"Aus, would you just so happen to know anything about the Valentino box in front of my door?" I toyed, moving over and sitting down at one of the barstools in the kitchen. I set my phone up against a vase, and grinned as he couldn't help but smile at the realization.
"Mm, and the roses too, yeah?" His voice drawled out, groaning softly as he nestled deeper into the pillows underneath him. "You like 'em?"
Leaning forward onto my palm, my fingers crept over my lips in a failed attempt to hide my never-ending smile. "Mhm, I love 'em. But, you didn't have to get me anything. Really."
"I know. I wanted to." He scrunched his lips to the side, rubbing a tired eye as his abrupt yawn caused the last part of his sentence to fade away into nothingness.
"I get that, but still.. you know how I feel about that. I mean- I appreciate it but.." My voice trailed off, a shame of unexplainable guilt washing over me.
"Don?"
"Yeah?"
"Thank you." Austin said, as if he were hinting at something but didn't want to just outright say it.
My eyebrows furrowed, lips scrunching out as I couldn't tell what he was getting at. "Thank you..?" I repeated, motioning for him to explain himself.
A warm smile spread across Austin's face, and I watched as he reached back to prop his head back onto one of his elbows. "You're welcome." He hummed, raising his eyebrows knowingly as he watched the gears in my brain churn to understand his pitiful joke.
Rolling my eyes, I gave him the straightest of faces as his brass chuckle rang through my ears. "Very funny." I commented sarcastically.
"No, but, seriously.." His laughter died down, and he smiled considerately at me through the phone. "Nothin' wrong with someone doin' something nice for you. Doesn't always have to be a rebuttal."
"I don't always have a rebu-"
"Bitch, yes you do." Dahlia's voice cut me off, eliciting a sour expression from me and a louder laugh from Austin. "Thank you, Austin for serving my girl some real shit this morning. Trust that when you get back home, you have three shots of Tequila on me with your name written on 'em."
Austin's eyes widened, and I snickered down at his obviously unprepared expression. "I- I can't wait." He answered Dahlia, knowing that her stubborn ass definitely wasn't taking no for an answer.
"I hope you realize I'm still betting that somehow, someway you'll make it back in town for tonight." I changed the subject, admitting this to him truthfully. Distance definitely made the heart grow stronger, and these past five days had begun to really wear and tear at me. I missed him. I pondered that I'd really begun to like him, and it terrified the fuck out of me.
"I'd literally be there in a heartbeat if I could, Don. Shit's been hectic over here, you have no idea." Austin briefly explained, his voice like satin as he rubbed a hand across his tired face in emphasis.
"I know." I confirmed solemnly. I knew he would. That's one of the things that I had started to treasure about him. He was always so incredibly intentional with his words. "Just missin' you, is all."
I quickly muted my microphone as I saw Dahlia dramatically begin to gag loudly and double over from behind the counter. Holding back a laugh, I quickly shooed her off before unmuting & bringing my attention back to Austin.
