We might be hollow, but we're brave.

We might be hollow, but we're brave. by pinklipstiiick featuring an envelope clutch

I scanned the floor for my left heel, limping around the hotel room while Sebastian watched me with an amused expression on his face. "I think I saw your shoe under the bed," He told me, grinning even wider when I shot him a glance. I wasn't entirely happy about staying in a hotel while I had my own place. Sure I hadn't spoken to Gavin in a while and it could have been an awkward situation, but still, I hated living out of a suitcase and would rather be in a familiar place... plus I hadn't been home in what felt like forever. And spending the holidays in a hotel? It was just weird. 

"I've already checked and it's not there," I replied and got onto all fours, wrinkling my dress while I looked under the antique dresser. 

"You didn't look hard enough," He replied and when I looked at him, he was holding the shoe in his hand, sporting a smug look on his handsome face. Only Seb could pull off that cocky grin and make me want to jump his bones instead of slap the conceited look off his face. He was flawless. 

"Oh," I said with my lips remaining parted just slightly, standing up and smoothing a hand over the dress. "You could have told me and saved me ten minutes from looking."

"That wouldn't have been as entertaining for me," He replied and lifted an eyebrow as I snatched it out of his hand and bent at the waist to put the heel on. "What, no thank you?"

"You're such a smart ass sometimes," I said back but grinned, preferring him in a playful mood... especially when I was a bundle of nerves. We decided on spending Christmas Eve with my father and Christmas day with Seb's family. We were running late to my dads and I was tempted to cancel on him altogether. While it was no secret that the two men in my life didn't get along, I knew that they'd both be making an effort. At least Seb would, I never knew with my dad.  

"Thank you," He grinned back at me and reached for his jacket, letting out a small sigh as he walked over to me and took my hand in his. I let him lead the way outside the room because if it was for me? I'd keep procrastinating.

I raised one eyebrow at him, "I wasn't aware it was a compliment." 

"You have to be smart to be an ass," He shrugged nonchalantly as we walked toward the elevator, being silly in an attempt to distract me from my own thoughts and probably confused as to why I was so stressed.

"Hilarious Sebastian," I said and finally smirked, leaning my body against his once the doors closed and the elevator started moving. "We need to stop at my place before going to my dads." 

He tilted his head down, "Why?" He didn't even bother hiding his annoyance, then again, the thought of running into Gavin and Amelia? It sounded like a disaster I didn't want to be part of.

"I have my diamond earrings there," I explained nonchalantly, ignoring the change of tone in his voice but not looking at him either.

"We're already late Ar, we can't make that stop too," He reasoned out loud. "Plus, you already look gorgeous, you don't need anything else," He added and tilted my chin up with a finger, gently forcing me to look into his dark eyes.

I bit down on my bottom lip, "Do I?"

He pressed a kiss on my lips before smiling, "Don't you always?" He winked at me as the doors pinged open and we made our way out the elevator, hand in hand. 

"You said it, not me," I replied and grinned back at him, shivering at the crisp air. This was LA, why was it so damn cold? 

"Uhm," He said simply and I only gave my head a slight shake, hating that response but not minding it in that moment. I was thankful for him, for the way he'd been my rock all night, not once complaining about going to dinner with my dad who definitely wasn't on his list of favorite people. I owed him big for tonight. "Did you grab the bottle of wine?"

I glanced at my small purse and then back at him, "Yes and then I keastered." He lifted an eyebrow at me before looking ahead of us again, guiding the way to our rental car which the valet had just pulled up. "No, I forgot the bottle in the room... but I can always run back up there if you'd like." "I'm sure he has a bottle already," Seb responded and I gave him a nod, knowing that my fathers cellar would make do for the night.  

"It'd take me but a minute," I offered once more.

"Don't even think about it," He slid his hand down to my lower back and opened the car door for me, his eyes always glancing around as if on the look out for paparazzi. I couldn't blame him though, with the whole 50sog news, he was definitely a hot commodity.

I buckled my seat belt and followed him with my eyes as he walked around the front of the car and then slid in, closing his door behind him and pulling on his own seat belt. "You're not even a little nervous?" I asked, the car inching away from the curb while Seb shook his head. 

"I don't have any reason to be."

"True, but you two don't exactly like each other..." I trailed off, that putting it mild. 

 

He shrugged, it wasn't such a big deal in his opinion. That was always one thing I admired about Seb; he didn't care what other people thought of him. "What's new," He said quietly as he drove, the traffic awful as usual. "We never got along, from day one." 

I sighed as I thought back to the day I had introduced them and how they really didn't get along even then. I moved my gaze to the window, "You weren't exactly the perfect boyfriend every dad dreams about for his daughter." 

He didn't even bother to argue about it, because it was true. He was hard to handle back then and gave my dad a hard time trusting him. "And he's not the perfect father either, so I guess we're even," He replied in the same tone, my head turning in his direction to glare.

"If that's your opinion about my dad then I'm officially nervous," I said, feeling tense all over. 

"It's always been like this and you know it," He reached for my thigh and gave it a squeeze, wanting to reassure me, "But don't be nervous babe. I already promised I'll behave and keep my opinion to myself. You have nothing to worry about."

"I hope so," I said as another sigh escaped me, my hand setting on top of his.

He killed the engine before parking, finally turning around as he unbuckled his belt and leaned into me to lift my chin. "It will be fine," He said as he stared into my eyes then kissed me softly. Then something clicked. Literally. Seb pulled his head back and groaned when we both noticed a man snapping pictures not more than a few steps from the car. "Are you fucking kidding me," He muttered.

I reached for his hand again and gave it a squeeze, this time me trying to reassure him. "Don't worry, you look handsome as always," I smiled while a groan escaped him. He didn't find any humor in paparazzi and while I didn't either, it wasn't going to be the end of the world. People already knew that we were dating; it wasn't any secret. 

"Funny," He replied quietly, his eyes like icicles instantly. 

"I try," I replied and unbuckled my seat belt also. "Don't let it ruin your night."

He stared blankly at me while I had to suppress my own groan, smiling at him instead. "Ready?" He asked finally, part of me half expecting him to suggest we leave instead. The thing with that paps though, once we were spotted, they were on us like flies. 

"Yes," I nodded and we both climbed out of the car, my eyes looking past the paps and towards the front of my fathers house which was much too big for just one person. I guess that was all part of the lifestyle though; we kept up appearances. Sometimes I couldn't blame Seb for hating LA and the fakeness of it all. I dropped my hand into Seb's as we walked, lights flashing behind us as he quickened the past. I didn't realize until we were at the door that I'd been holding my breath, afraid that one of them might try to get a rise out of my boyfriend. 

I smiled at him one last time, about to knock on the door when it was yanked open. "Aria!" My dad enveloped me in a tight hug, me hugging him back with one arm since I still hand the other hand holding onto Seb. "Pesky paparazzi," He added as we both pulled away, looking over my shoulder at the men still taking our pictures. I could already see the headlines - all making puny jokes about Seb coming home with my for the holidays. 

My lips parted and I forced a smile at my father, wondering if it'd been him that tipped them off on our whereabouts. Not that I'd actually ask. "Hey dad," I said and then glanced at Seb from the corner of my eye as my dads eyes followed. 

"Sebastian," He said in a less enthusiastic tone, still smiling though, it had to count for something. He held his hand out and I let out another breath as Seb shook it, both of them being civil, even if only for the time being. "Let's get you two inside," He pushed the door open and took a step backwards to make room for us. 

We walked inside and he closed the door behind us, my eyes wondering around the room while I tried to remember the last time I had been there. It had definitely been a while. "That's a nice Christmas tree dad, did you decorate it alone?" I asked, spinning on my heels to look at my dad with a smile on my face.

He scratched the back of his neck awkwardly as he shrugged, "It came that way already." He explained quietly before he offered a smile back to me, "Do you guys have one too?"

I bit down on my lip and shook my head, "No, we're staying in a hotel." 

Dad's eyes moved to Seb and his eyebrow raised just so slightly, "Why? Don't you have several houses in the city?" 

"I sold them all," He answered, the tone of my voice giving away literally nothing because that was the way he wanted it to be. The temperature in the room was a cool one and it didn't have anything to do with the weather. 

"Yours too?" He asked me this time, his brow arching further as if he was waiting for the right answer or he'd be ready to say his opinion.

"No dad." I paused as I glanced at my boyfriend quickly, taking a few seconds to find my words, "But Gavin lives there too and Seb and I wanted some privacy." 

"I guess it makes sense." He muttered, making it clear that he disagreed with our choice, too bad he had no say in our decisions. He let out a slow breath as he motioned to his right, "Dinner will be ready in a few moments, we can open a bottle of wine while we wait." He suggested as we followed him.

"I wanted to bring one but-" I started and Seb cut me off.

"I forgot it," He ended my sentence, taking the blame for something that had really no meaning, but still. I squeezed his hand and smiled at him, mouthing a thank you as he smiled back at me.

My dad tossed his head over his shoulder to glance at us, "It's okay, I have plenty and it's the thought that matters, right?" He said in an attempt to ease the mood.

"Of course.  What are we drinking tonight?" I smiled at him, forcing myself to relax.

"Let me worry about that," He walked over to where he already had a few bottles set out, grabbing one and cutting the foil off the top and then corking it. "Sit down. Get comfortable." Seb's eyes drifted towards mine and I shrugged, being the first one to sit down at the table. I'd always been close to my father... well, as close as my family could be. We weren't a traditional family and we all blamed each other for it - my dad was so focused on his work, my mom was living in her own world, and my sister and I were too stubborn to make amends. Correction: All of us were too damn stubborn. He walked back over to the table with the bottle in his hand, taking his time to pour the red liquid into all of our glasses one at a time. "Have you read any of the scripts I've sent you?" He asked out of nowhere and I shook my head, not wanting to get into this right now of all times. It wasn't that I was hiding the offers from Seb; I genuinely wanted to take time off acting and focus on myself, on our relationship. I'd spent the last ten years of my life acting and I was tired of it. I needed a break.

"No," I replied and glanced sideways at Seb before lifting my glass to take a sip. 

"I read through a couple of them. There are some great, Oscar worthy roles in there," My dad continued. "You'd make my job a hell of a lot easier if you'd at least take the time to read them. Don't you agree Sebastian?"

My lips parted and I looked at Seb before looking at my father again, "Can we talk business another time? It's Christmas Eve, dad."

"I'm curious what Sebastian thinks," He said instead and turned his gaze to Seb who probably would rather be in our hotel room, just the two of us, instead of discussing this with my dad. "Don't you think Aria is wasting her time with the whole school thing?"

"No," He answered quickly since he didn't need time to think about it, his opinion was clear. "School is never a waste of time."

Dad raised one eyebrow slowly while my body tensed a little, "Not what I meant. She doesn't need school, she already has a job and-"

"I'm here dad, I can hear you," I cut him off in a tone that was as playful as forced, exactly like the nervous smile on my lips.

Seb took that time to sip his wine, his eyes carefully avoiding the both of ours and it made me wonder if he was mad at me for not telling him about the scripts. "Do you want her to give up acting and stay home while you're around the world making money with your movies?" My dad continued, not letting the topic die so soon. 

Seb's head snapped in his direction, "I have no say in what Aria does with her life. All I do is support her whatever she wants to do."

"I'm just taking a break dad..." I trailed off, trying to reassure him enough to get over this conversation. Maybe I didn't feel like acting now, but who knew about in another year... another few months. You never really knew what the future held. 

He took a sip of his wine as he shook his head lightly, obviously not approving. "I was surprised Sebastian didn't let you act on his last movie too," He said nonchalantly, as if it was obvious that he should have had instead.

Seb shot me a significant look before reaching for his glass once more and taking a sip. 

"You know how I feel about nude scenes," I said with a shrug. "Plus I'd never want you to see me naked, dad."

He snorted and tossed his head back, "Right. I forgot that you were directing that movie."

I winced a little at the tone he used when saying 'that'. For whatever reason, my father wasn't too fond of Seb directing 50 Shades of Gray. Our family was far from innocent, not even close to being prude, but still. He'd probably die if I were cast in a movie that had me fully nude. "The movie is looking great so far," I said honestly, shooting an encouraging smile at my boyfriend while reaching for his hand. He looked tense though, like he was either mad or didn't want to be here... my guess was both. 

"Oh," He said with both eyebrows raised, scooting his seat back and standing up. "Well good for you. If you'll excuse me, I'm just going to grab the food out of the oven."

"Do you need help?" I asked politely as he shook his head.

"No, I can manage," He grinned before leaving us alone in the dining room.

"Sorry," I said under my breath, glancing at Seb.

"For your father or for not telling me about the movie offers?"

I resisted the urge to groan or roll my eyes, "They were just scripts. I'm not interested in acting right now, so I didn't read any of them."

"Why didn't you tell me?" He asked in another monotone voice. Sometimes I couldn't tell where his emotions were and it drove me crazy. 

"Because I hardly see you and when we're together, I want to focus on you... not on a script that I'm not even interested in," I said seriously. "It's not a big deal."

"Okay Aria," He said back just as flatly as before. 

"You're mad, aren't you?" I asked even though it wasn't really a question, my eyes staring at him as if waiting to see his reaction.

He turned his head slowly and stared back at me, "No." 

"Lies," I muttered under my breath and broke eye contact in favor of reaching for my glass to take a sip of wine. There wasn't enough wine in the world to deal with my mans mood swings. 

Seb set his jaw, "I don't lie. Or keep things from you."

"I don't either Seb. I told you, it's nothing," I went on, still not seeing the point to this ridiculous argument. Sometimes it felt like he just wanted to argue for the hell of it. It was the downside to two stubborn people dating each other. 

"It's not nothing," He retorted, this time showing his annoyance, "I thought we were telling everything to each other."

"I tell you everything instead," I repeated as I narrowed my eyes on him, the tone of my voice low but menacing enough.

"Except for the offers you got," He said back sarcastically, then snorted, "It would have taken 3 minutes to tell me Ar. Anyway, if you didn't it means that I'll start doing the same." 

"Stop being so stubborn," I said back in the same tone as him, wanting to glare when his eyebrows shot up. 

"Stubborn?" He replied, "What exactly did I do? You're the one who didn't tell me anything about the offers. How am I the bad guy now?"

I took a deep breath, wondering if that was what we were really arguing about since it still didn't seem like such a big deal to me. I was an actress and actresses were sent scripts all the time. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if Seb still got offers every now and then to reprise his acting chops. That was the way the industry was. "I'm sorry I didn't mention the scripts," I said finally, meaning it and leaving out the part about how I hardly ever had enough time to just talk with him about life. I loved Sebastian more than anything and would always be his greatest supporter, but when he was in work mode? Well, his entire life was currently focused on his project. 

He blinked back at me with his face still stern and unreadable, "Alright."

I resisted the urge to sigh, wanting to drop this and get back to the holiday cheer. Life was too short to spend time arguing over petty things. "Alright?" I asked, not able to resist. He shrugged and was about to open his mouth when my dad walked back in, setting dishes on the table. "Are you sure you've got everything dad?" I asked, averting my attention back to my father. 

"Just a few more in the kitchen," He shrugged it off. "I hope you two came with an appetite because I made enough to feed a small African village."

"I didn't know you could cook," I replied honestly, moving my eyes towards the food and then back to Seb, making a tiny effort to smile at him.  

"I had to learn," He commented nonchalantly and forced a smile that looked a little sad while I guessed that it was because he had to be alone a lot. 

My smile got more genuine as I moved my eyes back to my father, "Everything smells delicious." 

He nodded just so slightly before looking at Seb, "Do you cook Sebastian?" 

"Just enough to survive," He answered politely, his eyes on my father while he spoke. "I've been eating a lot better lately, thanks to Aria," He added, glancing at me and forcing a smile himself. Still mad at me. "She even cooked for thanksgiving, it was really good and impressing." 

I stared at my boyfriend for a moment, surprised by his compliment since it was so generous. "Now I'm afraid I'm not good enough for your standards," Dad added before I had the chance to say anything, using a playful tone while Seb returned his attention back to the glass in his hand.

"Sebastian was just exaggerating," I said modestly. "I can't wait to eat," I went on, eyeing the food that was already on the table and shocked that my father had made so much of it. I half expected him to get take out.  

"I'm going to take some more then we can start," He explained quickly then disappeared. 

I glanced back at Seb as my dad disappeared, watching as he brought his glass to his mouth again. "What?" He asked before taking a sip.

"Nothing," I replied and shrugged his question away, knowing that I was probably only playing with fire and pissing him off even further. "I was just admiring your beauty and thinking about how handsome you are... how lucky I am," I continued with a straight face, my words honest no matter how cheesy they were. That was the thing about us though; I did the whole cheesy thing while Sebastian was the serious one. And somehow, we worked. 

He kept his serious expression in place and shook his head slightly, "It's not going to work."

"What are you talking about?" An eyebrow shot up as I defended myself, "I'm being honest. Isn't this the time of the year where we say what we're thankful for?"

"That's Thanksgiving Ar," He answered. "You're a month late."

"It's never too late to appreciate what you have," I grinned at him before leaning closer and kissing his cheek. He didn't respond to it, so I kissed his forehead next. 

"You're crazy," He replied before I even had the chance to pull back, our faces only inches apart.

"For you? Yes, yes I am," I kept grinning, being silly. 

He let out a loud sigh but, eventually, he closed the small distance between us and kissed my lips as his arm wrapped around my shoulder to pull me closer. "Next time won't be so easy," He said against my mouth as he broke the kiss, his intense eyes looking into mine. For a moment I forgot where we were and that my father was in the other room. That was the effect he had on me.

"There won't be a next time," I retorted, a grin widening my lips as I kept eye contact and set my hand on his hard chest.

"It'd better." He said seriously, "I want to know everything about you, no matter how meaningless it might seem."

My grin turned into a teasing smile as I leaned my side against his chest and relaxed in his hold, "That almost sounds cheesy, if only you weren't so serious," I whispered, playing with the buttons of his shirt.

"I am serious," He sighed, brushing his nose against my cheek before pressing his mouth against my ear, "And I'm going to spank you so hard later tonight that your nice ass will get as red as Santa's hat."

I pulled my head back enough to look at him and see the serious expression on his handsome face. Right now, I wanted to be anywhere but in my dad's dining room. I wanted to be alone with my man. My lips parted slowly but my dad walked into the room again before I could suggest making a run for the car. I pulled away from Seb quickly, slightly embarrassed since my cheeks were probably bright pink at this point. 

"Don't let the food get cold. Eat up," My dad motioned towards the mountains of food he had cooked as he let his eyes bounce back and forth between the two of us. He had the same look of pride on his face that I saw occasionally as a child when I'd book some cheesy show. While we had without a doubt drifted apart in the previous years, I never once had my doubts that he was proud of me. And I loved him for that.. he was after all my father.  

I reached for the ham first, watching Seb from the corner of my eye and feeling thankful that he came with me. "Is this edible or will we all be sick tonight?" I flicked my eyes towards my dad and grinned, my plate already half full while I dished up some salad then potatoes. I was going to need a diet after the holidays. 

"You'll have to take your chances," He shrugged as he played along, a small sinking feeling in my chest while I wondered what my mom and Mills were doing for the holidays, if they were together or alone. I hoped they weren't alone. "When's filming going to be finished, Sebastian? You two must be getting tired of Seattle. It's too damn cold there." 

 

Seb swallowed and looked up at him, reaching for his glass with his free hand. "It should be by February if everything goes as I planned," He explained quietly, using his business tone, "And Seattle is not that bad anyway, we got used to the weather."

I made a face, hoping no one had caught it but unfortunately my father smirked at me, "You didn't, did you?" 

I shrugged nonchalantly, "I like the city..."

"Only it's too cold, uh?" He ended my sentence while Seb looked like he might wring my fathers neck at any moment. 

I smiled honestly as they both kept their eyes on me, "I've been to colder places. Like Norway." I glanced at my man, my eyes telling a lot more than my words, "It was amazing though, only freezing."

"It was a nice trip," He agreed, thinking that those weeks spent together had been really important ones. Even if it ended with me flying back home to run away from our problems, without those days, maybe we wouldn't be together now. 

He nodded simply and only god knew what was on his mind,  "Are you going somewhere else anytime soon?" 

I shook my head while Seb nodded, "I'm planning to take Aria somewhere hot as long as I'm done filming." 

I looked at him and felt my eyes widen instantly, "Are you?" I knew that he had mentioned it a few times, but months had passed that I didn't exactly forget, I just wasn't expecting it anymore. He was a busy man, it made sense if he couldn't find time for a vacation. 

My dad snickered while he dug into his food, a sound I'm sure Seb didn't appreciate. "I hope I didn't blow your surprise," He went on, another mouth full of food. 

Seb shook his head, "Aria doesn't like surprises. I try to avoid them."

I grinned at him, "So then where are we going?"

"Up to you," He replied while a million places went through my mind. Last year we traveled a lot, it brought us together in a sense. Honestly, I was fine with anywhere as long as I was with my handsome boyfriend... but I had a feeling both men might groan if I said those words out loud. 

"I'll think about it," I snuck another chaste kiss on his cheek, the smell of his cologne enticing. "Thank you baby."