So here's a another Austin and Ally song fic that had been tumbling around in my head for a bit. I knew I should have posted it a week ago but I was trying to get my Lemonade Mouth story finished (yeah, if you read that genre, I'm still working on Bubbles). Anyway, I'm not a a fan of country music (I can't stand it actually), but I'd heard this song on Glee ages ago and while being tortured with a country radio station by co-workers I was reminded of that version. Then viola! A plot bunny was born.
So the usual disclaimer... I have no copy-rights to Austin and Ally or Need You Now (though I believe that by sharing their work with us that Disney & Co, as well as Dave Haywood, Josh Kear, Charles Kelley, and Hillary Scott are giving us all a little ownership of their work.)
Tell me what you think...
Austin spun restlessly in the office chair; his head flung back and arms hanging wide. Dragging his feet he finally came to a stop and heaved a large, bored sigh. Where the heck was Ally anyway?
She'd sent him up to the practice room what felt like an hour ago and promised to join him as soon as she finished checking out that one last customer. Heidi had been due to start her shift so Ally had promised to work on their next hit.
So where was she?
Heaving another sigh, Austin rolled the chair back to the desk to impatiently begin a drumroll on the edge using his fingers. Eyes roving the objects on the desk, he caught sight of a legal pad filled with Ally's neat print under the keyboard. Drumroll abandoned he stared at the pad hesitating. How many times had he heard "Don't touch my book?" ushered from the lips of his best friend? Too many to count surely. However, this wasn't her book. This was a notepad and she'd left it out where anyone would see it and possibly read it. Probably read it. So in a way she was giving permission just knowing it was there. Plus, sending him up here to fend for himself for so long was like she was inviting, even encouraging, him to read what she wrote.
Maybe this was the song she was working on. [Yeah, right. It wasn't Ally's usual lyric lay out, but Austin could rationalize however he wanted.] Glancing guiltily over his shoulder he pulled the pad from beneath the keyboard and began reading.
"English Literature
4th Period
Mr. Nilsson
Assignment: Describe the most important person in your life and why."
So this was Ally's homework. Knowing Ally, the most important person was probably her father or one of the teachers. Someone she would look up to as a respectable role model for rule following or success or some such. Still, it was better than staring at the ceiling and it would help him get to know his music partner better.
Smirking at his own cleverness he settled into his chair prepared to understand how his friend's head worked.
"There are many great and important people in this world, presidents, dignitaries and other world leaders, law enforcement officers, doctors and humanitarians. There are just too many to choose from. Even in my own little universe, role models abound." [Seriously, Ally 'abound'? Who talks like that?] "I could probably fill pages with how wonderful and inspiring my father is and how amazing my mother was. Even you Mr. Nilsson, have been a beacon in my young life; one that guides me to strive harder with my compositions. Even Trish, with her spirited, carefree nature, is important to me. Her inability to hold a job for more than a couple days, though exasperating, is funny and I know of very few others that are so good at encouraging me while being realistic at the same time. She's a very unique individual in that way and I love having her as a friend.
Today though, I'm going to tell you about how I learned that someone very much unexpected has become very important to me, and it would seem that I may have become important to that person.
Austin and Dez are relatively new additions to 'Ally World'. Additions that I had my doubts about at first; largely because of the constant reminders I have had to give them to follow the rules... written or unwritten." [Austin snorted a small laugh once, a little smile pulling at his lips. Typical Ally.]
I'll start with Dez. Dez is, well, Dez. Quirky, kooky, odd, or crazy just don't seem descriptive enough to do him justice. He sees the world differently than most people, maybe because he's a tall red head - not that there's a problem with any of that, Mr. Nilsson." [Austin chuckled quietly again remembering that her teacher was himself rather tall and red haired] "On any given day he could be found indulging in his gingerbread person hobby, playing conventional sports IN MY STORE with the INSTRUMENTS (!) or cutting and editing Austin's music videos for upload to our website. The boy is a cinematic genius I must say. If a touch of madness is needed to be that creative I hope Dez never changes.
Austin is my music partner. He performs the songs I write and he inspires my creativity. If you had asked me to describe Austin when we first met, I only needed one word and it was bombastic". [huh? Is there a dictionary around here?] "Now after working together for about a year, I know him better and I realize how harsh and inaccurate that word is to describe him." [Seriously, where's the dictionary?] "I know his apparently large ego is actually only a small portion of who he really is, and in all honesty, he deserves every bit of attention he gets. He's EXTREMELY talented, sweet, caring, and, yes, I'll admit he's very good looking. I also have to admit that I'm lucky that the one thing he (says he) can't do is write songs. If he could do that he wouldn't have needed me in the first place and I'd be writing a very different paper. More importantly, my life would be less full.
"The realization that someone new had worked their way into a prominent position in my life came to me gradually starting in the early hours on a night I was alone and feeling abandoned. I sat in our living room staring at photo books. The albums scattered across the coffee table and a few even having spilled onto the floor. I realize that I was dwelling on the past and specifically the empty spot in my life my mother had once filled. I was feeling lost and more than a little lonely. My father had left early that day for a three day music expo in Atlanta. I could feel myself slipping into that dark, scary place that's so hard to pull yourself out of without help. Unfortunately, while I have a good number of friendly acquaintances, I have few actual friends and on that particular night I had even fewer available to me than usual. Perhaps that's why I sat up that night wallowing in my misery, knowing that my lifelines weren't available and making me feel even more pathetic.
At one point I couldn't take it anymore and reached out. Trish, I knew, was away for the weekend with her family and Dez was holed up in his room creating some 'Gingerbread Movie Masterpiece' as he called it. So I called Austin.
How many girls are lucky enough to have a male friend that upon receiving a phone call at quarter after 1 in the am will happily climb out of their warm bed, walk 5 blocks in the cool January air just to comfort their weepy friend? There aren't many I'm sure but I was so relieved when I opened the door and saw my sleepy friend standing there, I'm afraid I embarrassed him by throwing myself into his unsuspecting arms. Fortunately he's an easy going kind of guy and he didn't hesitate as he led me to the couch and spent the rest of the night listening to and comforting me.
This was not the only time I've called my knight in shining armour. I tried at first not to need him and would resist the urge to call him. I even promised him that I wouldn't pester him with my petty issues. He laughed a little and told me to call him any time. Imagine my surprise when I found myself stressing over my crush Dallas seeing another girl and the first person I reached out to wasn't Trish, but Austin. We sat for a couple hours talking and playing music. Late that night he even called me to check on me! Aside of my father and Trish I don't know anyone that has appeared to care so much for me. I realize how pathetic this all sounds, but it's the truth." [Ally, it's not that bad. It can't be.] "All his nice guy gestures, like taking me for ice cream when I was stressing over taking the PSAT or just walking up to give me a hug when I'm simply having a bad day at work, aren't just empty gestures. He genuinely means them" [I know, I'm a nice guy. Still, anyone would be willing to do this stuff for you.]
"Austin Moon is my polar opposite in many ways, charismatic and outgoing as he is. People are just drawn to him. Complete strangers will strike up conversations with him when we stand in line to order food and when we waited for the myTAB 6 to go on sale. Of course a social butterfly like Austin would have many friends since he can get along with ANYONE!" [Not anyone, Ally and they are mostly my friendly acquaintances.] "So you'll understand my shock when Austin called me - ME! - in the wee hours looking for someone to lean on when he was filled with self-doubt and anxiety thanks to a criticism filled evening with his father. I've come to understand that many boys and men suffer self-doubt when their fathers are involved so revealing this much of Austin's situation does not cause me much guilt but I will not reveal more here without his permission. Still, when I arrived at his home and he snuck me into his room where the light revealed the tiredness in his face and the feverish restless in his eyes, my heart broke on the spot.
A while later I'd gotten Austin tucked into his blankets and I was sitting on the covers beside him with my back on the headboard. He was feeling better and we were chatting quietly when I asked him why he chose me to call. I didn't mind, of course, I was just surprised and flattered to be honest. Austin could only answer me with a shrug. "I just did." He sounded kind of surprised when he said it. He's come to me for help and comfort a few times since then. He's normally such upbeat glass half full kind of guy that most problems don't seem to faze him. Seeing him arrive on my porch unhappy or devastated reminds me of a toddler reaching to pet a cat and finding themselves scratched. It's just wrong somehow. It makes me want to wrap him in a hug and protect him from the world or go and beat up whoever was unfair to him.
Since I've confessed so much I might as well end this essay in the same manner. The day Austin and Dez walked in my father's store was possibly the best day of my life, even if I felt differently then. My life, my whole self, seems more complete with Austin as my partner and best friend. What the future holds none of us can tell but I hope and plan on him being in it for as long as he'll let me have him. I need him in my life."
Austin stared at the neat print, in awe of her parting words. He had never actually thought about their friendship, instead he was one to simply except and enjoy it and all the little quirks and bonuses that made it theirs. But he knew he felt like she did and seeing his feelings in print gave him a weird giddy feeling that started in his gut.
A idea began niggling into his thoughts as he reread the last line. He carefully placed the notepad under the keyboard as he'd found it and cued up a search engine on the computer.
Twenty minutes later Ally found him sitting in his favourite spot on the piano bench with his acoustic diligently studying sheet music and softly plucking the strings as he read. Austin watched her glance nervously to the notepad sitting innocently under the keypad and then relax seeing it undisturbed.
"Sorry I took so long. Heidi got stuck waiting for her babysitter and one customer lead to another and another and so I couldn't run up to warn you I was going to be a while and-"
"It's okay, Ally. It gave me a chance to chill out and think a little," Placing his guitar in its stand, Austin smiled gently at her then got up and moved across the room to her.
He watched her head tilt in that little way she did when she was confused by someone, her brows pulling together and her lower lip jutting so slightly as she tried to resolve the puzzle in her head. "Really? It gave you time to think?"
She suddenly realized how she sounded and she immediately began apologizing. Austin just laughed. He wasn't the deep thinker that Ally was and he knew it.
"Ally, its fine. It wouldn't be a statement I'd expect from me either."
"Ok, so what were you thinking about?" She asked.
"Well I heard this song recently and it made me remember I'd heard it arranged a little differently on Glee a while ago. I thought we could cover it and see how it sounded." He handed her a copy of the sheet music and with a little apprehension watched her read through it.
"Austin, this is a duet."
"Yeah, I know. But we don't have to record it. I just really wanted to hear how it would sound if we sang it. You know, just for fun."
She smiled at him, her voice soft as she continued, "It's also a country song. We're not exactly a steel guitar and twang pair of musicians."
He laughed at her description, happy that she wasn't saying no. "The Glee version was electric guitars and more rock than country. I was thinking acoustic and piano and still more rock than, ah, twang."
"So tell me what you were thinking." Thrilled, Austin guided her to the piano and sat down with her. He launched into the arrangement he'd come up with then he gave her some time to learn the lyrics and chords. Finally, "Ok, I think I'm ready."
Grinning, Austin spun on the bench to face away from the piano and reached for his acoustic again. He glanced over his shoulder to Ally beside him and gave her a small nod.
Four notes, five beats really, -F4 G4 C4 rest B3- simple clear and measured were struck on the keys by Ally's slender fingers before being repeated in the same manner. Then Austin plucked out his own opening chords and fell into rhythm following Ally's repeating melody until...
"Picture perfect memories scattered all around the floor
Reaching for the phone 'cause I can't fight it any more
And I wonder if I ever cross your mind,
For me it happens all the time
If Ally's breathy voice gave Austin goosebumps, hearing her voice transition into the clear powerhouse for the chorus gave his sudden butterflies goosebumps too.
It's a quarter after one, I'm all alone and I need you now
Said I wouldn't call but I've lost all control and I need you now
And I don't know how I can do without
I just need you now...
Austin took a deep breath and looked over his shoulder at Ally again. She unabashedly returned his gaze as he began his own verse.
Another shot of whiskey, can't stop looking at the door
Wishing you'd come sweeping in the way you did before
And I wonder if I ever cross your mind.
For me it happens all the time...
He started the chorus solo, seemingly enthralled by Ally's deep brown eyes and the gentle smile she was giving him. But Ally's voice joining his for the remainder of the song brought a cheek splitting grin to his face.
It's a quarter after one, I'm a little drunk and I need you now
Said I wouldn't call but I've lost all control and I need you now
And I don't know how I can do without
I just need you now
He turned back to watch his fingering as they reached the bridge, his voice blending, countering and balancing Ally's as they poured themselves into the words.
Ohh, woah-oh
Guess I'd rather hurt than feel nothing at all
It's a quarter after one, I'm all alone and I need you now
And I said I wouldn't call but I'm a little drunk and I need you now
And I don't know how I can do without
I just need you now, I just need you now
Oh baby, I need you now"
Austin struck the last chord on the guitar and let the sound echo as Ally touched the last 4 notes on the piano.
F4 G4 C4 rest B3
Heaving a sigh as the music faded, Ally dropped her hands into her lap and leaned against Austin's arm. In the silence she whispered, "You read my essay."
Austin echoed her sigh as he moved his hand from neck of his guitar and slid it across her front to wrap his arm around her waist. He lowered his head to rest it on hers. "Yes."
Sighing again Ally wrapped both arms around Austin's waist. "I really do need you."
He nuzzled into her hair, he kissed her head, "I need you, too."