Sebastian's POV
—One Year Later—
I was gone for ten minutes.
TEN. MINUTES.
I come back to our dorm hallway holding two iced coffees, and I hear it—the loudest wail known to man. At first, I thought someone had died. Like, actually died.
Turns out, someone did.
Apparently, my absence killed her.
"SEBASTIAN!" Ray comes flying down the corridor barefoot, hair loose, one fuzzy sock in her hand like a tragic widow. "I thought you left me! I thought you were gone forever—I was planning your funeral!"
"It was ten minutes," I mutter.
"I wrote you a eulogy!" she sobs, throwing herself into my arms like she hasn't seen me in 84 years. "Ava was picking the coffin! Austin said he'd wear black for you!"
"…You made them plan my funeral?"
"I didn't make them! They just understood the gravity of the loss!"
She's crying now. Actual tears.
"Ray."
"I just… I woke up and you weren't there and I called six times and then I went to the kitchen and your mug was still there so I thought maybe you had been kidnapped by aliens or caffeine cults or worse—you LEFT WITHOUT A NOTE."
"Because I went to get you this." I hold out the iced coffee.
Her eyes sparkle. She snatches it like it's holy nectar. "Is this the one with marshmallow fluff, whipped cream, caramel, AND chocolate drizzle?"
"Yes."
She gasps. "You do love me."
And just like that, she stops crying. Sits herself right on my lap in the middle of the hallway floor like she owns it—because she does. Places the coffee beside her and kisses my nose.
"I forgive you," she says generously. "But don't ever do that again. I aged thirty years in those ten minutes. I'm emotionally eighty-seven."
"I lost three years of lifespan trying to make your drink order make sense."
She giggles. Then wraps her arms around me and says, "Braid my hair. Right here. Right now. I need comfort."
We sit there on the cold marble floor—me holding her ridiculous coffee, her holding my sanity hostage—and I start braiding her hair like I always do.
There are worse things than being in love with a clingy, overdramatic chaos fairy who needs physical contact every five seconds and cries when you leave for coffee.
In fact, I think this is exactly what I needed all along.
Even if she's already planning my next funeral.