Party 'til you pass out / When the party's over

Oliver

Watching Austin fuzz over a very drunk Alison irritated me beyond measure, and I couldn't stand looking at him sitting there, rocking her softly back and forth on his lap. Alison soon fell asleep, and I sighed and smoked yet another cigarette, wishing it was me she'd fall asleep on.

I had seen her coming rushing out of the bus, and I had heard her puke around the corner. It seemed funny at first, until Austin came out after her and took care of her. Only if I hadn't been such an asshole for laughing at her I could have been the one to save her from the nasty feeling of being pissed drunk. I should have been that person. I should have been Austin.

Not that I'd win from Austin, ever. Me and him were two totally different people; where I was grumpy and down, he would always be positive, bright and nice to people. Austin was a genuine nice guy; people loved to hang out with him. His laugh was infectious and he was always in a good mood. No wonder Alison loved being around him, because she had the same mind set. Maybe I could just try to be less of an asshole and more of a nice guy, like Austin.

I got up and walked up to him, making him look back at me.

'Oh, hey,' he said, putting his chin over Alison's sleeping head. Her makeup was smudged; her mascara and eyeliner were all wiped out around her eyes, leaving dark tracks of her tears, and her lipstick was fainted, but yet she still looked beautiful.

''Ey.' I took a seat next to him, rubbing my face as I slid down on my chair, stretching my legs. 'Listen. I eh... I'm sorry about earlier on.' Austin turned his face to look at me, biting his lip. He nodded.

'It's fine.'

'No, it's not. I've been an asshole and I shouldn't have pushed you. I mean, you only came out with Alison because you were worried.' Austin huffed a little.

'Well, actually I only came out searching with her because she was worried,' he answered, then he sighed. 'She cares about you, Oli. More than she'd might show.'

'You sure?,' I asked, furrowing my eyebrows. 'All she does is giving me an attitude all the time.'

'But you do the same with her,' he said while he looked down at Alison and stroked her hair. 'But she cares. A lot.'

'How do you know?' I didn't really believe him. Alison would never like a guy like me, she was too good of a person for that.

'Because she tells me things,' Austin went on. 'We talk a lot, actually. About our lives and the things we love.' His words made me feel uneasy and a little excited at the same time.

'And what does she say about me?'

'That you're an asshole.' He laughed at the face I made. 'But that she cares about you because she knows how you're struggling with yourself. And she hates to see that happening.'

'I've never been really nice to her. Why would she care that much?,' I wondered out loud. Austin shrugged.

'That's the kind of person Alison is, Oliver. Trust me, she's too good for this world sometimes.' I knew he was right. I had seen it happen countless of times; not only with me, when Alison tried to be nice and help me out when she noticed I felt off, which I always refused, but also with Tom and the rest of the lads, and all other people who needed some positivity in their lives at one point. Alison seemed to be that one ray of sunlight someone could need so badly, and she did it so effortlessly that it was almost like a second nature to her. And yet, there was hardly anyone who did the same for her except for Tom and Austin.

Austin shifted in his seat and his face clouded with something that looked like pain for a moment.

'Should I take her?,' I offered him. He looked down at Alison and then nodded with some regret in his eyes.