Austin woke up to the sound of Ava's broken whimpers.

He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and gently shook Ava's shoulder, but it was no use and she continued to cry out for help. His numerous attempts at waking her up were all unsuccessful so he pulled her into his arms and sat up against the headboard, being careful not to touch her ribs. He held her close as she finally woke up from the nightmare and cried relentlessly into his chest, her small hands covered her face as she sobbed and gasped painfully. Her tears intensified as she replayed whatever nightmare had haunted her; he couldn't even begin to imagine what her nightmares consisted of, to be honest. Ava cried over her abusive fiancee, Zack, and her parents and friends who had both abandoned her when she needed them the most. She cried harder when she realized that she could have it way worse and that feeling so sorry for herself just seemed so selfish of her.

Austin didn't say anything though, because sometimes there's just nothing to say.

Instead, he just let her cry it all out.

"I'm sorry," She cried, "I didn't mean to wake you up."

His heart broke.

"It's okay Ava, I'm not mad at you," He reassured her, running his hand up and down her back before wrapping both of his arms around her thin shoulders. Austin kissed her forehead and then the tip of her nose, silently reassuring her that everything was going to be okay. She sniffled as her tears finally ceased and Austin was grateful for that, he hated seeing women cry. Ava turned her head until her cheek was pressed against his elongated scar and she tried to forget her atrocious nightmare. She squeezed her eyes shut and reminded herself that she was with Austin and he wasn't going to hurt her or let anything happen to her.

"Do you want me to sing you a song?" Austin asked.

"Are you going to start screaming in my ear?"

"I'll do whatever you ask me to do, baby."

That got a loud giggle out of her.

Austin smiled at the quiet sound and his thumbs skimmed across her cheeks, wiping away any stray tears that lingered on the smooth skin. She peeked up at him through her long eyelashes and Austin was instantly mush under her soft gaze; Ava was definitely a beautiful woman with her cold grey eyes, pale, soft skin, and those big dimples of hers. Austin brushed his hand through her long, brunette hair, noticing how soft the wavy locks were.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Austin asked even though he already knew the answer.

"No," She shook her head, "I don't think that would be a good idea."

He sighed, "Go back to sleep, Ava. If you have anymore nightmares I'll wake you up."

"Thank you," She mumbled, "For being such a good person."

He smiled against her shoulder and Ava could just imagine the corners of his eyes crinkling, "You're welcome."

She closed her eyes and relaxed against his warm chest, allowing his heartbeat to lull her back to sleep. Ava barely knew the man, but she had never felt so sheltered in her entire life. She knew she would wake up in a nice warm bed tomorrow morning without having to worry about Zack.

Ava felt safe with Austin.

****

"I don't know man, I think it's pretty fucking adorable."

"You would think that because you're a flaming homo, Tino."

"Am not! Austin actually looks happy."

Ava heard another man snort, "My fucking ass he-"

A third voice spoke, "Shut the fuck up, you're going to wake them up."

"Too late," Ava mumbled, squinting her tired eyes against the sunlight that streamed through the bedroom window. She rubbed away the crusties from her eyes before focusing on the four men that were standing in the doorway of Austin's bedroom. They all looked like deer caught in the headlights, except for Alan who seemed irritated by Ava's presence. He raised his eyebrows at her, as if asking why she was awake instead of Austin.

Ava was too tired to really care and shyly asked the other men, "Do you want me to wake him up?"

The man with long hair and almond shaped eyes spoke quietly, "There's no rush, we can just chill in the living room for a while."

She decided that she liked the soft spoken man immediately, he seemed nice, like Austin. Ava sat up and stretched her muscles as all of the men dispersed. She yawned, glancing over her shoulder at Austin who was still propped up against the headboard.

She slouched over when she realized she was going to eventually have to go out to the living room with Austin and meet the strangers. Ava hoped they wouldn't be mean to her. The more she thought about it, the more she wanted to cry and she could feel a panic attack coming on. What would they think of her bruises and stitches? What if they instantly thought she was just using Austin? She sat perfectly still, her eyes wide as she took deep breaths and tried to calm herself.

'Stop it Ava,' She warned herself, 'What's the worst they can say anyways? That you're a whore or some slut? Zack has called you worse things anyways.'

"Why is it so cold?" She heard Austin groaned.

She ignored his question, "Your friends are here, I think they're waiting for you."

"Oh yeah, I forgot they were coming over today."

Ava climbed out of bed with Austin and watched awkwardly as he stretched and threw on what originally had been a Slipknot t-shirt that he cut the sleeves off of. She played with her hair, braiding it before unbraiding it and repeating the process until Austin gently grabbed her elbow and pulled her out of the bedroom. She timidly followed him and her pulse quickened when she heard loud voices coming from the kitchen; she couldn't even hear herself thinking because her heart was pounding in her ears.

"And who might this be?" A shorter man with dark hair and chubby cheeks said, toast crumbs flew out of his mouth as he spoke to Ava.

"Guys," Austin said, gaining attention from his fellow band members, except for Alan, "This is Ava. Ava, this is Phil, Aaron, Valentino but you can just call him Tino, and you already met Alan."

"Nice to meet you Ava," Phil, the one from earlier, spoke kindly. He eyed the cut on her forehead warily but smiled at her nonetheless. They all welcomed her with open arms while Alan stood back and watched with crossed arms and an annoyed expression, clearly not happy that his friends had so easily accepted Ava into their tight group. Tino patted the chair next to him with a goofy grin, indicating that Ava should sit in between him and Austin; she hesitantly obeyed and eyed all of the food on the table.

"Can you pass the cheerios and milk?" Ava asked Aaron shyly, who was sitting across from her at the dining table.

He grinned and passed the half empty box before nudging Alan, "See! I'm not the only one who likes them."

The ginger snorted, "Whatever."

Ava noticed the harsh glance Austin threw Alan's way and quickly dropped her head; she didn't want there to be any tension between the band and she definitely didn't want to be the culprit of that tension. Instead of making any conversation with the men, she ate her cheerios in silence and avoided eye contact with all of everyone, which was hard considering they all found her fascinating for some reason and would occasionally gaze at her with curiosity. They knew something was up judging by her injuries, but they never said anything about it; except for Aaron who said that Ava was going to have a badass scar when she got the stitches taken out. When she finally looked up from her empty cereal bowl, Ava was startled to find Phil staring at the stitched up gash on her forehead again. He raised his eyebrows, as if asking her if she was okay. Ava gave him a tiny smile and nodded her head; she didn't even notice Austin, who was watching the silent conversation with a small smile of his own.

He made a mental note of thanking Phil later for being so nice to Ava.

She tore her eyes away from Phil and glanced up at Austin.

His eyes softened and he grabbed her hand underneath the table, comforting Ava immediately.

The guys all talked about their music and the new album they were currently working on while Ava sat quietly and listened to every word each man said. She noticed how Tino and Aaron were the jokesters and made everyone laugh with their silly remarks. Phil didn't really say much, but when he did everyone would get quiet and listen to whatever he had to say. However, Ava found it strange how much Alan and Austin were alike yet different at the same time. They both seemed the most mature and Ava could easily tell that Of Mice & Men meant the world to both of them. Alan was definitely more serious and he clearly wasn't as accepting as Austin, but Ava couldn't really blame him. She knew he was just trying to keep all of the girl drama out of his band.

Though Alan already despised her, Ava respected him and she hated herself for that.

She hated herself for always giving a shit about people who couldn't give two shits about her. Ava hated herself for being a pushover and constantly letting people walk over her; she wished she had the confidence to stand up for herself.

She watched as the band interacted with each other; they looked like a happy family.

Ava tried to fight back the jealousy that pumped through her veins.

She wished she could be as happy as they were in that moment.

Notes

Chapter title is from Hands Like Houses' song, Shapeshifters.

This was a bit fillerish, but I thought it was kind of necessary to show how Phil and Ava's friendship begins :)

Hope you enjoy! <3