Sebastian felt haunted. Haunted by his brother.
Correction! Stepbrother.
He sat on the edge of the pool table, an unopened beer warming in his hand, eyes focused on the scene across the garage. Quinn was laughing at something Penny said, sleeves pushed up as he and Niko worked beneath the hood of a car.
With his ginger hair streaked in white, ruffled from hours of work, and black oil smudged across his cheekbones, Quinn looked like an elven prince who had fallen into the human world by mistake and was still trying to blend in. Those mismatched eyes, that pale freckled skin, there was always something unreal about him. Something that made people stare.
And Quinn, for all his awkward edges, was a loner. He always believed people were out to get him, always braced for the worst. But somehow he still pulled people in. Good people, bad people, mostly trouble. It annoyed Sebastian more than it should.
He hated seeing Quinn here. Hated how the universe kept putting him within arm's reach.
Sebastian still remembered the first time he saw him. He'd been nine, Quinn was eight. A strange kid with strange eyes. Too pretty to be human, too fragile-looking to belong anywhere near pain and hurt.
Then his father married Nina, and suddenly Quinn was living in his house at ten while Sebastian was eleven.
They had only been friends for a year before they suddenly became brothers and from that point on, everything rotted.
The friendship vanished overnight, replaced with something sharp and bitter. Hatred. Misunderstanding. Silence thick enough to choke on.
Sebastian wasn't dumb. He understood how it all went wrong.
He had been a child star, famous online because his father was a former actor. Then came the racing, small competitions, little trophies, shaky podiums and suddenly his father became a stage dad obsessed with glory instead of his son's wellbeing. He pushed, and pushed, and pushed, caring more about Sebastian's image than Sebastian's heart.
Quinn's mother wasn't any better. She praised Sebastian endlessly, doted on him like he was her own, and forgot about the quiet boy standing behind her. Quinn became invisible in his own home, and every time Sebastian saw it, something inside him burned hot and ugly.
But Quinn never let him help. Never let him defend him.
Sebastian remembered the day Quinn had dropped Nina's favorite vase by accident, frozen with terror. Sebastian stepped in, took the blame, expecting her fury but Nina waved it off with a gentle smile.
Quinn had looked horrified.
Then angry.
He exploded, calling Sebastian a fool for taking the blame, accusing him of stealing his mother's love, screaming that he hated him.
Sebastian hadn't even known how to respond. Quinn just kept hating him.
So Sebastian learned to hate him back. Because none of it had been his fault. And yet he was the one Quinn blamed for everything.
Time in the club passed quickly. Pennies of laughter, clattering tools, engine roars then the meeting ended, and everyone started leaving.
Everyone except Sebastian.
He stayed back, pretending to check his phone while actually waiting for Niko, who was still digging through his locker.
The door swung open and Quinn stepped out, Penny, Hunter, Zion and Kai flanking him. He was talking softly, smiling a little at something Hunter said. He didn't spare Sebastian a single glance. Not even a flicker of acknowledgment.
Something tightened in Sebastian's chest. He frowned and slung his bag over his shoulder a little too hard.
He didn't know why it bothered him. He just knew it did.
And the worst part?
He had no idea what to do with that feeling.
"Hey, you okay?" Niko asked as he approached.
"Yeah." Sebastian cleared his throat, too fast, too defensive.
The others were already long gone.
"I don't think I want to go to the dorm tonight," he muttered. "Can I stay at your place again?"
Niko lifted a brow. "You can't avoid him forever, you know. Just deal with it. It's not like he's going to stab you in your sleep."
Sebastian rolled his eyes, but the tension in his jaw didn't ease.
"It was better when he wasn't here," he said. "A whole year without seeing him except during holidays… that was manageable. Now he's at Crestwood? Fucking hell."
Niko snorted and tapped his shoulder as they started walking out of the building. "Tough luck. And I can't host you tonight. It's Yelena's fifth birthday and I totally forgot."
"I can drive you," Sebastian offered, almost desperate.
But Niko just laughed. "Go to your dorm, Seb. Get comfortable. Pretend it's home."
Sebastian let out a long, frustrated breath. "Fine."
They split at the parking lot, going their separate ways, and eventually Sebastian found himself standing in front of his dorm room. He hesitated, staring at the door for a long moment.
He wasn't afraid. He just needed to brace himself. Condition his mind.
All they had to do was ignore each other. It wasn't complicated.
They'd been ignoring each other for years. After their occasional fights, they just hid from each other.
And if there was one thing Sebastian was good at, it was pretending Quinn didn't exist. It was a skill he'd perfected because Quinn himself was a walking, unfiltered explosion he'd never known how to handle.
He slid his key card into the lock and pushed the door open.
Quinn sat on his bed, laptop balanced on his thighs. He looked up, those two-toned eyes landing on Sebastian immediately.
"Oh. You're finally here," Quinn said with a frown. "You didn't come last night, so I assumed I had the place to myself."
"Don't get ahead of yourself and shut up," Sebastian groaned. "You being here automatically makes my life hell, so do me a favor and be quiet."
Quinn blinked, then scowled. "I'm in Crestwood because of me, not you. Stop kissing your own damn ass. Let's just live our lives separately, okay?"
"Being in the same club isn't separate. I am a driver, you are a fucking mechanic." Sebastian rolled his eyes and, without warning, tossed his bag straight at Quinn.
Quinn jolted, barely catching both the bag and his laptop before it slid off his lap. His voice exploded. "Are you insane?!"
Sebastian's mouth pulled into a slow, irritating smirk.
Quinn hurled the bag back at him. Sebastian caught it with ease and tossed it onto his own bed.
"I fucking hate you," Quinn muttered under his breath.
"Yeah, yeah," Sebastian clicked his tongue, already tugging off his jacket, then his shirt as he headed toward the bathroom. "You've always made that clear, Fairy."