This One's For You (an Austin Carlile fanfiction)

Chapter 9

Ow. I felt my whole body collide with the ground. My eyes shot open as I groaned in pain, face to face with the carpet hallway between rows of bunks. I'd rolled out of bed and onto the ground, from the middle bunk up. Great. I took a moment to pray no one saw that, but of course the universe wasn't on my side today--it wasn't on my side any other day of the year, either. 

I heard snickering as I tried to get up, standing and rolling my eyes at the crowd gathered in the lounge. Everyone was up except for me. Even Austin had climbed out of the bunk without me noticing. Jesus Christ, how long did I sleep? Everyone else was shitfaced, practically everyone except me. Weren't they supposed to be passed out still? Some morning this was. 

Everyone was still staring at me, but they were done laughing and instead I observed a wide array of reactions. Tino was smirking, Phil was raising his eyebrows, Aaron's mouth was hanging open, Austin was shaking his head in concern and Alan seemed to be in a mix of shock and admiration as he ran his eyes down my body. Because yes, I was naked. 

I should have registered my nudity sooner, but my brain was still too confused from being woken up so suddenly. So I had probably stood there for about ten seconds, completely nude, letting them eyeball me over breakfast. The blood rushed to my cheeks and I turned a bright red before grabbing a blanket out of Austin's bunk. My bra and panties fell on the floor, apparently having been tangled up in the sheets. I heard them all laugh as I tried to cover up. 

I could feel my anger start to rise along with my embarrassment, and I finally lost it. "WOULD YOU ALL SHUT THE FUCK UP AND PUT YOUR EYEBALLS BACK IN YOUR HEAD?!" I screamed as I turned and stormed towards where I kept my clothes. Everyone was silent as I snatched a Pierce the Veil shirt and gray skinny jeans, and they stayed silent as I went into the bathroom.

I could hear them whisper about me as I changed, but I didn't interrupt them. Eavesdropping can be the surest way to find out what people think of you.

"What's stuck up her ass?" someone said, and I think it was Alan. 

"If you didn't know, you guys were pretty fucking rude to her," said Austin, clearly annoyed. 

"So, she doesn't have to be so butthurt about it," Alan replied. 

"No, Austin's right dude, we probably should have looked away or something," Phil said. Thank you for making sense, Phil. 

"Who would want to look away from that? She's fucking sexy," Tino laughed. I heard an impact, which I'd like to believe was Austin smacking Tino on the head. "Hey, you were the ones having fun last night," was Tino's response. 

"No, we got close, but it's way too soon since...what happened. She's still really fragile you know, she probably will stay that way for months, or even years. I wish I could help her, I really fucking do, but this is too much even for me," Austin vented. 

They were silent for a few minutes, probably feeling bad for me or something stupid, but then going back to whatever they were doing before I made my entrance. I wondered what Austin meant. I was too broken for him? Would he stop trying? I really hoped not, he was all I had. I sighed before I walked out in my outfit, hair and makeup done, throwing my dirty clothes in my suitcase because I really didn't give a fuck. 

I prepared a breakfast of poptarts and coffee, eating silently while browsing my laptop. I scrolled through tumblr and updated my blog, checked twitter and facebook, and then I went back on tumblr. Sure, it may sound boring, but tumblr was actually an amazing place for fandoms and time wasting. I happened to belong to the Of Mice & Men fandom, but that sort of changed when I actually got to know them. Don't get me wrong, they aren't any less awesome, but seeing them every single day and seeing all their faults and annoying behaviors makes it a little less thrilling.