Drew stood outside of Austin Theory's home. Despite the two men not knowing each other, they both knew who the other person was. Austin was a young, troubled man who had been driving drunk and taken the life of a woman. A woman that happened to be Drew's fiance Mariana.
Drew had expected to get his day in court and to see justice but it never came. Police dropped the case and said Austin had been fined. That was it. A fucking fine and he was free to move on with his life. And this of course only happened because Austin happened to be the son of the mayor. Money talked. Money made the problem disappear. Money didn't care about Drew's feelings.
He took out the picture of Mariana that he had printed out before going there. He had left his phone at home to make sure no one could trace him back to this house, but she needed to be there with him. She was so beautiful with her ocean blue eyes and her dark bronze brown hair. And that smile. That smile was the first thing he noticed about her. He saw her smile across the room, and he knew before even walking over to her to introduce himself that she was the one.
"I miss you so much," he whispered.
He put the picture back in his pocket, walked up to the house, and knocked on the door. He had wanted revenge for three long months since she was taken away from him, and now the time had come. The door opened, and there he was. Austin's face changed to one of fear before Drew smashed his fist into the younger man's face.
"I'm sorry!" Austin yelled.
Drew didn't care to hear it. He pushed Austin back inside the house and followed right after. He slammed the door behind him and pulled the picture of Mariana out of his pocket again. Drew held the picture of Mariana up in front of Austin's face so he could see the life he had stolen from this world.
"Her name was Mariana!" Drew growled.
"I know," Austin said. "And I'm sorry."
Drew ignored Austin's words. He needed to get this off his chest.
"Her name was Mariana. She was 38 years old. She loved cats and coffee. Nothing could get between her and her morning coffee. She was always so fun and kind to others. We were engaged. We were going to get married next year. I loved her. I fucking loved her with all my heart, and you took her from me," Drew said.
Drew rained three more punches down on Austin's face. Drew kept expecting Austin to fight back but he didn't. Austin just kept crying and saying he was sorry while letting Drew hurt him. Drew could have killed Austin if he wanted to by the looks of it, and Austin would still not put up a fight. Drew stopped punching and just stared at the crying mess named Austin Theory. He pitied the brat in that moment. A scared kid who never had to grow up because his father's money and name took him everywhere.
"I'm sorry," Austin said again. "What happened should never have happened. It was my fault. I will never claim otherwise."
"You killed her!" Drew yelled.
"I know," Austin kept his voice calm. "And that is something I have to learn to live with somehow. I know my father made it go away but I can never forget. I've gone into rehap. I'm 71 days sober. It's hard but I refuse to give up. I will not fall back into a bottle. I promise that to you right here and now, and you can come back to kill me if I break that promise."
Some of the anger left Drew in that moment. He never thought about the burden Austin would have to carry through his entire life now. The burden of having killed someone because of his own stupid actions. The kid was only 25 years old and would have to live for many more years with this burden on his shoulders. Suddenly Drew didn't want to hurt Austin anymore. Austin had already hurt himself plenty and would continue doing so everytime he thought about what he had done.
"You can beat me up. I don't care. I deserve it. I'll never tell anyone what happened. You deserve to get some payback for what I did," Austin said.
"I don't," Drew said lowly. "Not anymore. I came here to fuck you up but I can't. I just fucking can't. Mariana wouldn't have wanted me to behave like this. I'm a fucking disgrace."
"No, you're not. You're a man acting on your feelings because of what I did," Austin said.
Drew couldn't help but smile sadly and shake his head no due to Austin's voice. There was something about the younger man speaking that calmed him down.
"You should look into becoming a therapist. I think it might be your calling," Drew said jokingly.
"I'll do anything you want me to," Austin said.
"The world doesn't work like that," Drew sighed. "I want you to stay sober. That's all. Fucking stay sober for the rest of your life."
"I will," Austin nodded.
Drew nodded too and looked down at the picture of Mariana. He had to figure out how to get through this. Anger wasn't the solution. He needed to speak to someone about it. He needed to see someone professional and work his way through it in a healthy way. He would start calling around tomorrow to find a therapist. He clearly needed it when he had gone here ready to beat the shit out of someone else. He wasn't violent by nature. This was wrong.
"Can I keep the picture?" Austin asked.
"Huh?" Drew looked confused.
"The picture," Austin pointed at the picture in Drew's hand. "Can I keep it to remind myself to never drink again? Everytime I feel the urge, I can look at her and remind myself of how wrong that path is."
Drew looked at the picture again. Mariana was smiling back at him from the picture. He knew what she would say. She would demand he gave the picture to Austin if it could help him just a tiny bit. Besides, it was only a printed out picture. He had this picture and others of her at home. He wouldn't be missing it. He sighed again, and handed the picture to Austin.
"Sure," Drew said. "And if you ever fuck up..."
"You'll come back to finish the job," Austin finished Drew's sentence.
"You bet your ass I will," Drew said. "Stay sober, Austin. Keep getting help. It's time I get some too. Sorry for barging in here and trying to rearrange your face. I'll see myself out."
Drew turned around, walked back to the front door, and let himself out. As he walked down the driveway and away from Austin's house, he felt the anger shift into pain and grief. Tears started running down his face. Tears he had kept within for three long months. It was time to finally allow himself to feel what he needed to feel, get some help, and somehow learn to let go of the pain.