I snorted with laughter, "Who cares? It's all over! But why don't you have a heartbeat?"
He shook his head, "Later," he mumbled and sat up slowly out of my arms, rubbing his eyes again before he opened his eyes and looked at me sleepily. And then his eyes trailed down and widened.
"What?" I frowned.
He turned around and jumped to his feet, hurrying away.
"Where are you going?" I asked, feeling more than a little panicked.
I saw him stoop down and pick up the jacket Caleb had left on the floor earlier before he came back with his eyes covered by his hand.
"You might want to take this," he said, holding the jacket out to me.
I frowned and looked down. When I realized what was wrong I blushed a deep scarlet, grabbing the jacket from his hands before I slipped it on.
All this time, I had been naked...and I never noticed.
"I'm a little surprised you didn't notice you had no clothes on," Austin remarked as I put it on, buttoning it up.
"I was a little bit concerned about you; I did think you were dead so pardon me for not caring about being nude," I quipped as I did up the last button, "Alright, I'm decent."
He turned around to face me again, hand extended to me since I was still sitting down, "You're horribly indecent," he shook his head at me, grinning.
I took his hand and he pulled me to my feet. Almost as soon as I stood my knees buckled but Austin caught me before I hit the ground, "Obviously, party time is over," he chuckled, holding me against his side while the world spun.
I groaned, closing my eyes as I put my trembling hands up to my throbbing head, "No kidding."
I heard Austin inhale deeply, "You really lost a lot of blood. No wonder you look like shit."
"Thanks," I said sarcastically, keeping my eyes closed even though that did little to make me feel better.
"Sorry," he apologized, "And I'm terribly sorry for what I'm about to do."
"Why what are you about to do?" I asked nervously.
I felt him crouch slightly, his arm hooking around the back of my knees before he scooped me up. The movement was smooth but still too quick and my stomach turned. I clapped a hand over my mouth to keep from throwing up.
Austin swore and I felt him take off running. I was going to tell him to slow down because that was making me feel worse but I was afraid to open my mouth in case vomit came out instead of words.
I don't know how long he ran for but it didn't feel long at all before I heard a door opening and the familiar creek of my stairs as he bolted up them to my room. I smelled all of it; the different fabrics of my room and wood and my shampoo and everything else in my entire house, it would have been cool had I not wanted to throw up.
"Here," he said, setting me down on my feet.
I swayed, struggling to keep from vomiting as I clutched the counter with my shaking fingers.
"Get dressed," he said and I smelt fabric, the familiar scent of laundry detergent also the deep scent of what I was sure was my blue tank top and short shorts.
I pried my heavy lids open, and once the world stopped spinning again, I saw I was right and that the bathroom door was closed.
I took my time getting dressed, my whole body shaking like an earthquake and my head spinning every time I moved it too quickly. Once I was finally dressed I looked up into the mirror and gaped.
Chapter 33: Love and Loss
Start from the beginning
