Conspiracy (Sequel to Hypocrisy)

Chapter 4

Austin's POV

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"Are you coming?" Jon asked from the door. Tonight all of the band was supposed to be going out to get a drink, but I didn't feel like it tonight. When the band went out to drink, Jaxin and I always fought. Mostly because a drunk Austin can't keep his hands to himself and usually hooks up with another man or woman. Yeah, Jaxin and I's relationship isn't the healthiest. Cheating has NEVER been my thing, but I can't say that Jaxin fulfils ALL my needs.

"Babe, you have to come out tonight." Jaxin called from the back room, a bear bottle already in his hand. Once again, I shook my head. I didn't want to do this tonight. The guilt I felt in the morning wasn't demanding to be felt.

"Whatever. Suit yourself." Jaxin mumbled, walking by me and out the door without even giving me a goodbye kiss. Yeah, his coldness hurt a bit, but you get used to it.

As all the boys left, I got in the shower. As I was taking my shirt off, there was a knock on the door. Turning off the running water, I ran to the door. Not even bothering to put a shirt on. As I was about to open the door, the mystery person knocked again. I swear to fucking god if it's Jahova Witness. I opened the door, and almost passed out due to shock.

It was the brightness of his hair that made me notice who he was, not his face. Age surely got to him, and not in a good way. He had a bit of ginger scruff, which was weird because he was never one to grow any type of facial hair. As for clothing, he wore what he would wear in high school, just it was a bit baggier. I missed his tight jeans.

"Earth to Austin?" The ginger chimed in front of me, crashing my train of thought. "I've been calling your name for like, the past two minutes."

"Sorry." I mumbled. "What are you doing here, Ashby?" I growled, tempted to slam the door straight in his face and walk away from him like he did to me around three years ago.

"Coming to visit an old pal." He joked. Attempting to close the door, Alan's hand stopped me. "Are you gonna invite me in?" He asked.

"For fucks sake, come in." I snapped, almost pushing him inside. Alan walked in, looked around, then sat on the couch. He folded his hands into his lap and licked his lips, an old habit that let me know that he was nervous. Whatever he was here for, it wasn't to talk about being friends.

"You got more tattoos." Alan whispered from the couch. His eyes racked over my shirtless body, and I found myself getting seld conscious. Wrapping my arms around my naked torso, I nodded. "What's that scar from?" Alan asked, pointing to the scar that was placed over my heart.

"Heart surgery. You would've known that if you stuck around." I sassed. Alan shrunk back a bit, but there was no way I was going to apologise. There was no reason for me to apologise to him. We fell into an awkward silence, both of us wanting to say something, but being very careful in what we say. There was so much I wanted to say, that I had to save for later.

"I came here to explain why I ran away. Maybe you wouldn't hate me so much if you knew the reasoning behind my actions." Alan said, rubbing his hands together and pulling at the lose skin on his lip. Old Austin would nag him to stop because it would start to bleed, but he was long gone. New Austin didn't care if Alan's lip bled or not.

"Really?" I scoffed. "Okay, go ahead. Please, tell me why you left." Alan sat up and touched his lip, which surprise surprise, was bleeding.

"I was scared." Alan started. Rolling my eyes, I signalled for him to continue before I interrupted him. "I was scared that everyone knew I failed you. I was scared that you didn't love me enough to tell me that you were getting sick. I was scared that you were going to die, and it would be all my fault." Alan admitted.

"You have got to be kidding me." I hissed. "You have to be kidding me." I repeated, slower. "First of all, you didn't fail me. If anything, I failed myself. Stop being so fucking selfish and pushing all the blame on yourself." I argued. "Second of all, I didn't even know I was sick. This was a surprise to the both of us, stop coming to conclusions." I went on. "Last of all, I didn't die and you would've known that if you wouldn't stayed by me. I needed you, Alan. I needed you to be there for me while I was sick. When I went into surgery, I wanted you to be there to hold my hand and tell me that everything was fine. I needed you, Alan. I needed you. I need you." I confessed

"I need you too, Austin." Alan whimpered. "That's why I'm here."

I walked over to Alan and kissed his nose, forehead, and cheeks before I kissed his lips. It seemed like all of our past slipped away as our lips moved in synch. Just like high school, Alan was still Alan. Pulling away from the kiss, I looked him in the eyes.

"I love you. I love you a lot. But, I need to get myself together a bit, okay? Also, I need to get this band working. I just need to think." I confessed, kissing him one last time before he left.

Alan's goodbye kiss was the only one I wanted.