says, to Seb's vague surprise, and extends his hand―the one not locked together with Seb's. Olivia takes it, a bit apprehensively.

"Oh," she says, blatant surprise written all over her face. She shakes Evan's hand slowly, looking back and forth between him and Seb, before making a small thinking noise.

"I guess that explains a few things," she says, in what she probably intended to be a barely audible murmur, as she releases Evan's hand. And Seb resists the urge to put on a Jake-class bitchface.

"Really?" he says, acid seeping into his voice, nonetheless. "And how's that?"

Olivia smiles at him, in that patronizing way he has always hated. Actually, it's more of a smirk, really.

"Oh, Sebastian," she says, tilting her head. "Maybe we remember our time together a little differently."

"Yeah, maybe we do," he says, returning her smile with an icy, sarcastic one of his own. "Good thing that's over, though, huh?"

No one does sarcasm quite like Seb, and at the moment, he's using it almost poisonously. But Olivia doesn't seem very fazed; she's used to it, and she's pretty versed in sarcasm and sardonic attitudes, herself.

"Right," she says, her smile faltering a bit, dark eyes hard. "I guess I'll see you, Seb."

She looks at Evan.

"Nice meeting you, Evan."

Evan doesn't answer her, just nods, and Olivia glances back at Seb, before walking away. And Seb exhales heavily, relaxing his shoulders he didn't even realize he was tensing up.

"I'm guessing
you
broke up with
her
?" Evan ventures, as soon as Olivia is out of earshot.

"Yup."

"Can't imagine why."

Seb sighs with some frustration.

"I had almost forgotten how much of a bitch she is," he mutters, watching Olivia's back as she walks away. "It's weird to think that I actually liked her, once."

Evan makes a sound of agreement.

"So, let me get this straight," he says, and Seb looks up at him. "She's the one you brought home? The one your parents liked?"

Seb shrugs, a sheepish and uncomfortable look on his face.

"Huh," Evan says, eyebrows raised. "So the bar isn't that high, then."

"To be fair, she has a way of manipulating people," Seb says, cocking his head. Then he shakes his head a bit, as though trying to shake something off.

"I don't wanna talk about her," he says resolutely. "I'm here with you, remember?"

Evan smiles.

"That you are," he says, kissing Seb on the lips. "Now, how about meeting your
actual
family?"

Introducing Evan to people at the wedding turns out to be a surprisingly painless affair. After the initial surprise on most people's part, there seems to be a general, if apprehensive, acceptance, and Seb finds himself gradually relaxing. It doesn't exactly hurt to have Evan by his side, squeezing his hand every now and then.

And then they get to his parents.

Eleanor Cohen is a kind woman, and Richard, Seb's father, isn't exactly mean, either. Seb was a little bit worried about how he might react, though, to his son's new relationship. It isn't so much that Seb thinks his father wouldn't accept it, but more a matter of him maybe being too uncomfortable to really face it or talk about it. He's happily surprised, though.

"So, this is Evan," Eleanor says, eyeing Evan up and down in that typical, mother kind of way. "It's so nice to finally meet you."

She shakes Evan's hand.

"Sebastian has told me a lot about you."

"Really?" Evan says neutrally, but glances at Seb with one raised eyebrow. Seb just gives him the smallest shrug.

"Yes," Seb's mother says. "And it's also nice to know he wasn't exaggerating."

Seb groans quietly.

"Mom," he says. "Really?"

"You're the one who said he was handsome," his mother says with a shrug. "Is it so bad of me to agree?"

Evan smiles kindly, and Eleanor smiles back, while Seb looks at the floor.

"Evan," Seb's father says, stepping forward and shaking Evan's hand. "Richard."

"Nice to meet you," Evan says, and Seb looks up. Evan must be at least a bit nervous, he figures, at least judging from the way he's suddenly a bit more tense than before. Meeting all these people is one thing, but these are Seb's parents, and it's bound to make him edgy. But he doesn't show it. Seb is pretty sure he's the only one who would notice, but Evan is nervous, and he's trying to keep Seb from being nervous, so he keeps it to himself.

The sudden surge of pure affection Seb feels for his boyfriend right then is ridiculous.

"So," Seb's father says, as the four of them sit down at one of the tables that surround the dance floor. "Eleanor tells me you're a musician."

Evan clears his throat a bit.

"Well, yeah," he says. "Guitar, mostly. And singing."

Richard nods, and Eleanor chimes in, asking her own questions and trying to get to know this boy their son has brought home (sort of).

Seb sits and listens, eyes darting back and forth between all of them, keeping out of the conversation as much as he can. Evan is doing really well, but Seb can sense his tension, and reaches for his hand under the table. He laces their fingers together and squeezes Evan's hand gently, and he notices how Evan almost immediately relaxes a bit. Seb smiles. This is going really well.

He isn't sure what, exactly, he was worried about.

It's a rather long drive back home.

The wedding was held in Seb's hometown, which is a couple of hours away from his and Evan's shared apartment, but not quite far enough away for them to bother spending the night there. Instead, they left late, and drove all the way back home.

Evan sat in the driver's seat of his car, Seb drowsing in the passenger seat, only half-waking up when Evan draped a jacket over him, like a cover. It made Seb smile to himself, half-awake and half-asleep.

It was a long drive, and it's past two a.m. by the time they finally get home. Needless to say, Evan's promise about what they'd do when they got home is one neither of them has the energy to actually keep, right now.

"I'm so tired," Seb mumbles, after dragging himself out of the car and up to their apartment, Evan half-supporting him all the way. "I'm so tired, it's not even funny."

He slumps down onto their double bed, suit still on, eyes closed, and Evan sighs at him.

"You're hogging the bed," he says, and Seb opens his eyes. Evan has taken off his suit jacket and his tie, and Seb sits up properly on the bed's edge.