The Deception Comes To an End

Annette was dead and there was nothing left to say. However the police didn't see it that way and insisted on questioning Sebastian for nearly two hours straight. Sitting in the hard metal chair he sighed as he once again explained to the burly detective what had happened. He was suppose to meet Annette for dinner at the summer house. When he got there he found her in the lake so he jumped in after her. He had no idea how she fell in.

"And that's it?" Det. Robins asked for the third time that night.

"Yes" Sebastian sighed irritably. "Now can I go? I want to go to the hospital."

The detective and his partner stared at him a moment before finally giving in "yeah you can leave but Mr. Valmont, we will want to question you again after the holiday."

Rising from his seat Sebastian slipped on his jacket while giving him a nod "ok I understand."

He understood just fine that they most likely didn't buy a word of his story. Sebastian couldn't really blame them. Looking at the evidence he would probably suspect him too. All of this told him that he was doing the right thing in getting the hell out of there as soon as possible.

Sebastian left the police station and flagged down a cab, instructing the driver to take him to the hospital. He had to make a call but he hadn't felt safe doing it at the station, god knows who could be listening in. After dialing the number of the country house he waited patiently for Kathryn to answer. When she didn't pick up on the sixth ring Sebastian began to panic slightly and was about to tell the driver to turn around. However soon a soft tired voice picked up and asked hesitantly "Sebastian?"

He sighed relieved "yeah it's me. Are you ok? You didn't answer..."

"I was in the shower. She asked in one quick breath "how did everything go? Where are you?"

"Everything's ok, I just left the police station."

"Police station?"

"Yeah" he hesitated "they were questioning me about Annette. I don't think they're positive her death was accidental."

"Oh god, they think you did it?" When Sebastian didn't answer right away she told him "we need to get out of here Sebastian, tonight!"

Sensing the panic in her voice he replied "calm down Kathryn we will. I just have to figure out how to get two airline tickets without anyone getting suspicious-"

"I have a plane" she said.

For the first time since arriving at the country house Sebastian almost smiled. "You have your own plane?"

"How do you think I got here undetected?" She shot back sounding a little bit like her old self. "Look I'm going to have Tony drop me off at the airport now and I'll have him take your bags from the jag. Can you meet me there in twenty minutes?"

Sebastian paused before answering "it might take a little longer than that. I want to stop at the hospital first."

"Why? We don't have time-"

"Kathryn" he interrupted "I just have to see her, one more time."

There was silence on her end for a long moment before finally in a low voice she told him "ok, fine. I'll leave instructions for you at the front desk under the name Jenkins."

Sebastian couldn't be sure if she was hurt or not by the fact that he wanted to say one last good-bye to Annette. He knew her trust in him was a fragile thing but he had to do this one last thing first. "I'll see you then. I love you Kathryn."

"I know" she responded almost sadly "I'll see you soon."

He listened to the dial tone after she hung up. Sebastian snapped out of his thoughts when he realized they had arrived at the hospital. After paying the driver he went in to the front desk where they told him Annette had been taken to the morgue. She told him where to go and he had no trouble finding Annette. The attendant who was on call in the room when he arrived told him only family was allowed to see her. Sebastian made up some bullshit excuse about being her brother so the guy let him stay even though he could tell he was lying.

Annette was resting on a long metal table with a sheet covering her. After the attendant left Sebastian pulled back the sheet and nearly gasped at how white she was. Possibly even more white then the sheet covering her. Taking a step back from her Sebastian finally began to let his mind process what was in front of him. Annette was dead, truly dead and he was partly to blame for it.

No he didn't push her into that lake but in some ways he might as well have. Once upon a time he had loved Annette. It wasn't the powerful, all consuming love he felt for Kathryn but it was love. Annette however had loved him with all her heart but it wasn't enough for him. In the back on his head she could never truly measure up to the other love of his life. In some ways Sebastian had always known that but couldn't bring himself to admit it. Instead he stayed with Annette when he should have let her go. She deserved so much better than him.

As this realization hit him tears began to form in his soft blue eyes. At first Sebastian tried to wipe them away but soon it began to consume him and he started to weep so hard he fell against the wall. Breathing hard he tried to control himself as he practically banged his head against the wall cursing himself for letting this happen.

Moments later his grief was interrupted when he heard voices approaching. Looking up Sebastian spotted a doctor and Mr. Hardgrove standing on the other side of the window. Getting up from his spot on the floor Sebastian wiped his face and took one last final look at Annette. "Good bye Annette" he whispered in a hoarse voice before bending down to kiss her one last time.

Before anyone could spot him Sebastian left through the opposite door. Soon after Mr. Hardgrove walked into the morgue alone and he watched as he grieved his dead daughter. Watching the man break down and cry Sebastian slowly let himself go numb. From that point on he wouldn't let himself feel anything more about the Hardgroves. He couldn't when there was someone else waiting for him to start a new life.

* * * * * *

Sitting in the back of the taxi Sebastian let the events that led his to this moment run through his head. It seemed like a lifetime ago all of this started. He thought back to Tiffani's friend he ran into as he hopped in the cab. She pitied him and maybe she should because as he stared out at the falling snow all Sebastian felt was coldness.

The numbness he felt stayed with him as he arrived at the airport. Sebastian gave the girl at the front desk the name Kathryn had instructed him to use, and she directed him to the loan plane on the tarmac. With a heavy sigh he approached it as he tried to lose the cloud that seemed to be hanging over him. He tried to remind himself that he was starting a new life, with the only girl he ever truly loved but he couldn't seem to regain the same enthusiasm he had earlier in the night.

Then it happened. As Sebastian walked onto the plane he spotted Kathryn curled up on a small couch. When he walked in she smiled at him and in that instant the coldness seemed to disappear. Slowly Sebastian returned the smile as he sat down beside her. "I was starting to think you wouldn't come."

Brushing a stand of hair from off her face he told her "of course I would. Where else would I be?"

"How was the hospital?"

"It went ok" he nodded.

Looking away from him she said "I'm sorry about earlier on the phone. I mean, I know you and Annette were-"

"Hey" Sebastian forced her to look up at him. "It's in the past. You're my future." He then leaned in and gave her a soft kiss on the mouth.

Pulling away Kathryn rested her head on his shoulder. "Everything will be ok, you'll see."

"I know" he sighed as the pilot told them they were about to take off. "Where are you going anyway?"

"It's a surprise."

Letting his hand slide into hers Sebastian smiled "good."

THE END

Authors Note: It's finally finished! Sorry this was sort of short but I think I said everything that needed to be said. I didn't mean to take so long with this ending but this story is a lot more angsty then my others and thus harder to write. Anyway I had another ending in mind for this story, it was definitely different but in the end I thought it was too dark and depressing. If you actually care to hear what it is e-mail me and I'll send a short description.