Let Live (An Austin Carlile Love Story)

How Do You Love Someone Without Getting Hurt?

"As in Austin's Ex-Wife Gielle?" she asked innocently. I felt all of the color drain from my face, my eyes opening wide involuntarily, my jaw dropping a tad.

"Ex-Wi-ife?" I stuttered out, too stunned to formulate my words correctly. The look on Maddie's face turned from confusion to a look of almost horror.

"Oh shit....." she muttered quietly. "Shit, you didn't know......" It was more of a statement than a question as realization swept over her.

I felt almost numb as I sat there letting the words sink in. Ex-Wife. Austin had an Ex-Wife. He was married at some point. He was married and he never told me. Why hadn't he told me?

My mind was jumbled; I couldn't think straight. I felt tears poking at my eyes, though my emotions were mixed and I didn't exactly know why I was crying. I was sad, hurt, confused, embarrassed.......I had been lied to. For the first time in our relationship, at least that I knew of, Austin had lied to me. Why would he hide something like this from me? I had told him everything.....EVERYTHING!! There wasn't a single thing that I hid from him, not anymore.

"I-I, I uh, I think I need to, um, I need to go," I stuttered out as I rose from the chair.

"Yeah, yeah, hun, I've got it from here. Shit, Ty, I'm so sorry, I figured he told you....." her voice trailed off towards the end. I flashed her a small smile; it wasn't her I was angry with, not even in the slightest. I walked out of the back of the venue towards the bus, the air chilly as the sun began to set around me. I pulled my hands inside my sweatshirt as I reached the bus. I felt like I was in a haze, like I didn't know where I was or what was going on. I unlocked the door and yanked it open, stepping in and pulling it closed behind me softly. I shuffled down the aisle and collapsed on the couch, burying my face in my sweatshirt-covered hands, the tears falling freely and quickly as the reality of the situation set in.

I didn't want to face him, but at some point he would come back on this bus and I would have to ask him about her.

And that was something I wasn't looking forward to......not one bit.

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Austin's P.O.V:

I couldn't help but notice that Tyler never showed up for the set. She had been side-stage for every show since the tour started a couple of weeks ago; she hadn't missed one yet. I tried not to worry too much about why she was M.I.A......I tried to tell myself that she may have got caught up at the merch table. Maybe they were busier than usual and Maddie needed an extra hand.

As the set went on and she never showed I couldn't help but feel concerned. I tried to keep my mind off of it and focus on the music, but it was hard when I was so used to seeing her beautiful face standing over to my left, smiling at me and mouthing along to the words.

The guys could tell that something was wrong, shooting me questioning glances every now and then. I didn't tell them anything. Hell, I didn't know if there was even anything to tell. She was fine, right?

As soon as the show ended I bolted off the stage. Kids would be flooding out at this point, but I had to get to Maddie. I grabbed a couple security guards and they followed me out towards the merch tables. My heart dropped when I caught a glimpse of Maddie......she was alone at the table; Tyler was no where in sight. I pushed through the groups of people, catching the attention of a few fans. I stood and signed a couple of autographs and apologized to them when I told them I had to go. "Mads!!! Maddie!" I hollered over the commotion. After what seemed like forever she finally heard me and walked over towards me. She looked....nervous, her face showing a bit of anger. "Hey, where's Ty?"

Her face dropped at the mention of Tyler's name, and I stared at her confused, awaiting an answer. "She's, uh, on the bus," she replied quietly.

"Is she okay?" I asked in frustration. She cringed at me. "What happened?"