SEBASTIAN
Before I knew it, a week had passed by. Living with Audrey felt so natural, to begin with, so by the time a new week began I had forgotten I only began living with her for around a week, it felt like I had lived with her for years.
"Goodmorning Mr King. What do you fancy for breakfast this morning?" I felt a rush of happiness at the sight of her.
"I don't know, I have the day off so if you want, we could go out for breakfast," I reply, perching myself on top of a stool.
"Sure. Oh! I know a nice cafe in central Paris. C'mon, let's go." She smiled brightly.
She pulled me along, rushing to get our coats and pushing me out of the door. We made it to the car and into the city faster than I thought was humanly possible. She led me to a cosy cafe on the corner of a street, the bell tinkling as we enter. The server greeted us with a smile and we quickly ordered before scurrying off to a table.
"Do you come here often? You seem to know your way around." I asked, glancing at the people passing by. I thought about all the times we sat together like this and it felt like butterflies were doing the macarena in my stomach.
"I may know a place or two. Hey, a girl's gotta get her coffee from somewhere." She shrugged, smiling up at the server whilst they place our drinks and food in front of us.
The server said something to Audry in French, to which Audrey replied in fluent French. The server laughed and left, returning to the till.
"I didn't know you could speak French." I gasped, amazed.
"Well, considering I have French ancestry and I came here a lot as a kid, I was kinda forced to learn it." She replied, she awkwardly sipped her tea and nibbled a little forkful of cake.
"Why are you so awkward all of a sudden?" I smiled, taking a sip of my own tea.
"I just, I don't really like to talk about myself." She grimaced, scrunching up her nose, like a little bunny.
"Why? Every time you tell me something about yourself, which is once in a blue moon, by the way, it's always something amazing that makes you even better and more interesting."
Her cheeks bloomed pink, like the petals of a rose. "Stop it, it's embarrassing."
"No, Audrey, you're amazing. You just have to deal with all that power. That's the power of awesomeness." I leaned back and put my hands behind my head.
"Okay, this is not happening. No, this isn't real." She denied, taking another nibble of cake and glancing out the window, avoiding my gaze. "Oh my goodness, Sebastian, can you stop that, please? I would really appreciate it."
I pull my hands from the back of my head, resting my chin on my palm. "Stop what?"
"Whatever it is you're doing," she mutters.
"You mean living, Audrey darling." I purred, smirking slyly.
She pats her cheeks lightly, trying to wake herself up before she continues to sip at her tea and nibble at her cake, all whilst trying to ignore me.
"Audrey?" She continued to ignore me. "Audrey, why did you leave?" At this, she stopped. I don't know how to explain it but she just...stopped. She stopped moving, stopped breathing, it was like her whole world just stopped.
In the world that continued on around us, I could hear a whisper, so quiet it was barely audible.
"I couldn't do it."
AUDREY
"I, I had to leave. I couldn't take it." My lips were moving, but it was like they were on auto-pilot.
Where am I? Why is my vision so blurry? The world seemed so colourful a minute ago, why is everything so dull?
Who am I?
Shouldn't I be able to feel something? Why can't I feel anything? Why does my chest feel weird, like there's something in it that's not awake? The buzzing stopped, why am I feeling nothing?
Someone was talking, I could feel them place a hand on top of mine and they began stroking it softly.
What was that? Was that my name?
"Au-"
What was I talking about a minute ago? Who is that?
"Audr-"
What's happening? What's hap-
"Audrey, can you hear me?" My vision returned. Too fast, too fast. It felt like every noise had been boosted too loud. My head began to hurt. I glanced quickly at the person in front of me before darting out of wherever I was.
I found a bench and held my head in my hands. Am I crying? Why is my face wet? I felt someone sit next to me, they touched my shoulder gently.
"Audrey? Are you okay?" Their voice was like the sound of slow-moving waves, like the sound of birds in the morning when you can't go back to sleep so you just listen. To me, their voice made me feel peaceful.
I sat up and looked at them. It was him, Sebastian. He sat there, looking very afraid as he held my cheek in his hand.
"Sebastian?" It was hard to say his name, I only had enough energy to mumble it. I feel so tired, so drained of energy.
"Audrey, I got worried. You're safe, you're safe. I am so sorry, this is all my fault, I shouldn't have asked you, I shouldn't h-"
"Safe?" I stopped him before he could continue any further. "Safe." It was as if I was convincing myself, but it worked. I rested my head on his shoulder and wrapped my arms around him. He didn't hesitate to gently wrap an arm around me and hold my head close to him with the other.
I feel like I'm on the beach, watching the sunset. Like I'm in a bed, wrapped in a warm and cosy blanket after coming in from the harsh winter weather.
"You're safe now."
As I clutched onto his pale blue shirt, I realised, I am.