You Turn Away From All the Things That I've Been Trying to Say

Austin and I are sitting on the couch, watching TV. Well, he's sitting. I'm laying with my feet in his lap, texting with my mother. He's poking at my feet with the remote control. I look down at him and see him make a face.

"What? Do you have a problem with my feet?"

"Other than the fact that there on my lap, no,"

"Well, make yourself useful and massage them!" He sighs and picks up one of my feet and starts rubbing it. I smile and take a picture of him and send it to Morgan. Within minutes, my phone starts ringing and I see Morgan's name on the ID.

"Hello?"

"Are you seriously making him rub your feet?"

"Hell yeah. That's all he's good for," Austin drops my foot and looks down at me with a pout. I kick at him playfully.

"Well, I have been keeping a secret from you..." She trails off.

"What? Were soul mates, we don't keep secrets from each other,"

"I didn't want you to get all worked up if nothing came of it,"

"Came of what?"

"Cody...and I are kind of dating,"

"What?! Cody? As in Hinder Cody?"

"Yes, Hinder Cody. What other Cody is there?"

"How long have you been keeping this from me?"

"Keeping it from you. Jeez. You act like I was keeping the fact that I was in the secret service or something," She says, "And we've been going out for two weeks now,"

"I can't believe this! It's so exciting!" Austin is looking at me like I'm from outer space. I cover the mouth piece to the phone and look at him.

"Morgan and Cody are dating!" I say.

"Are you serious?" I nod quickly. He grabs his phone and starts texting.

"Hello? Are you still there, or are you talking to your boyfriend?" Morgan asks.

"Sorry. This is so exciting. Were both dating guys in the same band. When did you guys start talking? Did you exchange numbers at the party?"

"Yeah. You introduced us at the party and we talked, and I gave him my number and we just started talking. And then he invited me over to his house and we hung out a few times. The rest is history, I guess,"

"I can't believe that you kept this a secret,"

"Well, I see how excited you are now, and I didn't want you to get all excited if nothing came of it, you know?"

"Yeah, I guess,"

"OK, babe. I have to go. I'll talk to you later, OK?"

"OK. I love you,"

"I love you too," She hangs up and I look down at Austin, who is laughing at something on his phone.

"What's your problem?" I ask.

"Cody. He's a fucking animal,"

"You better not be talking about my sister!"

"Oh, were not baby, I promise," He says in a non convincing tone. My eyebrows raise.

"You totally were! Oh my God!" He puts his phone in his pocket and then lays his torso on top of me, kissing my stomach and chest.

"I'm hungry," I say.

"Me too," He says, still kissing me.

"Not for that," He stops kissing for a second.

"Do you want to go out for lunch?" He asks.

"Yes," He sits up and I kick my feet off the couch and into my shoes.

"Did you take the day off again today?" He asks as we walk outside.

"Yeah," He doesn't say anything, but he looks thoughtful, as we drive to a restaurant.

I lead him into the lobby area, when we get there and a hostess gets us a table. It's a habit of Austin's to let me lead. I think it's his way of always knowing where I am, or protecting me, if need be. We sit down and order two mimosas and look at our menus. He's still wearing his sunglasses. After we order and the waitress goes away, he takes his glasses off and takes a sip of his drink.

"OK, babe. I have this plan,"

"Alright. Let's hear it,"

"I think you should quit your job," I blink twice, thinking.

"You always are taking days off to hang out with me, and it's not like you need money anymore,"

"Austin, I don't want you to pay my way,"

"That's not the point. The point is, your job is in the way. We never get to do anything together, because you always have to run off to work. And, I want you to come on tour with me,"

"What tour?"

"Were doing this little mini, club tour in a few weeks. And then after that, were going out on a headlining tour with Theory of a Deadman,"

"And you want me there?"

"Yeah. I don't want to go out there alone and have you here by yourself,"

"I'm going to have to stay for a few tours, Austin," I say.

"Who says?" I roll my eyes.

"OK, so let's say I quit my job. What would I do? Just hang out with you all day?"

"You could do whatever you want. Hell, you could take a photography class. You said that's something you've always wanted to do,"

"And you would be paying for it,"

"Babe, money doesn't matter. You are what matters. I want to support you in anything that you want to do," I think for a minute.

"Fine,"

"What?"

"Fine. I'll quit my job,"

"Don't sound so excited, babe," I laugh.

"No, I am excited. It's just going to take me a while to get used to it," He smiles. We both look up when Jami stops in front of our booth. I look over at Austin.

"Oh my God! Austin. How are you?" She asks, smiling her fake smile.

"I'm great. How are you, Jami?"

"I'm terrific," She looks at me, "I'm sorry, I don't remember your name,"

"Madison,"

"That's right, Madison..." She says it as if it leaves a bad taste in her mouth.

"So, how long has it been, Austin?" She asks.

"A long time. Let's see, Madison and I have been living together for a month now, and it's been what, babe? Eight months?" I nod.

"Yeah, I think so," Jami's mouth kind of drops.

"Wow, living together. That's a big step, Austin,"

"Yeah, it is. Have you met anyone yet?" He asks, with fake interest.

"No, I'm too busy with my career to worry about relationships," I snort quietly. Thankfully, our waitress comes up behind Jami with our food on a tray.

"I'll let you guys eat your lunch. Take care, Austin," She says.

"You too," He watches her walk away and I wait until the waitress leaves to down my whole drink.

"Are you OK?" I ask him.

"Yeah, I'm fine. She doesn't phase me anymore,"

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah," He takes a bite of his food.

The rest of the meal is uneventful and we go for a short walk after wards. After a few hours of walking in high heels, though, my feet start killing me. He picks me up in a threshold and starts carrying me back to the truck, while I hold onto my shoes. He starts to drive us home and I play with the radio until his Kings of Leon CD comes on. I smile, remember that this is the CD we listened to on our first date.

"My feet are killing me," I say, rubbing at them.

"My back is killing me, from the enormous load I just had to carry," I punch his shoulder and he laughs.

"I'm kidding, baby,"

"Good,"