The Calm

Austin's POV

I held Alan, trying my hardest to swallow the lump in my throat. I wanted to sob, this was my fault. If I had never done it to begin with, Alan wouldn't have done it. Thank God I had come when I did, or Alan would have bled to death.

I pulled Alan away from me, but still grasped his shoulders firmly so he was looking at me. "What did you use to do this?" I asked, looking at his cuts.

Alan looked down, wanting to avoid my eye contact. "Your razors." He answered quietly. I spotted them on the sink and took them and slipped them in my pocket. "Don't ever do this to yourself ever again. If you ever need me, I'm just a phone call away. I love you."

"I love you too." Alan replied in a harsh whisper. I kissed him on the forehead and turned to leave when Alan stopped me.

"Austin... we need to move. Being here... all the bad things that's happened... they're driving my anxiety crazy." Alan said, staring at the ground. He looked up to see my reaction.

"Alan..." I walked towards him and took his hands in mine. "As much as I wish we could just get up and leave but we can't. I don't have money for a new house, and the economy is terrible. I'm sorry."

Alan didn't say anything. He was disappointed, I could tell, but didn't want me to know. Instead he pushed past me and made his way down the stairs. I checked on the kids, making sure they were alright. Once I knew they were, I went back into the bathroom, closing it behind me. I cleaned up Alan's mess and flushed it all down the toilet. I pulled out my blade and stared at it.

"One last time." I said. I yanked my sleeve up and drug the razor across my wrist. Blood started to form, and the burning pain stung. I missed this. I threw the blade in the toilet and flushed it again. I left the bathroom and saw Alan in the living room sitting on the couch, his head in his hands. I went over to him and sat down next to him. My arm wrapped around his slender figure and I began to rub his back. Finally, he lifted his head up and looked at me.

"I'm sorry I cause so much stress." He said, a sad look in his eye.

"Alan, you don't cause me stress. I love you, and if I had never met you, I'd be dead. Remember? You saved me."

Alan smiled, remembering meeting me at the bridge. How I had wanted to die. How he had talked me out of it. He was there for me, and I would always be there for him. I looked at the time and saw it was late.

"We should get to bed, babe." I said, kissing Alan's head. He smiled and made his way upstairs to our bedroom, me following close behind. Once we got into our bedroom we stripped down into nothing but our boxers. We slipped into bed and he cuddled up close to me, wrapping his arm around me and burying his head into my chest. I wrapped my arms around him and rested my head on top of his.

"Goodnight, I love you." I could hear Alan whisper into my chest.

"I love you too." Before I could even finish my sentence though, I could hear Alan snoring. I smiled, the first time he fell asleep before me in months. I closed my eyes and fell asleep short after.

Alan's POV

I woke up to music. I was in a car, Austin behind the wheel singing along to the radio. I was so confused, and I had a headache.

"W-where are we?" I asked, looking out the window. The landscapes surrounding me though weren't familiar.

"Remember how you said you wanted to move?" Austin asked, grinning. "I'm taking you on a romantic weekend-getaway!"

"What about the kids?" I asked.

"They're in safe hands, this weekend is just about you and me." With one hand on the steering wheel, he used his other to hold mine. The rest of the car ride was silent besides the radio playing and Austin occasionally singing along.

About an hour later we got there. Austin got out of the car and went to the trunk. I followed him and saw 3 big bags. He grabbed all 3 of them, but I took one from his hand.

"I can carry them all, I got this." He insisted.

"At least let me carry this one." I said, smiling. He was such a gentleman. We walked through the parking lot and into the lobby. Austin talked to the man at the front desk, getting our key and room number. He came back with a smile and headed towards the elevator. He pressed the "7" and we set our bags down, waiting patiently to reach our floor.

"So what do you want to do first?" Austin asked, pulling a pamphlet out of his pocket and handing it to me. "I packed everything you'd need."

"Well I'm kind of hungry, and I hear there omelette bar is open until 12." I pulled out my phone to see what time it was. Only 10:55.

"Then we'll do that." Austin smiled, leaning over and kissing my lips.
*************

We were in the hotel restaurant, eating dinner. We had done a lot today, and it was fun. Austin and I were eating now, and Austin had ordered us champagne. We saw the waitress heading over with our glasses and setting them down in front of us. I put down my fork and took my glass and started drinking it. I felt something weird come in my mouth so I spit it back out in the cup and started coughing. I looked down into the glass and saw it was... a ring?

When Austin realized I figured out what it was he took the ring out of my cup and got out of his chair and got down on one knee.

"Alan Dean Ashby, I love you so much. You make me happy, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Will you marry me?"