Landmine - Post Malone

6

Dillon wakes with Austin trying to slip out of bed as carefully as he can. "Where are you going?" she croaks, reaching out for him and grabbing hold of his arm. "Hush, darlin'. Sleep," he says softly as he moves back to her, running his hand along her back. "It's mornin'. I gotta work. Go back to sleep," he says pressing his lips to her forehead. "It's morning?" she mumbles. She has never slept so heavily. Her sleep is always restless and she wakes at least ten times a night, but last night she slept like the dead. "Yes. Early mornin'. Go back to sleep," he whispers still running his hand up and down her back. "Stay with me," she mumbles and clings to him. "For a moment," he hums and pulls her tighter against his body as she feels herself falling asleep again.

Dillon's eyes flutter open, and she reaches out again, but the bed is empty, so she sits up and looks around the room. It's dark from the thick, heavy curtains draped over the windows, but she can see the morning sun peeping through the gap. It's very quiet in the trailer and so she calls out. "Austin...Austin..." but she gets no response. She must have fallen asleep again and he slipped out to work. She does not know why she feels so needy for him. She is not needy. She has had to become independent and never let herself rely on or trust anyone. She has come to learn that she can only rely on herself - but Austin has blurred the lines. She looks around the room, her eyes freezing when they fall on Austin's pillow.

There is a single white rose lying over the pillow with a little note on it. She picks the rose up and smells it, her lips pulling into a smile then picks up the note and reads it.

I had to go to work.
I will be back this evening.
Rest, Dillon - heaven knows you need it, girl.

She almost bites her lip but manages to stop herself just in time. The giddy feeling that creeps its way up her spine is not unknown, but it is foreign. She had a long-term live-in boyfriend before Isla had disappeared, and she thought she would end up marrying him. He was sweet, he said and did all the right things. But, only until it mattered. Once finding Isla became a focus for her he started complaining that she was neglecting him. He even complained that she was obsessed with Isla. That had shocked Dillon because was it true, but she needed him to support her efforts to find Isla. She needed him to become just as obsessed with finding her. But, sadly he bailed. He just packed up one day and wished her luck then walked out the door. She was hurt and cried a lot, but she could not understand why he let her down when he said he never would. He said he would always stand by her. She would have stood by him if the roles had been reversed.

She still had her parents back then because her ex bailed pretty quickly when things got rough. Her parents had been a major source of comfort and her Dad had been clear with her. "If he had loved you as you deserved, Dillon, he would have become just as obsessed because when you truly love a person, their happiness is your happiness. Your pain is their pain." That's what he said to her. She had been hurt and in pain for a long time, but her ex had shown up at her father's funeral, and she realised then that she no longer loved him. She felt nothing except annoyance when he rolled his eyes at her after telling him she was going to Utah to follow a lead. He just wasn't the one for her after all.

She smells the rose, that giddy feeling in her body making her shiver. It had been reckless of her to sleep with Austin last night. She has no intentions to stick around and sleeping with Austin may have just made her life a little more complicated. But, does she regret sleeping with him? She should. But, she doesn't. She doesn't even regret it a tiny bit. Austin is something else and he had been very right last night - he knows what the fuck he is doing. She is no prude and has had her fair share of men, not a lot; she has had five sexual partners - but not surprisingly, after what Austin did last night, she battles to recall any of their names.