"Thanks for coming out here today, everybody! We've raised a lot of money for a good cause!" Austin said in a rush as soon as the song ended, proceeding to bolt offstage.
Well, now Ally would have the advantage of saying "I told you so." Although knowing her, she was probably too nice to do that.
He set his guitar down, waiting for Jimmy Starr to pull the curtains aside, and snap his dreams in half.
Ally came in first, breathless. She wasn't angry, like he thought she'd be, but her eyes were indeed telling him so. "He'll be here soon, you know. The crowd will slow him down a little, and I think I saw a couple of reporters, too, more distractions...but he is coming. And he's not happy." Austin nodded grimly. Looking at Ally, he noticed how bad she was feeling.
Tears were threatening to drip from her eyes, though she was trying to hide it. She swallowed hard, and took his hand. "Do-" she coughed, trying to cover her voice from breaking off. "do you want me to stay here with you? This is partially my fault..."
Austin had a feeling she didn't really want to have to watch Jimmy basically fire him. She had worked just as hard as he had to get this far. He didn't want to make her see it all come crashing down, it would break her heart.
He shook his head. "It's not your fault, Ally. And if you really want to, you can leave. This...this is something I should face by myself.
She wrapped her arms around him. She was no longer trying to hide the fact she was crying, he could feel his shoulder becoming wet by her tears.
But when she broke apart from him, her eyes were no longer upset. They were full of gratitude, and determination. She gripped his arm a little tighter, looking him straight in the eye.
"Austin. Listen to me. It's going to be okay."
It wasn't the same as the other times she'd said the same words. Before, she was only trying to comfort him, she had no idea. Now, she was dead serious. She meant every syllable, believed it so deeply.
Austin so badly wanted to believe it himself.
Ally peeked her head around the curtain. "Ooh, I'd say you have like three minutes. I'll call you, kay? Or meet you in the practice room, I don't care. But you know I'm there for you."
"Yeah. I do know." She dashed off in the opposite direction. And he was on his own again. Just waiting for his career to be cut. Dread filled every inch of him.
Jimmy burst backstage.
"Austin," he said. His voice was eerily calm.
"Oh...hey Jimmy."
"I get the feeling that you didn't raise all of that money for the Girl Scouts." Austin sighed. No matter what he said, he knew he was already in too deep to get out of the mess.
"No, I didn't. I raised it for Sonic Boom. So they could rent out the space you were hoping to take." Jimmy nodded.
"I figured. I'm going to be straight with you Austin. I can't keep you signed to my record label if you're going to help the other side so much. But I'm being nice, I'm giving you a choice. You can either give the money to Starr Records, and keep the contract. Or you can give the money to Sonic Boom."
It was the hardest decision of his life, though he didn't want it to be. He felt bad about almost choosing to give all of the money to Jimmy. He'd worked so hard for this...and it would all come crashing down. He didn't want to choose. But he knew he had to. He closed his eyes and winced.
"Sonic Boom." He opened his eyes and watched in horror as Jimmy pulled two things out of his pocket. His record deal contract, and a cigarette lighter. Four seconds later, everything he and Ally had worked for, for the last two years, was a pile of ashes on the ground.
He doubted that even Trish had ever been fired with flames.
Ally was having very mixed feelings. Austin no doubt just lost his record deal. Which wouldn't have happened if it weren't for her. She couldn't help but wonder...
How would everything have turned out if they hadn't started dating? Austin wouldn't have tried so hard to help. After she was gone...how badly would he miss her? He could find a girlfriend in a second, everyone loved him. And it's not like her songwriting skills would be missed. Jimmy had offered countless times to get Austin a professional songwriter.
Austin would have everything. But she would have nothing.
That didn't matter though, because with guilty pleasure, she realized she could stay! She was so happy, though she didn't want to be. She could stay, she could stay in Miami with her friends, with Austin, forever. Everything was perfect.
Then Austin stormed into the Practice Room, took the lyrics they'd been working on for a new song, and ripped the page in half.
Everything was perfect except for that.
Leaning against the piano, he slid to the ground in defeat. Ally immediately rose from her chair and joined him.
So much that he'd lost, in only a week. She didn't know what to say yet, so she simply sat next to him. Unsure of which move to make. Fortunately, Austin made it easy for her. He hugged her shoulders, and she grinned to herself.
"At least now I'll always have you," he murmured into her ear. She leaned back into him. Then something occurred to her, and she straightened up.
"Hey. Trish is already trying to set up interviews with other record labels. Everything's gonna work out." Austin's shoulders seemed to also straighten up a little, like a small bit of weight was being lifted from them.
"Really?" Ally smiled at his excitement.
"Really. We're going to get your career back on track in no time. I promise." Austin nodded, and they both leaned back again. "But if we're going to do this, we're gonna have to work on some new music," Ally reminded.
"Not right now, please," Austin begged. "I'm not in the mood right now." Ally understood. She wasn't feeling like starting from square one today either.
"That's fine. We can take the day off." Austin relaxed, tension leaving his shoulders, and with surprise, Ally realized she was also strongly relieved by her own words.
Drowsiness from the day's excitement seemed to hit them both. Ally's head rested on Austin's shoulder, and he too found it hard to keep his eyes opened. Eventually, they were both asleep.
Ally opened her eyes and sat up. "Dez!" she exclaimed. He was looking at something on his computer, not paying attention to her at all, almost as if he didn't know she and Austin were there, even though Austin was kind of snoring. "Dez!" she said again, getting up and waving a hand in front of his face. "What are you doing?" He jerked his head up.
"Oh hey Ally. I'm just helping Trish find some interviews for Austin," he explained. Ally brightened.
"How's that going?" she asked eagerly. Dez shrugged.
"It's okay. I mean, I'm finding deals, but none of them are as good as the one he had with Jimmy. None of them are what we want. Look at this one; they don't even allow the people they sign to have performances! Austin would hate that." Ally nodded.
"Yeah. He would. Has Trish found anything?"
"Not sure. You can call her and ask if you want. I think she might have better results than I'm getting, this is kind of her job," he pointed out. Ally pulled out her phone, but then she paused.
"Or...you could call her," she offered, smirking knowingly at him. Dez's eyes widened a little.
"How do you know...never mind. Okay. I'll call her."
Dez wasn't sure, but he thought he heard Ally say something like "Good luck," very softly. Somehow, she knew he liked Trish, though he had a feeling Austin hadn't told her anything.
"Hello?" Trish answered on just the second ring.
"Hi. Did you find anything?"
"As a matter of fact, I did! Hey, where are you? We can meet up with Austin and Ally and talk about this deal," she suggested.
"Actually, we're all already at Sonic Boom, you can just head over."
"Oh, okay! See ya then!"
"Bye."
"Well...?" Ally inquired.
"She got something! She's on her way," Dez explained. Ally pumped her fist in the air.
"You know, Dez, you're a lot less crazy than you used to be," she observed. He shrugged in denial. "No need to admit why. I kind of figured it out." Dez furrowed his brow in worry. "Don't worry. Your secret is safe with us," she assured him, meaning her and Austin.
She strolled over to Austin. As she gazed affectionately at his sleeping face, Dez realized he'd never seen anyone look at anyone with such intense...love.
"Austin," she whispered into his ear, trying to wake him. He opened his eyes, and she kissed his cheek. "Guess what? Trish already found an interview!" she said excitedly. Austin jumped up, causing Ally to laugh.
"Oh, hey Dez," Austin greeted, yawning. Ally giggled again and Austin turned to her uneasily.
"Sorry," she said, noticing his stare. "It's just that your hair is all messed up," she informed him, explaining why she was laughing. She reached over and fixed it for him. Just then Trish burst in.
"Excuse me for breaking up the hair salon, but I've got some big news! Cynthia Blaire from Rhythm Records wants to meet with you in two days!"
"Yes!" Austin exclaimed.
"Isn't she the woman who almost gave Austin a record deal before, until Jimmy gave him a better one?" Ally asked Trish. Trish nodded.
"Yep! That's why it was so easy to convince her to listen to a demo from Austin. But that also means you guys are going to have to work hard to get a new song finished and recorded in time," she reminded them. Now it was Ally's turn to nod.
"Of course. We can do this, right Austin?"
"Yeah, no prob. And if not, we always have the song we worked on for Times Square, that hasn't been released to anyone yet."
Then, a horrible feeling creeped up on Ally. "Trish? Can I ask you something, outside?"
"What's wrong?" Trish questioned after they both exited, closing the door behind her. "Your looking a little pale...you aren't sick or anything, are you?" Ally shook her head.
"No, no, nothing like that. But something occurred to me. I just thought...can Austin still perform on New Years? Like, since he no longer has the deal with Jimmy? He is the one that made it possible, after all..." Ally trailed off anxiously. A look of panic crossed Trish's face. Ally didn't like the look at all.
"I-I don't know," Trish admitted. "Most likely, since they've already planned the times for each performance, but I'll have to check. Don't stress too much over it though."
"I'll try not to, but..."
"But what?"
"Oh, Trish, this is his dream. He's wanted this from the very beginning, and now it's kind of like the diamond in the rough. So much is going wrong for him. His sister, his career...I just want something to go his way."
She wanted to see him smile, the way he had at the beginning of their journey as a couple, making her insides melt. She wanted to hear him laugh in the way that was contagious. Because it really had been too long. She just wanted him to be happy. And everything else might just fall into place.
Although what she considered falling into place, that was different from the way it used to be for her.
Not so long ago, she was sure everything in her life was perfect. But now, she didn't even count that word in her vocabulary. Nothing was perfect. Nothing ever would be, she had learned that lesson all too well.
But now, she just wanted everything to be okay. Not perfect. All she needed was okay.
Later, Austin sat next to Ally at the piano while she tried to come up with a good line to finish off their new song. He wasn't doing a lot to help, and he did feel bad about that, but he was nervous, and distracted.
"Austin?" Ally tried to grab his attention. He looked up, and noticed how sleepy Ally looked, despite her nap earlier. "Should we-" she was cut off by a yawn. "Sorry, I was going to say, should we run through this song?" Austin almost agreed, but stopped himself as he continued to take in her weariness.
"Ally, you're so tired." She shook her head dismissively.
"I'll be fine, Austin." He tucked loose strand of hair behind her ear.
"Ally, I'm serious. Go home."
"But-" Austin didn't let her finish.
"It'll be fine, I swear. I'll lock up and everything, and we can practice all day tomorrow, if you want. But you know you can't overwork yourself, so get some rest. Please?" Ally finally sighed in consent.
"Fine. Goodnight," she said, standing up.
"Night." She smiled at him from the doorway, and he peered out the window as she made her way down the street, away from the mall.
He'd rather have had her stay, but he didn't want to strain her. Without meaning to, he was stressing her out, something that he did not feel proud of.
And he didn't want to worry her more, now, as tears ran down his face, seemingly out of nowhere. Ally had told him that after losing her mom, she'd suddenly miss her at the most random and sometimes unexpected times. Maybe that's what was happening now.
And as much as he loved Ally, he was sort of glad he was alone. While she would accept, respect, and understand his mourning...she wouldn't understand, not exactly.
She would know why he was upset. She would know what it was like to have someone so close suddenly be gone, but she wouldn't feel the same pain Austin was feeling. He wiped his eyes, but another tear fell. He hoped this wouldn't happen often. No need to break down during his interview with Rhythm Records.
Finally, his eyes stopped flooding, and he locked the doors to Sonic Boom. Breathing in the night air, he felt a new kind of confidence, that he hadn't felt before. He decided it was because he was tired, but at that moment, anything felt possible.
He hadn't been very strong lately, he knew that all too well. He realized that maybe he'd never been truly strong.
But the night was changing him. For once, he was brave.
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I'm going to count that as a filler chapter, just because it was so boring to write. Liked seriously, this whole week I've just been dragging with this, on and on, and it just seems so terrible!
And sadly, this story is only going to have a few chapters left. I mean, it's so fun to write, but apparently *cough cough Naomi cough :P* it's getting boring and confusing, and I'm running out of ideas.
I am planning on another Auslly story though, which is a lot different from this one, so I hope you guys still like it. I'll post the first chapter in a few weeks, when this story finishes.
Anyways, please vote and comment, so I know this story isn't as bad as I feel like it's becoming😣