Chapter Text
They spent the rest of the night in Niagara Falls, Ontario, playing mini golf, riding the Ferris Wheel and trying out whatever tourist gimmick the Canadian side offered as Sebastian indulged himself in sweets as well as buying Iñaki the maple syrup leaf-shaped sweets she loved. It was around midnight when their ragtag decided to call it a night before Jazmine drove them all back in her beat-up minivan (that she finally got as a hand-me down gift from her parents) with Natty sitting at shotgun, acting as her navigator.
The entire trip back, he never took his eyes off the half-finished blue raspberry ring pop he gave her.
Iñaki knew blue raspberry was his favorite flavor.
Anything blue raspberry really. It was a flavor he loved since his childhood days back when his parents were still alive, Anne was well and he still believed in Father Christmas. It made him feel like home.
Seeing her wear the ring that he proposed with, even if it was a fake yellow toy one, made him wonder what it would have been like if it was real.
If the ring she wore was gold instead of cheap-arse neon yellow plastic.
If the blue on the ring was sapphire gemstone instead of blue raspberry candy.
If their future marriage was real instead of putting on a front so he could stay.
Just so he could just hold her hand like they were lovers instead of just friends.
Instead, he let her sleep on his shoulder.
Everyone in Jazmine's car went along with the plan. They all knew how rough it was to get American citizenship as a foreigner –even through marriage– and none blamed him for the two scheming that way.
What did hurt though was how Garreth pulled him over –after they dropped the girls off to their flat above them– to their kitchen before the Devon man gave him a Stella Artois as they stood in by the counter and he offered a toast to him.
"To Sebastian. May your idiotic scheme with Iñaki work out in your favor. Cheers mate!" Garreth said cheerfully as the green-eyed man drank the ale as if it was water.
Sebastian frowned at him.
"Do you really have no faith that Iñaki and I won't be able to fool officials? We have several photos of us together in our facebooks and Instagrams since we were Freshmen. I know when she has her period." Sebastian huffed as he slowly nursed his Stella.
"Oh, I have the upmost belief that you two could fool officials. I heard and seen lesser marriages of convivence between two people that have less of a history than you two. They managed get married and successfully get their papers. The question at hand isn't if you are able to convince the officials that the two of you are marrying for love and not for you to get your green card. The real matter at hand is whether your heart can handle the situation you're putting yourself in."
"I don't know what you're talking about Gar." Sebastian huffed as he took another sip, knowing it was pointless to prevent the redhead from pushing.
"Right. Because when haven't I been your go-to person since we met when you couldn't go to Iñaki for stuff? Especially with how much you fancy her Sallow." Garreth said as he took a gulp.
"Shut it Weasley." Sebastian huffed as he took a gulp of his own. "I don't fancy her THAT much."
"Riiiight. Remind me, what is the reason you gave me when you spent last Valentine's day plastered when you found out that she went out with that Colombian bloke she met in her history class?"
"Can't a bloke get plastered for fun?" Sebastian frowned, hating that singular Valentine's day. Never had he wanted to major in Spanish and drop his original goals finding after out the Colombian guy -was it Julio or Diego; he didn't even bother remembering his name other than that his surname was Rojas- managed to ask Iñaki out.
In front of him. In Spanish.
Okay, so maybe not in front of him.
Julio Diego Rojas pulled Iñaki away for a quick question and he just happened to be in earshot when the Latino bloke said something to her in Spanish before the two parted ways. While Sebastian wasn’t completely fluent in the language, he was confused as to why Rojas was asking her for an appointment until later, when he texted Imelda if ‘cita’ meant anything else besides an appointment.
(Imelda: cita can mean an appointment or date. What aren’t you asking Iñaki for help in your Spanish class- OH ARE YOU ASKING HER OUT!?!)
But the point was this.
(Sebastian: what?! WHO SAYS I’M ASKING HER OUT?!?! 😅)
Rojas asked Iñaki out.
Something that he debated about doing since that day at Niagara Falls in freshmen year.
Sebastian had a whole speech plan, a venue (okay, so it was just at some public part of the Falls, but no one couldn't deny it wasn't a romantic location) and meal planed for the two of them where he would then ask Iñaki out after they spent the day together.
(Imelda: Sallow. The whole of UK knows how much you fancy her. I bet even that dreadful uncle of yours that you ghosted knows of her 🙄)
At least this way, he would still have had the day spent in the most romantic way. Even if she didn't knew, he could aways frame it as later to himself that he had one date with her.
(Imelda: If you don’t ask her out, someone else will.)
Instead, he found out a little too late that someone beat him at his move.
And he found himself alone that night, wondering how he let her slip through her hands.
"Some regular bloke? Yes. He can drink and get swooshed." Garreth said as he put his Stella down. "You? Knowing your history between alcohol and your uncle, you refuse to touch the stuff unless it's a celebration. That Valentine's day was the first time you broke your own cardinal rule and I've never seen you look more like a kicked puppy abandoned on the streets after it found a loving home."
"Wealsey, you're over-exaggerating the whole thing-"
"When I said, "I can't wait to get rid of this shite", you took that terrible bottle of wine from me. You literally sat on the floor with your back against the couch drinking that horrendous poor excuse of wine straight from the bottle."
"I was doing you a favor-"
"Mate- you made me think Anne died with how upset you were that night only to find out that you were upset because someone beat you to asking Iñaki out?!"
"You never asked why I was that upset."
"That was the first thing I did! Then I had to drag your arse back to your room and leave you in the rescue position on the floor before I ended up sleeping in your bed to keep watch in case something else happened. You're not okay with Iñaki being with someone else, but I think you marrying Iñaki for your papers will ultimately destroy you when she asks for divorce after you get your American citizenship. While she might not see the marriage as legit and more of her trying to help a friend out in the quagmire of the U.S. immigration system, you might use this as a chance to act out your feelings to make it seem legit for your papers. And you’ll break when your illusion of a marriage with her ends."
"And what's wrong with me acting like her doting fiancé and then husband once we get hitched at town hall?" Sebastian glared at him.
"If this were anyone else? Nothing. But knowing you Sebastian, you will try anything to keep the little you have, including that marriage of convenience to the girl you fancied for since your first day of uni classes. You'll survive the US immigration system to become a citizen, but not your divorce."
Sebastian flipped the "V" to the redhead as he took a swig of the last of his Stella.
"And you wonder why your bother-in-law loves me." Garreth snickers as he takes his own swig.
"I regret introducing you to Ominis that one summer we went back to the UK."
"You know we're only watching your back mate. You are aware that a number of the things you do is to spite your uncle despite the fact you hadn’t spoken or seen him since you left for America?"
"Not everything I do is to spite my dead-to-me Uncle." Sebastian said a threw the empty glass bottle to the recycling bin.
"You're right. Another third of what you do is to help Anne considering it’s why you wanted to be a cancer researcher in the first place."
"And the last third?"
Garreth snickered as a small smile spread on his lips.
"Why, steal any moment of time you can get with your now-fiancé, Iñaki. Face it Sallow, you're more predictable than you think you are."
…
It's been twelve hours since Iñaki proposed her marriage scheme to him, where he kneeled and offered her the blue ring-pop for her hand in marriage at the Falls in response.
Nine hours since he drank with Garreth who called him out on the holes of his green card marriage plan.
And one hour since he woke up at noon, dazed from the odd dream he had while he fiddled with the blue ring pop wrapper from last night as he stared at the ceiling.
Getting hitched for a Green Card so you can marry your best friend who you have a crush on? This is your dumbest idea, yet Sallow. He told himself, yet he couldn’t find it in his heart to say no. There were plenty of reasons to back out.
For one, getting a master’s or a Ph.D. in the States wasn’t going to be the easiest thing. Especially as a foreigner. More so since he wouldn’t have a guarantee of finding funding.
Two, there was his twin sister Anne.
She was still in the UK.
Anne now lived in London instead up north in Scotland with her now-husband and their childhood best friend, Ominis Sallow née Gaunt. While he wasn’t surprised the two had tied the knot while he was away in Buffalo in his second year, it did sting they had kept that information under wraps.
Once upon a time, Sebastian thought that there were no secrets kept between him and Anne. That was till he visited them in her flat in London and Anne broke the news to him when he saw they were both wearing matching wedding rings.
Even if he understood the WHY they had to keep it confidential, that doesn't mean it didn't hurt. That understanding came from the fact that despite being the black sheep of the family, Ominis was still a Gaunt.
And being a Gaunt meant something.
With that surname, came power and influence where once upon a time, it wasn’t surprising to see the Gaunts rub shoulders with the royals.
While both him and Anne were both as far removed from noble blood as some commoners in Scotland could be, Ominis wasn’t. While Ominis didn’t care for titles, blood status or money, he had what any noble in England would dream of. His surname historically carried enough blood to the point that he could pinpoint people in his family responsible for the different famines that occurred under the British Imperial Rule such as their neighbors in Ireland or as far away in Bangladesh.
And being a Gaunt meant that he couldn't marry out in the open. Not if he wanted to be with Anne. Not while he quietly changed his surname from Gaunt to Sallow. And especially not while Ominis slowly started cutting ties that choked him in his youth as he collected his inheritance in the shadows while keeping his new union a secret from his family.
So yes. Sebastian understood why Ominis had to keep it a secret.
But not Anne.
Not his own twin.
Anne was a rule-breaker, an untamable free-spirited woman who did as she pleased like a unicorn with her only restrains being that of her sickly body. She wasn't one to be tamed.
But she kept her nuptials a secret from him.
And that hurt.
Granted, Sebastian wasn't one to dream of weddings, but he had always assumed that the day Anne would wed, he would do what was his duty and honor as the last and only male member of their two-family blood unit (Solomon didn’t count):
Sebastian would walk Anne down the aisle.
It was easy to picture her wedding day. Anne would be all dressed up in white in a pretty dress that wasn’t too old school but also had a traditional flair with their family tartan sash on her shoulder. He would of could be dressed in his traditional kilt and the two twins would walk arm in arm before he would hand her over to the love of her life. The reception after the ceremony would be lively. He would be Anne’s dance partner in lieu of their late father for the traditional father-daughter dance, and he would crack jokes, making Anne laugh before making her tear up saying their dad would be so proud and happy for her. He would later make up for those tears she would spill when he told embarrassing stories of their youth at her toast like the proper brother he was.
Someone had to tell the truth about Anne snoring like motor at night and how she wasn’t the sweet innocent angel people tried to paint her as. She was sly as a fox, mischievous as a monkey and playful like an otter. Anne was his twin sister and Sebastian loved her as such. She was his first playmate. His first friend. His confidante as he was hers.
At least he thought so until he went back to London the summer after his sophomore year. That was when he met his new brother-in-law, the new Mr. Sallow, in the form of his best friend, Ominis.
And Anne never once told him. She never even wore the ring in their videocalls.
So yes.
Sebastian was hurting.
And he was certain that as more time passed as he stayed in America, that the once infallible bond he had with his twin sister would continue to unravel. Yesterday, it was Anne withholding the true state of her health. Today, it’s her marital status and who knows what tomorrow will bring.
For all he knew, Anne could be pregnant with his niece or nephew. She could be currently keeping it a secret from him just because Ominis asked her to. All because Ominis's blood family could have some sick motive to split him and Anne if they knew. If they found out.
Therefore, they wouldn’t.
If both Ominis and Anne kept quiet about their personal life.
No news about them or their lives would cross the Atlantic, let alone the street they lived on in London. Anne told him straight off the bat that morning, as she showed him her ring, saying that:
“I can’t tell you about my life Sebastian. Not unless we’re in person. I rather not risk telling you through videocalls, phone calls, texts or EVEN by post about my matrimonial life with Ominis. He’s still taking money out of the vault as we speak, and I refuse to be the reason as to why he can’t get the rest of his inheritance. His personal solicitor is doing us a favor in navigating the loopholes for him to get his full inheritance since no one in his family expected that he’d marry on his own and not through an arranged marriage. He loves me Sebastian and I love him. Don’t ruin this for us.”
“So, you’re telling me, your twin, that you can’t tell me nothing on what’s going on with your life now that you shacked up with Gaunt–”
“Actually, it’s Sallow now Sebastian.” Ominis said as his face pointed towards his direction. His icy blue eyes were clouded but still held a defiant glare despite being sightless. “And we’re both asking you this, to not ask questions. The less you know, the better. If there’s anyone you want to be mad at for keeping you in the dark, look at me. Not your twin. ME.” Ominis hissed like the mascot of his family crest.
Since then, he knew he was left in the dark about Anne’s true life.
Sure, Anne would post pictures of her everyday life. Her posts didn’t include Ominis on insta or facebook, instead there was an added quirkily quote about being optimistic about her recovery from cancer or about haircare now that she had her locks once more, but it was all superficial.
Even her texts to him came down to the point at times where they would just say hi, asking each other about the weather or send memes that made the other laugh. But nothing real. Nothing deep.
Nothing about her real life unless he was in person. He knew that from experience.
So yes, staying in America after Uni would be a bad thing if he wanted to restore his relationship with Anne was from pyrite to gold. At least being in person would ensure he was always up to date with Anne's life.
And as to the third reason why staying in the States would be a bad idea was the truthful fact that he would have no trouble returning and living back in the U.K.
The UK had Unies that were on par or even better than some of the Unies the States had to offer. If anything, going back meant that he was going to be taking the easier route. He could navigate the system. Sebastian had the grades, the drive and he was well certain he would be able to find the funding needed to get his master’s and Ph.D. if he wished. There was no worry about how his student visa would affect him in finding a job, secure housing, or even getting a loan to continue studying if he didn't secure a scholarship.
The world was his oyster if he went back to London.
He was citizen of the UK.
And currently, an alien here in the US.
Sebastian would be making his life harder than it needed to be by staying here. But since when did he do easy? Or run away from what he wanted? The US was his present, the UK, his past.
Sure, Weasley called his move to the States a runagate move, but he was done living in his dead-to-him Uncle's dwelling. He wasn't going back to some backwater hamlet up in Scotland. Nor was he planning to stay in London where it reminded him too much of his teen years spent separated from his twin sister who stayed in Scotland for her treatment.
Other Scottish hamlets were a no-go, its houses and neighborhoods reminded him too much of his youth spent trying to stay out of the cottage to avoid dealing with Solomon. And the cities in Scotland reminded him too much of the good times he had with his parents when they were alive. When they were a family of four traveling from one city to the next for his parents’ academic conferences where each new place felt like an adventure when he was little. Wales and Northern Ireland didn't pique his interest either for him to return to.
At this point in time of his life, the UK felt like a ghost. Haunting him, where it held more bad than good.
And America felt like a new beginning to him like the movies he seen on the silver screen.
More than once, he had instructors tell him how bright of a student he was. If he only applied himself, he could go far instead of spending time in his adolescent youth in detention room rewriting lines of ‘I will not ditch class just because I'm ahead in my readings'. Well, he went far.
Far away to another continent across the pond.
It was simple really.
He just needed the grades. And Sebastian wasn't lacking in academic intelligence.
He graduated at near the top of the class.
So, what if Leander Fucking Prewett got made Head Boy and gave the graduation speech for their class's ceremony? Sebastian made it to America and got to see thundersnow!
And he did it on his own merit, because heavens knows he had no help from his fucking useless uncle. He barely had Anne as well in his school years where she spent the rest of her time being homeschooled –after she got cancer– back home in Scotland while he spent it stuck in London under Solomon’s orders. When the graduation ceremony date came and went, only Imelda and Ominis were there to give him hugs and congratulations in place of his only family living member, Anne.
Anne, who should have graduated with them.
Anne, who hadn't been part of his life since she got ill with cancer at fourteen.
Instead, his twin was in the hospital, undergoing treatment again, smiling at him through the camera as they facetimed on Ominis's phone after the ceremony. She had shaved her head once more.
Anne didn’t tell him.
One of the few things that did lighten his bittersweet day ceremonial day was Lucan Brattleby dropping by the party the Reyes family held for Imelda and him. Lucan had stayed at the party for a bit after handing Sebastian a gift, a green lightsaber letter opener. The opener was a souvenir from their Lightsaber fencing club the two boys were a part of. At least Lucan and their Lightsaber team remembered him. Just like how Imelda and the Reyes family did when they gave both Imelda and Sebastian their own cake to cut. It was a sweet end to his rather upsetting revelation after that videocall with Anne.
Truth be told, he was more upset at the fact that Anne kept her cancer a secret rather than the fact that she had it.
Which only further reinforced point two of a contra of staying in America. Letting the distance between him and Anne grow.
‘So, to recap the pros,’ Sebastian thought to himself, ‘By going back home, I’ll 1) have an easier time to get my master’s or Ph.D. 2) I can regrow my relationship with my twin again and not be an outsider to her life anymore. 3)I can easily remake my life back in the UK again without any issue since I’m a citizen there unlike here in the States. I don’t even have to worry about barriers just to work.’ He mentally grumbled to himself as he glanced at the pictures he had taped on the door and quickly spotted the four people he truly missed in the UK: Ominis, Anne, Imelda and Lucan.
These were really the only people he missed and left behind when he boarded that plane for the States to start off his new Uncle Solomon-free life. But truth be told, the only ones he knew who were still in the UK were just Anne and Ominis. Imelda was in the US finishing up her studies at Uni as well before she would take that offer after graduation and join the Chicago Stars football team unless there was a better financial offer in Spain. And Lucan wasn’t even in London anymore. He ended up moving to Toronto to study sports management at York University. Iñaki even met the curly hair brunet when the two of them went to Toronto for a day trip.
(However, he did wish Iñaki had laughed less at Lucan jokes. They weren’t even THAT funny.)
So really, the only people he had left in London, hell, even in the UK were just his twin and brother-in-law.
The cons were part of the same coin of the pros of going back to London: easier access to a degree, rebuilding his relationship with his twin and an easier time to make his life there as a British citizen.
Now as to the pros to staying in America were easy.
The first was the fact that he was a nobody, like everyone else.
Sebastian had a brand-new start here in New York. Even if he didn't end up in the "City of New York", he was still in New York and close to one iconic view, the Falls. So new beginnings were a plus and nobody looked at him with pity for having a sick twin sister.
It was a burden he didn't realize he was shouldering until few weeks after living at UNiagara. For the first time in years did he realized no one gave him that look when he stepped out of line. That pitying look that said, 'You're only acting like this because of your sick twin aren't you?'
He. HATED. It.
It was as if all his essence, his behavior and reactions were reduced to the cause of Anne being sick and not because of other factors, like say –oh, HIS WANKER GUARDIAN OF AN ‘UNCLE’.
Which lead to his second pro of living in America: No Solomon Sallow.
To say Sebastian hated Solomon was an understatement. It was too soft, too fucking kind of a word to describe his biological uncle. Solomon didn’t even deserve that family title.
Not with how he complained about how troublesome it was to take care of him and his sister. Not with how Solomon growled and picked on every little thing he did wrong like some manager (Sebastian STOP with the brogue accent, Sebastian shut-up and stop asking questions, don’t you DARE cry you idiotic boy, only girls are allowed to cry you weakling!’) while growing up. Not with how Solomon split him away from his twin as well as turning Anne against him (she used to agree what a horrible drunken wanking grit Solomon was before they were separated) while she was homeschooled up in Scotland, leaving him alone in London.
Hate was too kind of a word for what he felt for Solomon. Solomon didn’t even deserve his own name! For a name that meant ‘tranquility, wisdom, peaceful’, Solomon was anything but that.
Sebastian was in America and the chance of running into his ill-mannered uncle here was very close to 0%. He didn't even need to go through him to see Anne now that Anne was an adult and essentially kicked Solomon off her care team. He could call or see Anne whenever he wanted to, and Solomon had no say in it. He was finally free of his uncle, and he wasn't going to end his lucky streak and run into the old fart by chance again after almost four years of evading him.
Sebastian was finally his own man. One free to dictate his future without his uncle having any say.
The third reason as to why he wanted to stay was obvious as he held the blue ring pop wrapper from last night.
Flipping it over from one side to the next, pretending to himself that he was reading the words printed on the wrapper, Sebastian knew why leaving America for the UK would hurt him so much.
Iñaki.
His best friend. His kindred spirit.
The first person he truely befriended in America. And it all started in that fateful day in Spanish class when the two had partnered up only because he sat behind her.
All it took was one convo.
The two clicked.
The rest was history.
After finding out they both shared the same schedule and major after a chat in Spanish class, the two took it upon themselves to partner up and try to survive their classes together. From dissecting snails and frogs in their freshman year to reviewing amino acids and understanding biochemistry in their junior year, what started as sleepy morning chat in Spanish class turned into a profound friendship that Sebastian could only hope lasted for a lifetime and something he hoped their own future spouses would respect.
If only his heart didn’t catch feelings so fast within that first semester. Suddenly, everything from his recent behavior of glaring at men that looked at Iñaki to his sudden dislike of the idea of having to greet Iñaki’s future spouse within a short span made sense.
His sentiments towards her only grew while he was away in London the summer after their sophomore year. His heart would drum a quick beat anytime his phone would TING when it received a text from her. He would always reply back like he was some lovesick fool while he was touring London with Poppy or visiting his sister and new brother-in-law with Garreth.
Because he was one.
Sebastian Sallow was in love.
He was in love with his best friend and he had no idea how to ask her out.
It's why he lost her to Julio for one semester. He acted too late.
Sebastian bit his tongue as he pretended to laugh at the dumb memes Iñaki giggled at when her new boyfriend texted it to her. He rolled his eyes when she wasn’t looking as she talked about how much of a caballero Julio was as the two studied for their biochem exam they had in two weeks. He swallowed the green-eyed monster that wanted to speak when he allowed Julio to join the two of them for lunch.
Sebastian did his best to be her best friend. He did his best to not show his dislike toward her new man. Julio made it even worse because if Julio was a terrible guy, Sebastian would have more reason to hate him, but he didn’t.
Julio Rojas was a good guy and Sebastian hated it.
He hated how Julio made her laugh. He hated how he got her to smile and even worse, Sebastian just hated how Iñaki choose Julio over him as her ‘to-go’ person.
Suddenly, all those midnight hours the two spent talking about life and how to deal with x and y problems vanished and he spent his free evenings doomscrolling on his facebook or insta account, seeing how happy everyone was –from his twin sister to Iñaki– instead of reading ahead like he usually did.
His grades slipped from A+ to B+.
Of all the things that ended Iñaki’s relationship with Julio, it was surprisingly the major that she chose that ended it.
Julio was a business major.
Both he and Iñaki were bio majors.
The free time difference between the two studies was enormous. In the end, when it came to either her studies or love, Iñaki surprisingly chose her books.
Even he didn’t see her breakup with Julio coming.
Within that same spring semester she went out with Julio, she broke up with him mumbling to Sebastian that Julio was too much of a time hassle and she wanted to graduate with a degree, not with a título.
(That was a whole another convo about learning Ecuadorian Spanish slang in which getting a título didn’t always mean degree but getting preggers.)
While junior year ended on a better note than how the spring semester started with the two of them going back to their usual study and hang out sessions, Sebastian no longer took them for granted. Nor her singlehood.
And it's also why he was back to square one, trying to figure out how to ask her out only to have the script flipped on him when she asked him to marry her instead to grant him a green card last night.
Suddenly he no longer had to worry about asking her out or answering the question of how he was going to navigate America while on a student visa. That third pro of going back to the UK (which is having an easier time navigating his homeland since he was a citizen there compared to being an alien here in the States) would simply vanished. Not if he got his green card. Not if he had an easy route to American citizenship.
Not if he married the love of his life.
Iñaki wanted to marry him.
But all for wrong reasons.
‘This is going to bite me in the arse later by marrying her, isn't it?’ He thought to himself before his mobile rang. When he saw caller ID identifying the caller as Iñaki, he immediately picked up.
“Good. You’re awake. We need to talk.” She stated the last four words every sane person dreaded hearing. “Meet me downstairs at our apartment entrance in ten. We have a lot to discuss.” She stated before she ended the call.
‘What a way to start a Saturday morning.’ Sebastian thought as he got up from bed.