Between Friends

The next day was spent puttering around the house, one of the guys by your side at all times; they stayed home all day to look after you. You felt like they were fussing over you too much, but you reveled in having your boys close for a whole day.

While Sebastian made sandwiches for lunch, you and Chris sat on the bar stools at the island. They talked to you about going to a doctor first thing the next day to make sure that there wasn't more going on than suspected.

Sebastian spoke as he smeared mayonnaise on a slice of bread, "And before you say anything about money, I got it. Okay?", he looked to you for a response and you nodded reluctantly. "Let's just get you taken care of. I don't care how that gets done as long as it gets done."

"Okay.", you agreed quietly.

Sebastian nodded in approval at your response and set a turkey sandwich loaded with all the fixings in front of you, "Thata girl, now eat your sammich.", he winked at you and then gave Chris a sandwich, who expressed thanks before chowing down.

You thanked him as well and picked up the huge layering of food, quickly realizing that it was too thick for your mouth. You set it back down on the plate. Sebastian was chewing, looking confused, Chris doing the same. Before either could say anything, you stood up with your feet on the stool leg braces, put both your hands, one over the other, down on the sandwich and leaned over it with your weight, giving it a good smash. The guys started laughing. You sat back down, picked it up and took a bite happily, smiling at Sebastian as you chewed.

"God, you're adorable.", he smiled at you affectionately.

The following day, Sebastian had to go into work, but Chris worked from home, so he could take you to his doctor. The doctor said that it sounded exactly like a panic attack, but he gave you an exam to make sure there were no signs that it had been anything else. He sent you off with a clean bill of health, advising that panic attacks are caused by stress and anxiety and that you needed to find ways to manage your stress and quiet your mind; he gave you some suggestions. He also mentioned that he could give you medication to keep you calm. You declined. You would rather try to fix this without drugs if possible. If you could just get a job, that would probably help immensely.

Your next order of business was to look for that job. After the doctor, you took a shower and got presentable; putting on some slacks, a blouse and some heels. When Chris heard the click of your heels across the hardwood in the kitchen, he turned from his computer in the sunroom and gave a low whistle, "Looking good, where you going?"

"Time to find a job.", you half smiled.

He got up and headed toward you, "Let me drive you."

"Chris,", you sighed, "you have to work."

He grabbed his keys off one of the hooks on the wall by the fridge, "I can just send Tony a text and work when I'm not looking after you." He headed to you and kissed your head, "I'm one of his favorites, he'll be cool about it, given the situation. I'm not comfortable letting you drive just yet."

You sighed again, "Fine."

His brows furrowed playfully, "Ooh, miss 'tude." He smiled and encouraged you to move toward the front door with a hand on your lower back, "Come on, princess."

Chris drove you around to every salon you could find, none of them hiring. You took a break Just after 1 o'clock and Chris took you to lunch. You then asked him to take you to the state work services building. Might as well see what there is in administration, since you had done that in the past too. You applied to several jobs that your were qualified for while Chris sat next to you checking work emails on his phone. You asked him to start taking you around to business buildings to start "knocking on doors" to see who was hiring. He encouraged you to call it a day and you accepted on account of your sore feet more than anything.

The next couple of weeks, you kept looking for work, had a few interviews, but nothing had come of any of it yet. The guys started leaving you on your own so they could go to work, knowing that it wasn't realistic to be with you constantly, but that didn't stop them from checking on you all day long, especially Sebastian. You had another panic attack during those weeks. Luckily, it was while watching a movie with Sebastian down in the family room and he used the same technique as before to bring you out of it and he succeeded quite quickly.

You also started having trouble sleeping and on those nights, you would wander into Chris's room and softly call his name while standing next to his bed. He would just move over and open the blankets for you without a word. You would climb in and cuddle up to his chest to listen to his heartbeat and he would hold you close until you fell asleep. He felt really lucky that his room was closeset to yours. You didn't play favorites, but you always seemed to have a closer bond with Sebastian and went to Chris's room out of convenience. But the reason didn't matter to him; he just wanted to hold you, smell you, protect you.

Sometimes, he wished for more, but he didn't see anything from you to indicate that you felt the same. So, he would take what he could; holding you when you came to him... When you needed him. He was your friend, that was what you needed now, so that's what he would continue to be.

Chris had met a girl at the gym, her name was Sharon. She gave him her number and asked him to call her to go out for coffee sometime. It took him nearly two weeks to call her; struggling with his own feelings about you. But, nothing was happening there. So, he had coffee with her and two days after that, on a Friday, he took her out for an actual date. It was a minuscule feeling, but you we're a little jealous and secretly, you hoped it wouldn't work out because you wanted your boys all to yourself.

While Chris was on his date, you and Sebastian stayed home and hung out. He ordered pizza, you watched a movie together in the living room and he rubbed your neck and shoulders as you sat on the floor in front of him on the couch.

After the movie, he kissed your head and stood, swinging a leg over your head to bring his feet together, "I'm gonna get in the hot tub. You wanna join me?", he offered you a hand and helped you up.

"Nah. I think I'm gonna go read. Thank you for the massage.", you stood on your toes and wrapped your arms around his neck in a hug as he wrapped his arms around you in return.

"You're very welcome.", he said softly.

You kissed his cheek and tried to pull away, but his hold tightened gently. You paused for a beat and obliged his silent request. You sunk back down flat on your feet, pulling your arms down and under his, curling them around his back as his were now wrapped around your shoulders and upper back. You laid your head against his chest, his cheek resting on your head. His heart was beating a bit fast. You wondered if he was feeling nervous or scared and then he spoke, "(Y/N), I'm so sorry about what you've been going through. I hate seeing you suffering."

"I know.", you replied softly. "But, you're taking care of me so well. Thank you."

"Not well enough. It's still happening."

You could hear the self disappointment in his voice. "Seb, stop. If I didn't have you, things would be worse. It's going to take time for me to get this all under control. It's gonna be okay." For what you were pretty sure was the first time, you were taking care of him in this moment. He needed you to tell him that things would be okay, that your were okay.

He pulled away slowly, his hands coming to rest gently on your arms as he looked down at you, clenching his jaw. His face conveyed a mix of emotion; worry, inadequacy, doubt... and something else. You couldn't identify it, but it was intense in his deep blue eyes. His gaze traveled to your mouth as he licked his bottom lip. He lifted your chin slightly with a finger and your heart started to race as he began to close the distance between your faces. He tilted his head to one side and kissed your cheek. You sighed and gave him a closed mouth smile, a little disappointed.

His voice was low, "Goodnight, doll."

"Goodnight, Sebby.", you replied.

He left the room with you staring after him.

You changed into pajamas and picked up your book off your night stand and sat on your bed, against the headboard. You paused and thought for a moment. You put the book back, got up and quickly changed into your bathing suit. It was a one piece red and white striped suit with a bow tied between the breasts and a low cut back. You put your hair in a big, high messy bun, grabbed a towel and headed to the hot tub.

Sebastian was slouched down in the small, round tub, his head tilted back and resting against the edge, his eyes closed. He lifted his head and opened his eyes when he heard the back door to see you rounding the corner of the sunroom and walking towards him. He cocked an eyebrow. Your suit was modest, but damn, it complimented all your curves perfectly. One corner of his mouth pulled up slightly in a half smirk.

"Hey, babe, you made it.", he smiled.

"Yeah, I changed my mind." You put your towel on a chair on the deck. He stood and took your hand to steady you as you stepped in, his eyes glued to you.

He sat in his spot again and you lowered yourself to sit across from him. The tub was small, only big enough for four or five people. He smiled softly, "I'm glad you decided to join me."

The two of you talked about anything and everything for a little over an hour. It started with talking about a funny scene in the movie you had just watched. The conversation moved around, from movies, to interpretations of books, to the meaning of life and where you wanted to be in life. He also talked about the new job he just started working for Tony. He stayed with what he knew and was hired on in the insurance department. But, he took the job because it payed more.

It felt so comfortable; just talking, sharing. Familiar. That word came to mind again.

He stepped out of the hot tub first and grabbed your towel before his own and offered you a hand, helping you out and stealing another glance at the way your suit hugged your body as he handed you your towel and then reached for his. You stole your own glance at all his bare, firm muscles as he dried himself off. Once dry, you both headed inside. In the kitchen, he gave you a quick hug and a kiss on the head.

"Nite, doll- again.", he chuckled. He headed downstairs for the night. It was only about 9 PM, but Sebastian had had a long week at work and the hot tub made you quite tired.

You changed back into your pajamas and got in bed. You fell asleep pretty quickly, thank goodness you were so relaxed.

You woke up only about an hour later and looked at your phone; it was just after 10:00. You laid in bed awake for about 15 minutes before you gave up. You headed to Chris's room and peaked in, he wasn't there. You looked at the key hooks in the kitchen and his keys weren't in their usual place and the house was dark and quiet except for the dim light over the stove top, so you assumed he wasn't back from his date yet.

You quietly went downstairs to Sebastian's room, stopping just inside the doorway. You could hear him snoring lightly as you waited a moment for your eyes to adjust to the almost non-existent green glow of his digital alarm clock. Once you could make out where he was on the bed, you spoke up, "Sebastian?"

"Mm?", he opened his eyes, searching the dark for where your voice was coming from, spotting you near the door, "(Y/N)? What's wrong?", he sat up, squinting at you in the dark and then rubbing one of his eyes with his fingertips.

"I can't sleep."

"Where's Chris?", he asked groggily, knowing you always went to Chris when you couldn't sleep.

"He's not back from his date yet."

He looked at his clock and nodded. "Come on, doll.", he relaxed down onto an elbow, holding the blankets open for you. You climbed into the bed and cuddled against him as he turned to lay on his back. You rested your head in the crook between his shoulder and chest as he wrapped his arm around your back and he kissed your forehead. Sleep had never come so fast for you as it did then.

A short time later, Sebastian's voice woke you, rumbling in his chest beneath your ear, "What?"

You heard Chris's quiet voice next, "Where's (Y/N)?"

You turned your head in Chris's direction, "I'm right here.", you said sleepily.

"Oh, okay.", Chris sighed in relief, "I panicked for a second when I couldn't find you."

You turned over to face Chris, rolling out of Sebastian's arms and resting on your elbow, "How was your date?"

He sat on the edge of the bed near you, "It was good. I had a good time."

Sebastian piped up, "Can you guys keep it down? Some of us are trying to sleep."

"Sorry." You whispered, and adressed Chris again, "Good enough to go on another date?"

You could barely see him tilt his head in the dark and he wispered back, "Yeah. Yeah, I think so."

"That's good.", you smiled, even though he wasn't looking at you. "I'm glad."

He nodded and turned his head to you. You couldn't read his face. The green light of the clock was behind him on Seb's desk.

"Well,", you started, "Since there's a chance you might be taken soon, will you sleep with us tonight? I need to stock up on Chris cuddles."

He huffed out a quiet breath like a chuckle, "Seb?", he spoke up.

"Whaaat?", Seb groaned, he sounded like he was starting to get annoyed by all this waking him up business.

"Sorry, dude. You okay with me sleeping with you guys tonight?"

"Yeah, man."

Chris whispered to you, "I'll be back after I get ready for bed." He stood and left. You laid your head back down and waited.

After a moment, Sebastian asked, "Where'd he go?"

"To get ready for bed.", you answered.

Sebastian rolled toward you on his side, behind you, wrapped and arm around your waist, pulled you into him and hummed, his voice gravelly, "Mm, good. I get you to myself for a little longer." He nuzzled your hair.

Your stomach fluttered a little and you giggled quietly.

You laid there for a moment before you felt something rigid against you backside, "Oh my God.", you said quietly, "Seb? Do you have a chubby?", you chuckled softly.

"Look,", he mumbled sleepily, "I can't help it. You're hot and your ass is pressed against me. If it makes you uncomfotable, you can move. But, please just let me sleep."

You stayed where you were, enjoying knowing how you made him feel.

Chris returned a few minutes later and climbed in on your other side, positioning himself so that you could rest your head on his chest. As you shifted the top half of your body over to lay your head on Chris's chest, Sebastian's hand moved down to your hip bone and gripped it firmly, but gently in his sleep, then his hand relaxed. Your body twitched slightly at the unexpected gesture as Chris was putting his arm around you, not knowing what had happened.

"You okay?", he whispered.

"Yeah", you whispered back, settling against him, "muscle spasm.", you lied.