Author's Note: Hello like-minded Auslly shippers! So, after the overwhelming show of love all of you gave my first Auslly story "This Bad Feeling", I decided to bite the bullet and try writing another one. This is definitely a lot different from the first, as it is a little AU (it starts when they're all in elementary school), and this one will be multi-chapter. All of your favorite characters will make an appearance eventually (I promise!), but this first chapter is just about Austin.
This idea was inspired by a few different things, namely the song "Mary May and Bobby" by Joe Purdy. If you haven't heard it, do yourself a favor and download it immediately! It will give you crazy feels as it is one of the best love songs no one has ever heard. I will be integrating some of the stuff from the song as the story moves forward. I really hope you all like it!
Disclaimer: I do not own Austin & Ally. No copyright infringement intended!
One summer. It's just three months…or 12 weeks or 84 days or 2,016 hours, depending on how you look at it. As an adult seeing life's big picture, three months is really just a drop in the bucket. With every passing year and mounting responsibilities, time seems to move just a little bit faster, and three months goes by in a blink of an eye. Trying to remember what you did yesterday becomes a challenge, so forget about remembering what happened three months ago.
But, for a kid, three months—one summer—is enough time to change everything. Austin Moon learned this lesson the hard way.
It was the end of his fourth grade school year when his parents took him to his favorite ice cream parlor, ordered him the biggest black raspberry chip hot fudge sundae he had ever seen, and told him they were getting a divorce. Mike and Mimi Moon explained to their nine-year-old son that while they still loved him without question (and each other to a much lesser extent), they just couldn't make each other happy any more. They said that they would rather be apart and happy than together and miserable, and that this was for the best for everyone, especially him.
It's not like he didn't see it coming.
Even at nine, Austin was much attuned to the world around him. His parents didn't know it, but every night, after his mom kissed his forehead and tucked him into bed, he would crawl back out of bed to listen at the door, afraid he was going to miss something important on the other side. He had done this since he could remember, thinking that his parents were living in some exciting world after dark. Usually all they were really doing was decompressing from the day's stresses with trashy TV and, in his Mom's case, a pint of Haagen-Dazs, but in his imagination it was so much more thrilling.
Every night as he listened at the door, he could hear the muffled sounds of them talking or laughing or, in his Dad's case, yelling at the TV. When he would finally crawl into bed (usually around midnight after not being able to keep his eyes open one second longer), he would drift off to sleep feeling happy and safe. However, over the past six months, his Dad replaced yelling at the TV with yelling at his Mom, and the only other sounds he heard were slamming doors and deafening silence. He still couldn't sleep at his appointed bedtime, but he no longer felt comforted by his nightly ritual. After that, his headphones and very loud music became his best friends.
He sat and listened as his parents explained what would happen next. He only heard the bullet points:
They would be selling their house in Cincinnati.
His Dad already found an apartment near the mattress store he owned, and would be moving out of their house that night.
He and his Mom were leaving for Miami at the end of the week to stay with her parents for a while until they could get settled in her hometown.
He would travel to Cincinnati on holidays and for a few weeks each summer to visit his Dad, but Miami would now be home.
He felt like he couldn't breathe. His mind raced with all of this new information.
He wanted to know if it was his fault that this was happening. Are they fighting because of me? Maybe if I had eaten my vegetables or not asked for such expensive Christmas presents…
He wanted to scream at them for turning his life upside down. Miami?! Why do I have to move to dumb Miami just because you don't want to be married anymore?! All of my friends are here! My life is here!
But, in the end, Austin didn't think that he could respond, or say anything really, without crying, so he just nodded along.
His parents told him they loved him again and his Dad got up to leave. Austin ran over to him and threw his arms around his Dad's waist, holding on for dear life. Austin knew that as soon as his Dad walked out of the ice cream parlor, everything they discussed would become all too real. He wasn't ready for that.
Mike kneeled down to his small son's height and wrapped his arms around his narrow shoulders. He hugged Austin fully and pulled away after a few seconds to look in his son's eyes. In that moment, Austin could see the pain in his father's expression. He had never seen Mike Moon cry before, and he wondered if this would be the first time. "I know this is really hard, Austin," Mike began, "but you're strong and I know you'll get through it. It will all work out for the best in the end. You'll see." With that, he pulled Austin back into another strong embrace, kissed the top of his son's blonde head, and walked out the door.
Austin watched through the window as his Dad walked out to his car. As if he could feel Austin's gaze burning a hole in the back of his head, Mike turned back toward the window, smiled sadly at his only son, and waved goodbye. He then climbed into his car, fired up the engine, and drove away, leaving his family in his rear view. After he could no longer see his Dad's car, Austin turned back to the table where his Mom sat watching him. Seeing the pain in his eyes, she beckoned him into her own embrace. He finally let himself cry into his Mom's shoulder as she held him tightly and stroked his back, the way she always did when a nightmare caused him to wake up shrieking. The action normally soothed him, but this time it just felt empty. Maybe it was just him that felt empty.
After a few minutes, Austin pulled away from his mother and she asked if he was ready to leave. He nodded, still not able to make a sound, and she stood up, grabbed her purse and his hand, and they walked out to her car together. Once inside and on the road back home (for now anyway, he thought morbidly), Austin sat, staring blankly out the passenger door window, trying to make sense of everything that had just happened. Mimi, noticing the overwhelming silence filling the car, had enough and finally broke it.
"Honey," Mimi started, "I know that this is a lot of change to be throwing at a little boy, but I know you'll love growing up in Miami, just like I did. It's sunny and beautiful there, and we can go to the beach whenever you want! I know you'll miss Cincinnati and your Dad, but I also know that you'll make tons of new friends and have experiences there that you would never have here. And, you'll get to spend so much more time with your grandparents. They are so excited to see you! This will be a fresh start for both of us. It'll be good for us, I promise."
After his mother finished talking, even at nine, he could tell how much this situation was hurting her. He could see the sadness in her eyes (which were mirror images of his own), and the concern for him in her deeply creased brow. Much later in life, he recalled that she seemed to have aged twenty years over those six months. She looked tired…haggard from the disagreements and yelling and impossible decision to start over.
In the moment, he wanted to be brave for her so he forced a smile, which seemed to please her. As he turned his head to look back out of the window, he watched the city he knew roll by through the sheen of tears glassing over his eyes. He could tell by their surroundings that his Mom was taking the long way home. He thought absently about how excited he was earlier in the day when she told him they would be meeting his Dad at his favorite place in the world. He barely got through three bites of his sundae before they broke the news to him. After, he couldn't bring himself to finish it. Now, he thought, he'd be off ice cream for a long time.
Once they got home, Austin noticed that his Dad's car was not in the driveway in its usual spot. Once they went inside, Austin searched through the house looking for signs of his Dad, but found none. He was gone. Realizing that, Austin ran straight to his bedroom and locked the door behind him. His Dad had a rule about no locked doors in his house, but he guessed that rule didn't really apply anymore.
He sat down on his bed and pulled out his favorite teddy bear from under his pillow. He had it since he was a baby, and over the years he loved it into submission. It was missing an eye, and its ear was about to fall off as well, but it seemed like the only thing he could depend on. He pulled it in tight to his chest and let the rest of his body form a ball around it. He lay on his bed for hours that night, replaying everything in his head, knowing that everything would be changing…nothing would stay the same. He didn't know what to expect from this new life in Miami, but as he drifted off to sleep, he hoped his Mom would be able to keep her promise.
So, what do you think? Reviews are, as always, appreciated. Thanks for reading!