Not So Bad - A.M.

36. We're Okay

"Ava." Michele brought me out of my trance. I guess I had zoned out while I was waiting outside Austin's hospital room. "He's asking for you." I shot up out of the chair, probably faster than I should have given my condition, and practically darted into the room.

"Ava." His voice said. It felt so good to hear him say my name; I thought I never would again. "You're okay." He closed his eyes, and I could tell he was relieved.

"Mostly." I said, and walked closer to his bed.

"I thought you were dead. He shot me before I could even check on you." He told me.

"You remember everything?" I asked.

"Yeah, you don't?" He questioned in return.

"I didn't when I first woke up, but I do now."

"So what happened to you?"

"I've got bruises, scrapes, cuts, and a concussion. That's all though."

"That's all?" He scoffed.

"Austin, it's fine. I'm fine. The doctors say i'll be okay." I sighed.

"This should've never even happened to you. I shouldn't have let you walk off alone. I shouldn't have let you walk off at all."

"Don't." I stopped him. I could feel the tears stinging my eyes for the hundredth time today. "I'm the one who should be apologizing, anyways. I almost got you killed."

"Don't apologize to me. This wasn't your fault." He said sternly.

"I feel so guilty, though."

"You shouldn't."

"They told me you might've died." I cried.

He grabbed my hand and held it tightly. "Well, I didn't. I'm right here, and i'm not gonna leave you, so stop crying. You have nothing to cry about. None of this is your fault, and no one blames you for anything." He said, softer this time.

"Okay." I whispered.

"Come here." He outstretched his arms to me and I gently leaned over and hugged him. "I love you." He said as I pulled away.

"I love you too."

I went and grabbed a chair and placed it next to the bed, then sat down.

"I'll find out who did this." Austin said, breaking the silence.

"No. You could get hurt again. Just leave it alone." I pleaded.

"Someone almost killed my girlfriend, i'm not fucking leaving it alone."

"Austin, come on."

"I made up my mind, Ava."

"Well, what if something happens to you? What would I do? What would your mom do?" I asked.

"Nothing's gonna happen. I'm always fine." He muttered.

"You're not invincible, Austin! You don't have to take this into your own hands and get yourself hurt, or worse, killed." I snapped.

"I didn't ask for a lecture." He scoffed.

"I don't care what you did or didn't ask for. I don't want you going out there and doing something stupid. Just let the police take care of it. That's their damn job." I yelled.

"Well, it was my damn job to protect you and I couldn't, so now I'm going to fix it." He yelled back, and I rolled my eyes.

"Fix it?! Haven't you listened to anything i've said? I don't want you to fix it! I want you to not worry about it, and let the police handle it. I want you safe. What if you were to go searching for this guy and got yourself killed, huh? What would your family do? Your friends? Me? God, I just want you to understand that I can't lose you. I want you to stop putting yourself in harms way every chance you get. I want you to just fucking relax because i'm fine. Killing him or beating him up isn't gonna change the fact that what's done is done. All it's gonna do is freak me the hell out, and get you into deep shit. So no, you don't need to fix it. You don't need to be the hero. You need to recover and get better. You need to be here with me so we can get through this together instead of tracking down some low life piece of crap." I spluttered out. All of that just sort of came out, but I didn't stop myself because it was all things he needed to hear. Well, things I wanted him to hear, anyways.

It stayed quiet for a long time after that. I don't really think either of us knew what to say after my rant.

Austin ended up breaking our silence, again. "Okay. I'm sorry."

I sighed. "You don't have to be sorry. I can't blame you for wanting revenge. I just really, really hope you'll please listen to me and not go after him." I begged.

He sighed, too and closed his eyes. "Fine, I won't. For you. Let's just not fight please because that's how we got into this mess." He said. I immediately looked down, starting to feel guilty again. "Hey," he reached for my hand and squeezed it, "I know what you're thinking so stop that. Don't feel guilty."

How could I not? I started the fight. I'm the one that overreacted. I'm the one that walked off.

"Okay." I whispered, despite what I was thinking.

"I love you." He said.

"I know." I blushed. I'd never get tired of hearing him say that. "I love you, too."

"Just making sure you never forget. You should always feel loved." He looked me right in the eyes, and I got lost in his. I blushed even harder.

"I do."

"Good." He brought my hand to his lips and placed a kiss there. "Almost losing you really made me appreciate you more. Not that I didn't before or still don't, I do. It just really got me thinking about how important you are to me. I should be telling you more, so you always know. So you never have to wonder." It seemed like he was talking both to me and himself.

"I never do wonder, Austin. Of course I know you love me, appreciate me, care about me. You may not say it all the time, but you show me. That's enough for me." I grabbed his hand and intertwined our fingers.

"How'd I get so lucky?" He asked, playing with my fingers in between his.

I laughed. "I should be asking myself the same thing."

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A/N:

it's short, but I don't really think i could've made it any longer. i kind of wanted this to just be simple. and don't worry, they'll be out of the hospital in the next chapter. enough dragging it out lol.

make sure to vote. votes have been lacking lately :( & keep commenting! i enjoy reading them.

vote/comment/fan if you enjoyed!

--m