Uncover | Sebastian Stan

7.5

"Excuse me?"

Fabian pauses his post-workout stretches at the sound of the nervous voice just off to the side of him, opening his eyes and turning to face the owner of the voice.

"Hi, what can I help you with?" He smiles kindly, noting that the young woman is in workout clothes and figuring that she's a customer.

She seems to hesitate before deciding to go for it. "I was wondering if I could get a picture with you - you're probably really busy, I'm sorry!"

He falters before shaking his head. "No, it's fine - just not what I was expecting."

She sends him a nervous smile before shrugging self-consciously. Though, she seems to perk up a little when he waves her closer, asking her what kind of picture she had in mind - a general selfie or something silly - to which she asks for both, if he has time.

They take a general selfie before Fabian gets one of his staff to take their silly photo for them - posing with her on his back and both pulling silly faces to the camera.

"How'd they turn out?" He asks once he's placed her down and she's retrieved her phone.

"Amazing," She responds, looking up from the screen and beaming at him. "Thank you so much for this."

"You're welcome," He shrugs, smiling shyly. "It's... different. People don't usually approach me while I'm at work to ask for pictures, usually only when I'm out in public."

"Yeah, I'm sorry about that. I've been coming here for a while and I've been dying to come over and say hi to you, but I'm not a confident enough person to just walk over and start a conversation without something else to get it started." She motions to her phone at the end.

He chuckles, "So, you went with the traditional fan approach?"

"Kinda," She smiles, before holding out her hand. "I'm Katie."

"Fabian, but I guess you already knew that." He shakes her hand. "You didn't have to be nervous to talk to me, I promise I'm not scary."

"I know, but other than being someone I kind of idolise on Instagram, you're also the boss of this place so you'd be well within your right to kick me out if I annoyed you."

He laughs, shaking his head. "That wouldn't happen. I know followers of mine come here, so I've always been aware that this was a possibility."

She smiles before seeming to get nervous again, though, he can tell it's because she's got something she wants to say in mind but not sure about how to say it.

"I actually joined, not just because of you being the boss, but because you inspired me to put myself out there and try something new." She seems bolstered by the fact that he's listening intently to what she has to say. "I've never really been confident but, after seeing your posts about fitness, health and how you got confidence from doing this stuff, I decided to try it out for myself."

"How's it working out for you?"

"Better than I thought it would," Katie smiles, glancing around. "Alongside the general fitness stuff, I've actually been thinking about joining one of the other classes."

"Oh?"

"It turns out some of my friends have done the self-defense classes here - they highly recommend it, actually, not just for the skills it will give me but also because apparently, knowing how to get out of a sticky situation will give me more confidence when I'm out and about."

Fabian nods along. "They're not wrong. If you know how to defend yourself, you don't carry around that nervousness that something bad might happen - you just know that, if something does happen, you can deal with it."

"I never thought about it like that before."

He huffs in amusement before placing his hand on her shoulder with a polite smile. "My advice: don't take the classes just because your friends did. The classes aren't easy, I'm not going to lie, so I think you should only do them if you're sure. Think about it. I mean, really think about it, before you throw yourself into the classes." He pauses for a moment, making sure she's listening. "They will teach you so much, not just about safety but also about yourself, and I think everyone should be taught those skills, but you need to be committed - to be sure that you want to be there and to learn - otherwise, you're just going to be wasting your time and ours."

"Way to put a girl off." She jokes, pretending to be downhearted.

He laughs, starting to gather his things after seeing the time. "I'm not trying to tell you not to do it, I'm just telling you to be sure about your decision. Being decisive is a good trait to have, don't get me wrong, it means you don't waste time trying to make decisions, you just pick one and deal with what comes. But, be sure about your decision." When she nods, he gives her a tight smile. "Now, I hate to cut our conversation short, but I have somewhere I need to be. It was amazing to meet and chat with you."

She blushes, "I feel like I should be the one saying that."

"Regardless, maybe we can continue our conversation another day?" He offers as politely as possible, making sure he has everything with him and slowly walking towards the door to the staff area.

"Yeah, sure. Thanks for sparing a moment of your time on little ol' me." She happily gives into the hug he offers, before stopping and waving as he leaves. Just as he starts pushing the door open, seconds away from disappearing from her sight, she calls out to him once more. "Oh, and, Fabian?" He turns, hand still on the door. "All of your true fans are happy for you and Sebastian. We're proud of you two for everything you've gone through and how strong your relationship still is regardless of what people think. Your bravery is inspiring."

He ducks his head, another shy smile lighting up his features. Fabian mouthes a 'thank you' to her before entering the staff area, letting the door shut behind him as she turns to leave.

Her statement sticks with him throughout his shower, while he's getting dressed again, and bounces around his mind during his drive home. Their bravery is inspiring. Of everything he thought he would learn today, that's not what he thought he'd come to know.

As he enters the front door of their home, hearing Sebastian in their bedroom hopefully getting ready for their dinner date, he takes a moment to lean back against the front door, eyes closed and just take everything in. He smiles when he hears his husband's footsteps padding closer, probably having heard him come in, and pausing a short distance away.

"Everything okay?"

"Yeah," He murmurs, opening his eyes and giving his partner a once-over before meeting his eyes with a content smile. "Today's been a good day. Everything's great."

Sebastian gets this fond look on his face before reaching out his hand, pulling the younger male closer once he returns the gesture, and placing a soft kiss against his husband's lips. Fabian sighs happily into the kiss, returning the affectionate action. Yeah, everything is great right now.