Sunnyside (a Sebastian Stan story)

Yellow Monster

     A/N: If you've been with me a while, you'll know that the frequency of these updates has steadily declined, and I am so, so sorry for that. The good news is, I'm feeling a bit  more like myself lately, and the words seem to come a little easier now. Also, when I mentioned Budapest in the last chapter...well, that's where they filmed The Martian. So with this being release weekend for the film in North America, this chapter was perfectly timed, because this act of the story- well- *ducks and covers*

    The water stretched in all directions, and I let myself drift. I opened my eyes periodically to make sure I wasn't too far from shore, and I lost myself in my own thought. I could feel the sun reddening my nose and cheeks, but couldn't muster the concern about it that I knew my mother would have been showing. She had cautioned me about getting too much sun when I called her to tell her about our little trip. My mother was the queen of floppy sun hats. I missed her.

     My mind drifted from my mother to my sister; by all accounts, including her own, she was doing better. She was seeing a therapist, she was smoke-free, and she was smiling a hell of a lot more. I missed her too. I opened my eyes to check how far I was from the beach and saw Sebastian sitting with his feet in the surf, watching me. A smile crept over my face and I waved. He opened his arms, a clear "come here and hug me" gesture. I laughed, my voice mixing with the sound of the waves, and started back to dry land. He stood as I waded out of the water, eyeing me up and down with obvious appreciation as he brushed the sand from his shorts.

     "Pervert," I snapped jokingly as I crushed my wet body against his dry one, wrapping my arms tight around his waist.

     "What? Believe it or not, I was not  picturing you naked," he responded as he put his arms around my shoulders and kissed the crown of my dripping head. "I was picturing you wearing that bikini everyday for the rest of our lives. Doing chores, and shopping, and going to dinner...

     I pinched his side and grinned into his chest. "That's even worse."

     "You're right, it is. Unless we don't go home. That kind of thing is perfectly acceptable around here."

     I sighed deeply. "I do sort of wish we could just disappear, sometimes. This has been amazing. Too bad I own a business, and Marvel owns you."

     He laughed noiselessly. "Only until I'm sixty or so. We should stay until I have to leave for Budapest, at any rate."

     "We're cutting it close as it is. You'll only have a few days between flying home and flying out again."

     Sebastian shuddered a bit at the thought of flying. He wasn't great on planes, and I knew he was anxious about it, but he was going to be working with Ridley Scott. He would have flown non-stop around the globe twice for that opportunity. We didn't say anything more for a while. We just stood at the edge of the sea and held one another as the waves washed over our feet. We would be going home the next morning, and the idea of leaving...just so Seb could pack up and leave me, however temporarily...I pressed my face to his chest and squeezed my eyes shut.

     "I won't even be gone that long, really. You'll hardly even notice I'm not around."

     I pushed harder into his chest, making my words sound like they'd fought their way through the earth itself to get to the air. "You're an idiot. Don't go."

     I felt his chuckle through his ribs. "I'd be an idiot if I stayed."

     "I know," I turned my head and rested it against him. "I want you to go. I do. I want you to work on these amazing movies, with these amazing people, and show them that you're amazing and you deserve to be there. But if you think I'm not going to miss you the second you walk out the door, you're very, very wrong."