Sterling

As he watched Scott look around himself, before heading to the right of the library, Sterling became momentarily transfixed—Scott was short, probably around five-two, but in that moment, the way Scott held all of Sterling’s attention, it felt like he was the tallest person there. Dark grey slacks clung to his slim legs, and a pale green button-down shirt showed off his equally slim chest… Sterling had been so focused on the fact that Randall hadn’t taken over Scott’s body, that he hadn’t taken the time to appreciate how handsome the shorter man was. As Sterling watched Scott’s hair flutter in the light wind, he wondered what it would feel like to run his fingers through the thick strands…

“Sterling!” Connor shouted, bringing him out of the weird trance he’d been in. His laptop already packed away in his man-bag, Connor was standing, ready to move, glaring down at Sterling.

He’d spent so much time in his weird trance, thinking about Scott, that Sterling had missed the two motorbikes riding on the footpath, getting closer and closer to Scott. The severity of the situation finally kicked in; Sterling took off running towards Scott, shouting over his shoulder to Connor, “Get the car!”

Getting Connor out of the way meant Sterling didn’t have to worry about him too.

“Scott!” Sterling yelled as he got closer. “Get down!”

Their eyes locked for the briefest of moments before Scott hit the ground. The first biker missed him by only a few inches. The next biker must have hit something on the ground, because as he reached down to grab for Scott, his bike fell from under him, and his body rolled towards Sterling. He would’ve liked to have stopped to interrogate the biker, but his main focus was on Scott.

“Hey,” Sterling said when he finally reached Scott. He didn’t take his eyes off the biker though as the guy got to his feet. Looking toward where Sterling stood protectively beside Scott—both bikers had been wearing helmets, so Sterling didn’t know what either of them looked like—the biker didn’t seem to like his chances anymore and took off running in the opposite direction.

The street Scott had walked down was less used by pedestrians—thankfully—so there was no one around who’d witnessed the attempted kidnapping and called the police.

“Are they gone?” Scott asked, looking up and down the street as he climbed back to his feet.

“Yeah… Are you okay?” Sterling asked, giving Scott’s body a quick glance to make sure he hadn’t hurt himself.

Scott shrugged his shoulders. “I think so.”

Visually assessing him, Sterling noted Scott was calm; he wasn’t shaking, and throughout the whole commotion he hadn’t let go of the bag he’d put Randall’s book in.

Hearing a vehicle behind them, Scott jumped.

“It’s okay, it’s just Connor,” Sterling assured him as Connor stopped the car beside them. Unsure of how to broach the subject of asking Scott to go with them again, Sterling only managed to stare at the side of Scott’s head.

“Are you two gonna stand there all day?” Connor asked after putting the window down. “Everyone’s at home waiting for us.”

Scott looked from Connor, to Sterling, then to where the lone motorbike was still laying in the street.

“Scott,” Sterling spoke quietly; seeing the conflict on Scott’s face, Sterling knew he had to say something, “you’re not in any danger from us, I promise. We just came here to help you.”

Taking one last look at the bike, Scott opened the back door to the car and slid onto the seat. Sterling got in beside him.

It didn’t take long before Connor had driven them out of the city and onto the rural roads leading to their home. Scott hadn’t said a word since he got into the car with them, and it was making Sterling feel a little uneasy.

“Scott,” Sterling started, “are you—”

“I only have an hour for my lunch…” Scott said suddenly, like he’d just remembered he could speak.

“Hmm,” Connor hummed, “well, maybe you could text your boss and say you forgot you have a doctor’s appointment to go to, so your lunch is gonna be a little longer.” Before Connor had finished talking Scott had his phone out of his pocket and was typing on it.

A ping sounded from Scott’s phone, and he sighed as he read it.

“Is your boss wanting a doctor’s note?” Connor asked, looking through the rear-view mirror at Scott.

Scott looked up at him. “Yeah…”

“That’s okay, I’ll get you one,” Connor promised.

Sterling frowned. Connor was a sarcastic little shit to everyone in the coven, but to Scott he seemed to be bending over backwards to be nice to him.

The rest of the drive was silent.

As Connor manoeuvred the car into the driveway of their house, Sterling saw Emmitt, Preston, and Violet standing on the doorstep, waiting. They all looked eager, but also a little confused.

“I called Emmitt while I was running to the car,” Connor explained, meeting Sterling’s eyes in the rear-view mirror. “Told him we’d be bringing Scott home. Natasha should be here soon, too.”

“Are you going to explain to me about who those bikers were?” Scott asked as Connor stopped the car.

Turning in his seat, Connor nodded his head and smiled—again, Sterling was confused by how genuinely nice Connor was being. “Yeah…there’s a lot we need to explain to you.”

Seeming happy with Connor’s answer, Scott got out of the car.

Connor turned to Sterling and whispered, “Well, so far so good,” before he got out of the car, too.