I Won't Give Up: Chapter 1
A/N: New story! Yay! I thought about what I wanted this to be about, and I have a general idea. But I'm kind of winging it! The title is based on Jason Mraz's song, because it is so beautiful! I love it! Anyways, I really hope you enjoy this, and please review to let me know what you think! Disclaimer: I do not own Austin & Ally or anything else, sadly.
Ally's POV
Bare feet slapping the hot pavement, hair coming undone from a messy bun, and sweat forming on my hairline. I was sprinting from my house, towards Austin's. His house was always open for me, I normally walk in without knocking. And that is exactly what I did. Except I burst through the front door, probably looking like a crazy person escaped from an insane asylum.
I had been texting Austin while eating breakfast when I found out. When I received his message, my spoon dropped out of my hand and into my soggy cereal.
Austin: my dad had an affair and my parents are getting a divorce. SOS
Quickly spitting out the mouthful of Frosted Flakes, I threw my bed-head hair into a messy bun and started running. I did not stop until I reached his front door.
"Ally?" Mrs. Moon called from inside the laundry room. She sounded concerned, and I just gave her a breathless hello. Hearing a door open upstairs, I hopped the steps two at a time and marched down the hall to Austin's messy bedroom. It was next to his brother, Tommy's room.
That's where I found him. The blond rockstar, slumped over on his bed, running a hand through his hair. My heart went out to him, and I silently sat next to him, wrapping my arm over his shoulders. Austin didn't even glance at me. My breathing was uneven, and his hands shook. "Hey." I offered weakly, knowing it wasn't even close to what I had planned on saying.
"Hi." He swallowed, finally looking me straight in the eye. He leaned into me, and I was grateful to be able to be there for him. I was always the one who needed him, and finally I had my chance to help him. Balance.
"I…I'm sorry." Not knowing how to put it into words, I just continued to hold him, rubbing his back gently.
"Thanks." Austin's soft hair was in my face, and I breathed in the sweet smell of him. "You know, it just sucks."
"Yeah, you're right. It sucks. Bad." I said, agreeing. I could empathize with him, because I had been through it, and was still going through it. You never get over it. You don't just move on.
"I feel like I want to cry, but I don't think I should. And sometimes I want to punch him, really hard. I want to scream and yell at him, pitching a huge fit. You know, throwing stuff. And then I just want to leave. I want to run. But I have my mom, and Tommy… I just don't know. Why weren't we good enough? Why wasn't I good enough?" He poured out, his words like a waterfall that has built up over time. I was the one crying, not him. Austin was strong, stronger than I ever was. His parents were getting a divorce, like mine. His dad had an affair. Like my mom.
"I know. I know. " That's all I could say. I did know.
"And you know what's worse? He actually sat us all down together and told us like that. My mom just went all quiet, but I could see she was about to cry. I saw my mom cry. Do you know how much that sucks? And my brother, he just started yelling. I didn't know what I was supposed to do.." Austin has not shed any tears. I tried desperately to stop mine from flowing, but I just can't. My best friend looked down at me and saw my tears, and wiped them away slowly, staring at my face as if he'd never seen it before. I blushed, looking down at my hands in my lap.
"God, Austin. I am so sorry. I just- I don't know what to tell you. It gets better? That's a lie. You can forgive him? I'd probably be lying then too. I'm just so sorry that this happened to you. I'm here, Austin."
"And you know what? I feel so bad for you." He told me, flopping down on his bed, staring at the ceiling with posters of musicians all over it.
"Why?" I asked, curious.
"Because you had to go through this alone. You don't have siblings. Ally, you're so strong." The blond said casually, flipping his hair out of his eyes. I was suddenly self conscious. Here I was, in my short pajama shorts and dirty tank top, no shoes or makeup. My messy hair and tears all over my face.
"No I'm not." I said softly, shaking my head. He didn't know. I went through it all silently. Not my dad or Trish knew what I felt. Sure, I'd try to bring it up occasionally, but I never actually told them how my heart was broken. But with Austin, it was so much different. Without a conscious thought, the words came out of me. "I said nothing. I was silent. I was heart broken, but no one even knew. I'm a good actress." I laughed in spite of myself.
"Maybe, but it takes a strong person to hide their true feelings all the time." Austin offered, nudging me.
"It takes a stronger person to talk about them, though." I countered, shrugging. He looked away, lost in thought. I sighed, defeated and emotionally tired. I heard Mrs. Moon pacing around downstairs, probably cooking or doing housework. Austin's father was no where to be found.
7777777
"Song. Song, song, song…" I sang quietly to myself, testing out a new melody. Trish groaned and threw a pillow at my head. Again.
"Shut up, Ally! I'm taking a nap here! I'm on my break from Pastry Land, and I don't want to be disturbed by your music!" The short and feisty Latino girl complained, rolling over on the couch in the practice room.
"But this is a music practice room! If you have a problem, then leave." I suggested, casually tapping the piano keys in front of me. A pretty tune played out, and I smiled, writing down the notes for later.
Completely changing the subject, Trish brought up Austin. "Why is Austin acting so weird lately? He never does anything stupid anymore. Is he sick?"
"No, he's not sick." I said vaguely, not sure if he wanted her to know his secret. "He's just…tired." That wasn't a lie. He was tired from all of the family drama.
"Ally, you are the worst liar. There's something going on that you're not telling me."
"Then go ask him, idiot!" I shot back, frustrated. Dez chose that moment to walk in, eating a waffle. He glanced around with a bored look on his face, and plopped down on an orange chair in the corner.
"Hey guys. I'm sad." Dez pouted, shoving the rest of his waffle in his mouth. Trish sighed, clenching her fists.
"Why, Dez?" I asked him, not really caring, but being a good friend. The tall, gangly redhead kicked off his big clown shoes and pulled out a picture of something from his backpack. It was a gorilla.
"They moved my favorite gorilla from the zoo in Miami to the zoo in a different city! Now I'll never see Sally again." He sobbed dramatically, and Trish threw her other pillow at him.
"No one cares, Dez!" She yelled angrily, and storms out of the room, pushing past Austin on the way out. To him she said, "You're being weird, too! Something's up, and no one tells me anything!" She cried out, jabbing a finger in his direction, and continued her furious exit. Dez looked from Austin to me helplessly, and swiftly got up to leave as well, gorilla picture in hand.
"Rough day?" Austin noticed my frustrated expression, and offered me a pickle from behind his back. I grinned, accepting the pickle and taking a big bite.
"Not really, just kind of slow." I said, motioning for him to come over to the piano bench. He did, and rested his thigh against mine. It wasn't weird, because we're best friends and we always did that. But I couldn't help but think in the back of my mind, I want a boyfriend just like Austin. And that was certainly not a thought you think about your best friend. Oh, well.
"Let me help." Austin cracked his knuckles, making me cringe, and played a familiar melody on the piano. Break Down the Walls. His voice rang out through the practice room, and I closed my eyes to focus on his beautiful music. Humming along, my fingers found the right keys and played with him. The song ended abruptly, and I slowly opened my eyes to find Austin's large brown ones right in front of mine. His face… so close to mine….can't breathe….
Austin broke out in laughter, a sound I hadn't heard in a while. I grinned, pushing him playfully off the piano bench. Not to be outdone, Austin grabbed my half-eaten pickle and took a giant bite, almost finishing it off.
"No! Not the pickle! Please, I'm begging you! Mercy!" I said, laughing, but still reaching for my pickle. Unfortunately, Austin was blessed with height, and I was not. He held it over me, out of my reach. "No fair." I pouted, crossing my arms over my chest.
"Fine. You know I can't resist the puppy dog eyes." Austin chuckled, handing me my pickle. Although he'd bitten out of it, I ate the rest, smirking at him. He rolled his eyes.
Suddenly, a silence settled over us. It was unusual. Normally, we have a never-ending banter about anything and everything. This was different. We stood there, in the middle of the practice room, saying absolutely nothing. I was sure he could hear my heart beat, it was so loud. Our breathing was quiet, and he fiddled with his bracelets while I kicked my boots around.
"I want to write a song about it."
"Let's do a song about this." We both said in unison, then stopped and laughed. Nodding my head, I said, "Well, let's get started."
7777777
After staying up until one in the morning writing a song about sadness, emotions, basically everything we felt about the divorces, the pair of us were drained. Changed into the sweats we kept for these song-writing occasions, Austin and I were snuggled up in our Snuggies on the floor in front of the TV.
Neither of us were aware of what we were watching, and all I could think about was my head on his strong shoulder, and his thumb tracing patterns on the palm of my hand. I shivered, pulling the Snuggie closer to me. Austin noticed my shivering, and slung a heavy arm over my shoulders, pulling me closer to his warm body. I breathed in the scent of him. Austin, mmm.
It was all happening too fast. We were trapped in a haze of late night sleepiness and emotion. Austin's head leaned down to my level, and I leaned in too… His big, warm hands were placed on either side of my face, and mine were on his strong arms. Our lips crashed together, a big mess of hands, heat, and hurry. It was passionate, forcing me to catch my breath.
In that one instant, I knew we were feeling everything together, as one. Our sadness and despair of our families, our happiness in each other, and our dreams for the future. The connection linked us together. I knew he felt it too by the shocked and wild expression on his face. I'm sure my face matched his.
We broke apart, bodies separated unwillingly. His brown eyes met mine, and I found something new there… I couldn't identify it.
"I-I'm sorry. I gotta-I'm just- Sorry." Austin muttered, stumbling over his words. Leaping up off the floor and throwing his Snuggie off, I watched as my beautiful blond rockstar raced out of the room. Leaving me alone and extremely confused.
A/N: Ooh, dramatic ending! Haha, just kidding. Anyways, thanks for reading, and be ready for new chapters to come! Please please please review!