I woke up to my phone buzzing in my ear. I reached for it in my sleepy haze and opened my eyes to sneak a peak, blinding myself in the process. I finally adjusted and read the text that was waiting.

From: Aus10
I hope it's not too early, but do you want to go grab some breakfast?

I sighed deeply, feeling incredibly conflicted. I wasn't quite sure where I stood with my feelings for him, and I didn't want to lead him on if I didn't end up liking him. I also had absolutely no desire to get up and leave Jaime. It wasn't really something that I could explain, but being here with him right now felt so right. I brushed it off as something that was probably only happening because of everything that's been going on.

"What is it, Eve?" Jaime mumbled, his eyes still closed and his arms wrapping back around me. I turned around so I was facing him, pressing my body tightly to his.

"Nothing, don't worry about it. Go back to sleep." I said into his chest gently. I looked up at him and noticed how peaceful he looked. He had began to snore lightly again, and I brought my hand up to his cheek gently. He shifted slightly, murmuring something under his breath that I couldn't make out. I kissed his cheek gently and rolled out of bed. I picked my phone back up and replied to Austin.

To: Aus10

Sure, when and where?

From: Aus10
IHOP on tenth, I'll pick you up in an hour?

To:Aus10
Sounds good to me

I got up quietly and browsed through the closet, finally settling on a plain Drop Dead tank and a pair of shorts. I walked to the bathroom and gasped at the reflection I saw in the mirror. I looked absolutely awful from all the crying that had taken place yesterday. Hoping it could all be easily covered up, I took a shower and got out, applying some make up to the bags under my eyes. I slipped on the outfit just in time as my phone went off with a text from him letting me know he was here. I ran downstairs and out the door, seeing Austin's car stalled in the street. I hopped in the passenger seat to see him greeting me with a warm smile. I smiled lightly back at him as he put the car into drive and headed towards the restaurant.

******

We were sitting in a booth just finishing placing our orders. Austin looked happier than ever, sitting across from me with a smirk on his face.

"What's the smirk for, Aus?" I asked mockingly.

"I'm just happy to be here with you. It's nice to be out with such a pretty girl that's not a manipulative bitch." He said shyly. I blushed and looked down, playing with the silverware set in front of me.

"You're too sweet, really." I took a sip of my orange juice and sat back, breathing a sigh of almost relief. It was nice to be here with him, just sitting around having breakfast and not having to worry. My worry for Vic was still in the back of my mind, but it was nice to nearly have my head cleared.

"What have you been up to, anyways? I thought for sure you had lost interest in me when you didn't reply to any of my texts yesterday." Austin said almost sadly. I saw the sad smile on his face and felt awful immediately. I didn't even bother to check my phone last night after everything that had went down, and thinking that Austin would've have texted me didn't even cross my mind.

"Oh my goodness Austin I'm so sorry. Last night was.... crazy. I'm so sorry, I didn't even check my phone." I apologized sincerely.

"Eve, there's no need to apologize, honestly. Things happen, I understand. If you don't mind me asking though, why was it such a crazy night?" He asked, cocking his head and furrowing his eyebrows.

"Well, shoot... We haven't told anybody, so you have to keep this between me and you." He shook his head in response and I took a breath before continuing. "Vic went to the hospital last night. Something happened and... he's just not doing too well." I said quietly. Austin's eyes widened and his mouth opened slightly.

"Oh my god, what happened?" I blinked back a few tears and took a deep breath, collecting myself.

"His liver's failing... He needs a transplant, but we're waiting for a donor." I took a shaky breath as a tear fell down my cheek. I wiped it away quickly hoping that Austin hadn't seen it, but when I saw the sadness in his face, I knew he had. He quickly got up out of his side of the booth and made his way over towards mine, taking a seat next to me and wrapping his arm around me. I grabbed his hand and squeezed it tightly, trying to pull myself together. He rubbed my shoulder softly with my head against his chest.

"I'm so sorry Evelyn... I know that must be a difficult thing to try and get through. How is everybody else holding up?" He asked with sincerity. Before I could answer, our food was brought to us. Our server gave us a concerned look, but left with a smile when Austin gave an assuring nod that we were fine. I sat up from his shoulder and scooted my plate over, pushing the food around with my fork.

"They're... Alright. Tony's pretty much keeping us all together. Mike and Jaime are taking it pretty hard, but they're coping." I broke off a piece of my toast and shoved it in my mouth, chewing it over slowly and savoring the taste.

"How are you handling it?" He was looking at me, worry strung across his face. I smiled at him weakly, putting my down my fork and reaching for his hand.

"I'm fine, Austin. Don't worry about me." I dropped his hand and turned back to my plate, but stopped when his hand grabbed mine again.

"I'm going to worry about you because you look like you've barely gotten any sleep. And when was the last time you ate? Look at you, you're barely eating now. I'm worried about you, Eve." I dropped my head in my hands, holding back tears as he wrapped his arm back around me. "Do you want me to take you back to your house?" He whispered into my ear quietly.

"I'd rather be anywhere but there, honestly." I said after I lifted my head. "I hope this isn't sudden, but can we go back to your place? I just need to get away." I said quietly to him, tears threatening in my eyes.

"Of course, let me just pay real quick." He flagged down the waiter and left a few bills to cover the food that neither of us had touched. We got up and walked out with his arm still around me, holding me close. He opened the passenger door, letting me in before closing it. He hopped in the passenger seat and started driving silently, letting me sit in the passenger seat and cry to myself silently. The ride was short, and before I knew it we were pulling into the parking lot of his apartment complex. He parked the car and killed it. I wiped away the last of my tears and turned to him, smiling softly.

"Thank you so much. It means so much that you're here for me." He grabbed my hand and kissed it lightly, causing me to blush like crazy.

"It's what I'm here for. Why don't we head upstairs?" I nodded my head and got out of the car, following him inside the building and up the stairs leading to his door. He unlocked it and opened it, letting me enter. It was a neat little place, and to my surprise it was clean and straightened up. He closed the door and walked in behind me, placing a hand gently on my hip from behind.

"Go ahead and take a seat, I'll get you something to drink. Tea or coffee, or anything else? I think I've got pretty much everything here." He said while gesturing towards the couch.

"Uhm... Do you have hot cocoa? I'd kill for some of that right now." I asked while taking a seat.

"Yeah, I think Alan has some up here somewhere." He asked, heading into the kitchen. I heard him rummaging through the drawers before shouting out in triumph.

"So, you live here with Alan?" I called out to him, not wanting silence to take over.

"Yeah, we've lived together for awhile, ever since he joined Of Mice. Do you want whipped
cream on your cocoa?" He asked.

"Oh yes please, I love whipped cream." I glanced around at some of the other stuff that was set up in the living room. It was pretty empty, and the white walls to match his white furniture were also bare. There was a HD TV set apart from the couch, with both an Xbox and a PS3 tucked underneath it. There was a keyboard tucked away in the corner of the room with notes sprawled out all over it and a guitar lying next to it, which I assumed was Alan's.

"Here's your cocoa, hopefully just like you like it." Austin said, walking into the living room with a cute little mug of hot chocolate. I took it from him with a smile as he sat down next to me. He laid a hand gently on my thigh, and my heart stopped. "Do you want to talk about it at all?" He asked me. I took a sip of my cocoa and sat it down on the coffee table before answering.

"Not really, Austin.. I'm sorry. I just kind of want to keep my mind off of things for awhile, you know what I mean?" I looked at him, looking back at me. His face was covered with compassion, and my heart skipped a beat at it. I grabbed his hand that wasn't on my thigh and gave it a small squeeze.

"That's alright, I understand completely. Don't apologize." He smiled at me sweetly, and I returned it. We sat there for a few seconds before he leaned in close, pressing his lips softly to mine.

He pulled away after a second, but I reached my hand behind his head and pulled him back, kissing him back and deepening the kiss. Our tongues danced together as his hand climbed up the side of my thigh, reaching my lower back. He pulled me onto his lap and pulled away from the kiss, resting his forehead on mine, staring into my eyes. "Are you sure you want this, Evelyn? We don't have to do this." He whispered softly.

"I'm sure. Maybe this is exactly what I need." I breathed. With that, he picked me up, kissing me again with more passion. I wrapped my legs around his waist as he carried me off, leading me into his bedroom.

Notes

I was originally going to put some smut in here at the end, but then I realized I'm shit at writing smut so I ultimately decided against it. I'm sorry it's taken me longer to post this than I had originally intended, and I'm sorry that I'm putting this up at 3am. I really wanted to get it up before I went to bed, so here you guys go! I'm hoping to have another part up Saturday night, so keep your fingers crossed!
Title credit: Don't Go- Bring Me The Horizon