Fear. Worry. Anxiety.

Those were only a few words to describe how Sebastian felt, as he carefully pushed away the few stray hairs on Mia's face.

He was sitting in the backseat of his car, with Mia's head resting on his lap, her body curled up on the rest of the leather seat, with his suit jacket draped over her like a blanket.

Helpless.

Sebastian had never felt anything like this before, this sheer panic that ran deep within his both and tugged at every string in his chest. He didn't understand it but he sure as hell wasn't going to ponder over it, or at least not when her unconscious body was in his car.

Angry.

There was so much anger and rage coursing through him as well. As soon as he saw that look in those men's eyes, their perverse gaze, lingering on Mia. He wanted to kill them. He completely lost it when they touched her and worse, hurt her. They hurt her.

Sebastian needed answers and took his phone out from his trouser pocket, and dialled Blake's number.

"You fucking prick! These are the guys you sent? I thought-" Sebastian cursed through the phone as soon as Blake picked up.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Easy man, I didn't send anyone," he then replied.

Hearing his words, Sebastian wasn't even sure on what to feel.

"What?" He asked.

"Didn't you get my message? I told you, abort plan. The guys I met with, had a dirty hangover, and they said weren't coming," Blake then said.

"Oh, fück." Sebastian breathed out. He felt like such an utter moron. Why the hell didn't he check his messages? Why did he leave? If he hadn't then none of this would've happened.

"Why? What's going on?" Blake asked in concern.

"I-I didn't know about the message. I brought Mia to the site anyway and-" Sebastian stuttered through his words. He just couldn't get the words out, he felt as if he were being constricted.

Sebastian never stuttered and so Blake knew that something had gone wrong. Really wrong.

"I left her in the unlocked car as part of the plan, but-" he paused, "I went away and then these men, I think they harassed her. She came running to me, they weren't...they hurt her."

"Fück. Is she okay? Are you okay?" He asked frantically.

"She's...Mia's unconscious. They slapped her and she fell and hit her head. I'm waiting for her to wake up," Sebastian told Blake.

Every second she didn't wake up, it was terrifying him.

"And you?" Blake asked.

Sebastian let out a deep breath. "A little hurt, but I don't really care about that. This wasn't meant to happen. She wasn't supposed to be harmed," he gritted out.

He was so mad at himself, he had half a mind to get those men to hurt him more. He was deserving of that pain.

"Fuck man, I didn't know that my message didn't get through. I should've tried harder-" Blake began to ramble.

"It's okay. I-I just...I'll call you later," Sebastian said and cut the call after telling Blake to just come over to his place, rather than him come here.

Mia stirred slightly, as she felt someone stroke her hair affectionately and hold her close to something warm.

Sebastian saw Mia move slightly, with sounds of incoherent mumbles leaving her lips.

"Mia? Open your eyes, love. Please," he pleaded.

As she heard someone call out to her, Mia's eyes fluttered open and a slight groan left her.

All that she felt was pain as she tried to remember if she was run over by a lorry, since that was what her body seemed to be telling her.

Mia then realised why she felt like this and remembered everything that happened. The men, running away from them, the beating and...

"Sebastian?"

His name left her lips in a groggy tone, as she blinked a few times to get her blurred vision back to normal.

He saw her eyed fluttering open and a sigh of relief left him. "It's me. You're safe, you're okay. I got you," he tried to reassure her.

Mia stirred a bit more and then realised the position she was in, as Sebastian's concerned face hovered over her. She made a move to sit up and Sebastian helped her with her movements, despite his own injuries and handed over her glasses.

"What happened?" Mia murmured as she sat up now and then finally noticed that they were in the back seat of the car and it was only the two of them.

Sebastian sighed. "You fell. One of the men hit you and you fell and hit your head. After I saw you like that, I-I just couldn't take it. Something just snapped in me and I fought them. Took them all on, until I knew that they wouldn't get up anytime soon."

Mia's eyes widened. She wasn't sure how long she'd been out but after hearing that Sebastian fought four grown men up, shocked her.

He barely remembered the fight with those men, the only thing he knew was that he was scared out of his mind, especially when finally held her and she was limp within his arms.

He'd already called someone that his Dad would hire, when there were security issues within the company. He wanted this handled discreetly, so that Mia's name wasn't brought into it and she wouldn't have any trouble. They could handle the men and give them over to the police.

"Are you okay?" Mia then asked him.

She felt concerned as her eyes drifted over his bruised and battered face. His blazer was around her, like a blanket, and she could see his white shirt was now dirty and blood-stained.

Sebastian was taken aback by her question. The last thing she expected her to ask.

"Me?" He questioned.

"They hurt you," Mia stated.

"Barely," Sebastian said and then looked at Mia with a guilt-ridden expression. "I'm so sorry."

Mia frowned. "It's not your fault-"

"No, it is," he told her adamantly.

"What are you talking about?" Mia asked him.

She didn't understand how he could blame himself? Yes, it was him who brought her to the place, but no one could've guessed this would happen.

Sebastian took a deep breath, knowing soon as he releases it, he's going to have to tell her the awful truth.

"Before I tell you this, please know that I never meant for any of this to happen," he told her and Mia dreaded what he was going to say.

"I brought you here, with the intention to prank you. A couple of guys from university were meant to come and intimidate you, that's all. They weren't even going to touch you, just unnerve you, I would then help you, and in return for my favour, you'd have to quit. That was the plan."

"However, these weren't the guys. Blake tried to call me and tell me that they weren't coming, but I never got those messages. I swear, I didn't. These men, I didn't even know they would appear. I promise you, Mia, this wasn't supposed to happen. You were never meant to get hurt," he confessed.

Mia's eyes just widened from the new information.

After a brief pause, she realised this wasn't a joke and he was telling her the truth.

"I don't-" she began to say, unsure of the words she even wanted to say. All she could do was try and process all that he'd just told her.

Sebastian winced internally after hearing her voice sound so soft and lost, it just made him realise how horrible this all was, and he had caused it.

"I'm so sorry, Mia" he apologised.

The silence in the car was almost deafening and with each fleeting moment, Sebastian just felt horrible inside.

"Take me home," Mia then said, as she turned away from him and looked ahead.

A wave of guilt crashed into his chest, almost unbearable, as he saw Mia look away from him. He had never meant for things to get this far and definitely didn't think that actual bad guys would show up. A minor scare was all he wanted, not this.

He didn't care about his own injuries, but felt worse about Mia having some too. The look of fear and sheer panic she had on her face earlier, was haunting.

"Mia, I-,"

"Take. Me. Home." Mia gritted out.

Sebastian stopped himself from saying anything further and wordlessly nodded. He obliged with her request and made a move to get out the back seat and behind the wheel.

The car journey back was completed in dead silence with no words being spoken between the two. Sebastian occasionally took a quick glance at Mia whilst driving, to check up on her, but all she did was stare out into the road, holding Sebastian's blazer tightly around her.

The painful silence between them bothered him. He wanted her to yell at him, hit him, throw a shoe at him. Just something, anything. He knew that what he did was terrible, but he'd rather Mia hit him than not say or do anything.

As the car came to a stop outside Mia's flat, Sebastian opened his mouth to speak. However, before he could utter a word, Mia had already unbuckled herself and got out of his car, and closed the door behind her.

Sebastian didn't want her to leave without offering her a better apology or without even hearing her say a word.

He then got out of the car too and despite his injuries, ran towards Mia.

"Mia, please! Listen to me," he called after after, but she didn't turn around.

Just as she was about to enter the building, Sebastian grabbed her wrist to turn her around.

Mia refused turn back, not when she was so angry, but when she felt Sebastian grab her wrist, she did the one thing her brother taught her to do...she punched him.

Sebastian stumbled back from her mean right hook, which hit him right in his bruised jaw, not that he cared. He knew he deserved it and much more.

"You're an arsehole for even thinking of pulling a cheap trick like that to scare me," she said.

Sebastian nodded. He knew he was at fault here and there was no denying it. The anger that he saw in Mia's eyes was completely justified and he deserved it.

"I know, I-," he began to reply but Mia raised her hand to stop him.

"I'm not done," she said and shoved him back. "You're a real piece of shit."

Sebastian winced at her words and looked down ashamedly, like a small child who had just told by their parent, that they were disappointed.

"You're a prick. A dickhead. A shithead. A knob." She cursed at him and with each insult, smacked him in the chest, and Sebastian just stood there and bared it.

"You're a complete and utter, horrid, foul beast!" She said, after she ran out of things to call him. She never really cursed this much before.

Sebastian tilted his head. "Beast?"

"Don't. I'm mad at you. Don't question my insults," she warned him and Sebastian felt his lips twitch but stopped himself from smiling.

"This was the most dumbest plan, you could have ever come up with. Then to make it worse, your plan was cancelled without you knowing and we both ended up getting hurt!" She snapped.

Sebastian winced. "I'm sorry."

There was again that painful silence between them, as Sebastian's head hung low in guilt.

Mia then sighed. "Thank you."

At his, Sebastian's head snapped up at her words. "You're thanking me? It was because of me that you got hurt," he said in disbelief.

"Yeah, I'm not so thrilled that I got hurt," she said and then took a deep, calming breath. "But I also know that if it wasn't for you being there, things would've turned out a lot worse for me."

Mia had spent the ride back processing what Sebastian had told her and what had actually happened. She understood from not only his words, but his reaction to the situation, that this wasn't meant to happen. It wasn't meant to go this way. It wasn't his intention.

She was hurt, but she could've been hurt a lot worse, if not for Sebastian being there. There was no way that she could overpower four men and still didn't quite understand how he managed to either. Had he just left her, everything could have been a lot more severe.

Whether she wanted to accept it or not, he saved her and protected her. He was her shield in that terrible moment and she was thankful for that.

"Are you okay?" Mia then asked him, his wounds standing out against his skin.

Sebastian couldn't help but scoff. "I can't believe you're actually worrying about me," he said. He didn't understand what she was made out of.

"If those men had overpowered you then you could've been seriously hurt, you knob," she told him, a softer expression on her face.

"How are you being so..." he didn't even know which word to choose to describe her, there were so many to choose from. Kind. Caring. Sweet.

This was probably what Diana was talking about. The girl that everyone, including him, thought Mia was, the desperate attention seeker or manipulative or vindictive girl, that wasn't her, at least not the one standing in front of him now.

"Don't think I'm not concerned for myself," Mia told him. "I'm scared and shaken up after it all, which I presume was your intention at the start."

Sebastian frowned at her words. It was the bitter truth. That was his intention before, but now he just hated himself for ever agreeing to a go through with a plan like that.

"As much as I know you hate me, I don't think you would actually intend to cause me physical harm, which is why I'm not going raging, psychotic bitch on you," Mia smiled.

He really couldn't understand how after all of this, she was still smiling at him.

His eyes glanced towards her lips, which had been busted slightly from where that bastard had hit her, the area around her cheek was also red. She even had a slight bump forming, from where she'd hit her head and fallen.

"You got hurt because of me," he mentioned with a frown.

"Again, you're a twat for that, but it should heal. Hopefully without scarring," Mia told him.

Sebastian winced at the thought of scars on her, because of him.

Only he didn't think about scars not only being physical.

Mia's eyes looked over his injuries, from his bloodied lip, to his bruised jaw, and the dried blood near his eyebrow. She was certain there were more injuries.

Her hand, as if having a mind of it's own, reached up and placed itself on Sebastian's bruised cheek gently.

Sebastian's breath hitched slightly from just her mere touch, but he tried to keep an impassive look.

"Don't be a dickhead, put some ice on your face, okay?" Mia told with a smile, before removing her hand.

Sebastian felt a sudden loss of warmth, when she removed her hand and found himself resisting the urge to take her hand and place it back against his cheek once more.

He couldn't help but noticed the way her brown eyes shone when she smile, her eyes crinkling behind those glasses of hers. Thankfully he'd managed to find them after and they were still in good shape, maybe a slight scratch on them.

"Being nice to each other is weird," he mumbled.

Mia laughed at his words, a sound that caused Sebastian to crack a smile as well.

"Let's hit pause for now. We'll get back to hating each other in the office," Mia then said.

However, Sebastian didn't want to go back to hating her or even disliking her. Not now. But he wouldn't tell her that.

"You don't have to come in tomorrow," Sebastian said.

Mia laughed again. "You're funny if you actually think I'm coming in tomorrow. I'm taking a couple of personal days, which you'll still pay me for," she said with a cheeky smile.

He found himself unable to refuse her, not that he wanted to anyway. Not when she smiled at him like that.

"Deal," he agreed.

"I'll see you later," Sebastian said and then turned around to go back towards his car.

Part of him just wanted to stay in the moment and not leave. He worried that they would lose this once they get back to the office and weirdly, he didn't want that.

"Sebastian?" Mia called out, and he turned back.

"Yeah?" He asked cautiously.

"Goodnight," she smiled at him.

Sebastian took a second to memorise her standing there, against the dark blue door of the building, wearing a white blouse with small black flowers on it and black trousers. She still had on his blazer, something she'd clearly forgotten about and he wasn't going to remind her. He quite liked the sight of her in it.

"Goodnight, Miss Sareen," he smiled and then waited till she turned and went through the door and into the building.

Sebastian was completely aware in that moment, he really passed the point of danger. He'd dived over the cliff and through peril and into abyss.