Car Crash {Post Malone}

Twenty

It hadn't been that long since Bailey had been back to her old high school but when she stepped on campus it felt like it had been years.

No matter how happy she was in LA with Austin, nothing could beat Texas.

Austin could tell too. She seemed more comfortable but that is what coming home does.

As she hugged the fifth adult they passed, Austin admired her and how she was able to seamlessly slip from the role of excited twenty year old to the role of guardian figure.

"Austin," she said and he looked up at her eyes, "this is my old cheer coach, Ms. Izzy."

"Hi," Austin said as he shook the older woman's hand, "it's nice to meet you."

"You're the one watching our little dare devil?"

"Oh hush Ms. Iz," Bailey laughed, "I'm the legal guardian of a teenager. My dare devil days are behind me."

She laughed, "Sure, whatever you say."

Austin smiled, "Do you have any fun stories?"

"Nope, nope, not happening," Bailey said and nudged Austin with her crutches, "see you later Ms. Iz, we've got to go get tickets for the event."

Austin laughed as he and Bailey left the older woman and started walking towards the ticket box.

"What? Don't want me to know all you're dirty secrets?"

Bailey giggled, "Hell no. I did some crazy stuff freshman and sophomore year. There is no way you're hearing about that."

"Oh come on, it'll be fun," Austin said, "think of it as a way to bond."

"If I tell you one story will you drop it for now?"

Austin nodded with a smile on his face.

"I got high then stole a janitor's golf cart and drove it into the pool while blindfolded on a dare."

Austin's eyes widened, "Holy shit, you did not."

"I did too," she said and got in line for tickets.

He shook his head in disbelief, "I don't believe it. Like, you're so not like that."

"The California speech is like so getting to you," Bailey teased.

"Shut up."

She laughed and hobbled towards the counter.

"Two tickets please," she said and turned to glare at Austin who was getting his wallet out, "put that away."

"I can pay for the tickets," he said, "it's no big deal."

"Nope, you got us here, I'll get the tickets."

Austin groaned as she passed ten dollars over to the parent volunteer on the other side of the ticket counter.

"Y'all are cute," she said.

"Oh, well," Bailey said and Austin cut her off, "Thank you ma'am."

Bailey blushed, "Yeah, thank you."

"Enjoy the event," the woman said and handed back the tickets.

"Thank you," Austin said and grabbed the tickets so Bailey could focus on walking up the ramp.

Bailey groaned as they were halfway up the ramp, "This hill is stupid, why does the track even need to be up here. Why can't they run laps around the baseball fields?"

Austin laughed, "Do you want me to carry you?"

"No, I can do it," Bailey sighed.

Austin rolled his eyes and crouched down, "Hop on."

"Thanks," Bailey said and climbed on his back.

Austin stood up after grabbing the crutches from her and they made it up the hill twice as fast as they had been going.

"You know what," Bailey said as they walked through the gate.

"What's that," Austin asked as he made their way to the stadium seats.

"This is a much better mode of transportation."

Austin laughed, "Glad you think so."

He started up the stadium stairs and Bailey asked confused, "Where are we going?"

"I texted my dad that we were coming in for the day and he said he would save us seats next to them."

Bailey smiled, "Oh sweet. This will be great, Carter will be so happy."

Austin smiled, "Great. You both deserve being happy."

"You've been making that really easy," Bailey said quietly as his step-mom and dad stood up to greet them.

"We're so glad you could come," Richard said, "we haven't been to one of these before so you may need to explain things to us."

Bailey smiled as Austin set her carefully back down on the ground, "Thank you for coming to support Carter. He hasn't had this big of a fan club in a while."

Jodie hugged Bailey and said, "It's our pleasure really. He's a sweet kid, you've done such an impressive job with him for someone so young."

Bailey beamed, "That means a lot."

As everyone sat down to get ready to watch the match, Austin grabbed Bailey's crutches again and laid them on the ground before resting his palm on her thigh.

Bailey blushed as she felt Austin rub her thigh gently with his thumb as he talked to his dad about the album.

"So, how are you liking California," Jodie asked.

Bailey turned to look at her with a smile, "It's been lots of fun. Austin's really been taking care of me. I'm usually so focused on taking care of everyone else that I forget about myself sometimes so it's strange not to have to do things on my own."

"That's wonderful darling," Jodie smiled, "now before this starts I think I'm going to take Rich and snag some popcorn. Would you like anything?"

"No thank you," Bailey said, "but thank you for offering."

Jodie smiled and stepped over the seats, tapping Rich on the shoulder and sent a wink to Austin.

He rolled his eyes before squeezing Bailey's leg, "It looks like it's starting soon. Are you excited?"

Bailey nodded and daringly kissed his cheek, "Thank you for getting us here. Carter's going to flip when he sees us after the race."

Austin blushed as a smile filled his face.

The amount of love and how much Bailey would do for her brother was truly amazing in his opinion.

"You don't need to thank me, boo," he said, "I promised we'd come out whenever. I don't even have to come with, whenever you want to come back say the word."

Bailey smiled, "Why would I want to come back without you?"