For it being two in the morning, the dimly lit streets were still abuzz with people. They only had to walk a block or so, but Sebastian had noticed people looking their direction as they made their way to his car. Most days, he wasn't opposed to stopping to say hi to fans, but he had hoped and prayed no one would try and interrupt them in their short distance to the car. He didn't have any way to try and disguise himself, as he had ran out the door so quickly, not thinking of grabbing a hat during his flustered exit from his house earlier.

He sighed in relief as they reached his car, unlocking it as he grabbed the door handle.

He helped Rylee climb into the passenger seat carefully as Alexa got into the backseat. He could have swore he saw a camera flash or two, but he ignored it.

He jogged around the front of the car and hopped into the driver seat, pulling carefully into the still surprising traffic of Brighton Beach Avenue.

As they began driving he reached over to find Rylee's hand, immediately lacing his fingers with hers when they touched, rubbing his thumb on the side of her hand. The beginning of their ride was almost silent, the only sound in the car being the distant sounds of the quiet radio. After a few short minutes, Sebastian snuck a quick glance over at Rylee and noticed she was fast asleep, head lulled to the side in peaceful slumber. He was always impressed by her ability to fall asleep wherever, whenever.

Sebastian then looked in the rear view mirror towards Alexa. He became concerned when he saw her facial expression as she stared out the window. She looked like she was on the verge of tears in the lights reflected from the streets.

"Hey Lex..." Sebastian said gently, glancing between the road and her in the rear view mirror, "you alright?"

She looked up to the rear view mirror and threw on what was obviously a fake smile, "yeah, yeah. I'm fine."

Sebastian didn't buy it for a second. He gave her a stern look through the mirror, but looked back toward the red light they had just stopped at. "What is it Lex? Come on..."

She sighed, running her hand through her auburn hair. "I dunno Seb. I just feel...worthless.." she admitted, staring out the window. There was still a glisten of tears in her eyes from the streetlights shining in.

Sebastian did a double take into the rear view mirror. Did he really hear her say that? How could she feel that way when she had just kept the person nearest and dearest to his heart from having a complete mental break down, spiraling with no return.

"W-what? Alexa, why would you say that?" Sebastian stuttered out in shock, hating that he had to focus on the traffic in front of him as the light turned green.

"Because I couldn't help. And it came out of nowhere. I'm still not sure what happened." She wiped away a stray tear as she continued, "We were at work, laughing, having an enjoyable time, and then she said she had to head to the back for something. A few minutes went by and then I saw her rushing out the side door, past the front window with her purse, heading toward the subway."

She took a heaving breath as she continued, staring out the window as she spoke.

"Luckily I happened to see her in that split second. I told Johnny I'd be back and that I was going to check on her, and by the time I caught up to her, she was already down here, sitting on a bench on the platform with her head in her hands." She paused momentarily, "She's had panic attacks before...but hasn't for a good while. This was more than that though. Way more."

Sebastian nodded, stopping at another red light. He turned to face her, taking his hand from Rylee's sleeping grip and placing it on Alexa's knee. He held her eye contact genuinely and said, "You did everything right. Honestly, Lex. Knowing what happened at the moment wouldn't have helped anyway. You kept her safe. That is what matters."

Alexa shrugged and nodded, not fully believing the words he was saying.

"Thank you for calling me. I'm glad I was finally home and able to answer." Sebastian said as he turned himself back forward. Seeing the light change to green, he eased on the gas.

"I was afraid you would still be away, honestly. Ry had mentioned earlier that you had called her this morning from the airport mentioning layovers. She said you weren't supposed to be back now until tomorrow afternoon."

"Yeah, all that plane shit was such a joke." He said, shaking his head. "But honestly, from the bottom of my heart. Thank you for always being there for her."

As he finished his sentence, he had pulled up outside of Alexa's apartment building, putting the car in park and turned around to look at her again, nodding to solidify the end of his sentence.

She nodded in return, "Always. She's my best friend. I'd go to the ends of the earth for that girl." She smiled weakly as she got out of the car. She bent over and looked Sebastian in the eye seriously, "I need a call tomorrow from either you or her. I'm still worried..." She gripped her purse, attempting to keep it from sliding off her shoulder, "Keep me updated. I love you guys."

"We love you too, Lex." He smiled in return. He gave her a small wave as she shut the door. He waited for her to be let in by the man at the front desk before he put the car in drive and pulled away, continuing the drive back to his own apartment.

He reached back over to relace his fingers with Rylee's, which, even while fast asleep, she gripped tightly, causing a sad smile to stretch across his lips.

After a few more minutes of driving in the near silent car, he finally pulled into his own street, putting the car in park and killing the engine. He got out, shutting his door as quietly as he could and walked around the front of the car to get to Rylee's side. He opened her door and put his hand on Rylee's shoulder gently rubbing it, "Hey you, we're home. Rise and shine."

She groaned and mumbled his direction, just wishing to sleep. When she slept, she slept. She hated being woken up. He smirked and rolled his eyes. He reached across her to unbuckle her from the seat, grabbing her purse along the way swinging it over his shoulder. He scooped up her small frame from the seat and used his hip to shut her door. She snuggled into his chest and let out a relaxed sigh, breathing in his cologne.

Luckily the doorman, Shawn, saw them coming and quickly jogged toward the door from the service desk to open it for them. "Good..." he checked his watch for the time, "morning, Mr. Stan? Ms. Summers? He stated in a quiet questioning manner when he realized the woman in his arms was asleep.

Sebastian smiled and nodded at the man as he walked through the open door. "Thank you, Shawn." He whispered in return. He had told Shawn countless times that he didn't have to be so formal and he could call them by their first names, but he always insisted.

Shawn followed him the last dozen or so steps through the lobby to push the button for the elevator. Sebastian also asked Shawn to help prep his key in his hand for when he got upstairs.

"Thanks again, Shawn. Have a good rest of the..night? Morning? Whatever it is." Sebastian lightly chuckled as he entered the elevator. Shawn pushed the number 7 inside for him.

"You too, sir." Shawn responded as the elevator door shut between them.

--------------------

Soon the elevator opened on his floor. He made his way to his door and opened it surprisingly easily. He continued carrying Rylee toward his bedroom. He walked through the doorway and made a beeline towards the bed. He laid her down gently, though she put up a small fight of letting go of his t-shirt as he tried to straighten back up. He huffed a small laugh, shaking his head, and grabbed her hand gently, releasing her grasp from him.

He threw his keys into the bowl on his bedside table, along with his wallet. He then turned back to Rylee, fully taking in her sleeping form. If he hadn't seen her just half an hour earlier, he wouldn't have imagined how rough of an evening she just had. She looked so peaceful, breathing in lightly as she dozed.

He quickly worked on removing her shoes, and sighed, running his hands through his thick hair, sad that he knew he had to momentarily wake her up to get her to take out her contacts. He would've left them be, but he knows how miserable she'll be the next day if she leaves them in.

He walked lightly over to the bathroom and grabbed her contact case and filled the small sections with solution, leaving it on the counter for her. He then walked back, dreading having to wake her up.

He shook her shoulder gently, laying a kiss on her forehead, "Hey Ryles, you've gotta wake up for a minute..."

She grumbled in response, but slowly opened her eyes, looking at him.

"You've gotta take your contacts out, hun." He whispered.

She nodded, rubbing her eyes and rolling out of bed, padding quickly to the bathroom. Still half asleep, she quickly and efficiently took out her contacts and strolled right back to bed, curling up on her side, putting out an arm sleepily with grabby hands, signaling for Sebastian to join her.

He stood there for a moment sending Alexa a text to let her know they made it back to his place. While he did so, she stuck her arm out further, grabbing at his pant leg and pulling him closer, whispering the word "please".

He shook his head with a smile yet again. She was so damn cute and predictable. He put his phone down on the table. He thought of changing his clothes but decided against it, So he laid down in bed next to her. She quickly cuddled in, resting her head on his chest and laying her arm across his toned abs.

Though his stomach knotted a bit knowing they would have to talk about all of this in the morning, he relaxed into the bed knowing Rylee was safe and in his arms and that they would handle whatever happened together. At that final thought he began to drift to sleep.