I had gone home late that one night since we just kind of needed each other for a bit longer than say 8. Another week had passed and I can proudly say that me and Austins friendship was 110% healthy. We had one week of third quarter left. One more week before the halfway mark of this semester. We also had our Of Mice and Men project due, and I was only at chapter four.
Everybody still acted like Austin was a disease, but they weren't as hostile as before. Danny had started giving me shit again, but other than that things were peachy. Today was Friday and next Friday was the last day of third quarter. Today was also the first night I'd be spending all night at Austin's house other than that first night home from the hospital. That time, I barely slept though. It's like every small noise pulled me from sleep because I was worrying about the boy who, at the time, hated my guts.
Currently, we were walking to lunch side by side, shoulders brushing lightly. Austin led me directly over to his normal table, like usual, and we sat down. Austin never talked during lunch, although I was unsure of why. I never really pushed it though, because if it made him uncomfortable or anything I didn't want to be the one to give him trouble over it. We sat for about five minutes in peace and quiet before the room was quickly crowded by chattering high schoolers. Aaron sat at a table nearby with Phil and Tino and my heart ached slightly.
"Hey" spoke Austin suddenly. I looked up in surprise. "How much does a polar bear weigh?" He asked me, eyebrows furrowed in confusion.
"I. . . Uhm. . . I don't know?" I replied quizzically.
"Enough to break the ice" he grinned. I stared at him for a moment, confused as to what the hell just happened. Then I burst into laughter, and he did too. We sat there laughing like idiots for several minutes before I finally calmed down enough to look up at him. Tears swelled in my eyes, begging to overflow from laughing so hard, and one did manage to escape.
"Where did that even come from?" I laughed.
"It's a pickup line" smiled Austin, reaching across the table and wiping my tear away.
"Oh my god" I laughed at him. "You're an idiot!" I exclaimed.
"My feelings. Oh, the agony." He said dramatically.
"Shut up" I muttered light heartedly. "What made you decide to talk during lunch? I must inform you that. . . Well it's a very un-Austin-y thing of you to do" I said, tssking and poking his chest.
"Wow. I forgot you were in charge of my life" he said boredly. He still had a smirk on his face, though.
"Well, I'll let this one go. But only because I tend to enjoy the stupid things that fly out of your mouth." I teased.
He shrugged and stretched, before squeezing his knees against his chest and wriggling around in his seat to get his feet on the table. His legs were splayed out, and crossed over to my side of the table, inches away from hanging over the edge.
I shook my head before laying my head on him, just above his feet. The way my head was now angled, I saw Aaron staring at me along with Phil and Tino. Thinly masked shock was spread across each of their faces and on the inside, I was squealing in delight.
Austin shifted, making my head drop a bit, and I felt him ruffle my hair.
"What are we gonna do tonight?" I asked without looking up.
"I dont know, honestly." He admitted. "I guess we should get started on that project. With the book or whatever." He said as I shifted my head on his legs to look at him.
"Sounds like a plan" I agreed. The lunch room was over halfway empty due to kids leaving since the bell would ring in a minute or two. The chatter had died down, and everybody was done with their food for the most part. I had my arms wrapped around Austins feet and my forehead pressed against his legs, and I could have fallen asleep like that, too. But unfortunately the bell rang. I could have sworn I had another minute or two.
Just like every other day, the rest of school flew by at an unbelievable speed. We went to our lockers, headed to the parking lot, hopped in my truck and arrived at his house in a matter of about 20 minutes. Almost record time since we normally dawdled.
Instead of hanging out in the living room, we went to his room, and I loved it. He had a queen size bed without a headboard and where the headboard would have been, he had a kinda big Slipknot banner. He had a couple of other random posters and quite a few holes smeared over with caulk. Some were sanded down to a smooth texture, and others weren't. You could see patches of paint that were a tiny bit different as far as the hue went, where he must have painted over in the wrong color.
We laid on his bed, our books sitting between us as we finished a movie. I was kind of drowsy, but we at least needed to get through chapters 1 and 2.
"Austin, we should get started on this book." I reminded him.
"Yeah. You're right" he groaned as the credits began to roll. "Let's do this." He picked up his book and I picked mine up too. We were barely reading for 30 seconds when he began staring off into space and absent mindedly playing with the corner of his pillow.
"Austin" I prodded. His head snapped to me and a look of realization spread across his face.
"Sorry" he said, ducking his head. A blush fanned across his cheeks. "I suck at this." He grinned. I shook my head and looked back down. By the third time it happened, I slapped his book out of his hand.
"You're getting nowhere" I laughed, flicking him.
"Yeah well how far are you?" He retorted.
"Almost halfway through chapter 2." I said. "Technically I'm at about 5 since I read while you were in the hospital too." I added.
"Whatever" he grunted, throwing his head back on his pillow.
I sighed and shook my head. "A few miles south of Soledad, the Salinas River drops in close to the hillside banks and runs deep and green. The water is warm too, for it has slipped twinkling over the yellow sands in the sunlight before reaching the narrow pool." I began reading. He looked up at me and smiled.
"You're awesome" he grinned and scooted over towards me. Our shoulders brushed as he listened to me read to him. His eyes followed the words in the book drifting away only occasionally. I could tell he was still listening, but he just couldn't focus on the words completely. By the time I reached chapter 3, his head was on my shoulder, and his eyes were droopy. I finished reading the chapter and set the book down, not bothering him. He looked so peaceful as he nodded off, but also kinda sad. I didn't know how to describe it, but it made me feel pity for the boy. I gently slipped my shoulder out from underneath his head and turned over, covering him up with the blanket at the end of the bed. I glanced down at the floor and quickly made the decision that I'd stay here and just hope he didn't mind. I curled up without any blankets, because I didn't wanna just curl up underneath his with him. I was still mildly scared of him, and didn't want to make him mad if I could avoid it.
I couldn't sleep, really. I was so scared of having some sort of nightmare or something. I'd freak out right there on his bed and that would be terribly awkward. I laid there for about an hour when Austin wiggled a bit and turned. He was facing me completely now and he sleepily blinked.
"Alan, aren't you cold? He mumbled, his eyes once again drooping shut.
"No. I'm fine." I whispered back.
I turned away from him and for a couple of minutes, there was silence. I heard muttering and frowned before I felt the bed shift. Was he getting up? Shit. Had I annoyed him? I went to roll off the bed but an arm caught me. Austin pulled me back down and tossed the blankets over me. I instantly felt the warmth and I was thankful for it. Austins chest brushed against my back, and I felt him muzzle into my shoulder and take a deep breath.
"Night alan." He mumbled.
"N-night Austin" I replied. This time, it wasn't long before I drifted off.
A/N: I'm so sorry I didn't update a second time like I promised. I hit a rough patch in this story, but I think it will be a bit easier from here on out. Expect some actual cashby here soon. I know it's taken me long enough.
Thank you so much for 800 reads! Thank you to anybody that has commented and voted, you guys keep me inspired and give me a reason to push through the uncertainty and second guessing. I appreciate each and every one of you. Hope you stick around!<3
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Broken, Imperfect
Fanfiction*COMPLETED*BOOK 1* Alan knows how it feels to be bullied. He was the target of Ben and Danny for two years until he became friends with Aaron, Phil, and Tino. That's when things changed and now he's as average as it gets. Austin was the new kid thi...
