Not Warriors- Awsten Knight

Chapter 43

"How long until Collin is here?" Awsten asks Claire softly, clearing off the kitchen counter to make room to make the pizzas that they had bought the ingredients for. 

"His Uber picked him up about 20 minutes ago so I would think any minute now right?" she questions, unloading the bags and Awsten nods. 

"Yeah it should be soon." he agrees with her. 

"Do you want me to leave while he's here?" Awsten asks her, and Claire looks up at him confused. 

"Why would you leave your own house?" Claire questions. 

"I don't know if he would want me here." Awsten tells her and both of their heads turn to a knock at the door. 

"You're fine Aws. I'll go grab him." Claire reassures him. 

The walk to the door felt like it lasted for an eternity and she felt more nervous than she had in the entire day as she approaches it. 

When she opens the door she can immediately tell that Collin has been crying, and she frowns slightly when she notices him playing with the charm on his necklace like he does anytime that he gets overwhelmed. 

"C'mon Col, come in. We're making pizza." she tells him, laughing softly when she notices his face light up slightly. 

"Your homemade pizza?" he asks quietly and she nods with a smile. 

"You a sucker for her homemade pizza too?" Awsten calls out playfully from the kitchen, and Collin laughs in response. 

"I don't trust anyone who isn't to be honest with you." Collin replies, trying to keep his tone happy. 

"You can put your bag down on the couch Col." Claire says softly pointing into the living room that is attached to the kitchen and he nods. 

"Okay so exactly what happened?" Collin says softly, as he makes his way into the kitchen sitting in one of the stools sitting at the island. 

"Wait- before we start this. Do you want me to leave Collin?" Awsten asks him genuinely, and his face softens as he shakes his head. 

"it's your house, and Claire told me at the beginning of tour how much Madison meant to you. It's important for all three of us to be here man, thank you though." Collin replies gratefully, and Awsten nods diverting his attention back to rolling out the pizza dough on the counter. 

"Okay so what happened?" Collin says with a sigh, jumping when Jet darts across the counter into his arms. 

"Aww hi baby, who is this?" he asks, stroking the top of her head softly and Claire laughs. 

"That is Jet." she says with a smile, and Collin nods. 

"She normally hates all men other than me, she won't even go near my dad so you must be special." Awsten tells him, with a hint of shock in his voice. 

"Will she just stay right here?" Collin asks not looking up from Jet. 

"If you pick her up she'll probably stay right in your arms actually, she'll let you know if she's uncomfortable. She probably sensed you needed a bit of comfort." Claire tells him gently as Collin scoops Jet up, smiling when she settles into his arms purring loudly. 

"Alright so Awsten and I went to the store to get the stuff to make pizza, and he wanted orange juice. He noticed my parents and Madison first just standing there, like it was a completely normal day for them." Claire says with a bit of venom in her voice. 

She lets out a sigh before continuing, "I went up to my parents when Mads walked away to go grab something for them, my dad was my dad, but I think my mom was just shocked to see me in Houston you know? She asked what I was doing here." she tells him, and Collin nods. 

"Did you talk to her?" Collin asks gently, and Claire shrugs. 

"Kind of? I went up to her and told her I was happy she was safe, and if she wanted to text or call me I'd be in town for the next few days but I said there wasn't any pressure and just knowing that she was okay was enough." she says sadly. 

"Does she know I'm here too?" Collin mumbles, and Claire nods. 

"Told my parents that the only reason I was in Houston was because I was on tour with you, taking your pictures for the band. I think my mom will end up telling her." Claire says honestly, and Awsten speaks up. 

"How are you feeling about all of this?" Awsten asks Collin, who looks at him shocked. 

"Sorry I don't mean to overstep, I just want to make sure you're both okay in this situation." he quickly backtracks and Collin shakes his head. 

"You're not overstepping at all, I just wasn't expecting you to ask. I don't mean that in any sort of bad way I think you're a really good guy." Collin says reassuringly. 

"You're important to Claire, which means you're important to me." Awsten tells him, his tone genuine. 

"I don't know how I feel? It's like there's closure because I know that she's safe, and I hope that she's healthy and happy but I just want to talk to her and I know that's selfish of me to want that when there's obviously a reason that she didn't answer my texts or calls previously." he says honestly. 

"It was my dad Col, yeah she's an adult but he said that he told her she wasn't allowed to contact either one of us because it was our fault that all of this happened in the first place." Claire says sympathetically and Collin lets out a deep breath, the puzzle pieces fitting together in his brain. 

"You didn't tell me that part." Awsten mumbles, and Claire wraps an arm around his waist pulling him into her. 

"That's why I didn't make a big deal about seeing my parents while we're in town, I just didn't know how to start the conversation but they cut off contact with me after Madison ran away. They blamed me and Collin for not being responsible enough to keep her safe." she replies sadly, and Awsten stops rolling out the dough looking between the two of them. 

"There is nothing more that either one of you could of done in this situation, it is no ones fault that this happened. She was an adult who was going to make her own decisions regardless of who she had around her, she ran from your parents too. They can't deflect blame on you when the same thing happened to them." he assures both of them. 

Truthfully, neither Collin nor Claire had thought about it this way in the past. Their minds had been so clouded by the fact that they were unable to keep Madison safe that they failed to recognize the fact that everything was being deflected onto them. 

"I actually never thought about it like that." Collin says quietly, and Claire nods in agreement. 

"Yeah me either." she says, and Awsten speaks up again. 

"Both of you did everything that you could, and unfortunately all you can do at this point is wait to see what comes next. But you have the peace of mind that she's safe, I know it's not the full closure that you want though and I'm sorry for that." he tells them genuinely. 

"I love you Aws. Thank you." Claire says wrapping her other arm around him as he presses a kiss to the top of her head. 

"Thank you for this man, you have no idea how much it means to me." Collin tells him, still holding Jet securely in his arms. 

"Neither one of you have to thank me, it's what I'm here for. Always." he assures the both of them.