Let Live (An Austin Carlile Love Story)

All That Matters

"Well good, it's really nice to hear from ya. I've missed you....just a little bit, but still." We both chuckled, falling back into our old routine of poking fun at each other. We had been good friends, Ryan and I, and after I quit Journey's to go on tour with Austin, which felt like forever ago, we had drifted apart, our conversations few and far between until they eventually became almost nonexistant, and I had missed him, I really had; we had always gotten along well, and there were days I missed working at Journey's, which brought me to why I had called him in the first place. "So what do you need?" He piped up, and I scoffed.

"What? Why do I have to need something to call you, Ry?" I chewed on my bottom lip and he laughed.

"Um, because I've known you for how long, Tyler? And when have you ever called me just to chat?" I rolled my eyes, though I knew he couldn't see.

"Okay, fine! I was wondering, um-" he cut me off before I could say another word.

"Of course you can your job back," he interjected, and I laughed.

"What? How did you -"

"That's what you wanted, right?" He questioned, obviously entertained with himself.

I was silent for a moment. "Yeah, that's what I wanted," I mumbled, bummed that I couldn't put the 'please take me back' speech to good use.

"I was always hoping you would wanna come back here. It's too quiet around here anymore," he responded, and I smiled. Deep down I always wanted to go back; it wasn't a great job, the money wasn't anything substantial, but I had worked there for years, become good friends with my co-workers, and I always had fun. So when thinking of things to fill my time, Journey's popped into my mind. It was practically perfect; the labor wasn't too extensive, I could wear what I wanted, I had friends who still worked there, and it would keep me occupied and off the couch, keep me moving, doing something besides staring at the TV.

"So when can I start?" I questioned, glancing over at the clock, noticing I still had a few more hours before I needed to head to the airport to pick up Austin.

"Tomorrow afternoon at one?" Ryan asked and I smiled.

"Tomorrow at one it is. See you then, Ry." We said our goodbyes and I hung up, tossing my phone to the bed next to me, and letting out a big sigh, my hand automatically moving to rest on my stomach as it so often did; it was natural, I did it without thinking. My eyes fell closed as I sang quietly along with a song I had been working on, the lyrics flowing out softly, filling the air around me.

A noise from downstairs startled me, and I flinched, sitting up and widening my eyes, my body on high alert. I heard the noise again, and it started to freak me out. There was no reason there should be loud banging sounds coming from the main floor, none at all. It was just me, I was all alone, no one else had a key to the house, and I had made sure to lock the doors last night, I was getting better at remembering to do that.

Another loud crash rang out as footsteps began to pount up the stairs. I jumped up from the bed, my eyes searching the room for something to defend myself from whoever was about to reach the bedroom. The only thing in sight that would do enough damage to allow me to get away was my acoustic guitar, and I grabbed it, clutching it tightly above my head, ready to strike. Tiptoeing towards the door I held my breath, my heart racing in my chest.

The door flung open and I emitted a high-pitched scream, scaring Austin, who was standing in the doorway to the room, and causing him to scream in response. "What the hell, Ty?! Heart problems remember?" He squealed as he dramatically clutched his chest, his breathing staggered, matching the uneven pattern of my own, frightened breaths.

"That's what you get for scaring the hell out of me!" I whined. He looked at me and rolled his eyes, his lips upturning into a smile.

"Really, Tyler? With the guitar again?" He reached out and pulled it from my grasp, resting it against the wall. "You know, this is awfully reminiscent of the first day we met," he stated, crossing his arms over his chest and arching an eyebrow at me.

"And you're still as much of an asshole as you were back then," I retorted, smirking at him, trying not to laugh. Shaking his head at me, he stepped forward and pulled me into his arms, burying his face in my hair as I squeezed him tight. "I missed you," I mumbled into his neck.

"I missed you, too, baby." He brought his lips down to mine, kissing me passionately, longingly, his hands resting on my hips. He pulled his lips away and squatted down, his hands finding my belly. "And I missed you, too, other baby," he whispered into my stomach, placing a few small kisses near my belly button. "Jeez, Ty, look how big you're getting!" He remarked and I smacked his head.

"Gee, thanks, Austin," I said sarcastically, though I knew that wasn't how he meant it. He smiled up at me before redirecting his attention to my bloated abdomen, rubbing it softly, whispering practically inaudible words. "You know the baby can't hear you, right? It doesn't have ears yet," I stated, sharing some of the knowledge I had gained through my countless hours on Google.

He stood back up and pouted at me. "Don't be a buzzkill, baby." I laughed and he cracked a smile, lifting his suitcase up and unzipping it, digging through the masses of dirty clothes, obviously searching for something. I took a seat as I watched him rummage through his bag, tossing clothes haphazardly to the floor. "I found something for the baby," he stated excitedly. I raised my eyebrows at him as he pulled out a stuffed animal.

"You got the baby a squidgy?" I questioned, my smile only growing at the kind guesture. He threw himself on the bed, landing next to me, and handed me the little multicolored squid. "Babe, that was so sweet of you."

"We were out shopping and I spotted it and knew I had to get it. You think she will like it?" He asked and I looked down at where his head was resting in my lap, my brow furrowed in confusion.

"She?" He beamed brightly up at me.

"I'm convinced it's a girl," he said non-chalantly.

"Oh really? And why is that?" I wondered. He shrugged his shoulders, his hand finding its way to mine, our fingers intertwining with each other's. My free hand played with the ends of his hair, working the gel out of it.

"I don't know, just a feeling. It's going to be a girl, and she is going to be perfect and healthy and unbelievable beautiful just like her mother." There go those damn butterflies again. I nawed on my bottom lip as I stared down into his big brown eyes. He always knew the right thing to say to make my heart race.

"We can find out soon, you know. I have my 16 week appointment next week, and all she has to do is take a look at the sonogram and she can either confirm or deny your suspicions." His face lit up and he sat up, moving so he was sitting in front of me, his legs crossed underneath him.

"I'm going to be right. I'll bet on it!" He exclaimed.

"Woah, I never said I wanted to find out, I just said we could." My response made him sigh, pouting his bottom lip out at me for the second time since he had been home. "I don't know, I kind of like the suspense."

He glared at me, and I shrugged my shoulders, giving him an evil smirk. "Says the woman who hates surprises!"

"Yeah, but I love how antsy it's going to make you if we don't find out. That outweighs my hatred of surprises any day!" He only shook his head in response, and I couldn't help but laugh at his poutiness.

His hand found my stomach once again, and I rested my hand on top of his, grinning from ear to ear as we looked at each other. "I don't care what we have, whether it's a boy or a girl," he murmured, looking down at our hands clasped together, "as long as he or she is healthy, and you are healthy, that's all that matters to me. I leaned forward and pressed my lips to his forehead before resting my forehead against his.

"They will be. We all will be healthy, and happy. Our little family will be amazing." He looked up and kissed my lips quickly, my own responding immediately.

"It'll be perfect," he whispered in response.

Austin was right. It will be perfect.