Scathefire(MxM)[Unedited]

14

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"Avery? Why are you crying?" Austin asks, despair creeping into his voice, his eyes seeking out any hint of an answer in Avery's expression. Avery draws in a sharp, shuddering breath, turning away and rubbing at his eyes. Austin sidles closer, looping arms around Avery's waist, rubbing gingerly on the outside of Avery's thigh.

"I passed my GED." Avery whispers. Austin falters, eyebrows raising. Is that a crying matter? "And I got into that community college.."

"Avery.. Isn't this a good thing?" Austin asks cautiously. A whimper leaves Avery and he looks up at Austin, tears glistening on his lashes.

"I'm moving into the dorms. The day after tomorrow." Avery finishes, his eyes welling up again. It suddenly makes sense. Austin still isn't sure why it's tear-worthy, but Austin can work with this.

"It'll be okay, Avery. We'll get you moved in and comfortable. And you'll make friends and get good grades." Austin hums, caressing Avery's cheek with his palm and rubbing his thumb along Avery's cheekbone.

"I don't want new friends. I want you to be my friend." Avery protests, fingers curling around Austin's wrist. Austin tips his head a bit, fighting back a smile that threatens to take over his expression.

"Is that what this is about? Of course I'll still be your friend, Avery. We can hang out every day if you want." He insists, pressing a kiss to Avery's forehead.

It's enough to console Avery, at least for now. Austin catches Avery rubbing at his eyes on the way home, and through the grueling process of packing up most of Avery's things. It's hardly on the forefront of Austin's mind, though. He just... replays the kiss in his mind. Over and over and over. It's a brutal cycle of relishing the memory of that taste, only to crash down to earth as he remembers that Avery has been on this earth for barely a year, and he begins to think that maybe he should have said no to the second kiss.

Everytime he looks up, he catches Avery quickly glancing away, shoving whatever he's holding into the closest box with more force than necessary. It's already negatively affecting Avery. Perhaps it would have been better if Austin had just let Avery go into whatever psyche hospital or group home would take him. But that thought is stamped away as soon as he thinks it.

Austin's dinner that night is made for two people on habit, but there's an uncomfortable lack of someone else to eat with him, so Austin eats until his stomach is uncomfortably full. He can't help but wonder what Avery is doing now instead of paying attention to the tv show playing on the screen in front of him. Sleeping? Hanging out with friends? He'd met Avery's roommate, at least, he's pretty sure he'd go nuts if he had no idea who Avery is around right now. She'd been friendly enough, but had a little too much energy for Austin to keep up with.

Will Avery like his classes? What will he study? What's his schedule look like? He should have asked when he could. He might've called or texted Avery, but it's lingering around 8pm, and Avery is likely asleep by now, so he only plays with the idea in his mind, until he falls asleep on the couch.

Austin's morning is broken by his phone ringing loudly right next to his ear, jolting awake with a low grunt. He snatches his phone and squints at the blinding screen. It's Avery.

"Hey. Ave. How'd your first night in the dorm go?" Austin voice crackles and rasps as he struggles to fully wake up.

"Crap, I didn't wake you up, did I??" Avery asks with a note of panic in his tone.

"Not at all, sweetheart." Austin lies gruffly, and judging by Avery's brief silence, it's not a convincing lie.

"I slept ok. I miss home, but my roommate is nice, and we talked a lot last night. His name is Juni. He's got really long hair." Avery finally replies, absentmindedly and mumbling. Austin turns on his speaker and puts his phone on the ground, rolling to his stomach so his head hangs off the edge of the couch.

"You call for any specific reason?" He asks.

"Oh- uh, not really. Actually yes, sort of? It's not a big deal. I've got orientation today, but, um, I was just wondering if you could pick me up after, so that we can buy some textbooks." Avery says. Avery doesn't really care about the textbooks. He just wants to see Austin, but every thought that Avery has of Austin brings his mind to their kiss at the lake, and then their kiss on the balcony, and it makes Avery want to rip his wings apart, feather by feather, and shove them down his own throat until he suffocates to death.

Not because he hadn't liked it, or because Austin hadn't liked it, but rather because they had both liked it. Hadn't they? The balcony kiss had started sloppily, and become heated, then Austin had stopped so abruptly. At the lake, Austin hadn't pulled away, in fact he'd pulled him closer, but Austin seemed... guilty about it. He hadn't met his eyes the whole fucking time they'd been packing. Avery should be the one feeling guilty, but he doesn't. He feels the opposite. Those kisses had been the most exhilarating, liberating feelings he'd ever felt.

He wants Austin with a rage. He'd even mentioned it to his roommate the previous night. He couldn't sleep, and Juni had noticed.

"Avery... you're not-not sleeping. Is the bed un-uncomfortable?" He'd asked, his heavily accented english oft and slurred in the dark dorm room.

"No. No it's not that I just..." Avery's throat had closed on it's own, and he'd drawn in a shaky breath. At that point Juni had sat up to turn on the lamp and shakily stood, using his wheelchair as a walking aid to plop down at the feet of Avery's bed. Most of that night had been Avery rambling about Austin, and their kisses, and his past. He'd felt awful about it later on, as Juni had stuck through his entire meltdown with sleepy eyes and a sympathetic understanding.

"Avery... are you still there?" Austin asks, bringing Avery crashing back down to earth, sitting with his blankets tangled around his legs, Juni asleep on his own bed, service dog laid next to him, but not asleep, harness hanging on the bedpost.

"What? Yes, sorry. I'm still here. What did you say?" Avery responds hastily.

"When does orientation end?"

"12:30. Well.. the mandatory stuff ends at 12:30, but there's other stuff later at night."

"I'll see you then, Ave."

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Thanks for reading :)