Decisions, Decisions.

Part 5

Kellin's P.O.V.:

Alan turned out to be a great support. I met with him over the next few weeks, and he always seemed to help. He and Vic made a habit of picking me up after school to hang out, though usually Alan and I slipped away at some point to frisk each other up a bit. I felt kind of slutty for it, but it was a secret thing, and I really liked Alan, so I didn't see the harm in being a little slutty.

On the other hand...I hadn't spoken to Austin since the last argument we had, but I noticed he was looking a little more worse for wear... His voice was always rough and cracking, chapped lips, dull baggy eyes, and his hands shook. He drank coffee like water, and he was getting progressively more snappy.

I didn't know how to feel about it all. I wanted him to be happy, but I wasn't okay with how he treated me. If I didn't mean that much to him though, why was he so distraught? Maybe it was something else. Maybe he was really cheating and the person found out. Maybe they left him. Maybe they were trying to work things out. I didn't know, and I couldn't guess so I tried not to think about it.

One particular day, though, he hadn't even bothered to teach us and instead handed out worksheets and left the classroom. After about twenty minutes, I slipped out to find him, and find him I did. I sneaked quietly into the teacher's restroom (which wasn't really that different than the students' except that the student's restroom didn't have cool scented soaps) to find him sat on the ground, back against the wall, head rested on knees in a large stall. I could barely heard a few sniffles, and I think that's what really broke my resolve.

"Aus?" I said knocking on the door.

"Oli?" he called out and the name knocked me back. That's why. He found someone else. Someone he could actually be with. Mr.Sykes, no doubt.

"No, it's Kellin." I said, determined to cheer him up even if he's a rather painful guy.

I felt the door unlock and open slightly, and moved inside the stall re-locking it. "You okay?" I asked, examining him in detail. He nodded, not meeting my eyes. He hadn't been full on sobbing, but he had at least let a few tears out. "Are you sure?" I pressed and he nodded again. Very slowly, he leaned over, his head resting on mine and he continued to let out a few tears. After a few minutes, I gave in too and wrapped my arms around his thin waist. His frame was deteriorating, that much was obvious. He wrapped his thin frame over me and cried just a little harder, but still silently.

And that's all we did for the rest of the period.

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I stayed after school, hoping to catch him in his classroom. "Aus?" I called out before stepping in the door. He was at his desk, looking better than earlier. I stepped in and made my way to his desk, hoping to make this brief so I could meet Alan and Vic.

His head perked up to look at me, "What's up?" his voice was casual, maybe even a little perky.

"Nothing," we both studied each other for a moment, looking slightly wary. "I just wanted to talk." I started, surely he'd get the general gist of what I meant by that? Everyone knew when someone wants to talk it's never good.

He nodded slowly, "Sure, what about?"

"Well, about this whole..mess." I started. "I mean, we never really talked anything out. The whole argument was a mess, this whole thing was a mess, it was rushed, quick, I just..wanted to figure it out. Find out where we stood. We shouldn't have let it sit for so long."

He nodded, "Yeah, listen, about the argument I-"

About that time, someone burst in the door, metaphorical guns blazing. "Don't you dare try to sweet talk him, Austin Robert Carlile."