Alone – Sleeping With Sirens
"...If there were any way I could think to turn back time, I'd stay here with you...I could fall apart here and now, I don't want to die alone. I want to be with you, you, you...When I lay in bed at night, all I do is think of you. So when all this is gone, what do I have to come home to?"
The sun hung low in the sky, causing the harsh winds to feel a lot colder than they were a few hours ago on the beach. Danielle wrapped her cardigan around her, all while keeping her eyes glued on the pages of the book she was reading. Austin had gotten up a while ago to play with his dog, leaving Danielle in peace with her fictional characters.
The wind whipped Danielle's long hair around her face forcing her to, unfortunately, give in and tie it in a tight messy bun on her head. The waves crashed on the shore several feet in front of her blanket spread out on the sand. She gave her eyes a break from reading once her hair was in a knot and watched Austin running around in the water with his dog, throwing the stick back out in the ocean every time he brought it back.
After about the twelfth time, Austin looked back up at Danielle and waved at her with the biggest smile. She laughed and waved back, immediately poking her nose right back into the book. Austin headed back up on the beach and laid himself down next to Danielle, closing his eyes and folding his hands on his chest.
"Can't believe I go back on tour soon." Austin said.
Dani nodded, taking her eyes off her book again. "I know." She said, placing her bookmark between the pages she was on and finally laying it on the other side of her.
"You could go back to New York if you want." Austin opened one eye and squinted at her in the late afternoon sun. "I'll pay for your round trip. You'll be back the same night I am."
"No, it's fine." She leaned down next to him, resting her head in her hand with her elbow propped in the sand. "Vic and Kellin promised to come over as much as possible. And I've got our lovely child—not including the other critters at home." She gestured to the dog walking happily along the beach, sniffing the sand.
Austin laughed deep in his throat. "I'll miss you a lot."
"I'll miss you, too." She said leaning her head against his. He wrapped his hand on her hip and pulled her closer.
"When I get back, we're gonna do something special, I promise." He said with a smile in his voice.
Danielle nodded and smiled, kissing him and wrapping an arm around him. "Call me every night." She said into his shoulder.
"I wouldn't be able to go a night without hearing your voice."
Danielle never stopped checking Instagram and Twitter. She had horrible visions flash through her mind about people finding out what happened and uncovering her entire facade. She would check each social network thoroughly, lock her phone for no less than two minutes and sit with a hand on her face, her leg bouncing, and eyes glazed over with heavy concentration, then repeat.
Finally, Andrew sat across from her at their table. They pulled out early tonight so thankfully no evil eye glaring girls had crawled onto her bus.
"Wanna talk about it?" He asked.
She looked up from her phone for the first time. She wore an unreadable expression and honestly, it kind of scared Andrew. She locked her phone and put it down, mimicking Andrew's stance with her hands folded in front of her.
"What do you think?" She snapped in a semi-calm voice.
"I only want to help."
"Why? Because you feel like absolute shit for making Austin seem like a d-bag?"
"No...I just want to help you get through this."
"You can't! Because that scumbag already ruined everything. It's going to get around and come back and bite me in the ass because karma hates me." She sighed. "And I didn't even notice the guy in his band is Trace's old best friend. What are the fucking odds."
Andrew's eyes widened. "Are you serious?"
She pursed her lips and nodded. "Jesse Westfield. I only met him once but Trace has told him about me. I highly doubt he knows the whole story, but I guarantee he'll find some way to mess this up again." She covered her face in her hands. "Why are my past two major tours extremely stressful?"
"Because they're a huge deal."
Danielle gripped her hair through her fingers. She stared at the white blonde color hanging in her face; she still wasn't used to it. She noticed Austin would glance up at it every so often whenever they talked and she knew he was questioning himself whether or not he liked it.
One of the reasons she did it was to piss him off.
"I say next tour we don't tour with Of Mice & Men." Andrew suggested.
Dani let out a laugh. "Oh, ya think?"
"Or if you don't want questioning fans, we could charge them for meet and greets."
"No that's shallow and besides, who would wanna pay just to meet us?"
"Yeah I guess you're right." Andrew sighed and met Danielle's eyes. "I just wanna know...why wouldn't you tell us that you hooked up with Austin?"
She rolled her eyes and sat back, tapping her fingers on the table. "Look, Andrew, my relationship with Austin is really none of your business. I won't have a repeat of last year."
"We're your best friends though. And we just want to help."
"You would help a lot if you guys just sat back and let me do what I want."
Andrew pursed his lips. "Dani, Vic is really upset about what you said to him."
Dani leaned forward, making Andrew lean back. "Like I said...I won't have a repeat of last year." She stood up from her seat and headed to the back room. She shut the door and locked it, running her hands from her face and through her hair.
She sat snuggled into the corner of the couch and turned on the TV. As she used the band's PS3 to find something on Netflix, she felt her phone vibrate next to her. When she picked it up, Austin's name and a semi-old picture of them kissing came up on her phone. With a small smile, she answered.
"So we just passed your bus and I thought I saw a tiny blonde girl in the back lounge. Was that one of your boys' little groupies or...?"
She laughed. "You're funny."
"How are you doing?" He asked.
Even though he couldn't see her, she shrugged. "Could be better I guess. Just trying to take my mind off everything."
"Too bad I can't just hop on over and watch a movie with you."
Danielle just smiled and blushed. "Why are you really calling me?"
The line went silent. "What do you mean?"
"Like...what do you want?"
Austin let out an exasperated laugh. "I just wanna talk to you. Is that so bad? You know I don't like going a night without talking to you."
Danielle could recall every night of his last tour, even if it was just for five minutes, he would call to wish her a good night and tell her he loved her. Sometimes, he would even Skype her but all of the band and crew members would cut into their conversation and either tease them or not realize how much of a cock-block they were. But she mostly liked the nights where he would stay on the phone with her until she fell asleep. Those were her favorite.
"I love you." Austin said in a quiet voice when she didn't answer. That brought tears to her eyes. She sniffled and quickly blinked them away.
"I love you, too."
It was quiet for a few more seconds before Austin spoke again. "Don't think too much about what happened. I would gladly punch Jake in the face for you, but you won't let me. I want you to be happy. I want you to feel safe with me again."
Dani squeezed her eyes shut and laid her head on the back of the couch. "I don't know what to do..." She felt tears quickly welling up so she tried her best to keep her composure while she spoke. "I'm sorry, Austin. I think I'm gonna go to bed. Good night."
She hung up the phone, pressed her face in her hands, and sobbed. She angrily stormed into the bunk hall and shut her self away in her bunk, wrapped in her comforter, and waited until the tears subsided before she fell asleep. And that's when it happened—the flood of tweets that changed her life.
A/N: LOL JUST SAYING I HAVE NOTHING AGAINST KELLIN OK I JUST THOUGHT IT FIT PERFECTLY AND I LAUGHED LOL AND I WROTE THIS DURING THE SUMMER WHEN THAT WHOLE SWS M&G PAYING $80 THING WAS GOING AROUND AND IRONICALLY I CHOSE AN SWS SONG I DIDNT EVEN REALIZE UNTIL I PROOFREAD THE CHAPTER LOL. ITS PROBABLY NOT FUNNY TO YOU GUYS AND I MIGHT'VE TAKEN IT TOO FAR OR MAYBE YOU DIDNT NOTICE AND IF YOU DIDNT THIS IS AWKWARDDDD OK ANYWAY . Cliffhangers are fun, right? (; Don't forget to review ! Love you guys x