Dance On [Austin Mahone Fan Fiction]

Chapter 13: Surprises

The next three weeks we travel down south to do numerous shows. The end of December comes and we're in Texas. Austin was invited to play at a New Year's Eve festival in Austin. The morning of the show I'm struggling to get out of bed. It's the one year anniversary of my dad's death, and I'm inconsolable. I lay in bed for hours after  I wake up. I look up at the clock and see it's nine-fifty. I have ten minutes to compose myself and get downstairs for rehearsal.

Thankfully, I manage to stop crying and put on makeup to hide the redness in my cheeks. I'm halfway down the staircase when I suddenly think of my mom. She's probably alone, and even more inconsolable than I was. I swear I felt my heart shatter in my chest. I completely break down. I sit on the stairs, gripping to the railing, letting the heavy sobs take over. Trying to quiet down my sobs is a struggle, so I bite on the sleeves of the jacket I'm wearing.

I haven't cried this hard, since the first couple months after his death. The emptiness just fills inside my heart. This hurts so much, I can't perform tonight. I stand up and attempt to make my way back to my room. I keep my head down so that the other guests don't see me crying. At the top of the stairs I bump into someone.

"I'm sorry." I mumble. "I didn't see you."

"Calli what's wrong?" I recognize the voice as Dave's.

I look up at him "I can't do this. I need to go back to my room."

Dave grabs my arm preventing me from going. "I know today is hard for you, but this performance will keep your mind off of it." He urges me back towards him and wraps an arm around my shoulder. "Let's go join everyone else, and we'll see how rehearsal goes. If you still feel horrible, you can skip the performance."

I nod my head and we walk down the stairs to join everyone else. We make it to the bottom and everyone turns to stare at me. I wipe the tears off my face as Dave steps away to go talk to Austin's mom.

"I thought I heard a whale on the stairs." Monica says.

"Turns out it was only you Calli." Maddi finishes.

I don't have the strength to hold back the tears anymore. I turn around to run back up the stairs when I feel Austin's arms around me.

"Maddi. Not today." He sternly says. "Or I will personally leave you here after the show and you won't be coming back with us."

"You'll get rid of me just for joking around with your precious girlfriend?" She scoffs. "How pathetic. She can't even fight for herself."

I feel Austin tense up. I grab his arms. "Stop. It's not even worth it." My voice cracks at the end. Austin wraps an arm around my waist, pushing me towards an empty section of the lobby. He gently pushes me into a chair and squats down in front of me. He places his hands on my knees. I lean forward putting my face in my hands, trying not to let another sob escape from me.

One of Austin's hands leaves my knee, to brush hair out of my face. "I'd ask how you're doing, but it would probably be pointless."

I smile slightly. "I'm ok, it's just hard being in Austin, but not with my mom."  I sigh a shaky breath. "Especially knowing she's alone. And Grey." My voice cracks. "I just miss him so much."

Austin puts his hand around my neck, pulling me towards him. He softly kisses my forehead. "You know you can leave right?" He pulls away and looks me in the eyes. "You can go home after tonight, or even before, and no one will blame you."

I scoff. "I can think of a couple that would."

"They don't matter." His thumb strokes my cheek. "I'm talking about the people that really care."