Austin reclined back in an overstuffed armchair with his elbow on the armrest and his hand covering his mouth. He'd changed into a black hoodie and matching sweatpants, and had offered Crystal one of his long sweaters, which fit like a dress on her. He stared across the room at her, trying to ignore how beautiful she looked, curled up on his couch with her damp hair falling down her shoulders. His eyes trailed down the length of her body, with its intricate valleys and curves.
The room was dark, save a few dim lamps at the far end of the room. Rain continued to splatter against the windows of his Calabasas mansion. Heavy rain, uncharacteristic for this area. Perfect hoodie weather, as far as he was concerned. Definitely not the kind of weather for a pretty girl to be caught out in the rain, he thought, watching her sleep. And what was she doing out there, anyway? She refused to talk about it with me. Did that guy from the club try something with her? Did he try to force himself on her? She drove there, and he was nowhere around so I can't really piece together what happened. Why would she have driven there, of all places?
She shifted in her sleep and released a sigh.
With a sigh of his own, he rose from the chair and walked over to the floor-to-ceiling windows near the couch. He felt like a creeper, staring at her for as long as he had. It was hard not to, with the flash of legs that showed beneath the hem of the sweater and bit of shoulder revealed by the drooping neckline. Those bits of skin didn't even compare to the beauty of her face; the rain had washed away most of her makeup. Once they'd reached his house, he'd hunted down towels and set to removing the rest. He didn't know how it was possible, but she managed to look even prettier without makeup. Leaning a shoulder against the window, he cast another look at her over his shoulder.
"Angel sleeping while the skies are weeping,
Can't let her go, now she's mine for the keeping.
The benefits we'd be reaping, but maybe I'm leaping."
He pulled his cell phone out of the pocket of his sweatpants and fidgeted with it while peering out of the window. Chuckling, he shook his head. "I'm one step away from singing about rain falling down my windowpane," he muttered, turning and pacing in front of the long stretch of windows.
"Someone once told me when you find love, you know it,
and that when you have it and fail to show it,
Chances are that you just may blow it.
That same someone once told me to appreciate what's right in front of me,
Especially if that special someone can handle the brunt of me,
The grunt of me...hand me a smoke, that was pretty blunt of me."
He flipped his phone over and over again in one hand, running lines in his head and alternating between rhyming and humming melodies.
"No consideration for the sleeping guest?"
A smile was on his face before he turned his head. His steps brought him back around the couch and in front of Crystal, who was now sitting up looking at him with sleepy eyes. "No 'thank you for saving me from the rain'?"
"I can handle rain," she grumbled. "I didn't need saving."
"Bullshit," he said. "I beg to differ."
She drew her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. "What were you singing?"
"Nothing really, just playing around with words."
"It sounded good. Loud, but good."
He laughed. "Something tells me that is the closest thing to a compliment I'll get from you."
"I'm quite the picky crowd."
He nodded and resumed his seat in the large armchair. "So...are you going to tell me what happened?"
"Probably not," she said casually.
"You don't want to tell me what happened between you and Disney loverboy?" Austin asked in surprise. "You don't want to make up some story about how you had the perfect night with him and can't wait to see him again?"
"I don't make shit up," she said flatly.
"You sure pretended to like him earlier," he said with a shrug.
She stood up from the couch. "I should get going."
"You'd rather leave than just...talk to me?"
"When you're being a dick, yes. I'd rather leave."
He stared up at her for a long moment without saying anything. Then he asked, "Did that guy try to do something to you?"
"None of your business."
"You were crying."
"Yeah, I remember that. Thanks for reminding me." She hooked a thumb over her shoulder. "Is my car outside? Did someone bring it?"
His eyes crinkled at the corners. "Your car is back at the club. You rode with me."
"My car is still at the club? But...I was parked in the street. Do you know how many tickets I'm going to get?"
"I'll cover the tickets," he said smoothly.
"My car has probably been towed by now."
"I'll cover that too."
She stared blankly at him.
He tilted his head towards the couch. "Sit down."
"I can't stay here."
His facial expression remained neutral as he repeated, "I said, 'Sit down,' Crystal."
The look on her face said that a million different rebuttals came to mind. Chances were that some of those rebuttals would've been complete with expletives, but she held her tongue and slowly sat back down on the couch.
Drumming short nails on the armrest of the chair, he said, "You're going through something. That much is obvious. I don't know what it is that you're going through, but from the way you looked tonight...and judging from how long you cried...you need someone to talk to."
"I have friends that I can talk to."
"Why haven't you?"
She looked away from him.
"Why didn't you drive to one of them instead of driving to a club that promised you nothing except for a few dances, drinks, and a bunch of inebriated people?" he questioned. "For the life of me, I can't figure out why you'd drive there. Of all places."
"I...I don't know," she mumbled, folding her hands together and resting them in her lap.
"You don't know," he repeated.
"Did I stutter?" she demanded. "I don't know."
He ran a hand over the top of his head.
"You're not my shrink," she said, narrowing her eyes at him. "So there's no need to feel like you have to solve my issues."
"I know I'm not your shrink," he said softly. "But I care about what happens to you."
She rolled her eyes and shook her head.
"Don't give me that," he told her sternly. "I brought you here, to my home. My personal space. I didn't have to do that, but I did it because I was worried about you. I didn't know if you were too drunk, but at the very least you were too distraught to drive. I couldn't just leave you there like that, so I brought you here. I genuinely do care about what happens to you."
She chewed on her bottom lip while studying him. "Thank you...for making sure that I was okay."
"No problem."
She was quiet for a few minutes. Then she scooted back further on the couch and brought her knees up to her chest again, staring at him. "Have you ever looked around at your life and felt like maybe you've lived your life the wrong way? Followed the wrong path?"
"I think most people feel like that at one time or another in their lives."
"That's how I felt tonight," she said in a small voice. "There are these...things that I set out to do, these...vows that I've made to myself. But I look around and ask myself, what do I have to show for it? My career has taken off, and that's great. I don't mean to sound ungrateful. At the same time though, my friends are getting married and raising families and I'm just sitting here like..."
"So settle down and get married," Austin suggested.
She laughed and rolled her eyes. "Right, because it's that simple?"
He shrugged. "You've got to at least open yourself up to it."
"I'm open," she said defensively.
He laughed and held up one hand with his palm facing outward. "You are the least open person I know."
She frowned.
"You're very closed off," he surmised. "You've got walls up. A ton of them. You aren't just skeptical. You're cynical. Which is humorous to me, because despite all that, you expect me to believe that you were into that douchebag back at the club."
"When are you going to let that go?"
"When you admit that it was bullshit."
She tugged at one of the sleeves on his turquoise sweater. "Justin can be charmi-"
"Bullshit," Austin interjected.
She pursed her lips shut and stared at him.
"I'm sorry, but that's bullshit."
"Because naturally, you know how I think and feel after knowing me for a day," she muttered sarcastically.
"I know more than you think."
"Yeah?" She folded her arms across her chest. "What is it you know?"
A smirk formed on his lips. "I know the real reason why you drove to that club."
Vulnerability flashed in her eyes. "I told you that I don't know why I drove there."
"But I think that you do know," he argued, standing and moving across the room. He squatted down in front of her and looked up. "I think you know and I want you to tell me why you drove there."
She pushed her damp hair back from her face.
He waited patiently. After all, he had nothing but time. She'd already allowed him a peek inside, a peek into who she really was as a person. So this toughened exterior she was trying to show him, he wasn't buying it. Underneath that tough exterior, her heart was bruised and hurting. If she ever expected to move past that hurt, she had to start being honest with herself. He wanted that honesty to start here and now, because he knew without a doubt why she'd driven to that club. There could only be one reason why. One. Not two, not three, not four. One.
They seemed to be at a stand-off though, because she defiantly refused to speak. When she did finally open her mouth, it was to say, "Do you have anything to drink? Because if we're going to sit here having staring contests all night, I'd prefer to do so while having something to sip on."