Austin's P.O.V.

"Should I even ask what that smell is?"

Austin's youngest son scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "Probably not."

Austin rolled his eyes, but Thalia brushed past him and into the kitchen. "Look on the brightside," She called over her shoulder. "You'll have lots of time to clean it up!"

"Cause that's exactly what I want to do," Austin grumbled as he collapsed onto the couch. Unfortunately Peter was already there, and gave a rather loud squawk of protest before pushing Austin off. He heard Keenan and Kainoah snicker.

"So how long until we can let you guys out?" Kalei stepped forward, typing on her phone. "Wikipedia says two days, but NIMH says that you could show symptoms for at least a week."

Elise poked her head around the corner. "Did you say a week? Crap! Thalia - check the expiration date on that milk..."

Austin rolled his eyes and fell back again into Peter who made no move to change positions this time. "Guys relax. Three days ought to do it. And it's not like we're goin on lockdown or anything - you can still visit."

"Damn right," Trish walked through the front door, her arms full of groceries. "I was told to bring celery."

Austin and Peter made complimentary faces. "Who toldyou that?" They both exclaimed.

They heard Dez before they saw him. "ME!" The redhead smiled at his bestfriend. "AND I brought you a ham. You know, for old time's sake."

Austin rolled his eyes, but smiled goodnaturedly at his best bro. "What would I do without you?" He mused.

Dez answered the rhetorical question anyways. "Have the most boringest life in all of existance."

"Boringest isn't a word," Ally and Sienna walked in, and Austin felt his chest flutter slightly despite how much he told it not to. "But lucky for you I brought the latest revised Oxford dictionary, along with some encycopledias," She waved around the heavy books in her arms.

Peter frowned and buried his head into Austin's shoulder. Dez looked at them curiously. "What for?"

Ally rolled her eyes. They were tucked behind her glasses today; big thick-rimmed, nerdy spectacles that made Austin laugh. Her blonde hair was pulled into a ponytail, and she had slid into a simple pair of yoga pants and a worn t-shirt. "The encyclopedias have all the latest on withdrawal if they have any questions. And the dictionary is to help them understand the answers in the ecyclopedias."

Austin stared at her with something akin to horror. "You haven't cut our wifi, have you?"

The solemn look on Trish's face was enough of an answer.

Peter was the first to get a grip. "What the hell aunt Trish!"

Thalia walked through the room again, arms laden with something or another. "Language Peter." She reprimanded monotonously.

Said boy merely buried his face farther into the couch cushions and groaned. "I hate you all," He mumbled.

"Better not be referring to us, little brother," Keenan and Kainoah jumped onto the couch beside him, Keenan elbowing Austin by accident and recieving a half-hearted glare.

"Heaven forbid," Was all Peter muttered. Austin turned to Ally.

"So," He caught her attention as she came back from placing the books on his empty shelves. "Is everything sorted out with Jimmy and Ronny?"

Ally gave a little sigh and a smile. "As sorted out as they're going to be."

Silence.

But it wasn't quite awkward.

Austin finally cleared his throat. His hands dug their way into his pockets as his eyes focused any where but hers. "Good. And thanks- by the way. I know you don't have to be involved in this, but for the record, I'm glad you're here," The whisper was terrifying in itself, but Austin wasn't sure if it was due to his own active imagination, or the truth behind his words.

"I want to be here," She answered, finally catching his eyes. "And I'm thankful that you've let me."

They left it at that, Ally being called away to help with a last minute run down of the apartment, Austin sulkily making sure Thalia had found all of his alcohal. He contemplated leaving the stash underneath the sink, but fought against the horrid urge, and instead watched sullenly as Keenan lugged the half empty bottle of vodka away.

Immediately he mourned the loss of the familiar presence.

If only he had known his problems were just beginning.

A&A

Bored.

The word kept filtering through Austin's mind like a broken record. He tried to appease it, immersed himself in his CD's, even plucked lamely on the guitar for a while. But it was no use. Five hours into the detox, and he already was going batty.

He scratched his arms again, unsure where the sudden itch came from. He frowned as he rubbed his sweaty palms on his jeans deciding to go look for Peter.

Said boy was in his room, and jumped about a mile high when Austin opened the door. Frowning, Austin's eyes scanned the room for whatever it was Peter seemed to be hiding. A book shoved under the carpet arms-length from Peter made him raise his eyesbrows. "What are you doing?" It was more of an accusation than a question.

Heat rose to the teenager's cheeks, as his green eyes darted anywhere but his. "Nothing," The boy murmered. But it was too fast, too sudden.

Austin entered the room fully, walking opposite of his son. "Peter," He warned, drawing out the boy's name, while taking a defensive step forward. "What are you doing?"

The boys fingers twitched. "Nothing," He reiterated. "Go away."

The command was petulant, brought out even more so by the slight jut of the boy's lower lip. Austin found himself panged at the familiar sight. It was one the boy had adopted after Ally left. Back then Austin had just left the boy alone, hoping he just needed space. In reality, Austin wasn't in any state to prod. Ten years later, he still wasn't. But he was always one to learn from his mistakes.

Which was why he closed the bedroom door and sat on the floor opposite his son.

"Really?" He stared at him hard. "Then what's this?"

He reached for the book under the rug.

By the way Peter reacted - eyes going wide in panic, mouth screaming a deliberant no! - one would've thought the book contained something inappropiate or frowned upon like a crude magazine, or a pig's liver. Which was why Austin was more than shocked at the title.

"An original collection of Milne's Winne the pooh?" He frowned dubiously, flipping through the pages again, positive there had to be something other than words and sketches. His eyes landed on the name at the front of the book, right before Peter snatched it off his lap.

Property of Claire Halston.

Though Claire had been scratched out with a faded blue marker, and the name LISA in all upper case, with the 's' at least twice the size of the rest of the letters was scrawled overtop. Austin faintly remembered Annabeth mentioning something about Claire's younger sister Lisa. By the state of the book, he presumed she hhad gotten her hands on something that asn't hers when she was younger.

"That's not yours!" Peter exclaimed, cradling the book to his chest, his fingers still twitching.

"Nor does it appear to be yours," Austin countered with a raised brow, and was perturbed when he felt it move similarily to Peter's fingers. His voice was softer as he asked, "When did she give it to you?"

Peter bit his lip and looked away. "Once I told her about the drugs. Or rather, she more or less found out."

Austin made a noncomital noise, his own eyes scanning Peter's decrepit shelves. The books were stacked this way and that, but one could tell that at one time the owner treasured the copies more than anything.

"So what do you plan to do with it?" He motioned to the book. "I'm pretty sure she wouldn't approve of you going all pyromanical on it."

Peter blushed. But rather than answer he merely shrugged.

Silence ensued. Then, just when Austin thought Peter wasn't going to say anything until he left, the boy murmured something. Austin readjusted himself. "What was that?"

Peter's eyes never found Austin's. "How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard," Peter quoted, his voice hollow, eyes lost. "It's what she told me when she gave me the book."

Oh.

Oh.

"Peter that doesn't mean anything."

"Yes it does. You know it does."

Austin wanted to scream.

"Do you love her?"

Peter looked up, taken aback. "What are you talking about? I've hardly seen her. We've only gone on a couple of dates. I don't even know her middle name. She-"

"But do you love her?" Austin insisted.

Peter looked down again, though this time with tears in his eyes. "I don't want to be in love," His whisper was harsh, and caught Austin by surprise.

"Why?" The question was innocent, but the answer not so much.

"Because everytime I love someone they disappear. I've watched love destroy my entire family my whole life. I want nothing more to do with it."

Austin left the boy alone after that.

A&A

He was most definantly dying.

Austin felt his entire body twitch as his hands tore at the shelves, searching despartely for a bottle that was no longer there. His mind was gone, all that was left was an urgent need to find something. Vodka, whiskey, beer. Just something to quench the constant thrumming in the back of his head.

His hands reached for the flour bag and dumped it completly upside down, the white powder making him sneeze as it ballooned throughout the kitchen. blindly his hand groped the powder covered ground, looking for the bottle he had hid in it just a few weeks prior. He nearly screamed when they stumbled upon nothing, but instead resorted to hitting the cabinent as hard as he could, resulting in splintering wood.

He crumpled to the ground, the white flour sticjing to his sweaty forhead.

The constant sound of curse words and similar bangs came from Peter's room, and Austin knew that his son was undoubtedly doing the same thing he was. A small part of him knew that he ought to go in there and stop his son, but a larger part of him didn't care. All it cared about was the alcohol.

He went back to digging in the cupboard.

A&A

"Austin? Dad? Dad!"

Austin came too as Thalia shook his shoulders fervently, her bottom lip between her teeth, her eyes wide with panic. He blinked until her multiple forms solidified into one, and the piercing light stopped being so painful.

"Thalia?" He croaked.

"What the hell happened to your arm?" Her voice was near hysteria. "Please tell me you didn't do that to yourself."

"Wait - what?" Austin groggily sat up, only to nearly scream in pain as something ran up his right forearm. When the pain subsided he finally managed to focus where it was coming from.

He nearly puked when he did.

At first all he could see was the red. Dark red crimson that danced along his pale flesh. Where it had dried it was more of a crusty brown, though straight up his forearm the vermillion still oozed languidly between what looked to be a hasty bandaging job.

He blanched.

"I hate you!"

"Peter please-"

"No! I am done with you. All you ever do is lie. Lie, and lie, and lie, and LIE."

The flash of the kitchen blade. A blonde boy with empty, hysterical green eyes.

Then pain.

Oh so much pain.

"Where's Peter?" Austin throat was parched, but he attempted to sit up fully anyways. Thalia held him back with worried blue eyes.

"Peter?" His eldest confirmed in some confusion. "He's fine. He's in his room. Said he passed out and when he woke up he found you in the kitchen konked out in your own blood. He tried to patch your arm up before deciding to call me."

Austin's brow furrowed. "But-"

"Dad?"

Austin looked up to see the boy in question. He looked ragged, his blonde hair mused every which way. His body was trembling slightly. "What happened?" The teen was hysterical, tears appearing in the corner of his eyes as he wrung his hands. "The last thing I remember was loking for something in my room, then the next thing I know I found you in the kitchen, and there was so much blood, dad. Waves and waves and aves of red, and I thought-"

"Hey, it's okay," Ignoring the pain Austin sat up and wrapped his good arm around his son to comfort him. He felt the younger boy's body shudder against his as Peter suppressed sobs. And it was in that moment that Austin realized something astonishing.

Peter didn't remember.

His mind was a blank slank. He didn't remember the fight, or picking up the knife.

And Austin was determined to keep it that way.

His eyes found Thalia's, who's were full of questions. After a moment, he pulled away slightly from Peter to make it easier to speak. "I fell," The excuse was lame, but Austin held to it firmly. He vaguely remembered the knife in question skittering under the counter, and he made a mental note to get ri of it later. "My arm caught on the counter and ripped. Sorry to scare you guys."

But his daughter's eyes only narrowed. "It doesn't look like a blunt cut."

"Well it is," He was a tad snappier than he meant to sound. His eyes softened slightly. "I'll finish cleaning it up. I'm sorry, but it was nothing. Just me being clumsy."

Thalia look like she wanted to dispute him, but thankfully she didn't. Instead her eyes flitted between Peter and Austin, and for a terrifying moment Austin thought she saw the truth. But she only sighed, hanging her head before walking to the door.

"Get some sleep after," She shouted over her shoulder. "You both look like crap. And please be careful."

"Will do," Austin smiled weakly at his daughter, repositioning his arm. It wasn't till his front door shut firmly that he turned back to his son who looked at him as though he was lost. "Go take a shower, you smell as bad as you look. I'll heat up something to eat after."

Peter hesitated. "Are you sure? Do you want help with your arm?" He offered, despite looking like he as going to vomit at the thought. Austin gave him a small smile.

"I'll manage. Now shoo. I'm not kidding about the stench-"

His sentence was cut off as Peter's arms wrapped tightly around his father. It took a moment before Peter murmered, "It was like the hospital all over again. I thought you were dead."

Austin's hand sifted through his son's blonde locks. "I'm not, don't worry. I love you Peter."

"I love you too dad," Said boy gave his own shaky smile, before heading to the bathroom. Austin waited until he was sure he heard the water turn on, before heading into the kitchen. He would patch his arm up later - that could most certainly wait. Instead, Austin had a much more important job ahead of him - ensuring Peter never remembered picking up that knife in the first place.

He set off, determined to dispose of the cursed blade.

A&A

"Austin?"

"In the kitchen."

Austin was faintly aware of the fact that the person in his apartment was actually Ally. But that didn't mean he made any attempt to get up off the kitchen floor where he had decided about an hour earlier was a very comfortable place to sprawl. He heard her light tread before he saw her.

"Thalia said that you had cut yourself pretty bad yesterday and I just wanted to- what are you doing?"

"Dying." Austin croaked childishly, an arm thrown over his eyes dramatically. Then his brain processed (albeit, slowly) what she said, and he liftedit the slightest smidge. "Wait, did you say yesterday?"

She rolled her eyes and rested her hands on her hips. When she did so, Austin felt his breath catch in his throat. There was something so strikingly familiar about her that it made him do a double take. It was then that he realized it. Her hair was brown again.

"Yes Austin," She continued on, not realizing his stare. "It's currently Sunday. I came by to let you know that Jimmy and Ronny have set the four of us up for a last minute gig tomorrow night. But if you aren't ready-"

"I'll be fine," He grumbled, dropping his arm back over his eyes. "Just let me die first."

"Don't be immature," He heard her scoff, as she walked to his counter and began fiddling with something. "I did manage to convince them though that a big venue wouldn't be wise until all of this blew over. So it's just a cafe gig. Trish said she'd take care of the details."

Austin gave a noncommital hum. Ally seemed nonplussed.

"Where's Peter?"

"Reading in his room," Austin mumbled. "Or watching TV. Or possibly sleeping."

"In other words you have no idea," He could pretty much feel Ally's patronizing glare.

"And...?"

"So you should be more responsible!" She went back to moving dishes. Maybe she was putting them away.

Austin's thoughts drifted to the knife in the cutting block. It had been scrubbed clean, but it was still there. Perhaps if Ally knew she wouldn't be quipping him on responsibility. But Austin chose to keep his mouth shut and just sat up instead. When he was finally on his feet, Ally turned to face him. He realized she was speaking.

"...Then Sienna will sing one of her latest songs."

He gave her a blank look.

'Austin, were you even listening to me?" She sighed. He noticed how her brown waves bounced up and down as she did. She was much prettier as a brunnette. Austin hoped she'd keep it that way.

She looked like she was getting frustrated now. She started going off on a spiel, and it was only then that Austin noticed the proximity between them had diminished to nothing. He felt his body twitch slightly. Her voice was annoying him. It gratted on his ears and threatened to dislodge his bones.

He just wanted her to shut-up.

And so without realizing it, Austin did the only thing he had promised himself he wouldn't do.

"..And then- mmph!"

He closed his eyes and pulled her close, pressing his lips against hers.

Where do I even start?

I am so sorry guys. I honestly never meant to leave without updating for so long, it just kinda happened. To be honest I haven't really had any desire to write fanfic lately, probably because I've been busy letting university kick my butt. But I do feel horrible for leaving you guys hanging, and know that even though I can't promise steady update times, I will do my utmost to finish this fic...

And hopefully OYTH too.

I apologize to anyone who's been waiting for an update on that fic too. Hopefully I'll have one soon, but thanks for being patient!

That's all for now, and hopefully it won't be another few months before you hear from me. Thanks once again for all your continual support. Hope to see you soon :)

-AAG1D