"So, let me get this straight. You two are Cupids. Like those winged babies that fly around and shoot arrows at people. Except you're dead."

"Yep."

"So, you're ghost Cupids."

"Uh—"

"And you needed to match one couple each...but ended up mismatching everyone in that room including the person I'm matched with."

"That's the easiest version we can give you."

"...Bullshit."

Scarlett rolled her eyes as Sebastian pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. Once the effects eventually wore off, the teenagers were left in a state of confusion as to why they had acted the way they did, leaving Mr. Redford in a satisfyingly awkward silence during the rest of detention with his Coke and burger. They all practically bolted the minute it was over, but the two Cupids made sure Samuel didn't run away and now they were sitting in the front of the school at a picnic table trying to convince him that they were exactly what they said they were.

"Give me some proof," Samuel said flatly.

"We don't have time, man." Sebastian's tone was impatient and Scarlett could see that he was regretting asking the boy for help in the first place. "You just need to trust us."

Before Samuel could say anything, Scarlett leaned forward and took his hand in hers. Both boys were surprised at the gesture, but she ignored it and began to speak.

"If I were a normal teenager, you can believe that the last thing I'd want to be doing right now is making other people fall in love. But, we're real life Cupids and it's our job. We just want your help to make it a little easier."

"We don't know the school, the teachers, the community." Sebastian chimed in. "You just have to get us in with the people and straighten it all out and then you're free to make out with the love of your life. Good deal, huh?"

Samuel shrugged.

"I don't really believe in that stuff."

"What stuff?"

"Love."

"You're joking. You. The boy who looks like he lives for poetry slams and pouring his heart out to a bunch of random strangers who snap their fingers—"

"Okaaaay, I'm just gonna talk to him for a sec!" Scarlett's reassuring smile disappeared once she dragged Sebastian away from the picnic table.

"What are you doing?"

"Sorry, but you have to agree with me, he looks like the emo version of Dr. Suess."

"Seb, you're killing me here." She snapped. "It was your idea to get him to help us and you're not helping!"

"In my defense, he's the one wearing a black turtleneck in hundred degree weather—"

"Okay, stop, stop." Scarlett sucked in a deep breath. "Look, maybe he isn't the one. We can try to get someone else or just do it ourselves like we intended to do—"

"No, hold on! He can help us!"

"Tell me how he's gonna help fix anything if he doesn't believe in the very thing that makes us what we are!" She hissed.

"Why don't you like him?" Sebastian blurted.

He had no idea what the answer to that question would have accomplished, but he was grasping at straws because his partner didn't seem to be very confident in him and the idea was slipping.

"It's not that I don't like him, it's that you decided to make him be a part of this whole thing without even asking me!" Scarlett admitted, annoyed at him for picking at an irrelevant issue.

"So you're mad at me?"

She took in a deep breath and shook her head.

"You know what, do it the way you want, I don't care anymore."

"That's weird coming from the person who dropped the stupid jar."

He immediately regretted his words at the furious look on Scarlett's face.

"Me? You're the dumbass who made me drop it! If you had a brain cell big enough to think, we wouldn't be in this situation!"

"Scarlett—"

"Don't!" She snapped as he reached out to her. "I'm leaving."

"You don't know where the house is!"

"I'll figure it out!"

Sebastian watched as she stomped away through the school's front gate, her heels kicking up dust as she rounded the block and out of his view.

It was weird.

From the moment they woke up, they'd never really been apart and he felt strangely empty with Scarlett gone.

"You aren't gonna go after her?"

He turned to see Samuel sitting on top of the table with an oh well kind of expression on his face.

Sebastian sighed.

"I need to let her cool off."

It had been his idea and he was going to see it through. He moved to sit beside Samuel and they both gazed out at the empty highway, the occasional car laden down with surfboards or a truck jam-packed with kids in the trunk lumbering last lazily.

"Ya know, it doesn't matter if you believe in love or not. Hell, I'm a Cupid and I don't even know what love is." He began. "I guess what I'm really asking is not to believe in what we are, but to believe that we need your help."

"Why are you asking me?" Samuel asked curiously.

At first, he seemed fairly sure the pair was on drugs, but now he didn't know if that was the case. The boy looked genuinely distressed and Samuel, although he had his moments, didn't like not helping others especially if they really needed it.

Maybe they are telling the truth, he thought.

"Honestly? I have no idea."

♡♡♡

Knock, knock, knock.

Scarlett said nothing and turned a page of her book. When the knocks came again, she rolled out of bed and yanked the door open. Sebastian stood there with a sheepishly penitent expression.

"What?"

He flinched at her coldness, but her blank face remained the same.

"So...Samuel agreed to help." He began lamely.

"Okay."

"I let him know...about everyone's situation and yours, too."

"Okay."

"Scarlett—"

"I heard you, Sebastian. Go to sleep."

With that being said, the girl closed her door.

He leaned his forehead against the wood and stayed there for a short moment before turning and walking back to his room.

Sebastian was frustrated at himself and didn't blame Scarlett for being angry with him. It had been his fault after all and she had taken the heat for it, so to hear him blame her for their current situation...well, he wouldn't be surprised if she didn't talk to him for a couple of days, but that didn't make him feel any better. Within the time they had spent together, Sebastian found her presence comfortable and familiar. Having her around made him feel safe, feel like he could tackle the world because they were a duo that just worked.

He pushed open his door and flopped onto his bed with a deep sigh, hands behind his head and eyes closed.

"Women troubles?"

"Aghh! What the—"

Dawson was sitting in the window seat, wings tucked away and phone in hand as he looked up at the startled boy.

"That sounded like a devastating sigh, man." He said with a pitiful look.

"Don't you have your own room?" Sebastian demanded.

"Yeah, but it doesn't have a window seat facing the beach. You and Scarlett took the good rooms," the Cupid made a grumbling noise before standing up.

"I really need to sleep. School, remember?"

"I'll get out of your hair, then. But, ya know, you can always talk to me if something's bothering you. Especially when it comes to," he cleared his throat, "love. I am, after all, a Superior Cupid Agent."

"I don't have any love troubles. Now, can you get out?"

"Whatever, kid. You don't wanna admit it, that's fine, but it'll catch up to you," he said as he moved over to the door. Sebastian leaned up on his elbows to shoot him a wary glance.

"What'll catch up to me?" He asked.

"Love. It always bites you in the ass when you least expect it."

Dawson smirked and disappeared, closing the door behind him.
The boy scoffed and laid back down to stare at the ceiling while deep in thought. As a Cupid, it was his duty to make others fall in love, but how was he supposed to do that when he himself believed the concept to be false?

♡♡♡

SLAM!

"Hey! Young lady, you get back here!"

Scarlett groaned in annoyance before turning around.

"You see this?" Dawson patted the wheel of his car and Kat rolled her eyes. "This is a 1967 Chevrolet Impala. A masterpiece. A badass Cupid on wheels. My baby from another life. So, don't go slamming the car doors like a little savage!" He exclaimed loudly when she began to walk away.

Sebastian got out and carefully closed his door, turning to see that Scarlett had disappeared in the melee of teenagers lingering around the front of the school.

"The silent treatment is still going strong." Kat pointed out.

"Don't worry," the sleek black vehicle rumbled to life as Dawson turned the key, "she'll get over it...eventually."

The boy gripped the strap of his book bag and watched the Impala slowly roll out to the highway before speeding off. Scarlett still hadn't said a word to him since their fight, her icy exterior at breakfast making it clear he wasn't to approach her in any way, and it was weighing heavily on his mind. He began to walk towards the main office, digging out the file of matches at the same time when a solid someone crashed into him, knocking the folder to the ground.

"Watch it!" He growled, quickly kneeling down to gather the papers when a hand held out the manila folder.

"Sorry about that, man."

A boy with light brown hair and blue eyes had an embarrassed grin on his face as Sebastian took it from him, stuffing all of the papers inside carelessly before he could see what was on them. Instant recognition clicked in his head and he pointed at the boy.

"You're Liam. Liam Goodman," he said.

"That's me. And you're the new kid, right? Sebastian. I saw you in detention the other day."

"Yup. Thanks for the help—"

"Hey, wait," Liam blocked him before he could walk away, "I can show you around if you're still a little iffy about where everything is. Can I see your schedule?"

Liam laughed at his confused expression.

"What, you lost your schedule already?"

"Yeah...lost it." Sebastian muttered, scratching his neck.

"Come on, I'll take you to the office."

The boy gestured to follow him and the Cupid reluctantly did so, weaving through students while keeping an eye out for his partner. If he needed a schedule, didn't Scarlett need one, too? His own question was answered when they reached the office and she was nowhere to be found.

She probably got hers already, he thought begrudgingly.

Once the secretary at the desk had given him a copy, he and Liam made their way towards the main school buildings.

"Looks like we have homeroom together." The boy said cheerfully. "Funny, I never noticed you in class before. So, where are you from?"

"Washington." Sebastian said, naming the first state that popped up in his mind. "What about you? Born and raised here?"

Liam nodded.

"Pretty much. It's just me and my mom, though." He replied absentmindedly.

"Oh. Sorry."

Sebastian cursed at himself for sounding so awkward, but Liam only shrugged.

"My dad's not dead." His smile faded a little. "He's just...not here."

Suddenly, a shrill bell pierced the air and the lagging stream of students grew faster, pushing the boys along the hallway before Liam pulled Sebastian to the side and into a very colorful classroom. The teacher was a middle-aged woman with wild dark hair and curiously crazy eyes that greeted them as they walked in.

"Hmmm," she peered at Sebastian, "your aura is amazingly pink."

"Morning, Ms. Wilkes!" Liam chirped, drawing her attention away from the Cupid.

"Liam, my darling! Did you know George Washington had dentures made out of cow, hippopotamus and walrus teeth?"

"Uh...no."

"Well, now you know. It's a good day for teeth."

She laughed and Sebastian watched her flounce away in amazement when Jasper and Samuel walked into the room.

"Just the guy I was looking for," Jasper faked a punch to Liam's abdomen and the boy laughed, pushing at him as they began to wrestle with each other to their desks.

Sebastian watched them with a scowl he didn't even know he was wearing until Samuel snickered by his side.

"What?"

"Nothing. I mean, if looks could kill." Samuel shrugged.

"Whatever."

"I'm serious, it's like you're trying to shoot lasers through his skull. What's up with...," the boy narrowed his eyes at Jasper before it clicked in his head. "That's right. Your girlfriend got matched to him on accident, didn't she?"

"She's not my girlfriend," Sebastian snapped, sitting at a desk in the back and Samuel following to sit next to him.

"You mean to tell me you're a Cupid that's in love and won't even admit it?" He asked teasingly.

"Jasper's paired to a girl named Stella Bridges." Sebastian explained, eager to change the subject. "That's the first match we'll work on."

"Because your girlfriend was—"

"Samuel, shut up."

♡♡♡

it's been awhile.

dawson has his impala.
his life is good rn.