Everything was happening tonight quicker than I ever could've imagined and I mean everything, right down to the rate in which I was becoming intoxicated.. With the help of some liquid courage, Teeny got many answers out of me that probably wouldn't have even been addressed until much later into her stay, like close to the time she was getting ready to board her plane later. She met Austin much sooner than intended, and in a much different way than I had planned in my head.
Initially I had planned to take her out to lunch while Lily watched Liam for a few hours, giving her the in depth explanation to how we met and the things that we have done to make sure she knew everything about him while she still only knew him as Austin, before she finally met him in person. My hopes being that once she found out he was Post Malone it wouldn't matter since she knew the type of guy he was. But, as always the universe seemed to have other plans and right now given the state that I was in, I could do nothing but go along with it.
I was brought back from my momentary visit to my thoughts, which while being tipsy could always be a dangerous place for me but so far so good, as I felt Austin's lips leave mine, my eyes fluttering open to be met with his blue irises staring into the golden brown glow of my own, his stare captivating me as he pulled me out to sea. I smiled down at him, a small hiccup leaving my lips as I threw my head back and giggled before bringing it back down to look at him, a cute smirk occupying his face.
"Lil miss, just how much have you actually drank tonight?" he smiled at me, the atmosphere between us playful after our recent confession to each other. I brought my gaze up to the ceiling, unlacing my fingers with his a I started counting off the drinks that I remembered having one by one, giving up after reaching shot 5. He looked at me with raised eyebrows, his mouth slightly agape as I shrugged my shoulders at him, holding my hands out to the sides. "Okay, let's rephrase that question" he laughed, his hand rubbing up and down on my back. If you had to guess, how many drinks would you say you had?"
I smirked at him, leaning down and placing a sloppy kiss on his perfect pink lips before pulling away with a giggle. "Oh I don't know, like four double Tito's and OJ, four or five shots of Fireball and a shot of Patron" I laughed, slurring just slightly as I nodded my head at him, another hiccup and giggle escaping my lips.
"That's like triple your weight in alcohol lil miss, how are you going to get home?" he asked with a laugh, both of his hands coming up to cup my face as his thumbs ran over my now warm and rosy cheeks, a side effect of drinking that I thoroughly disliked, his eyes roaming my face with worry quickly building up behind them.
"We took an uber here so I would assume an uber back?" I said raising my shoulders with a laugh. "So what brought you all the way out here tonight baby?" I asked him with a tipsy smile, changing the focus off of my level of inebriation.
"This just so happens to be one of my favorite places to go, not many people know about it and it's quiet" he smirked. "Little did I know Teeny and your gorgeous little self would be here" he smiled at me placing a small kiss on the tip of my nose, before his eyes glanced up behind me making me look over my shoulder as I saw Teeny coming back to the table without drinks.
"I thought you were getting us more drinks" I laughed, her eyes still wide with shock as they were roaming over the two of us as I sat comfortably on his left leg, my left hand laced with his right as it rested in my lap, and my right arm slung around his neck. He had his left arm resting gently on my back as I leaned my head on his looking over at Teeny.
"The bartender is bringing them over. I hope you like Fireball Posty, that's your girl's favorite shot" she said, pointing a finger at me as she sat down across from us.
I wrinkled up my nose as I shook my head back and forth, a laugh leaving Austin's lips as he squeezed my hand. "Yuck, don't call him that" I laughed. "It's just Austin, regular old Austin" I said to her.
"So you need to tell me how the hell this even happened" she said with a laugh as she gestured to the two of us. I looked back at her biting my lip trying to decide if the laugh was that of shock or if she was pissed off that I was dating him, thinking that his celebrity status would be horrible for me given my track record.
"First, are you mad?" I asked her, my eyebrows raised as I let go of Austin's hand, using my left to push my brown silky locks behind my ear. I felt Austin's now vacant hand rest on my thigh as he started rubbing it with his thumb, my heart beating in anticipation for her answer as she just stared between the two of us for what felt like hours.
She finally let out a sigh, shaking her head no as she laughed sitting back in her seat. "No I'm not mad at you Candy" I immediately got up off of Austin's lap, his hands drifting after me just briefly before he rested them on his thighs as he watched me walk with a slight sway over towards Teeny and sit in her lap, my arms wrapping tightly around her neck as I crashed my wet lips sloppily against her cheek repeatedly, small thank yous leaving my lips between each one.
"Get your drunk ass off me you idiot" she laughed loudly, attempting to pull my arms from around her neck. "Are you sure you're ready to put up with this Austin?" she laughed, finally succeeding in her task of removing me from her body as I stood up between the both of them, swaying back and forth slightly.
"Absolutely, she seems fun" I heard him laugh as I walked back over to him, his arms held out to me as I sat back down on his lap, wrapping my arms around his neck as I pressed my lips firmly against his as he smiled back against them. "But I'll be there to take care of her when she starts to come down from her drunk," he said, looking up at me with a beautiful stare that made me want to do indecent things to him right in the very chair he sat in.
"She is loads of fun until she hits her breaking point. Then there are tons of tears, everyone hates her, she doesn't know why she isn't enough for anyone, then she starts throwing up which lasts for hours and then she's dead weight" Teeny laughed as I looked over at her with a scowl. "I hope you're ready for that and seeing that you guys just started dating, I hope you're ready to reassure the shit out of her that you really do like her" she laughed, her eyes dancing between the both of us as she recited my drunk actions perfectly, like a book that she knew all too well.
"Hellooo, I'm sitting right here" I said, my hands moving up and down my body as I looked between the two of them, Austin letting out a small laugh at my gesture as he put a quick kiss in the crook of my neck.
"Yeah I know" Teeny shrugged. "It's nothing you haven't heard before so suck it up" she said, turning her attention to the bartender who brought over three shots, a Tito's and OJ, what looked to be a drink mixed with coke and Bud Light. "Rumor has it you like Bud Light Austin so, here ya go" she said handing the bottle off to him.
"Thank you ma'am" he said with a curt head nod as he brought the bottle up to his lips taking a long drink. I saw Teeny hold her hand out in front of her as she moved it back and forth, as she focused on finishing the sip of her drink.
"None of that shit, no need to be formal around me" she laughed plopping her drink back down on the table as she started passing the shots over to the both of us. "Here's to suppressing my shock from finding out that my best friend is dating Post Malone. Cheers" she laughed holding up the shot as the three of us tipped it back quickly, Teeny's face scrunching in disgust as she swallowed it down. "You're so lucky I love you" she said, setting her empty shot glass down. I blew her a kiss, both her and Austin laughing at my actions as they shook their heads.
"So anyway, I'm not abandoning my question from earlier. How and the hell did you guys meet?" she asked, resting her left elbow on the table using her hand to support her chin as she looked over at me.
"I told you" I giggled. "Liam introduced us" I looked over at her grabbing my drink off the table, holding the cold glass in my right hand and the straw in my left as I clasped it between the sides of my mouth, taking long sips as she looked at me dumbfounded.
"How the hell did Liam introduce you, he's three" she laughed, her eyes following my drink as I sat it back down on the table and leaned into Austin who placed a kiss on my forehead making my eyes flutter closed momentarily before opening them back up again.
"Liam kinda wandered away from me in the 7/11 and I found him talking to some guy and it was Austin, and well here we are. So I always thank Liam for bringing us together because if he didn't wander off I would've left the store without ever knowing this amazing guy" I felt Austin nuzzle his nose just behind my ear at my comment as he whispered a breathy I love you lil miss into my ear, goosebumps forming on my skin and my heart beating a thousand beats a minute since it was still not accustomed to hearing those words slide off of his lips. "Love you too" I smiled.
"So, then what?" she asked, still laughing at the whole situation as I began to fill her in on how Austin met me at the Target and was very persistent on getting to know me as he followed us around shopping, using Liam's complete adoration for him to win me over. Austin chuckling at the appropriate moments, bringing his beer to his lips often as he listened to me retell the story of how we met right down to visits in the park, lunch dates, pool/dinner dates that led to our first night together and impromptu visits at my house because he couldn't stand to be away from me.
"I must admit Austin, I already like you way better than anyone else that Candy has ever dated, your celebrity status having absolutely nothing to do with it. On the contrary I find it a little concerning, but that's for another time," she said laughing, Austin nodding his head in understanding as she continued. "Although your persistence may have been a little creepy" she laughed, bringing her mixed drink back up to her lips. I looked over at Austin to see his face turn bright red as he removed the hand from my back to rub at the back of his neck.
"Yeah maybe a little, but I couldn't let her get away" he said, looking up at me with a smile bringing his arm back down from his neck as he rested it back on my waist. "She didn't give me her phone number until after dinner at her house, so I had to do something" he laughed, bringing the bottle back to his lips.
"So this explains why Liam was so smitten with you at the restaurant today" Teeny laughed as she looked over at me. I felt my mouth drop open as I looked at her in shock.
"You caught on to that!?" I said loudly, pointing over towards her as she started laughing.
"Yeah, who wouldn't. He was beaming ear to ear as soon as he saw him. Plus, he asked you when he was going to see Daddy again as soon as Austin left. I may have been born at night Candy, but it wasn't last night" she laughed at me as I curled into Austin . "You can tell how much he loves you Austin" Teeny said to him with a smile.
Her last comment made my heart swell as I knew it was important to her for me to be with someone who was going to treat Liam right, and someone that Liam was going to have a connection with. He never had any of that with his Dad, Liam had always tried and Shawn just never paid attention to him like he should, giving him maybe twenty minutes of his time before he got annoyed and wanted to be away from him. The fact that she saw Liam's reaction to him and was happy by it was like Austin taking a huge step into Teeny's circle of acceptance.
"I really love him too. He's an amazing, bright and kind little boy. Candace does an amazing job at being the best Mom she can be to him" Austin said to me warmly, causing a smile to break onto Teeny's face as she looked over at us.
"Can I ask about the Daddy thing though? I don't want to bring up bad things because I don't know what you all talked about, but you look nothing like his Dad Shawn" she said laughing.
I looked down at Austin at her words, admiring all of his beautiful features from his crystalline blue eyes, to his short but still silky brown hair that was starting to curl only slightly, the alluring details of his face down to the beautiful dark ink that was scattered across it ending with the strong sense of masculinity that was seeping out of him making me feel safe and secure whenever I was close to him.
"No, he doesn't look anything like Shawn" I said, holding his gaze in mine. "When I asked Liam he said that he feels like his Daddy, he feels like home" I said quietly, almost certain that Teeny didn't hear a word I was saying, but knowing that Austin did. "And I agree with him completely, being with you feels right it feels like your where we are meant to be" I said, his eyes dancing with mine quickly as he slowly leaned into me, his right hand leaving mine empty as he brought it up and rested it on the side of my face as he pressed his lips softly against mine.
"Well I didn't hear shit about what you said, so we'll just get to that some other time" I heard Teeny say as Austin smiled against my lips, pulling away from our intimate encounter resting his forehead on mine, his thumb running gently over my rosy cheeks.
"Sorry Teen" I said, reluctantly breaking my contact with Austin as I reached out to grab my drink, bringing it back up to my lips, taking several long sips from the straw once again before placing it back down on the table.
She looked over at me, her head tilting to the side as she let out a wide smile, my heart instantly warming as the look of acceptance came over her face. "It's fine, you both seem really happy and that makes me happy to know that you are here with someone who cares so much about you" she said, her eyes leaving mine as they traveled up to Austin's, the last part of her comment directed straight at him as she gave him a firm stare, letting him know that if he ever did anything to break my heart she would not be happy with him.
"I promise I will always do my best to make her happy and to be the best version of myself for her amazing little boy so he has a good role model to look up to" Austin said to her, my heart melting at his words as I tried my hardest not to cry.
She nodded her head at him, almost like they shared some kind of unspoken understanding as she let out a sigh, her hands resting on the table as she looked around at the empty glasses surrounding her. "Well, I'm going to get another drink and a shot. Austin would you like one?" Teeny asked, standing herself up and grabbing her wallet that was laying on the table next to her.
"I do!" I said, reaching out and grabbing for my drink so I could finish it quickly when Teeny beat me to it pulling the glass from my grasp as she looked down at me warily. "Hey! I wasn't done with that" I said to her.
"Lil miss" Austin laughed, wrapping his arms around my waist as he pulled me into him. "Why don't you skip this round sweetheart" he said softly. I looked up to see Teeny staring down at me, a slight smirk on her face as I turned my face back towards Austin.
"But I" I started only to have Austin put his finger to my lips with a smile.
"You can have a drink next round sweetheart, I promise" he laughed leaning in and putting a kiss on my temple, his eyes flashing up to Teeny letting her know she should walk away before I had any more time to object.
"You guys are no fun" I pouted, crossing my arms over my chest as Austin let out a small chuckle, pressing his lips to my temple again. My momentary spell of angriness leaving my body as I relaxed against his.
"It's just because we love you lil miss" he chuckled, completely ignoring my child like tantrum as he wrapped his arms around me tightly.
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I was sitting quietly in a chair next to Austin, the alcohol kicking in full force. I hadn't had a drink of anything but water since Teeny and Austin kindly cut me off a few hours before. However, a normal person would think that I was still drinking rather heavily as I was slumped down on the table, my arms supporting my forehead as I listened to the room happily carrying on around me.
Austin's hand was laying gently on my back moving up and down slowly as he looked over at me every few minutes to make me drink more water and check to see that I was still okay. I was just feeling like I was ready to fall into a deep slumber, which probably would be the best option allowing me to pass my embarrassing drunk shenanigans, when I heard the band start to play one of my favorite songs. I slowly lifted my head up, resting it in my right hand as I looked over at Austin, walking my fingers over to touch those of his left hand that was laying on the table.
"Can we dance baby?" I asked him as he was in the middle of a conversation with Teeny, when I Don't Dance started to be played, much of the room getting up to dance with whoever they came here with or whoever they were leaving with in the next few minutes when the bartender would call last call.
I saw Teeny point her chin over to me with a smile, Austin turning around to look at me, his index finger resting under my chin as he placed a quick kiss on my lips. "Yes sweetheart, let's go" he said with a smile. He held his hand out for me as I grabbed onto it tightly allowing him to help pull me to my feet. "You doing okay sweetheart?" he asked.
I nodded at him as I followed him out the little ways from our table near the area where he had just confessed his love for me hours ago. I felt him turn me towards him as I wrapped my arms around his neck, his forehead resting against mine as he placed his hands low on my waist, both holding me close to him while at the same time holding me up.
He started spinning me in a circle slowly, our eyes dancing with our bodies as we stared into the abyss of each other's irises for several minutes, stealing small kisses from each other as we moved before I rested the side of my head against his. "I love you Candace," he said quietly, his hands roaming up to rest firmly against my back as he pushed me close to him, his head turning so his lips could easily press against mine.
"I love you too Austin" I said back to him, not being able to hold the tears in anymore as I felt drunk Candace beginning to make her true appearance as I started making wild assumptions in my head.
I heard him chuckle as he pulled away from me, a slightly concerned look coming over his face, "Why are you crying lil miss?" he asked me, pulling me back to look at him as he wiped the tears from my cheeks with his thumbs, a small smile forming on his lips.
"Because I don't want this to go away Austin. You're going to start touring and I'm just going to be the girl that you met in Utah. I don't want to be hurt again Austin. I don't want to lose you," I said, crying harder to him as he pressed his lips firmly against mine, a look of confusion in his eyes as he pulled away from me shaking his head slightly, his hands coming up to cup the sides of my face.
"Candace sweetheart, I'm not going anywhere and nothing like that is going to happen. I told you last night that I wanted this to happen on it's own and it did. I'm not lying to you lil miss. I love you and I'm unbelievably happy with you. Please don't think like that" he said, trying to find the words he needed to say to calm me down.
I looked over at Teeny to see that she was gathering all of our stuff from the table, handing the bartender her credit card as she walked over towards Austin, resting her hand on his shoulder gently, "I think it's time we go now" she said with a laugh, her eyes looking over at me.
"Austin come stay with me please" I said, still crying as my full on drunk state of mind crashed into me hard. The world around me became hazy as it started to spin, my mouth starting to water with that imminent feeling of my insides about to be displayed on the floor in front of me for everyone to see.
I felt a shuffle of possession of my body as I was suddenly placed in Teeny's arms, my mind turning into a state of frantic panic as I looked around for Austin only to see him walking away from me. "Why is he leaving me Teeny? Teeny please don't let him leave" I said to her crying, as she started walking with me towards the exit of the bar.
"Candace listen to me, he's coming. Stop crying" she said, a slight sound of agitation in her voice as she drug me out the door. She sat me down on a stonewall that contained a few shrubs behind me, as I immediately slumped over like a rag doll sobbing loudly.
"I love him Teeny, and he just left me. Why didn't he want to come back with me?" I said sobbing to her as she sat next to me.
"Shit Candace, he's coming. Stop making a scene would you" she said laughing, her hand still rubbing my back in a comforting motion even though I knew she wanted nothing more than to slap some sense into me so I would stop making a scene in front of the bar.
"He's not, he fucking left me Teeny. I knew it was too good to be true. I knew I shouldn't have told him I loved him. I shouldn't tell anyone I love them, they always leave me" I sobbed, moving so I was leaning against her as thick wet tears washed out of my eyes.
"Is she okay? Do you need some help?" I heard a kind man ask Teeny as he was walking out of the bar, heading to his car after having a normal night of drinking with his friends.
"Yeah she's going to be okay. Her boyfriend's inside talking with his friends about a change of plans, but thank you so much" I heard her say happily as she was still rubbing my back trying to calm me down.
"Here Candy, you have to drink this" she said, holding out a bottle of water for me. I opened my mouth as she placed the bottle to my lips with a laugh helping me swallow just a few mouthfuls before taking it away again.
"Where's Austin Teeny? Why didn't he tell me he was leaving?" I asked her, the feeling of tears welling inside my body taking over me again as I felt quiet sobs drifting from within me.
"Shit Candy, for the last time he didn't leave you" she laughed, moving several strands of hair out of my face that were stuck to it like glue from the thick tears. "He had to let Adam and Smitty know that he's getting them an uber home so he can take your drunk ass back to his house" she laughed.
"Does he love me Teeny? Do you think he means it?" I asked her ignoring her last comment as I pulled myself up from her side as I looked at the two images of her sitting in front of me. My eyes closing briefly as I reopened them, glad to see there was just one of her again if only momentarily.
I heard her laugh as she wrapped her arms around me and pulled me in for a hug, "yes Candace, he loves you and yes I think he means it. But let's see how he handles his first experience with wasted Candy before I jump to conclusions" I heard her laugh as she pulled away from me.
"Then why did he leave me?" I asked her again, a sigh of aggravation leaving her lips as she told me she wasn't engaging in this conversation anymore before holding the bottle of water back up to my lips as I took another long drink.
"Thank God you're out here" I heard her laugh to someone as she stood up from my side. "Come on Candy, do you think you can stand?" she asked me, leaning down as she grabbed both of my hands in hers pulling me off of the stonewall. I stood up, swaying just slightly as I pushed her hands off of me, my emotions flipping like a switch as they always did when I was drunk, giving her a scowl letting her know that I could walk by myself. "Candy don't be an idiot right now" she said to me as I started walking away from them.
I had only taken a few steps when I felt the world start to let loose, spinning violently around me as I struggled to keep my balance realizing quickly that my body was about to greet the pavement in a painful connection when two strong arms scooped me up and started walking with me. I leaned my head against his strong chest, breathing in his scent as I quickly realized it was Austin. I looked up at him with a sheepish smile and a small hiccup leaving my lips. "Hey baby"
"Hey lil miss, you doing okay?" he asked me with a laugh, leaning down and brushing his lips against my hair. I nodded my head against his chest, closing my eyes as we finished our walk towards his car. He opened up the back door, placing me gently down in the back seat as I opened my eyes just enough to look around the interior.
"Austin, your car doesn't have a roof" I laughed, pointing at the roof as I rolled my head over to look at him with a laugh, his hand coming out to cup my chin as he looked at me with an amused stare, his blue eyes the only thing keeping me focused as I stared at him.
"What do you mean lil miss?" he laughed, pushing some hair out of my face as he kept staring at me.
"I can see the stars" I said, my eyes leaving his as I rolled my head back to look at the roof again, a loud laugh leaving his lips as he pressed them softly to my temple.
"Yes lil miss, yes you can" he chuckled, leaving it at that as he stepped away from me to close the door. I held my hand out to stop him as he looked at me confused.
"If you trust me driving your Rolls, I suggest you sit with her. She's been thinking you left her since I took her out of the bar and is already questioning if you really love her" I heard Teeny laugh. I heard Austin mutter an okay as he passed the keys off to her, Teeny hopping into the front seat as Austin scooped me up and slid me across his black and yellow leather seats before sitting himself next to me.
"Come here lil miss" he said sweetly, gently grabbing my shoulders as he laid me down across his lap, his arm resting on the arm rest serving as a pillow as he draped his other arm across my stomach. "You doing okay? Do you want some water?" he asked me, his hand reaching out to grab the bottle of water Teeny was feeding me before as he sat it next to him.
I shook my head only slightly, letting him know I was going to pass on the water feeling like if I put anything else in my stomach it was all going to be laying on the floor of his expensive car and that was the last thing I needed to do. I swallowed hard, my left hand coming up and lacing with his right as I fluttered my eyes open to look at him. "Austin?" I asked him, a small chuckle leaving his lips.
"Yes lil miss" he said, the thumb of his right hand rubbing gently on the back of mine, his eyes staring down at me playfully as he was absorbing every adorable yet annoying part of my drunk personality.
"Why did you leave me?" I asked him, a groan and a laugh coming from Teeny in the front seat.
"For the love of God Candy, if you fucking ask that one more time I am going to pull this car over and slap you. You are literally laying in the man's lap right now, he hasn't gone anywhere" she said laughing, causing a small laugh to come from Austin as well.
"It's okay Teeny," he said sweetly, his attention focusing back down on me as he slid his right hand from my left to bring it up and brush some hair out of my face. "I'm sorry lil miss, I had to go tell Adam and Smitty a few things. I am never going to leave you Candace, so you don't ever have to worry about that okay sweetheart?" he said to me with a wide smile.
"But that's what everyone tells me" I said sadly, my gaze leaving his as I brought it to aimlessly glance at his black button down just to get my gaze away from his.
"Candy... right now is not the time to be addressing skeletons from the past girl" Teeny laughed again from the drivers seat.
"That's the funny thing about me Candace, I'm not everyone. I'm just Austin, plain old Austin remember" he chuckled, my eyes coming up to meet his as I started to smile at him, a warm smile returned to me from his perfect pink lips.
"I love you Austin" I said quietly, reaching my hand up to cup the side of his face, his hand laying on top of mine to help me with my action as I rubbed my thumb against his cheek.
He pulled my hand from his cheek, pressing his lips against the inside of my palm before resting it back down on my stomach. "I love you too Candace. Try to get some sleep lil miss. I'll wake you up when we get home okay?" he said to me, his fingertips gently gliding down the side of my face as he looked down at me lovingly.
"Home, I like the sound of that" I smiled up at him, a smile tugging the corners of his lips up in response.
"Me too lil miss, but give it time. When it's ready to happen it will, I'm in no rush to make things happen with you. I'm really loving letting them happen on their own"
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A/N: So first sorry this wasn't written in my normal way, there was more dialogue then normal but was necessary. Although I feel like not much happened here, I still feel like this was a crucial part of this story proving that Austin can love her at her best and at her worst. I hope you enjoyed reading and please let me know your thoughts.
~Updates~
3-31-2021: Changed Since Texas
4-1-2021: I Know You're Scared of the Unknown
4-2-2021: What Happens In Vegas
4-3-2021: I'm No Good At Goodbyes
4-4-2021: Chance Encounters