A thousand bad times - Post Malone

Thirteen

Holi wakes to the sun on her face. She has this weird sense of being at home. Home...as if she has finally woken in a place that is home, it makes her stomach swoop. Austin is not next to her, but she can hear some movement in the kitchen so she rolls off the couch and tiptoes to the kitchen. She hovers behind her pillar only because the ritual has now got a sense of comfort attached to it.

She watches Austin for a second, his back is to her as he makes coffee. He is a big man, his shoulders are broad and from her experience with them, they are strong...but tender. She does not know how he does it. From the sheer size of him, she should be wary of him, he could do a lot of damage and by the way, he is always so careful when he touches her or picks up Bell, Holi knows that he knows he could really hurt someone if he wanted to.

But he would not, he is too kind...like a gentle giant. But still, she wonders what he would do if he was ever pushed to the limit. The thought should scare her, make her shudder a little...but it does not. She is safe with Austin and so are her siblings. She may not be good at showing it or even acting on it but she does trust him. She trusts him like she has never been able to trust anyone else.

Her eyes drift to the fridge and she sees that Austin had taken the picture Mac had drawn and placed it onto the fridge with little magnets. Just like a parent who is proud of their kid's drawing would do. It looks like Mac lives here and Austin wants to look at it every time he takes milk out of the fridge.

"I hope you do not make hiding behind that pillar a habit, Holi," Austin says with his back still to her. Holi can't help but huff out a laugh. It's weird how he can sense her there. He turns around and leans on the counter with his arms crossed, "come here," he says. Holi's body reacts before her mind does, she walks over to him and when she is close he opens his arms and she falls into his chest as he wraps his arms around her.

"Take your coffee to the room and have a shower. We are going to my lawyers, they have a surprise for you and then they are going to tell you where we stand," he says into the top of her head, "will you come and shower with me?" Holi says kissing his chest. Austin pushes her away abruptly and walks to the underside of the kitchen island, "get away from me you minx. My game is soon, until then I think it best you keep your nasty little claws off me," he says with a face of warning. Holi starts laughing, "you are so dramatic! It's just a shower, Austin," she says. Austin rolls his eyes and takes a step back when she takes a step towards him, "exactly! A shower with you naked, wet and slippery in front of me! I will fucking die. Getaway," he says, he looks very stressed out.

Holi laughs again and then purposely lets her shirt slip off her shoulder. Austin's eyes widen and he points at it, "see! Holiday!" he groans out and it looks like he could cry. Holi decides to put him out of his misery so he covers up and grabs her coffee, "ok, relax I will shower alone. But just so we are clear...your ritual is stupid," she says and walks out, "it's so fucking stupid!" Austin shouts after her and she giggles to herself as to how exhausted he sounds.

When she gets to Austin's room she finds piles of clothing on the bed. A lot of piles. They are all woman's clothing and they are all her size. She is confused, but he gets a lot of free stuff
- it may just be PR stuff so she ignores them. She goes to the spare room and finds the same thing on the bed Bell and Mac have been sleeping on, but these clothes are all in Bell and Mac size. What the fuck? Austin has some cheek! They are not his charity case so why is he buying them clothing...expensive clothing at that.

She storms back down to the kitchen holding a fancy sweater in her hand that she has every intention of throwing back at him. He pisses her off. Austin is sitting at the kitchen island drinking his coffee and reading the sports section of the newspaper, "what the fuck is this?" Holi asks and drops it on the island in front of him. He lifts his eyebrows then frowns.