Leilani's POV:

*One Week Later*

"Isn't this perfect?" I leaned back into Austin's chest as I took in my surroundings that he reminisced about. The mountains that harboured across the horizon of New Zealand dusted over by a blanket of glistening, whimsical snow, the oddly rewarding sensation that filled your nose when you took in a breath of the cold air, the brisk winds gently kissing our cheeks as fallen leaves whipped by in a rush, the warm, tattooed arms that wrapped oh so softly around my waist from behind me that took away any sense of the winter and the bottle of wine that sat on the blanket next to our tangled bodies on the balcony of our hotel room. I hummed contently in response to his rhetorical question, he knew the answer just as well as I did. This was perfect.

"I could spend forever like this with you," I lulled feeling my body melt into Austin's as we cuddled closer together. Behind me I could hear Austin smirk slightly but not as if to laugh at to me but as if he was imagining the exact same thing.

"Couldn't have put it better myself," he tightened his already firm grip around my hips as he nestled into my neck that seemed to fit just perfectly.

"Of course you could have! You're a lyrical genius!" I giggled from the sudden touch against my sensitive neck and wriggled beneath his grip but he pulled me right back into his comforting arms. At this point it was impossible to not be in love with such a beautiful man with an equally beautiful soul. I lost myself in his scent which oddly enough smelt like my honey scented body wash and couldn't help but snicker to myself.

"I wouldn't go as far as to say 'genius'," his words brought me back to reality and away from my thoughts of him but being in the moment with him was so much more satisfying. I wriggled beneath him was once more but this time he let me slip between his grip. I sat, legs crossed now, facing him so I could argue my point but before I could even open my mouth or think of a starting line Austin had poured me another glass of the mouth watering red wine and passed it over. I took it delicately from his hands, sure not to drop it as my hands shook in the cold. He held his glass up waiting for me to clang mine to his, so I did so.

"Here's to forever," he cheered and followed with one of his heart melting winks.

"Here's to forever," I mimicked and threw back the drink quickly before squirming back into his warm grasp.

"So much for forever, ass hole," I spat to no one as I sat in the car on my lonesome.

Suddenly any thoughts I was having of Austin were violently ripped from my mind as I was pulled back into the real world when I heard the sound of my car door slam. Where was I again? Oh yeah, the airport to pick up Mike. Quickly I buried all my memories of Austin in a far away corner of my brain and tried to hide the agony from my tired, sagging face and forced an only half genuine smile to the handsome man who now sat beside me. Let me tell you now, a guy like Mike deserved better than a 'half genuine smile' and a girlfriend whom could only think about the man who crushed her heart. I can't even give myself wholeheartedly to him. It was just one more thing to add to the list of 'things I hate about myself'.

"Knock knock, anybody in there?" Mike was waving his hands before my face telling me I'd only been pulled out of my thoughts to dive straight back into them.

"Sorry baby, just tired after a long week but hey! How are you? How was the flight?" I rambled as many questions I could think possible as he threw his two bags into the back seat over his shoulder. As he pulled back he lent over towards me pulling me in for a kiss that had the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. The reaction I was having to him made me feel better, like I wasn't such a bad person because I knew somewhere that I loved him.

"Good, just tired. I'm excited to meet your parents though but I'm also scared after the whole car accident thing," he rubbed at the back of his neck as I started the car and pulled out driving towards home.

"Don't worry I didn't tell them why I was drinking that day," it was true I covered up the accident with some petty excuse about being scared in the real world after being closed away for so long. To my surprise everyone who didn't know the real reason bought it and everyone else kept their mouths shut.

"Oh thank god I thought I'd have to explain why I paralysed their beautiful daughter," he sighed in relief.

"Hey! I'm not paralysed!" I defended myself jokingly not taking my eyes off the road.

"Touché but you are beautiful," he cooed sweetly and placed his hand over my free hand that rested on my lap, all in all his words sending a shiver down my spine and setting a soft smile upon my lips while my cheeks flushed a crimson red.

***

The rest of the drive was spent talking about the rest of Mike's adventure on tour and thankfully he didn't mention Austin, or any of the Of Mice guys for that matter. Unfortunately the thoughts of him still nipped at the back of my brain as I fought the entire time for them to leave.

"Oli said he missed you the first day you were gone, he was pretty bummed actually," the mention of Oliver had me through the roof, all the moping I've done this week I hadn't really thought about the things and the people who make me happy.

"Do you think he'd like to visit?" I beamed hopeful of a 'yes' in reply.

"I mean sure but he does have The American Dream Tour coming up so maybe not for a while," Mike explained knowing the news would bring down my spirit.

"Oh," I mumbled under my breath as I pulled into the driveway of my house and parked the car. I quickly and swiftly jumped out from the drivers side and went to pull Mike's bags from the back in order to hide my disappointment but before I could even get a hand on the bag before Mike was by my side.

"You shouldn't be doing any heavy lifting baby girl," he hummed in between the small pecks he was placing on my cheeks before lifting the bags out himself avoiding our previous conversation.

"I'm fine really, I just drove that whole way home and I don't even use my wheel chair any more!" I exclaimed in excitement but I knew that's not what he meant.

"I'm talking about our little bundle of joy," immediately as he said the words the brightest smile grew across his face that followed all the way up and into his eyes but I couldn't return the smile. I could only feel miserable as he said the word 'our' because it wasn't 'ours' it was 'mine' and Austin's but I couldn't bring myself to break the news to him, he was just too happy.

"Fine," I dragged out the 'e' in defeat and let him carry the bags inside. Literally as we walked in the door, Mike first, my family and Michelle bombarded us.

"Nice to meet you Mike, we've heard a lot of good things about you," my Dad held out his hand and Mike returned it with his own gripping on for a firm handshake.

"No pressure," Mike laughed but my Dad just patted him on the back before pulling him into a hug that both my Mum and Michelle joined in on. Before I could be pulled into the hug my phone buzzed in my pocket and I whipped it out, quickly typing in my pass code revealing the message I've been waiting for. Or not so much.

Me (One Week Ago): Austin, I doubt you'll care but I needed to tell you this. I went to the doctors and the baby is yours. You were right about the accident, it could have never have been Mike's.

Austin (1.43pm): You're right, I don't care. Do me a favour and never message me again.

In that very moment my heart fell to pieces. I thought it was broken before but I was so wrong. Nothing hurt more than your babies father rejecting them. I couldn't care less about him. I hated him, I didn't ever want to be with him again, or so I told myself, but I wanted him to love our child. I found myself searching for reasons, was it my fault? No it couldn't be, but then I'm back to my previous question, why? It was a never ending circle that made no sense. Austin lost his Mum, he knew how it felt to grow up without someone that could mean so much to you and now he was willingly letting another poor soul grow up the exact same way.

Moments after my phone smashed against the tiles my frail body followed right after, my knees crashing violently against the ground as the tears started to flow and my hands gripped at the length of my messy tangent of hair. I felt Mike's arm wrap around my shaking body but it didn't help the shaking or the crying or the hair pulling. It only made me sob harder against his t-shirt soaking it in my salty tears. Nothing was said as my family watched on in shock at my reaction but they knew what it was and they knew I had to tell Mike so when he scooped me off the ground and asked where my bedroom was no one hesitated to show him where.

He carried me quickly to my room and hurried me to the bed before crawling on the bed behind me and pulling me against his toned body. He stroked gently at the back of my hair pulling his fingers through my tangled knots in an attempt to soothe me before rolling me over to face him. I could feel his hot breath against my cheeks which for once was clear of the smell of whisky. His face moved closer towards mine as he cupped my face in his giant, calloused hands and pulled me into one of his delightful kisses that made me forget about all my worries while it lasted. But when it didn't and he pulled away I whimpered at the loss of his touch but he replaced it with his hands laying gently on my stomach.

"Do you wanna talk about it?" I shook my head no but knew I'd have to tell him anyway. It wasn't something you just brush off and then claim to forget about it or think it wasn't important. I took in the biggest breath of air I possibly could before exhaling and mustering up the courage to break the news I was dreading.

"I don't want to but I have to," I explained and Mike nodded in agreement. I was saddened immediately by his expression, it was almost as if he knew what I was about to say.

"Go ahead Leilani, you can tell me anything I'm here for you," he gestured kindly.

"I went to the doctors and they uh, they um said that, uh," I trailed off not able to tell him.

"Come on babe please, is there something wrong with our little bub?" his eyes filled with panic as he worried about the baby.

"That's the thing Mike, it's not 'our' bub it's 'his' bub," I motioned towards my phone that Mike must have picked up and he looked at it reading the messages that sent me into a blind rage just moments earlier. I wasn't able to bare watching Mike read the messages, his heart broke before he even picked up the phone and I wasn't even strong enough to watch. I had forced my eyes closed trying to push back my tears that threatened to fall. It felt like an eternity had passed before Mike had said something but now he did.

"I don't care who the father is Leilani," my eyes snapped open in a robotic motion, there was no flickering of the eyelashes, they just ripped open at the sound of his voice but I'm glad they did because I was faced with a genuinely happy and blissful Mike.

"You, you don't?" I begged for an answer.

"I told you before, his or mine I'd raise that child. If he isn't man enough to grow the balls and step up than that's his problem but I wont stand by and watch the little baby grow up without a dad. Sure Austin 'created' them and he is their father and blah blah blah but he will never be their dad. I will," he said proudly before pulling me into a kiss that I've never shared with anyone before, not Austin nor Rhys, only Mike.

"I love you Mike," I somehow managed to breathe out between lustful kisses.

"I love you more Leilani," Mike pulled away before pushing on my kiss from his soft, plump lips against my own before we fell into a deep sleep tired from our completely different but busy weeks.

That day I forgot about Austin Carlile despite the doubt I had that I still loved him but I vowed to let myself close that chapter of my life as I prepared to start the next chapter. I told myself that there are things known and things unknown and everything in between is the doors. The doors that I would happily spend the rest of my life opening to give the best life for my child with Mike. Life is way too short to be spend in bad relationships or moping over them for that matter and I've already wasted eight years of my life and I was not about to let that happen any more, not now.

I had way too much ahead of me and no one could ruin that for me now.

Notes

Omg guys I'm so so so so sorry for such a late update. No excuses I've just been lazy! But thank you all for sticking in there and waiting for my last few installments. So this is the second last chapter. Only one more to go! I hope you guys are loving how it's turning out. Also thank you soooooooooooooooooo much for 35000+ reads, I never thought this would hit it off so well! I love you all for reading.

Also just some small news for you all who have been asking for a sequel, IT WILL HAPPEN!! I have started coming up with ideas for the sequel to Leilani's life after Austin (or maybe with Austin ;) who knows)