Two Truths and a Lie (c)

[Goblin]

He drew a ragged breath and barely managed to meet her eyes. "I do love you, Maggie. But...I don't know how you can believe it. I can't really expect you to. I just want you to know I'm here for...for whatever you need. Or..." He swallowed. "If you just need me to leave you alone...I can do that too."

[Script]

She looked at, lip trembling, one tear spilling over and then two. "I don't know what I need, Sebastian. I don't know what to feel. You used me. Eastman used me. My father won't even speak to me." She swallowed roughly, tears falling freely now. "I gave up everything for you, Sebastian. Everything. And now...now, what? You say you love me, Sebastian, but...I don't know if I believe you."

[Goblin]

He pulled up his legs and wrapped his arms around them, the position he always reverted to when he really, really didn't want to face the world. But he still didn't look away from her. He owed her that much. "I'd give up anything," he said softly, "to keep that from happening to you. If it meant going back and undoing the whole plan, I'd do it in a second. But I know you can't believe it. I know you can't forgive me. And I deserve that."

He finally let himself look at the floor. That was all he had to offer. Oh, he could figure out a way to make Eastman pay, and he would, but that wasn't what she wanted to hear right now. And it wouldn't undo anything he'd done.

[Script]

She watched him a long time. She'd already made up her mind, though she was seconded guessing herself. But she couldn't pretend like everything was okay, and they couldn't go back to the way things were. Not now, certainly, and maybe not ever, though the thought of that broke her in half.

"I need time, Sebastian. I just need time."

[Goblin]

He nodded. Of course she did. He'd needed time, too, after everything he'd been through--more time than he'd given himself before he plunged into this relationship and ruined her life. "Clara wanted me to tell you she's here if you need her," he managed to say. "She's...she's been through something similar." And so have I, but we'll never talk about that. It was the one part of the Refuge he most wanted to bury and forget about forever. "And I'll...I'll be around." Even though a cowardly part of him just wanted to leave the lodging house and keep on running, trying to forget the look in her eyes.

[Script]

She let herself press her forehead against his, missing him already because he seemed to already be gone. "I love you, Sebastian. More than I've ever loved anyone." Maybe more than I ever will love anyone. "Please know that." She pressed her lips to his. "Please don't forget that."

[Goblin]

He tensed, startled by the kiss but treasuring it at the same time, and let himself kiss her back just for a moment, his fingers touching her hair. He didn't know if he'd ever get another chance. "Me too," he assured her simply, and it was true. Whatever the kids in the Refuge might have claimed, he was not hung up on Riddle. He felt sorry for Riddle, sorry for his part in what she'd become, but he'd never really let her in the way he had with Maggie. Who he was probably about to lose.

He squeezed her hand and then got up quietly, assuming she wanted him to go.

[Script]

She moved to sit up on her knees, holding his arms gently. She met his eyes, her own a little desperate. "Not yet, Sebastian. Please, not yet." Once he walked out that door, it was over between them. She didn't want it to be over.

She moved to press against him, still on the bed, arms moving around his shoulders as she leaned up to kiss him again.

[Goblin]

He cupped the back of her neck gently, his lips pressing softly against hers. He couldn't express how much he loved her right now, or how much it hurt to be with her, knowing it was really just a bittersweet goodbye. But he slid back onto the bed and held her again, resting his cheek against her hair. "I'll stay as long as you want, Maggie."

[Script]

She held him closely, body pressed against his. She wanted to remember what he felt like, what he smelled like, what is was like to be near him. She moved her mouth back to his, kissing him slowly, tasting him gingerly with her tongue.

[Goblin]

((Gaah! As much as this is all his fault, I feel super bad for him right now.))

He barely managed not to whimper, flooded with a combination of desire for her and dismay that she'd chosen this particular way to comfort herself when she was about to end their relationship...or at least, he was pretty sure she was. But, realizing that he really couldn't think about that now or he'd go insane, he just kissed her back, his tongue meeting hers, his fingers resting lightly on her arm--losing himself in her, the way he had back in the Refuge when he'd still been safe behind a wall of lies.

[Script]

((I feel so bad for both of them Their so completely in love with each other and too scared to do anything about it))

She kissed him deeply, desperately. She couldn't go another night knowing the last man to touch her was a cold-hearted gang leader. She wanted Sebastian. In spite of everything, she wanted him because she loved him and wanted so badly to believe him when he said he loved her, too.

She shut everything out of her head except for the way he felt against her.

[Goblin]

Her passion was contagious, and he pulled her closer, let their kisses deepen, but he couldn't quite forget all that had happened. "Mag," he murmured against her lips, "are...are you sure you...want this...?"

[Script]

Maggie clung to him, pulling back enough to meet his eyes, locking her gaze with his. "Sebastian, I--I don't know what's going to happen to us after tonight...I...right now, I need you. If you...if you don't want me..."

[Goblin]

He stroked back her hair and planted a kiss in the hollow of her neck. When it came right down to it, you never knew what would happen next. And in all honesty, he needed this now just as much as she did. "I always want you," he said tenderly.