summer in the city 「 s.stan 」

PROLOGUE

You carefully stepped out of the plane and descended down the stairs, already grinning as the burning sun hit your skin.

Summer in the city that never sleeps – your favourite part of the year.

You travelled from your home in San Francisco to New York every year during August, staying with a group of your childhood best friends for the whole month (they all still lived together – you envied them, sometimes). You hung out with them the entire time and, to you, it felt as if you were young again; staying up until sunrise, partying a lot more than usual, sometimes even deciding to hook up with people you'd likely never see again. Every year, you counted down the days until your flight was due to take off, without fail.

However, for the first time since the annual trip had become a tradition, this year would be different. Your friends were in the process of moving house together, so they didn't have a spare room for you to stay in anymore. But, instead, they'd arranged for you to stay somewhere else.

"His name is Sebastian," you'd been cheerily informed by Allie, who you'd known since you were three. She was a costume designer – which is presumably how she met this guy, who was an actor. "You'll love him, I promise, he's like a puppy dog."

"A puppy dog?" you'd laughed into the phone. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"He's sweet, soft, a lot of fun – and really cute. Definitely your type, trust me."

You came to a standstill by the luggage conveyor belt, chuckling quietly as you remembered the conversation. A few people gave you strange looks, but you ignored them as you grabbed your extremely heavy suitcases.

When you turned around, you immediately screamed and dropped your bags on the floor.

"Y/N!" your friends shrieked in your face, enveloping you in a huge bear hug. Allie was there (you could tell by the curls of her blonde hair that swung into your face, smothering you), along with Sophia and Luca.

After greeting them all individually, your friends all glanced at each other. Before you could ask what they were obviously hiding from you, they stepped aside – revealing that they were literally hiding something. Someone.

A man walked forwards from behind them, a friendly grin on his face as he extended his hand towards you. He had brown curly hair (flattened slightly by a paperboy cap, something that shouldn't have suited him but absolutely did), baby blue eyes, defined cheekbones and a jawline that looked sharp enough to cut you in half. He was tall, at least six foot, and his tight red t-shirt did nothing to hide the taut muscles that lay beneath it.

Somehow, you knew who he was before he even spoke. And suddenly, Allie's previous description of him made a lot of sense.

"Hey, it's great to finally meet you. I'm Sebastian Stan."

This summer was going to be interesting.