Anyone Else But You
Five
It had been a few months since my trip to LA, and Austin and I had kept in contact. I’d had to go back to LA last month and we’d met up and had a dinner together, and in the couple of months after we’d become closer, talking almost every night. Even if I hadn’t known him that long, I could tell that he was growing on me, and I looked forward to our calls. I still hadn’t mentioned I had a son, but I figured that we were just friends; he didn’t need to know just yet.
I was currently sat in my studio apartment attempting to get Jonah to go to bed. He was sat on the couch being stubborn and insisting he watched one more episode of Spongebob, and all I could say was he had inherited his father’s ability to pull the puppy dog eyes on me.
“Please Tia, I promise I’ll be a good boy and go straight to bed afterwards,” he pouted up at me.
“Nuh uh,” I shook my head at him, “bed now mister.”
Just as he was about to respond the buzzer went off, signalling there was someone at the door. I pressed the intercom curiously before asking:
“Hello?”
“Hi Emma! This is the address you gave me, so I’m really hoping this is you!” came a familiar voice up the intercom.
“Austin?! What’re you doing here in New York?” I asked shocked.
“Let me up, and I’ll explain Em.”
“Alright,” I replied, buzzing the door open and letting him into the building.
Not long after, there was a sharp knock on the door, and I rushed to open it. I was almost immediately engulfed in a bear hug with a very lanky human being. I chuckled and hugged him back just as hard, before we broke apart and I let him into my apartment.
“Wow, it’s, uh, big,” he commented.
“That’s what she said,” I couldn’t help but reply, mentally kicking myself afterwards for sounding so immature. I was kinda surprised when he grinned at my comment and burst out laughing.
“Anyways, what’re you even doing here? I thought you were stuck in LA for another week?” I asked.
“We finished up our writing a week earlier than expected, so here I am. I thought I’d surprise you, that’s not bad is it? You’re not busy,” he backtracked quickly.
“No, no, I’m not busy at all, and I’m very surprised, but it’s a good surprise,” I assured him quickly.
“Come on then, show me the rest of the wonder apartment. From what I’ve seen already, I have high expectations,” he teased me.
Just as I was about to lead him through to the living area, Jonah came walking up.
“Tia, who’s that man?” he asked me curiously. I tried to ignore Austin’s startled glance at the word ‘Tia’.
“This is a friend sweetheart; Austin. Say hi,” I smoothed over, ignoring Austin’s glances again.
“Hi Austin!” He chirped, “I’m Jonah!”
And to my surprise, Austin appeared to get over his surprise, and knelt down holding out his hand for Jonah.
“Hi Jonah,” he smiled warmly at the seven year old in front of him, as they shook hands.
“Has Spongebob finished, Jo?” I asked him, and he nodded, “well I think it’s time you went to bed, come on.”
I pushed him towards his room down the hall and followed after him, but not before sending Austin an apologetic look.
10 minutes later, I’d got Jonah into bed and I walked back to the living area to confront Austin.
“Responsibilities huh?” he raised his eyebrows in my direction, and I couldn’t help but nod silently.
“Why didn’t you tell me? I wouldn’t have looked at you any differently,” he sighed.
“I didn’t want that to be a make or break for you, too many guys have seen Jonah and assumed things before giving me the chance to explain,” I said quietly.
“Well explain.”
I sighed again before starting the story that had changed my entire life.
“I guess I should start at the beginning,” and Austin nodded, “Jonah isn’t mine. I look after him, yes, and legally he’s under my name, but he’s not biologically mine.”
I noticed the look of confusion that crossed his face.
“A year ago, my best friend, Zooey, who I went with to your concert, died of cancer. She was Jonah’s mother, and that was around the first time I went back to the UK, just after I graduated Julliard last year. She was only 23 years old and Jonah was 6.” I saw a look of immense sadness cross Austin’s face as I relayed this to him.
“For a while his father, Tom, looked after Jonah, and although he was struggling with coping on his own, as well as Zooey’s death, he did a good job. But Tom is in the army, and with that comes complications, and he was called out to serve 6 months in Afghanistan about a month after Zooey had died, and although he couldn’t leave Jonah, he decided to go anyway. He wanted to get away from seeing things that reminded him of her. We worked out a plan, Tom gave up custody of Jonah to me, the person both him and Zooey had named in their will should anything happen to both of them, and so Jonah came to live with me over here. Tom came and lived with us for a bit when he was last on leave, so he’s still a massive part of Jonah’s life, but he was called back out last month for 8 months this time around. But I am his legal guardian, and I love him as if he were my own son. They’ve both been through a lot, and I am a hundred percent committed to them as a family.” I finished up. I looked up hesitantly at Austin to see what he was making of it all.
“I’m sorry, I guess like all of the other guys, I made assumptions. But this doesn’t change anything, it doesn’t change how I feel about you, it doesn’t change that I think you’re one of the most genuine people I’ve ever met, in fact it just strengthens all my beliefs I had about you. It shows you’re strong, you’re caring and you’re true. I’ll still be here if you still want me around Emma, because I really like you, and this doesn’t change anything.”
I just looked at him; mouth slightly ajar at his sudden confession. Of course I liked him more than I originally planned, but I had prepared myself for him to forget all about me, so I hadn’t let him dig his way into the depths of my heart. But after that little speech, I was overwhelmed by the urge to kiss him.
As if he could read my mind, he leaned in just a little closer, a little tentatively. I leant towards him slightly, and he moved close enough to let me close the gap between our lips, hesitantly attaching them and slowly starting to move them as I felt him kiss back. And as cliché as it sounds, I felt the fireworks explode.
I was currently sat in my studio apartment attempting to get Jonah to go to bed. He was sat on the couch being stubborn and insisting he watched one more episode of Spongebob, and all I could say was he had inherited his father’s ability to pull the puppy dog eyes on me.
“Please Tia, I promise I’ll be a good boy and go straight to bed afterwards,” he pouted up at me.
“Nuh uh,” I shook my head at him, “bed now mister.”
Just as he was about to respond the buzzer went off, signalling there was someone at the door. I pressed the intercom curiously before asking:
“Hello?”
“Hi Emma! This is the address you gave me, so I’m really hoping this is you!” came a familiar voice up the intercom.
“Austin?! What’re you doing here in New York?” I asked shocked.
“Let me up, and I’ll explain Em.”
“Alright,” I replied, buzzing the door open and letting him into the building.
Not long after, there was a sharp knock on the door, and I rushed to open it. I was almost immediately engulfed in a bear hug with a very lanky human being. I chuckled and hugged him back just as hard, before we broke apart and I let him into my apartment.
“Wow, it’s, uh, big,” he commented.
“That’s what she said,” I couldn’t help but reply, mentally kicking myself afterwards for sounding so immature. I was kinda surprised when he grinned at my comment and burst out laughing.
“Anyways, what’re you even doing here? I thought you were stuck in LA for another week?” I asked.
“We finished up our writing a week earlier than expected, so here I am. I thought I’d surprise you, that’s not bad is it? You’re not busy,” he backtracked quickly.
“No, no, I’m not busy at all, and I’m very surprised, but it’s a good surprise,” I assured him quickly.
“Come on then, show me the rest of the wonder apartment. From what I’ve seen already, I have high expectations,” he teased me.
Just as I was about to lead him through to the living area, Jonah came walking up.
“Tia, who’s that man?” he asked me curiously. I tried to ignore Austin’s startled glance at the word ‘Tia’.
“This is a friend sweetheart; Austin. Say hi,” I smoothed over, ignoring Austin’s glances again.
“Hi Austin!” He chirped, “I’m Jonah!”
And to my surprise, Austin appeared to get over his surprise, and knelt down holding out his hand for Jonah.
“Hi Jonah,” he smiled warmly at the seven year old in front of him, as they shook hands.
“Has Spongebob finished, Jo?” I asked him, and he nodded, “well I think it’s time you went to bed, come on.”
I pushed him towards his room down the hall and followed after him, but not before sending Austin an apologetic look.
10 minutes later, I’d got Jonah into bed and I walked back to the living area to confront Austin.
“Responsibilities huh?” he raised his eyebrows in my direction, and I couldn’t help but nod silently.
“Why didn’t you tell me? I wouldn’t have looked at you any differently,” he sighed.
“I didn’t want that to be a make or break for you, too many guys have seen Jonah and assumed things before giving me the chance to explain,” I said quietly.
“Well explain.”
I sighed again before starting the story that had changed my entire life.
“I guess I should start at the beginning,” and Austin nodded, “Jonah isn’t mine. I look after him, yes, and legally he’s under my name, but he’s not biologically mine.”
I noticed the look of confusion that crossed his face.
“A year ago, my best friend, Zooey, who I went with to your concert, died of cancer. She was Jonah’s mother, and that was around the first time I went back to the UK, just after I graduated Julliard last year. She was only 23 years old and Jonah was 6.” I saw a look of immense sadness cross Austin’s face as I relayed this to him.
“For a while his father, Tom, looked after Jonah, and although he was struggling with coping on his own, as well as Zooey’s death, he did a good job. But Tom is in the army, and with that comes complications, and he was called out to serve 6 months in Afghanistan about a month after Zooey had died, and although he couldn’t leave Jonah, he decided to go anyway. He wanted to get away from seeing things that reminded him of her. We worked out a plan, Tom gave up custody of Jonah to me, the person both him and Zooey had named in their will should anything happen to both of them, and so Jonah came to live with me over here. Tom came and lived with us for a bit when he was last on leave, so he’s still a massive part of Jonah’s life, but he was called back out last month for 8 months this time around. But I am his legal guardian, and I love him as if he were my own son. They’ve both been through a lot, and I am a hundred percent committed to them as a family.” I finished up. I looked up hesitantly at Austin to see what he was making of it all.
“I’m sorry, I guess like all of the other guys, I made assumptions. But this doesn’t change anything, it doesn’t change how I feel about you, it doesn’t change that I think you’re one of the most genuine people I’ve ever met, in fact it just strengthens all my beliefs I had about you. It shows you’re strong, you’re caring and you’re true. I’ll still be here if you still want me around Emma, because I really like you, and this doesn’t change anything.”
I just looked at him; mouth slightly ajar at his sudden confession. Of course I liked him more than I originally planned, but I had prepared myself for him to forget all about me, so I hadn’t let him dig his way into the depths of my heart. But after that little speech, I was overwhelmed by the urge to kiss him.
As if he could read my mind, he leaned in just a little closer, a little tentatively. I leant towards him slightly, and he moved close enough to let me close the gap between our lips, hesitantly attaching them and slowly starting to move them as I felt him kiss back. And as cliché as it sounds, I felt the fireworks explode.
Notes
So I decided I want this to start taking off, and anyone who knows me knows I have the patience of, I dunno, an impatient thing...so I made them kiss :)Did you like it? Are you surprised about Jonah's true origins etc?
Let me know in a comment :)
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Ta peeps x
9/8/13