Austin Reed met good girl Carrie Brady and they fell in love, much to the chagrin of her father, Roman. Austin was known to be a brilliant piano player, but as of late, we haven't seen much of this skill. Austin showed his loving, vulnerable side to Carrie. Austin, also a boxer, was involved in a prize fight which he was supposed to lose on purpose. He didn't do that. As a result, acid, as revenge for not participating, hit Carrie and she became scarred. Meanwhile, little Abby Deveraux developed leukemia. Austin was a match and he donated his bone marrow.

Austin's sister, Billie, was charged with the murder of their father, Curtis. Through a twisted chain of events, it was revealed that Kate was the Reed children's mother. Austin accepted her, but Billie didn't. Sami soon became obsessed with Austin. She drugged him, and raped him. When he discovered what he'd done, he told her that this affair couldn't continue. A pregnant Sami ran off to LA.

Austin and Carrie made their way to alter, only to be interrupted by Sami admitting she was pregnant and the groom was the father. Doing what was right, he devoted his time to the baby and Sami. William Robert reed was born soon after that.

Sami and Austin married after Will was taken by French authorities. Then Austin ran Sami over with his car, causing her to get amnesia. He could not annul his marriage to a woman with amnesia. Eventually, they did separate. On the day they were supposed to remarry (Austin thought Carrie was in love with Dr. Mike Horton), it was revealed Sami was faking her amnesia and Lucas was Will's father. Austin and Carrie married that same day.

Sami was accused of murder not long after she accused Lucas of child abuse. Austin took Will and Sami on the run, evading the police. Carrie, felt abandoned, and found solace in the arms of Mike Horton.

Sami was freed in the nick of time. Carrie and Austin continued to have problems in their marriage, finally separating and divorcing when Carrie left Salem with Dr. Mike. Austin and Sami finally reunited, and were just about to get married when Austin learned the truth about Sami's past history. He left her at the altar in Las Vegas.

Three years after leaving town, Austin returned to Salem, and was instrumental in saving Sami from a life in prison (or worse). He soon opened up a new company in Salem, hiring both Nicole Walker and Sami Brady. There was another reason he came back to Salem, though -- he had never stopped loving Carrie Brady. When Austin and Carrie finally met again in Salem, both realized the other had never forgotten them and wanted to try again, but unfortunately Austin had just taken over Carrie's company High Style without knowing Carrie was the C.E.O.

Austin eventually learned the truth, but it was too late to do anything. Carrie had recently discovered she was pregnant with Lucas' baby, and with Carrie looking forward to a future with Lucas, Austin renewed his connection with Sami. They nearly wed, even though Austin's heart remained with Carrie, but Austin and Carrie learned that Sami had lied that they shared genetic markers that would make having a child inadvisable. After Carrie learned she was never pregnant with Lucas' baby, she and Austin found their way back to each other and wed before leaving Salem for Switzerland. A few months later, Austin's nephew, Will, came to live with Carrie and him in Switzerland.

In September 2011, Austin and Carrie returned to Salem for the dedication of Horton Square. While there, Austin got a call from work, telling him that he needed to go over the files of a CEO who was up on embezzlement charges. It turned out that the CEO was John Black. Austin was kept on the case during the course of the trial, which caused friction between John's defense attorney -- Carrie.

Carrie and Rafe eventually proved that evidence against John had been fabricated and John was released. Carrie and Austin got back to their normal lives and decided to stay in Salem. Austin took a job as a professor at Salem U. Carrie opened a law office with Rafe as her private investigator.

Austin hired Abigail Deveraux as his student assistant. Abigail quickly became smitten with Austin and fantasized about a life together. Austin had no idea of her feelings and continued to treat her as a friend, even confiding in her when he and Carrie had a fight over how much time Carrie was spending with her new job.

In attempt to make time for their marriage, Austin showed up one day to take Carrie out to eat. Instead, he found Sami confronting Rafe and Carrie about a kiss Sami just witnessed. Austin was furious with Carrie and stormed out. He bought a bottle of alcohol and stumbled back to his office drunk. Abigail was there. She tried to comfort him. He told her that Carrie had betrayed him. Abigail kissed him. He told her to stop. She reassured him that it was okay and kissed him again. Then, Austin passed out on the couch. Abigail took her clothes off and layed down next to him. When he woke up, Abigial told Austin that they had slept together. Horrified, Austin went to make things better with Carrie.

But Carrie wasn't sure about her feelings for Rafe. When Austin came to her and wanted to fix their marriage, Carrie agreed to give it a try. The two of them went away for a romantic weekend. But, a heartbroken Abigail tracked them down. When Austin refused to return her feelings, Abigail announced that the two of them had slept together. Carrie was furious with Austin. Carrie left the lodge and went to her office, where she ran into Rafe.

Carrie told Rafe what happened with Abigail. As she was talking through the events of the past few months, Carrie told Rafe that she was falling in love with him and wanted to know if he felt the same. Austin arrived at the door just in time to hear Carrie's confession. After a brief confrontation, Austin stormed out. Carrie did not go after him. She stayed and wanted to know how Rafe felt. He said that he returned her feelings, but didn't think that they could act on them while there was still a chance that she could fix her marriage.

Carrie went to find Austin, only to walk up on Abigail confessing that she had made up the whole affair. Austin and Abigail never slept together. Carrie slapped Abigail and accused her of ruining Carrie's life. Despite Jack and Jennifer's protest, Carrie insisted that Abigail was an adult and must be held accountable for her actions. Carrie left the Town Square in tears. Austin chased after her.

In Carrie and Rafe's office, Austin asked Carrie if it was too late to save their marriage. Carrie said that things would have been different if Abby hadn't lied about sleeping with Austin. Carrie told Austin that she had felt betrayed, and that she had been ready to end their marriage, but things were different now that everything was based on a lie. But, it wasn't going to be that simple to fix their marriage. Carrie said that she still had some unresolved feelings that she needed to deal with, because they weren't going to go away on their own. She admitted that she didn't know what the future holds. Then she abruptly exited the room.

Carrie needed to talk to Rafe again. She met him in the Brady Pub, but before she could get too far into her conversation, Sami stormed into the pub and accused Rafe of sleeping with Nicole Walker. (Nicole's ex-husband, E.J. caught Rafe in Nicole's hotel room and told Sami.) Rafe denied the accusation. Carrie wasn't sure what to believe.

A few days later, she found him on the Town Square. Rafe said that he was the father of Nicole's baby. Rafe was doing it to help Nicole keep her baby from E.J. - the real father - but Carrie was crushed. She was furious with Rafe for lying to her and told them that there was no chance for them. She even served him with papers that would dissolve their business partnership and told Austin that she wanted to work things out.

But Austin knew that Carrie would never get over Rafe if they stayed in Salem. So, when Carrie suggested that they leave return to Switzerland, Austin was thrilled. The two left in July 2012 to return to their old house and raise their baby in Switzerland.