"¿A qué hora vas a la tienda?" I ask, shoving some bread into my mouth as I stare at Macy. She shrugs, drawing the apple that's in front of her very terribly but I don't have the energy to get my brows fried off. I bite the bread, chewing slowly as I text Adam what to get for me and his darling wife.
"A las dos, ¿por qué?" She asks, looking up with a grin as she shows me the disfigured apple. I smile awkwardly at the paper, taking it from her.
"Nothing, just wanted to know when I should leave the house, mamá y papá son durmiendo," I say and she looks up the stairs like she can see them sleeping.
"Now tell me honestly, does that drawing look marvelous?" She asks and I blink, clearing my throat. I look from the paper to her, smiling at the grin.
"Well, you did your best," I conclude and stand up, walking off fast so I don't get my head chopped off. My phone pings from a message and I look at it to see the familiar name I had saved as popcorn head. A smile crosses my face as I read the message, when I'm done, my phone starts ringing and I immediately answer, pressing the phone to my ear.
"Fav Ap, where are you, I've been outside your house for ten minutes and I'm going loco, ¿dónde estás?" He asks and I laugh.
"Soya mi padre, they came back yesterday so I decided to stay over the night. I might leave this night? What's up?" I ask, trying to sound unaffected by his call.
"What's up? I'm burning up, my skin is red, I can feel my hair frying off and I don't have any food." He whines and I laugh.
"Alright, I'll be there in twenty minutes, there's a key in the doorbell, there's a small hole you press and something will open. The key is there, so you can stay inside and don't let that amazing hair get fried off." I say and walk to my room, smiling as I stare at the bare walls.
There's a pause on the line and I can almost hear the smile in his voice when he asks, "You think my hair is amazing?"
My eyes widen and I feel my cheeks heating up, "Austin, you're making me want to become mute, I can't concentrate if my face is heating up and my tongue is tied, I told you to stop saying things that make it hard for me to reply without blushing." I whine and he laughs loud, I can already imagine him throwing his head back as he does.
"I'll be waiting April." He says once he stops laughing, causing me to smile as I put my hair up. I hang up quickly so I don't say another thing that would end up making him laugh and I turn into a tomato.
I shrug off my clothes and walk into the bathroom, I set the water to extremely cold and step in, jumping as the freezing water hits my skin. I start breathing almost heavily as the water rushes down, I close my eyes, biting my lip as goosebumps appear on my skin. A shudder escapes my lip and I tilt my head up, letting out a tired sigh.
This freezing water better make me not sleep!
°•°|°•°
I open the door, expecting to see Austin but frown when the living room turned out empty. I sigh and walk into the kitchen but don't see anyone, I silently walk up the steps, looking around in case he's hiding somewhere to scare the crap out of me.
I successfully get to my room door without any Austin's popping out and exhale slowly. Maybe he wasn't even in, the door was locked when I came in. I push the door open and see Austin sleeping on the chair, it looked like it was a very uncomfortable position and I smile softly, walking quietly to him.
I study his face for a while, a frown creasing his brows and those beautiful blues hidden behind his lids. I bite my lip and trace my hand softly against his jaw, feeling the growing stubble there. He moans and tries to shift but pauses and I immediately retract my hand, clearing my throat. I lightly tap his shoulder, causing him to open his eyes like he was never asleep.
I smile as I remember that he's insomniac.
"Come on, come to the bed," I say and he stands up, I can still see the exhaustion in his body movement and I frown. He quietly lays down on the bed, still staring at me. "Did you sleep last night?" I ask, leaning over him. He studies me for a moment then shakes his head, blinking slowly.
I sigh and turn to leave him to sleep but he grabs my sleeve, causing me to look at him.
"Stay." It comes out as both a plea and a command, his deep, hoarse voice has a different kind of goosebumps appearing on my skin. His eyes close, almost like he's done fighting but they open again and stare at me with such intensity, I almost gasp.
I nod slowly and find myself climbing into the bed next to him. He pulls me close, his head resting on my shoulder and he breathes in sharply, his arms tightening around my waist.
"Austin, are you okay?" I ask and he replies in a muffled voice.
"I sleep when I'm with you." His reply has me furrowing my brows.
"What do you mean? Austin, don't you sleep at all?" He doesn't answer and I notice that his breathing is light and steady. I smile when I realize that he's asleep, my eyes flutter and I stifle a yawn, my hands find their way into Austin's soft and silky long black hair, tangling my fingers in them.
I shudder as his fingers graze my skin, letting my eyes flutter close, I bite my lip as his lips fan over my neck. Save me, Lord!
°•°•°|°•°•°
I feel someone's hand tugging softly at my hair. almost mindlessly, my eyes open slowly, focusing on the faraway look on his face. I can't see his eyes from the position I'm in, but when I mumble, he looks down, staring at me. He smiles at me and I blink, his hand reaches out to my face and he tugs at my cheek, cleaning something off the side of my cheek, his eyes light up in amusement at the look on my face.
"Seems like someone was dreaming about something nice, you can tell from the drool." He laughs and my heart sinks. He wiped off my drool!
I guess I'm still too sleepy to care but, WHY!
"Did you get some sleep?" I mutter sleepily, sitting up in his arms. I'm laying between his legs and his arm is wrapped around my waist and one is on my stomach, how we got into this position, I don't know.
"Yeah, better than the last few weeks, you can even say I dreamt." He laughs to himself and I turn in his lap, looking into his eyes.
"Austin, why don't you sleep?" I ask in a soft voice and his eyes harden. He looks away and frowns, his lips set in a thin line and his jaw ticking.
"It's not something I wanna talk about." He says and I see the hurt in his eyes so I don't push it. I hold his jaw, causing him to look at me.
"Austin, you said something when you were about to sleep," I say and he raises a brow in question.
"What did I say?" I pause for a moment, looking for any reaction on his face.
"You said you sleep when you're with me, what did you mean?" I ask and he looks down, his tongue parting his lips to wet them.
"I meant what I said, I do sleep when I'm with you." The look in his eyes is almost a defeated one and smile.
"I like that," I whisper and he looks down before smiling at me again.
"Hungry?" He asks and I throw my head back in laughter as my stomach immediately responds for me.
"Seems so." I laugh and roll over, throwing my feet over the bed. They meet the cold floors and I shiver, smiling as I walk barefooted.
I love walking barefooted, there's something so oddly comforting about them that I love. I look at myself in the mirror and almost scream, my hair is still good but my face has some kind of imprint on it, I slap my face lightly to see if it will come off but no, it remains that way.
I pout and look at Austin, he just rolls his eyes and takes my hand, pulling me out of the room. I smile and let him pull me, helping me walk down the stairs until we reach the kitchen. He opens the cupboards, searching for something and I just watch him.
"What are you looking for?" I ask after a while and he pauses, looking at me over his shoulder.
"Some cereal, I made some pasta, it's in the pot and doesn't worry, it's not poisonous, I watched a video and made sure to follow strictly to the rules." He says and I laugh, walking over to the pot. The pasta looks really good and I take a plate.
"If you made food, why are you eating cereal?" I ask and he looks at me like I'm dumb.
"In case you have food poisoning, I won't too." He explains and I close my eyes and laugh lightly.
I sit at the table for the first time in a long time when it's not dinner time and start eating, shoveling the pasta into my mouth.
"So, your parents huh?" He asks as he sits across me, pouring my cereal into his bowl. My fruit loops!
"Yep, I might go back this night, depending on my mom," I say and he raises a brow, a confused look adorning his cute face.
"My mom doesn't like being alone in a huge house so all my siblings are coming to the family house to stay, my brother Ethan is already at the home, Macy and Adam are also here, they're going to tell my parents about their coming baby before Macy starts showing, my other sister Kira is coming over since there's nothing important she's doing. But May and June are going to be here before Christmas." I explain and he smiles, nodding slowly.
"That's nice, you have a large family."He laughs and I shrug, forking another into my mouth.
"My family is just my dad, my mom, me, Layla, Kai, and her dad. No relatives abandoned and rejected." He says and my eyes widen.
"Wow, their loss anyway," I mutter quietly and his eyes brighten. I chew silently but atop abruptly as I notice the taste.
"Austin, where'd you get the recipe for this pasta?" I ask, slowly looking at him. He looks up at me and I can see the mischief dancing in those blues.
"A video, on my phone." He says and shows me his phone. My eyes widen as he starts playing the video and I can bear my voice.
"You recorded me? How!" I shriek and try to grab it but he pulls it out of my reach. I scowl and stand up, stretching on my toes to grab it but he raises it so high.
"Curse you and your stupid tallness, give me that phone," I growl and he chuckles, lifting it higher.
I groan and start jumping, trying to pull his hand down but this guy has the strength of a bear. I glare at the stupid smile on his face and tug again, I lose balance and fall against him, causing him to knock into one of the chairs and fall back onto the floor with a loud thud.
My head hits his chest and I make an oomph, scrunching up my face at the pain. I try to roll off but he grabs my hips, holding me closer to him and looking directly into my eyes. My palms lay on his chest, feeling the racing beat of Austin's heart.
Do I do that to him? Or was it just from the fall?
Does he get affected by me?
His eyes travel from mine to my lips, he looks back up to my eyes, and his lips part.
"I so want to kiss you right now." He murmurs and my heart skipped, stopping and racing even faster than before. I needed no one to tell me, he caused my heart to skip a beat.
"Then why don't you?"
°•°|°•°
Two.
Two days.
It's been two days that Austin has been missing, Lola is starting to call him 'Runaway Lover'
It's not funny. And before you ask, yes I have called, gone to visit, texted, even saw his friend Kai, had to go ask about Austin, she shrugged and said he's in his thinking space, and no, she didn't elaborate or give an address.
Temi says she's going to strangle him when she's back, Storm said he'll take him to train and get his behind whooped, mom said she'll deep-fry him.
They both know about Runaway Lover. The name kind of stuck so Lola has become the new name popper. I'm the one they're fawning over, and nobody even seems to care that Temi is going out with someone. Even if she denies it, everyone knows that she's into that guy, they never last more than two days, but this guy here, he made it to a week, how awesome is that?
Dad seems to keep checking on me, it's almost like he sees me having a mental breakdown in his head, and they say I'm insane! Mom keeps getting me chocolate, not that I'm complaining, I love chocolate. I guess the only person who doesn't fawn over me is Chase. He has Fayette to do that.
He said, and I quote "It's like we're both dating her, she's obsessed with your relationship."
Well let me break it down for ya, not just Fayette, everyone, and I mean everyone! Macy posted it on her Instagram about my relationship with Austin and everyone seems to think I'm going through a rough breakup, some even think I committed suicide even though Adam just posted a pic of me and him yesterday.
As they say it,
'Famous artist April Freeman going through the mental breakdown with Best selling author, Austin Luke Henderson.'
I wasn't even in a relationship, haven't been since high school!
If they want some gossip, then they should focus on someone else because I don't see any relationship in my future.
The doorbell rings and I look up, placing my phone on the table I walk to the door and look through the hole. No one there?
I open the door and immediately face a blue-eyed creature. I slam the door and run up the stairs, screaming frantically before realizing that it's just Run away, Lover.
I smile sheepishly as I open the door but it soon turns into a glare.
"What are you doing here?" I ask and he takes a step back, holding his hands up.
"I can explain." He starts but I don't see Chase's figure creeping up behind him until he trips him and starts attacking his face with punches. I scream for him to stop and almost rush to them but Adam holds me back while Ethan goes to pull Chase off. Then he kicks Austin off the stairs. My jaw hangs open at the busted lip and cut brow area. Adam lets me go as soon as Ethan gets Chase far enough and I rush to Austin to help him up.
Macy walks to the door and glares at him, but helps him to the kitchen. Adam just watches us, not moving an inch to help Austin. I set him on the kitchen island and Macy scowls at him and kicks his shin before strutting out of the kitchen.
"I deserve that." He croaks out and I glare at him.
"Yes, you do! I should even pull your nails, or maybe split your tongue! God, you're making me so mad! I don't know why I'm even helping you!" I grumble and walk to him with the first aid kit in my hand.
"It's because you love me." He coos and I hold scissors and glare at him.
"Don't test your luck, I won't hesitate to cut you up if you can't shut your trap!" I snarl and his eyes widen.
Oh yes, I am very pissed!
°•°•°|°•°•°
Dad and Austin are having a little chat in his study rooms and I haven't heard a word from there. Well, I wouldn't know if they're talking at all, they're upstairs and I'm downstairs. Ethan is sitting beside Adam, playing some video game that I'm not paying attention to. Macy is sleeping upstairs and Chase has gone to Fayette's, couldn't stand being under the same room with Runaway Lover.
I picked up the trend.
Mom has a spare spatula waiting to beat the crap out of him when he leaves the study room, although I won't let that happen, I'd prefer to beat him with his spatula.
"Temari!" Mom calls and I sigh, standing up and walking to her in the kitchen.
"Yes, mother?" I ask and she shoots me the look. "Slice those onions, and when you're done, you go to Jiraiya and you ask him if he'll be down for lunch now, hurry up!" She snaps and I immediately grab the knife, slicing the onions.
When I'm done, I rush up the stairs and open the door to dad's study room, seeing Austin and dad chit chatting and laughing.
"What the-?"