Too Young To Live This Way
I'm Gonna Break Down These Walls
I headed down the stone alleyway to towards the river than ran right through Venice. I heard something from behind me and swung around and came face-to-face with the waiter from the restaurant.
“Hello?”
He started speaking in fluent Italian and I was only able to catch snippets of what he was saying. I strained my hearing as he stepped closer to me.
“…husband…stupid whore…shouldn’t have messed with…you’ll get what you deserve…” by the time I stepped away from the waiter he’d grabbed me by the wrist and tugged me up against his body. I fought against the revulsion that rolled through my body.
I felt a pain smack me in the back of the head and I fell to my knees but before I blacked out I noticed the waiter started unzipping his pants. I tried to crawl away but my vision was getting blotchy a few seconds before I passed out completely.
“Excuse me? Miss?”
I was shaken awake by an older man who looked like he was one of those gondola drivers. I struggled to sit up and he helped be with a supporting hand to my back.
“What happened?”
“I’m not sure. When I got here there was a young man tearing your dress and I scared him away with this paddle.” He held the paddle up with a triumphant smile.
“Thank you.” I whispered to him and squeezed him in my arms. I felt relief wash over me at the kindness of this older man. I struggled to stand up and he helped me with a smile.
“No problem, mam. Is there anywhere I can get you?”
“I and my husband are staying at Hotel Excelsior.”
“Follow me and I shall get you back to your husband.” I picked my bag off the bed and noticed my purse was missing. I frowned at what Austin was going to say when he found out what had happened.
“Taylor?” I looked around the alleyway and saw no one there. The voice came again.
I was woken up with Austin’s face hovering over me, his face a mask of worry. It was then I realised that I had been dreaming what had happened the previous week. Tears fell from my eyes without me knowing until Austin started wiping them away.
“Tell me what happened in Venice, baby. You’ve not been the same since that night.” Austin crooned in my ear as he gently rocked me on the bed. My breath hitched as I started relaying what happened that night. I had my head against his chest and was listening to his heartbeat as I told him.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Austin squeezed me so tight I was finding it hard to breath. I gently pushed his arms away and stroked my hand down his face. It was prickly to the touch and I smiled at him.
“I didn’t want you to worry, not with your heart. I’m perfectly fine here. I’m here with you.”
Tears welled in his eyes again and I closed my eyes so I couldn’t see him crying. Since I’d gotten together with him he seemed to cry a lot more than he usually did.
“Taylor, baby.” Austin forced me to open my eyes by rubbing under them gently. I opened them and saw the love shining in his dark eyes.
“You’re not angry at me are you?”
“I could never be angry with you…well except when I thought you were going to cheat on me but no. I’ll never be angry at you.” I noticed the sun rising out the corner of my eye and climbed out of bed towards the glass wall that was in the bedroom. The sun rose above the snow topped mountains and made everything glitter like a million diamonds.
Austin wrapped his arms around me from behind and kissed me behind the ear. We stood there quietly, him resting his head on my shoulder and me resting my head against his. We didn’t say anything until the sun and fully rose.
“Let’s go get some breakfast, love.”
We headed to a small café that was just opposite the hotel. We had something called Blini, it was like a pancake but served with milk instead of maple syrup. It was really nice and very filling. The Russians didn’t skimp on the food here.
“What are we doing then?” I asked Austin as he finished his last bite and leant back to pat his stomach with a grin.
“How do you feel about skiing or snowboarding?”
“Should you really be doing that with your heart?” I asked him and he reached over to twine his fingers with mine. He bought our joined hands up and kissed my fingers with a smile.
“I’m perfectly fine.”
“Did you bring your heart medication with you?” I worried.
“It was the first thing you made me pack.” Austin stood and tugged me from my seat before hailing a cab since he didn’t know where to go. We sat in the back of the car curled around each other and the driver smiled at us.
“Honeymooners yes?” he asked with a smile.
“Yes.” Austin answered with a kiss to my head. The drive wasn’t that long and soon enough we were standing at the bottom of a huge mountain. I looked over at Austin who had a huge grin on his face, his cheeks flushed with the cold.
“Austin…”
“You’ll be okay, angel.” Austin tugged me into the ski lift and a few moments later we stood at a man behind the counter who was talking fluent Russian. It seemed that language Austin could speak. I wandered around the shop as my phone rang.
“Hello?” I asked without checking the caller ID.
“We’re having a boy, Alan and Gus might be breaking up and Tino has got a long term girlfriend!” My brain struggled to catch up and then I remembered that we weren’t on a honeymoon forever, that we had a life back home.
“That’s great that you’re having a boy. What are going to call him?” I stepped outside and sat on the steps as I watched people in ski suits whiz down the snowy paths.
“We can’t decide between Benjamin and Robert.”
“I like Benjamin; it’s not as common anymore.”
“True.”
“Tell me about Alan and Gus.”
“Well, Alan got shitfaced and came out to a whole bunch of people and Gus was there. He walked straight up to him and kissed him. Mindful this was at Reading festival. Young Guns were playing and Alan walked onto the stage and came out to nearly a half a million people.”
“Holy shit. What are they going to do?”
“I don’t know but they caught the scene on camera. The TV stations haven’t stopped playing it.”
“Damn. Tell me about Tino.” Austin popped outside and I grinned at him. He was decked head to toe in a baby blue snow suit with a red helmet attached to his head. He held up the snowboard with a questioning look and I shook my head at him.
“Her name is Angela.” He bent down to strap himself into the snowboard before kissing me and hopping up and straight down the snow slicked mountain. I watched him whiz around a pair of skiers with a thumbs up.
“Taylor? Are you listening to me?”
“Huh? Sorry. Austin’s snowboarding.”
“Awesome. Why aren’t you?”
“I’m scared of fast things.” I shuddered and it wasn’t from the cold. I saw Austin jump up onto a bar and slid down it on his snowboard. He looked so happy when doing this I was going to make it my goal to let Russia be his time.
“Anyway Angela?” I asked.
“She’s one of Young Guns roadie. Tino was hanging out backstage and the next thing you know they’re fucking on the couch.”
“No way.”
“Way.” We spoke about random stuff when Austin headed up and down the mountain nearly seven times before falling into a heap next to me. He tugged the goggles and the helmet off and wiped his sweat-slicked hair away from his face.
“I need to go, Taylor.”
“Say everyone we said hello.”
“Gotcha.” I hung the phone up and swiped away a clump of snow that had dripped from Austin’s hair to his face. He grinned at me and tugged me to him.
“It was great, Taylor. I don’t want to leave yet.”
“Then don’t. Go do it some more.”
“Really?” his eyes lit up like a child’s at their first Christmas. I kissed him on the tip of his nose before settling his helmet on top of his head.
“Go for it.”
We spend the next week pretty much on the mountain. I didn’t complain since Venice was for me and Russia was for him. I knew there was so much more to do in Russia but if Austin loved doing this then I was going to let him do what he wanted.
“I can’t believe we spent the whole week up there.” He said with a huge smile as he sat on the plane seat. I winked at him and he hugged me close. “Thank you. I know you must have been bored as hell.”
“I read a few books.”
“I love you.”
“Promise?”
“Forever with every beat of my broken heart.” He whispered our first words of love back to me and I wouldn’t stop the smile across my face if I wanted to.
“Hello?”
He started speaking in fluent Italian and I was only able to catch snippets of what he was saying. I strained my hearing as he stepped closer to me.
“…husband…stupid whore…shouldn’t have messed with…you’ll get what you deserve…” by the time I stepped away from the waiter he’d grabbed me by the wrist and tugged me up against his body. I fought against the revulsion that rolled through my body.
I felt a pain smack me in the back of the head and I fell to my knees but before I blacked out I noticed the waiter started unzipping his pants. I tried to crawl away but my vision was getting blotchy a few seconds before I passed out completely.
“Excuse me? Miss?”
I was shaken awake by an older man who looked like he was one of those gondola drivers. I struggled to sit up and he helped be with a supporting hand to my back.
“What happened?”
“I’m not sure. When I got here there was a young man tearing your dress and I scared him away with this paddle.” He held the paddle up with a triumphant smile.
“Thank you.” I whispered to him and squeezed him in my arms. I felt relief wash over me at the kindness of this older man. I struggled to stand up and he helped me with a smile.
“No problem, mam. Is there anywhere I can get you?”
“I and my husband are staying at Hotel Excelsior.”
“Follow me and I shall get you back to your husband.” I picked my bag off the bed and noticed my purse was missing. I frowned at what Austin was going to say when he found out what had happened.
“Taylor?” I looked around the alleyway and saw no one there. The voice came again.
I was woken up with Austin’s face hovering over me, his face a mask of worry. It was then I realised that I had been dreaming what had happened the previous week. Tears fell from my eyes without me knowing until Austin started wiping them away.
“Tell me what happened in Venice, baby. You’ve not been the same since that night.” Austin crooned in my ear as he gently rocked me on the bed. My breath hitched as I started relaying what happened that night. I had my head against his chest and was listening to his heartbeat as I told him.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Austin squeezed me so tight I was finding it hard to breath. I gently pushed his arms away and stroked my hand down his face. It was prickly to the touch and I smiled at him.
“I didn’t want you to worry, not with your heart. I’m perfectly fine here. I’m here with you.”
Tears welled in his eyes again and I closed my eyes so I couldn’t see him crying. Since I’d gotten together with him he seemed to cry a lot more than he usually did.
“Taylor, baby.” Austin forced me to open my eyes by rubbing under them gently. I opened them and saw the love shining in his dark eyes.
“You’re not angry at me are you?”
“I could never be angry with you…well except when I thought you were going to cheat on me but no. I’ll never be angry at you.” I noticed the sun rising out the corner of my eye and climbed out of bed towards the glass wall that was in the bedroom. The sun rose above the snow topped mountains and made everything glitter like a million diamonds.
Austin wrapped his arms around me from behind and kissed me behind the ear. We stood there quietly, him resting his head on my shoulder and me resting my head against his. We didn’t say anything until the sun and fully rose.
“Let’s go get some breakfast, love.”
We headed to a small café that was just opposite the hotel. We had something called Blini, it was like a pancake but served with milk instead of maple syrup. It was really nice and very filling. The Russians didn’t skimp on the food here.
“What are we doing then?” I asked Austin as he finished his last bite and leant back to pat his stomach with a grin.
“How do you feel about skiing or snowboarding?”
“Should you really be doing that with your heart?” I asked him and he reached over to twine his fingers with mine. He bought our joined hands up and kissed my fingers with a smile.
“I’m perfectly fine.”
“Did you bring your heart medication with you?” I worried.
“It was the first thing you made me pack.” Austin stood and tugged me from my seat before hailing a cab since he didn’t know where to go. We sat in the back of the car curled around each other and the driver smiled at us.
“Honeymooners yes?” he asked with a smile.
“Yes.” Austin answered with a kiss to my head. The drive wasn’t that long and soon enough we were standing at the bottom of a huge mountain. I looked over at Austin who had a huge grin on his face, his cheeks flushed with the cold.
“Austin…”
“You’ll be okay, angel.” Austin tugged me into the ski lift and a few moments later we stood at a man behind the counter who was talking fluent Russian. It seemed that language Austin could speak. I wandered around the shop as my phone rang.
“Hello?” I asked without checking the caller ID.
“We’re having a boy, Alan and Gus might be breaking up and Tino has got a long term girlfriend!” My brain struggled to catch up and then I remembered that we weren’t on a honeymoon forever, that we had a life back home.
“That’s great that you’re having a boy. What are going to call him?” I stepped outside and sat on the steps as I watched people in ski suits whiz down the snowy paths.
“We can’t decide between Benjamin and Robert.”
“I like Benjamin; it’s not as common anymore.”
“True.”
“Tell me about Alan and Gus.”
“Well, Alan got shitfaced and came out to a whole bunch of people and Gus was there. He walked straight up to him and kissed him. Mindful this was at Reading festival. Young Guns were playing and Alan walked onto the stage and came out to nearly a half a million people.”
“Holy shit. What are they going to do?”
“I don’t know but they caught the scene on camera. The TV stations haven’t stopped playing it.”
“Damn. Tell me about Tino.” Austin popped outside and I grinned at him. He was decked head to toe in a baby blue snow suit with a red helmet attached to his head. He held up the snowboard with a questioning look and I shook my head at him.
“Her name is Angela.” He bent down to strap himself into the snowboard before kissing me and hopping up and straight down the snow slicked mountain. I watched him whiz around a pair of skiers with a thumbs up.
“Taylor? Are you listening to me?”
“Huh? Sorry. Austin’s snowboarding.”
“Awesome. Why aren’t you?”
“I’m scared of fast things.” I shuddered and it wasn’t from the cold. I saw Austin jump up onto a bar and slid down it on his snowboard. He looked so happy when doing this I was going to make it my goal to let Russia be his time.
“Anyway Angela?” I asked.
“She’s one of Young Guns roadie. Tino was hanging out backstage and the next thing you know they’re fucking on the couch.”
“No way.”
“Way.” We spoke about random stuff when Austin headed up and down the mountain nearly seven times before falling into a heap next to me. He tugged the goggles and the helmet off and wiped his sweat-slicked hair away from his face.
“I need to go, Taylor.”
“Say everyone we said hello.”
“Gotcha.” I hung the phone up and swiped away a clump of snow that had dripped from Austin’s hair to his face. He grinned at me and tugged me to him.
“It was great, Taylor. I don’t want to leave yet.”
“Then don’t. Go do it some more.”
“Really?” his eyes lit up like a child’s at their first Christmas. I kissed him on the tip of his nose before settling his helmet on top of his head.
“Go for it.”
We spend the next week pretty much on the mountain. I didn’t complain since Venice was for me and Russia was for him. I knew there was so much more to do in Russia but if Austin loved doing this then I was going to let him do what he wanted.
“I can’t believe we spent the whole week up there.” He said with a huge smile as he sat on the plane seat. I winked at him and he hugged me close. “Thank you. I know you must have been bored as hell.”
“I read a few books.”
“I love you.”
“Promise?”
“Forever with every beat of my broken heart.” He whispered our first words of love back to me and I wouldn’t stop the smile across my face if I wanted to.
Notes
Titled Cred: All Time LowSorry for the confusion. I hope this chapter helps you understand what happened in Venice. I hope you're liking so far. Please comment for me!
What is the name of your sequel babycakes?!?! I. MUST. READ. MORE!
10/28/16