• Chapter Two
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    My heart pursued a dangerous path when it chose Austin. I always knew that. He was sweet, compassionate, and everything I wanted and more. The reason he was so dangerous, was that if anything happened to him, I would surely cease to exist. For I could not go on without him near. To depend on someone fully, heart, mind, body and soul is to give them and the rest of the world the key to your death.
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    My legs crumpled underneath me. My breath came in shallow gasps. I heard this god awful sound that didn't help my fragile state whatsoever...

    Oh, wait, that god awful sound was coming from me, I'm sobbing...I am actually crying...I hadn't noticed the fresh tears pouring down my cheeks.

    "Zoe!" Austin cried out, rushing to my side.

    He tried to hold me, but my body just refused, kicking and wailing, like a little kid.
    My mind on the other hand, had withdrawn, wanting more than anything just to forget. I wanted to pretend the call, losing Livvy and Noah, her parents and brothers disappearance, had never happened and just live in the pretty little past.

    If only it were truly that easy...

    "Zo! Zoe, come on Zoe!" Austin continued to cry out.

    I shook my head, I was overcome with emotions that ran in a disarray, a mess that I couldn't sort through.

    I cried till I had no more tears to shed, and my throat throbbed. I thrashed about until I could no longer feel my legs. Austin fought with me till I finally quit writhing and striking about.

    My body wasn't the only thing that let itself go numb. My mind went blank after my rambling thoughts no longer made sense.

    I was just a whimpering shell of a person.

    "Are you ready to talk to me yet?" Austin whispered.

    "I-I can't hold it in anymore..." I murmured, looking up at him.

    "You'll never have to hold it in with me angel..." He whispered again, cradling my head in his hands.

    So, I explained, it poured through my lips. Tears continued to flood my eyes and fog up my vision, cascading down my cheeks in swirling paths down my now heated cheeks. Austin just listened, patiently waiting for me to stop stuttering, soothing me when needed and just holding me when I finished

    "Now what?" I finally asked him.

    "I was actually hoping you knew babe." He laughed, for the first time in a long time.

    "I've missed it" I confided.

    "What exactly did you miss?" He asked, his eyebrows furrowing together in an adorable display of confusion.

    "Your laugh" I told him, putting my palms on the corner of his mouth, caressing the spots where his dimples usually showed when he grinned.

    "I miss yours more..." Austin sighed.

    I sad smile flitted over my face, I have no recollection of the last time I truly laughed, you know...A laugh that is from deep inside, its guttural and infectious. A sound that you can't help but let pass through you lips, the kind of laughter that makes your stomach ache, and your lungs feel like your going to burst from lack of oxygen. That's the kind of laugh he missed, and I knew it.

    Its just...How do you laugh when you know either your life is going down to hell, or if you actually survive, then its going to be chaos?