A/N: After so long, I've become rusty with my writing. My health isn't going well and I'm quite busy even then, so I had no time to write. For now, I give you this one-shot. Not much, but I'm trying to get back to writing again. Writing this actually makes me feel some relief after so long. Hope you like it. This may or may not make you cry. I don't really know. I think I got teary-eyed a bit in the middle, but I didn't actually cry. As for my other stories, I don't know if I'm ever going to update. Let's see how it goes in the future. Disclaimer: I do not own Austin and Ally. They belong to their rightful owners.
There was a moment he cared. There was a moment he didn't. The latter outweighed the first. There was a moment he was there. There was a moment he wasn't. The latter outweighed the first. Days like these, she needed him. But like always, he wasn't there when she needed him the most. She called him. She called him about how scared she was, and all he ever replied was that he was too busy at a party. And for the first time, she ended the call before he did. And for the first time, she was going to end it all. All she ever wanted was him by her side or at least talk to her soothingly. She just needed to feel like he was there, but he wasn't. Maybe, it was time she finally ended everything. Maybe, it was time for him to have a reality check.
There was a moment he thought he could do everything by himself. There was a moment that he thought that pride was everything. There was a moment that he thought fame was the only thing he ever needed. Until her. Until she was gone from him. All he could feel is the colors fading away from him. All he could see is the red spreading on the floor. All he could see is her still body. All he could see the life before him fading away. Maybe, if he was there, she would still be by his side. Maybe, if he walked away from the fame once for her, he would still feel her warmth.
Does it matter anymore?
He had gotten everything he wanted but not what he needed. She pleaded him to be by her side, but he turned her away, thinking the party is more important than the woman. But he was wrong. So wrong that he found out when he awoke she would never be there to smile at him, to whisper her usual warm greeting to him. He would never hear how much she loves him. He would never see her in the kitchen making breakfast, lunch, or dinner for them. No, he wouldn't even be able to hold her again. All he needed now was the comfort. Her comfort. He needed her by his side. He felt so scared. So lonely. Never in his life did he ever feel like this until now. Is that how she felt when he left her at home alone?
He watched his friend have a family of his own. His friend married her friend, and he watched them as they had their own children. Children that he should have had with the woman he loves, but it is too late now. They won't have the family she always wanted. No, that dream had been crushed. There would be no Mommy. No Daddy. Just him and an empty mansion.
He tried to forget about her. Slept with other women or tried to date to forget about her. But no. Nothing could rid the memory of her. Every time he woke up with a woman in his bed. He couldn't help but run into the bathroom and vomit everything he had the night before. And before he knew it, he looked into the mirror to see his own reflection. All he ever see now is emptiness.
He had gotten married again. He married to a woman that he once liked in his teenage years. She was nothing like the woman he loves. No, this woman was wild and a party-goer. Someone like him.
In the end, it didn't last long. His marriage only lasted three weeks. He found out she cheated on him with some married millionaire.
He had a child. Well, children. Apparently, those one-night stands gave him children. Yeah, apparently, he is the father. The sad part of it? She wasn't the mother. He would never see the children. Oh, and not only that, he has to send money to twelve different women. He found out he has fifteen children. Lucky him.
He grew old before he even knew it. Well, he already felt old after she died. It was more evident in the mirror. He grew old with grace. Lucky for him. He was still handsome. Still young. But he didn't feel young. He hasn't felt young for so long.
"Austin?" Her voice called out.
The old man turned around immediately. He saw her. She still looked the same. His heart finally pounded. He finally breathed. He finally felt alive. And for the first time, he cried.
"Ally?" His voice quivered. He heard his own voice and cringed. He sounded old. He is old. And for the first time, he felt self-conscious. He felt unworthy. He felt like he was no longer good for her.
"Oh, Austin. What have you done to yourself?" Ally asked sadly. She walked to him, but he moved a step back. He was scared. He felt hideous. He didn't want her to see him like this while she was still so young. Oh, how he wished he was just as young as her.
"It's okay, Austin. It's okay. Look at me now," he heard Ally say. He stiffened for a second and started taking a peek. His eyes widened and he awed at a much older Ally. She was just as old as him, yet she still looked so beautiful. Her white hair was like the color of snow. The wrinkles on her face made her look aged, but he saw it as cute. Her chocolate brown orbs never changed. It is full of life like he always remembered hers to be. She is breath-taking. She looks perfect. She is everything he thought she would be if she grew old with him.
But then he realized, she is dead. All the emotions fell down on him all at once. His life wasn't supposed to be like this. It was supposed to be a perfect ending. He was supposed to grow old with her. He was supposed to have children with her and then they would watch their children have children of their own. They would be grandparents. And if nature would let them, they would see their grandchildren grow older. He always thought he would die with her. He always thought he would die with a smile on his face. But no, she died before they would have their happy ending.
His Ally left him before it came true.
"Why did you leave me?" He asked. The only question he had always asked throughout his life when Ally died.
Ally smiled sadly to him. He saw how Ally wanted to touch him, but she stopped herself before she could.
"I needed to end it before I lost myself completely. Because I felt like I wasn't needed. There are so many reasons, Austin. There isn't just one answer to this," Ally explained.
"I needed you!" He screamed angrily yet all he felt was anguish afterwards.
"I always needed you. I know I didn't show how much I needed you. I know I took you for granted. But I- Don't ever say I never needed you. I have always," He let the tears fall before he continued once again, "I have always needed you. Even now. Even when I know I should move on, but I can't. Because it isn't life without you."
"Oh, Austin," Ally whispered. Austin could feel the sadness in her tone. He looked up to see a crying Ally. How could she still look so beautiful crying even when she is a wrinkly old woman?
"I love you, Ally. I know you're dead. I know your the figment of my imagination, but... how could you still look so damn beautiful at this age?" Austin asked. Ally laughed at the latter part of his statement. Oh, her laugh is still so adorkable as always, he thought.
All of a sudden, Ally stopped laughing and looked sadly at him.
"I'm sorry for making you alone for all these years," Ally apologized. Yup, she still bit her bottom lip like always when she apologizes. Still adorkable, Austin thought.
"But you're here now. You're right beside me," Austin stated. He felt whole again when he said that. He just felt alive. "That's all I have always wanted."
"Austin, would you be mad at me if I told you that I'm here to take you away from this world? That you are about to die?" Ally looked down as if she was ashamed to tell him the bad news. But to Austin, it felt like good news.
"Will I be with you wherever you are taking me?" Austin asked. He wasn't scared of death anymore. Without her. There was nothing to fear anymore.
"Yes. As long as you want to," Ally said softly.
"What about forever?" Austin asked in a child-like fashion.
Ally giggled and shook her head. He is still the same child-like Austin like always.
"Isn't forever a long time?" Ally asked, teasing him.
"It doesn't feel like a long time just as long as I'm with you," Austin stated truthfully, and he knows he's being cheesy even with his old age.
Ally laughed, "Cheesy much. But what can I say? I'm a romantic. Cheesy lines and all."
Austin smiled and walked to her.
"Then take me away. As long as I'm with you, I can do anything," Austin whispered. Ally smiled.
"When you are ready, lie in your bed. I promise to take you with me by then," Ally whispered before she disappeared right before his eyes.
He felt a little bit of sorrow that she disappeared, but happiness outweighed everything else. Right then and there, he had an idea for a song as well as writing a letter to his friends.
He laid on his bed after he finished writing his last song as well as his last letter. And as she promised, Ally took him away with her. Nothing else mattered after that because he is with her now, and that is all he ever wanted.
But he was wrong about one thing. He did have his perfect ending. Not only did he die with a smile on his face, but he finally is with Ally in the ever after. Austin and Ally until the very end. But as they say, the end is never truly the end after all.