Glass Hearts

Austin's POV

I helped Jamie walk Alan out to his car and buckled him into the passenger seat. "Thank you Jamie."
"No problem Austin. Take care of Autumn." She gave me a concerned look. "She's very fragile. Don't hurt her."
With that she got into the driver seat and took off. Leaving me to think as I walked back to my apartment. What did she mean by she's fragile? We'd never really spoken much about her personal life. It was almost as if she avoided it.
I locked the door behind me and walked over to the couch leaning down. I brushed a few strand of hair out of Autumn's eyes and whispered, "hey you want to go get changed and go to bed?"
She mumbled something incoherently and nodded her head. I knew I shouldn't have let her finish off both bottles of wine, but who am I to tell her what to do?
I leaned down and picked her up bridal style, carrying her to my bedroom. I gently laid her down on my bed and went over to my drawer to find something for her to wear. I pulled out one of my shirts and brought it to her. "Help me..." She mumbled struggling to unbutton her shirt.
I sat at the edge of the bed and unbuttoned her shirt for her and lifted her up to slide it off of her arms. I took my shirt and slipped it over her head. "Do you want to keep your shorts on or off?"
She replied by taking them off herself and throwing them on the floor. I sighed and took the blankets from the bottom of my unmade bed and pulled them over her. I picked her clothes off the floor and neatly folded them and set them down on my dresser before heading to the bathroom. I brushed my teeth and stripped down to my boxer briefs, putting my clothes in the hamper.
When I got back to my room I could hear Autumn's faint snores and I couldn't help but smile. I went over to the other side of the bed and got in, pulling the covers over myself. I started to turn into my side until I heard a faint "no," and felt Autumn wrap her arm around my stomach, laying her head on my chest. "I love you, Austin," she mumbled before passing back out.

Autumn's POV.

I woke up in the morning to a pounding headache. I groaned and rolled over to an empty bed, causing my eyes to flutter open. The dark curtains that hung over the window saved my life, only allowing a tiny bit of sunlight to trickle through. I yawned and stretched before getting out of Austin's bed. I made my way quickly to the bathroom, trying not to pee myself.
I made it just in time letting out a sigh of relief as I did my business. I finished up and went to wash my hands, glancing into the mirror. I cringed at my makeup smeared eyes and snarled hair. I quickly began combing my fingers through my hair. With no success I decided just to throw it up into a bun and turned on the water to scrub my face until I no longer looked like the undead.
I heard a faint knock on the door. "Are you alive in there?"
I unlocked the door and opened it to see Austin leaning against the wall. He looked me up and down and smirked. "You should wear my clothes more often."
I hit his shoulder and shyly pulled his shirt down until it was pass my knees. "This is for you," he said holding out a cup of coffee and a few Advil.
I took them and smiled. "You're wonderful."
"Yes I know. You don't have to remind me."
I laughed and followed him to the kitchen and took a seat at the table. "Someone's a little cocky this morning."
"I can be however I want darling. I had to take care of your drunk ass last night."
I blushed and played with the handle of my coffee cup. "I'm sorry. Sometimes I don't know how to pace myself. I stopped drinking for a really long time because of it."
"It's fine babe. You were cute so it makes up for it." Austin set a bowl of lucky charms in front of me and took a seat next to me, eating his own.
I smiled at the childish cereal and began eating around all the marshmallows, saving them for last.
"What are you doing," Austin asked cocking his head to the side.
"I like to save the marshmallows for last and then eat them all at once," I smiled innocently and went back to work on picking out all the cereal.
"You are such a weirdo."

-----

One week later.

I waited on the beach where Austin was supposed to meet me almost forty-five minute ago. I began to get up and leave when I spotted him running towards me.
"Oh my god Aumi, I am so sorry," he apologized pulling me into a tight hug. "Traffic was backed up all the way here. Some idiot ran off the road and hit the railing. I would have called but my phone died."
"It's okay." I kicked at the sand and looked down at my feet. Things had been really weird since I slept over at his house last Sunday. He had barely been texting me back and when he did it was really short and he never wanted to hang out.
"I'm sorry I've been so busy lately."
"It's okay," I said sitting back down on my towel, putting my sunglasses back on in hopes of hiding the sadness in my eyes. It didn't work.
"What's wrong, Autumn? And don't tell me nothing because I know something is up."
"I'm just stressed." I looked out towards the water and pushed my hair back pulling it all to one side.
"What's going on?"
"My dad." It was the first I had ever mentioned anything about my personal life. It wasn't something I liked to talk about.
"What about him?" I could hear the curiosity peak in his voice. He too was surprised I mentioned something about my personal life.
"He's sick." I whispered letting a tear escape. "Really sick. He's dying."
"I'm so sorry, Autumn. I know what it's like to lose a parent. I lost my mom when I was 17." He pulled me into his arms, letting me cry into his chest.
"I... I just don't understand. I always told myself I'd be happy if he died. After all the bullshit he put me and my mom through. I don't even know what to do."
We sat in silence for what seemed like forever. Austin just held me and rubbed my back as I let all the tears out I had been holding in for days. Jamie was the only person who knew about my family problems and she had been so busy the past week that I hadn't wanted to bother her with any of if.
"He deserves to die," I finally said. "He deserves every bit of pain he's going through and I'm so angry. I'm so fucking angry. I'm angry at myself for caring. I'm angry at him for even having the nerve to call me. I'm angry at him for trying to apologize."
Austin's grip tightened around me. "Maybe he just needs to clear his conscience before he goes."
"He doesn't deserve that kind of piece," I whispered.
"Autumn," Austin began calmly, "I don't know what he did and whatever he did it obviously wasn't okay, but nobody deserves to go without at least some sort of peace. There may be things that he needs to tell you that you need to hear to heal from whatever happened in your past."
"He's the reason my mom is dead. He deserves this. He drove her to kill herself. He might as well have pulled the trigger himself." I began to sob, losing control of all emotion. I completely broke down, choking on my tears.
"Autumn... baby, breathe." Austin pushed hair out of my face and took my glasses off. He put his hand under my chin and gently pulled my face up to look at him. "Look at me and breathe okay? It's going to be okay. I promise it's going to be okay. I'm here for you. Whatever you need. Whenever you need me. I will drop everything and be here for you. You aren't alone. You will never be alone as long as you have me. I love you so much."
And with that he pulled me into his lap wrapping his arms tightly around me, almost too tight, but it felt nice. I wrapped my legs around his waist and brought my arms around his neck and continued to cry into his shoulder. "I love you too, Austin."
We sat that way until it was almost pitch black outside. The moon and small shops were the only lights making it possible to see. "We should probably go," Austin whispered, rubbing his hand over my shivering arms.
I nodded and stood up, brushing the sand from my shorts. Austin picked up my things off of the sandy beach and carried them in one hand, offering me the other. I generously took it, and he bent down slightly bringing my hand to his lips and left a soft kiss before setting it back down and giving a tight squeeze. "I'll stay with you tonight if you'd like?"
"I'd love that."