Adopted by Austin Carlile

They Don't Call It The South For Nothing

*Jinxx's POV*

He was looking at me worriedly with those gentle brown eyes of his. Being in such close proximity to him, I noticed the small wrinkles that lined the corners of his eyes, the way his nose and cheeks were dotted with small freckles, and the morning after stubble that stood out clear against his pale skin. He looked nice, like I could trust him, but I didn't dare. I can't trust anyone, I can't be let down again.

I tried as hard as I could not to fangirl, but OH MY FUZZY CUPCAKES! It was AUSTIN CARLILE!

"Y-y-you're from-m-m Ofmiceandmen," I blurted out the last part too fast, all the while trying not to gawk at him, which in itself seemed like an impossible task.

"So I see you know who I am," he said with a chuckle. I nodded my head, not trusting my voice.

"I want to adopt you, so do you want to like, you know, go hang out so you can decide whether or not you want to be adopted? By me I mean?" He looked at me nervously.

"Y-y-yeah," I stuttered.

He smiled then and said, "Great! I'll sign you out then". He was led away by Sister Susan as I tried to make sense of what just happened. Maybe I'm dreaming, I thought. I pinched myself. Ow. Okay. Not dreaming.

He came back in a couple of minutes, and we headed out.

*Austin's POV*

I looked at Jinxx; the way she seemed to shy away from everyone, the distant look in her eyes, like she's only partially here, and her refusal to meet my eyes. Was she abused by her previous foster parents? But why would anyone want to abuse her? She seems so delicate, frail, and vulnerable.

Let me start at the beginning - I wanted to adopt someone for some time now because I've been very lonely in my home. No wife, no girlfriend, no kids, no family, only Squidgy. I want to give a home to someone who doesn't have one and shower them with love. Cheesy, but true.

When I was looking through all the kids profiles, Jinxx's stood out the most to me. There wasn't a picture of her, but the way she described herself, well, she reminded me of myself when I was younger. And I felt it in my gut, that she was the one I want to call my daughter. 

So the next day, I called up Sunshine Orphanage, asked if I could come in. They told me yes, so I came over that same day, nervous as fuck. What if she doesn't like me? What if she doesn't like my band? I mean, I want to adopt her, but in the end it's her choice.

When I first saw Jinxx, she looked so fragile - like one touch could shatter her in a million pieces. And shy. She was so unbelievably shy in the beginning. When she finally looked at me, she realized who I was and seemed to open up a little more. So she likes my band, whew. That's good, one fear down, another hundred to go.

After asking her if she wants to hang out and get to know me better, she looked surprised. Probably because I blurted everything out in such a fashion that made me sound half-insane. I had this whole entire question branded inside of my brain, but I got too nervous and forgot it. Darn, now she probably thinks I'm some weirdo who doesn't know how to ask a simple question. On the other hand, she did say yes, so that must mean she's giving this a thought.

After signing the papers, we headed out. I have a Volvo C30 and seeing it, she smiled, saying, "Nice ride,"

"Thanks," I said, holding the door open for her.

After she was in her seat, I slammed the car door shut and walked around, to the driver's side. Quickly getting in, almost falling in the process thanks to my giraffe legs, I secured the seat belt and turned to her. She seemed to move as far away from me as possible in her seat. I pretended not to notice, and instead asked her, "What type of music do you listen to?"

"Um, rock, punk, gothic rock, hard rock, grunge, metal, deathcore, that kind of stuff," she said, just as a ray of sunshine hit her straight in the face. 

"OW! The sun is on fire, I repeat, the sun is on fire," she said while holding a hand in front of her eyes.

Trying to hold in my laughter, I yelled, "The Earth is spinning! I repeat, the Earth is fucking spinning!"

She burst out laughing and said, "Brought to you by the ABC news,"

"The ocean is flooding, I repeat, the ocean is flooding," I yelled while she continued to laugh, tears streaming down her face. After ten minutes, we finally got our bearings together and I was able to ask, "Any specific bands you like?" 

"Y-yeah. You guys, um, BVB, MIW, PTV, FIR, TAA, SS, The Story So Far, Simple Plan, Citizen, Slipknot, Cradle of Filth, those kinds of bands," she said, looking at me, her cheeks tinged red from all the laughing. 

"Okay, then you will like this," I said and took out a BVB Wretched and Divine CD. I put it in and started the drive to the nearest mall. The sun was high in the sky, shining with a certain kind of ferocity while Jinxx fidgeted in her seat, and I tried to look like I knew where we were going.

"Um, where are we going?" she seemed to echo my thoughts after I Am Bulletproof neared it's finish.

"There's supposed to be a mall around here somewhere. I think we should grab something to eat, you look hungry," I said to her, trying to remember where exactly that mall was.

"Okay," she said and pulled her legs up on the seat.

After driving around in practically circles for 20 minutes, I realized that this was going to be a long drive.