Hellbound Heart

Sebastian paused the moment he tore his gaze off hers and looked down. The sight of her ring – the silver ring he had given her that day of their civil wedding – made his jaw clenched.

He had never paid attention to it before, but he knew that she had always been wearing it. And the sight of it now had him feeling like he just wanted to go back to the past and hit himself up the head for it. Because this silver ring had been a cold, lifeless jewelry without any significant value to him at all. In fact, it was given to him by Lucas at the very last minute after he had found out that Sebastian had not prepared any ring for his bride on their wedding day! And Sebastian never even asked where he had even gotten it from.

"I'm taking this off." He told her hurriedly, causing her to blink, snapping her out from her trance.

Before she could answer, he had already slipped the silver ring off her finger. "Forget about this one. Because from now on, this is your real and only wedding ring."

Once he slipped the simple yet elegant and unique wedding band onto her ring finger, Elle could not help but just stare at it. I looked so perfect in her finger. As though it was specifically made to fit her, be it the design, color and feel that it carried.

She returned her gaze to him. "Thank you. But... may I know why... you're changing it?" she asked carefully, a little confused.

Sebastian dropped his gaze and half-bite on his lower lip, only he himself knew how he was feeling at this moment and how much he was berating his past self for being such a moron in matters such as this. "Because this one is... not official. I want you to wear something that is unique and being the only one in this world. I hope you'd like this one more." 'Much, much more than the earlier one.' Sebastian did not say the last sentence out loud.

Her lips parted and then closed. Words seemed to be failing her as her eyes began to gleam with emotions.

"I love... it. Thank you so much. But uhm... how about... yours? I mean, the pair of this that is for you to... wear." She kept pausing as she stated those words, as though she was being extra careful.

"Oh yes, there is." He told her and he saw how her eyes stretched and twinkled so brightly. A reaction that confused him. Because he thought that that reaction should be for her ring and not his. "Here." He dug it out of his pants pocket and showed the other ring pair to her and she was quick to take it, her face almost beaming like the sun. As if she had just found something so meaningful, so precious beyond words.

Asking the smith to forge two rings had not been in Sebastian's plan at all. He was only planning to make her a new one. But Alexander had insisted on him asking the smith to make a pair of wedding bands. He had given in just so that Alexander would stop nagging at him like a fishwife. But he never even planned to show it to her. Simply because he thought that there was no reason to.

And yet, here she was, looking so happy at the sight of his ring.

"You're... going to wear this, right? Sebastian?" she asked him excitedly. Her big blue eyes staring at him with extreme anticipation. And he could hear how her heartbeats were racing so fast as she waited for his answer.

"Do you want me to?" He asked her slowly, curious to see what she would answer.

"Yes!" she responded immediately and a little loudly that the both of them were surprised.

A slow smile tugged at the corner of Sebastian's lips. What was going on? The turn of events was not what he had been anticipating at all.

"I didn't know you'd want me to wear it this bad." He uttered, his dimple showing up.

Her expression suddenly turned a little sullen as she stared down the ring in her hand. "I have been... wondering why you didn't bring a ring for yourself that day of our wedding. I had thought it was because... you didn't want other people to know that you're already married." She mumbled as she spoke the last half of the sentence. However, Sebastian heard her loud and clear. And he was really surprised at her revelation.

"I didn't know you'd been having such negative thoughts just because I wasn't wearing a ring."

"It's... important. At least to me, Sebastian." She retorted. "It might not matter to you, but other women don't believe me when I tell them that you're my husband. And it is just because they don't see you wearing any wedding ring. And it had always made me feel so..." she trailed off, catching her lower lip between her teeth. Her gaze wandered from his face and she looked away, while Sebastian was more than a little stunned at what he had just heard.

F**k. He had never once thought that him not wearing his wedding ring could turn out to be this big of an issue. He knew that wedding rings were norms even for the vampires. But to him, wedding rings were just another accessory that did not really matter.

"Tell me who those b*tches are and I will make them –"

"You can't really blame them for thinking like that, Sebastian." She cut him off before looking at him, a little reprimanding. "Wedding rings have been used for such a meaningful symbol – that one is already taken. That one is married. I don't know about the vampires but..." she paused again and hesitated to continue.

But Sebastian had already understood the gist of it. It seemed that he had f**ked up with this one too.

"Alright..." he nodded slowly. "I'm sorry for being such a thoughtless ass about this. Had I known this little... thing had been giving you such troubles..." he sighed and shook his head, "Well... it doesn't matter now. Because from now on, I'm wearing this thing everywhere and for as long as you'd want me to. Is that enough, Izabelle?"

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A/N: Thank you for waiting guys. I'm doing good now. Still coughing but i'm doing much better now. <3