Present
Isabella
"I cannot believe you invaded my private space," he was walking two steps ahead of me.
I wanted to laugh but considering how pissed off he seemed, I didn't think it was a decent idea. "I did not invade it, Austin. I found it. It was almost like your private space wanted me to invade it."
He stopped in his steps and I instantly stopped too. He turned around to glare at me. The night was cold but at this point, his stare was colder. Or it was just the empty parking lot bearing only Austin's car. I know taking his poetry paper was wrong even when I found it by mistake, I knew I had to keep it back. He has every right to be mad at me.
But when he's glaring at me with my tote bag hanging on his shoulders and his black jacket on his arm crossed against his chest, it's easier said than done to look apologetic and not two seconds away from snorting.
I rolled my eyes when he was glaring in silence. "I know I shouldn't have taken it home but I didn't know you wrote poetry. I wanted to preserve it," I saw his jaw harden. "Or at least keep it with me until I figured what it meant. Which I now have, so I will return it back."
He took a step closer to me. His eyes narrow as they converge on mine. "It's not poetry."
I genuinely seem clueless now. "What?"
He angrily sighs. He speaks gritting his teeth. "It's a song. I write songs, not poetry."
My eyes widen, dumbfounded. He turned around and began stomping his way towards his car. I run behind him. I remember Austin used to sing, and play the guitar but I thought he stopped doing it after getting serious about football in sophomore. I know for a fact that I am the only person apart from Aiden who knows how well he sings and plays the guitar. Austin always kept it in the dark.
But I thought he'd stopped that. It's more of a shock to me and I want to be mad at him for not telling me he still continues to write songs. I catch hold of his arm just as we reach his car and I turn him around. My tote bag slips from his shoulders and falls on the ground right above his jacket.
He looks away, exhaling loudly. "Yes?"
"You write songs?" I demand an explanation.
"Yes." He smiles in a mock.
I gasp, almost surprised there's no tail to that acceptance. "How much have you lied to me in all of these years? What else do I need to know?"
His smile dulls down and he looks down at his shoes. "I only lied about my feelings. Nothing else. I just kept myself from telling you things that would lead to mentioning my feelings for you."
"But there's so much I feel like I don't know yet." I sighed taking a step back from him. I pace in front of him, succumbing to stress about how different I feel he is. "You're this completely different person and I'm uncovering stuff you've hidden or kept from me and it's so unlike you."
"I told you I needed a clean slate, Izz," He leaned against his car.
I stopped pacing and stared at him. "Yes, for thirty minutes. You can't expect me to figure you out in thirty minutes, Austin. I'm sure you yourself need more time to remember everything you've kept from me."
His hand reaches to my arm and he pulls me to himself. I crash into his chest but I don't look up at him because I don't know where to begin so we can solve this. His arms snake around my waist and he carelessly keeps it there.
I look up at him when neither of us speaks for a while. He's staring at me but I know he's thinking about a solution to this too.
"If this has to work we need to trust each other completely, Izz." He tells me in a low voice.
I fiddle with the hem of his white shirt. "I trust you more than I trust anyone in this world, Austin. But we have so many secrets between us--"
"Fine, we'll start unhiding the truths one by one. We tell when we remember one, or when either of us wants to get to know about something." He suggests.
"And there will be no judging whatsoever," I add and he immediately nods.
"Yes, because the whole point of telling it is so we don't find it awkward when we find out about it later, in uncertain circumstances." He says.
"Right," I second him immediately.
"I will tell you everything about me. Starting from scratch again." He leans down and he kisses my lips and I instantly kiss him back. But he breaks the kiss after three seconds, "I write songs when I feel mad." He kisses me again and stops to mutter, "Your turn." And kisses me back.
I break our kiss and I lean back a little, "I don't express as well as you, but I feel for you as much as you do for me."
He pulls me towards himself again and pecks a soft kiss on my lips and then my forehead. "For the record, I love poetry too."
He lets me go and I take a step back. He picks up my bag and his jacket from the ground and puts them in his back seat. I walk towards the boot of his car and I hoist myself on it.
"Dad wants me to apply for Yale. And since we won today's match, which you still haven't congratulated me for, the scholarship might help." I tell it out loud.
Austin slowly comes into my sight and he leans against the boot of his car. "I didn't know you were applying overseas."
I gulped. "It was an option. There's no confirmation yet. I thought I'd tell you if I got in. But if we're unhiding truths, I might as well do it right."
He didn't respond for a few seconds. I was about to ask him what was wrong but he turned around and placed himself in between my legs. I lean against his shoulders and he kisses my wrist.
"Julie was the girl I was kissing the other night in Carter's house." He told me and I froze. The immediate image of him and Julie played in my head. "You said there'd be no judging."
I lean down immediately and kiss him. I close my eyes and pull him close to me. I want him to kiss me until I forget the mental image of him kissing Julie or a bunch of other girls. He smiles against my lips and he kisses me harder. His hands go beneath my legs and he tugs me closer to his waist.
I curl my hands in his hair and I pull him closer and melt inside his chest. His hands roam on my back, freely grabbing and gripping my shirt. One of his hands reaches my hair and he pulls the scrunchie out of my clasped ponytail. My hair falls down freely on my back and he fists a handful of it in his palms.
He stops kissing me but he doesn't take his lips off mine. "I hate it when you tie your hair."
I nod, resuming the kiss for a brief second before I do the same to him. "I hate it when you kiss other girls."
He chuckles against my lips. "I hate it when Jacob kisses you."
I smile because I knew this. "So you're okay with me kissing boys other than Jacob?"
He grabs my hair and clenches his jaw against my lips. "I'll kill them."
His lips start moving on mine and he lifts me up from on top of the boot. He carries me and when I feel my legs reaching the ground, I realize he's carried me to the passenger seat.
He stops kissing me and he smirks. "I'm not going to open the door for you."
I scowl, pretending his words hurt me by keeping a hand on my chest. "And here I thought you're going to be a chivalrous boyfriend."
His eyes glint with sparkle and I realize I've blurted out unfiltered words again. "I like the sound of it, but that's not me. I'm still your discourteous best friend so I'm going to be altering personalities as I please."
I sigh in relief. "Thank you for dialing down the cringe. I appreciate the switch."
He laughs as he walks all the way to the driver's seat and I plop shotgun. I wear my seat belt and I see him wear his. He starts the car and he drives it towards the alternative gates. He lowers his side of the widow and peeps out with his elbow resting on the opened pane.
The security guard leans out of his cabin and he studies Austin and then me and then looks back at Austin and nods with an approving smile.
"Thanks, Jerry," Austin says to him, stretching his hand out.
I almost expect a handshake but they do a side high-five, a fist bump, and a long tug before they pull their fingers away. What kind of a weird handshake is that and since when does Austin have so many guards as his friends?
"Anytime, Cooper," Jerry glances at me and I realize I'm smiling too. "Anytime."
Austin drives out of the school and towards my house. I roll down my window too, allowing the fresh midnight air hit my face and the new phase of my life I'm starting.
"You cannot stay over at my house anymore," I tell him and I immediately hear him groaning.
"That's open for negotiation," He almost whines.
I shake my head at him, "Nope. It's a rule. It's going to be weird if you stay over."
"How does it suddenly become weird? I've had feelings for you all this while, you just didn't know." He shrugs with a smirk.
I scrunch my face just thinking about it. "Not to mention how creepy that is, I'll let it go but you're not staying over anymore."
"Creepy? Please, Izz, need I remind you of the times you yourself were hitting on me when I was with you?" He laughed watching the road.
This was a straight-up accusation. I hate when people make me feel guilty for things I wanted to escape being caught from doing. But my ego wouldn't accept the blame so I gasp loudly as if I were hearing the first of this and pretended to be the human form of innocent.
"Name one," I dare him.
He smirks throwing a glance at me and watching the road again. "Write it down, because you have a tendency to forget things you're embarrassed about. Leaving apart all those flirts, you called me to your bed when I was sleeping on the couch--"
"Pft, I didn't want you to wake up with a spasm," I wave my hand in the air. "That was me being concerned, I wasn't hitting on you."
He shook his head, hardening his jaw but he was still smiling. "Convenient defense. You fed me pasta. You never feed people anything."
"I cannot believe you're taking my care for you with bad intentions. I didn't know caring for your best friend was nearly a sin." I defend myself immediately.
He grips the steering wheel tighter, smiling to himself and biting his lower lip. "You asked me to kiss your neck. And believe me, if I hadn't stopped, it would've become a matter of concern because you weren't asking me to stop either."
I readjusted myself in my seat to turn to him. "Your perspective will almost make anyone believe I'm the bad guy, hats off to the way you turn stories." I slowly clapped.
He gasped, not believing my words now. "Turn stories?"
I folded my lips to stop smirking now. "Yes, because you've so conveniently left out the part where I had an encounter with a psychopath hours before that, and I was in utter pain. You said you knew how to ease the pain so I asked you to do it. Little did I know you're going to stick your tongue down my throat and turn me on."
The car stopped instantly, and I noticed how we were feet away from the driveway of my house. I was going to begin telling him to play the chauffeur's part properly by dropping me at my house and not a few feet away from it but he so quickly unbuckled his seatbelt and pulled my lips to his, that thought got lost in my mind.
"Austin," I mumble trying to catch my breath. He shakes his head, as he unbuckles my seatbelt and frees me from the rigid position.
I was in a seated car but the way his lips get moving deeper into my mouth made me feel like I was in an elevator that was dropping from one of the stars. The world around me begin to spin so I had to keep my eyes closed or I was afraid I'd fall unconscious.
His lips left mine and he started his car again. I gulped, holding the seat until he stopped the car right in front of my house. I bit my lower lip, trying to bring the world around me back into focus.
He turned my chin towards himself and freed the lip I was biting. "If you bite your lip one more time, I'll take that as a hint of kissing it until you can't feel it anymore."
I fold my lips immediately. "You cannot give threats like that."
He narrows his eyes and tilts his head with a soft smirk. "It's just a warning for now. Trust me, the day I'll start giving you threats, will actually be the day you'll get an idea of the things I can do to you."
I look away, pretend to roll my eyes but my stomach just did a 180 and he's already too full of himself for me to even consider admitting it to him.
I laugh, to divert my excitement. "I think you're becoming overconfident now."
He laughs with a snort, and that makes me stop laughing. "If you'd only known what I'm capable of."
"Get over it. I'm not going to sit here and watch you fuel your ego." I pick my bag from the back seat and mockingly smile at him.
He leans towards me before I can lean away. He stares at my lips and then my neck and his gaze fall to my chest. I stop breathing. He looks back at me with a smirk that makes him look so different from his usual kind self.
I really don't know what this Austin is capable of.
"I had never imagined I'd love the first girl I ever fall in love with for four years. But I did. I had never even thought she'd end up falling in love with me. But she did. I never, even in my dreams, dreamt of calling her my girlfriend one day, but here we are. So don't ask me to get over it. Today's the most magical day of my life and I will never fucking get over it." He brushed his lips against mine. "Goodnight, Izz."
I pout closing my eyes because I can't stop my cheeks from turning red. He mirrors my smirk and I shake my head, not wanting to believe how his words trick me into agreeing with everything he says.
"I never thought you could be so ruthless, Austin," I say as I smirk. "Go home safe."
He snorts laughing again. He watches me get out of his car. I feel his eyes on me throughout until I find the key to the door, unlock it, and get inside. I thought I'd stop smiling once I'm out of his sight but the opposite of it happens. I walk up the stairs, passing through the dimly lit living room. I make sure my steps are quiet and soft, but I'm still stupidly smiling to myself.
I glance at my parents' room. I can see the bedlight from under their closed door. I glance at Grace's room in the farthest of the hall on the top floor. I slowly enter my room. Dad told me the security is going to start work from tomorrow so I realize it wouldn't be just us at night.
I open my room door and I close it shut. As I turn around a palm is slapped against my mouth and my body grows rigid. I remember locking the front door. Noah O'Connel's picture comes into my mind. I am about to lift my knees up and kick the intruder but the blue eyes catch my attention.
Austin slowly removes his hand from my mouth. His eyes hint mischief as he removes my tote bag and keeps it on my table.
"What are you doing here?" I ask nearing him.
He turns around from my table and shrugs. "I couldn't drive off."
I glance towards my door and make sure it's closed. "What do you mean you couldn't drive off? How did you even get inside before me?"
He pointed to the balcony window. "You should really start locking it for your own safety now. What took you so long to come?"
I frown at him. I am not going to answer this creepy intruder any questions. "Go home before someone hears you." I start dragging him to the door of my window.
But as I near the bed, I'm pushed onto it. I gasp in hushed tones because I don't want to wake anyone up. Austin comes on top of me and he pushes a few strands of my hair across my face. I try to push him off but he holds my hands and he pins them against my head.
"Shh," he orders with a smirk and I shake my head. But I hate that I'm smiling too and he doesn't take it seriously.
He angles his head and leans down and presses his lips against my neck. I start to chuckle at the sudden brush of his lips. He fans my neck with his breath and I know he's chuckling too. His fingers intertwine with mine and he starts sucking on my neck. I almost hold back a moan but I end up gasping so loudly. His lips start going down on my neck until they reach my collar bone.
I close my eyes when his lips aren't just brushing against my neck anymore. He's kissing me, hard and fast. It's hard for me to maintain a rhythmic breathing pace because he's disrupting all the functions of my body now. It was a bad idea to tell him neck kisses turn me on. I'm about to moan loudly and he knows it so he shuts me up by bringing his mouth to mine.
I hear my door open and I freeze under Austin. I didn't get a chance to lock it. Shit.
"What the fuck are you both doing?" Grace almost yells it out.
Austin immediately rolls off from on top of me and he stands near the balcony door, ready to escape. I sit up and I widen my eyes and put a finger on my lips, alarming Grace to dial her volume down.
"What were you two--"
"Shhh," I yell when she doesn't get the hint.
Grace comes inside my room and shuts the door. She locks it and her eyes fall on Austin. "You," she stares at him and she begins to chase him in my room. As I thought, he gets ready to jump out of my room but she holds his shirt and drags him to my bed. She makes him sit on the foot of it and I notice he's still breathing very heavily.
"What the hell were you doing to my little sister?" She whispers shouts at him.
Austin smoothens his shirt out. "I was doing nothing to your sister. I was kissing my girlfriend."
I cover my face with my palm when I hear Grace gasp. He said the wrong words in his defense and I have a lot of explaining to do now.
"I'm sorry. Your girlfriend?" She yelled as loud as her hushed tone could permit. She glared at him and then she glanced at me. I opened my mouth to explain but she looked back at him. "You are the jerk who bailed on her today. You kissed her once and you ran away. I was already going to kill you but now I catch you kissing her again and you were trying to escape, again? You've dug your own grave today, Austin Cooper."
Austin was holding the bridge of his nose too. "I was not trying to run away, I was protecting myself. I thought you were going to hit me."
Grace clenched her fists. "You thought right."
She was inches away from strangling him so I had to step in. I climbed out of bed and I place myself in between them, holding a hand out to steady both of them.
"Wait, wait, wait," I yell in my whisper voice. "I do not want mom and dad to wake up. You can continue this fight tomorrow but for now, you've both have got to get the hell out of my room."
"It's our house, ask him to get out." Grace frowned at me.
"You interrupted us, you get out," Austin whispered back to Grace.
"Okay, guys," I smile at both of them again. "Not helping the situation."
Grace crossed her arms across her chest. "Bella, explain. Now."
I hold my forehead as I look at her. There's a lot of explaining to do and I'm super tired but I realize I'm left with no other choice. I open my mouth after exhaling a heavy breath but before I get a word out, I'm pulled down. Austin pulls me on his lap and wraps his hand around me.
"There, I explained it." Austin mockingly smiled at Grace.
Grace is staring at me. She sees me on Austin's lap and then she looks me straight into my eyes. I realize I'm still sitting on him so I free myself and sit beside him. Grace gasps, understanding the situation and I know I have to explain even more now, thanks to him.
"Austin, go home, I need to talk to my sister," Grace says turning to me with her folded arms.
Austin looks at me and raises his eyebrows, asking me what to do. I nod, unwillingly. He stands up sighing and turns to Grace. "In my defense, you wanted this to happen." He tells my sister and then turns to me. He notices Grace still staring at me so he turns his head to her. "Do you mind?"
"Oh, my god," Grace says as she turns around from me.
Austin leans down and his lips brush against mine. He kisses me longer than he should've because Grace begins to groan again. He pulls back and he smiles at me. He pecks a soft kiss on my forehead and he walks towards my balcony door again.
"Go home safe," I tell him and he smiles at me.
Once he jumps out of my balcony, I watch him sit inside his car and put his seatbelt on. He looks at me from his window and he nods at my guard and drives away, sparing me one last glance. I sigh and turn around, greeting Grace glaring at me from my bed.
"Well?" She shrugs. "What the hell happened?"
I lean against my balcony door, and my head slowly falls back and hits it. I start telling her everything she missed out on for the last couple of hours.
. . .
[edited]