Sebastian's POV
She came home in the rain.
No umbrella, no coat. Just soaked in cold and heartbreak, eyes swollen and red. She didn't say a word when she stepped into the foyer—just dropped her bag and looked at me like she was ten years old again and the world had ended.
I knew the look.
I had seen it once when she scraped her knees.
Again, when she lost her favorite plush rabbit.
And now, when she gave her heart to someone and he broke it.
"Where is he?" I asked, voice already low, deadly.
Kai stepped into the hallway behind her, giving me one look that said everything. Don't.
"Where is he?" I growled.
"She broke up with him," Kai murmured. "He didn't do anything… not really."
Not really.
That's never been enough for me.
She was crying.
She was my little girl and she was crying.
I was halfway to my car before Kai stood in front of me. Calm, infuriatingly patient Kai, like he was always meant to be the brakes to my fire.
"She's growing up, Seb," he said gently. "Let her."
I wanted to kill someone.
I wanted to bring down the sky.
But instead, I looked at her.
She was sitting on the staircase now, arms wrapped around her knees, drenched braid trailing behind her like a forgotten ribbon. And even with her heart in pieces—she looked for me. She always did.
That night, she didn't knock.
Just opened the door to my room like it was hers, like she always had.
I didn't say a word.
She climbed into bed beside me, shivering in one of my old hoodies, cheeks stained with tears. Her fingers curled around the hem of my sleeve, like they used to when monsters hid under her bed.
She didn't ask for permission. Didn't need to.
"Still my home," she whispered against my shoulder, voice wobbly and small. "Always."
I pulled her in. Tighter than tight. Tighter than I probably should've.
She buried her face in my chest like the world didn't exist outside that moment.
And I thought—
She can fall in love.
She can get her heart broken.
She can grow up, and move out, and build her own life.
But as long as I'm breathing—
She will never, ever fall alone.
Not while I'm still her home.