Dear Austin...

When I awoke again, it was late Tuesday night. The aftermath from the surgery was still present as an aching pain that the medicine dulled to a low throb. I felt something warm surrounding my right hand. Flitting my eyes over to the person on the side of my bed, I discovered Austin had held true to his word.

Austin Carlile was there, as promised. He had folded his head into his arms. One hand held my own. Even asleep, he was a handsome reminder of the people around me who cared. He was the one who is helping me to stop the habit of raking my nails into my arm.

The door knob turned and I looked over to the three people entering the room. Alan was dragging LP along with him and my mom in tow. They looked tired, with the stress rings under their eyes. Austin didn't stir from the commotion. My mom came to my other side, throwing Austin a weary look, but a new smile.

"So how was dinner? Sorry I missed it." I joked to her. Although breathing was hard, I took my mom's hand with my free left one. Her skin was warm to the touch.

"It was wonderful. Not as good as Alan's, of course." She laughed slightly. Alan grinned from the opposite side of the room. The clock at my bedside read 8:23. LP rushed to my side, pointing at a TV screen.

"Raelyn, do you want to watch a movie?" She asked me. I don't know if I could stay awake for all of it, but I could give it a shot. My mom threw me the worrying, always alert, mom look, but I nodded.

"Sounds good." I told her. Alan picked her up and pulled some chairs to face the screen hanging on a wall. Within two minutes, Alan, LP, mom, and I were watching The Avengers. It was one of my favorite movies. My mom sat next to Austin's sleeping form. I stared down at the man by my side. With a silent motion, I gently removed my hand from his grasp and ran my fingers through his brown hair. It was feather soft to the touch.

"He sure does love you." My mom whispered to me. LP had curled up on Alan's lap in the process of the first fifteen minutes. They were to engaged in the screen to pay any attention to us.

"Yeah, he does." I admitted, stroking a few strands of Austin's hair. It was a relaxing, natural motion, just to run my fingers through his hair. A soft breath escaped his parted lips.

"I would've never pegged you as someone to fall for the tattooed types." She commented with a memory of a laugh. I could help but join. I didn't think so either.

"Hey, personality over looks." I commented. My mom grinned to me.

"He sure is a sweet boy. Austin better treat you right." Her tone turned serious. As S.H.I.E.L.D. was assembling the superheros, I heard a soft snore escape my sister. Only Lily-Pearl could fall asleep during an action movie. I had a feeling Alan was next to go.

"Oh, he treats me well." I confirmed. With a content humf, my mom turned her back to watching the movie. As we hit the hour mark, Alan and my mom were both down for the count.

Austin stirred a little as I brushed his cheek. Well, at least now I wasn't the only one awake. The one who was once sleeping turned his head to look his doe brown eyes into my icy blue ones. A smile tinged his lips happily. Outside, the darkness was starting to encompass us. As I brushed the stray strands of hair on his forehead away from his eyes, he closed his eyes in lulled peace of mind.

"Good evening, sleepy head." I greeted him in a hushed whisper. Austin smiled, but didn't open his eyes. A rumble of pleasure, like a cat's purrs, vibrated in his chest. The clock dinged 9:30. No one stirred.

"How are you feeling?" He asked eventually, taking my hand off his head and into his own hands. He leaned over, stroking my cheek affectionately. Instinctively, I leaned into his warm hands that cupped my face perfectly.

"Mmm, I'm good. The pain's better." I mumbled. He stroked my forehead, sweeping my bangs out of my eyes for me.

"That's good." His voiced echoed fondly. I smiled to him, then looked at the window. The reflection of us bounced from the window to my eyes. Absentmindedly, I traced the tattoos on his right arm. There wasn't a single flaw on him.

"You should eat. You missed dinner with Alan and the rest." I reminded him of his own needs. He shook his head, staring back at me.

"I'm not leaving you." He told me gently, but firmly. Raising an eyebrow, I attempted to get him downstairs to eat again. In an act of defiance, he put his head down, face first, into my bed, folding his arms in around him. I could almost hear his muffled laughter.

"Come on, Austin." I told him. He shook his head a like a little kid.

"Austin Carlile." I dug my feet in. Metaphorically, of course. His head shook again. Sighing, I gave up the attempts. To be honest, I don't think I could've stayed sane with him leaving me for even a few moments. The sleeping bundle of people in front of the movie still playing was not good company.

I ran my fingers through his hair once again, calming him and me down. Rubbing the back of his neck, I turned my attention back to the screen before me. It was about 10:00, and it was starting to get climactic.

I watched until the end of the movie. Austin had still managed to stay awake, although I was making it tough for him. He shut off the TV after the movie credits had ended and then set down the remote. The room was swallowed up in blackness. A little panic rose up in me, but was soothed the instant Austin flicked on the back light, the one that was dimmest, and took my hand in his.

"You'll be at Warped on Thursday." I murmured more to myself than to Austin. He threw me a sideways glance.

"The doctor said if you were feeling well enough, you could go home Thursday morning." He added with a yawn. Maybe I could still make the concert, still in pain or not. Was it possible to sneak an entire bag of pain relief pills in without arousing suspicion?

As if reading my thoughts, Austin answered, "Do you really still want to go to Warped Tour?" He asked me cautiously. Setting my face, I nodded. Even Austin couldn't make me back down.

"Austin, I've been waiting for this for months. I am going, and so is a gallon bag of pain pills, just in case." I nodded.

"Even though they took out the bullet and managed to stitch you up, your rib was still slightly damaged. I don't want you in the pits." He cupped my face between both hands worriedly. I wouldn't back down from this.

"You're staying on the bus, if you really want to go. I don't even know if your mom will like me anymore if I think you can go." Austin backed down a little. Hey, he couldn't keep tabs on me the entire time, could he?

"Backstage." I argued. With a gentle laugh, he shook out his head in exasperation.

"We'll talk later." He closed the discussion. I grinned, although it was late and every muscle ached. The door to the hallway opened and the same nurse came in. The name tag, which I had failed to read earlier, flashed. The tag read Vic.

"It looks like you seem to be pretty popular." He commented at the sleeping forms. Austin continued to squeeze my hand. Dr. Vic went over to my IV drip, putting something in it. I had a feeling it was sleeping medicine an more pain relief.

"Hey, what can I say?" I laughed a slight bit. The pressure increased in my ribs. The talking had worn me out.

"We'll see how you're doing tomorrow. You'll definitely spend another night here, but you'll probably be able to escape on Thursday morning." Dr. Vic responded with a smile.

"Thank you. Don't worry, i'll take the others out in just a little bit." Austin shook hands with the man in the blue scrubs. Vic laughed good naturally.

"Take your time. Since she is a minor, you can have an adult or two in the room to spend the night." The Doctor replied. His words started to fade out as my eyelids shut. As he left, Austin woke the others up. I was just awake enough to say goodbye to my sister, Alan, and my mom. She had offered to let Austin stay, since she needed to be with LP. With an extra wink and an added warning, my mom closed the door behind me. Austin sat back in his reclining chair. I was beginning to start to fade into sleep, once again.

"Phil, Tino, and Aaron are coming to visit tomorrow." I heard his voice out of the side of my head. He came over to my side as the weights of my eyelids closed over me.

"Oh that's good." I barely managed a mumble. He laughed and leaned over, kissing my forehead.

"I love you, now get some sleep." He stroked my cheek for a moment. I caught his hand as he turned around and squeezed it with a smile.

"I love you too."

Notes

Austlyn, Austlyn everywhere! <3 Here's a chapter that's more Austlyn-ish for all you shippers out there! I can't tell you how proud/excited I am! I've never had someone ship any characters in my own stories before!!! Thank you everyone!

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