Dedicated to @triloree for her constant support on this story. Thank you so much!

Chapter 20

There was loud pop, followed by a hiss. I straightened in my seat just as Austin cursed under his breath. Then, almost mockingly, Georgina slowed to an uneven stop. The telltale rumble of the engine died and as soon as the car stopped moving, smoke billowed out of the hood.

"Shit," Austin said, moving quickly. Without thinking twice about it, he removed his seatbelt and got out of the car.

I followed suit, half-worried Georgina might explode, and got out as well. I scrambled out of the seat and stepped out, shutting the door close, as I walked over to the front. Austin had just opened the hood when I got there, making the smoke rise from it.

He leaned away, waving his hand in front of his face, and started coughing. I covered my nose immediately, taking one step back.

"What happened?" I asked him, my voice slightly muffled by my hand.

"I'm not sure," he replied. "Something's wrong with the engine."

"Can you fix it?"

The smoke was starting to clear. He leaned over and reached for something, but quickly removed his hand. "It's hot. I need it to cool down a little first. Can you go get the toolbox in the trunk?"

I fought back the urge to complain, feeling almost immune to our bad luck, and went to retrieve the toolbox. I should have seen it coming, now that I thought about it. Georgina was old, and no matter how much I've grown to tolerate her, I should have known that something like this was inevitable.

We were just around a five-minute drive away from Tyler's, but on foot, it would take us probably around fifteen minutes. And leaving Georgina in the middle of the road at such a late hour didn't exactly seem like a good idea.

There were muffled rattles when I lifted the toolbox to take it to Austin's. I carried it with my good hand and slammed the trunk close with my other.

"How long will this take you?" I asked him.

He was busy looking at the wires and whatever, examining the engine in the dim streetlight, as if he was trying to figure out what the problem was. "Not too long."

I had just finished telling him about my father—telling him about the things even Tori had never heard of—and he was about to tell me a secret of his in return. I wondered what it was going to be. I wondered if it concerned the redhead or if it had anything to do with his fear of blood.

Bringing up his end of the deal now, however, didn't exactly seem like a good idea. He looked so focused—brows slightly creased, lips turned down into a slight frown—it was almost funny. I watched him silently, recalling the conversation we were having before Georgina interrupted.

Even though I was curious, I decided to keep my mouth shut.

I heaved a sigh and looked around, surveying our surroundings. There was an empty lot across the street. There was something creepy about seeing an empty lot with overgrown weeds, like anything could jump out of it, so I quickly looked away. My eyes landed on the small building just a few steps away where Georgina had stopped.

There was a purple and gold sign that read Madame Aurelie's in a fancy script, along with a logo that resembled a tarot card inscribed in a six-pointed star.

I vaguely remembered Tori telling me about it once, saying one of her cousins got her fortune read by some local psychic.

I wondered, for a moment, if Tori had perhaps gone here over the course of the night. It definitely seemed like something she would do, especially on a night where she was determined to find her "soulmate."

I didn't think it would be open at—I checked my wristwatch—eight minutes past one in the morning, but I found myself inching a bit closer to it. The sign was brightly lit, which gave me at least a little hope that it would still be open, but from where I was standing, I couldn't see what was written on the smaller sign hanging on the door.

"Hey," I said distractedly. "I'm just going to check that shop out."

Austin looked over his shoulder to see what I was talking about. Even in the dim light, I could see his brows shoot up. "Madam Aurelie's?"

I shrugged. "It sounds like something Tori would go to."

"If you say so."

Walking towards it felt funny. I was afraid someone would drive by, see me and think I'm some kind of idiot who believed in fortune-telling like Tori was.

Surprisingly, the sign hanging on the door was a generic Come In, We're Open! It looked slightly out of place against the wooden door, especially with the stained glass decoration it harbored. I suspected the owner might have just forgotten to flip the sign—and it felt ridiculous anyway—so I decided not to check it out anymore.

As soon as I took a step back, however, the door swung open. It caught me by surprise, making me jump a little. I stared as an old woman emerged, smiling at me like it was the most normal thing in the world.

"Hello," she said, her voice thick with an accent I couldn't quite identify. Russian? German? "I have been expecting you."

I wasn't quite sure how to reply, completely speechless. I found myself staring at her, taking note of the startlingly purple frock she was wearing, as well as the various rings on her fingers. Long necklaces hung around her neck and her (probably artificial) orange hair was piled on top of her head in a messy updo.

"Come in," she said. Whether she was only pretending not to take offense by my staring or not, I wasn't sure. She turned before I could tell her to wait, already moving inside the house without checking if I was following.

Any other time, I would never voluntarily go in a place as dodgy as this with some woman whose first words to me were that she had been "expecting me," but it wasn't like I would be of much help with to Austin anyway, so I went in.

The overhead light was yellow, casting the room in a soft glow. Around me, there were shelves filled with all sorts of trinkets—jars with different stones, amulets, different kinds of shells, necklaces made with different beads and a number of things I couldn't even begin to describe.

"Come along, now," the woman said, disappearing into another room. There was no door, but different colored glass beads hung on the doorway. For all I knew, it could have been a torture chamber, and my mind was screaming for me to leave and stop wasting my time, but I couldn't move.

"I'm not—I'm not here for a reading," I said loudly instead, hoping she could hear me.

She emerged from the curtain of glass beads, giving me a patronizing smile. "That's what you think."

I shook my head. "No. I, uhh, I'm just here to ask... something."

"That's what they all come for, dear."

The smell of the incense burning was beginning to give me a headache and already, I was beginning to realize this hadn't exactly been the best idea. I took a step back. "I'll—I'll just leave. Sorry for disturbing you."

"Oh, dear," she said, tilting her head to the side. "You are in search of something, yes?"

My brows furrowed. "What?"

"You are searching for something," she replied. "You've gone through a lot, but you keep looking."

Was she talking about searching for Tori? The calm smile on her face was beginning to creep me out, as well her lucky guesses. I took a step back, feeling somewhat threatened. "I'm looking for my friend. I was wondering if she dropped by here."

She stared at me, the unnerving smile never leaving her face.

Feeling stupid, I cleared my throat. "She's Asian. Kind of short. A guy was with her."

"My child," she said, her accent coming off stronger than before. "You are searching for something, but I fear you do not see what it is you should be looking for."

There was something about the pitying look on her face that irritated me. "No," I said through gritted teeth. "I'm looking for my friend. Clearly, she isn't here, so I'll just leave now. Thank you for your time."

As soon as I turned, she spoke again. "You are looking for the wrong thing, but you long for something else. You do not see it yet, but soon you will."

I left, the smell of the incense bringing a steady pounding on my head. Bullshit from Tori, I could tolerate, but from a nutcase with a bad dye job and more eyeliner than Avril Lavigne? I'd rather have rom-com marathon (ick) alone. I pushed the archaic-looking door open and walked fast, letting it swing shut as I went back to where Austin and Georgina were.

Searching for something? What was she even on about? I didn't even know how some people could pay to get some bullshit from people like her. It was like paying Tori to talk to me about all this "soulmate" thing.

My temper hadn't yet cooled off when I reached Austin.

"Find something?" he asked, looking up from what he was doing.

"Nothing but a crazy—what the fuck?"

I stared at Austin, mouth hanging open as my mind tried to process the sight of him, a slightly annoyed expression on his face.

"What?" he said.

"You're wearing glasses."

"Thanks, Captain Obvious." He shook his head and promptly turned away to get back to work.

I was still trying to make the image make sense. Less than five minutes ago, I left him looking completely normal. After all that psychic mumbo-jumbo, I came back this guy wearing black full-framed glasses. And, dare I say it, Austin fucking looked hot in them.

It wasn't that I had something for guys with glasses or anything—I wasn't like Tori who I suspect secretly had some glasses fetish—but there was something about an asshole like Austin wearing glasses that didn't make sense yet still made perfect sense.

"I dropped one of my contacts when I rubbed my eyes. I lost it," he explained even though I hadn't asked. "Quit staring."

I averted my eyes. "I wasn't staring."

He snorted, shaking his head a little. "Right." Even without looking, I could see him smile. "Sure you weren't."

"I wasn't," I insisted, feeling defensive all of a sudden.

"What happened in there anyway?" he asked me, pointing vaguely at the direction of Madam Aurelie's, wrench in hand. "You look pissed."

While I was glad to get off the topic of staring, I wasn't exactly happy to talk about that orange-haired weirdo either. "She was talking bullshit."

"No sign of the Idiots?"

I shook my head, once again recalling the stupid conversation I had with her, as well as the pitying look she had given me. I wasn't the one who needed professional help here.

"Let me guess," he said, a smile suddenly playing on his lips. "She talked to you about true love's kiss or your destiny?"

I narrowed my eyes at him.

His smile grew wider. "Oh, wait, no. I got it. She told you you're going to be happy and the pessimist in you just couldn't take it."  

"Ha-ha. You're very funny," I said drily.

He shrugged. "So I've been told."

I crossed my arms over my chest. "How much longer is that going to take you?"

"Any minute now."

Even though it was summer, it had grown considerably cold. I hugged myself when a cool breeze blew past, blowing some of my hair to my face. I was so ready to call it a night. I sat on the sidewalk, bringing my knees closer to my chest, and pretended the small cracks in the road were suddenly interesting.

After a moment of prolonged silence, he suddenly said, "My mother left when I was a baby."

It was so sudden, my weary mind almost couldn't process it. I looked at him. He had stopped working on the engine and was instead turning the wrench pointlessly over and over with his hands. My mind scrambled to make sense of the heaviness in his voice, the way his face had taken on a blank expression.

"She took off. She didn't want a baby, so she left," he continued, voice growing scarily serious. "I was just four months old."

"Oh, my god," I said, suddenly feeling sick. I looked at him, trying to search for something in that unreadable expression on his face.

"At first, Dad wanted me to think she died," he continued. ""They never married, my parents. He didn't even know she was pregnant until a month before my birth. I was fourteen when he got laid off his job. He came home drunk. He accidentally let it slip.  Told me she didn't die. She just... left."

I couldn't find my voice, nor did I know what to say anyway. There was nothing I could do but stare at him silently, wondering if I should say sorry while fighting the urge to pity him. I knew he wouldn't want my pity.

He took a deep breath and shook his head, keeping his eyes on the wrench in his hand. "It would have been better if she was dead."

"Don't say that," I said weakly.

"If she died, at least it wouldn't be her choice," he said, the words coming off shakier; less stable. "But she didn't. She chose to leave."

I opened my mouth to speak, but I couldn't bring myself to say anything.

I could hear his pain, in the way his voice broke at the last word. I could see it in the way his hands began to shake. I could feel it in the air, almost as palpable as the incense in the shop earlier, and I couldn't help but feel as though he had changed before my eyes.

When the silence finally seemed unbearable, I said, "You've never seen her?"

He shook his head.

"She's missing out," I found myself saying. He paused, but he didn't look at me. Louder, I said, "She's missing out on a lot."

I wasn't sure why I said that, but only when I'd spoken the words did I realize I meant them for real. We might not have gotten along well for the most part of the night, but over the few hours we've been together, I've seen glimpses of his good qualities. His peculiar kindness towards strangers and even the quick smartass retorts were worth something.

Austin wasn't half bad.

When he turned to me, I caught my breath.

There was a smile on his face—gentle and genuine and vastly different from his smirk, or the wide grin he had when he was talking with Peter. "Your Dad, too," he replied. "He's missing out on a lot, too."

---

Almost as if by some unspoken agreement, neither of us said anything on the rest of our drive to Tyler's.

After he told me about his mother, keeping up with his end of the game, it didn't take long to fix whatever was wrong with Georgina. When we both got into the car, it was like we agreed not to continue the conversation.

The silence, to my surprise, had been comfortable. Neither of us spoke, save for me telling him the way, and we merely shared a pack of Doritos silently.

"Take a right on the next street," I said before grabbing a few pieces of Doritos from the opened pack on the console. "That's Tyler's street."

It felt like we had gone full circle. The whole night began here and now we were back there. We hadn't made any progress finding the Idiots, and it almost felt like we were going back to square one.

I watched as Tyler's house came into view. There were no cops left, which was a good sign, and as Austin pulled into the curb, I suddenly felt a jolt of panic. I remembered the unfinished conversation I had with Tyler and how I had run away.

I wasn't ready to face him yet.

"This Tyler," Austin suddenly said, speaking again for the first time. "You and him...?"

I chose to ignore him completely, deciding there was simply no right answer to that, and unbuckled my seatbelt. I got out of the car, surprisingly hasty for someone who didn't want to talk to Tyler.

I heard Austin get out too, but he didn't ask me again. The two of us just stood there for a moment, just staring at the Tyler's house. The light on the front porch was open, as well as the ones in the living room.  Whether they continued the party or didn't, I wasn't sure, but I was pretty certain that Tyler was awake.

"Come on," Austin said, watching me closely.

Forcing my legs to move, I tried to clear my thoughts. If I had a clear objective in mind, then I was pretty sure I could do this. I began to walk towards the front door, Austin trailing behind me. I could only hope that the Idiots had gone here, perhaps in search of us too, but I already knew better than to get my hopes up.

When we got close enough to the door, I stopped, bracing myself before lifting a hand to ring the doorbell.

"You know," Austin muttered beside me. "You're acting very suspicious."

"Shut up."

"Seriously," he said. "If you don't want to talk to the guy, just say so and we'll leave."

The offer was incredibly tempting, but even before I could delude myself into thinking of running away again, the door swung open. I held my breath.

Tyler came into view, wearing a plain white shirt along with some board shorts. He looked confused at first, but as soon as he saw me, a grin made its way to his face.

"Hey," he said, then his eyes slid over to Austin.

His smile faltered. 

---

A/N: 

whoa heeeyyyyy the past two chapters felt so emotionally draining hahahaha. seeeee now you've gotten a little glimpse of austin and I FIND MADAME AURELIE REALLY FUNNY HAHAHA.

happy friday, everyone! hope you enjoyed this and do tell me what you think. (YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW GLAD I AM TO GIVE TYLER MORE SCREEN TIME <3 i'm still terribly fond of him.) 

 Update as of 03/08/15:

I'm putting this story on an indefinite hold. Refer to the external link for more information.  Please refrain from spamming the comments with "why????" or "yOU suCKSZzxzzxz" until you've read what's written on the external link.

I sincerely apologize, but I do hope you understand. Thank you so much x