Sebastian Blake – First Person
She knocked.
Softly.
Like she thought she might break the door by accident.
I didn't say anything—just tilted my head slightly, enough for her to take it as permission.
She walked in, hugging a pillow to her chest like a shield. Her hair was braided loosely down her back, her feet bare against the old wooden floor of the study. The sweater she wore hung off one shoulder. Mine, again. I recognized it.
She always wore my things like they were armor.
"I brought tea," she said, placing the mug on the side table. "It's got honey and milk. I didn't know if you took sugar, so I didn't add any."
"Two spoons," I said.
She smiled. "Sweet tooth. That explains a lot."
I raised an eyebrow. "Does it?"
"You're cold all the time. Had to be balanced out somewhere."
She said it like she was testing the waters—daring to poke the monster and see if it bit.
I didn't.
Instead, I sat down in the armchair across from her and took a sip.
Too bitter.
She noticed.
"Not sweet enough?" she asked.
I held her gaze. "I said two spoons."
That earned me a laugh. It wasn't loud or dramatic. Just soft. Light. Like wind chimes in a quiet room.
She curled into the opposite chair, cross-legged, like this wasn't the mansion of a man who'd once broken bones for less.
"I used to make tea for the janitors at uni," she said. "They said it helped with the night shifts."
I nodded. "You do that a lot."
"What?"
"Try to fix people."
She blinked at me.
And for a second, I thought she'd deny it.
But she didn't.
Instead, she looked down at her tea and said, "Maybe I just know what it feels like to be broken."
I didn't respond.
Not because I didn't want to.
Because I couldn't.
Because she'd just said the thing I hadn't been able to say since I was thirteen.
We sat in silence for a while.
Just the two of us, the tea, and the shadows.
She didn't ask questions. I didn't offer answers.
But when she stood to leave, she hesitated. Turned to look at me.
"You're not as scary as you think, you know," she said.
I didn't move.
She smiled.
And walked away.