All My Heart: A Very Warped Summer Sequel (Austin Carlile x OC)

Degausser

Degausser – Brand New

“You're brought back but you're running, I'll find sleep in the end tonight. I can't shake this little feeling, I'll never get anything right.”

Something heavy forced down on top of her body woke Danielle up in the morning. Her eyes opened abruptly and she attempted to sit up, only to notice through a fence of her dark hair that it was a shirtless Austin, grinning widely at her only inches from her face. She looked at the alarm clock on his nightstand to read the time.

“Austin!” She said tiredly, collapsing her head back on her pillow and roughly pulling the covers over her head. “It's eight in the morning!”

“It's also...” Austin said, pulling the covers off her, making her squeeze her eyes shut tightly from the light. “...Christmas!”

“Christmas isn't for a few weeks...”

“I know, but we still have to decorate!”

Danielle groaned, burying her face in the pillow. This was supposed to be the first day in a long time that she could sleep in and Austin was ruining it for her.

“Come on, I thought it'd be fun if we went tree hunting together and decorated our whole place.” Austin said, dropping his body next to her.

She shook her head and looked at him, squinting in the bright light of the early morning sun. “I don't like Christmas.”

Austin's face dropped. “Why!”

She shook her head, closing her eyes again. “Maybe, like, later tonight or something.”

“Okay.” Austin said sadly before kissing the top of her head and rolling off the bed, leaving her to sleep in peace.

She woke up a few hours later and went downstairs to see Austin still only half dressed while shoveling cereal in his mouth. He saw her and smiled, swallowing before speaking to her.

“Morning, princess.”

She sat at the island counter and grabbed an apple from their fruit bowl, smiling. “I see you're ready to take on the day.”

Austin shrugged, sitting across from her with his bowl of cheerios. “You don't want to go Christmas shopping until later, so...”

Danielle groaned. “Austin, I just don't really feel like going at all.”

“Why do you hate Christmas?”

Danielle shrugged. “A few number of reasons.”

“Tell me.”

Danielle sighed, putting down her bitten fruit and looking Austin in the eyes. “When I was sixteen, my dad died.”

Austin nodded. “Yeah, I know that. I knew that from one of the first times we talked.”

She nodded, her face vacant. “He died three days before Christmas and as you know, he was one of my best friends. I found half of his hidden presents in January and just cried my eyes out each time I did. Every year after that, my Christmases just got worse. When I was seventeen, my dog died a week before. Eighteen, my tree caught on fire. Nineteen, I started dating Trace. Twenty, Trace did unspeakable things to me on Christmas. Now, twenty-one and I don't really want to know what's going to happen.”

Austin's face was etched with utter concern. He got up and walked around the island, pulling Danielle into a tight embrace. She held onto him, knowing she didn't really want this. It was always hard for her around the holidays, sure, but she didn't get upset about it. She just had awful Christmases, that was all.