Every Time You Fall Apart You Can Hide Here In My Arms

"So everything went alright?" Michelle was sitting in Val's kitchen drinking coffee, waiting for her twin sister to reply.

"I guess," Val grabbed her own cup of coffee and sat down at the table, "Mattie hasn't said anything, other than Austin has a cat, and now she wants one."

Michelle glanced at her niece who was sitting on the couch watching cartoons, her pigtails bounced lightly as the little girl giggled.

"You should get a cat," Michelle glanced back at Val. "It'd keep you both company."

"It would," Val admitted, "but I don't have time to look after a cat."

"Morning!" a voice rang out through the house.

"Uncle Brian!" Mattie squealed as she lept off the couch and ran towards them.

"Hey, squirt," he picked her up and held her effortlessly with one arm as he came into the kitchen.

"Morning, Val," he smiled as he leaned down and kissed Michelle on top of the head. "What are you three lovely ladies up to?"

Mattie giggled as he pinched her tummy playfully. "Do we gots ta go shopping? Can't we jus go get ice cream like last time?"

Syn laughed rubbed his nose against her soft cheek. "We'll get ice cream after, squirt, I promise."

Mattie looked contenct with that.

Syn glanced between Val and Michelle. "Do you two wanna come? Or is it just us and Johnny?"

"Uncle Johnny," Mattie smiled, then suddenly frowned, "is he driving?"

Everyone laughed but Mattie. Even she knew of Johnny's crazy driving skills.

"Nope, you're driving."

Mattie shook her head. The characters on Mattie's TV show errupted in laughter and stole the little girl's attention again.

"I have to catch up on laundry," Val admitted, "and do some cleaning, this house is a disaster."

"I'll stay and help her," Michelle smiled and lightly pinched Mattie's nose causing her to break her concentration. "You look after Uncle Brian alright. Don't let him get into trouble."

Mattie nodded and Brian headed for the front door. "Is your car locked Val?"

"No."

"Alright," he opened the front door, "I'll just grab her car seat. See you guys later."

***

Austin rolled over in bed and smiled when she realised Matt was still beside her sound asleep. She was always afraid of rolling over and finding him gone, again. Forever. She shifted in bed slightly and nibbled at his earlobe playfully before kissing his cheek softly.

"Mmm," he slowly opened his eyes and wrapped his arms around her pulling her over top of him. "I missed that."

Austin smiled and rested her chin on his chest. "Is there any food in this place?"

He closed his eyes for a moment then opened them again before laughing. "No probably not. Didn't think that far ahead."

She nipped at his neck playfully before rolling off him. "Some host you are," she smiled at him, "is there a store anywhere around here?"

"Yeah, just down the beach."

She swung her legs over the edge of the bed and sat up as she ran her fingers through her messy black, pink and blonde hair.

Matt's fingertips ran lightly over the large angel wings tattooed on her back, "wanna walk there?"

She glanced at him over her shoulder, "sure," she smiled.

A few mintues later they were both out of bed and getting dressed. They headed out off the back porch into the sand barefoot, carrying their shoes. Matt grabbed her free hand with his own, linking their fingers together.

She smiled as her feet sank into the already hot sand; the cool water sliding over the tops of her feet before receeding. She'd never been so relaxed in a long time. And it felt right to be right next to Matt. It felt like it use to.

They walked silently down the beach, enjoying each other's company even through the silence.

"What do you want to do today?" he asked as they finally hit the pavement of a road.

Austin glanced down the street and noticed a few buildings emerging in the distance. She hoped one was the store, but at the same time she didn't. She wanted to hold onto this moment for a long time.

"Let's just, hang out today?" she asked more than anything. It sounded stupid, but it's all she wanted to do.

He laughed softly and looked down at her, "I can handle that."

They finished their walk in silence. They made it to the store and bought a few things for breakfast and lunch. Matt had decided that they'd go out for supper. Back at the house they bumped into each other in the kitchen as they attempted to make bacon, eggs, and toast for breakfast.

"You have no idea what you're doing do you?" Austin laughed as she wrapped her arms around him from behind trying to get at the spatula Matt was destroying the eggs with.

"I'm doing just fine," he held it out of her reach, "they're just going to be scrambled."

Austin rolled her eyes as the toast popped. She buttered them then set the small round table. Matt fixed their plates while she got them each a glass of orange juice. They chatted a bit while they ate breakfast then flirted some while they washed dishes.

Austin's cell began vibrating on the counter. Matt was standing behind her at the sink so he pulled his hands out of the water and dried them off. He reached for her cell and glanced at the ID screen. His movements became somewhat less quick as he tossed her a towel. "It's James."

Austin locked eyes with him. It was like time suddenly was standing still. The look he was giving her hurt. It wasn't a look of anger, but a look of betrayal. She dried her hands but by the time she took her cell from him it had quit ringing. She tossed it back onto the counter and returned to the dishes. Matt didn't offer to help. Instead he remained silent, leaning against the counter watching her.

"Does the TV work here?" Austin asked randomly. She wanted to break the silence and the awkwardness. But most importantly, she wanted to shift Matt's train of thought.

"What do you think he wants?" Matt asked, apparently unable to let it go.

Austin sighed. She washed the last fork and let the water go from the sink. "I don't know, Matt. Probably nothing important."

"So you guys are still friends?"

She narrowed her eyes at him, "yeah friends. I'm allowed to have friends aren't I?"

He couldn't argue her there. He just wanted her to have different friends. Ones that didn't pose as a threat. Hell. James was his friend to.

"Think they have satellite?" he asked suddenly going with her plan, changing the subject.

Now it was Austin who didn't want to leave it alone. This was never going to end if they didn't end it. But she decided to save that for later. The morning was going so well.

They were watching Maui Fever upon Austin's request when Matt's cell phone rang.

He fished it out of his jeans pocket.

Austin listened to his half of the conversation. She hated not being able to hear the other half.

When he placed his phone back in his pocket he smiled, "Syn and Johnny are bringing Mattie out for a little bit. She'd like to play on the beach."

Austin locked eyes with Matt. Of course. It was never going to be just them two. Val made girl number two, and Mattie, made girl number three. There were two others vying for Matt's attention as well. She was going to have to learn to share.