Believe You Me

The house was relatively quiet and still when I got back, except for the sound of banging coming from the kitchen. I set my stuff down in the living room and headed back to see who it was that was awake. I walked in through the dining room doorway to see Jaime shuffling around in an extremely tired state looking for coffee. I giggled to myself and went over to help him. When I placed a hand on his shoulder he shrieked and jumped, turning around with a hand on his chest.

Shit, Evie, you can't come sneaking up on me like that. I thought you were still upstairs sleeping." He looked me over and saw that I was already dressed and raised a questioning eyebrow. "It looks like you've already been up for awhile though. Where have you been?"

I motioned him to the bar stool at the counter and searched for the coffee. "Here, take a seat and I'll make some coffee and tell you."

*******

I had told him everything that happened this morning and we were not sitting down at the counter, drinking a cup of coffee.

"Wow, Eve. What a morning you've had, huh?" Jaime took a sip of his coffee and sat it back down. "So, what's important here though is that you've totally got the hots for Austin." I choked on my coffee and nearly spat it out. I set my mug down and grabbed a napkin to wipe up the small mess.

"That's ridiculous!" I nearly shouted.

"Hey, keep it down loud mouth before you wake somebody up." Jaime said.

"It's too late for that." A voice said from behind us. We both turned around to see Mike coming in from the dining room. "You're so loud, Eve. Do you even know how to be quiet?" He ruffled my hair as he walked by on his way to the coffee pot. "So, I hear you've got the hots for Austin Carlile?" I groaned and smacked my head down on the counter, hiding it under my arms.

"Oh my god, no! You guys are blowing this way out of proportion." I said after I lifted my head back up. Mike grabbed his mug and sat down on the stool next to Jaime. "We just ran into each other at the beach this morning and chatted for a bit. I invited him to your show tonight, and that's it. Nothing more than that." Mike and Jaime exchanged a look that I didn't like one bit.

"I don't know, Eve. The way your eyes lit up when you were first telling me about this morning tells me different." I growled and shot Jaime a death look. I opened my mouth to say something back, but Mike spoke first.

"Look Eve, Jaime's just giving you shit. Now, you may be attracted to Austin, you may not be. Whatever, it is what it is. But, all I'm trying to say is that if you are interested in even the slightest bit, just go for it. Don't hold yourself back, and don't be scared. You've been hurt, I get that, but you need to stop letting yourself avoid things that make you Be happy again, Eve. Let yourself try. Austin's a great guy and you're a beautiful girl. He'd be crazy to turn you down." Mike gave me a soft smile before grabbing his coffee and cigarettes off the counter and walking out to the back patio.

I looked down at the ground in shock at everything that had just come out of Mike's mouth. I could feel the tears forming at the corner of my eyes and I blinked them away quickly.

"Do you... Do you think that Mike is right?" I looked back up at Jaime and took a deep breath. "Am I the one that's keeping myself from being happy again?" Jaime opened his mouth, but changed his mind and closed it. He took a sip of his coffee before grabbing my both of my hands, looking deep into my eyes.

"I'm not going to tell you what's right and what's wrong in this situation, because this is something that you need to figure out for yourself. What I will tell you though is that I know for a fact that it's been ages since I've seen your eyes light up like they did when you were talking about Austin." Jaime smiled at me and patted my hand. He stood up with his coffee and went to join Mike on the patio.

I sat there for a few minutes with my eyes closed, breathing slowly and thinking things over. I knew they were both right, but was I really ready to even try to move on? I wasn't going to lie, I did find myself attracted to Austin, not only because he was incredibly attractive, but also because he was genuinely one of the nicest guys I knew. I groaned in frustration and stood up. I grabbed my mug and set it in the sink before heading upstairs to take a well needed hot bath.

******

We were at the venue getting all ready for the show. Well, I was playing on my phone backstage while the guys were doing a sound check and getting ready. I was completely engulfed in my intense game of Plants Vs. Zombies when someone cleared their throat, nearly making me jump. I looked up from my phone to see Austin standing in front of me with a smile on his face.

"Austin! You nearly gave me a heart attack!" I dropped my phone onto the chair and stood up, trying to make myself more level with him. It didn't really work out though, because even on my tippy toes I only came up to about chest level with him. "I'm glad that you came, the boys were excited when I mentioned you might show. How did you get back here though?"

"Of Mice plays here every now and then, so I've gotten to be pretty tight with everyone around here." Just as he said that, he waved to a crew member that walked on by us.

I guess that makes sense." I said with a laugh. I looked up at him, seeing him smiling down at me, the corners of his eyes wrinkled in a dimple barely formed on his left cheek. My heart dropped and I looked away before I could embarrass myself. Good lord, why was I so nervous around him all of a sudden?

My phone vibrated on the chair and I turned around to grab it, but Austin barely grabbed my elbow before I could turn around all the way. I looked back at him to see him grabbing at the back of his neck and biting his lip. My heart completely sunk to my stomach and I could feel my cheeks redden.

"Hey, uh, I was wondering if maybe you'd like to-" He started, but was never able to finish.

"Austin Carlile!" Mike came up to him and shook his hand, giving him a hug at the same time. Vic, Tony, and Jaime shortly followed behind Mike. I looked at Mike and shot him with eye daggers. Jaime must have seen what had happened, because he mouthed 'I'm sorry' to me. I sighed and turned back to Austin, who was finishing up his conversation with Mike.

"Well, the show's getting ready to start, we better get back there before we get yelled at. I'll see you guys in the crowd!" The guys all fist bumped Austin before taking off to finish getting ready.

"I guess we should get out there and find a good spot before the crowd gets too big." I said to Austin. I grabbed my stuff off the chair and followed him out to the floor.

*******

After the show was over, Austin and I headed back stage to meet the boys and congratulate them on a fantastic show. The four boys were all sitting around, talking about the show and throwing back gallons of water when we found them.

"Hey guys. What'd you think of the show?" Mike asked as we got to where they were sitting.

"Fantastic like always, guys. Your shows are always a blast to be at." Austin said while high fiving each of them.

"What about you, Eve, what'd you think?" Tony asked.

"Why do you even ask anymore? You know that I thought it was great, I've never thought that a show wasn't great." I said matter of factly.

"Would you say that it was.... good enough for an after party?" asked Mike. He was looking at me with puppy dog eyes and a pout.

"Yeah Eve, don't you think it was?" Jaime joined in. Soon, all the boys were giving me a puppy dog face, Austin included.

I saw Austin's face and finally caved. "Oh, fine, we can have an after party. But only with close friends! I don't want to wreck the place!" The boys cheered and gave high fives around.

"We're going to go pack up, be at the car in five, Eve." Vic said. "You're not getting out of helping us pack up." They all grabbed their stuff and took off to help the crew pack up the van. With them all gone, it was just me and Austin. My stomach immediately filled with butterflies.

"You're more than welcome to come, and to bring some of the Of Mice guys." I said to him. "Here, I'll send you a text with the address of the beach house real quick. I'd really love for you to come." I shot him a small smile and pulled out my phone to send him the address.

"I'll definitely be there. Alan's always down for a good party, and I wouldn't mind seeing you some more tonight." I looked up from my phone at him to see him smiling at me. I felt my cheeks burning red and smiled back at him. I tucked a strand of hair behind my ear and finished up the text.

"Alright, I sent the address. I should probably go help the guys. I'll see you later?" I asked with a small smile.

"Of course, I wouldn't miss it for the world. I'll see you later." Austin said. He smiled at me and waved before walking out of the venue. I grabbed the remainder of my stuff and headed out the back to where the guys were loading up.