Another You (An Austin Carlile love story)

Chapter 6

Chapter Six – Austin’s POV

     When I got back to my now empty house, I couldn’t get her out of my head, what she had been through, jeez I had no idea. I decided she deserved something a little better then what she got in her past. A girl like her deserved more than this. I went into my wallet and smirked, an extra twenty dollar bill was placed in there, and I decided what to do with it this time.

     I pulled up in front of one of those cliché flower shops in downtown LA. I parked my car in an empty spot and went inside, it was nearly empty when I walked in. “Hi! How can I help you?” said the preppy lady behind the counter. “Just a bouquet of the, if possible, simplest flowers in here” I said, hinting towards all the vibrantly coloured flowers in the shop. I already knew Nina enough to know she’s not really the colourful type.

     The lady walked to the back of the store and came back with a bouquet of pale yellow type flowers. “Will these lilies do?” asked the lady. I nodded at them. I paid for the flowers with the twenty Nina had sneakily placed in my wallet. It came with a little card. When I got back to my car I found a pen and wrote in the card, Dinner at 7? I couldn’t think of anything else, okay…

     When I got back to my house I put the lilies in a temporary vase of water until I had to pick Nina up. I sat down and watched some movies and cleaned up the nice mess the boys had left for me while I waited.

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Nina’s POV

     When my shift ended I smiled and waved a goodbye to the secretary, Lainey, she was just about a year or two older than me, and she was good at the whole making people smile thing. “Have a good night honey!” she yelled out to me. “You too!” I yelled back with a smile.

     When I got out to the warm Cali air, Austin was already waiting for me parked by the entrance. When I opened the car door there was a bouquet of pale yellow coloured lilies sitting in the passenger seat. “Who are those for?” I said, sounding a bit more surprised than I had intended. “You” he said, looking up from his phone with a big goofy smile on his face, I couldn’t help but smile back. I picked up the flowers and sat down with them cradled in my arms. I noticed a note tied to one of the lilies stems and picked it off. I opened it up and read it, Dinner at 7? Before thinking twice I let out a “yeah, I’d love to” and looked at him, realizing he was watching me the entire time, I blushed, he smiled even more.

     When we got back home, I quickly escaped to my room to pick out an outfit, jeez, what was I gonna wear? I quickly looked at the dresses I had and laid them across my bed looking at them confused. After about 5 minutes I heard a knock at the door. “Come in!” I said, I knew it was Austin. I turned to see his tall figure enter the room. “I have two questions” I said to him, “fire away” he said with a nod. “Is this dinner at a formal, or casual place?” I asked first, “Formal” he said, his hands clasped together and a smile on his face. His voice alone was enough to make me smile. “Okay, second question” I began, “Is this a date, or just as friends?” I said, kind of regretting it after. “It’s anything you want it to be” He said, hugged me, then left closing the door behind him.

     In the end of my outfit dilemma I ended up choosing a strapless black sundress that reached just above the knee. It had a dark blue waistline and was tight around the bust but gently swayed out underneath the waistband.

     I began to take my pants off before entering the already running shower and saw it, the picture poking out of the back pocket of my jeans from yesterday hanging just out of the hamper. I pulled it out and smoothed over the surface of it to reveal Danny’s face, smiling, his tan skin going into his dimples and his dark brown hair shaggy over his forehead. His hands caressing my belly. I miss those hands more than anything. Their warmth, and their strength, everything about them. Having them to hold and being held in return. He would have made such a wonderful father I know that. The photo was taken just two weeks prior to the accident, that took both his life, and mine.

     I tried to wash all of the bad thoughts out of my head as I got into the shower. The hot water pouring over my body as I washed my hair. I hadn’t realized but I had begun to cry, very silently tears fell from my cheeks. I felt them burning against my skin but the water quickly removed them.

     I stepped out of the shower and into a towel and blow dried my hair and then lightly curled it. My now mildly curly brown hair bounced around my shoulders. I did very light makeup but applied some lip-gloss. When I emerged from the bathroom still in my towel I found Austin standing over my bed looking at my dress. Feeling slightly embarrassed I cleared my throat. “Oh shit, sorry, I heard you get in the shower so I just came in here to have a look, very nice dress by the way” he said with a wink. Damn this boy.

     After Austin left I sat on the bed and pulled out the picture again. I never imagined how much I could miss someone. How it could be possible. I thought I lost that feeling a long time ago. When I left for university I never looked back, never talked to any of my family members ever again, how could i? I was treated like shit. I never imagined feeling this much pain again. What if it’s karma? I began to think. What if it is? From leaving the people who raised me. But it’s too late now, I could never imagine talking to them again. It’s been nearly seven years since last speaking to them. But my heart sank remembering the last hug I had ever received from my mother. It was the first time I had seen her smile in so long. But my heart was so cold with revenge I never talked to them. It wasn’t like I made a difference. She had many other children. All of my brothers and sisters. But I threw them all away. Now looking at this picture makes me feel like I deserved it. It’s wrong to think that way I know, but I can’t help but feel a pang of guilt come over me.

     After about twenty minutes there was a knock on my door, before I could answer I heard Austin’s voice, “We’re leaving in about ten minutes” he said. “Okay I’ll be out in a second” I said. And quickly removed my towel and put on the dress, taking the photo and putting it in one of the many drawers of my dresser, hidden underneath layers of clothes so Austin couldn’t find it.

A/N: This was one hella long chapter