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carolinesmarshall :

The gentle squeak of the door accompanied by the frantic rattling of the blind against the window caused Caroline to suddenly snap from her thoughts, her eyes moving from her daughter to her husband. She was almost motionless, lead by his actions as he pulled her into an embrace, her own arms moving to wrap tightly around him. The only support she had ever had with the twins was from Austin, and right now she was thankful she hadn’t entirely pushed him away. 

Slowly, Caroline broke their embrace and took a tentative glance towards Olivia, and then Amelia who was still curled up fast asleep on the couch. The brunette nodded her head towards the other couch, inviting Austin to join her as she sat down. “They were at school,” Caroline began, her voice a little rough from the constant worrying and crying, “she fainted and she struggled to gain her consciousness again so they called for an ambulance. The doctors said that her heart has weakened again.” at these words her voice faltered slightly - this wasn’t the first time it had happened to Olivia in her life. “They don’t want to take her off the machines yet because they don’t know if her heart will be able to keep up so they’ve induced her for now.”

Austin was aware of his daughter's fragile heart, but he never imagined that something would actually happen. It was stupid on his part, but it was a lot better than fearing for his daughter's life at all times. Once he pulled away from Caroline, he immediately walked over to where Olivia lay. She was fast asleep, innocent as ever, with a hand curled up on her side. Austin reached forward, bending over to kiss her forehead gently. He joined Caroline on the couch moments later, unable to pull his gaze away from Olivia. He hated that she was at school when it happened. Amelia must've been so scared.  "We raised strong kids," Austin finally said, refusing to even consider an alternative where Olivia didn’t end up okay. Even if he and Caroline weren’t together anymore, even if they didn’t technically raise them under the same roof, that didn’t change anything. Caroline was his wife. Olivia and Amelia were his daughters. He’d do anything for them, any day. Austin reached over, taking Caroline’s hand in his own. He squeezed it, tightly. “She’s gonna be okay, you know? And if this hospital ain’t good enough, we’ll take her somewhere else.” Austin had more than enough money to spend on bills, he didn’t want Caroline to worry about that. “How’s Amelia?”

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Austin wasn't expecting to see Caroline's name light up on his phone. It took his body a moment to react. He figured she needed a last minute babysitter, or maybe even some money. Something other than what she said. It was Olivia's heart. Immediately, Austin dropped what he was doing and rushed to the hospital. Caroline sounded scared, and he was, too. Despite his differences with Caroline and not seeing the girls as much as he'd want to, they were still his number one priority. Nothing would ever change that.

After barging into the hospital, a very frantic Austin was led to the pediatric wing where Olivia had been placed. Walking down the hall of sick kids was fucking depressing, and Austin did his best not to even acknowledge them. His only focus was on getting down the end of that hallway. The nurse ushered Austin into the room, where he saw a terrified Caroline. "Care..." Austin began, eyes stinging at the sight of a delicate little Olivia, unconscious on a hospital bed far too big for her small size. "It's okay," he immediately said, unsure of whether or not he believed himself. He grabbed Caroline and pulled her into an embrace. It’d been a while since he’d held her, but it still felt habitual. "What happened? What'd the doctor say?"

@akmarshalls

Caroline had always hated hospitals. Olivia had been in and out of then since she was a baby, hospital visits almost became as familiar as going to school. Having scans and needles prodded at her had become the norm, but a hospital was no place for a child to grow up. Caroline and Austin had known of Olivia’s heart defect since she was a baby, and although it had come as a shock, it was something that was manageable and not life altering. But the phone call Caroline had received today was a reminder to her that the small hole in Olivia’s heart was very much still there. Her child had been taken to hospital immediately to be induced, a small machine by her bedside to help her tired heart. 

Unlike Caroline entirely, she had cried down the phone to her husband, trying to explain to him what Olivia’s teacher had explained to her. It wasn’t her finest moment, but even the strongest people fell sometimes, and this was a time of complete vulnerability. Their child was in hospital, unconscious and connected with wires and tubes, and Caroline couldn’t be strong anymore. She was scared, petrified to her core and she needed Austin there to tell her everything was going to be okay. She needed her husband. 

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“Passing the time... by blowing bubbles?” Austin asked, a little puzzled. The girl was... weird. Maybe not in a bad way. He couldn’t really decide. “Don’t you got a game on your phone you can play or something? You know, candy crush?”

Reina frowned a little as his response, her eyes flicking over him before she gave a tiny nod in answer to his question, “I mean… Kinda. I missed the bus I was going to take and now there’s like twenty five minutes until the next one comes, so I was just like… You know… Passing the time…” 

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Austin smiled at the mention of the girls loving school. He was glad. They deserved that. Some sort of stability in their lives where he and Caroline faltered. His face, however, fell at the mention of Olivia being sick. She'd always been a sick baby. "What's going on?" Austin asked, voice laced with concern. "You take her to see a doctor?"

Despite where his money was coming from, Caroline knew that they really couldn’t afford to have Austin lose his job, or worse. And so perhaps, sometimes she was thankful for his income. “They’re doing really well, they’re loving school.” she smiled faintly, she always did whenever she spoke of her children. “Olivia’s been getting a little sick recently, nothing too serious.”  

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Caroline had brought up the topic of work. As if their "relationship" didn't have enough rifts in it already. "Work's good. Money's good," he admitted honestly. He was making an enormous amount of cash. More than he really knew what to do with. "How are the girls?"

“No no no,” she hurriedly went to correct him, “it’s being a nuisance which always suits you.” despite the back and forth sarcasm shared between the two of them, Caroline always felt somewhat better when Austin was around because he was something familiar, something constant. “For better, for worse.” Caroline sighed a cloud of smoke with her words as she held out the lighter for him. “How’s work?” work… She didn’t really know what else to call it.

[akmarshalls-blog]

Austin stood on the sidewalk, both hands shoved inside of his pockets as he waited for his contact to meet him.Something told him that Richie would cancel. Again. He jumped slightly when he felt someone behind him tap him on the shoulder. He turned around to face a young woman who was... excited. About gum. "Uh. No. Jesus, are you just standing there, blowing bubbles?”

Reina giggled as her bubble popped, pulling her gum back into her mouth she turned to the nearest person, carefully poking them. “Sorry to bother you, but did you just see the most circular and perfect bubble that’s ever been created via gum?” 

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"Being your husband always suits me," he scoffed, shrugging as he placed the cigarette between his lips. "Till death do us part, right?" He remembered, practically rolling his eyes at the now forgotten vows. He shifted from foot to foot, eyeing Caroline's lighter. "Mind handing that over?" 

The sound of his voice almost made her jump, she hadn’t realised that it was him stood beside her as she had been too eager to leave work to pay attention to her surroundings. “Sorry,” she sighed softly as she dug in her pocket for her lighter, “didn’t realise it was you.” Caroline huffed a laugh at his next comment, shaking her head somewhat. “You like to use that term as and when it suits you.”

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Did he hear her right? A fucking shootout? Before she even finished speaking, Austin had already started gathering up his belongings. How had he missed this?

"Wait, a what?" He demanded frantically, slamming the door to his apartment shut. There were some people bumming in the hallways. More so than usual. Austin knocked over a candle on his way out. A few people cursed at him, but he was too preoccupied with getting to Lila as quickly as possible.

Wait. Andrea's?

"What were you doing at Andrea's, Lila?" He asked, voice laced with concern as he unlocked his car and got inside. "I"m headed that way. But... I need answers,” he said, starting his car and pulling out of the parking garage.

“Austin, I-I need your help,” she sniffled. “I need you to pick me up, p-please. I just… I was at Andrea’s and-and there was a shoot out, and there was this cop, and I… I just want to be at home.” 

There was relief in knowing that Austin was on the other end of the line. As long as Austin was around, Lila didn’t believe she could ever truly be in trouble, but tonight felt nearly otherwise. Even when she had lived with their mother, she never believed that their mother could do any real harm, not before Austin could come and save her, but tonight had been so different. Masked men with guns, civilians looting the city and setting it aflame? There had been real danger in that, and Austin wouldn’t have been able to save her if she had been alone in the crossfire. 

“Can you come and get me? Please.” 

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Austin tried not to make it a habit. Spending time around Caroline. But sometimes? It was just unavoidable. She hadn't even noticed he was standing there. He coughed, a little obnoxiously to grab her attention. Instead of a happy greeting, he was met with a rather hostile response. "Relax," Austin said, rolling his eyes as he fumbled through his pockets for a cigarette of his own. "I thought you'd be happier to see your husband."

Her shift at the Road Side Diner had been just like any other shift - long, tiresome and fast-paced. Caroline didn’t stay a second longer than she needed to once it was over as she threw her bag onto her shoulder on top of her over-sized jacket. She lit a cigarette the moment she could, inhaling the toxins impatiently. Beside her she could hear over-exaggerated coughing, and it just wasn’t like Caroline to not say anything. “You know, you have two perfectly capable legs right there, so if you really don’t like other people smoking, then move.”

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lilamarshalls:

@akmarshalls

Her hands shook as she pulled her phone out of her jacket pocket. Her purse and wallet were gone, but that was the last thing on Lila’s mind. All she wanted was to go home. She counted herself lucky that her phone was in her pocket and not with her other belongings. She hated to imagine how much longer she would be stuck on the streets of Chicago instead of in the safety of her home with her brother. Now Lila just had to hope Austin would pick up his phone. 

While she unlocked her phone and dialed Austin’s number, Lila continued to glance up and down the street. The street was quiet, but that could change any second - she prayed it wouldn’t. Everything about tonight had scared her, and now she couldn’t help but look at every shadow as if it was some lurking monster. 

Lila focused on the sound of the phone ringing. “Please pick up,” she repeated to herself in low murmurs. 

Austin didn't feel like dealing with the consequences of being out on a night as chaotic as this. While Austin didn't always run with the best groups of people, he was trying to keep his ass out of trouble. Especially with Caroline and the girls so close by. And with Lila, too. He was always trying to better himself for his girls. Always.

His phone was almost dead. He was using the last of his battery to watch some shitty documentary about aliens on the Netflix app. Suddenly, Lila's name and picture popped up. Austin frowned a little. It'd been late, and he'd spent the better part of his evening worrying. She never really told him what was going on anymore. He just figured that, over time, things would go back to normal. Whatever normal might've meant for the Marshall siblings.

"Hello?" Austin answered the phone, grabbing his flashlight and walking over to the window on the other side of the room. He looked outside. Things weren't as hectic on the street as they had been hours before. "Where ya been? I was gettin' worried."

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"That’s why you don’t go out with dumbasses, y’know?”

“You’d think people would understand that there are some questions you just don’t ask on a first date,” Georgia groaned into her mug of coffee before taking a sip. On Elena’s suggestion, Georgia had decided to go on a date and needless to say it did not go well.

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Austin laughed loudly, throwing his head back in amusement. The thought that this princess - practically royalty - had even touched pot before was enough to make him laugh. But edibles? Jesus. "You just gotta find the right people to smoke with. Or, uh, eat with. I'd offer, but I'm not a complete dumbass. I know who you're fiance is."

“Once,” she admit and shook her head. “I felt nothing. So I decided to eat instead, you know? And that was a thing of nightmares. Never again.”

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“Maybe. Was a mistake coming here anyway. How’d you get them to let you in here anyway? Thought it was only 21 and up.”

“Maybe you needed to just find a more receptive crowd?” 

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“At least it wasn’t a fucking meth joke. Jesus. Half the politicians in this town are on something anyway. Don’t know why the cops get so pissy ‘bout it.”

“Whatever, man. I’m just trying to make it through tonight. Biggest mistake was paying that stupid ass fee to get in. Thought this place would be entertaining, at least. I’m pretty sure I’ve seen people crying at their tables.”

“Who would lose their shit over a weed joke? I guess I get why since it’s a fancy gala and all that but at the same time, nothing’s wrong with trying to liven up the party. Pot’s gonna be legal everywhere by the time we’re all like fifty, I’m sure of it.”

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“I figured they’d be more appreciative of it than anyone else, y’know? Oh well. Fuckin’ pricks. Never liked cops anyway.” 

“Well, they can’t blame a guy for trying. Or maybe they can? This is a room filled with cops, after all.”