I Don't Mind if You're Overrated(an Austin Carlile fanfic)

All Hype, No Heart

Ryleigh

*flashback to Winter*

I had gone home early from work one night and decided to stop by Alan's to surprise him. Turning onto his street, I saw an unfamiliar car parked in front of his house. Maybe he had family over? I pulled in closer to examine the situation, just in time to see a semi-familiar , pale, dark haired girl kissing Alan goodbye and getting into the mysterious car. She left and I charged through his front door, demanding an answer. 

"So, did you have some fun?" I shot at Alan as he stared at me like a deer in headlights.

"Babe, uh, hey you're home early" he rubbed the back of his neck, a nervous quirk of his. 

"Yeah, just in time to see your little friend leave. Tell me Alan, do you often kiss your friends goodbye?" I spat at him and walked into his room to start retrieving my things. I had seen that girl before. Alan had claimed her as an old friend of his. "And don't you dare try to pull the 'old friend' card on me again. So let's cut to the chase, how long have you been seeing her?" I spoke with venom as he caught me from behind. 

"Babe, I love you, not her, please don't leave me. I'm sorry I just messed up, please forgive me"  he stuttered and held onto my waist. What was he trying to prove?

"Yeah you did mess up. and I messed up by believing she was just a friend! I can't believe you did this!" I screamed in his face and tried to get out of his grasp. I watched his eyes go from hurt to furious in a matter of seconds.

"FINE" he shoved me to the floor and started flinging my belongings at me. "Leave me! I was tired of you anyway!" 

I picked myself up, gathered my stuff and rushed out of there, tears streaming uncontrollably down my face.

*Back to Present time*

I snapped back to reality and cringed at both the memory and Alan's comment. 

"It's never pleasant seeing you, Alan." I hissed.

Austin still clearly confused upon our meeting asked, "Oh, and you two know each other?"  he looked back and forth between the ginger and I. 

"Alan and I d-dated, once upon a time. " I nearly gagged at the word dated.

"Ohhh, well, this is awkward.." Austin looked at his feet and grabbed my hand. "well, uh, we better be going. I'll catch you later for practice, Alan." 

Alan exchanged an awkward nod, and gave me his signature, douchebag smirk. Oh, how I hated him. I was furious, and Austin could sense it. 

"Are you okay, babe? I could sense the bad-ending relationship vibe." he squeezed my hand tightly and walked us into the restaurant. 

I sighed and nodded. "It definitely didn't end well" I paused, "He, uh, cheated on me and when I found out, it was pretty nasty." Austin pulled me into his embrace and I buried my face in his chest.

" I would never, ever cheat, especially on an absolutely wonderful girl like you. I know what it's like to be cheated on. " He kissed my forehead and rubbed my cheek with his thumb.

"Let's go enjoy breakfast" he smiled and positivity filled the air. His smile lit up every inch of the cafe and warmed me to the bone. 

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"I don't think i'll ever be able to eat again!" I pushed myself back from the table to give myself some breathing room.

"Me neither, I don't think i've ever eaten that many pancakes.." Austin motioned towards his empty plate. 

A waitress came over, handing us our bill. I reached for the bill, prepared to pay, only to have it snatched from my hand by Austin. 

"Hey, this one was supposed to be on me! You fed me dinner last night, I owe you." I gasped with sarcasm as he placed the amount due inside. He shot me a quick smirk and stood up from the table. 

"Ryleigh, having you in my life is worth a million meals." he helped me from my chair and wrapped his arm around my waist as he escorted me from the restaurant. I couldn't help but blush. I've never taken compliments well, and blushing seems to serve as a "thank you" towards them. 

We walked towards my car in silence. Not awkward silence, but the silence that says a thousand words. Each quiet whisper filled with affection and comfort. When we reached the 'Stang, I couldn't  help but lift up onto my tip-toes to kiss his soft, pink lips. At that moment, I felt nothing but love towards Austin. He kissed back with equal emotion as he pulled me in closer to him, placing his hands on the small of my back, and mine tangled around the back of his neck. Our love fest was soon interrupted by a catcall in the distance, and we broke into a fit of laughter together, our lips hovering just in front of one anothers. 

"I think someone wanted to join" Austin laughed and motioned toward the interrupter. I nodded and giggled along with Austin, us both finally settling into the car. 

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I had dropped Austin at his house and parted ways. His scent lingered in my car, reminding me of that morning. I smiled and turned onto the freeway, heading home to finally see Megan and hear about her day. Megan and I's relationship was always unique. We were never typically the "sister" type of friendship. We took care of each other, almost mother-like, and always looked out for one another. Most girls never understood our friendship while growing up, so mainly it was just her and I, no one else tagging along. 

"Oh wifey, I'm home!" I called out as I burst through the apartment door. Megan came running from the kitchen, her mouth stuffed full with some sort of food.

"I made chu foo but i kia ate it all" she attempted to word around the food in her mouth.

I laughed and walked towards my room, Megan close on my heels. "What happened to Mr. Daniel?" I asked her while changing into baggy sweatpants. 

"He went home after breakfast. We're supposed o be getting dinner later tonight down by the shore." She smiled at the thought of it, and we discussed our recent dates (if you could call them that)  and exchanged our (hopeful) future plans of relationships. 

" There's just one thing... you see, we ran into Alan this morning at the cafe.." at my mentioning of his name, both of us cringed, Meg staring wide-eyed at me, waiting for the rest of the story, "and it turns out, he's Austin's bands' newest recruit. They practice together multiple times a week. " I looked down at my hands and fiddled with my fingers, lost in my thoughts. "I can't let him ruin every good thing in my life." I whispered as Megan pulled me into her embrace and comforted me.  We had both dealt with shady boyfriends in the past, whether it be physical abuse, verbal abuse, cheating, etc. , it always seemed to happen to us. 

"Please, be careful with this situation. You don't deserve this anymore, Ry. Especially not now.." Megan pleaded, as we assured each other that we will not settle for less than we deserve. Not anymore.

She smiled and stood up "Now, lets go eat a bunch of shit and watch the Nightmare Before Christmas!" Us Tim Burton fanatics, Jack Skellington always cheered us up. I grabbed my favorite Jack blanket and found my place on the couch as Meg grabbed the Oreos, sour gummy worms and poured us each a glass of wine. 

"Here's to not dating anymore assholes, and to Tim Burton!" we toasted our glasses and started our movie. Who needs assholes when you have a best friend and wine?