Show Me That I'm Better | Post Malone

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* Austin's POV *

Sleep eluded him. He lay with her against him, his fingers softly tracing over her skin. He would just start relaxing, his eyes finally closing, when his fingers would find another land mine. Each scar, each bump, each tiny imperfection would have his mind racing with what could have caused it.

The moment he closed his eyes he was taken to a room he'd never been to, finding her chained  to a bed he'd never seen before, bleeding, broken, in tears. He was stuck in a nightmare he couldn't wake up from, but it had been her reality.

It felt like days before the sun began rising again, a small sense of relief washing over him knowing that soon she'd be awake to distract him from his thoughts. He had managed to doze off and get a few moments of sleep before he felt her beginning to stir against him.

"Good morning." Her voice was thick honey soothing him and providing immediate relief.

"Morning baby, you okay?" He whispered against the back of her neck before placing a soft kiss on the sensitive skin.

She nodded as she let out a soft hum. "Did you sleep okay?"

"'Mmmhmm." He lied, pulling her closer against his chest, one arm wrapped tightly around her waist, his other hand splayed over her abdomen as he nuzzled in further to her.

"Liar." She whispered.

He needed to know more, there were so many questions he wanted to ask her, but he knew that he wouldn't be able to stomach any of the answers at the moment.

The silence between them felt deafening, every second that passed he became less and less confident with what to say. His mind was so focused on the information she had fed him last night that he couldn't think of anything else.

He felt guilty, he felt like he was proving what she had been so afraid of was right, that things between them were already different, that he was looking at her differently even if it was unintentional. Everything in his head was mush and he was so scared of saying the wrong thing, all he knew how to do in this moment was grip her tight against him and pray she could feel even an ounce of the love he was trying to give her.

He had no idea how much time had passed before she spoke, pulling him out of the cyclone twisting in his head.

"Tell me about your mom?"

"My mom?"

"Yeah, you never speak about her..." Her voice was soft and patient as her finger tips tickled along the hairs on his forearm. "I don't even know her name."

"Her name's Nicole. We're not as close and I am with my dad." His eyes closed and he relaxed further under her touch as he spoke against her skin.

"Why do you think that is?"

"We never were I guess, when dad moved to Texas I chose to go with him rather than stay with her. Everything kinda changed after that."

She lifted his hand from her stomach, placing a soft kiss on it and holding it against her chest. "I'm sorry, that must have been really hard."

"Baby..." He pulled back from her, watching her as she rolled on to her back. Her eyes were so full of concern, so warm and understanding. Everything she had been through and she still had unlimited empathy for him.

"Don't do that, don't minimise your feelings for me." She pulled him to her, placing a soft kiss against his lips as her legs widened under him, coaxing him on top of her.

He rested his head against her chest, melting into the feeling of her soft skin against his cheek and the way her fingers raked through his hair. Fuck he loved this, loved the attention she was giving him. "I have a brother too, Jordan."