Why Do I Deny...? (Austlan Cashby)

9

Alan's POV

"Alan." I was gently awoke to the sound of the voice I love the most. I had no intention of moving anytime soon.

"Alan, come on. Wake up." Austin shook my shoulder. I rolled over and pulled the blanket above my head.

"Don't make me come in there." I could tell he was smiling. I didn't move. He sighed and it was silent for a second before I felt a weight on top of me.

"Well hello there." I opened my eyes slowly, Austin's face dangerously close to mine.

"Morning sunshine." He smirked.

"I'm tired." I whined, pouting.

"Oh well, take a nap later. We're going out for breakfast and then going shopping!" Austin bounced, forgetting he was on top of me. We sat there staring at each other for a moment.

"Austin."

"Yeah?"

"In order for me to get up, you need to get off me."

"Oh yeah, sorry." He stumbled up, almost falling out of the bunk. I laughed and slowly dragged my butt out of bed.

After everyone was ready, we went out for breakfast. If it wasn't obvious, we have a day off. Which is very rare. Especially during Warped Tour.

"I want pancakes. And waffles. And sausage, and eggs and bacon and-"

"Austin, we get it. You want everything." Phil cut him off, all of us laughing.

I sat next to Austin, our knees hitting off each other as we sat down. It sent a tingle up my spine.

"I'm excited to spend my day with you." He whispered to me, resting his hand on my thigh. He's excited to spend his day with me? Me?

We started to order, me being first to order. The waitress looked over to Austin.

"Uh, I'll have the same as him." Austin responded, sending me a small smile.

The rest of breakfast was reasonably uneventful. I noticed that Austin would sneak glances at me every few minutes, or hit his knee against mine or some sort of minor contact throughout the meal. I wasn't sure what to think about it.

I honestly have no clue where we are, but there's a giant ass mall here. And I love it. It seems never ending.

"Okay guys. Meet back here at five." Aaron instructed, all of us nodding before heading off into our own directions.

"Where to?" Austin asked, taking me by surprise.

"Whoa! When did you get here!" I asked, him catching up to me.

"I wanted to come with you."

"Well okay then. Let's go." I said, leading him off around the massive mall.

"So, where should we go first?" I asked.

"I don't know. How about here?" Austin asked, pulling me by my arm into the closest store.

We joked around for awhile, trying on the ugliest clothes we could find and laughing hysterically at each other. Eventually the staff got fed up with us and we got kicked out. And we were still laughing.

We then ended up in Hot Topic, and weirdly enough were never spotted.

"This band is full of douches." Austin elbowed my ribcage, pointing up at a white Of Mice & Men tank top.

"They're lead singer is a total tool." I added.

"At least he's not as bad as their guitarist. I think his name is what? Alan? That guy sucks." Austin said.

"Okay, wow. Taking it a little far." I crossed my arms over my chest and pouted.

"I'm sorry. I take it back." Austin said, immediately feeling bad. I'll use this to my advantage.

"Nope. Not accepted. You have to make it up to me now."

"Fine. What do you want, Alan?" He asked, catching onto me.

"Hmm..."

"This." I pointed to a faded gray and black jean vest.

"Why did I have a feeling that's what you were going to pick." He sighed, grabbing one.

"How do you know what size?" I asked.

"Please. I know everything." He scoffed, making me chuckle.

I followed Austin to the checkout counter, basically hovering over him.

The girl at the counter smiled warmly at us, ringing up my vest.

"You happy now, Alan?" He asked. I nodded proudly.

"Wait a second..." The girl's head snapped up, looking at the two of us. Here we go.

"You guys are in Of Mice & Men, right?" She asked. We both nodded.

"You guys are so good. Anyway I could get an autograph?" She asked politely.

"Of course you can. Do you have a pen or something?" Austin asked, smiling. She nodded and handed us a piece of paper and a black sharpie, Austin signed first and passed it to me.

"I can't wait to see you tomorrow." She said as I finished writing, handing it back to her.

"And we can't wait to see you. Hope to see you tomorrow!" Austin said, smiling at her once again and handing me my bag.

Austin's POV

"So, where to next?" I asked. Alan shrugged. We roamed around for awhile until we stumbled across some store we'd never heard of before. It was pretty cool.

I watched Alan from across the store, he was looking at hats. There's just something about him. Something about him makes me happy. I almost feel like I crave attention from him. But I do know I thrive from it. I feel confident around him, like there's no need to put a guard up when Alan's with me. I've always felt that around him, though now is different. I can't quite put my finger on it.

"Austin, what do you think?" Alan picked up a dark gray fedora. He put it on, admiring himself in the mirror. My palms started sweating and my heart raced at the sight of him. Who knew?

"I think... it's perfect. Like you." I slapped my hand over my mouth instantly after the last two words slipped out. Alan and I both had matching blushes.

"But, uh yeah. I like it." I said, pretending like that didn't just happen. Alan smiled at me.

"You know I heard that? Right?" I tried to shrug his comment off.

"You gonna tell me what that was about?" He tried again. I pretended to take interest in something in front of me.

"Okay, or avoid the subject completely. Karma I guess." He took the hat off, shaking his head to himself.

"You should get the hat." I said quietly.

"Well since you liked it so much, I was planning on it." He walked away to the checkout, leaving with my thoughts. Is he, flirting with me?

"Austin? You ready?" Alan asked, pulling me out of my thoughts. I nodded slowly, admiring him in his new fedora.

"It's almost five." I glanced at my phone.

"Then let's head back."

We started walking back, having conversations here and there. At one point, the back of our hands touched, sending a tingle up my spine. Then it happened again, and again. I could see the side of his mouth curl up. He thinks this is entertaining, huh?

The next time our hands hit, I grabbed his in mine and interlocked our fingers momentarily before letting go and taking a few strides in front of him. I heard a giggle before he caught up and grabbed hold on my hand, not letting go. I glanced down at our hands, not saying a word. We walked like this for a few minutes.

"Hey!" Tino called out to us as soon as he spotted us. Alan dropped my hand suddenly, wiping the palm of his hand on his shorts. I did the same shortly after. But I was left in confusion. Was Alan leading me on?