Misunderstood(COMPLETED)

Chapter 9

Austin entered the room filled with his fellow bandmates. Normally he welcomed the group gathering but this time was different, this time was for explaining his actions, his fear.

"Would you like a drink" Tim asked as he poured a shot for Chance.

"I thought you stopped drinking" Austin remarked.

"Doesn't mean I can't tend bar" Tim answered handing him a shot.

Austin pound it down and handed the glass back for another. He needed all the courage he could gather to even begin the long overdue conversation.

"We need to set some ground rules" Rob  stated.

Both men raised their brows as they turned towards him.

"Ahem....what I meant was" he continued.

"We know what you mean, Rob. We're not gonna beat on each other, are we" Tim remarked now looking back at Austin.

"Nope, no ass whoopins here" Austin replied, throwing back another shot.

Chance sat off in the corner giving Tim and Austin room to converse. If it was true that he was the cause of any problems between the two he wanted to be sure to stay out of the way.

"So little brother, tell me, what's wrong" Tim began sitting in a chair across from Austin.

Austin shook his head, "I can't do this"  he told himself. "He's gonna laugh, they're all gonna laugh. It's stupid, childish, I can't ".

"You need to tell me, Red. I can't fix this, this whatever it is, until you do" Tim told him.

Tim meant the words he was saying, he wanted to fix whatever was wrong between them. He had racked his brain for the last several hours since Adam spoke to him, desperate to figure out exactly what he'd done wrong.

Austin ran his hands through his hair, leaning forward enveloping his head with his arms. He began to rock back and forth.

The others watched at his strange behavior, but it wasn't strange to Tim. He'd seen it before, years ago and again when Olena left him.

"Hey guys, how about you leave Austin and I to discuss this alone, in private" Tim suggested.

"Are you sure" Adam asked cautiously .

"But I thought you wanted us all here, that it involved all of us" Rob commented as Adam and Chance stood to leave.

"Come on, Rob. Let's leave them alone" Adam replied, pulling at his friends arm. Standing, utterly confused, Rob followed behind Adam as he opened the door.  Chance looked back at Tim, asking with his eyes if he was sure this was how he wanted to handle it. Tim blinked a slight nod to answer.

As the door to his room shut, Tim centered himself in front of Austin. Taking his hands from around his head, he placed them in his own. "Talk to me, please, just talk to me" he asked.

****
"I've got a bad feeling about this guys" Rob remarked as the three entered the elevator.

"They will be fine, they need this" Adam stated pushing the button for the lobby.

"Tim knows what he's doing, Rob. Neither is in any danger from the other. They're family" Chance replied as the elevator doors opened.

"Yeah, well I've seen some knock down drag outs by family before, not this family per say, but well you know what I mean" Rob retorted.

"Buddy, you worry too much. Let's get a drink" Chance stated tapping him on the shoulder.

****
"You used to come to me with everything" Tim stated looking at his friends hands.