Ohioisonfire

Songs for this chapter (or what I listened to while writing this, so you should do the same while reading ;) ) Brand New- Millstone, Degausser, Limousine

Austin's P.O.V

After stumbling down the road on numb legs, I reluctantly made a sharp turn to my work, already dreading the conversation that was about to take place. What was I going to say? Hey, sorry Tino, sorry everyone, I lost track of time? The irony in the statement made me feel sick to my stomach. Did I need help? Did I need to see a doctor, or lock myself away somewhere? Why did this have to happen to me? I breathed in deeply as I pushed through the glass door, and into the blasting heat that all but burned my frostbitten skin.

“Austin there you ar-” Tino's voice cut off short and the sound of glasses falling to the ground was met with an utter gut wrenching silence. I hesitantly raised my head, reading the face of my co-workers, Tino looked downright mortified, Phil, another server, looked as if he was utterly confused. Alan, who had dropped all of the glassware, stood slightly behind Tino, his eyes bore into mine; filled with worry, and sympathy. I turned my head away and cursed as a blast of heat hit my barren arms.

“Austin...sit down! Sit down, okay?” Tino erupted as he came from behind the counter and guided me to a booth; which I was thankful for because I doubt I could have done it on my own.

“Close the place up, this is more important then whatever these people want to eat.” Tino muttered to Phil, who only nodded and locked the doors and switched the Open sign off.

Alan bit his lip as he stood in front of the table, his usually brilliant eyes seemed dull, weighed down with concern, but also silently asking if he could sit with me; despite what had happened between us. I scooted over as well as I could, offering the red haired man a place to sit.

“Thanks...” he whispered as he slid his coat off, and climbed in beside me. He smiled slightly as he wrapped the thick wool pea-coat around my shivering, frozen shoulders, I returned his gaze and gave my own smile in appreciation. Phil slid in beside Tino, who had his hands clasped on the table. After a few unsettling moments, he opened his mouth to speak, but I cut him off.

“I'm sorry, I'm sorry I didn't come back in, I wish I could explain what happened to you all...but frankly, I don’t even know. It's hard to explain...it's something...look, I don't know whats wrong with me.” In sheer frustration I smashed my frigid hands against the table, my body shaking as Alan's coat did little warm me up.

“We need to get you to a hospital...” Phil mumbled, as he shot me a sympathetic glance.

“Too bad I can't afford that...” I murmured, Tino merely snorted.

“Psh, we have insurance here. We can just say you passed out in the freezer and no one could find you...as long as...you don't sue us...but Austin, you need medical attention. Don't make this harder than it needs to be, we can talk about what happened later, okay?”

I sighed in defeat, I knew I probably needed medical attention, hell, I couldn't even feel my arms; but I still felt terrible over what had occurred.

“Here's our insurance card...” Tino muttered as he plucked the small slip from his wallet, laying it out on the table. “Alan, or Phil, are either of you free? One of you will have to take the catering van and take Austin to the hospital. I have to go to a family dinner...”

“I'll do it.” Alan mused as he took the card off of the table, “There's something I need to talk to you about anyways.” the gingers small smile did nothing to relieve me of the guilt I felt as I recalled the conversation I had with his mother. For now, I'd bite my tongue. How would I ever tell him that information anyways? 'Hey, Alan. Sorry to inform you but your dads dead, and your mother didn't have the heart to tell you because she hates you.' Yeah, that seemed like a perfect idea.

“Let's go, Austin.” The small waiter moved out of the booth and looped his hand around my bicep, gently tugging me out of the booth and onto my feet. 'He's a lot stronger than he looks.' I thought to myself as he grabbed the van keys from Tino, and led me out the back door. Once he assisted me in buckling up, he made himself comfortable in the drivers seat and started the engine.

“I haven't driven in awhile, but I promise I won't kill us.” He laughed weakly as he backed out of the drive, I nodded my head numbly.

“I'm really cold...” I whined as I brought his coat closer to my body, he grunted.

“I know, just hang on till we get to the hospital, okay? I don't want to turn the heat up too high, because that may be bad for frostbite; I wouldn't know...” he frowned as he turned onto Main Street, setting us about fifteen minutes from our destination.

“You're probably right...” I offered as I ran my hands along the thick wool; he took a sharp intake of air.

“So, I saw you talking to my mother...” he began, my eyes went wide and my fingers curled into fists around his coat; now what should I do? “What did she want? She never speaks to me, so it couldn't have been good news. Even now...she still didn't have the guts to confront me.” his voice began to shake, I watched him from the corner of my eye.

“We can talk about it when this is over, okay?” I replied, licking my lips that felt cracked, and tasted the slightest bit like dried on blood.

“Okay.” He confirmed, as he turned his gaze back to the road and forced himself to drop the subject. In the passengers seat, guilt, confusion, and pain ate me alive.