Austin Carlile Is My Father? (#Wattys2015)

Sacrifices

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Sienna

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Sienna was content with being alone.  She liked to sleep on the couch with the television on.  Max liked to put his muzzle on her stomach while his body kept her legs warm.  Sometimes, Noah would come visit her after work.  Sometimes he would go home to visit Ryan, but Sienna wouldn't mind, as stated before, she liked being alone. 

Josh had invited Noah and Sienna to a dinner party he was hosting at his beach house/secondary recording studio.  Josh had said that the girls of YMAS were going to be there too; they had flown in for the week to give their guys some sense of comfort from being away from home for so long.  At first, Sienna was apprehensive of the thought of going back to that dreaded beach house, but Noah wanted to go.  It was like he forgot that the traumatic experience happened there.  Josh had offered words of encouragement, saying something about having closure of a bad situation, but Sienna knew it was all bullshit about wanting to take charge of her own thoughts and ideas.  Sienna knew it was bullshit, but she let him think she was ignorant. 

Noah drove her, of course.  The trip was a long one, longer than Sienna had remembered.  They held hands the whole way, listening to music and talking about silly license plates they saw.  Max sat in the backseat, panting his little puppy self to sleep. 

Sienna was eventually lulled to sleep, curling up in her seat, her head resting on Noah's leg.  Noah's arm went down around her, resting his hand on her side. 

Sienna was awakened by Noah gently kissing her forehead telling her that they had arrived.  She and Noah were the stereotypical couple that brought little house-warming things for their host.  Josh said if they brought some appetizers, then they would be all set, so Sienna made some mini wraps.  She made vegetarian ones, ones with meat in them and she also had pita bread and brought hummus. 

Josh greeted them at the door, smiling and waving. 

"Hi, Sienna!  Glad to see you could make it!"  Josh gestured for Sienna to come inside, which she did, reluctantly. 

"Hi."  She muttered, avoiding the rest of eye contact with the others who were standing behind Josh, waving at the two.  "Made some food."  Noah held up the catering box as proof. 

"Excellent!"  Josh exclaimed, taking the box from Noah.  "Come on inside, you two lovers.  I'm so glad you could make it!"

Sienna and Noah glanced at each other, both smirking at Josh's energy before entering his summer home. 

"Sinnoah has arrived!"  shouted Josh, marching into the kitchen.  Sienna rolled her eyes as she heard the sound of clambering feet.  She knew it was Max before he even came around the door. 

"SIENNA!"  Max shouted, slamming into her.  Sienna staggered back and laughed as Max held her in a huge hug, squeezing the air out of her. 

"I missed you too."  she laughed, patting his back.  A little bark caused Max to look around behind Sienna to see little Max running through the house, his tail wagging at a quick pace. 

"Oh, Max, this is Max."  Sienna introduced the puppy to the namesake.  Max, the human, looked a little confused. 

"Wait, how will we know which Max is which?" 

Sienna shrugged.  "We could call you Helyer and call the dog Max,"  she offered, neglecting the fact that her dog's full name was Maximus.  Max pouted. 

"Why does the dog get my name when I don't?"

"Because the dog is cuter!"  chimed in Josh.  Sienna rolled her eyes and leaned against Noah, who hugged her tightly.