Yours Truly, Austin Post - Post Malone

39

Ava scans her apartment and then fluff's the pillows on her couches for the tenth time. She scans it again but walks into her kitchen before she fluffs the pillows again. She had texted Austin this morning knowing they were due back today and invited him and Grayson for dinner. They should be here any minute so she checks her fridge to make sure she got the juice Grayson likes, she bought two bottles of the stuff just in case. In case of what? She does not know but she bought two. She walks out to fluff the pillows again but stops short when she hears a loud knock on her front door. They're here, she has missed them terribly.

"Miss Ava!" Grayson screams when she opens the door and then jumps into her arms nearly bowling her over, luckily Austin is close enough to reach out his arm and steady her. "Careful Gracie, Ava is a tiny thing," he says. Grayson laughs and hugs her tighter. "Sorry, I am just so happy to see you. I missed you," he says. "Well, I missed you more," Ava says. "Dad says you have a cat. May I see it please," he asks. "Of course, he's lying on the couch in my lounge and his name is Mr. Tubs," she says. Grayson wriggles out of her arms and dashes down the passage. She turns to Austin and smiles at him. "Did you miss me too?" he asks.

"I didn't even notice you were gone."

"Aah, she has jokes. Suppose you don't want the gifts we got you then," Austin says. Ava notices that he is holding something behind his back. "I missed you very much," she says with a laugh. "Yup, that's what I thought," Austin says stepping into her apartment. "Dad! Can I eat my dinner in the lounge next to Mr. Tubs? I think he likes me," Grayson says running back to them. "You have not even taken off your jacket  yet and this is Miss Ava's house so you will need to ask her, and what about your gift?" Austin says. "Oh! Yes! I got you a gift," Grayson says pulling off his jacket and throwing it on the floor then rushing up to his father in an attempt to take the gift from behind his back. "Now, Grayson Post. I know you did not just dump your jacket on Miss Ava's tidy floor. Take a breath, son," Austin says sternly, but still tenderly.

Grayson stops and looks between Ava and Austin then hangs his head slightly and seems to calm down a little. "Sorry, I am just excited. Miss Ava, Mr. Tubs, and my gift - it's a lot of stuff," Grayson says. Ava has to hide her smile and she sees Austin suck his lips in to stop his. "That's alright, it's ok to be excited. But, please hang your jacket up, and then you may give Miss Ava your gift," Austin says. Grayson does as his father instructs then reaches round his back and takes his gift, handing it over to Ava. "Open it, I think you will love it," he says. "I know I will love it," Ava says sitting down on her hallway bench and opening the box with Grayson's gift. She frowns slightly when she sees it's full of stuff. "It's very special and I will have to explain it to you. I looked everywhere for a gift but I could not find a perfect one then uncle Dre said to Dad that he should have brought you along and then I thought I would make you feel like you came with us so..." Grayson reaches into the box and pulls out a feather, "Uncle Dre took me to the Zoo and I found this feather then..." he reaches into the box again and pulls out a large white shell, "we went to the beach and I found you this big shell, see how pretty it is...oh! And this," he says pulling out a sugar packet, "we had milkshakes at this fancy restaurant where the people serving us had roller skates on - they are shoes with wheels. This," he pulls out a bar of soap, "is from the hotel we stayed in, and this," he pulls out a ticket stub and a glow stick, "is from dads concert. I got two glow sticks. I used one and kept this one for you. Oh, and this..." he pulls out a photo of him and Austin, "this is a picture I asked one of Dad's fans to take. They were so happy and laughed the whole time and...oh, why are you crying? Don't you like the gift?" he says.

"Grayson, I am crying because you have made me feel so special. This is the best gift I have ever gotten. I love it so much," Ava says wiping her eyes and then pulling him in for a hug. "Good, I am glad you like it. I was thinking of you the whole time and I will do the same when we go overseas for Dad's tour," he says.

"Now I have a surprise for you."

"You do?"

"Yes...I am coming with you on your dad's tour."

"What?!" Grayson screams and then jumps around excitedly. "This is great! We can go to places while Dad works and we are going to have so much fun!" Grayson shouts. "We are. We are going to have the best time," Ava says then stands. "Now, why don't we serve your dinner, and then you can go and sit with Mr Tubs," Ava says walking into the kitchen with Grayson on her heels. She serves his dinner and pours him a glass of juice then carries it to the lounge for him, waiting for him to settle on the couch before she hands it to him and places his juice on a table close by. "Don't feed Mr. Tubs even if he begs, he has had his dinner already," she says. Grayson nods then turns the tv on making himself comfortable as if he owns the place.

Ava smiles to herself then walks back into the hallway, stopping when she sees Austin looking at the pictures of Carter she has up on the wall. He has a soft smile on his face and then reaches up and touches one as if he is lost in his thoughts. He does not look uncomfortable at all that she has almost a full wall of pictures of Carter, he looks proud. "That picture was taken three days before he was diagnosed...not a care in the world," Ava says walking closer. "He is very handsome, Ava, and his eyes...they are kind," Austin says then turns to face her. "He is kind. Once, just before we got married he got a bonus at work and came home. Told me to dress nice and that he was going to take me out to a fancy restaurant. On our way there we saw a homeless woman with three kids. I could see he felt desperate for them so I told him to follow his heart. He took his bonus and got them food and a toy each then we came home and he made me egg on toast...he has a heart of gold," she says.

Austin lifts his hand and produces a little flat box. "I got you a gift too," he says. Ava smiles and opens the box.

"Oh...Austin..."

"I couldn't find a ring holder anywhere so I asked a jeweler in LA to make one. He modeled it off mine if that's ok."

"It's beautiful..."

"I put a little ruby and yellow diamond in there...Carter's colors."

Ava bites her lip, but she can't hide her tears, the gift is so thoughtful. She does not know what to say. "May I?" Austin asks pointing to the string around her neck. She nods then Austin reaches over and breaks the string, holding Carter's ring as if it's a fragile piece of ice. He places the gold chain around her neck then threads the charm around Carter's ring. Ava looks down and sees it sitting beautifully on her chest, on full display. "Thank you," she sniffles and then loops her arms around Austin's torso, hugging him tightly.