Mend Your Broken Heart [Austin Carlile- Of Mice & Men fanfic]

One: What is a Man Who Lays a Hand on His Lover?

Song: Princeton Ave- Issues

-&-

"Can you work late tonight, Violet?" My manager, Elle asked, wiping down some of the empty tables. "I have some work in the back to do and I'd really appreciate the help."

I contemplated it. "How late would it be?" I asked. I didn't want to be late for making dinner because Travis wouldn't be happy at all.

"You'll only be here until around five," Elle said, looking at me with pleading eyes. "I'll pay you extra."

I sighed. "Yeah, I'll stay."

Suddenly, the bell on the door went off, signalling we had a customer on this quiet night.

"What can I get you?" I asked, smiling at the man who walked in. He was covered in tattoos with a goatee and gelled hair.

"I'll take a venté peach mango smoothie, please," he answered, taking his wallet out of his pocket.

"And name?" I asked, taking out a cup and permanent marker. We had to do this every time, even when there was only one person in the store.

"Austin," he answered.

"Great, and that comes to four fifty-eight," I said, handing the cup to Danielle, the girl I was working with tonight.

"Hasn't gotten any cheaper, has it?" He asked, chuckling as he took out a five dollar bill and handed it to me.

"I'm afraid not," I replied, giving him his change. I gave him another smile before he went over to get his smoothie.

After he got his smoothie, he sat down at one of the tables and took his iPhone out. I watched him as he scrolled through something on his phone, most likely Instagram or Twitter.

I grabbed one of the rags to clean off a table near his. I wasn't even thinking, I was just acting.

I began to wipe down the table next to his, even though it wasn't even dirty. He looked up and smiled at me and I smiled back.

We kept on staring at each other and smiling as I cleaned all of the other tables.

Austin cleared his throat. "Hey uh-"

The door suddenly opened, interrupting our train of thought. I turned around, seeing Travis walk in.

"Hey babe," he said, glaring at Austin before putting his arms around my waist and kissing me passionately. He deepened the kiss, our teeth knocking against each other.

I heard Austin clear his throat and I struggled to pull away. "Nice to see you too, Travis," I murmured.

"You getting off work soon, babe?" He asked, giving me small kisses over and over again.

"I'm actually working until five," I answered quietly, hoping that he wouldn't be mad.

His eyes turned dark. "I thought your shift ended at three-thirty? I came to pick you up," he said through clenched teeth.

"I'm sorry, I-"

"It's my fault, Travis," Elle said from behind the counter. I didn't know why she was sticking up for me, but I really appreciated it. "I need her to work late because I'm up to my knees in paper work."

Travis nodded, understandingly. "You can walk home," he murmured to me before leaving the store. His temper has been a lot worse lately.

"What was his deal?" Danielle asked, cleaning some things behind the counter.

"He gets disappointed really easily. He wanted to take me to a movie, but these extra hours are more important because we need the money," I lied, smoothly. I was a very good liar.

"He looked like he want to beat you," Elle said, jokingly.

I chuckled, trying to hide what I was actually feeling. I was afraid to go home, I could barely feel my face from yesterday.

Suddenly, Austin stood up, threw his empty cup in the garbage and stormed out the door.

"Everyone's so uptight today," I murmured. I couldn't help but wonder if that was the last time I would ever see him, and I couldn't ignore the fact that I really wanted to see him again.

"He was smoking, me gusta," Elle said, earning a chuckle out of me and Danielle. "Don't you laugh at me, I saw you checking him out too, Violet."

I felt myself blush a bit. "Did you see his tattoos? I would give anything to be able to tattoo him..." I murmured quietly.

"I'm sure 'tattoo him' is the proper context," Danielle teased, winking at me.

"I wouldn't mind doing some other things to him as well," I joked, playing along with our bored banter.

"Hey, you have a boyfriend so I have first dibs," Elle said, wagging her frail finger at me.

"What about me?" Danielle asked, putting a hand on her hip.

"It'll be a fight to the death!"

___

"Travis?" I called out when I walked into our dark apartment. Where could he have been?

As I neared our bedroom, I heard a familiar sound of the headboard banging against the wall. A girl was moaning, and so was a boy that sounded a lot like Travis.

I nervously stood in front of the door, feeling my entire world shattering before me. How could he do this to me? We... we loved each other.

I was fuming with anger, but I was too scared to do anything. If I interrupted, he would hurt me, I was positive of it. But I was so... so angry.

I put my hand on the handle and pushed the door open, not caring anymore. I stared at Travis as some blonde bitch was on top of him.

The girl stopped, staring at me with wide eyes. "Your girlfriend?" She asked, climbing off of him.

He groaned as he pushed her onto him again. "Don't stop, we're not done yet."

Without any hesitation, the girl started again. Neither of them bothered looking at me, crying my eyes out. I left the room and sat on the couch, staring blankly at the ground as I let my tears escape.

A few minutes later, the girl emerged from the bedroom, fully clothed. She didn't even look at me as she walked out the door.

I stormed into the bedroom, seeing Travis putting his socks on. He smirked at me as he stood up.

My heart was pounding in my ear as I glared at him. I was so angry, I didn't even know where to start.

He slowly walked towards me. He put his hands on my shoulders and I shook them off. Then he put his hands on my shoulders again, this time squeezing.

"Don't fucking touch me," I said through clenched teeth as I pulled myself out of his grasp. I went over to our closet and pulled out my suitcase.

"Where do you think you're going? You don't have any friends, those people at work won't care about you, you don't even know where they live."

"I'll go anywhere to get the fuck away from you!" I screamed, feeling myself break.

"You can't get away from me!" He yelled back, grabbing me by my hair. He threw me against the wall, and I crumpled to the floor.

He kneeled down to my level, grabbing my chin and forcing me to look at him. "I will always have you right here, falling under my gaze. If you ever leave, I will hunt you down again and again because I care about you. I don't want you to get hurt by the big bad world." He slammed my head against the wall. "Only I get to hurt you."