Warning: Heavy on the drama this chapter. Still laced with crack. Always.
Chapter 9
BEFORE THE CALL
Saturday 8:30 PM
It's been hours now. The boys just sit there as two detectives circle them like sharks.
The first, Detective Danvers, is tall and thin with dark-hair slicked back and a thick, dark mustache that looks like a fuzzy caterpillar fell asleep on his upper lip. "So can you tell us where you boys were at around approximately 3 AM this morning?"
"Jee, gentlemen, we would if we could, but that isn't the case. Shucks," Austin says. He's always been a bit of a smartass when it comes to authority figures, even now when he's well past his teenage years.
Exhausted and irritable, Nicky kicks Austin in the shin beneath the cold metal table they're sitting at. "Sorry officer," Nicky says carefully, "but we have no memory of last night."
"Okay," the second, Detective Robertson nods understandingly, "What about 2 AM?"
"I just said—"
Detective Danvers, obviously taking on the role of the "bad cop" in this scenario, slams the table with his fist. Razor twists his fingers together, obviously suppressing the need to suck his thumb while Max cowers, looking super guilty for something he doesn't even remember and Austin slouches in his chair, dramatically yawning.
"Do you boys think this is cute?" Danvers spits. "You think we're playing a game here?"
"Whatever we did, we are really, really sorry about it," Max says quickly. The Detectives had made him take off the baseball cap so his Mohawk-Mullet is unveiled and looks even stranger now that it's flat and almost glowing beneath the interrogation room's florescent lighting.
"Max, stop talking. Nicky, quit trying to play footsie with me. Razor, grow a pair. Really, it's embarrassing," Austin orders. "Now, officers, I know for a fact that you can't hold us like this for much longer. I'd know. I went through a pre-law chicks phase. Now, you can either charge us with a crime and appoint us attorneys or you gotta let us go."
Danvers scowls and nods to his partner who pulls out a photograph of a slick man in a red suit. Robertson slides it onto the table and points forcefully at the man in the picture. Razor's eye starts to twitch, Nicky and Max look confused and Austin continues to sit there, unimpressed.
"This is Steve Tanner," Robertson says. "What do you know about him?"
Nicky frowns. "Who is he?"
"Like you punks don't know," Danvers grumbles. "This is not someone to mess around with, boys. Steve Tanner is bad. He is wanted in sevens states. Just a few of his long list of offenses include money laundering, human trafficking, drug smuggling, racketeering and murder."
Max looks around with wide, wild eyes. "Did we…did we kill someone last night?"
"Max, no more talking. I'm serious this time," Austin growls. "Look, if you haven't realized from the confusion and the borderline hysteria my friends obviously aren't faking, we have no idea who this dude is."
The detectives exchange looks. "Should we show 'em?"
"Roll it."
A nearby TV plays grainy, low-quality, shaky camera footage. It appears to be a birthday party with a giant four-tier cake and Steve Tanner standing behind it. Everyone around appears to be singing and clapping, including the Colorado kids sitting to Steve's left. Austin is wearing a paper birthday hat, Max is snapping pictures, Faith is waving her arms around like she's conducting an orchestra, Razor is drumming chopsticks against the table and Kelly is sitting in Nicky's lap, caught up in a pretty intense make out session.
The fuzzy audio picks up, "HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR STEEEVE! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!"
Everyone applauds as Steve Tanner leans in to blow out each and every one of the candles on the cake. Austin, sitting closest to Steve, stands up and gives him a sloppy drunken hug as he shouts, "I luff yah, Stevie! LUFF YYOOUU!"
Robertson hits the pause button just as Austin tries to kiss Steve's forehead. Everyone in the interrogation room just sit there, frozen and silent. It's insane how they're caught doing all of this on tape and don't remember any of it.
Razor nervously laughs. "Hey Aus, what's the name on your thong again?"
"Can it, Ray," Austin growls, starting to lose his cool.
"We're in trouble, aren't we?" Max frowns. "I swear, officers, we can't remember anything."
Danvers snorts. "Maybe a night in jail will jog your memory."
"No!" Without his little blonde friend, Razor goes back into neurotic, crazy Razor mode. "We have a wedding to—"
"I know Steve Tanner," Austin finally says. The room goes quiet and everyone turns to him. "I, uh, I tried to raise some capital for a…a gymnastics training center for elites looking to go to the Olympic—slash—center for pre-teens looking to become elite—slash—day spa for the gym moms. It was my dream when I was fresh outta college and Steve told me he could make it happen, but it never got off the ground and I haven't seen him since. It was an entirely legit venture. I had no clue he was a criminal. I still don't remember last night, but my best guess is we ran into him and helped him celebrate his birthday."
"I don't think you boys understand," Danvers' mustache wiggles as he talks, "Steve Tanner is a dangerous guy. He ruined lives and tore families apart, roped stupid people into fake business deals and ran them into the ground. We're trying to get some justice here. If we find out you're lying—"
"Well, we're not," Nicky speaks up. "So we were at a birthday party. This doesn't mean we did anything wrong. We were drunk and we were partying with a lot of different people last night. It is Vegas. Austin's right. Last time I checked that isn't a crime. So are you going to charge us with something? If not, we have a wedding to get to."
The detectives exchange looks and obviously know they can't make a case here.
"You're free to go," Robertson says reluctantly, "but if I ever see any of you in here again…"
"We'll be sure to bring donuts," Austin smirks. The former frat boys scramble to their feet and quickly move to the door. "Later, gents. This little tour of the facilities tickled me pink."
Danvers slams his fist against the metal table again and shouts, "Hey smartass! If you know what's good for you, you'll get the hell out of Vegas, yeah? You so much as get a parking ticket in this town and you're mine! You hear me!"
Ignoring the angry detective, the guys drag themselves down the dim halls of the police station, anxious to get out of there. By the time they get out of there it's dark and the mood is grim. Austin acting as if they weren't just detained in a police station for hours and instead choosing to grumble about how hungry he is doesn't help whatsoever.
Nicky is fed up. "Do you care about anything? Anything at all?"
A little surprised by his hostility, Austin says, "Cream colored ponies and crisp apple strudels, door bells and sleigh bells and schnitzel with—"
"No!" Nicky bellows. "Do not quote the Sound of Music at me!"
"But you asked—"
"Austin!" Nicky screams his lungs out. "What the hell was that back there? They were freaking cops, not campus security back at CU! Those were legit police officers! Did you really have to be an ass in there?"
"Hey!" Austin shouts back. "If you didn't notice I got us out!"
"After hours of talking back and pissing them off because you get off on it," Nicky hisses through gritting teeth. "Have you checked the clock lately? Looked at the freaking sky? It's almost 9 and we still have no idea where Damon is. If we just cooperated—"
"Nicky, if we cooperated we would still be sitting on our asses, but in jail," Austin argues. "Face it. I saved us back there. I always have to go in and save the day."
"Yeah you do," Nicky sneers, "but only after you get us into trouble in the first place. Back in college it was hiding your drunk ass from the RAs and now you've got us partying with known felons! Newsflash, Tuck, this isn't fun. It's just plain stupid. We're too old for this bullshit!"
"Nicky," Max says warningly. "You two getting into it isn't going to help so just stop."
But Nicky doesn't. He keeps going. "Austin, you're my best friend and that's why it kills me to see you trying so hard to not grow up. When's the last time you actual put yourself out there instead of putting on your stupid, jackass show or been in a real relationship or, crap, picked up the check?"
"Oh, like you're one to be lecture on relationships," Austin scoffs. "You do get that Kelly Parker is strong and incredible and not to mention super hot and super in love with you, right?"
Razor's eyes widen. "Austin…"
"Don't try to turn this around on me."
"No. Come on, Nicky, let's hear it," Austin shouts, clasping his hands. "You want to point out all my shit? What about you? You're uptight and judgey and no fun unless you're drunk. You want to know why I think you're so freaked out about getting married to Kel? It's because you're scared once she realizes what a stick in the mud you are she'll want to divorce you even more than she already does."
Ouch. That one hit home hard.
Straightening the collar of his shirt, Austin has the audacity to smirk and stand a little taller. That's when Nicky charges forward and tackles Austin onto the lawn. They roll around on the ground, trying to punch each other, but they're so exhausted that it turns into a mess of half-chops and hands in each other's faces.
"You're such…a…no fun…prick!"
"You…punch like…your sister!"
"Alright. You're done," Max calls out. "Guys! Stop it!"
When Nicky has Austin pinned and Max comes behind him, ready to pull them apart, Nicky brings back his arm, about to punch Austin and elbows Max right in the face. With a groan, Max goes down and ends up on the lawn beside them, clutching his face in his hands. As Austin and Nicky continue to roll around, trying to beat each other up like little kids, Razor sits on the curb and buries his face in his arms.
"It's official." Razor sighs. "I'm going to Best Man Hell."
Suddenly a car horn sounds and they all look up to see the headlights of Austin's beat-up SUV shining on them. The door flies open and LoTan looks between all of them. "You do know you're fighting in front of a police station, right?"
When Nicky looks up at the huge Las Vegas Police Department sign right next to them, Austin punches him square in the jaw. Nicky groans and holds his face, rolling over so he's on his back and staring up at the dark sky.
This is the part in the story where they seriously hit rock bottom.
…
When they're all out of ideas, LoTan insists they get something to eat and she takes them to one of her favorite little cantinas away from all the glitz and glam of associated with the image of Vegas.
Sitting at a booth in the back, both Nicky and Austin hold packs of ice to their swollen faces and have been ignoring each other since leaving the station. Razor sits with his arm around LoTan, them talking quietly while Max, with his baseball cap snug atop his head, ravenously devours a taco. They all look like a fucking wreck, sleep deprived with their torn and bloody clothes.
With his mouth full, Max manages a mostly convincing smile and gives LoTan a thumbs-up. "These tacos are amazing."
"Yeah, everyone comes here right after they get out of jail," LoTan explains. "A native hotspot really."
"So is magically getting my car started also something you picked up from the natives?" Austin asks out of curiosity. He digs his fingers into the chip bowl at the center of the table, grasping a few and tossing them into his mouth.
"You could say that, I guess," LoTan shrugs. "A friend of my daddy taught me how to hotwire almost anything."
"Funny." Austin laughs thought it's a spiteful sound. "All Nicky's daddy ever taught him was how to suck the fun out of a situation like a super massive black hole of fun suckery. Then again, daddy was never around much, right, Russo? He had better things to do?"
LoTan seems confused while Razor and Max bow their heads. It's about to start all over again.
"Want to know what's even funnier?" Nicky spits, that leftover anger starting to boil back up. "Austin's daddy taught him how to get really drunk at his kid's gymnastics meet, take his shirt off and borderline-sexually assault college girls."
Austin lunges across the table, but luckily Max reacts quick enough to grab him by the shoulders and shove him back down into his seat. Austin growls menacingly, "Fuck you, Nicky! You know what alcohol does to a man and especially what he has against gymnastics especially after Ava—"
"Austin! Nicky!" Razor shouts, uncharacteristically raising his voice. "We get it. You're both really messed up, but now isn't the best time to airing all of this. Can you please put your issues aside for the next twenty-four hours? Guys, do it for Damon."
Nicky scowls. "Austin doesn't even like Damon."
Austin tenses and Razor frowns, confused. "What are you talking about?"
"Nothing." Austin grunts, sliding back down in his chair.
Razor looks at Nicky accusingly. "No. What's that supposed to mean?"
They're all obviously so far gone over their tolerance limit. Austin's expression screams murder, focused in on Nicky who looks eager to reveal the elephant that's been in the corner this entire weekend. Before anyone can say another word, Max jumps in his seat, yipping, and it grabs everyone's attention. He reaches into his pocket and pulls out the phone.
"I don't recognize the number…"
"Max, don't," Austin says slowly. "I don't give a flying fuck who it is don't answer it."
"What if it's Damon?" Razor asks. Completely done in, Razor is starting to look more and more like a lost little puppy without his master. "What if he finally made his way back to Mandalay Bay and he's calling us from the suite phone?"
"What if it's Kaylie?" Austin shoots back.
Nicky takes his turn. "What if it's Steve Tanner?"
Max looks around at all of them, torn. The phone continues to buzz in the palm of his hand.
Making an irritable sound at the base of her throat, LoTan plucks the phone out of Max's hand and answers it with the press of a button. "Hello," she sings.
…
Back in California, Kaylie goes into shock. She been trying to reach her soon-to-be-husband, any of the boys really, all day and finally someone picked up. Maeve is not going to like it when she hears Max is purposefully screening his girlfriend's calls and that a girl is answering his phone.
"Um, hi," Kaylie says. "Is Max there…? It's Kaylie…Kaylie Cruz."
…
LoTan's eyes widen, she whispers 'bride!' and the boys are all thinking the same thing: Oh. Shit.
Suddenly freaking out, LoTan tosses the phone back to Max who reacts like it's a bug or a hot potato and tosses it to Razor who hands it off to Austin who winds up his arm and beams Nicky in the forehead with it.
"Jesus! Austin!" Nicky shouts. As if his face isn't already messed up. Glaring at Austin, Nicky picks up the phone and holds it to his ear. Clearing his throat, he says, "Hello?"
"Nicky!" She sounds relieved, but still a little on edge. "Hey, it's Kaylie…if you couldn't tell."
"Oh, hey," Nicky says. The other guys are all waving their arms and mouthing for him to not tell her anything, but Nicky, already pissed as is, turns away from them. "What…what's going on?"
"Oh, you know, the night before my wedding, I'm just here with the girls…"
"That sounds great," Nicky says, praying she won't ask what he knows she's dying to ask.
"So who answered the phone?"
Nicky swallows hard. He doesn't want to lie to Kaylie and he knows he shouldn't, but the truth just sounds so bad. Plus, they've been going through hell missing Damon and he knows it's just going to stress her out. On an even more important note, Alex Cruz is scary (dude has a shotgun!) and no one wants to be the douche that makes his daughter freak out.
"Oh, that was…"
Nicky points to LoTan and everyone just gives him shrugs. Fuck if they know what to say.
"The…nurse," Nicky says. Everyone gives him looks like Nicky, what the fuck? "Yeah, um, Kaylie, there was a little…accident. Austin, he, uh, he was really drunk last night…I know. Nothing new there…and, um, the doctor said not to move him for a few hours, but don't worry, as soon as he's mobile, we're heading back…yeah, we'll definitely be there in time for the wedding. Definitely."
"Why do I have to be the one that fell over drunk?" Austin scoffs and sips his beer.
"Dude, it's a made up drunken stumble. Get over it," Max hushes him.
Nicky glares and waves for them to shut up.
"Are you sure Austin is alright?" Kaylie asks.
"You know Aus. How was he ever a gymnast, right? He falls over just trying to get out of bed," Nicky says with a nervous laugh, trying to not sound suspicious even though he knows this entire conversation is riddled with holes. He's about to go on when Austin kicks him beneath the table and he tries really hard to not make a sound.
"Oh. Okay," Kaylie says. "Can I talk to Damon?"
"Um…what? No!" Nicky suppresses a whimper despite his throbbing calf. "Damon is actually…he's out."
"Really? Where is he?"
"Where's Damon?" Nicky repeats. "He is…he's aaattt…the bathroom! He's actually been in there for a while now. Someone should probably go see…what's up with that. Listen, Kaylie, we need to go but I'll tell Damon to call you when he gets out…of the bathroom and we'll see you tomorrow for sure. Bye!"
Nicky immediately hangs up the phone and slides the phone onto the table.
"Did she buy it?" Razor asks eagerly.
"Yeah," Nicky says. "I think she did."
…
"The boys have done something stoopid," Kaylie says after hanging up the phone.
"No surprise there," Maeve says, tipping a wine bottle and filling Kaylie's glass to the brim. Without even noticing and definitely losing track of what glass she's on, Kaylie just keeps on drinking. A giggly, drunk Kaylie is always better than a sober, obsessive one. Payson doesn't disagree or try to stop this either.
"What did they say exactly?" Payson asks with genuine concern. "Where are they?"
"Probably knee deep in coke that Austin Tucker manipulated my baby into buying," Maeve says. "All the cards are maxed out and every time I talk to him on the phone his voice gets all quivery, which obviously means he's lying. Max never lies to me, but ever since that Austin Tucker came back into his life. God only knows what happened in Vegas."
"Yeah, I'm pretty sure Nicky was lying to me too," Kaylie says. She has such a pensive expression on her face. "Nicky has never been good at lying."
"Like that time he tried to convince us Austin wasn't the one who plastered the inside of that McDonalds with pictures of me from that time I got my face stuck to the frozen jager bottle," Maeve complains.
"And that time Nicky said it wasn't Austin that one morning when we found all those mini marshmallows super glued to all the ceiling fans in the Zeta house," Kaylie laughs at the memory though their housemother had not been pleased. "Do you see a running theme here?"
"Austin isn't that bad," Payson sticks up for him. "Prone to errors in judgment, sure, but his heart is usually in the right place."
"And his dick is always in the wrong one," Maeve adds. "Usually some whorebag's backdoor."
"May, gross." Kaylie gives her a warning look and then glances over to where her family is in the kitchen. They're all chattering amongst themselves and Kaylie sighs, seeing Maeve hadn't attracted any unwanted attention.
Maeve just innocently giggles and continues to flip through the bridal magazine in her lap. She frowns when she glances up and notices the pensive expression back on Kaylie's face. "What's wrong? Talking about Austin's stupidity is usually a favorite pastime."
"It is," Kaylie says. Another gulp of wine. "I just wish Damon was here."
"Do you think it's serious? Whatever they got themselves into this time?" Payson asks.
"No. It can't be too bad. Nicky would have said something if it were. Probably just their usual mishaps," Kaylie says. An even bigger gulp of wine. "Plus, I trust Damon. Sure, Austin and even Razor sometimes can steer them in the wrong direction, but Damon is like the compass of the group. As long as Dae is with them everything will be fine."
"Aww. You and that boy are in l-o-v-e love. The real deal," Maeve teases. "You're so sweet I think I might need a lobotomy if I don't get more wine. Pay-Pay, will you please?"
Maeve gives her a big grin and Payson rolls her eyes, going off to the kitchen. Instead of going straight for the bottle of wine on the kitchen counter, Payson sneaks off down the hallway for a moment and pulls out her phone. When she first got Austin's voicemail she knew to expect silly nonsense and that's exactly what it was, but something doesn't feel right about them not being back yet.
Selecting his name from her contacts, Payson hits call.
-XX-
8 YEARS BEFORE THE CALL
Flashback
Everything feels wrong after Nicky kisses Kaylie Cruz and Kelly dumps his ass. When Kelly refusing to go within a hundred feet of the Sigma house anymore, she takes Faith with her. Without two of his favorite girls around, Austin constantly feels like something is missing, but there's little he can do about it.
Sitting out in front of the student union, Austin folds his arms, waiting for Faith. It's been exactly twenty-three days since he's seen her, seen either of them—too long. When Faith comes strutting from the parking lot, Austin immediately springs to his feet with open arms and Faith nearly sprints to greet him with a hug. She slams into him hard, almost like a tackle and Austin catches her with an oomph sound. Just like always.
"Well if it isn't my favorite Montague!" Faith sighs as Austin twirls her in a circle.
"And my fair Capulet," he plays along. Austin gives her an extra tight squeeze. When they sit down at the little table, Austin pushes a cup of coffee (that's really just cream and sugar with a hint of coffee) towards her. It's just how she likes it. Seeing this, Faith sips and smiles.
"Perfect."
"Like Faith Giancana expects any less." Austin grins. "So how's our Capulet Queen doing?"
Sliding off her sunglasses and hanging them on her shirt, Faith frowns. Not a good sign. "Out of her freaking mind! Like, more than usual, Tuck. Do you know what she's doing right now? She's getting ready for lunch with her mom!"
Austin's forehead crinkles. "What? Her mom's a lunatic. Why would she do that?"
"Because she's out of her freaking mind!" Faith explains. She earns a few stares from the people around, but Austin and Faith are already used to that. "And she's having dinner with her dad next week. And she's getting a job. We spent all last night working on her résumé. What the hell is a résumé? We had no clue. We had to Google it!"
"She's just trying to move on, Faith," Austin mutters. "Nicky's not in much better shape. Friggin' robot boy, he isn't even moping around or drinking himself to sleep or waking up the house crying in the middle of the night. He just spends all his time studying in the library or working out at the gym. I'm not even sure he's human these days."
"Nicky's always been that way," she says. It's obvious despite them being on opposite sides of a war, Faith can't help but sympathize with 'the enemy'. "Jesus, what happened to good ol' fashion watching sad movies and eating ice cream? What the hell is all this productive crap?"
Austin laughs miserable. "Nickelly was never good at being normal, eh?"
"No joke," Faith sips her coffee, "So what's the plan? How do we fix things, Austin?"
Austin fills his cheeks with air and blows it out through his lips, slouching down in the chair. "To tell you the truth, Faye, I might live in the same house as the kid, but I am ready to proclaim my allegiance to Team Capulet."
"Austin, don't give up on him."
"How are you not more pissed at him?" he growls. "I don't blame Kelly for not wanting anything to do with him. I still don't know what Nicky was thinking, kissing Kaylie. Dude had this badass chick all in love with him and he just goes and ruins her, not even with some trashy hoe, but with perfect Kaylie Cruz. Faye, you know better than anyone how pre-this Kelly would get all insecure just being in the same room as Kaylie."
"Um, yeah, I know. I kind of live with her and I am pissed at Nicky. Oh, don't doubt that," Faith says. "But them being apart is stupid."
"He doesn't deserve her forgiveness, not yet. He doesn't even get that it wasn't about the stupid kiss," Austin grunts. "I tried to explain it to him, that it's about the trust or now lack thereof, but you know Nicky. The kid is thick-headed."
Faith stares blankly into her coffee for some time and Austin calls the waitress over and orders a muffin and mumbles, "I eat when I'm nervous."
"Tell Nicky that girls like KP are like citadels," Faith says. Already, she lost Austin. "Citadels, Aus. Jeez. And you're the one in college?"
"Citadels, huh? Like castles? Kelly is a castle?"
"Well, when you put it that way…it was the part with higher walls than the rest. They had them in ancient civilizations and stuff like that. The last line of defense should the enemy breach the city," Faith explains. "She's guarded. Sure, she'd let you and me past city walls, but she's always got that citadel and up until a few weeks ago, Nicky was the only one with access."
Austin nods, catching on to Faith's crazy way of talking. "KP let him in completely, which is crazy rare and crazy special and Nicky, who's supposed to be the one Sigma with a chance, just invited the invading army right in. Destroyed the entire civilization. Game over."
"Max called me," Faith says. By his expression this is definitely news to Austin. "I bitched him out for a little bit. The asshole did want to throw an actual party when they first broke up. Then he tells me Nicky's numb, turning into his dad and even Max is worried. That's why we need to do something, Aus. Hello hero complex, it would be really dope if you kicked in right about now!"
"I don't know what to do about this, Faith." This is Austin in his purest, most sincere form. "Don't look at me. I don't do relationships solely to avoid situations like this."
Faith clicks her tongue and taps her fingers. "And here I always thought it was because you were scared."
"Not even that chick the homewrecker wouldn't let you hook up with when she visits?"
"Especially that chick the homewrecker wouldn't let me hook up with. And pshh, no, I'm not scared," he says. "I just look at girls like Kelly and even Em, strong, independent chicks brought down by the dudes they date and I don't want to be that guy to some girl. Not only did Nicky screw Kelly over. He screwed himself over. He had her 100% and now where's he at? Zero."
After a long while, Faith whispers, "And he's never going to get back to 100% with her. He'll be real damn lucky if he even touches 80. Knowing Kelly, he might never get that last 30 back."
"He can get around the walls, but since she got burned the first time, odds are she'll keep that citadel all to herself," Austin says. Faith nods proudly. "Downright nasty odds though. Now, I got mad love for both of them so I'm going to tell him the truth, that breaking up for good and moving on will save them both a lot of pain, but if he loves her and he's willing to take the hell she's going to give him then I'll do whatever I can to help."
Faith smiles softly. "You're a good friend, Austin Tucker."
"Yeah, yeah." Austin takes her coffee without asking and takes a sip while Faith reaches over the table and breaks off a piece of his muffin.
"Hey Faith. Do you remember how we became friends?"
"Not particularly," she replies. "I like to directly link my memory loss with our friendship."
"Can't argue with that."
Though Faith may not remember (and that may be for the best) Austin will never forget that night, towards the beginning of sophomore year, before Kaylie Cruz was even on any of their radars. He had come back from a weekend visiting his parents and his sister, a weekend cut short after Ava got into a fight with their dad and Austin, trying to defend her, only made things worse. He didn't even have a chance to stay to dry his laundry, just shoved the soggy shirts and jeans into his duffle and took off on his motorcycle.
Austin wasn't supposed to get back to campus until tomorrow, but he couldn't stay any longer. Parking his motorcycle out in front of the Sigma house, all Austin wanted was to hang out the brothers for a little bit, have a beer and get some sleep. When he walked in through the front door he wasn't surprised to see a bunch of people around, drinking, the usual; however, there was some big commotion in the pool room and, curious, Austin went to check it out.
What he saw made his blood. A bunch of guys watched as one of them harassed a barely conscious chick. It made Austin sick to his stomach. What if that was his sister? It made him feel even worse to realize he knew both the guy and the girl.
The guy was Damon and the girl was Nicky's friend, the redhead.
Hair a mess, eyes fluttering shut, she tried to push Damon away, but he kept trying to feed her shots, tequila splashing across her lips, spilling down her face and soaking into her shirt that's pushed off her shoulder. Damon could hardly keep his reddened eyes open, laughing to himself and pulling Faith back every time she tries to get away from him.
With how close they were, Faith might as well be Nicky's sister. No way was Austin going to stand by and watch this happen. When Austin stepped up, the sea of guys part for him. He always had so much power in the house and influence on the brothers. Austin walked right up to Damon and roughly yanked him off Faith, shoving him off the couch and onto the ground.
"Wh—wha tuh huh?"
Austin watched the way Faith flopped against the couch cushion and murmured something with eyes shut, too wasted to even try to keep them open. He then turned to a dazed and confused Damon, completely plastered and struggling to get up off the floor. Austin helped him, grabbing him by his collar. The sound of Damon slamming into the wall brought silence among the other brothers.
"Damon, what the fuck do you think you're doing?" Austin was so angry his fists shook uncontrollably. He's never yelled at another person like he did then and right in Damon's face.
"Aus…? That you…?" Damon smiled a lazy smile, probably has no idea where he was or what his name was, but that didn't excuse what he did and almost did. Austin shoved Damon harder up against the wall and made the musician moan in pain. "The hell, man?"
"Again, what the fuck do you think you're doing?"
"Havin' fun, Aus…chill."
"Fun…? Chill? You want me to fucking chill? Did you see that fucking girl, Damon? She's pissed drunk! Can't even sit the fuck up drunk!" Austin slammed him against the wall again, struggling to stay in control. "What is wrong with you besides being drunk off your ass and stupid as fuck? I'd kick your ass right here and now if you were coherent enough to fight back. Lucky punk." Austin shoved him one last time and let him go so that Damon slid down the wall and hit the floor hard. "You're better than that, D. Fucking shame."
Austin then looked around at the wide-eyed witnesses, the dark, enraged look on his face making them bow their heads in respect. "And all you other fuckers were just watching? What the fuck, guys! Sigmas don't act like that! Anyone looking to try this shit on a girl again, especially her or KP, you know where the door is. Might as well get the fuck out now. If I see this again I will beat the shit out of the lot of you. Brother or not, this shit doesn't fly!"
Austin gave them all a menacing glance that has them cowering. With everyone else still watching, Austin helped her up, pulling her arm around his neck to support her weight and get her up the stairs. Her head rolled to one side as she groaned and Austin tried his best to keep her upright, pausing at the door to Nicky's room.
"KP! Russo! Get out here!" Austin shouted while kicking the door with his foot.
"Go away, Austin!" Kelly shouted through the door. "You're ruining the foreplay, asshole!"
"Sorry to cockblock, kids, but Red is out here and she isn't looking too hot!"
Within seconds the door swung open and there was Kelly with her hair pulled back, in the process of pulling on an oversize CU tee, smoothing it down her flat stomach. Austin threw Nicky an apologetic smile, but was more interested in the unrecognizable concern on Kelly Parker's face. This proved to be one of those rare moments when you could actually see Kelly Parker, all the bitchiness forgotten when it came to the someone she cared about. There's more to her than her image. It's something Austin could understand.
"Ugh, she reeks of tequila," Kelly said. Grasping Faith's chin and holding her face up, Kelly really did look genuinely worried. "Faith, you idiot, you know you can't drink tequila," Kelly sighs, "it's going to be a long night with her head in a toilet."
"The master bathroom. Roy's gone, visits his girlfriend on the weekends. Sure he won't mind," Austin said. "You know, I can take it from here if you wanna get back in there," Austin nodded to Nicky though from the look of things getting laid was the last thing on either of their minds, "and I promise nothing funny. You can trust me."
"No. Faith comes first," Kelly said, to which Nicky nodded in agreement, "but…thanks, Tucker."
Austin grinned. "Aww, KP—"
Kelly quickly put on a glare. "Don't ruin the moment, Short Bus. Let's just get her to the bathroom."
They spend the rest of the night with Faith indeed hanging her head over the toilet bowl and Kelly at her side, murmuring softly about how stupid Faith was and running a comforting hand up and down her back. Living in the frat house made them sort of immune to the sounds of Faith emptying the contents of her stomach and so Austin and Nicky hung out right outside the door, waiting for further instruction. As weird as it was, they really did bond over it.
The next morning as Austin ate cereal dry from the box, Faith came into the kitchen. She looked much better, unfairly so, and walked over to sit right across from Austin at the kitchen table. He arched an eyebrow, intrigued. Though they were always around each other, they've never made an effort to seek each other out like she did then.
Even with his mouth stuffed, Austin greeted her. "Hi."
"Hey." Faith nervously tangled and untangled her fingers over and over again. Though Austin didn't really know her at the time, he'd been around her enough to know being nervous wasn't exactly her norm. "So…I, uh, I heard you saved my life last night."
Austin flashed back to Damon and what could have happened. "You remember?"
"Not at all," she confessed, "but Kelly and Nicky said you found me trashed and helped."
Austin nodded. He deliberately kept Damon's name out of it. He knew for a fact this could tear the whole house apart. If Nicky didn't murder Damon then Kelly would have and Austin didn't want to see any of his friends dead or in jail. Damon was young and stupid and made a mistake. Plus, Austin stopped things before anything too horrible happened. It wasn't that he kept things from his friends to hurt their friendship, but to protect it.
"We've all been there," Austin assured her. "It's cool."
"Actually, it's not cool to me. It's pretty damn uncool," Faith said strongly. "I don't know how to thank you and I'm not one of those girls who give gratuitous blowjobs so…I want to buy you food."
Austin chuckled. What an entertaining chick. "You really don't have to."
"Why not?"
"Because I'm afraid I might fall in love with you and something tells me that Nicky and Kelly wouldn't be too happy with that," Austin playfully winced. "If you didn't know they're both deeply, deeply in love with me and, uh, adding little innocent you to our love triangle might make things even more awkward or so I suspect."
"Oh, I have noticed the extent of their love for you and I'm incredibly jealous too," Faith played along and shook her head, "but, I mean, we've been partying together and hanging out in the same people for a while now, yet I don't know you. I don't think we've ever had a real convo. I think that's weird and I want to change it. So let's go. Hangover food of choice?"
"You pick. I'm a gent' like that and I'm practically a garbage disposal. I eat anything."
"Don't let this fool you," she motioned to her body, "I am a total burgers, fries and coffee girl. Sometimes Mac and Cheese if I'm that wrecked I can't leave the house."
"Finally, a girl with taste." He smirked.
"I'm Faith if you didn't know," she said. "I like fun, I could probably literally make you take your clothes off and go dancing in the rain and I'm genetically engineered to not fall in love."
"Some bold statements there. I like it." Austin nodded. "Faith, huh? This entire time I've just been calling you Pretty."
He gave her one of his most charming grins and Faith just rolled those tired blue eyes. "Again, genetically engineered to NOT fall in love." Following the total shut down, Faith gave him a wink. "But I'm also the type of girl who appreciates compliments so thanks, Handsome."
Already fond of the girl, Austin's grin widened as he pointed to himself. "And I'm not at all against being called 'Handsome' but I usually go by Austin. If shit were fair I'd major in Life and get a Bachelor of Awesome. I have a bit of a rep around here for being a dog or a god depending on who you talk to and evidentially I can't resist recuing pretty girls."
Faith grinned, a bit goofy yet oddly attractive. "I like you already." She stood up, almost lost her balance and fell over, but then steadied herself and grabbed Austin's arm. "Now, come on. To the Burger Hut!"
"Alright. You can meet my bike. She's out front," Austin swiped his keys from off a row of nails tacked to the kitchen wall, "you know, Faith, I think we're going to be great friends."
"Don't be silly, Austin," she said. "We already are."
A/N: Hate to do this to you guys, but I don't think I'm going to be able to do Friday's update. Bad, bad, busy, busy B! Just wanted to let you beautiful people know.
In GOOD NEWS, Love, Life and Denim sequel, sequel, sequel, sequel! LCTD and I have been talking and writing and fighting. We've got a bunch of little random scenes written and we're excited so hopefully you are too! I like to play games. Any guesses at who'll be narrating our prologue? Right guesses…well, I don't actually have anything to give you…but my virtual love…?
So please review! Tell me what you thought of the chapter, hate me for having a life and missing the next update, oh, and guess about LL&D! Hope everyone is enjoying summer!
xoxo