so hard to say goodbye,

[sebastian daniel reed]

There was one rule of friendship: Stick together at all costs, no matter what. It's a universal rule, one that's often spoken aloud and constantly challenged, though there should be no need for reinforcement. True friends know the rule, and true friends stick together. They don't abandon each other for silly, petty reasons or ditch each other when someone better comes along. True friends are there for each other through thick and thin, their bond tighter than that of wedding nuptials. Sebastian grew up knowing this, grew up relying on that rule in his friendship with Lilah. The duo had known each other for as long as Seb could remember; she was the slightly younger girl who used to stick toys up her nose and spit food at him. He was only three at the time, but he was the only person that could keep her entertained for hours at a time, her wide brown eyes watching his every movement as he zoomed around her living room with toy trucks and trains and cars. She would squeal in delight when he tickled her sides or made funny sounds with his mouth, and she'd smile a giant, toothless grin whenever he walked into the room. There had even been a point in their lives where their parents thought it would be idea for them to bathe together. She would splash him, giggling like mad. And he would let her play with his favorite bath toys. Ducks, boats, action figures; items he favored but trusted her enough to touch. As they grew older, their friendship only became that much more strong. Lilah looked up to him in many ways, admiring the way he was able to do things that she was still too small to accomplish. They built sandcastles together in the sandbox in Sebastian's back yard, and had contests to see who could jump farther off of moving swings. They made a great team, and Sebastian could honestly say that he couldn't imagine his life without her.

Fourteen year old Sebastian glided toward the shore as his boogie board caught a wave, carrying his thin body toward the shore. It was a nice day - cold, but nice nevertheless - and Seb has escaped his stuffy household for a few moments to trek down to his favorite secluded spot on the beach. It was a place that he and Lilah had discovered only last year, and so far, they had never seen anyone else occupying the area. There was a large grouping of people down the beach, and Seb could barely make out their forms as the board caught dry sand, flipping him over onto his back with a soft "oof!". He was just learning the art of boogie boarding, and though the action seemed relatively easy as he observed others doing it, he had come to learn that he possessed little to no balance on such a small board. It was quite frustrating, but he was enjoying the quiet time, anyway. His eyes drifted up to the sky as he buried his toes in the warm sand, arms crossing beneath his head of wet hair. A sigh passed through his lips; yesterday he had received the news that he would be attending boarding school for his freshman year. A boarding school in Wisconsin, no less. There was a lot of animosity between his parents now, what with the divorce not working out how either of them had originally planned, and the only thing they seemed to agree on was the fact that it was wrong to subject Sebastian to their incessant fighting. So, as a result, they had done some research and uncovered the most prestigious boarding school they could find - The J. C. Woodward Academy For Boys in Bumfuck, Wisconsin, just south of Nowhereville.

Seb watched as the waves crashed onto the shore, washing a small crab up onto the wet sand. The crab stopped, blinking its beady little eyes at him in confusion before turning away and scuttling back into the water, disappearing from sight. Sebastian sighed, pushing himself up and onto his feet. He brushed the sand off of his body and ran his fingers through his matted hair, turning to grab the boogie board when the sight of someone approaching had him straightening up, squinting in the sunlight to see who it was. A bright grin stretched his features at the sight of his best friend, though dread pooled in his gut at the thought of delivering the bad news to her. It probably wouldn't have been so bad if his parents had told him at the beginning of the summer that he would be leaving. Instead, they told him four days before he had to go. "Lilah!" He grinned, dropping the board back in the sand and moving forward to wrap his arms around her small torso. He lifted her with ease, spinning her around as she squealed in delight, his bare wet chest pressed against her dry shirt. After placing her back safely on her feet, he dropped back into the sand, leaning back on his hands as he carefully watched her, trying to maintain a neutral expression as to not give away that he had something bad to tell her.

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TAGGED: AMBER/LILAH

[lilah alexandria danvers]

_{this post is tagged for sebastian daniel reed. it is dunzo and has eight hundred and thirtywords. the one and only the red jumpsuit apparatus contributed to this inspiration from the song my guardian angel . this girl is looking fine rocking in the post. 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 i love them <3}
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There was one rule that Lilah had always followed from the time she was born and had met Sebastian, stick together. Through everything whenever she was out doing her own stupid tendencies because she was one of those girls that climbed trees, tried to fly, and all of those good things she had stuck beside Seb’s side. He had been there wheenver she was in diapers and he always made her laugh. Their parents had been those friends since they were in diapers and now it was Seb and Lilah’s turn. They were always together, building sandcastles and all of that crazy stuff. He loved telling her stories of how she was back in the day; how he shared his trucks with her and how he always made her giggle whenever they were running around the house. More often than not, he enjoyed teasing her about her toothless grin. A trend that had continued most of her life, seeing as how she lost one tooth at a time, except her front teeth. Just imagine how he had tormented her about that, but she still had the humiliation of taking baths with him. Though Seb always had the good bath tub toys. Their friendship had started in diapers, and that was where it was going to end. When they were both old and in diapers. It was how she planned on living anyways, which was why she had gone over to the Reed’s house that afternoon.

Lilah knew all about the divorce and how it was hard on everyone. Sure she was only twelve years old, but they had done everything together. She knew how it upset him, even if he said it didn’t. That was how the two of them worked, they spoke without being spoken too. He could read the expressions on her face, and she did the same to him. Neither one of them had to speak most of time, but as the little girl looked up at Mrs. Reed she knew that Sebastian was not there. She just wanted to find her best friend in the world, and it was trying on Mrs. Reed to even try and talk to the little girl. Hell, their mothers were barely speaking to each other anyways. Alex decided that it was time to hop off the porch that had seen many broken bones, mostly on her own part. The little brunette could not help but laugh thinking about the time she broke her arm trying to fly off the porch rails. That was what she was thinking about whenever she was walking to the beach. She had stopped at home and changed into her swimsuit, and then put her clothes back on over top. Seb and Alex had spent a lot of time in their little heaven on the beach over the past year. No one else seemed to know about it at all, and it made it their own little place. Lilah had spent many a night hoping to be able to stay in this never changing piece of earth, but she always had Seb to be there and keep her company. So she was finally walking up to him, and she could see him still trying to boogie board. It made her giggle because he was always falling or doing something. She took her flip flops off and carried them in her left hand as she walked the beach.

Before Alex could even think of sneaking up on him, which she had been doing just fine, her best friend was standing and thinking about getting back in the water. That was until he saw her. He quickly had her wrapped up in a hug and spinning her around. Alright, so she squealed with excitement as he spun her around. He was adorable, and maybe she had a harmless crush on him. It was kind of expected whenever you were in each other’s lives twenty four hours a day! It was nothing that would cause her any heart ache, but she laughed and giggled. “ Yes it’s me. Can you put me down before you get me any more soaked!” She laughed and then she was firmly back on the soft sand. She looked down at her shirt, and her bright green bathing suit was now showing through her white shirt. The shirt clung to her body, and soon she was looking down on her best friend as he sat in the sand. Something was different about him, she didn’t know exactly what it was but he wasn’t telling her something. “So what’s up? Why didn’t you tell me you were coming to the beach? I had to go ask your mom. She wasn’t thrilled to see me.” that was the understatement of the year, but it had lead her to believe that there was something that the twelve year old was not informed off. Hopefully she could get the story soon.

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[sebastian daniel reed]

Melanie Reed and Addison Danvers had known each other since grade school, never really talking but always acknowledging one another if caught in the same vicinity. They rarely ever hung out with the same crowd, but always knew of each others' existence, and it wasn't until high school that fate seemingly brought them together. They never discussed the incident, merely claiming that it was life changing and heartbreaking, but it was a blessing nonetheless; it had brought two unlikely people to the same place, at the same time, sharing the same experience. Months later, the two were inseparable. They were each others' maid of honor at their weddings and the godmothers' of each others' children, whom they would retell the story of their friendship to for years to come. It was always clear to Sebastian that they were leaving out crucial details, but he was grateful for their friendship for a completely different reason. He honestly didn't care if Melanie and Addison were best friends, enemies, or lovers - that didn't matter to him. What mattered was that their relationship had given him his own blessing - Lilah. She was the Addison to his male Melanie, and as horrible as that analogy was, it was true. Their parents had made sure from the moment that Lilah was born that Bastian would be in her life as much as humanly possible. Honestly, he thought they were planning to arrange a marriage between the two of them someday, but he wouldn't have minded, really. Spending the rest of his life with his best friend didn't sound like a curse, more like an extension to this beautiful blessing. He never forgot to thank God each and every day for allowing him to befriend such an amazing person, and though she was young, he knew she had the makings of a truly wonderful woman. He respected her more than a fourteen year old should respect anyone - aside from their favorite athlete or movie star. His father always commented that Seb would never find a girlfriend with his little minion in tow, for it wasn't normal for a teenage boy to be so smitten with a little girl. And he would always jump to Lilah's rescue, defending that she was only two years younger than himself and he wasn't smitten.

Imagining his life without Lilah was something Bastian had always avoided; the thought had popped into his mind a few times prior, when he'd be lying in bed at night or doing his homework, and he'd quickly push the thought from his mind before it had time to simmer and grow, expanding into this monstrous thought that engulfed his entire being. But now he had no choice but to think about it. In just a few short days, he would be states away from her, expected to fend for himself and make new friends and try to pretend that his family wasn't falling apart back in Arietta. He didn't have a cell phone, and therefore had no way of calling home to check in on his best friend and make sure everything was fine on the home turf, and his home visits would be few and far between until his parents could be decently civil to one another. That seemed like it could take years, and knowing how stubborn his father could be, it probably would. Sure, he would be home on holidays and for summer break, but the majority of his time would be spent bouncing around from parent to parent, which ultimately meant that he wouldn't have much time for the girl he had grown up with and had supported him since...forever. The two of them had plans for high school; he would be the junior who took her under his wing and protected her from the big bad seniors, all the while introducing her to the most influential people and warning her about the worst teachers. He would help her study and tutor her if it were necessary, let her copy old homework and essays - because face it, teachers never change up their lesson plans - and he would help her skip school when she felt overwhelmed and needed a break. She would accompany him to all the big parties and he would introduce her to alcohol and pot, making sure sketchy guys kept their distance and didn't try to pull a move on her. He would play big brother, and Lilah would be the untouchable girl. And ultimately, after Bastian had graduated and gone off to college, leaving Lilah to fend for herself, she would have already racked up major popularity points and the rest of her high school years would be a breeze.

Now all of that went to shit. Sebastian would be studying at some all boys school, while his Lilah had to stave off sketchy boys and pass classes by herself. Not that he had any doubt that she was capable of doing just fine for herself, he just didn't want her to do fine for herself. He wanted her to do fine with him by her side, like they had always talked about. Now who was going to make sure no one slipped things in her drink when her back was turned, or attempted to take advantage of her while intoxicated? He felt like a failure for not being able to. The sun burned as Bastian squinted up at his best friend, trying to rack his brain for some kind of lame excuse. He knew he had to tell her the truth, but was now really the right time for it? Then again, he was leaving in a few days and they both needed proper preparation for that. "I don't know," he shrugged, looking back down. He wiggled his toes a bit, watching as the sand on the top of his feet shifted and slid gracefully back to the ground. "I guess I just needed to clear my head for a while. Family stuff getting me down." He mustered a half-hearted smile, patting the sand beside him in the hopes that she'd sit. "My dad decided to have this talk with me this morning about some conclusion that he and my mom had come to. It's the first thing that they've agreed on in years, but I'm not too sure that I agree with it, you know? And it's affecting me in a pretty big way, so you would think that I'd have a say in it. But really, they've just...made my decision for me." He knew Lilah was probably confused; for the majority of Sebastian's life, he was able to make all of his own decisions. Even has a young kid his parents let him have free reign over his life - for the most part - to allow him to develop his own sense of independence. What could possibly be so big that his parents had to make his own decisions for him? Boarding school, that's what. Now the question was: How was he going to even begin to tell her about that?

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TAGGED: AMBER/LILAH

[lilah alexandria danvers]

_{this post is tagged for sebastian daniel reed. it is dunzo and has eight hundred and eightwords. the one and only kesha contributed to this inspiration from the song your love is my drug . this girl is looking fine rocking in the post. 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 i love them <3}
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The brunette rode her bike to the beach, like she did every other day of the week. She had known something was up whenever she had seen Melanie Reed that afternoon, because up until today even with the divorce working she had always seemed welcome in their home. That afternoon everyone looked sad as she asked where her best friend was located and that had seemed like such a dumb question. Of course he was at the beach, it was where both of them go to clear their heads and get away from everything. So she rode her bike and dumped it in it’s usual place, and watched him for a few minutes. She never understood how he was able to deal with everything that was going on in his life, but that was what she got right? Lilah knew that something was up with everyone by the way they had been acting, but she just chalked it up to being part of the divorce. It was hard enough on her to watch Sebastian go through everything that he was, but to know that his happened more often than not to families was crushing to her.

Families were supposed to be together, and love was supposed to conquer all. at least that was what she had always been taught. Her mother and father had been happy, at least that was what they told her all the time. Never would the little girl suspect that something was wrong whenever she was that young. Boys had cooties, and the only person that she wanted to spend her time with was Sebastian. He was the constant in her life, and their plans for high school were epic. He was going to watch out for her and make sure that nothing happened to her. It was just a few years away when she would be joining the high school, and she wanted seventh and eighth grade to fly by so she could spend her time in Arietta High School with her best friend. She would be the cute little thing that would get away with everything. It was who she was, she could bat her eyelashes and it always rescued her whenever she was in trouble. But by the time she was in the school by herself, she would be the popular girl who could get anything that she wanted. That is if she ever was able to shed the awkwardness that she carried around, since she did not really have that many friends. She really only had Sebastian, and that was why she had been hunting him down. She needed to make sure he was okay and that nothing was more wrong than it had been the day before. But by the way he held onto her and just the expression was enough to clue her in that something was seriously wrong with him.

Lilah stood above him as he sunk in the sand, but she just stood there trying to sort out the expression that was on his face. The face that she adored, and how was she not supposed to. Sebastian was her best friend, and she had always had a little crush on him. It was harmless, because their status as best friends was always the top priority. She would push aside romantic feelings aside, because she was twelve years old. Nothing would come of it since he was starting at the high school and all the girls would be all over him as soon as he set foot in the doors. She listened as he spoke, because obviously it was his family stuff that was getting him down and out. Then she saw him pat the sand, and she moved to sit down beside him. Bastian started talking again, and her head turned to look at him. Something was really wrong with what he was saying, but the sun kissed blonde could not figure it out. “So your parents made a decision for you? That doesn’t sound like something they would do at all. I mean you always get to make your decisions. What’s so important that they would do something like this?” She turned her head back out to the ocean that was crashing on their shore. Their secret place, and it was almost like their secret place that had been kept from all the heartache was going to have a whole new level of heartache. “You know you can talk to me if you want. I’m not going to tell anyone.” Her dark eyes met his, and she tried to smile. She knew that this was hard for him, and maybe it was just too much to talk to her about. She reached over and squeezed his hand gently, just to let him know she was there.

[/size]

[sebastian daniel reed]

It was obvious that Lilah was confused, though he imagined it would be difficult not to be confused when he was being, perhaps, the most cryptic boy on the planet. But how was he to tell her the truth? He couldn't come right out and say it, could he? It couldn't really be that simple. Sebastian ran a hand over his tired face as he tried to put words together, something that would make sense and could lessen the blow of it all, without being too sentimental and complicated. "My parents think that their divorce is wearing me out." Which, surprisingly, they were right about. The Reed family had always seemed well coifed and put together, like the perfect suburban family, and Sebastian had always been happy at home. It wasn't until about a year ago that his father was caught cheating and this whole fiasco began, though it ultimately began with his parents not even speaking at all. The shouting matches were a new chapter in the divorce, and while Seb was very rarely ever in the middle of the fights himself, he was often the topic of them. He could hear them arguing late into the night about custody and battling back and forth about how the other was raising him wrong and therefore they deserved custody of him. It exhausted him to listen to them, but it was nearly impossible to drown them out. "So they've, uh," Sebastian coughed, his eyes fleetingly meeting Lilah's before moving back to the water again. "They've decided to send me to school in Wisconsin this year." The words tasted like acid on his tongue, made him crinkle his nose in disgust at the very thought of leaving Arietta. "I leave in three days," he admitted, feeling the weight of his confession still resting heavily on his shoulders. Saying it outloud had done nothing for him. Hadn't cleared his conscience. Hadn't made the idea seem any better. Hadn't made him feel any better. If anything, Sebastian only dreaded leaving all the more now that it was out in the open.

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TAGGED: AMBER/LILAH