Short Love Stories

For the Love of Austin Pt. 1

Athena

I was running around the town at night, stealing cars and wrecking them just as fast, when I came upon this space between two tall buildings. It was the size of maybe a high school football field with several one-story houses all in rows. It looked like it had been abandoned for a while, but there were some people. Two to be exact. There was a guy who was probably my age (I'm almost 21) who had dark brown shaggy hair that needed to be cut. The other guy (about 28) had sandy-blonde, beach-boy hair. I assumed they were brothers.

I felt like I almost knew them somehow, but I don't think I had met them before. They were separated by one house, the dark-haired one was packing something into a small bag, and the other was looking around and started calling his name.

"Austin! Austin where are you?!" They blondish one called out. That name is familiar but there are tons of Austins around here. "Austin Collinsworth where are you!" I do know them! They both used to be good friends of mine when we were a lot younger. Wow... And that means the blonde one is Dallas, or Dally as I used to call him.

When Dallas called his name once more, Austin picked up the bag and started running towards an alleyway, away from Dallas.

"Austin!" I whisper-shouted so only he could hear me. Meanwhile, Dallas kept shouting and looking around. Austin stopped running and turned around, looking for who called him. He finally saw me.

"Wait... Athena?" He asked, examining my face and taking a few steps towards me.

"Yeah, it's me. What are you doing? Dally's looking for you."

Suddenly his expression changed. He looked afraid and sad. "I'm leaving this world, forever. Don't try to stop me, it's not worth it." He wasn't making any eye contact at all when he said that.

"What!? No, Austin, you can't do that." He turned away. "What about Dally and now me? What about yourself?" At least he wasn't trying to walk away from me yet. I have to talk to him about this. It can't be happening.

"Athena, stop. It's not going to work. There's no purpose for me anymore. I don't have any friends and hardly any family. I've got nothing going for me and I've already experienced a lot of life, and it turns out it's not for me."

"But there is so much you can do," I explain. "There's so much more in life for you just in the near future, I promise. Do you want me to help you? I'll be your friend. You don't have to feel so alone and depressed. Please."

I've walked closer to him now as he kept trying to back away, but now he was almost against a wall, so he shouldn't be able to run very easily. I could see that his eyes were an even darker brown than when we were kids. I quickly glance to the left, down the alleyway he was headed to. I see that it led straight to a drop-off; He was going to jump.

"There's nothing I can't feel the same when I'm dead that when I'm alive. 'Cause there's nothing I'm feeling when I'm alive anyways."

I'm shocked by all this. He was such a happy kid when I knew him. I decide to try everything in my power to stop him. Even this...

I step forward once more and kiss him. He jumps back a little, because he wasn't looking to see it was coming. I had to stand on my toes to reach his mouth. I hope this works. So far he hadn't pulled away, just stood there. I started losing my balance so I stepped back and away.

"Could you feel that if you were dead?" I asked, almost challenging him.

"No," he stated and this time he kissed me, bending his neck so I wouldn't have to stand on my toes again. He put both his hands on my waist and held me tightly. I slowly brought my arms up and around his neck and we stayed that way. We were standing so close that it surprised me.

Maybe he's changing his mind. I hope. Finally he pulled back and allowed me to breathe. He still wasn't looking at me though. He was still afraid.

He sat down and took off the backpack. Opening it up he scribbled on a piece of paper and then dropped the pack on the ground against the brick wall. I was still eagerly awaiting his decision.

"Thank you," he finally said and I could let out the breath I had been holding while waiting for his answer.

Taking a quick glance at his backpack, he turned and bolted down the alleyway. I jumped and ran after him as fast as I could. "Austin!!!" I yelled so loud the whole city probably heard.

He turned so he was looking straight at me, but kept running, and said, "Thank you 'Thena!" He used to call me that when we were kids.

He was too fast, and I could barely breathe, but I kept going. It wasn't much farther. He saw that I was slowing down and jogged back towards me. We were both breathing heavily and I think I was wheezing. When he was close enough I quickly grabbed his wrist and held it tightly so he couldn't get away easily.

He smiled at me like I was a little child. Then he hugged me with his free arm and I slowly let go of his other arm so we could hug properly. He played with my blue-tipped hair a little while I squeezed him as tight as I could so he might not leave.

He whispered in my ear, "Now I've lived," and then stepped back. "And you'll be fine." He pushed me down before I had the chance to grab his arm again.

And he sprinted the last six feet to the edge and jumped.

I got up, ran over, and looked over the edge to see where he went. But he was gone. No body or anything.

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If you guys liked this or want more, please let me know and I'll post some more! And don't worry, this is the only sad part of the story, i promise it's not at all about suicide and death. Not at all.
Bai!