I'm Here || Post Malone

18

Austin's POV

The wedding had done something he couldn't lie, sparked some kind of flame that was lying dormant in him with Jessica and while they were there he was fully consumed in her. Cassidy had warned him that something like that was going to happen but he refused to believe her because he knew that he loved Cassidy and that Jessica was just a cover until he was ready to break it off with her and tell the world that he really loved Cass. But, here he was walking from the reception with Jessica hand in hand like they were a happy couple. They had even shared in a slow dance, he gave her his jacket—which was odd to him since it was the middle of June but he didn't ask questions—she was even included in some family pictures where they stood together happily. But, what got him the most was he freely and happily kissed her and unlike the time in the parking lot where all he felt was disgust for her, he felt the tiniest glimmer of a spark and quite frankly it now left him more fucking confused than anything.

He knew that he loved Cassidy and loved her not just like a friend loves a friend. He wasn't faking anything that he said or did with her and being with her felt so fucking right, so fucking real. But, now this had to fucking happen. The only reason that he was with Jessica in the first place was because she happened to be in the right place at the right time and she was exactly his type. She really had nothing to bring to the table like Cassidy did, she simply existed and reaped the reward of living his life style because well he chose her to be the girl to fill that spot over a year ago. But, despite the feelings that were trying to creep back into his body—feelings that he was certain were all fabricated out of hopes and dreams anyway—he knew that being with her was a joke, a lie to himself but fuck going to this wedding with her fucked everything up. There was no doubt in his mind that the threat she had given him before they left the hotel had helped escalate these feelings and there was no doubt in his mind that she knew this was going to happen and that's exactly why she did it. Jessica wasn't dumb when it came to getting what she wanted and he knew that she didn't want him, she just wanted what came with him and she'd do anything to not lose that and he fell for it hook, line and sinker.

Yet despite their connection that they had at the wedding, he found himself sitting alone in the back of the Escalade as they made their way back into the city, Jessica sitting in the bench seat in front of him with her head resting against her brother's shoulder while Austin's jacket was draped around her. He knew that he should be angry about it but instead he just let it all go with a sigh, his hand running through his hair slowly as he shook his head. He had never been more confused in his life than he was right now. Here he was trying to make a girl like him that he knew had no feelings for him but had tons of feelings for his money while he had another girl who was waiting for him in her hotel room to come back who loved him more than anything and the things that he had were nothing to her but an added bonus that she never expected or hinted that she wanted take advantage of. To anyone it would be a simple decision to make and no one would want to suffer through what he was going through with Jessica, yet here he was not able to break away and he had no fucking clue why.

He let out another sigh as he dipped his hands into the pocket of his suit, his fingers wrapping around the warm metal of his phone that undoubtedly collected heat from the warmth of his thigh as he slowly slid it from his pocket. The screen immediately lit up to reveal that he had several messages from Cass as he threw his head back against the headrest letting out a small fuck that was only audible to him, his hand coming up to grab a fistful of his hair as he felt his heart start to rapidly beat in his chest. He hated to admit it but the several hours that he was at his cousin's wedding he had forgotten about Cassidy, his heart starting to slowly break as he realized the cold truth of this. He wished that he could blame it on the fact that his phone was on silent but he couldn't. Even the small times that he was away from Jessica while he mingled with relatives that he hadn't seen in years he didn't once think to pull his phone from his pocket to see if she had reached out to him because quite frankly, Cassidy was the furthest thing from his mind.