Disclaimer: I don't own Austin & Ally or any characters I didn't make up.
"You're late!" Ally called out to her boyfriend as she poured coffee into her mug. "I know! I know! No need to keep reminding me," he grumbled as he walked in buttoning his shirt up with messy hair.
"You should've woken up earlier," she leaned on the counter facing him taking a sip from her mug. "I was up all night learning my lines," he said from the mirror in the foyer where he was doing his hair.
"Would the script have exploded if you waited for the morning?"
"That would delay me in memorizing the script and I would not be ready to shoot in time," he replied.
"It certainly delayed you in getting to your meeting. You were supposed to be there 20 minutes ago," she glanced at the clock.
He came back to the kitchen and grabbed his keys. "I need to head out now. I'll call later."
He leaned in to place a kiss on her cheek, but her hands shot out to stop him and she moved her head away from his lips as her body tensed.
Realizing what happened, he stammered, "I'm sorry. Force of habit. I'll just leave." He turned around and left the house.
"No," Ally quietly spoke into the empty house, "I'm sorry."
After Austin got her to agree to start moving on with her life and not distance herself anymore, she got better step by step. She started talking to him again. She was able to not drown in her thoughts for hours and stay up all night because of her nightmares. Her sleeping habits have improved as the dreams got less and less.
She slept in a separate room, though. The times that she would sleep with Austin in his bed were the times her nightmares came back. Her fear of direct physical contact with a guy remained still.
Austin does try to get her comfortable with hugging him, but after his last try where she started screaming in fear as he hugged her from behind he gave up. He told her he was just glad they were able to have a normal conversation again.
But she knew he annoyed. He should be able to hug and kiss his girlfriend, not hesitate every single move he makes around her. Flashes of her kidnapper take over her mind when a guy touches her.
She was aware that if she doesn't get over this fear soon, she'll lose him. It wasn't even like they're a couple living together. It was as if he was her best friend that lived with her.
He was much healthier now. The infection subsided and the wound was haling nicely now. He's supposed to be resting right now, but his career demanded his attention. He was leaving for Vancouver to shoot his movie in 5 days. She didn't want him to go. The movie required him dancing a lot with too many stunts for her liking and his injury still hasn't healed completely.
It's not like she's gonna tell him that. His career was important to him. She understood that. She put herself in his shoes and knew what he was doing was the right thing.
Her own career called for her too. Being in the studio and writing a song for Austin's movie helped her keep her thoughts in order and distracted her from her memories.
"Come on, Alls," Austin mumbled quietly as he tried calling her again.
"Why don't you try calling her parents? They might know where she is," Dez suggested behind him. Austin followed Dez's advice and called her mom.
"Hello?" Penny's voice rang in his ears.
"Hey, Penny. I'm trying to reach Ally, but she's not answering to any of my calls. Do you have an idea of where she is?"
"Oh, Austin," her sympathetic tone raised panic in his body.
He went to the stables at the back of the countryside house where his parents got married and headed to the one stable he knew Ally was in.
He saw her leaning against the wall on the floor hugging her knees to her chest with dried tears on her cheeks staring at the emptiness in front of her.
"Hey," he said softly walking closer to her.
"Hey," her voice cracked as he sat down next to her. "Why didn't you call me? I would've dropped everything at once and came here," he questioned.
"I couldn't think straight," she said in monotone.
"Are you okay?" he asked carefully looking at her as she stared ahead.
"Melody's gone, Austin. My childhood's dead," tears flowed down her cheeks.
Knowing better than to touch her while she cried, he said, "I know. But your memories will always live. She's never completely gone. You spent a lot of time with her the past 2 months. She'll never be forgotten."
"Last week when I came to visit her," she started as her tears slowed down, "she was so weak, I couldn't ride on her. She was whimpering the whole time. With everything that's happened in my life, she's always been the one constant I had."
He felt his heart ache for the sad girl next to him. He felt the urge to do something, but he didn't know what that was.
"I won't tell you to stop being sad for that. I won't tell you to not mourn the death of a horse because I know Melody's a huge part of who you are," he wasn't sure of what to say, "but I will tell you that you have parts of your life that you can trust to be constant now."
"Like what?" she asked wiping away the tears after they stopped.
"Your music, your parents, our friends, me," he gently said. His reply must have worked because she cracked a smile and laid her head on his shoulder.
That gesture made him raise his eyebrows in surprise, but knowing better than to address it, he put his arm around her shoulders and enjoyed the first time she touches him without a problem since he was at the hospital. He saw her hands clench tightly and knew that she was fighting off the urge to push his arm off. He was grateful for her effort.
"Ally?" they heard Trish's voice outside.
Ally looked at him questioningly and he admitted sheepishly, "I might have called for backup."
"In here!" she yelled keeping her eyes on his.
Footsteps were heard and soon Trish, Cassidy, and Kira along with their boyfriends walked in.
Noticing the smile on Ally and Austin's faces, Elliot announced loudly, "I hear that we have some crying to do!"
"Or you know, something less depressing," Ryder said referring to the guitar in his hand.
"That's how we're gonna mourn the death of my horse?" Ally giggled.
"We thought that singing it out would help better than crying," Kira said as they all took a seat on the floor in a circle with Austin and Ally.
"Look, you're already smiling," Dez said before turning to Austin, "damn, you're good."
"I'm as surprised as you are," Austin chuckled, "I have no experience in comforting crying girls for the loss of their horses."
"I'm gonna credit Ally for being such a tough cookie and taking it easy on herself for this one," Cassidy spoke encouragingly.
Ryder started playing a tune that soon everyone recognized.
Austin:
So let's sing He looked at her proudly
Na, na na na na, hey, ya (1)
Come on and sing
Na, na na na na, hey, ya
Austin and Ally:
This is our song She smiled at the people around her
That's all that matters
'Cause we all belong right here together
There's nothing better than singing along
This is our summer They locked eyes and sang
Austin:
This is our song
Elliot and Cassidy: They started clapping to the beat
Come grab your guitar
Sit by the fire
'Cause we all need a song
When we're weary and tired
Dez and Trish:
We'll sit here together
And sing it out loud
All:
This is our song
That's all that matters
'Cause we all belong right here together
There's nothing better than singing along
This is our summer
And this is our song
This is our song
This is our song
Austin:
This is our song
Come on and sing
Na, na na na na, hey, ya,(hey ya)
Ryder and Kira:
Come on and sing
Na, na na na na, hey, ya(hey ya)
Austin and Ally:
And come on and sing
Na, na na na na, hey, ya(hey ya)
Come on and sing
Na, na na na na, hey, ya(hey ya)
All:
This is our song
That's all that matters
'Cause we all belong right here together
There's nothing better than singing along
This is our summer
Austin:
(Our summer)
All:
This is our song
That's all that matters
'Cause we all belong right here together
There's nothing better than singing along
This is our summer
This is our song
Ally:
(This is our song)
All:
This is our song
Ally:
(This is our song)
All:
This is our song
Ally:
(This is our song)
Austin:
This is our song
"Really, Ryder?" Cassidy giggled, "Camp Rock?"
He shrugged, "Everyone's jam from the 2000's."
"This is working," Ally smiled not just meaning Melody's death, "more songs. More."
They launched into an unintentional jam session on the muddy ground in a late horse's home.
(1) This Is Our Song- Camp Rock 2
Here is the first chapter of the sequel! If you haven't read To The Moon And Back, I suggest you go do that to understand this story.
The title of the story is actually from a review I got a long time ago that said that TTMAB should've been named Sing It Out, and I agree but it was too late to change the title. So thank you if you were the one that wrote that review. You saved me the trouble of coming up with a new title.
This story will have many things happening in it, so try to keep up. That's why I had to separate it into a sequel. I'll give you a hint: Regret.
Not updating until this chapter gets at least 5 reviews.