cardigan, a. butler

one hundred & forty-five

one hundred & forty-five, moon and saturn

just like he had said, austin showed up ten minutes later and now the two sat in silence as elsie debated on if she should tell austin what happened with jackie or not.

she knew austin valued jackie's opinion more than anyone else's and if he found out that jackie hated him, he'd take it to heart.

austin could tell from the way elsie avoided his gaze that it had something to do with him and she just didn't want to tell him.

"what happened, cilla?" he asked after becoming fed up with the silence.

"nothing, just a small argument with jackie." she shrugged, hoping that he would leave it be.

"you wouldn't have asked me to come if it was a small argument, elsie. seriously, what happened?" he asked as elsie stared at him for a moment before letting out a sigh.

"jackie found out i said no to hayden's proposal." elsie muttered as she looked down at her hands.

"and she was kind of the reason why he proposed in the first place." elsie sighed as austin listened.

"what?" austin asked, unsure if he had heard her correctly.

"i don't really know all of the details but she helped hayden plan the proposal and when she found out that i had said no, she texted me in absolute disbelief." elsie stated with annoyance.

"why would she do that if you were the one that broke up with hayden?" austin asked, slightly confused.

"i have an idea." elsie sighed as she rubbed her face with her hands with frustration.

"it's because of me, isn't it?" he asked after a moment of realization.

"yeah. she didn't like that i went to paris with you for the day and she asked if we got back together. i then proceeded to tell her you were only helping me fulfill my bucket list and that even if we did get back together, i wouldn't have told her.

she then began to remind me everything that happened with kaia and basically scolding me for letting you back into my life as if i'm not fully aware of everything that happened." elsie scoffed with frustration at her sister.

"maybe she's right, elsie. i did hurt you and humiliated you for the entire world to see." austin sighed as he was reminded about his greatest mistake.

"she's not right, austin. we have grown since that night, two years ago. we are completely different people. you have apologized more times than i can remember and i know you have been beating yourself up over it ever since. she doesn't get to decide who i should or shouldn't forgive. she forgave luke after everything that happened, why can't she forgive you? if anything, that makes her a hypocrite." elsie remarked.

"that may be true but she's your sister, elsie. she's just looking out for you and i won't let you ruin your relationship with her because of me." austin shook his head as he began to sit upright.

"it's not because of you, austin." elsie shook her head as she watched him stand up.

"she wouldn't have pushed hayden to propose to you if i hadn't showed up to surprise you. everything is because of me." austin frowned as he stood up.

"maybe you were better off without me in your life." austin sighed as he began to walk towards the front door.

elsie immediately stood up and grabbed his arm to stop him from leaving her alone.

"you came into my life when i wasn't sure if i'd ever get back to where i was in my career. i had just returned from my hiatus and i had no motivation or drive to look for any jobs. i came out of hiding with basically nothing. that night, you brought me back from my slump.