"Sweeter Than Fiction"
Sequel to "My Sweet Escape"
Quote of inspiration: This life is sweeter than fiction
Austin sluggishly rolls out of bed and makes his way down the stairs. He grips the railing on his way down so he won't lose his footing due to it being so dark. He finds his way into the music room.
Ally is sitting on the floor, writing a song. Why isn't Austin surprised? Note the sarcasm. "Alls," he says groggily. Ally had her paper on top of her guitar where she was scribbling down lyrics. She looks up, not even noticing that he'd come in. He opened his arms, giving her a 'What are you doing?' look.
"Did I wake you?" she questioned, apologetically.
"I heard you playing," he said, shaking his head, "What are you doing?" he questioned.
"I couldn't sleep so I came in here," she said, "I've been thinking about these set of lyrics all day and since I obviously wasn't getting to sleep anytime soon, I figured I'd write it."
"Ally, it's four in the morning. You need to sleep," he told her. Ally waved a dismissive hand.
"I'll sleep when I'm dead," she said.
"Ally, we have to perform at the Live Studio 1 tomorrow. You're going to be tired. Have you slept at all?" he asked. Ally nodded.
"I woke up about half hour ago," she told him, "I needed to write these lyrics, Austin."
"Write it tomorrow," he told her.
"No, I'll forget it by then!" she argued. Austin sighed, running a hand over his face.
"Fine. I'm going back to bed." Austin told her. Ally didn't even say goodnight as she started playing a melody and then scribbling down lyrics. Austin sighed and slowly walked out of the room, shutting the door behind him.
He drags his feet up the stairs, ignoring their kitten that pranced around at his feet. Ally had forced them to get a kitten a few weeks ago. Austin was used to life in L.A. now. He was used to not going to the Miami Mall, Miami parties, and Miami Beaches, but he never got used to not having the practice room so when he married Ally last year, they moved into a house with one extra room because Austin demanded they build a Music Room.
Austin and Ally had agreed they didn't want to feel different, so their house was just as average as anybody else's. There was no huge kitchen with a pretty, marble counter top island, or a brick pathway leading up to their door, there wasn't a huge fountain in their front yard. In fact, their yard was the ugliest on the entire block - their grass was nearly dead because they'd neglected it and the flowers Ally made an oath to always water, rarely got watered. They were thinking of hiring a landscaper and gardener because they were so busy all the time.
The house was simple: 4 bedrooms, a nice kitchen, two bathrooms, a renovated basement and a pretty living room with a big fireplace. But as of two months ago, Ally had begun carrying their first child and they needed a nursery. Trish suggested they take out the music room but Austin and Ally can't seem to go through with it. They have to decide whether to turn the computer room into a nursery or the guest room. The only trouble was that Lester sometimes came down for a visit and normally took that room and they had no other place for their computer. Austin had suggested squishing the computer room and guest room all into one but Ally complained that it would look messy.
Austin falls face first onto the bed, sighing with contentment. He had shut the bedroom door so he couldn't hear the sound of Ally making music downstairs. He falls asleep quickly.
After their performance at the Live Studio, Austin and Ally join Trish and Dez at their favourite restaurant. They were all laughing and having a good time when Trish suddenly blurted, "So, we have something to tell you guys." Dez nods in agreement.
Austin and Ally stop eating their food and look at the couple. They practically sit on the edges of their seats in anticipation. "Dez and I...Well, we've decided that we need time away from each other. We're breaking up."
Ally drops her fork onto her plate with a loud clink. Austin stares at them, his mouth parted slightly. Dez and Trish stare at Austin and Ally for a long moment before laughing loudly and high fiving one another. Austin and Ally were still lost and confused, but finally Dez and Trish stop laughing and turned back to the musical duo, "Just kidding! We're getting married!" Trish flashes her diamond ring.
"Oh, thank God," Ally breathes out, holding her head, "I just about passed out for a second there."
"Good one," Austin grinned.
"Congratulations, guys!" Ally said, leaning over the table to hug Trish. Austin said the same, but instead of a hug, he and Dez performed their 'What Up' handshake.
"We were kind of iffy about it, to be honest," Trish said.
Ally frowned, "Why?"
"Well, because you guys have busy lives and we didn't know if you could be there or if we couldn't even go to our own wedding because we'll always be where you guys are," Trish said. Austin and Ally both felt a weight of guilt and apology set on their shoulders.
"We'll drop everything for you, you guys should know that," Ally said.
"We do! We just...didn't want to get in the way," Trish said. Austin and Ally exchange glances before forcing themselves into a conversation about how Dez proposed. To sum it all up: Trish was a sucker for being proposed to in a Zalien Costume.
Ally joins Austin on the couch who is watching Wipe Out and laughing loudly. Ally mutes the TV. "Whoa, hey!" Austin shrieks, reaching for the remote. Ally holds it away from him.
"We have to talk," she says. Austin looks at her nervously.
"Oh, um, okay?" he said.
She sighed, "It's Trish and Dez. I feel so bad about what they said. I don't like that they always have to work around our lives. They shouldn't have to. They should be able to get married whenever they want to, not by what works for us."
Austin nodded, "I felt bad, too, but we can't help it. We have busy lives. Trish is our manager so I'm sure her wedding wasn't just around us, it had a lot to do with her work, too," Austin assured her.
"I guess so," Ally said, "Maybe we should pull back?" Ally suggested.
Austin looked at her in confusion, "Pull back?"
Ally nodded, "Well, Yeah. Trish and Dez need us now that they're preparing for a wedding, we should be able to help them without having to work around a stupid schedule. And we still need to get our own stuff sorted about the nursery and stuff. Maybe we need to pull back from performing for a while. We could still write, but maybe just limit our time with the public now."
Austin looked like he didn't want to. He loved performing and meeting fans, the interviews, award shows, he even liked talking with paparazzi occasionally and now Ally wanted to pull back? He didn't know how he felt about that. "Alls," he sighed, "I don't know."
"I know how much you love performing, I love it too, but we always live our lives about Austin and Ally, maybe this time it should be about Trish and Dez. We can't always be the centre of attention all the time, let's give it to Trish and Dez. At least until their wedding is sorted and maybe until the baby is born." Ally said.
"Ally, I really don't know," Austin shook his head, "If we wait that long, can we guarantee you'll want to come back to it all?"
"What do you mean?" Ally questioned.
"Well, the baby will be here and we'll need to have our undivided attentions on taking care of the baby. You'll obviously be fully engaged in mothering him or her and I'm not sure if you'll want to come back when I do." he said.
Ally thought about it and he was right. Maybe she would come back, but not for a long time. "Well, I don't know what to do!" Ally sighed, "I feel like Trish and Dez have given us so much. We need to give back." Austin nodded in agreement.
"We don't have to pull back completely, I guess," Austin said, "Maybe just limit our time. We could explain to everyone what's going on-"
"But that means telling them about the baby," Ally said, playing with a loose thread on her shirt. "I don't want them knowing yet. It'll create chaos."
"Okay...Then we'll just tell them that Dez and Trish are getting married and we want to help out, maybe mention that we have 'family stuff' going on and we need to cut back on how much we're working. So, no tours, or guest-starring in any TV Shows, useless interviews, etc." Austin said.
Ally nodded, "Okay. That might work." she said.
Austin glanced at the clock before shutting the TV off. "Well, come on, let's get to bed. We'll explain ourselves to Trish and Dez first thing in the morning since Trish booked tomorrow as our day off."
Ally nodded and walked up the stairs with Austin. They got ready for bed before turning out the light and laying next to one another. Ally was tired, so she fell asleep quickly but Austin was now wide awake, staring at the ceiling while he fretted the future. He knew Ally and he knew that once the baby was born, she most likely wouldn't come back to performing. Maybe she'd forever be his songwriter, but he couldn't guarantee that they would perform together forever like he thought. He sighed, shutting his eyes. He needed some sleep.
Ally's eyes opened to the sound of a piano. She looks at the clock and see's its two in the morning. "Huh, look who's in the music room at night," she grumbled to herself. She slowly rolled out of bed and walked down the stairs tiredly.
She opened the door to the music room and saw Austin at the piano. He was tapping keys slowly and lightly. The melody sounded down and blue-ish. Ally frowned slightly. She stepped inside the music room and touched his shoulder. He jumped. "Oh, Geez, Ally, you scared me!"
She smiled slightly, "Are you alright?" she asked him.
He looked up at her, "Yeah...Yeah, I'm fine. Why?" he asked.
"It's 2 A.M and you're playing the piano. You never write at night. That's kinda my thing." Ally said. He chuckled slightly and nodded.
"Right. Yeah, I know. I just...I just wanted to...wanted, uh, wanted to play for a bit," he stammered.
Ally stared at him, noticing dark circles under his eyes. She slid onto the bench next to him and felt him wrap his arm around her waist. "About what I said earlier...Did that bother you?" she asked him.
"Huh? Oh, no. No. I'm fine." he said.
"Austin," she looked at him.
He sighed, "I just...I like things the way they are right now. I don't want to change it. We've gotten so far in our music, we're working together, and our own personal life is great, we're married, a baby coming, a kitten," he glanced over to the kitten that was asleep on the floor on top of music sheets, "Everything is perfect. I don't think it should change."
"But Trish and Dez need us, Austin," Ally said.
"Why do you always have to think of other people before yourself?" he questioned her, frustrated.
"Austin, do you know how selfish you sound?" she asked him. He didn't reply, he just stared at the piano keys. "Things won't change between us, Austin. I don't know why you're worried. I love performing and you know that. I'll always write for you. What's the big deal?"
Austin stood up from the piano bench, raking his fingers through his hair, "the problem is that we finally got to our happy place and we have to change it!" he threw his hands in the air and then let them slap down at his sides.
Ally could feel an argument arising. "Austin," she said gently, "We'll still be happy. We agreed to not pull back completely. We'll still be working, just not as much as we used to be. Plus, I'll have to quit anyways."
He looked at her taken aback, "Quit?" he said, "Why?"
Ally gave him an incredulous look before pointing to her belly, "Why do you think? I can't prance around stage pregnant."
"You don't have to prance around the stage. You could just walk or we...we could get you a stool to sit on. We don't have to quit anything." Austin said.
"Austin, I know you hate change but some things just have to." Ally told him, "and you agreed that we needed to help out Trish and Dez. They drop everything for us and we need to do the same for them. Okay?"
"Why don't I get a say in this?" Austin questioned.
Ally was getting annoyed. "Because you're being self-centered!"
Austin looked at her, "I am not being self-centered! I just like where our life is. It's exactly where I wanted it and now we have to give it all up for some wedding!"
"It's not just some wedding. It's Trish and Dez's wedding! Our best friend's wedding!" Ally said, standing up as well. Austin sighed, frustrated as he tugged on his hair. "Not everything is about you, Austin!"
"I'm not making it about me-"
"Yes, you are!" Ally argued, her voice lifting slightly, "You don't want to help out our friends because you're afraid it'll wreck your happiness." Austin shook his head. "How many times have Trish and Dez ignored their own happiness just so we could be happy?"
"When have we taken away from their happiness?" Austin quizzed, annoyance tagged in his voice.
"Well, that one time they wanted to go to that Zalien premiere and couldn't because we had a Meet and Greet, and then they wanted a day to spend together and couldn't because we needed help at our dress rehearsal. We also sabotaged their date because we wanted to go on one so we crashed theirs and ended up getting us all kicked out. And they were supposed to go on that trip to Canada but couldn't go because we had a tour. We wreck everything for them and they never complain." Ally said.
Austin shook his head, not wanting to agree with Ally although he knew she was right. "We could still help them with the wedding and not pull back from work," Austin said.
"No, Austin, we can't. We're too busy. We always have something to do. Or it'll be their wedding day and we'll have to end up leaving early because of an interview or a performance," Ally sighed, "We can't help them and work full-time, Aus."
"Well, I don't want to cut back on work!" Austin said, irritated with, not just her, but life in general. Why can't his life ever just stay at one pace?
Ally sucked on her front teeth, "You know what? Fine! Then don't, but I am."
"Ugh," Austin grunted, "That ... That's what I don't want," he said, "I want it to stay as Austin and Ally, it's better that way."
"You were Austin Moon before me and you can be Austin Moon after me," Ally assured him, crossing her arms.
"Ally, you're not listening to me-"
"No, you're not listening to me! We should help out Dez and Trish, not because we want to or don't want to, but because it's the right thing to do! We can't just take and take and take and not give anything back to them, Austin!" Ally debated.
"We're not taking anything from them!" Austin argued, his voice laced with frustration. "I just don't want Austin and Ally to change. I don't want to go back to just simply Austin Moon. It's better when you're there with me and the album is ours together but none of that will stay the same if we cut back because you'll just quit and then there won't be an Austin and Ally!"
"Ugh," Ally groaned, narrowing her eyes at him. He could be so stubborn and self-indulgent sometimes. "I'm going to bed," she grumbled, turning around. Austin reached out and grabbed her arm. "What, Austin?" she questioned, tiredly.
"I don't want to fight, Ally," he said.
"Neither do I, so stop arguing and just do the right thing," Ally spat and with that she walked away. He sighed. He didn't mean to be selfish, he just didn't want to let go of his happiness and he wishes she would see that. He knew helping Trish and Dez was the right thing, but what if that took away from his work with Ally?
Austin decided he was tired as well and walked up the stairs. He laid down in bed, leaning over and leaving a lingering kiss on Ally's ear before he relaxed into his side of the bed and staring at the ceiling again.
He wasn't going to sleep tonight no matter how tired he was.
So, some people wanted a sequel and I figured it would be harmless if I made one. Not sure how long this is going to be. I don't even have this totally planned so just roll with it because that's what I'm doing.
Reviews are awesome, by the way.
P.S. I'm getting a lot of compliments on my writing and I just wanted to take a moment to say thank you, it means a lot when you guys do that! :)