Secondhand

I woke up to an obnoxious ringing emanating from Austin's phone. I felt him move away from me and grab the device from the table beside him before silencing it and bringing it up to his ear.

"Hello?" he mumbled sleepily. I smiled at his voice, rough and deep with the remainder of sleep still lingering. I strained my ears, trying to catch who was on the other side. It seemed impossible. They might as well have been totally silent for what I could tell.

"Yes, we do..... He's been involved, yes..... There have been some issues recently mhmm...... I knew it!..... I told him that I thought it was....... Of course...... We'll be down soon..... Right...... Thank you, officer."

Austin had not noticed that I was awake, so I feigned sleep to avoid him knowing that I had heard at least his end of his conversation. I felt his breath ghost over my face as he kissed my right, then left eyelid. I smiled a little, temporarily forgetting about what he had said on the phone and blinked my eyes a few times.

"Good morning."

"Morning."

"Guess what I just found out."

"Hmm?"

"Those men who hurt you, they were caught."

My mouth dropped open in shock and I stared at him blankly. His hand found its way to my chin and he gently applied pressure, clicking my mouth shut again with a smirk dancing on his thin lips.

"Can't leave that pretty little mouth open like that. You never know what could find its way in."

I snapped out of my frozen state and rolled my eyes briefly before I reached out to punch his arm. He feigned hurt for a moment before laughing; it was a sweet, high pitched giggle that I had never heard before. It was utterly adorable.

"Anyways, we need to get up and go down to the police station."

I groaned. I wanted to know who was behind all my pain and misery, but I had a feeling I already knew. Currently, I just wanted to go back to sleep. I had had another nightmare last night, though it had been quieter and I had not woken Austin this time.

"I know, you're too lazy to drag yourself out of bed."

"Hey! I'm not lazy."

"Okay, sure, sugar. What if I found a way to motivate you?"

His lingering smirk had become mischievous and I raised an eyebrow, lost and confused as to what he meant. He came closer to me and kissed my lips lightly, traveling to my jaw before whispering in my ear.

"Come shower with me?" he asked.

I didn't react, but he stood, pulling his shirt over his head and seductively dropping it on the floor next to him. He looked back at me with a questioning glance before disappearing out the door.