-Kat's P.O.V-

We drove down one of the main roads that went through the city. The traffic was unbelievable.

"Where are you taking me..?" I questioned him, looking out the window, watching the night crowd coming to life. The sun was just beginning to set and a haze had settled all around from the heat. Orange and yellow lights reflected slightly off the clouds making me feel trapped in the city by big puffs of water colored cotton candy.

Austin didn't answer for a while, and I decided he wasn't going to.

He must've known it was driving me crazy being blind to the situation, and I think he was taking advantage of the fact.

"Nowhere." He finally breathed out, making me jump a little at the unexpected answer.
I turned to him and furrowed my brow, slumping back into the leather seat.

"Fine." I grumbled, glaring at the cars passing us outside.

Two red lights, and the clicking sound of the signal button later, we pulled into a large empty parking lot skirting Denver. (Or so I assumed since there was nothing around but trees.)

He put the e-brake on, and shut off the engine, crossing his arms on top of the steering wheel and moving forward to rest his chin on them. He gazed out the window. Looking like he forgot I was even there.

It looked like a park, green grass wrapped it's way around us in all directions except the one we drove in from. Wooden dividers separated the empty lot from the edge of the lawn, and it was mowed and well kept. A small gate and path leading it's way to what I assumed the heart of all this grass.

The trees swayed, and I noticed that night was quickly falling.

A scenario popped into my head as to why we were in the middle of bloody nowhere. Maybe he had brought me here to rape me. Probably not, but I couldn't rule out all of the possibilities just yet. I didn't know him hardly at all and I had naively said yes to accompanying him to dinner. This didn't look very dinner like to me.

I cleared my throat quietly and looked at him, my neck tingling in fear of the unknown.
Austin met my gaze and smiled weakly. "My mom brought me here once when I was little." He said, more to himself than to me.

I didn't say anything, because I didn't know what to say. Did he want me to comfort him? I've never really been good at that kind of thing.

I remembered when I was younger, my little cousins dog died. My whole family was at a reunion, and they separated the children from the adults so they could chatter undisturbed. I was stuck babysitting the little assholes when they couldn't figure out if I was a mature enough 13 year old to be in the adult group, or if I was still a kid. So they gave me the best of both worlds. Fucking babysitting.

My cousin came up to me while I sat on the ground pulling out handfuls of grass. He told me that his dog had died the day before and he'd loved it more than anything. I didn't know what to do, so I cleared my throat a little and put a hand on his shoulder. He looked at me with round, expectant eyes and so in the most sympathetic tone I could handle I said "Well at least you don't have to feed it anymore." I meant it as a condolence but like I said I wasn't good at pleasantries.

It must've come out as sarcastic or something because he burst into tears and ran away. He won't even speak to me to this day. Mind you, none of my family will.

I cleared my throat again, willing the tightness to leave. My mind was back in the present and I was still at a loss for words. "Well.. Uh.. Maybe bring her here again... As like a sentimental thing or something...?"

He smiled and looked at his hands before making eye contact with me. "She died when I was 17."

I sat there not knowing what to do. "I um.. Oh.. well, shit."

He just nodded and gave me a thin-lipped, dry smile and returned his gaze out the windshield.

"S'okay, wasn't your fault." He paused and continued in a lighter tone. "C'mon, I want to show you something."

He unbuckled his seatbelt and stepped out into parking lot, looking at me expectantly.
I blew a strand of hair out of my face and did the same, shutting the door, and following him to the gate.

It was dark enough that I had to watch where I stepped. He led me up the path and to a spot where we veered away.

"Austin seriously, where are we going?" I was getting anxious and I think he could tell.

He sighed finally giving in. "I remembered how beautiful it was here, and I wanted to take you to dinner." The land dropped suddenly where they must've landscaped in a flat area. He jumped down effortlessly because of his long legs and offered me a hand to help me down as well. I looked at it then back up to his eyes. He raised a questioning brow and moved his hand a little closer to me. I gave in, and took it, jumping down next to him.

He continued what he was saying before. "I brought you here because I wanted you to remember this. If we had just went to a restaurant, I'd have ordered you a drink already and we would be eating fancy little appetizers. Not very memorable. In fact, I've been on those kinds of dates plenty and they're awful. They're boring." He stopped to catch his breath. We were still walking and I saw a glow from up ahead.

It was pretty dark by now, and the glow was warm and bright. There was a river that ran along side us.

"I wanted to make an impression. So in the future, you can think back and remember that time I took you out... because it was different from the other times."

We got closer to the glow and I noticed it was a lantern.

"So I came here before I picked you up.. Dropped everything off, you know." He laughed nervously and rubbed the back of his neck. He seemed to do that often. "I mean, if you don't want to do this, I can still take you home."

I awkwardly smiled at him in reassurance. "No, this isn't as bad as I thought it might be."

It was actually beautiful. The lantern sat in the middle of the table and from the smell around us, it had to be some sort of mosquito repellant. There was a picnic table set up, with two styrofoam cups resting on top, t was the kind of table you had to sit on different sides from each other because it would tip if everybody put their weight on one.

I walked over to the table and sat down on one of the wooden benches. The one facing the water.

He strode over and sat across from me reaching under the table and pulling out an expensive looking bottle of wine.

"Hm?" He gazed at me quizzically holding the unopened wine in his large hands. I noticed how his fingers overlapped each other.

I took it from him since he wasn't opening it and held out an outstretched palm for some kind of bottle opener.

Austin shuffled through his jeans searching for the thing that would pop the cork. He looked pissed for forgetting to give it to me in the first place. Finally he set something black and metal on the table.

"Thank god." I mumbled picking it up and prying the cork out with a few twists.
I poured myself a cup full and him half, worried that he wouldn't be able to keep up.

"Don't worry." He said. "I can keep up just fine." As if he read my mind.

When I gave him a funny look and didn't pour anymore, he put his hand on mine, tipping the bottle so it filled his cup to the brim.

His hand stayed on mine a second, before he slipped the bottle from it and placed it on the table.

"Cheers." He gestured for a toast, raising his cup halfway.

"Cheers." I replied and thunked our cups together, spilling a few drops in the process.

We both took large gulps of it, his eyes crinkling a minute as the wine hit the back of his throat.

-Austin's P.O.V-

I was still shocked that Kat had agreed. But even I had to admit this dinner idea was pretty cheesy. There was a little grocery bag beside my leg that had a few essential things for a good time. A few blankets, alcohol, food, and I think somewhere in the mix there may have been a joint. But I wasn't sure. Tino's idea.

I set my cup down and waited for her to as well.

"So, tell me about yourself. What do you do?" I asked, putting both hands around the styrofoam cup like a coffee mug.

I noticed her watching my hands a lot, I think they fascinated her or something.

-Kat's P.O.V-

I watched his hands as he put them around the cup of wine. His fingers overlapped again.
"I'm a writer. I write articles and shit for a paper company in L.A." I told him, rubbing circles in my jeans. I hated talking about myself.

He gave me a funny look, "A writer?"

"Yeah." I muttered.

"In L.A?"

"Yeah." I repeated. "Try and contain your enthusiasm."

"No, that's awesome! I live there." He paused "I wouldn't have expected you to be a writer."

"Well what did you expect?" I asked.

He took another long drink. "I don't really know anymore, it seems you're full of surprises."

I finished off the rest of my cup and poured another for each of us.

"What do you do besides singing? Err- screaming?" Readjusting myself on the uncomfortable bench, I questioned him.

"I don't do Alan Ashby, despite what everyone thinks." He chuckled and I joined him, both of us chugging the rest of our wine. It was like we were trying to get drunk so this would be easier.

-

I giggled uncontrollably at his joke, I couldn't remember what it was, but it must've been hilarious.

I had drug myself off of the bench and onto the grass to save my ass from that wooden death-table.

Austin was now sitting where I had been, except he was facing away from the river and at me.

He was slumped forward, hands on his knees listening to me laugh.

"Your laugh. Your laugh is very, very cute." He slurred looking directly at me.

When we'd polished of the wine, he pulled out a bottle of triple distilled vodka, and we took turns finishing that off that as well.

I saluted him in thanks like Remmy had done that one day at Warped, but mine turned out a lot sloppier.

I saw a plastic bag kicked under the table. "What's in there?" I asked picking my head up from the ground and pointing at it. My head did circles and my tummy grew warm from the alcohol. I loved it.

His eyes slowly followed my arm until he saw it. Austin put a hand on the table to steady himself and used two fingers to pull the bag to him.

He dug through it for a second before his eyes lit up. "Weed!" He said excitedly.

I lolled my head and laid back on the grass. My neck unable to support it anymore.
I put my arms behind my head and watched the stars twirl and dance for me across the sky. My mind was a mess and all I could do was lay here and think cloudy thoughts.

He produced a lighter from somewhere and held the joint to his lips, lighting it and taking a long drag.

As he exhaled slowly, the smoke was milky and curled up, billowing into the sky and dancing with all the stars. It was chilly outside but I hardly noticed from the heat bubbling in my mind and around my heart. I felt as light as a feather.

"Here. Join me." He said and leaned forward trying to hand it off. He reached his forearm out as far as he could.

When I didn't make any movement to grab it, he suddenly pitched forward losing his balance.

I squeezed my eyes shut, and when I opened them, he was barely hovering over me, a hand on each side side of my face. Just above my shoulders. His warm breath hitched and I felt it float over my cold cheeks and red nose. His eyes were really brown like hot chocolate and his lips were full, the ring in his nose glinting from the light of the dying lantern. It made me aware of the one in mine. I had never taken the time to notice any of these things before, mostly because we'd never been so close to each other. I took a deep breath willing myself to keep still, but it wavered, betraying me. I hoped he hadn't noticed and wouldn't say anything, because there's was no way he was thinking the things I was. Is he going to lean down and put his lips on mine? Or am I going to have to pull him down? Just then Austin untangled himself from me an rolled off, landing on the grass. I had missed my chance.

-Austin's P.O.V-

I watched her lips. Her beautiful full, pink lips, that matched her cheek bones that were flushed the color of strawberry flavored milk. I may have been drunk but I could still think about how perfect she looked right now. Hair messy around her head, and piercing blue eyes that even though were glazed over from vodka, still bore into me. Like she knew everything I've ever dreamt of, or wished for. She moved her arms from behind her head and down to her side. Everything was in slow motion. The way her breath caught and her eyes closed when I fell. How she smelled like incense and hotel soap, and the way her skin looked like porcelain under the moonlight.

The joint fell into the grass beside us, and I dreaded losing my position, but I needed to pick it up before something caught fire.

I took one last look at her, soaking in the ecstasy of being this close, then rolled off carefully, laying beside her. I grabbed it up swiftly and placed it between my teeth, the knots and prickles in my stomach slowly unraveling.

It was like she gave me a high better than weed. When I was hovering over her she looked dazed and I could've kissed her. I could've leaned down and satisfied my hunger. I tried to swallow but it got stuck in my throat. My self control was gone and it took everything I had not to grab her and press every inch of us as close together as possible. But I couldn't because I had I had missed my chance.

-Kat's P.O.V-

Shocked, I tried to comprehend what had happened. When I turned to him, he looked calm and unfazed, watching the stars again. They twisted and formed new shapes with the lingering smoke in the air. I could only really see his silhouette and the burning end of the joint, since the light had pretty much gone out. So I gazed back at the sky as well.

"Pass it here," I hiccuped "I'll take a hit."

He blew out another lungful into the crisp night and passed it to me between his thumb and index.

I took it thankfully and sucked in the familiar taste. It slid over my tongue and burned my throat, making me dizzy. When I breathed out, the milky smoke reached towards the sky, looking like claws trying to gather up the stars and block out the moon.

I breathed in once more and felt the same dizziness wash over me, before passing it back. I was so out of it I had a feeling tomorrow was going to be painful. But right now I was trying to regain composure and calm the prickling sensations with marijuana.

He rolled onto his side and propped himself up with an elbow. "Hey." He said. His eyes were red and half closed.

"Hey." I grinned back, hiccuping again. "I really wanna sleep." I mumbled forcing my eyes not to close. "And I'm hungry."

He sat up and pulled the plastic bag closer. In his disoriented state, he threw me a sandwich and a baggy filled with goldfish crackers, but missed by about a mile and the food soared over my head, landing on the ground with a thump.

He let out a laugh and grabbed the picnic table to pull himself up shakily. "Sorry bout that." He breathed, stepping over me and to the sandwich. I was starving and I would've got it myself, but I doubted I could even stand up.

He stumbled back over to me and dropped the food near my hands before falling back down to where he was before.

"Do you have your phone?" He asked, offering the joint to me again.

I took it and laughed, "Of course," hiccup. "I always have it."

I felt so light, I thought I might have floated away if Austin wasn't here anchoring me to reality. Relaxed, I was so unbelievably relaxed.

I took one last hit before putting it out on the ground beside me.

"Can I borrow it?" He asked. Both of us still laying beside each other, neither of us touching.
I raised my hip into the sky and pried my iPhone out of my back pocket. "Here." My head spun with the movement.

I had no idea what he was doing on it, and I didn't really care, I was too busy staring at nothing and enjoying the empty space in my brain.

Ten minutes had to have gone by when he handed my phone back and stood up. Waving around like a tall tree in a wind storm.

"C'ommon." He said, leaning down to offer me both hands in order to stand.

I reached up to him blindly, attempting to take them but only grasping at air. He finally grabbed my upper arm and pulled me into a standing position. I fell back down.

"I think," hiccup, "you got me in a little bit of a pickle." I giggled as I curled back up on the ground.

I vaguely remember him scooping me up into his arms and carrying me and the plastic bag.
I shut my eyes.

"Don't go to sleep on me now." He said, peering down at me.

"No... I'm just closing my eyes.." I murmured, and I was, I wasn't going to fall asleep. But maybe a nap wouldn't hurt, I'll wake up before we get to wherever we're going.

And with that, I passed out in his arms.

-Austin's P.O.V-

She fell asleep as soon as I picked her up, despite me telling her not to. She was even stubborn when she was drunk.

I sighed and tried to walk as straight as I could for her sake, I didn't want to accidentally break her neck. I saw her feet bounce with every step I took and I noticed her black and white converse.

She buried her head in my chest, and I felt like she was mine for a second. I knew tomorrow was going to be hell, she was going to wake up sober and hate me all over again, no matter what I said to convince her otherwise.

The concrete under my feet brought me back to reality, I was in the parking lot now, and my arms were getting heavier and heavier. I shifted her up a bit, trying to make us both a bit more comfortable.

A pair of headlights pulled around the corner, and got closer to me standing in the middle of the lot.

The window rolled down and I saw Kat's friend from earlier. Riley? Rachael? Reese? I don't fucking know, her name was saved as 'This Bitch' in Kat's phone.

I'd texted her and asked for a ride since we were both way too impaired to drive ourselves anywhere.

"Throw her in the backseat and come sit up front." She told me yawning, tapping the pads of her fingertips on the steering wheel.

"No it's okay." I told her. "I'll sit in the back."

I slid into the car holding Kat's head so she wouldn't hit it on anything. I held her in my arms the entire ride, until we pulled up to the Best Western.

"You know where the room is? She asked. I nodded and she turned on her heel, making her way to the elevator before me.

I got out of the car with her still fast asleep in my arms. My head spun a little and I waited a second until the dizziness subsided.

The walk to the elevator was okay but going up must have triggered more dizziness because trying to get to their room was hell. I slumped against the walls of the 5th floor. I had no idea what time it was, but I must've looked like the drunkest white kid anyone had ever seen.

The room numbers blurred, but I finally found the right one and basically fell into their hotel room.

I kicked the door closed and set Kat on the unoccupied bed across from her friend that had picked us up. I pulled off her shoes, and remembered the first time I had tucked her in. How rude I had been. I thought she was just another girl that loved sleeping with band members, but I was utterly wrong. I ran a hand down the side of my face and turned to leave.

"Wait!" A weak voice called out barely a whisper.

I looked over my shoulder.

"Wait," Kat said again a bit louder. "Where are you going?" She asked.

I shuffled over to her bed and sat by her side. "I have to go." I told her putting a gentle hand on her forehead to make sure she wasn't too hot.

She narrowed her tired eyes at me. "No you don't, so you don't have to," hiccup "lie to me."

She pulled at the collar of my shirt. "You don't have anywhere to go.. Do you?" She pulled back the comforter beside her and patted the bed, absently. "Stay with me asshole." She laughed weakly before shutting her eyes again and letting go of my shirt.

I glanced over at her friend sitting on the other bed.

She shrugged at me.

"You're just motherfucking Austin Carlile. No big deal. Breathe Remmy." She muttered to herself while pulling the duvet of her own bed back. "Breathe."

Remmy! That was her name.

I took my shoes off and crawled up onto the tall bed. I made sure not to touch her in case she got mad, and I stayed fully clothed, just in case.

"Goodnight." I whispered, loud enough so only Kat could hear me. I dozed off almost instantly, but not before I heard a muffled "night," in return.

Notes

So what did you think off the perspective change? It reminds me of Eleanor & Park, and I love that book.

If you didn't like it let me know, I'll try to add less of it.

Vote / Comment / Subscribe! Make my day bae. c: (That Rhyme Tho)