Seven days. It had been seven straight days that she hadn't spoken to or even looked at Austin.
He had no idea how she was able to do it.
She ignored every call, text, and hug; everything he tried. It was killing him.
While he understood why she was doing this and knew that she had every right to, he just didn't approve of her ignoring problems instead of facing them. He couldn't bear not knowing what their future held. He wanted desperately for her to just tell him; be it good or bad. Either would be better than wondering.
Knowing how bad it was for him, Austin couldn't even imagine how weird it had been for her band. They were all slightly upset about what happened, even Caleb.
She had barely talked all week.
But today, as he and Alan were walking up towards the venue, he saw her outside talking to the few fans that were already there.
In particular, he saw her talking to a guy.
It hurt to watch her giggle and smile without him.
Luckily (or maybe not so luckily), the female fans spotted them and called them over.
Austin met with them, taking pictures and signing things, but he made sure he got close enough to hear everything Kristen was saying.
"So, how about it, after the show?" The guy asked.
She laughed again. "I'm afraid I can't."
"Why not?"
She looked up at Austin, who was openly staring right back at her.
She gave him a big smile. "I've already got a date, and it's kind of important."
The guy tried to laugh it off, but Austin already knew that she was paying him no mind.
The grin she gave him told him that she had something up her sleeve.
...
Kristen took it all in as the crowd cheered for them.
She knew Austin was watching, and that he had been all night.
This was important to them, and after the past week, it was about time she stopped fighting everything.
The crowd quieted, and she took a breath before speaking.
"Now, I know that a lot of you are here because you fucking love Of Mice & Men." She started.
They agreed.
"Trust me, that's a big part of why I'm here too. We're all friends here. We always have been. This week has been… rocky. Friends fight, People that are more than friends fight. I've been hurting a lot these past few days. So I called up an old friend of mine by the name of Shayley Bourget."
The crowd exploded at the mention of Shayley.
A sad smile crossed her face. "He told me, that after everything that's been going on, I can use this song. And it's absolutely fucking perfect. This song is called My Understandings."
Austin's eyes widened. He was shocked too at the mention of Shay, but her singing his song?
"I don't mind it, I don't mind if you're overrated, or if you're staring at the edge of the world. Keep in mind that I'm a sore eye, with blurry vision. But I can see it has to be you, love, that I've been dreaming of. And if we climb this high, I swear we'll never die."
Austin's eyes spilled tears as she screamed and sang the repeat of the verse.
When she finished the vocals, the band kept playing, and some force (other than himself, he was sure), made him run out onto the stage and up to her.
They kept playing as the two stared back into each other's eyes.
He grabbed her mic gently and spoke softly.
"Kristen Marie Austell, I love you more than my own life. This past week has been hell without you, and I know what I did was wrong but fuck; I don't remember most of it and it didn't change the fact that all I want is you. You are all I'll ever want."
She stared back for a second before she took the mic back.
She put one arm around his neck and pulled him closer until their foreheads touched.
"Austin Robert Carlile," She paused. "I love you more." She dropped the mic and pulled his lips to hers.
The band kept playing the music while the (majority of the) crowd cheered loudly.
When they pulled away, Austin was smiling back at her.
"I missed you so much."
She chuckled and gave him another quick kiss before moving to help her bandmates move their equipment.
...
Austin let out a content sigh as they slowly pulled away from the intense kisses they were having on the floor or the back lounge of the Pierce The Veil bus.
The space was dark, the only light coming from the moon and the open window.
He tightened his embrace around her and pulled her body closer.
"I missed this. I missed you." He whispered.
"I missed you too. I swear, if I hadn't talked to Shay I don't know what I'd have done."
"What do you mean? When did you talk to him?" Austin asked.
"A couple days ago. I called him to check on him, and he just knew something was up. I spilled everything. Also, he wanted me to tell you that you finally owe him that twenty bucks and a slinky?"
Austin let out a laugh. "I'll have to call him about that. Anyway, continue."
She smiled and shook her head. "Anyway, he said that it was best to just forget it. He knows how much you mean to me, and he said he knows how much you care about me and that you'd never do that knowingly. We started talking about music and he brought up My Understandings, and we both thought it was a perfect way to heal everything back up."
"Shay was always the smart one." He replied quietly as he snuggled his cheek against the top of her head.
"He's doing better. I'm proud of him."
"I'm proud of him for both that, and being able to do what I never could." He leaned back, smiling at her.
"What's that?"
"Making you see reason."
She stuck her tongue out at him.
"Oh, don't we remember what happened the last time you did that?" He let out a small, mischievous laugh.
Her eyes lit up with remembrance as she did it again.
Austin immediately brought his mouth to hers and caught her tongue in another deep kiss.
He let out the softest moan as he tried to calm himself down.
"It's 5AM, we get up at 9... It would be smartest to sleep or you're going to be grumpy tomorrow." He teased.
"You know what would make me less grouchy in the morning?"
"Hm?"
She kissed him again, and pulled his body to hers. Except this time, she didn't let him go.
