Teachers Pet - ch. 14 of 20 Pairing: Sebastian Sallow/Garreth Weasley Rating: E Status: Complete Summary: Sebastian Sallow was under the impression he’d never have to see Garreth Weasley again. He was wrong. Now they’re both teaching at Hogwarts, both entirely insufferable, and somehow even worse around each other than they were at seventeen. Unfortunately, time has not made things simpler. If anything, it’s made them… complicated. Genre Tags: enemies-to-lovers, slow burn
“Are you going to do my work for me?” He asked sardonically.
“Maybe. How hard can it be?”
Garreth raised his eyebrows and walked over. He stood right next to Sebastian and looked down at him, his head tilted to the side as he regarded him thoughtfully. Fucking hell. Sebastian felt himself itching to reach out for him, so he did.
He lifted one hand and gently trailed his fingers down the side of Garreth’s forearm, the same one that had been nagging him all day. His eyes dropped to watch his hand slide down along the freckled skin and he swore he saw goosebumps emerge. Garreth didn’t say anything, or pull away, but he did raise an eyebrow at the action.
He took the silence as permission and let his hand slip into Garreth’s.
Sebastian had never been good at displays of emotions. When he was a child, he was very openly expressive of how he felt, whether good or bad. One day, when he was about six years old, he had been inconsolable about another little boy that had picked on him. The reason had been long forgotten, but his mother’s words stuck with him even now. She hugged him in her lap and spoke in dulcet tones.
“My love, you feel things very deeply. This is not bad, but not everyone is like this. So, there is a chance you may react more strongly to things than others.”
He knew she meant well, but her words played on repeat into his adolescence. Unfortunately, after her untimely passing, it only became worse. For a long while, he would fly off the handle at the simplest of things. Eventually, it evened out, as the passage of time tends to allow, until he had his first “relationship” at thirteen. It was with Samantha Dale, and he was smitten, but it didn’t end well. One day, he had decided to do something for her that, in his mind, had been a simple display of affection. He gave her some flowers he thought were nice during lunch one day. The way she looked at him cut a wound that affected him so profoundly that he buried that moment deep within the darkest parts of his mind. From that day on, he resorted to guarding his emotions like his life depended on it. Not wanting to feel that intense, stabbing refusal again, and he thought the best way to accomplish that was to ignore any type of emotion that might leave him vulnerable. He had kept to that promise for nearly fourteen years, and rarely ever came close to breaking it. Even in adulthood, when he entered relationships with people he genuinely liked, hiding had become so hardwired into his psyche that he found it incredibly difficult to open up.
So, imagine his surprise when, over a decade later, those impossibly high walls had begun to be dismantled by the very person he never—never would have suspected. Granted, the walls were still high. But Sebastian recognized the cracks in the foundation, and he attempted to fix them, but it was in vain. As if he were trying to carry water in his hands. Another thing that had caught him off guard, even though by this point it really shouldn’t have, was that being in a space where Garreth’s entire existence was undeniable, it felt easier to test his limits. Although, as time went on, he found his limits were further away than he imagined. For example, Garreth’s compliments didn’t make him want to rip his hair out. So, when he finally vocalized that he did, in fact, like that sweater on Sebastian, not only was Sebastian pleased that he had been correct, he also felt a sense of flattery instead of pure embarrassment. Moments when Sebastian reached for Garreth, his hands acting of their own accord, the urge to hesitate was only a quiet voice, whereas before it was an alarm blaring in his head.
There were even times when he let himself watch Garreth just… exist. Silently cataloging all the things that he found amusing, or interesting. Like how when he was planning the week's lessons, if he wrote something, but didn’t like how it looked, he would vanish the ink and rewrite it. However, though meticulous in his lesson planning, the small table next to his bed was a cluttered mess. The most random objects littered the top: a half empty glass of water, something called a baseball, his watch (that he almost never wore), a bezoar, for some bizarre reason. Garreth was the definition of a walking contradiction. This side of Sebastian only existed in Garreth’s space, though. As soon as he walked out of said space, he went back behind the weakened wall. So, a month after going to Garreth’s room for the first time, as he sat next to Rosie with Garreth on her other side, he was not obvious about the fact that he was fully listening in on their conversation.
“You know how to shoot a gun?” Rosie asked incredulously. Sebastian felt as surprised as she sounded, but he kept his gaze on the house tables in front of them.
Garreth nodded. “Yeah, a friend of mine's wife is a Muggle. Her family showed him, and I happened to be there, so I learned, too.”
“Is it difficult?” She had turned to face him, her back to Sebastian. Not that it mattered, they hadn’t been talking anyway. Plus, with her facing away, it was easier to sneak glances at Garreth.
“No, but it’s intense at first. They’re really loud, and when you actually pull the trigger, it jerks back against your shoulder so you have to learn to brace against it,” Garreth sounded like he was talking about the weather, not using a Muggle weapon that had been known to kill people. “I learned that the hard way. The first time I shot one, I swear I nearly dislocated my shoulder.”
Rosie’s jaw dropped slightly. “How big are they that they can do that?”
“The ones my friend has are rifles, they’re bigger, about this long,” he held his hands out to show the rough length. Then proceeded to pretend he was holding one as he described the motions. “You have to place the end of it here, and use both hands to hold it, like this,” Sebastian looked over and saw Garreth in a halfway stance as an example.
Just then, the mental image of Garreth focused, intent, and shooting forced its way into his mind. It was accompanied by a stirring low in his gut. The fact that Garreth had his sleeves rolled up to expose his (surprisingly) toned forearms absolutely did not help. Sebastian cursed the bad timing and desperately tried to force the mental images that attempted to overtake his mind into the furthest corners where they belonged. He looked away back to the house tables, he tried to think about something, anything else, but it felt like the harder he tried to squash them, the harder they tried to be seen. The grip on his knife tightened and he took a deep breath in an effort to recenter himself. It worked long enough for him to get up and leave before he could hear anything more about Garreth doing… that. Much to Sebastian’s dismay, and irritation, the images of Garreth using a rifle did not let up throughout the rest of the day. It felt as though as soon as he managed to quiet the voice, he would see or hear something that would make the thoughts reappear, the voice becoming louder every time.
So, by the time that evening had rolled around, and Sebastian had slipped into Garreth’s room after making sure no one was lingering in the corridor, he was just about at his wits end. Garreth looked up from where he was standing near his wardrobe when he heard Sebastian walk in.
“Hello,” he said pleasantly, as if he hadn’t been tormenting Sebastian all day.
“Hi,” Sebastian replied, sounding calm but wanting to scream because Garreth was just standing there, sleeves still rolled up, top button undone, that stupid, defense-lowering look on his face. As much as he wanted to walk over there and do… something, he abstained.
Instead, he strolled over toward Garreth’s desk and sat himself down in the chair. He leaned back, hands folded in his lap, and watched Garreth finish hanging up his sweater he wore that day. When he turned around and saw Sebastian, his eyebrows furrowed for a split second.
“Are you going to do my work for me?” He asked sardonically.
“Maybe. How hard can it be?”
Garreth raised his eyebrows and walked over. He stood right next to Sebastian and looked down at him, his head tilted to the side as he regarded him thoughtfully. Fucking hell. Sebastian felt himself itching to reach out for him, so he did.
He lifted one hand and gently trailed his fingers down the side of Garreth’s forearm, the same one that had been nagging him all day. His eyes dropped to watch his hand slide down along the freckled skin and he swore he saw goosebumps emerge. Garreth didn’t say anything, or pull away, but he did raise an eyebrow at the action.
He took the silence as permission and let his hand slip into Garreth’s. Sebastian looked back up at Garreth who was watching him curiously. Sebastian’s fingers wrapped tighter, and stalled for a brief moment before he tugged on Garreth’s hand as a silent invitation. Sebastian could hear Garreth’s breath catch before he slowly, but surely stepped closer and straddled Sebastian.
The weight of Garreth settling in his lap made his head swim. His lip briefly pulled between his teeth as his other hand went to rest on Garreth’s thigh. The proximity made Sebastian’s breaths come heavier, and the low heat that had begun to pool in his abdomen shifted. Sebastian then pulled his hand from Garreth’s and reached up to delicately brush his hair to the side. His eyes darted from his hand in Garreth’s hair, to his eyes, then his mouth.
Sebastian let his hand drop to Garreth’s neck, his fingers wrapping around the back. He swallowed heavily, his mouth suddenly felt very dry. A buzzing had appeared alongside the increasing heat in him, and it spurred him on. Sebastian slowly pulled him down and brushed his lips against Garreth’s, more of a question than an answer. When he wasn’t met with resistance he tilted his head and deepened the kiss.
His hands went to Garreth’s waist and he gently pulled him closer so they were pressed flush against each other. Their mouths moved slowly and deliberately, but increased in intensity as the seconds went on. Sebastian’s tongue trailed along Garreth’s bottom lip, coaxing its way in, and he angled his face up against Garreth’s, the steadily growing desire for more taking over his actions.
The urge to be even closer was abrupt and overbearing. Their current position suddenly not feeling like enough, so Sebastian pulled away and motioned for Garreth to stand up. Sebastian stood up as well and immediately pulled Garreth back in, mouth landing firmly on his as Sebastian's arms wrapped around his neck. Their kiss became more heated, edging into needy territory, and they made their way to the bed. Garreth eased Sebastian down on his back and positioned himself between his legs. He looked down at Sebastian, quickly and silently checking in.
Garreth looked at him in a way that made it hard to focus. He reached up and pulled Garreth back down, their lips meeting once more. There was no way he was stopping now, he wasn’t sure if he could if he wanted to. Sebastian’s hands moved from Garreth’s neck down to his chest, his fingers curling in the fabric of his shirt when their hips pressed together.
A quiet moan was swallowed by the kiss, and his legs fell open to accommodate Garreth. Sebastian felt like he was slowly being burned alive with how constant Garreth’s hands were on his body, he vaguely noted how he had never been this affected by something as simple as this. If he weren’t so aroused, he might be worried by the intensity. His need to feel Garreth against every inch of his body was overwhelming, and he desperately wanted to give in to it.
The heat that had stirred in his gut flared up when Garreth pulled back and latched on to Sebastian’s neck. His mouth felt hot against his skin, and Sebastian’s head fell back to expose the area. He was just about to start untucking Garreth’s shirt when a loud bang came from the window.
Sebastian almost jumped out of his skin at the sudden noise, both of their heads whipped around to see what the source was, but saw nothing. Sebastian’s heart hammered in his chest, the almost instantaneous switch from aroused to startled sent a shock through his system.
Garreth got up and went to look through the window, his eyebrows furrowed when he didn’t see anything. He turned back to Sebastian and shrugged, and as he walked back over to his bed, Sebastian rubbed his hands over his face and chuckled. He was still coming down from the scare, and apparently his body decided the best way to do that was to laugh. It was a breathy, anxious sound. The kind that came from an overflow of nerves and not amusement. Whatever state he was in before was retreating rapidly, and by the time Garreth settled back down next to him, he had unfortunately been pulled completely out of the moment they were having. There was a tiny flicker of disappointment at how quickly Sebastian had been ripped from his mood, but he was too busy recovering to dwell on it.
The space between them had calmed down back into the comfortable silence they both had grown used to, Sebastian relaxed against the bed and turned to look at Garreth. He held eye contact for a moment, then noticed Garreth’s attention dip to his neck, a very slight grimace formed on his face.
Sebastian reached up to feel the spot where Garreth had been attached minutes prior. “Did you leave a mark?” He asked accusingly.
A sheepish look crept over his face. “Sorry,” he flipped over onto his stomach and laid his head on his folded arms, his eyes peeking out from where his face was nestled in the crook of his elbow. “Don’t be mad.”
As much as he wanted to be annoyed, he couldn’t be. Which was irritating in its own way. Instead, he playfully shoved Garreth and scowled. “You better be good at healing bruises.”
The corners of Garreth’s eyes wrinkled as he smiled. “What if I wasn’t?”
“Then this will be the first and last time I let you give me a hickey like some stupid teenager.”
Garreth’s laugh was muffled, he lifted his head and propped his chin on his arm. “Damn, whatever will I do now?” His tone was sarcastic and teasing.
Sebastian just rolled his eyes and turned on to his side to face Garreth. A faint awkwardness swept over him, he suddenly felt like he didn’t know what to say or do, and it made him feel fidgety. He looked down at the blanket under them, absentmindedly scratching the fabric as he tried to think of something to say.
Minutes dragged on, neither of them said anything, and Sebastian only felt more and more tense. He glanced up at Garreth and saw he was staring at some point behind Sebastian, he seemed to be lost in his thoughts. When he spoke, his voice was quiet.
“Is there anything you’re super nitpicky about?”
Sebastian raised an eyebrow, and thought for a moment before answering. “Not that I can think of. Why? Is there something for you?”
Garreth hummed, he looked at Sebastian and hesitated before speaking. “Yeah…”
Sebastian prompted Garreth to continue with his hand.
“When I was little, I used to have a lot of nightmares. When I woke up, I would go to my parents room and sleep in their bed for the rest of the night,” he sounded a little distant, as if he were reliving the story and just happened to be narrating it. “My mum would scratch my back until I fell asleep, but she did it in such a specific way. I loved when she would do it, but no one's ever been able to do it the same way. She would have her hand under my shirt, and just barely drag her nails over my back. I would get goosebumps from it, but not in a ticklish or itchy way. It was calming, and it always put me to sleep so quickly.”
A weird sort of fluttering feeling cropped up in Sebastian’s stomach as he listened to Garreth talk. He wondered what Garreth was like as a child, but he pushed the question aside for now. Sebastian smirked slightly and raised his eyebrows. “Okay, princess.”
Garreth laughed. “One person tried, and when it wasn’t right, I had tried to explain it but they just looked at me like I was crazy—“
“You are.”
Garreth looked at him deadpan and pursed his lips. “Whatever. I’m just saying, no one has ever been able to do it right.”
Sebastian smirked and huffed a quiet laugh as he stored this new piece of information away into a part of his mind that was quickly becoming a bit too crowded.
