Chapter Text
This was probably one of my dumber ideas. Sebastian thought as he watched the snow fall outside the open lounge of his floor in Thunderbird Hall as a flash of lightning lit the sky before it was followed moments later by a loud CHA-BOOM! He glanced back at his calendar on his mobile, taking note of the day.
November 1.
I thought Ominis was joking about the weather in Buffalo being worse and colder than Scotland, but this is ridiculous. He frowned as he sat on the couch as he brought his legs towards him to hug as he watched the big fat snowflakes drop from the sky towards the ground as if they had a mission to make the entire place a winter wonderland in less than an hour. The sky flashed again, making it day for a second before it was night once more.
CHA-BOOM!
The wind howled outside, changing the directions the fat snowflakes fell once more.
Maybe class will be cancelled tomorrow and I can just sleep in. He thought to himself before he snorted. And maybe Uncle Solomon will actually miss me and welcome me back with open arms after I left for Uni. He rolled his eyes before he stood up and rolled his shoulders before he went back to the honey pine wooden table the open common room provided for its dorm residences as he went back to studying for his midterm in a day.
It was already 3 in the morning and by this point, the more sensible students were already in bed as he studied on out here. He didn't want to bother his roommate with his late-night studying in their dorm room.
Plus, he had another reason for wanting to study here.
"Hey, Yankee. Wake up. Nap time's over!" He snickered as he shook Iñaki's shoulder. The side-sleeper woman grumbled as she curled in towards herself, trying to conserve as much body heat her varsity oversized Yankee jacket provided for her that she was currently using as a make-shift blanket with the two chairs she slept on as her current bed.
"Five more minutes Sebas." She mumbled, using her Spanish nickname she baptized him with since they became friends during a Spanish course they shared. After finding out they had live in the same dorm and had other classes in common as well as interests in that first Spanish class, they been best friends ever since.
By far, Iñaki was one of the few things that did worked out that made him not regret going to SUNY University at Niagara where he made the erroneous assumptions that Niagara Falls was anywhere close to NYC. Instead, he went to a school that was the farthest public university SUNY from the city. Even worse, Uni at Niagara wasn't located near the Falls, it was in Buffalo, near by the river that fed to the Falls.
He would call his international Uni plan to study in New York City or a school nearby a bust if it wasn't for the facts that 1) he got a full ride scholarship to come study here and 2) he met Iñaki.
His best friend. His Kindred Spirit.
Iñaki threw her arm over her eyes to provide shade from the LED light bulbs he turned on in the open lounge.
"Up and at 'em Iñaki! We have an exam to study for the day after tomorrow."
"The next day doesn't start at midnight, it starts after I sleep and then wake. Our midterm doesn't count as being a day from now!" Iñaki mumbled as she dragged her jacket to cover her face.
"Go n-éirí leat Yank." He snickered, saying good luck in Gaelic as he grabbed her varsity jacket from her and put it on as she shouted, "HEY!" at him.
Unlike when Iñaki wore it -she was essentially swimming in the oversized jacket- it was a perfect fit for him. As if it was made for him.
"I really don't get why you have it when I should be the one to keep it. It fits me perfectly." He said as he modeled the jacket for her, doing a catwalk towards her as Iñaki snorted.
"Maybe you should've come to the States as a model instead of using your brains Sebas." She laughed as she finally got up and stretched before she glanced at the lounge's windows behind her and whistled.
"I knew the storm was going to bad, but this is ridiculous. It's fucking thundersnowing out there."
"So that is a thing here? I never seen it thundersnow before. Our storms back in Scotland aren't this crazy." Seb said as he stretched, trying to get the blood flowing for a second study session that night.
He planned for them to study until 5 AM where they would both then nap and then wake up at 11 for their midday class. Then they were planning to skip their Spanish class to make more time. Tomorrow night, they would take the exam in a lecture hall at 7pm. The first exam was usually the make or break it for students to drop out as a bio major.
And he really didn't want to lose his best mate who was struggling in the loads of studying she needed for her major.
"Yeah, I spoke to some locals about it. It’s a normal phenomenon." Iñaki said as she yawned and made her way to their table that held their notes. "So, what are we studying this time Seb?" She said as she took her spot and he sat next to her.
...
"I...I passed!" Iñaki said as she jumped for joy, hugging him as she read her grade up on the wall it was posted with numerous of other students with their ID number labeled instead of their names.
"See! I told you you would ace it!" He grinned at her.
Iñaki snorted.
"Technically I "B-aced" it. You were the one who aced it Sebas. That is not the grade I want, but it's still good since the curve is gonna be in my favor now." She said, smiling at him as she released her hug for what felt way too soon for her. "So, wanna hit that bubble tea shop after lab to celebrate soon?"
He grinned.
....
As they sat down to share an Asian sweet she bought for them -as well as his own bubble tea to his horror, his paycheck being delayed again due to his international student status- the two spent a moment enjoying their victory this Wednesday evening, after finding out they passed last Friday's exam.
"So, what are your plans for winter break? Are you going back to Scotland?"
He sighed as he laid back on the couch.
"Ah cannae. The flight's too expensive and Ah refuse to be stayin' at my uncle's. Not that he'd huv me back mind ye. He essentially booted me out the door the minute Ah became legal on my birthday a few weeks ago in September." He took a deep sip of his Hong Kong-style milk bubble tea, frustrated at how his Scottish brogue came out when he was emotional and then frustrated again over how he was frustrated at his self-loathing of his Scottish accent when it was his Uncle's doing to make him feel bad about speaking like a proper Scotsman after Solomon was forced to be he and Anne's guardian. The moment they turned eleven, the Sallow twins were shipped to some posh boarding school in London where they only harped on his accent along with his Uncle, who wanted to get their Brogue bullied out of them.
"Stop with the Scots and the Brogue and speak English you dimwit! Your accent will hold you back. Don't you know all the great jobs are in London you grit!" His uncle would often yell at him when he did the unremarkable thing of speaking back to him in Gaelic one time as a kid. Since that night after he got swatted, he made it his mission to try to leave the country, fuck, the United Kingdom and be as far away as possible from his troll of an uncle where Solomon had no contacts.
America seemed like a great idea at the time.
And it still was considering how Iñaki smiled at the Brogue he slipped. By this point, she had stopped commenting how nice his Scottish accent was with how tight knit they became since that first Spanish class two months ago. But seeing her smile at his accent still did something to him, like as if it was a healing salve on a cut that refused to close.
"He's an ass." She commented as she offered him her drink to try the flavor.
"The biggest one." He said as they switch teas and he sipped their mango bubble tea. "Not bad, but I think I prefer my Hong Kong tea you got me." He said as they treated drinks once more. He had a bad sweet tooth and knew it. When the silence between them was longer than what he was used from Iñaki, he glanced back toward her as she stared off into a table in front of them. He knew this look. She was planning something.
"Do you want to stay with me and my fam for the winter break? I know it won't be like being able to fly home to London to spend the break with your twin at her apartment, but surely it beats staying here at the dorms all by yourself."
"Really? Would your family be okay with it?" He asked, shocked by her offer.
Iñaki nodded.
"Just save up for the bus ride home. I'm planning to take the Megabus home the day after our last final. I can't afford the flight back. It's like $300 dollars now." Iñaki huffed. "The bus ride is 80 bucks."
"I can't believe that flying back to New York is more expensive than what I would pay to fly to another country in Europe. We're still in the same state!" He said. Sebastian still got surprised by how expensive everything was for traveling after hearing Iñaki complain about it when she was busy buying her ticket for Thanksgiving break last week. She had her own financial issues and bussing it was the best way home.
"I know…I wish it was cheaper…the bus ride is fucking long."
"In ten hours, you would make that trip from Glasglow to London, twice. I'm still overwhelmed by how big your country is, let alone your state."
Iñaki nodded as she laid her head on his shoulder as he wrapped her arm around him as they saw the time on the clock nearby. It was 8:51 PM.
"I don't want to go home and study…." She mumbled. Neither did he. It felt nice like this.
If he was a more courageous man, he would ask her out instead of just enjoying moments like these where he could touch her when she looked for physical comfort of his hugs. Iñaki was such a hugger, and he didn't realize how much he missed physical comfort after he and Anne were separated when she got cancer at 14 and needed to be treated in Glasglow while Solomon made him stay in London. He cherished every hug, hip check and elbow Iñaki gave, unused to physical affection after so long.
And the longer they were friends, he recognized that all too sudden feeling of sweating palms, fast beating paced heart and his sudden annoyance when she would talk about her other guy friends she made in college or her childhood male friends when it wasn't an issue a month ago.
He's fallen good and hard.
But he wasn't ready to change this nascent friendship to a romantic one. He didn't want to bet her spontaneous hugs away.
And then after time passed and Thanksgiving break came. Iñaki surprised him with an offer to stay over at her place to celebrate turkey day. She had just enough to buy him a ride to New York and back by bus. Then after he met her family and younger siblings during that stay followed by another stay with them for winter break, he knew he couldn't do it.
He couldn't just ask his best friend out and risk everything that came with being her friend.
Sebastian realized it more so during their winter break where he was offered a place to stay. Apparently, her father knew what the struggle was like to be an international student and his brother had a room to rent and a job that could pay money under the table. Money that he could save outside of his official summer gig at a lab that provided a paycheck that was barely enough to cover for boarding rent and food in New York.
Soon he realized that starting a relationship with her wasn’t just betting her hugs away, he would be betting away the new people who started to care for him as well if things went to shite. And the last thing he needed was losing what little he had gained from befriending Iñaki.
He couldn't do it.
So, Sebastian swallowed his feelings. It wasn’t anything new. He just didn’t expect them to grow as time passed as he got to know her family better during that winter break.
During that time, he got to call another city, home, for a month as he took the subway, help make bread in the kitchen, and spend the rest of his winter time walking around the city with Iñaki as his tour guide. Her parents were kind and spoke to him like he was someone worth listening to, like he was someone of value. Iñaki's two younger primary-school aged siblings saw him as another playmate as they invited him to join their board or card games, now better with four players. Something in him healed, listening to them talk about school and friends, seeing them relaxed at home and never tense like he and Anne were growing up after Solomon adopted them.
He missed this environment.
When summer came, he interned at an oncology lab.
During his free time, Iñaki was his tour guide once more as she showed him her favorite spots less populated by tourism from uptown to downtown, 1st Ave to 12th Ave and then some in Brooklyn, the Bronx and Queens. The two used their student IDs for free trips into MOMA, admiring art as he used his Skype App to video call Anne on his phone to show her some of her favorite paintings by Van Gogh and then her favorite sites of the city as Iñaki gave the twins a tour of her home town.
Soon it became a routine.
In the school year, they would live in the same hall, take the same classes, take alternating dates to cook a meal to share between them (the two dropped their meal plan the moment they could and this became cheaper for them in the long run) and go out either together or separate with their friends that they made.
Some of their friends were Americans like Iñaki's childhood best friend: Jazmine O'Rourke Santos (the Irish Filipino American girl he would often practice his Gaelic with when they both realized one night they shared a similar language) and Johnny Jones (studying to be an actor and minoring in business, they met him in their required English class).
Some of their friends were internationals like him: Natty was from Zimbabwe, Amit from India and to his surprise, he found another two Brits like him in Garreth and Poppy. Both were also here under the same scholarship program as him.
The school year passed smoothly with his sturdy friend group. It was actually nice to find a family amongst friends that he didn't have growing up. And even if there were some things he and Garreth didn't always see eye to eye -like when the Scottish Independent Movement came and their country could finally be free from British Rule- there was actual discussion between the two Scots and not a "I'm right and you're wrong" mentality that he would always get from Solomon.
If anything, Garreth was disgusted by his uncle when Sebastian told that to him after their discussion and soon enough, the redheaded man recommended therapy through the school that was seconded by Natty who was actually seeing a therapist to deal with her father's murder. It was her encouragement, especially when she had learned of his twin’s undergoing cancer treatment again and pointed out that he was suffering too, that got him to see a shrink.
To his surprise, he found out he had ADHD and while meds weren't the way for him, finding new ways to manage it changed his life for the better once he had a new system of organizing it as well as his sleep.
He no longer had Panda eyes as Iñaki liked to call them.
Soon the days, weeks, months and years went by and they were now suddenly seniors at SUNY Uni at Niagara, wearing the purple hoodies of their school with the yellow thunderbird mascot on front.
He and his friend group were currently on the Canadian side of the Falls, all of them wanting to enjoy their first week before the school lecture really started. As he and Iñaki split from the group to go look at the falls, he couldn't help but start at the sparkle in her brown eyes as she stared at the water gushing down and the light show on the Falls.
"It's so beautiful. I never get tired of looking at this." She sighed, a wide smile as she leaned on the steel and stone railing.
"Yeah…it is." He said, looking at her, never once noticing the falls as they stood by the stone fence.
This was one of the most romantic places in the world. He could do it. Ask her out. But when he thought about the breaks spent at New York with her family, the hospitality they offer him - heck, they practically adopted him- and then Iñaki's hugs he froze.
His hand millimeters away from holding hers.
He couldn't risk what he had formed with them…with her if it didn’t worked out.
Instead, he kept his hands in his pockets and he stood next to her watching the water fall.
"Sebastian, if I ask you something. Will you take it seriously?" She said, not even using his nickname. It was rare for her call him Sebastian. She always called him Sebas since they first met in that morning Spanish class years ago when he was a bright-eyed Freshman wanting to find a way to help find a cure for Anne.
"What's up?" He said as they stared at the boats near the bottom of the falls.
The Maid of the Mist gave an up close view to the Falls and he hoped to ride it later tonight again if Iñaki didn't mind how touristy or pricey it was. He saved enough for both of them if she was worried about the money. It was one of the few tourist gimmicks he didn't mind splurging on.
"Marry me."
"What?" He laughed, thinking he hear her wrong. "I'm sorry, I think I misheard you over the roar of the falls-"
"Marry me. You can get a green card through me and you won't have that issue of being rejected because of your international status or worrying about your student visa. You might even get that paid internship you wanted in Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center." She said, her brown eyes sharp and determined. "I know how you're having issues with your international status. That it's a rat race to find a job that could sponsor you, you're still waiting to hear back on possible scholarships and you're uncertain whether you'll either go for a masters or a Ph.D. Of if you can even afford to do that."
He huffed as if those thoughts wasn't something that continuously ran in the background of his mind.
"I know your student visa will expire a year after we graduate. You're still trying to find a way to stay here and you don't want to go back to the U.K. Marry me and we can fix that." Iñaki said as if she didn't hand him his desires on a gold platter to him as she looked at him.
As if he never dreamed what it would be like to be with her.
But she didn't offer marriage out of love.
It was out of friendship. Out of protection.
And being the fool in love, he took his chance.
Not because of the green card or the opportunity to work and stay here like any international student was advised to do (under the table of course. Getting an American S.O. and marrying them was the easiest way to go, or in this case, stay in the US according to his international advisor), but because he didn't want anyone else holding her hand but him.
"Iñaki." He said as he knelt down on one knee as he looked at her seriously and said the words he thought he would never say out of his dreams as he offered her a ring pop -one that she gave him earlier after she got off from work- in his hands to her. "Would you make me the happiest man and marry me?" He said, not even able to make a joke out of this like he usually did as he stared into his eyes. "I promise to make you happy for all of your days and only love you. Just you."
Iñaki snickered before she smiled and squatted to meet him eye-to-eye.
"Yes. Just save this energy when we start our photo documentation. At least this way we can have proof that you're not marrying me out of a green card but for love." She said as he felt his heartbreak as she kissed his cheek. "So, where are we having our first date Sebas?" She grinned, looking at him all excitedly. It was the same look she had when she would make a scheme to figure out how they could make money under the table like offering haircuts, dyeing people's hair or even offering to cook a meal for someone tired from eating at the dining hall and wanted something better. Essentially doing services for anyone who had the cash to spare.
He swallowed the ache in his throat, focusing on the warm feel of her hand as he smiled and stared into her brown eyes. He smiled and stared into her brown eyes as he slide the ring-pop onto her left ring finger.
"Why not right now? Let me treat you tonight- No I'm paying. I know I'm tight on cash, but I'm paying for my girl." He said as he stood up.
"Your girl?" She said amused s she stood up after him.
"Yes, mine. And you are aware you have to kiss me to make this believable, right?" He stated, hoping that she wouldn't be disgusted by that. She never once flirted with him or showed him any romantic interest in all their years of friendship since they met in that Spanish class.
"As long as you don't mind doing the same." She said as she tugged at his collar on her Yankee varsity jacket she lent him tonight. His own jacket was dirtied by a cooking accident earlier and he borrowed her jacket when they went out on a last-minute improv trip to Niagara Falls.
Iñaki pulled him down by the collar towards her, - not that he needed encouragement, this was something he wanted for a long time since Freshmen year, when he started ignoring the butterflies in his stomach. Their faces were millimeters apart. He unconsciously licked his lips staring at her to make the next move. Giving her time as he gave her one more chance to pull back, to pull out of this nonsense they were going to start despite wanting this. He wanted this for a long time.
They studied each other’s faces.
Iñaki leaned in and kissed him.
He kissed back.
Her lips were chapped from the wind, and she tasted sweet as his tongue met hers, all warm and moist. Reminders of the Tim Hortons hot chocolate and sugary donuts they ate earlier after crossing Rainbow Bridge. His hands were suddenly on her hips, feeling the soft curves of her hips for once instead of feeling them hit his with her occasional hip check. She placed her soft hand on his cheek as she rubbed her thumb on his chin. He smelled coffee, pastries and black tea on her -a remainder scent of her Starbucks work shift she had earlier- as she suddenly held his jaw as if he was the most precious thing in the world.
Even after work, her hands were so soft and smelt like that lavender vanilla hand sanitizer (or was it the lotion?) that he got her from Bath and Body Works last week.
He understood why cats would purr when they were petted under their chin as she rubbed her thumbs under his jaw.
It was a short, chaste and heated five second kiss.
Then her tongue pulled back, followed by her head as she ended their kiss as she bent back to look at him.
Their first kiss he was dreaming of since their first trip to Niagara Falls back when they were freshmen, looking to relax after their second midterm exam. That night was sealed in his memories as he recalled the way she laughed at his joke with the snow falling around her and the colorful lights from the Falls light show bouncing off her, like she was a prism of light.
It was as if time stopped and he wondered if maybe he should risk it. Risk everything that made him feel safe since he met her.
"I'm certain you didn't bomb that exam Sebastian." Iñaki then snorted, as reality hit him as he remembered why they were even there. She spent her paycheck she made that week to cheer him up on the fact that he might have bombed the exam after knocking out in the middle of the test. Too many all-nighter finally got to him that exam night.
He risked too much that week and failed that second midterm and now his full ride scholarship was on the line.
While he didn't lose it, it was a reminder to try to keep himself ground in reality.
But actually kissing her like this, in one of the most romantic places on Earth, like he was someone worthy of it, of love, made his mind fly in the clouds before she said:
"I think this will be our biggest scheme yet." She grinned with mischievous eyes as reality hit him as he came crashing down back on Earth.
He blinked and bit his tongue, the pain bringing his mind to a focus that allowed him to get that full ride scholarship all those years ago when he was a Year 13 student.
Sebastian didn't lose his full ride scholarship after his failed midterm.
"Definitely. Looking forward to being Mrs. Sallow, Yank?" He said playfully, matching her tone as his heart bounced against its cage of friendship he put there long ago.
And he wasn't going to lose his mind over her newest plan.
"Mrs. Sallow? Why not Mr. Martinez?" She giggled as he accepted his fate as she kissed him again on his lips.
He was going to lose his heart.
"Why not hyphenate it then?" He smirked as he returned her kiss.
"Hmm...I think Martinez-Cariaga-Sallow will be too long for us Sebas." Iñaki snickered, as if he told a funny joke.
And he was okay with it.
"Hmm, we'll figure something out. In the meanwhile, that was a terrible kiss, we should practice it. We need to be as PDA as naturally possible for that documentation you were talking about of course." He said as she leaned in, ready for him. Ready to put her scheme into action.
He was already doomed to love his best friend, his kindred spirit, who didn't love him back.
And like a fool, he kissed her, accepting her newest scheme for her to marry him under the guise to get him a green card.
While for him, it was a guise to call her his.
This definitely had to be his dumbest idea yet.
