Almost Too Much

-Carabella's POV-

I decided to keep the melanoma scare to myself until I knew for sure what was happening. When Vic and I arrived back at the busses, Austin and Mariela were outside.

"Hey, man." Austin smiled hugely at Vic, "and lady." He added slyly.

"Hey guys." I put on my tough girl face, trying to push my prior worries to the back of my mind.

"Car, you remember how Kellin tweeted about you being a band whore or whatever?" Mariela rambled off. I nodded, chuckling slightly. I'd almost forgotten. Add that to the list of things I have to worry about.

"Yeah, what about it." Vic said coldly, still upset about it clearly.

"He tweeted about me too. Literally five minutes ago." Mariela laughed. She always took other peoples comments at arms length. She didn't care if they talked, as long as it was about her.

"No way, what does it say." I asked.

" It says 'Guess whores flock to each other, huh @tonyperry? Such a shame.'" She read off the screen.

"Did Tony reply?" Vic asked, irritated.

"No, he's not like that. You know that." Mariela said.

"So its just Kellin being a dick." I said flatly.

She nodded, smirking softly.

"Wait, how long has this Kellin drama been going on? He's always been a cool guy." Austin asked. I noticed how he hovered over Mariela like he would take on anything for her. And who knows, maybe he would. I know I'm all for Tony, I love him like a brother, but maybe Austin is more suited for someone like Mariela.

"Since he introduced us." I said, glancing at Vic. He smiled softly at me.

"He introduced you and now he's mad?" Austin said with a light chuckle.

"Yeah, I guess so." I shrugged.

"Well, we have a beach date, so, see you soon!" Mariela chirped, wrapping her delicate tanned arms around Austin's one tattooed one, and smiled up at him.

"Hey Mar?" I said.

"Yeah?" She smiled at me. I examined her face. I knew she looked happy, but deep in her eyes I could see the missing piece.

"Be careful." I tried to make it sound like a general safety warning, but she knew I meant with Austin.

"Have I ever been?" She said, with a weird tone. It was perky, but laced with truth, sadness.

I let them go without another question.

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-Mariela's POv--

I walked close to Austin, not caring who saw or what they thought. He was making me feel better, and if I couldn't be whole, I'd settle for this.

We walked along the beach. It was a beautiful sunny day and a lot of people were out sunbathing and playing in the water.

I had a black and red Hurley bikini on with a pair of jean shorts and a see through white tank top on, and I didn't really care if they got dirty, so I walked on the line where the sand and water met.

The water splashed to my right and I looked down to see a football floating in the water. I chuckled and retrieved it for whoever had lost it, but when I looked up I almost dropped it again. A shirtless, sweaty Tony was walking towards me with his hands outstretched. When he noticed it was me, his hands dropped and his mouth opened slightly. He looked so, lost.

"Uh, h-here." I stuttered, holding it out for him. He didn't move.

Jaime ran up next to him, and took the ball from me. Tony still hadn't budged. I guess it was the first time he'd seen me since the break up.

"Thanks, Mar." Jaime said cheerfully, trying to make this less awkward, and less hard on us.

"We'll let you guys get back to your game." Austin said just as cheerily, knowing I needed to get away from Tony. I practically ran off then with Austin in tow, not caring how weird it looked.

"Woah, Mar, slow down. Stop a second." Austin said from behind me. I pulled him towards a pier and stood under it, shaded from the rest of the beach goers and the blazing sun. If I would have been in a different situation, this would have been a great spot. It was covered from the sun, and there were even a few benches and some rocks and moss, and the water came up the shore quite far. But I was too frantic to think about that.

"Sit." Austin's voice broke my concentration, and I realized that he was sitting on the bench and I was pacing back and forth.

"I'm sorry, you shouldn't have to see me freaking out over Tony." I rambled, trying to regulate my heartbeat again.

"Hey, it's okay. It's only been a few days. It's expected." He soothed.

"What happened to the Austin who cornered me on my bus that one day and said as long as he had a chance he wouldn't give up? This Austin is much softer." I chuckled, my regular demeanor slowly returning.

"I know when I should talk about myself and when I should talk about you. Then, I wanted you to know how I felt. Now, I want you to feel okay." He said. He literally had the perfect answers for everything.

"Good answer." I smiled.

"I try." He smiled, locking eyes with me.

"Austin, I need you." I whispered.

His eyes widened slightly. "W-what?"

"I need you to keep me together. I don't feel like I'm me unless you're here too." I whispered, trying to explain without being selfish.

"I feel like you're holding me together, and maybe you always were. Even before Tony and I broke up. And it's so selfish of me to ask you to be here for me just so I can be okay, so you can say no but I just lost part of myself and I don't like that, I don't like feeling like I can't be okay on my own, but you make me feel okay, you make me feel better and-" I was cut off by Austins hand over my mouth.

"Mar, stop. If thats what you need, I'm here. I've been here." He said softly, removing his hand and placing it on the base of my neck. His touch excited me, and made my heart beat. It felt like it was beating for the first time.

"That's so unfair..." I said under my breath.

"I don't care."

"Make me feel whole, Austin." I said firmly, locking eyes with him.

He slammed his lips against mine, and took my breath away. We moved together needily, hungrily, nothing like Tony's sweet, passion. Austin was doing what I asked. Feeding my desire to be okay.

He pulled away as quickly as it started, flushed.

"I'm sorry." He apologized quickly, standing up.

"Don't be. It was...what I asked for. I needed." I explained, standing up too.

I wrapped my arms around his neck and he picked me up, so I through my legs around his waist. He twirled me around and I giggled. I felt like I was four years old.

"Your laugh is adorable." He whispered into my hair before setting me down.

"Well thanks to you, it was a genuine laugh."

"What are we?" He asked, keeping his hands on my waist.

"Seeing how it goes?" I suggested. I needed him to feel better.

"Good enough. What about Tony?" He asked quietly.

Tony's words echoed in my head, 'it'll be like you never existed...'

I furrowed my eyebrows, and smirked, "Tony who?"