Brothers reunion

Christian knew that Sebastien is probably ignoring him, as usual. He was pissed, wanted to scream on him, but there would be no point. So the only thing he could do was to became Sebastien. Ack like he's his brother, sit quietly like there's no one around him, living in his own world. Sebastien didn't answered but Christian didn't expect he would. He would actually be pretty surprised if Seb answered him. Some things are never gonna change, no matter how hard we're trying, some things are meant to stay the same. And it's maybe better that way, sometimes there's an monster under the surface, the monster who was sleeping softly but is ready to wake up and make some scandal. Christian knew it, so he decided it's better to be quit, at least for now.

Christian was studying his brother's face when he took the letter. He was careful, acting like the letter is toxic or something like that. Chris didn't knew if his bluff will actually made Seb open that letter so he was more than surprised when he did.
Christian concluded that Sebastien was also curious about the letter, but was hiding it. When he finally opened it, Chris waited for him to starts reading out loud but he didn't. So the only thing Chris could do was studying his brothers reactions.
While he was reading his face was losing color. He looked like he saw a ghost. Well, that was bad comparison, since they both had seen a lot of them back at Hogwarts. But he looked like a Muggles who saw the ghost for the first time. Christian couldn't read a thing, since Seb was carefully hiding the letter form him. When he finisher he made small pause that drove Chris crazy. He was just preparing to take the letter or to ask something when Sebastien took another peace of paper.Another letter, Cris assumed. All he could see was the this one was much shorter than the first one. He also noticed that it's written with different handwriting.

Christian never saw his brother like that. Sebastien was the one who acted like he doesnt care ant till now he was great in it. Chris assumed Sebastien was the strong one because of that, but he later realized that they are pretty much the same. Christian was acting too, the only difference was that Chris wasn't to scared to show his emotions sometimes. And now, Sebastien was pretty much going through a mental breakdown, and Christian didn't knew how to help. He was never good in personal things, and he never needed to comfort anyone, especially his brother. But now he felt guilt because of that, he felt like it's his job to encourage his brother. At the end, he was the one who made him to open that letter here. So he slowly put his hand on Sebastien's shoulder, talking something that only he could understand. He moved his gaze to the dog who was sitting next to Sebastian's legs. Christia waited for his brother to move his hand.

It felt like the ages have passed before Sebastien finally road the second letter. Christian was holding his breath, like he's the one who received bad news. He felt like that though, waiting to hear something that obviously scared his brother, Chris knew it must be something big. At the moment he even thought it's something related to his secret, the one with his mom's journals. But no, that the letter would be addressed to him, not to Sebastien. And besides that, nobody knew that Chris had that things, well at least he thought so. Things he learned in these past days made him believe that maybe, just maybe, someone knew. It would be bad, really bad. He needed to fix that but it can wait. Right now his priority is this letter.

Christian winced from his thoughts when Bastien pulled out the photo. In the moment Chris thought it's one more letter. 'How many of them is in there anyway?' But then he saw it was a picture actually. It was small picture, showing a girl, she was maybe about ten years old. Chris couldn't see it the best but he noticed that the girl had blonde hair and pale blue eyes, the same color like his mom had. That eyes made Christian smiled. The photo was light so they were probably a bit darker in live, but there on the picture, they were just like Elizabeth's. Both Christian and Sebastien had their father's eyes, green. And even Jenna and Hayley had hazel eyes. In their family, Beth was the only one with blue eyes. He also noticed that the girl was smiling bright, she seemed so happy. He looked his brother for a second, he couldn't moved his gaze, he was fascinated with that picture. He noticed that he was looking her eyes too, maybe he remember Elizabeth, who knows.

He realised that Sebastien wouldn't say a word so he decided to be the first one who'll break the silence.
"Sebastien, who is that girl? And don't tell me no one cause I'm not blind, I can see you, and you look terrible." he said quietly, hoping that Sebastien heard him.

When he finished reading both letters he felt like he's all alone. There was no Christian who was sitting next to him and who studied his face. There were no Bo ether, or any other living person or animal in the park. Just him, him and the girl from the picture. He was absolutely shocked, although she probably was his daughter he felt nothing. Not even a single emotion. Only hiatus. Usually he would ne angry because his ex hid all that from him, not because he badly wanted a child, he actually never wanted to be father, but simply because she kept him in the dark. And he hated that. Being kept in the dark made him helpless, and he never wanted to feel impotently again. He already had a plenty of that, even recently in Oslo. Bastien had nightmares who replied every event while he was their prisoner. That was the main reason he was avoiding sleeping. But this, this was few times worse, just because someone he once cared for that. He couldn't stop cold feeling of betrayal in his chest.

He put Veronika's letter back in the envelope. His fingers felt fat, uncoordinated, extraneous. Bastien barely could move them, like her words burned his skin like her betrayal burned his chest and left only emptiness.
Sebastien knew Christian will want some kind of explanation but this time he didn't have one. He still hasn't decided to tell him or not to. Probably he will, hiding the reason why he looked like this would only made his brother more curious than usually, so he would somehow find a letter and read it. It's better for Sebastien to tell him himself, that is the only way he can control how much he will know.

This ex-Slytherin always thought it's his brother who will have children first. He and that boring girlfriend of his. Nymsomething, they were absolutely disgusting together, and they were together for so long that Sebastien expected he'll hear wedding bells every moment. And he heard nothing yet nor seen her. Weird, before if you needed some of them you'll get full pack, both, or nothing. He never expected he'll be first. And, if he did the math right, when he was sixteen. Child. He agreed with that part of Nika's letter. They were kids. And it's time to suffer the consequences now. He'll met her and do everything Veronika wanted, it would be his duty to do so, but he didn't felt it that way. He'll do it so he could have a reminder on mistake he did, so he wouldn't do that again. Especially now after he became a monster.

His body stiffened when his brother touched his shoulder. Bastien was sure Chris knew he hates being touched and yet he did it. Again. He moved his hand away, like many times before, not even looking at him. He still couldn't force himself to do that. The place where his hand was itched, or he was imagining that, he already got used to that because he felt the same whenever someone touched him, even if it's just in passing. With moving brother's hand he exposed to the risk of his questions. It was something Christian usually did every time he moved away his hand. He always tried to understand his older brother but Sebastien doubted he'll succeed that. Sometimes dreams stayed dreams.

After a deep breath Sebastien pulled back an uninterested mask on his face like he did many things before. He was expert in hiding his expressions and that always came easily to him. Until this time. He fought hard to do it, to make his face absolutely blank and unreadable. His eyes cold and distant.

The question came too soon. He was prepared for it but although he was he didn't want to give an answer. When he saw his brother looking at the picture he gave it to him. Christian seemed interested although Bastien had no idea why. It's usual picture with a girl, there's nothing interesting on it. Well nothing interesting if Christian wasn't pedophile, and that was unlikely. If he is he would notice earlier. "It's" Sebastien tried to say 'my daughter' but words simply didn't want to came out, after a deep breath he continued. "Barbara Zrinski...O'Sullivan." He finally looked at his brother.

"Barbara Zrinski...O'Sullivan."

O'Sullivan.

Here is the thing about the surprises: they suck. Whether they are good or bad. They just do. No matter how hard Sebastien was trying to act normally, he wasn't okay. Neither was Christian.

"You have a daughter? I have a niece? We have a child in our family? Bloody hell." Questions were stupid, unnecessary, he knew the answers but he asked anyway.

Looking his brother through narrowed eyes, he didn't noticed that Seb was giving him a photo. He took a picture, looking for a second in that girl. He put the picture next to Sebastien's face, holding his breath. "She's indeed yours." he said like it wasn't so obvious few seconds ago. "She has Elizabeth's eyes, her mother's smile and hair but your nose. She has your face lines in fact, well you were the same when you were kid. Lips are yours too but her tan is to bright for our family, that she got from her mother."

He gave the photo back to Sebastian, curiously looking his brother. Christian hated being surprised, there was no time to organize his minds, there was too much of possibilities.
"You understand you are a father now? Which means you have a daughter, obviously. How old is she? I would say that she has about nine years on that photo, but as you can see it's old. So then, about twelve?" he realized he was talking too much so he stopped with answers. Sebastien doesn't need that now.

Something else occupied his attention through. Christian wasn't that expert in math, but he was sure that Sebastien had about 16 when he made this child. No, not possible. Yes, it is. He carefully look his brother, preparing to run if he tries to kill him.
"Ugh.. Sebastien? Just to be clear I never meant you were a virgin, well Hayley and I both agreed that you're old enough and you now.. anyway, I never believed in your stories, still don't. But, hey, you were sixteen? What were you thinking? I knew about protection when I was like, 12! You become father with 16!"

It wasn't nice from Chris but it happened, Sebastien has a child, he'll have her tomorrow and day after that, and always. Barbara isn't going anyway. Bastien was always messing with Chris, in one or another way, and now, long live karma, Christian's five minutes has arrived. Of Course, topic was serious, but he didn't really care. He assumed that Sebastien will meet his daughter, and he was ready to give his brother maximal support. But until than, he'll have some fun.

Sebastien watched as his brother's face turning paler and paler. He knew Christian immediately figured out what he said. And he wasn't happy about finding our. Bastien hoped this would curb his little brother's curiosity. Although he knew Christian so he expected more and more questions, he was always hungry of information, that's the main reason he is a good reporter. He wouldn't be surprised if Chris wanted all the details. All.

"Obviously." Sebastien couldn't resist but smirk when his brother asked all this stupid questions.
He arched his eyebrows when Chris started noticing similarities between Barbara and his family, even him. He hasn't noticed any of that, Barbara looked as a total stranger for him. Barbara was a total stranger for him, and he didn't saw not a single similarity. Nose? Lips? Really? Who studies that?
He took the photo silently, put it back in envelope and put the envelope in his jacket. Maybe if he couldn't see an envelope he'll stop thinking about all this. He doubted but he will still try. And there we are. Another round of Christian's questions. He is acting like he is going to write an article about all this. Well he still controls information flow. "She's 11, and she's going to Hogwarts."

Sebastien almost laughed, his brother was so funny when he's trying to say something when he thinks Sebastien won't like that. "Have sex?" He raised his eyebrows looking in his brother. "You can say that S word, you're old enough now and no one is gonna thrash you because of that. But if you're scared anyway you can also spell it." He tried to distract his brother with mocking. When Christian is angry he stop asking questions and starts screaming, and in the moment he would choose listening screaming rather than giving answers. "Wait a minute, Hayley and you talked about my sexual life?" He cocked his head glaring seriously at Christian. Why would they do that? That must be some really boring conversation because no one but him actually knows anything. Yes, the stories were well just stories, but he won't tell that to Chris, he's telling them when he wants to get rid of him and his questions. He actually never had a habit of talking about his partners or what they did, he liked to keep it private. Bastien choose not to answer to Chris, he doubted he actually wanted an answers, he just needed to state the obvious.

Christian is a person who always has an answer. No matter what the topic is, he has it.
In past 24h, he was surprised not once but three times. Nymeria, Sebastien, Barbara.

"It's just... I can't believe this. I mean, wow. This is huge, you now that? I really never believed that you, or I, will have kids, I never thought about it. And now, you have a daughter!" That wasn't true actually, he talked with Nymeria about kids, few times. That wasn't true actually, he talked with Nymeria about kids, few times. They even had a names, a lot of them. They never agreed about it so they put on a list. Pathetically, he still has that piece of paper.

Barbara is eleven. Well, his math was right. Bastien's life will become living hell. Poor guy, like he's not already damaged enough. "You're gonna meet her right?" he asked carefully. In that moment, he remembered one thing "Hey, and her mother? Who is she? And where she is?" Christian assumed she's dead, it was all so clear but he needed to be sure.
Christian rolled his eyes "Yes Sebastien, I can say, and spell the S word. You wanna hear it?" he rolled his eyes again. Sometimes he hated Sebastien for trying to confuse him. Sure he expected screams and things like that, but hell, that was like ages ago. Obviously in Seb's eyes he'll always be the little one.
"Well, we were just talking how we never met none of your friends or partners. And then Hayley said that you're either virgin or attracted by the same sex." he resisted laugh "Seriously though, I never met no one of your girlfriends, and well, you met all of my exes, including Nymeria. So, how did you met Barbara's mother?" He knew he won't get the answer, but he asked anyway. In the meantime, he was preparing questions in his head, questions about Oslo and scars, about everything that happened in past few years.

Sebastien rolled his eyes and remind himself this is one of the main reasons he avoided his brother. He loved him, yes, but Christian doesn't shut his mouth. Ever. He could listen him shortly but then he would stop listening and all he could hear was blah-blah-blah-blah and a little more of blah. It was exhausting and it would usually get him almost fall asleep. Christian would notice that, get offend and start speaking more and more. That was the regular scenario in which they had main roles, unfortunately.

He took a deep breath. Maybe he should start to meditate maybe that would help him not to kill his brother with his bare hands. He watched Bo who now layed on Bastien feet and preparing to fall asleep. That dog always sleeps, actually it's miracle to caught him awake. Sebastien turned his gaze back to Christian with a tiny smile playing on his lips. He passed a hand through his hair and then leaned on the bench heading a gaze to Christian. He watched him like he's the only one in the park, the only one he wants to see. "Yes, I'm dying to hear it. Come on, try."

Sebastien glanced away again, as soon as Christian started asking questions. "I guess I need to meet her." That's the only question on which he gave him an answer. He knew they never met not a single girlfriend of his. Mainly because he never had one, only partners, they would be together a week or so and then move on, but he never had a lover nor he wanted to had it. His main rule was to never meet any of his lady friends with his family, it would cause tons of questions from both sides, so he chose easier way. "Yeah, I have never told her about her mother but I'll do that now, just because you asked me. Sure." He fulfilled every word with sarcasm. Bastien wasn't sure why his brother thought this whole thing would change him completely. Not gonna happen, ever. "And yes, I'm gay." He added that just to provoke him. Bastien couldn't imagine himself with another man but he found that so amusing that he need to tease Hayley and Christian, for a while. A year maybe, more or less.

Christian needed answers. He was dying inside - literally. He needed something known, something that he understood. He needed some clue about 'the case', because it was too painful to think about things that have happened in past few days.

Christian sighed as his brother turned the situation in his favor - again. "S-e-x. Sex. Happy now?" he rolled his eyes. Funny how some things never change. Three years have passed since Christian saw his brother for the last time. In that time he become more like him than he ever imagined he will. Three years, and still, he feels like a child next to Sebastien. And why is that?
Christian was always the reasonable one, he was genius when it comes to calculations and bringing big decisions. At least he was before. Three years, he learned how to control situation even more, he learned how to live with wishful thinking and broken heart. He became even better in his job, because he was working all of the time. He was able to understand things even when people did not want to answer on his questions. He become that good in reading people, that he let himself believe that this 'reunion' will be so much different. And yet, here he is, sitting helplessly next to his older brother.

Why?
Why does he feel like he has to prove something? No, he doesn't. At least not to Sebastien. But it is so hard, sitting next to someone, acting like everything is okay - as much as it can be, but the ugly truth was that everything was in chaos. People change, that's the fact he learned long time ago. Sadly, Sebastien still hasn't. Or he was just acting. Weird, Chris was always able to read Sebastien but now, he feels like he doesn't even know his own brother.
His feelings were in mess and so was his head. Somehow, he was still thinking clearly. Sebastien though he can confuse Christian, he probably expected screaming and fighting. But, he kept forgetting that, yes, people can change. And the fact was that Christian did change. But at the moment, this was Christian's biggest weapon. He felt desire to punch his brother, and he needed to bit his tongue just to remember that Sebastien is still his brother! He promised he'll never hurt him, physical or mentally. Luckily, he was still able to control himself. Sebastien had no reason to know what's in his head, and Christian had no intent to share his dark side with his brother.
Dark side. There he goes. He was finding right words all these time and what he came up with? Dark side? Well, it wasn't so far from the truth. He was going crazy, mad, or just dark these past years. Sebastien won't notice anything, Christian won't let that happen. As Christian decided to act as he's still the person his brother thought he was, he remembered something else.

Three years ago, he was in Paris with Nymeria. Last time he saw her was also the last time he saw Sebastien. On that night he made three mistakes. First, he was attacked by two werewolves who kept asking about Beth Sierra and her son Christian. Even if he wanted to say something, he couldn't because Nymeria's father showed and killed them. Second, he never told Sebastien about the attack and he never told him why they were looking for Beth and Christian. He wanted but he couldn't. Sebastien never accepted all of that revenge thing, he was doing it for Christian. And how could he when he didn't know the truth? Sebastien went to Oslo and Christian never told him about papers. Third, he lied to Nymeria and left for good. Because her father told him so. And Christian even promised that he won’t come back, ever.
Later he died - Chris assumed he was killed. He didn't know the details, but he had pretty good reason to assume it was revenge for werewolves he killed that night when Christian was affected. Sebastien went to Oslo, and everything was fine, till few months ago when he stopped writing. Christian was scared that much that he started looking for his brother, but then Hayley showed. Hayley. She made him go back to London, saying that she's in contact with Sebastien and that he's okay. He believed her because, at the end, she was his cousin, his sister. But if it wasn't for her, he would now be somewhere in the world, far away from Nymeria. But then again, it really wasn't her fault. He couldn't blame her, at the end she was the one who was holding them together, they all knew it. Somehow, she always knew everything. But it wasn't so strange, cause she was in the between. She was the only one who knew about Elizabeth's diaries and letters, she was the only one who read them all. She knew his secret, she was in contact with Sebastien, which means she probably knew all about these few months. If he can't find the answers here, he could ask her. But that would be dead-end, cause she's even more stubborn than Sebastien was. And she way loyal, more that Christian himself. She would rather die than tell him.

He took a deep breath. Here we go again. He knew he won't get every detail, but he had to start somewhere, didn't he?
"Sebastien. What happened in Oslo? Have you found them?"

"Extremely satisfied, thanks for asking." Sebastien replied trying to hide tiredness in his voice. It was always the hardest to lie to Christian. Not because of the lies itself, it was more about lying to his brother. The only family he had. Of course besides his brother he still had his cousin Hayley and his aunt and he loved them, but he had only one brother. And he often lied to him, that made him feeling a little two-faced.

During their growing up Sebastien practically perfected how to piss his brother off. Today he was glad for the time spent on that mission, he knew pissing Christian off was the only way he could change the path of his thoughts and avoid his questions.

He would need to avoid his questions from now on, because he had secrets that needed to remain hidden from his brother no matter what happen. As much as Christian hasn't changed, his older brother did. Not only that the months he spend in Oslo left visible marks on his skin but there were the psychical changes. Although he tried to deny it he needed to admit the true, they wanted to break him, and they nearly reached the winning flag when Hayley showed.

Before all that happen Sebastien thought he's unbreakable, but while he was there, chained to the wall string which his blood flowed along with his tears he realised that humans are fragile. Fragile and arrogant. That wasn't the best combination ever. Although he hated every second he spent with that pack of the werewolves he couldn't deny one important thing they learned him - he's not better than any other human. No matter how strong someone's will is it can be broken if the enemy is trying hard enough.

It was true he would erase three months of painful memories of his days spent in that rusty warehouse if he could. But he couldn't, he couldn't forget it, not forever, he still could remember how he got every little scar on his body, and he had more then thousand of them. He still could see the faces of his torturers every time he close his eyes. He still wakes up screaming every night, of course if he can sleep.

But there's no need for his brother to know any of that.

"Oslo? Oh yes, Oslo. It's a beautiful city with bunches of lovely ladies. Oh, if you could meet some of them, maybe you wouldn't be so stiff anymore." And here we go again.

Even as a little child, Christian was always wondering about things such as time, life, people. He was a true little philosopher, the one who always needed to understand something rather than just know the answer. Whether it was something at school, at home, or some person, he needed to understand it. Sebastien, for example.
Looking that mysterious man, his brother, stranger, sitting right next to him, talking something that Chris couldn't hear - not because he was deaf, as a matter a fact he has excellent hearing skills, but because he thought it wasn't important - he wondered how much did Sebastien changed. As much as he wanted to have a normal conversation with Sebastien, he was too tired for more lies, more stories.

Christian thought he knew his brother better than anyone. He did. But now, thinking about past few years and those few times they saw each other, he realized that he doesn't know this new Sebastien.
Understanding people was like puzzle to Chris. Seb was one big puzzle, in order to solve it you need to be patient. You need to pick correct pieces, to find the difference between his lies and truth, to get to know real him and only then you can fully understand Sebastien O'Sullivan. Christian felt like he never even know his own brother. It was weird, a bit scary. Conclusion was simple, Sebastien changed - a lot.
This new Sebastien looked a bit tired. He was same outside but inside, he was just another mystery, a puzzle waiting to be solved. Was it too much to ask 'who are you?' and just get it over with? Yes, it probably was. Was it too obvious to start with a bunch of random questions? Yes, it was. Was it too hard to read between lines? Definitely.

But before discovering Sebastien, Christian needed to understand himself. Who am i? That was the question he was looking for. As much as he didn't want Seb to notice how much did he change actually, he wasn't sure if he could do it. He wasn't sure if the acting was enough this time. Because inside, his walls were tumbling down. Without people he loved, who was he? No one, nothing, just another wanderer. He was a machine, programmed to live the life of an unknown person, the person he once was.
It would be the best if he could just erase all of them from his life, his family, Nym, all of the people who were close to him. Then he wouldn't have nothing to loose and he would be able to start living again. Because he wouldn't be terrified every time Hayley mention the diaries, or he wouldn't be broken every time he see Nym, and he would definitely be more relaxed without his brother and his stories. If only he could.

"It's truly wonderful. However, I think you still don't get it. The only one stiff around here is you." Christian put a leash on Bo's necklaces and then stood up, turning to Seb. "Listen, I have enough problems with Nymeria and I really truly don't care about girls and your adventures. You know what I wanna know. So I'm staying at The Leaky Cauldron, when you are ready to talk come and visit me. Until then, goodbye."
For some reason, he hoped Sebastien will stop him. He had no idea why but that was the reason he was walking slowly. That, plus he needed to drag the dog who obviously didn't want to go away from Sebastien.