Downtown (auston matthews x oc)

-twenty-four-

𝖠𝗎𝗌𝗍𝗈𝗇

Auston woke with his arms tight around Nora, her dark hair fanned out behind her on the pillows as she slept soundly against his chest. For several long moments, Auston was too busy staring at her to realize what had woken him in the first place: his phone was ringing on the bedside table.

Nora stirred, yawning, "Is that your alarm?"

"No," Auston replied, a little confused. "Someone's calling me." He reached over Nora to retrieve his phone, and the name on the screen made him sigh. "It's my agent," he muttered. He knew he had to take it—though it was admittedly a little strange that Doc was calling him at seven-thirty in the morning. Auston answered, moving the phone up to his ear to greet, "Hello?"

"You fucked up," Doc snapped in response.

Now Auston was fully awake. He sat up, glancing at Nora, whose eyes were trained on him as he moved. Because he couldn't stand to keep his hands off her, he ran his fingers through her hair, which prompted her to let out a happy sigh.

To Doc, Auston demanded, "What are you talking about?"

"Did you hire a fucking whore?" Doc countered, equally as demanding.

It was so insane that Auston couldn't help letting out a laugh. "What the fuck are you talking about?" he exclaimed. Nora's brows were furrowed as she propped herself up on her elbows.

"That girl they keep seeing you with," Doc pressed, voice filled with urgency. "Do you have any idea how bad this makes you look? How bad it makes the team look?"

Frustrated with Doc's lack of explanation, Auston got up out of bed and paced as he spoke. "You need to tell me what's going on right now, because I literally have no idea what you're saying."

Doc's next words hit Auston in the chest. "Do you know who the fuck Nora Mallone is?"

It was clear now that Nora heard Doc through the phone, because she hurried to her feet and stepped closer to Auston. "Was that my name?" she inquired fearfully.

Auston grabbed her hand, raising it to his lips so he could brush a reassuring kiss against her fingers. "Why are you asking me about Nora?" Auston asked Doc, terrified of the answer he might receive.

It was almost like Doc hadn't even heard the question, though, because he hurried, "I'm already writing up a statement for you to put on your socials. I'm sending notes to our sponsors that I'm gonna need you to sign—"

"Doc," Auston shouted, rage seeping into his veins. Nora jumped a little in surprise, and Auston was quick to pull her into his chest apologetically. Quieter now, Auston muttered, "Tell me why the fuck you're calling about Nora."

Doc sighed. "I don't know whether you're telling me the truth about not knowing, and frankly, I don't care. It is all over the internet that the girl you've been seen with is an actual fucking escort and that you are using her fucking services."

Just like that, Nora stumbled back from Auston's grasp, her hand against her heart—almost as if she'd just been dealt a blow to the chest. "Oh my god," she stammered.

Auston knew he should have gone to her—should have thrown his phone onto the ground and comforted her, but he was frozen where he stood. None of it made any sense. Into his phone, Auston managed, "What are you talking about?" His gaze was on Nora, whom he could tell was losing her breath. Auston might not have known her all that well, but he knew a panic attack when he saw one.

Doc could wait. Auston hung up the call, rushing. to Nora's side as she lowered herself onto the bed. Her breathing was labored, her eyes everywhere and nowhere all at once, and the color was gone from her cheeks. It broke Auston to see her like this.

"My—my phone," she stammered, gesturing towards the nightstand. Auston hurried to retrieve it, and he watched as her shaky fingers scrolled through the notifications that had flooded her lock screen. Now Auston regretted handing her the phone: every text, every message, was undoubtedly about whatever fuck-shit he had dragged her into. Before she could click on any of them, though, a call filled the screen.

Seeing the name made Auston's chest tighten: Trick.

Nora answered, crying now, as Auston grabbed his own phone and went to Twitter.

"Trick," Nora sobbed into the receiver, drawing Auston's attention again. "What's happening? Please—tell me what's going on?"

Auston knelt down on the floor in front of her, bracing himself on her legs with one hand as he used the other to brush away some of her tears. He could only just make out Trick's voice on the other end, which was panicked and disjointed.

He heard the words, Matthews, OnlyFans, Henley.

Henley.

Fucking hell. Auston knew she had to be the reason for this. He didn't know how, but he knew with all certainty that she was involved.

Nora, still struggling to catch her breath, interjected to Trick, "It was just a couple weeks—almost two years ago."

Auston froze, his expression undoubtedly clouded with confusion. Nora didn't seem to notice as Trick replied with something along the lines of, But Henley knew. There was a pause, at the end of which Trick's voice concluded, "I'm coming to pick you up at your location. I'm on my way."

The line must have gone dead, because Nora let the phone fall out of her hand and hit the bed. Auston, who had risen to his feet, now towered over her, and Nora had to crane her neck all the way back to meet his gaze. "Auston," she whispered, voice broken. "It isn't true." She shook her head, crying harder now. "It was when the pandemic was bad," she hurried, "I didn't have enough shifts to cover my apartment, and—and my parents just died. It was just an OnlyFans—just until I got back on my feet." Her face fell into her hands as she sobbed, "I'm not a whore."

Auston crouched down again, replacing Nora's hands on her cheeks with his own. "I know you're not, baby, I know." He kissed her forehead. "It's okay," he promised.

Nora leaned back, out of his grasp, and he heard her breath hitch. "Henley knew," Nora mumbled. "Everyone at work knew. The girls even subscribed just to support me." Her words came out slow, almost like she was piecing them together by hand. "You told me she was fine when you rejected her," Nora breathed after a moment, and her eyes lifted to Auston again.

Now he was the one at a loss for words. This was his fault. For fear of scaring Nora away, he had lied about Henley's response to his rejection. Now he was reaping the consequences.