// i caught myself

[sebastian daniel reed]

Returning to his hometown of Arietta, Maine was much easier than Sebastian had anticipated. Upon hearing that his son was returning, his dad had helped him find a house on the outskirts of town, and it had been a miracle to land a job as a prosecuting attourney at the local law firm. Most of the people he had encountered as of yet remembered him, stating that he had grown into a fine young man, and they were glad he was out of that awkward, gawky phase he had left in. Some even took the time to reminisce about his younger years and the longer hair he had once sported, making him look more like a girl than a boy. They teased him about boarding school and being one of the few lucky Arietta natives to attend a prestigious university like Harvard Law School. Apparently, they envied him for having escaped the clutches of their small town, and none of them could understand why he had even bothered to return. What Sebastian couldn't understand was why they all hated Arietta so much; he loved how everyone knew one another and looked out for each other. Sure, gossip floated around easier here than anywhere else and everyone knew he was back before he could even unpack his things, but at least that amounted to a nice welcome home party from the folks down at the liquor store. It was by far a more comfortable environment to live in than the busy city of Cambridge, Massachusetts. Despite being gone for twelve years, Arietta was his home, and he hoped to settle down and make this the future home of his family someday.

Currently, Sebastian stood in the lobby of the Law Offices of Dixon and Tanner. Michael Dixon stood before him, rattling off office policies and expectations; Sebastian was only half listening. He had heard all of this at his previous firm, but he kept his attention firmly focused on the man before him, in the hopes of tricking him into believing that he was, in fact, soaking all of this information in like a sponge. The man gestured to a hallway behind him that opened up to a smaller lobby, much like the one he was standing in. "Your office is down there." Sebastian nodded, clutching tighter to his briefcase as he followed Mr. Dixon down the hallway. Up ahead, he could see a closed door with a blank nameplate, signifying his office; he smirked. Dixon was still talking about something that Seb really didn't care much for, but he still hummed in agreement and nodded his head in all the right places. Upon stepping into this second lobby, he noticed a desk on the opposite side of the room, beneath two large pictures of Dixon and Tanner standing in court rooms. It certainly tied in nicely with the fifty other pictures of court rooms throughout the office, that was for sure. A fax machine rang nearby, and Dixon put his thoughts on hold to see what was coming through, giving Sebastian time to glance around the rest of the room. It was open and warm while still encompassing a professional atmosphere, and oddly enough, he felt at home. The secretary's desk was neatly organized save for a few post-its stuck to the surface and around the computer; Sebastian's eyes instinctively drifted toward the nameplate in front of the computer, the name immediately catching him off-guard. It couldn't be her, could it? "Sir," his voice was scratchy and uncertain, and he had to clear his throat to regain some semblance of confidence. "Lilah Danvers works here?" Certainly it couldn't be his Lilah, there was no way she would have stayed in Arietta. Surely enough, before Dixon could even sputter out an answer, a door opened from somewhere down the hall and a voice floated toward them - her voice. It was strange that he could pick it up that easily, but it sounded the same. More mature, yes. But it was still her voice. His head snapped toward the sound, breath rushing out of his chest as he set his eyes upon his childhood best friend for the first time in twelve years.

TAGED: AMBER/LILAH

[lilah alexandria danvers]

_{this post is tagged for sebastian daniel reed. it is dunzo and has six hundred and seventy threewords. the one and only kesha contributed to this inspiration from the song dancing with tears in my eyes . this girl is looking fine rocking up in the picture. this template was created by the amazing amber you steal it and there will be an angry baby who will eat your brains no joke. additional notes reunion <3}
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Arietta was a small town, a town that the brunette had always dreamed of getting out of. She had never planned on coming back to the town how many years later. She had gone away to school, just left and went somewhere that no one would have expected. Lilah had gone away to Columbia, looking to do something with her life, but after a few years there she just wanted to go home. Schooling was just not what she really wanted, and she was a smart girl. Being in Arietta she had been able to pick up a job anywhere, because everyone knew her. The law firm of Dixon and Tanner had been advertising for a few weeks that they needed a new secretary. Lilah had thought what the hell, she knew Mr. Tanner from years ago, he was good friends with her father, and he hired her on the spot. Arietta was not a bad place to grow up or even to live. She enjoyed the small town mentality, and maybe that was why she had wanted to get out of New York so badly. There was no familiar faces, none. Now that she was back in Arietta, she had all of the Trent’s to keep her company. She had grown up being in the same grade as the soon to be married Jared Trent, so of course she knew the rest of them. The one thing that the brunette loved about the law firm was that everyone had a laid back feel to them. Lilah could basically do anything that she wanted, and she was never yelled at.

When she had walked into work that morning, she had heard that there was a new prosecutor joining the firm. Something she was kind of interested in because there was never anyone new joining. Alex had been there for over a year, and she was really the only new person to become a part of the family that was so close knit. Shannon had all of the gossip, and was the secretary for Mr. Dixon. Lilah apparently was going to be moved from Turner’s secretary to the new guy. She did not mind that much, especially since she was the kind of person who enjoyed meeting new people. She was a spitfire, and maybe even spiteful. Ever since her heart had been crushed back in the day, there was no such thing as love and nothing that really mattered to her. She went out with her friends, had a few flings here and there, but there was no such thing as love to the brunette. She had been walking out of the supply room whenever she heard Shannon inform her that her that the new guy was here and he was pretty handsome. Alex giggled a little bit, but not many people called her that at the firm. No she had to go by her proper first name, because it sounded professional. Really, it was only down the the Trent’s and some friends she had picked up along the way that called her Alex. Her desk was actually pretty tidy, considering it was just post-its reminding her of things she needed to do, but this was a shock. She rounded the corner from the supply closet, and there he was. It was like she was seeing a ghost; Sebastian Reed was the new lawyer? Something was completely wrong with this, but she smoothed her skirt, and tried to restrain the surprise that was bound to be written all across her face. She was staring at the man that she had waited for, waited twelve years for, and she smiled at him. “Sebastian, it has been a long time. So you are the new lawyer?” She was trying to keep the shock out of her voice, but it was him. The man who had broken her of love, and he would never know that. Now they were going to have to work together and be close all over again..

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[sebastian daniel reed]

The past twelve years had been quite the roller coaster ride, but Sebastian had loved every second of it. Despite having dreaded the thought of boarding school before his departure - especially an all boys school - he came to realize that it wasn't half bad. The professors were nice and the guys were easy to bond with, and on top of that none of them had tried to hit on him. Ever. He and his roommate Shawn would hold poker nights in their room, ignoring the strict no gambling rule like it didn't even exist. They would sneak out to the private parties held in Dorm C to mingle with the girls from their sister school Wharton Hall, where Seb had lost his virginity to a girl named Carly. Chloe? Carey? Whatever. His homework assignments were always turned in late and he often showed up to class stoned or hungover, reeking of fresh cigarette smoke and strawberry jam. The professors called him a genius, claimed he had all of this hidden knowledge that had yet to be unleashed, but he couldn't do so if he spent his high school years goofing off and smoking pot, and his parents had waved his behavior off like it was nothing, feeding into the excuse that he was acting out because of their divorce. Really, he was just being a teenager and doing the same exact thing he would have done had his parents stayed together and he still lived in Arietta. It was a mystery how he had managed an acceptance to Harvard, but he shrugged it off and chalked it up to his father bribing the university with money. College had gone by much the same as high school, though Bastian was a lot more focused on passing than getting high. His work was done to perfection, gaining praise from his professors and earning the title of Teacher's Pet, and as much as that should have annoyed him...it didn't. He didn't mind sucking up to the professors and being considered a star pupil, because this time around, recommendations could land him a tight spot in a respectable law firm. He still partied often, burying his troubles in bottles of Heineken and Bud Light and he was still no stranger to hiding behind a pair of Ray Bans in class to shield his reddened eyes from the world. Harvard had a very low tolerance for drugs, and he highly doubted that attending class blazed was the best way to land those recommendations. It wasn't until three years ago, when he graduated from college and - with the help of some of his favorite professors - snagged a job at a prestigious law firm in Chicago did life stop being one big party. He reeled in his childish behavior and stopped lighting up so often, throwing himself into his work and living out of his briefcase. He became the epitome of what everyone expected a boarding school attendee and Harvard graduate to be - a prick.

There was only one thing that he regretted in those twelve years, and that was leaving Lilah behind. She was his rock, the only person he truly trusted and saying goodbye to her had been the most difficult thing he had ever had to do. Even law school couldn't compare. Separating them was like separating two halves of a whole - they couldn't fully function without the other. And while Bastian had functioned just fine, his mind frequently traveled to Arietta and the young girl he had made a promise to so long ago: He would keep in touch no matter what. For the first year, that was precisely what he had done. He wrote her letters and sent her emails, called her whenever someone allowed him to borrow their cell phone; he had made good on his promise for a whole year. After that, their friendship fell to the wayside, taking a backseat to all of the extra-curricular activities Seb had taken on that year. Football, lacrosse, chess team, science club, and student council became his top priorities throughout the rest of high school, and with all of his new responsibilities came less time to keep up with his letters and emails. Slowly but surely, Sebastian had lost touch with the only person who truly mattered in his life, and he never forgave himself for that. Seeing her now made him realize how much he had really missed, and guilt pooled in his gut as recognition dawned on her face and a smile tugged at her lips. She was smiling at him? What had he done that could possibly deserve a smile? He nodded at her words, clearing his throat before speaking. "Yeah, I um. I - yeah." Obviously clearing his throat hadn't worked out very well. Sebastian blinked at her, licking his lips and motioning with his free hand toward the door without a nameplate. No words came out as his mouth flopped open and closed like a fish out of water, making a complete ass out of himself. "You look...old," he finally said, groaning in frustration when he realized just what he had implied. "I mean older than when you were," Sebastian held his palm up in the air, pushing it down to the approximate height that Lilah had been when he had last seen her, "little." He smiled at her, a weak, pathetic smile that displayed just how awkward he felt in that moment. It had been quite a long time since he felt genuinely uncomfortable around a girl, but this was Lilah Danvers and there was so much more to her than being just another girl. "How have you been?" His eyes briefly traveled over to Dixon, who's back was to them but clearly listening in on their conversation. He wasn't being very subtle about it, as he continually looked over his shoulder to glance between the two of them before pretending to busy himself with something on the fax machine, but Bastian would have felt bad calling his new boss out for eavesdropping. So he focused his attention back on Lilah, trying to stay as level-headed and calm and not awkward as he possibly could.

TAGGED: AMBER/LILAH

[lilah alexandria danvers]

_{this post is tagged for sebastian daniel reed. it is dunzo and has eight hundred and sixteen words. the one and only taylor swift contributed to this inspiration from the song innocent . this girl is looking fine rocking up in the picture. this template was created by the amazing amber you steal it and there will be an angry baby who will eat your brains no joke. additional notes reunion <3}
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There was one person that she had never thought would ever make a return to her life. For a year after he had gone, Sebastian had made sure to write and call as often as he possibly could, but after that year her best friend disappeared. The thirteen year old was forced to move on with her life after the calls and letters stopped coming. Thankfully she had some friends that were not the boy she had grown up with. Jared Trent had basically taken over the position of good friend, but that even seemed to fall apart as she got older. Especially when she moved away from the small town that she had grown up in. Lilah had needed to spread her wings and find who she really was. That was why she had moved to New York, but nothing beat the town where everyone knew what was going on in her life. High school had always been the fun part of her life, but college was something else. Lilah had drank and gone out on the wild side for a little bit; though no one realized just how wild she had gotten her freshman year. That was something she was going to take to the grave, and no one would know about it. She was now being forced to confront and deal with the demon that had turned her into this girl. The girl who had no faith in love or anything. She also had never thought that she was going to have to see him or deal with him again. Her thoughts on love had been dashed after he had promised to come back for her, and he never did. He had completely crushed her of the idea of love, and thus had not really dated her entire life. She had waited for years, and now twelve years he was standing in front of her.

Lilah put on the brave face as she smoothed her skirt; being separate from Sebastian had crushed her on many levels, but this was where she was a good girl. She had become spiteful and just in general a little spitfire. If someone screwed her over she sought after revenge, depending on what the person had done. Sebastian was going to be a fun to see and crush, because he deserved to feel exactly how she felt. That was going to take planning and patience. Something she was very good at, and that was why she was able to share a smile at him as she greeted her lost friend. She spoke and was very friendly, but that made this even more difficult on the boy. She could see that he was nervous, and that was when Mr. Dixon had turned away from them. It was so funny to see him trying to figure them out, but she just shook her head at him. He meant well considering she was part of the family. No one wanted to see Lilah end up the way she had come into the firm, but she was. She was happy with who she was and that was that. Seb was so nervous and so dorky, just like she remembered. The nervousness was making him sound like an idiot as he basically called her old. She place a hand on her hip and raised an eyebrow. “Old, really?” His groan made her laugh a little, he was adorable when he was just nervous like he always was. It was insane that nothing changed, Alex still had a crush on him. She probably always would, but that was besides the point. They had so much to catch up on, but right now she was trying not to full blown insult the poor boy on his first day. “It happens, I couldn’t stay twelve years old forever. But you know what, you look older than me.” she laughed at that though. She was still able to just tease him like nothing changed. Mr. Dixon was still looking over at them, so she smirked at him. “Oh, you know me. I’ve been good, but how about we go chat in your office. Get you settled in while we catch up so we don’t have to explain our stupid jokes to everyone.” She opened the nameless door and followed suit as he entered his office. “How have you been Sebastian? I haven’t heard anything from you in years. I thought you forgot all about us in Arietta.” She was not subtle, she wanted to know where he had been and how his life had been. After all she was going to be there in his life everyday as his secretary, and they had history. The idiots around could think what they wanted, Lilah knew the truth and that was what mattered.

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[sebastian daniel reed]

The divorce between Melanie and Derek Reed had been rough. They would spent the majority of their time throwing themselves into their work, and when they weren't working they were avoiding each other at all costs. It was unfortunate that they couldn't avoid each other forever, because when they did happen to cross paths, the result was never pretty. They were always fighting over the silliest things; who didn't clean the toothpaste out of the bathroom sink after brushing their teeth, whose turn it was to vacuum, whose turn it was to take Sebastian to school, Derek not putting the toilet seat down, who used the last of the toilet paper. Little things like that would strike up arguments that could make the Vietnam War seem like a vacation. Melanie had a habit of throwing pots and pans at Dereks head, and Derek got his kicks out of breaking family heirlooms that had been in his wife's family for decades. To top it all off, in the midst of each and every fight that Sebastian had been around to witness, he was always asked to take sides. Who was right? His mother for not cleaning the toothpaste out of the sink or his father for forgetting to put the toilet seat down? Honestly, Sebastian thought both of them were pretty fucking insane. Telling his parents that he couldn't pick sides was the equivalent of telling Hitler that the Jews had done nothing wrong and that concentration camps were stupid; they would stare at him in disbelief until they began arguing over whose fault it was that he couldn't choose one or the other, because clearly a parent had to be messing up if their son just wanted to stay out of their messy divorce. Needless to say, Sebastian was somewhat relieved when his father had approached him about going away to boarding school. He needed the distraction and time away from what could potentially become World War III, and he didn't put up much of a fight when the suggestion came about. He should have, though. Because he would come to regret leaving more than he regretted anything in the world.

Lilah had been the only person that Bastian had ever truly connected with. He had had his buddies in high school and college that he could joke around with and get wasted with, but he could never relate to any of them on the level that he did with Alex. She knew him back and forth, cover to cover, inside and out. It was almost scary how easily she could read his expressions and understand what he was going to say before any words had even left his lips. He used to joke about her being psychic, but really it was just her being a great friend. She knew when he was stressed about his parents and knew not to give him a long, overextended pep talk, but rather just sat with him at their little spot on the beach and watched the waves crash onto the shore. In silence. That was by far more comforting than any pep talk or lecture. Looking at her now, it was impossible to tell if she could still figure him out as easily as she was able to so many years ago. If she could, she would be able to pick up on the fact that he was beyond nervous, which was completely unlike him. Her comment made him laugh, shrugging his shoulders nonchalantly. "Contrary to popular belief, the passage of time does not stint the aging process," he laughed dryly, loosening his tie a bit. The duo stepped into his new office, and Bastian took a moment to look around. It was plain - as he had expected - with a large window placed directly across from his desk. There was a bookcase on the opposite wall and several leather chairs and the odd plastic fern placed schematically throughout the room. It was like any other office in the world, and his mind already began turning on how he could spice it up a bit and make it more homey. More...Sebastian-like. "I didn't forget you," he reassured her, setting himself on the corner of his desk. His eyes settled on her face, taking in every detail as if it were critical for him to memorize every laugh line and freckle that had formed over the past twelve years. "Things got kind of hectic after a while, and I bit off more than I could chew in school. I lost all of my free time to extra-curricular activities and in the process sort of...fell off the map." How else could he explain to her that he didn't want to lose contact with her, didn't want to kiss their cherished friendship goodbye...it had just happened. "I've missed you," he whispered, hoping that his expression and the look in his eyes could convey how true that statement really was. Not a day had gone by that he hadn't thought about her.

TAGGED: AMBER/LILAH

[lilah alexandria danvers]

_{this post is tagged for sebastian daniel reed. it is dunzo and has eight hundred and seventy two words. the one and only taylor swift contributed to this inspiration from the song innocent . this girl is looking fine rocking up in the picture. this template was created by the amazing amber you steal it and there will be an angry baby who will eat your brains no joke. additional notes wow that was longer than expected <3}
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When Sebastian had left Arietta it had crushed the twelve year old girl that got left behind. Nothing her mother could say would make things better for her daughter. Nothing seemed to take the ache and the heartache away, because it was her best friend. Someone should have cut her knees because that would have been more human than sending her best friend in the world off to boarding school. Lilah knew that things were bad between Melanie and Derek Reed, but she did not understand why they needed to drag their son through their shit. When everything had gone down, she was this sweet innocent girl that did not believe that love could end. But there it was right in front of her, love was dying and she had to sit there and watch it when Sebastian was gone. She had seen the whole messy debachel and Alex could not understand how that had happened. It had just made her realize that love was incomplete and never existing. Every person that tried to make a move on her in high school had known that she was not the most lovable person in the room. She was sweet and kind, but whenever it came down to the aspect of a relationship it did not happen. The brunette liked to keep love out of the equation, and whenever someone got that attached she bailed. Her own mother had done the same thing with her father when she was sixteen, but that was the sad part of it all. The two best friends both went through a divorce, the only good thing was that Addison and Trevor were still civil and her father was still in her life. It just was not working out for her parents to be together.

From then on she knew that love was something that did not exist in her world. Sebastian had left her, her father had left her mother, the Reed’s had broken up; no love had flourished in her life. The only thing she wished that she could have changed was having Sebastian around whenever she was going through high school. He was the only person that understood her and how she worked. He could read her like a book, and it was something that she appreciated more than anything. Seb had been nonexistent whenever she needed him most, but she built up walls around herself that no one could really break down. She had grown up and moved on with her life, and now she was staring at him and going to be working with him. This had not been in the plan and she was so shocked and stunned by it. The two of them had been the dynamic duo, inseparable and completely in tune with one another. Now, Lilah did not know if they were the same people that they had once been. Things had changed between them, and anyone that knew them well could tell. She could still read him like a book, but it was her Sebastian. She knew that he was nervous, and she didn’t even need her sixth sense to tell that. Lilah still could tell everything about him. “Really? Well then, I need to stop letting time pass around me, now don’t I?” She laughed lightly around him, he still could make her laugh. Even if her stomach was turning over and he was that nervous. They entered his office, and it was not like it was the homiest thing in the world. She had watched the old attorney clean his things and leave, and the room was bare and impersonal. She knew that Sebastian would be able to turn it around and make it something she would feel comfortable in. He always did. “You sure you didn’t? You could have called.” Alex was slightly upset that she had that tone, but it was true. He could have called her or wrote her, it was not like he was that busy that he couldn’t have talked to her once a month or something like that. Then his words drifted to her ears as she looked at him, trying to notice the subtle difference from the Bastian that she used to know. “I guess it happens to the best of us, doesn’t it? School tends to take up a lot of time though. It’s not a big deal Bastian.” She tried to keep her voice smooth and impartial. It was in the past, it was not like she was still that twelve year old girl anymore. “I missed you too. Things weren’t the same without you.” She wanted to slap herself, but that was the truth. Things were not the same when he was gone, and now that he was back well things would be different. She found his eyes, and he was truly sincere. Something that she had not expected when she had run into him that afternoon. The truth was Lilah thought about him constantly, and she would never share that with him. Not in her life, because she was that girl. The girl that did not get attached.

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