Shattered

The week passed by so quickly, I hadn’t even noticed. Throughout the days, I busied myself with chores that weren’t assigned but I did on a whim. Today was the Fourth of July so we had a chance to celebrate. The thing was, I was allowed to be out there with them.

My excitement couldn’t be put into words.

So the three days before when Austin told me I could go outside, I worked my butt off to please the others. Tino and Phil seemed to warm up a little, but generally I stayed out of their way. Aaron and Alan seemed kinder than the others. I hadn’t been punished all week-I was bursting with joy!

Nevertheless, I stayed cautious and wary by not saying much and never questioning an order.

This afternoon, I was busy dusting the living room tables and ducking out of the way of Tino and Phil watching TV. Doing these simple tasks seemed to get my mind off of being bored and scared. At least I could concentrate on other small jobs.

I passed a wary look at the fireplace and still gave it some space.

The silver chain around my neck continued to jingle on. Austin had never taken it off, and as much as it always bugged the sensitive skin at the back of my neck, I could never ask him to. Kindness only stretches so far.

The paper towels swept off all residue on the table. I moved Tino’s glass of water as he glanced down at me.

“Sorry, sir.” I muttered my apology. He continued to ignore me as I held my breath. Once I was done making the tables shine, I slipped out of the room to throw away the used paper towels. Alan was in the kitchen on the island as I walked past him. He ruffled my hair fondly. I blinked from the gesture.

“Are you ready for setting off some fireworks tonight?” Alan gave me a sideways grin. I bit my lip in a small smile.

“Yes, sir.” Wrecker and I always had a nice view of the fireworks after the baseball game on the Fourth. I wouldn’t be with him this year, but that didn’t deter my joy of the exploding colors.

“Good, because we’ve got some big ones and we always go out to this one area to set them off.” Alan hinted. This was just making me more excited! I departed from the room and went back to my own upstairs abode.

I stared down at the garden. I would be able to go outside once again!

By nine at night, Tino and Phil were loading fireworks into the back of Aaron’s truck. Chairs, coolers, and the explosives were all strapped down. I threw on my jacket just in case the temperature decided to dip even more.

Austin came behind me and took my hand. I was a little startled but not scared. He usual came up and did this type of stuff.

“Are you ready for the show tonight?” He asked with a grin. I couldn’t help but reflect the smile.

“Yes, sir.” I responded. He led me out to a second truck parked in the driveway. I assumed it was Alan’s since the ginger sat in the driver’s seat. Aaron’s truck was already pulling away when we closed the door to the house.

“Come on, lovers!” The ginger teased. Aus and I both blushed as Alan laughed. Austin hopped in passenger seat as I crawled in the back. It occurred to me as we back out of the driveway and onto the secluded road that led to the house that they never put a leash on me and yet we were going outside!

They must be crazy!

The car bounced over railroad tracks that crossed part of their road. I hadn’t noticed that before.

“The train comes by ever Tuesday.” Austin explained. I nodded. It was a wonderful Saturday, so it wouldn’t be here for another few days.

Thirty minutes later, we arrived in a field of dirt with a small pond in the middle. An abandon farmhouse stood watch on a hill nearby. The entire way here, there wasn’t a car insight. It was an extremely secluded location.

Aaron, Phil, and Tino were already laying out boxes of extremely dangerous explosives with the car radio blaring out My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark by Fall Out Boy. Three chairs were put in an arc just off by the pond and the coolers sat next to it.

“Show starts soon, so hurry up!” Phil laughed. Tino threw out a glowing smoke bomb by the water, sending drifts of a fog screen against the still pool of clear liquid. Aaron had the bright idea to light off one of the Jumping Jax, an extremely loud and obnoxious firework. I clung to Austin’s hand.

“We won’t be caught?” I questioned him nervously. He chuckled.

“There’s no one around for twenty miles in any direction.” Austin squeezed my shoulder affectionately. I could feel him staring down at me, but I didn’t know why.

“LIGHT ‘EM UP UP UP!” Tino screamed along with the music. I laughed a little. Everyone had a firework in their hand, setting them off and having a little battle. Phil was launching Roman Candles, Aaron had his sights on a Blooming Iris that squealed and shrieked as he tossed it in the air, and Tino started setting off a bunch of bottle rockets that were reflected off the pond’s mirror surface.

“Dance party!” Aaron chuckled as he took four strobes and set them off. Shadow Moses by Bring Me the Horizon started to play as the long stobes went off all over the place. Austin grabbed my hand and took me along to dance beside a flashing light.

If anyone was around to see us, it must look like we were trying to summon an evil demon.

Phil, Aaron, and Tino jumped in with us as we all stomped along to the song. Mitch Lucker would’ve been proud.

I swore I heard thunder in the distance.

“THIS IS SEMPITERNAL!” We all screamed along with them. For the first time in about two months, I didn’t feel like a slave forced into this, but just a friend going insane near dangerous fireworks.

Austin smiled down to me as the song started to end and the strobes flickered off. The next song turned on and Phil went to grab more fireworks. I followed Austin as we took a seat near the pond. He offered me a chair which I gratefully took. Phil came and opened the cooler next to me. I saw beers stashed in there.

My mind went back to the drunken rages that Miles would go on. They always ended up with me almost drowned, whipped raw, or scared from burns. Behind us, Tino chased Phil with a pair of sparklers as Phil screamed Bloody Mary.

“Sir, can I ask you a question?” I carefully asked Austin. He nodded and stared down to me.

“Sure.”

“Do you ever drink?” I asked him. The entire I’d seen him here, I saw all the others have a beer on the occasion, but Austin’s lips never touched the lip of a bottle.

“Very rarely. Tonight I might have one, but I almost never get drunk. My heart has medical problems, so if I ever get drunk, that can be pretty serious.” He explained. I let out a little sigh of relief. At least he would never get into a drunk rage.

Overhead a large bloom of orange appeared and fizzled over the pond. We both looked back to see Alan setting up another firework, yelling “four!”, and ducking as the sound screamed out.

“ALAN! This isn’t golf!” Phil yelled out to him. Alan chuckled and set off another explosive. We still had three crates filled of fireworks left. The night wasn’t over yet!

“Who cares? I AM THE FIREWORKS MASTER!” Alan screamed back to him and set off three at once. Austin held my hand as we both stared up at the balls of silver and gold ignite and disappear.

Through the next hour, Austin let me set off a few fireworks of my own under his careful watch. I let off a Screaming Wasp next to Phil who jumped out of his skin and fell over. Austin and Alan laughed. Alan, Tino, and Phil all chased each other with sparklers, flares, and other explosives while Austin and I watched. All seemed perfect for the night.

When it was over, Tino was passed out with a lit sparkler in his hand, Aaron was lighting off the last big firework, and Phil was packing up the rest of the things. Alan, Austin and I threw our chairs in the back of the truck and turned to watch the last explosive ignite. A beautiful blue orb fizzled and crackled over the pond. It was picture perfect.

Alan, Austin, and I walked back to our truck and followed the other vehicle back to the house. This time Austin crawled into the back with me, wrapping an arm affectionately around my shoulders. Leaning in, I placed my head on his shoulder. We fit perfectly together, side by side. It was like we were broken out of the same mold and then piece back together.

“Someone’s sleepy.” Alan chuckled from the front. I could barely hear what he said as my mind drifted off. Fingers leaned over to gently stroke my cheek. I was on that brink, right where you are about to fall asleep, but are still semi aware.

“Darling, are you awake?” A soft voice murmured the question.

“Kind of, sir.” I managed to get the final word in and not just a grunt. Austin laughed sweetly and kissed my forehead. A vacuum seemed to suck all breath out of my body.

“You’re beautiful when you’re tired.” He whispered to me. Where had all this loving comments come from? As much as I wanted to contradict the statement with what Miles had taught me, I sighed. Did he really think I was beautiful?

“Thank you, sir.” I let out a small yawn. If he said anything else, I didn’t hear it. My brain had already crossed the border into the dream world.

Notes

Thanks for the feedback, everyone! I hope you enjoy these chapters as we dive more into Austin's and Kynder's relationship.

LET ME TELL YOU RIGHT NOW!!!!.....Something big is going to happen to possibly change all of this.

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