Dear Austin,
I'm writing this because I didn't want to say it. I hate that I'm doing it this way, you deserve so much better than a long letter. But the truth is, I got accepted in to MUNY again. I was offered a full scholarship and Ronnie Ramone said that it would be good for me to go down there and learn more about the art of music. He said he has an office in New York (to no one's surprise) and he could get me set up with a manageable schedule. I think he had something to do with the whole thing, honestly, because my classes are second year courses, which means they're more advanced. That's okay with me though.
Anyway, I didn't want to say this in person because I barely made it through our last goodbye. You were coming back in three months then and I'm not coming back for three years now. Trish and Dez know, but don't take it personally that they didn't tell you. I begged Trish not to say anything and if I know her she probably threatened Dez to keep quiet. I'm really sorry, Austin, I am. It's really hard to write this. I wish I could take you with me, all of you (especially you), but you mean too much for me to let that happen. You're so far in to your career, it wouldn't be fair to compromise and lose that. You know I wouldn't let you come anyway. You can come down and visit whenever you want, but not yet. I want to see if I can adjust to living without you.
I'm sorry. By the time you read this, I'll be in New York. It's better this way.
Goodbye, Austin.
He's running, but he's not sure where. He started in Miami and suddenly he's not sure where he is. It's dark, and chilly. But he keeps running. He's not sure where he willed the stamina from, but he doesn't feel winded or out of breath. Just tired. Tired of everything. He realizes he's crying. He doesn't know why. But the tears keep on rolling and he keeps on running.
He thinks he's on a highway. It's not leading anywhere though. At least it doesn't seem to. He looks around but he's engulfed by darkness. He's confused. He stops. And there's a pain in his chest. No – his heart. And he can't identify the cause. He stares at the nothingness ahead of him and ponders, while grasping at his chest desperately.
"Austin," a voice says calmly. "Austin."
He recognizes the voice and begins running again. He doesn't remember who the voice belongs to. He can't match an image. But he knows it. And he keeps running, picking up his pace, eager to find this person.
"Austin!" the voice cries in pain. He grips his chest again as the pain emanates through his body. This person needs help. She's crying. He runs faster.
He's in New York. He stops suddenly and looks around at the hustle and bustle of Times Square. He has no recollection of why he's here. His head whips back and forth as cars speed by and the loud hum of people talking gets more persistent. He holds his head in confusion.
"Austin," the voice cries in agony. His gaze fleets to a billboard sign above him. And another. And another. And every one in his spectrum. There, her beauty captured in trillions of pixels, was his best friend, his partner, the love of his life.
Ally.
He shoots up out of bed almost hits his unsuspecting mother. She flies back and waits as he collects himself. He breathes sharply, terrified as his dream resurfaces in his mind.
"Honey," Mimi whispers quietly. "Are you alright? You were screaming." She knew he wasn't alright, but it was her maternal instinct to comfort him like a wounded toddler after a rough day on the playground. Her heart couldn't help but bleed for her son. She knew he was in love with Ally. She knew it since day one. She could hardly believe she left as abruptly as she did, but at the same time, could totally understand it.
"No, Mom," he says, lying back on his side and turning his back to her. "I'm not. I miss her so much." She could hear his voice break on the last word and decided to not push him too far. "I need to get some rest," he says, which was his not-so-subtle way of asking her to leave.
"Okay, baby," she says, leaving quietly. "Goodnight."
Austin grunts. As the door closes, he lets the tear fall. He cries quietly for no more than an hour and falls asleep.
Mike and Mimi, arms linked, walk in to Sonic Boom one dreary Friday. They spot Lester at the counter and approach him quietly. "Lester?" Mike calls. "Can we talk about something with you?"
Lester pops his head up quickly. The feud aside, he could tell they were concerned about something. His face drops. "Is everything okay?" he wonders.
"That's what we were hoping to talk about," Mimi answers solemnly.
He looks around the store for a second. "Uh, Ryan," he calls. "Watch the store for a few minutes okay?"
The short boy beams up at him. "Sure!"
Lester leads the Moons upstairs. "New employee," he explains. He shows them to the practise room and closes the door. "What's up?" he asks.
"Well, uh," Mimi starts. She stops as she looks around at the room. It looks almost exactly the way it did the last time she was in there after Austin's nodule surgery. She's taken aback at the way Austin and Ally managed to create and keep a fun and professional environment for themselves. She knew that music wasn't the only thing that happened here.
"Honey?" Mike interrupts her gaze. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah," she says, snapping back to reality. "It's just... the room."
"It's really something, right?" Lester says softly. She nods. "I keep it this way because I know she'll want it back when she's home. And..." he thinks for a moment. "I keep it like this for Austin, too. He hasn't been here since the night before she left, but music is what brought them together in the first place and I hope it's what brings them together again. I told him he can use it whenever he wants. I even told him the code to the security system if he wants to come at night. But as far as I can tell he hasn't been here at all."
"I can't believe it's already been five weeks," Mike says.
"Me either."
"How is she?" Mimi asks.
"She loves her classes and she's met some great people," he tells the married couple. "The record label has been really good to her too. I miss her a lot though. It's hard to be impartial and supportive and pretend I don't miss her. I think she sees through my facade," he laughs sadly. "I'm proud of her, though. I really am. How's Austin?"
"That's why we're here actually," Mike explains. "He's not well. At least three nights a week every week he has bed dreams."
"We wake up to him screaming her name and crying," Mimi adds. "It's the most terrifying thing. I knew she was really important to him but I didn't know she meant his sanity. His grades are dropping considerably and as you've said, he's been neglecting his music. Jimmy has been coming to us directly because Austin isn't replying to the messages."
"That's awful," Lester exclaims. "Ally just won't talk about it. She'll talk about Trish. Even Dez. But Austin is a danger zone. She finds a reason to go offline."
"That's the thing," Mimi says. "We're wondering if you'd be up to getting them together. I don't know what she said in that letter to him but he keeps it locked away in a drawer and every time we suggest contacting her he... He shrivels up in to a ball and pushes us away."
"She told him she didn't want him contacting her for a little while. But I think they're both too scared to make the move."
"So would you be okay with getting them together?" Mike asks.
"What can I do?" Lester asks incredulously. What could he do? It's not like he could magically make them realize they're destined to be together.
"We're hoping we could get one or the other to come down for a fake reason-" Mimi starts.
"Fabricated by us," Mike adds.
"And get them together."
"How would we start?" Lester wonders, intrigued. He was definitely for making his daughter happy.
"Well first, I need to talk to Jimmy about it," Mike says. "I want to know what Austin's options are. But if it works out, we should see if we could tell Ally you're going down to see her. Then we send Austin instead."
"I thought Austin wasn't verbally responsive about contacting her."
"Yes, but we could say it's an emergency. You could say you can't get down there right away but he needs to see her. I know it's manipulative but they'll only be mad for a moment. When they're together, that's all that'll matter," Mimi says. She sees Lester's hesitance. "He hardly eats, Lester."
"I'll do it."
Jimmy's in his office that afternoon, filing some paperwork. His phone rings then and he's relieved to see it's Austin's house phone.
He answers it eagerly. "Austin, I've been-"
"It's not Austin," Mike says. "It's Mike Moon."
Jimmy is taken aback. "Oh, I'm sorry Mr. Moon, I just assumed."
"That's okay, no harm done. Listen. Austin isn't doing very well."
"I know," Jimmy says, taking his glasses off and rubbing his eyes tiredly. "I'm worried about his career, but I'm more worried about him. He misses Ally a lot."
"You don't have to tell me. Look, I have a couple store chains around the country and one happens to be in New York. Is there anyway you could put together a list of things that need to be done for Austin music-wise so we can all go down for a month or so? He needs to see her, and I'm afraid he'll hurt himself if he doesn't."
Jimmy's stomach drops. Austin has been like a second son to him. He can't stand to see him so miserable. He thinks for a moment. A light bulb dings in his head. "I can do better than that," he explains. "I can send him a few people to manage him while he's down there. He has to have a couple of songs written by the end of next month anyway, so this way he'd have plenty of time – and inspiration – to help him. I know he's been lost without Ally."
"That would be perfect. I'm going to talk to his school after we're done here about excusing him for a while."
"Sounds good. Let me know when you're planning to leave and I'll have people ready. I assume he doesn't know about this vacation?"
"Right."
"Okay. Have a great day Mike," Jimmy says courteously.
"You as well."
Lester wipes his palms on his jeans as the video call with Ally loads. He's nervous about the plan but knows it's for the best. Suddenly her face appears and he grins. "Hi, honey," he greets.
"Hey Dad," she exclaims, smiling. "What's up?"
"Well I haven't seen you in weeks and I think it's time I visit my favourite daughter in New York," he tells her, wearing a goofy grin.
"Dad," she mutters playfully. "I'm your only daughter."
"And that's why you're my favourite!"
She rolls her eyes. "Anyway, that'd be great if you came down! There are lots of things I want to show you."
"Great. Does tomorrow work?"
"Really? So soon?" she gasps.
"Why not?"
"Sure! That'd be great."
The plan is in motion and the four adults have been conspiring late in to the evening after Sonic Boom was closed and the Moons were sure Austin wasn't coming back out from his room.
"Tomorrow morning I'll call Austin and tell him Ally was hurt in a hit and run by the university," Lester starts.
"And he'll come in and demand he leaves right away," Mike adds.
"And we'll insist on going," Mimi continues.
"I'll come down after I tell Austin I won't and make up an excuse later."
"And Jimmy's management team will fly down."
"And Austin and Ally will be together again."
He missed her so much. He couldn't hide it. Hell, he didn't even try. Not at all. What he would give to see her again.
As he's hopping out of the shower, his prayers are answered, though not in the way he'd expect.
"Austin," Lester says frantically on the other end. "Ally's been hurt, I can't really explain. You have to get down there because I can't leave yet."
Ally's been hurt, I can't really explain.
Ally's been hurt.
Ally.
His world goes blurry and he feels like he's tipping, but he realizes he has to get to New York and he has to get there now. "I'm going." He hangs up and starts throwing things in to a bag.
On cue, his parents come in curiously. "What's wrong honey?"
"Ally's hurt," he answers without pausing. "I have to go. Don't fight me on this."
"We'll go with you."
And he's shocked for a moment, because they agreed like that, but he can't really over-analyse anything because as quick as the thought was gone it's there again. Ally is hurt.
He's anxious the whole plane ride. He's grateful the money he earned from his music was more than enough to hop on a plane and go, but he's scared that Ally is really hurt, or worse... No. He couldn't think the worse.
She's excited to see her dad again, it's been so long, but she's having a hard time pretending her heart doesn't hurt all the time from not seeing her friends. From not seeing him. She feels like the biggest bitch ever for leaving him like that. But she knew she'd change her mind again and she couldn't. Not this time.
She wonders if he'll ever forgive her.
Her dad is almost here, she knows, and his text said to meet him at a very specific park bench in Central Park. She's on her way for her reunion.
The text he gets from Lester tells him that he managed to catch an early flight and is already there. He tells him to meet him at a very specific park bench in Central Park so they could talk before they got to the hospital.
The plane was almost seconds from landing.
She sits down and faces west as the sun sets once she finds the bench. He isn't there yet but she knows he will be any moment.
He sits down and faces east once he finds the bench because he hates sunsets nowadays.
After a few minutes, she's wondering if something is wrong. She turns to the other person occupying the bench and taps him on the shoulder. "Excuse me," she says. "Do you know the time?"
He turns to face the voice. "Yeah, it's 5:50-" he stops.
She stops.
It's her.
It's him.
He can't breathe.
She's about to cry.
"Ally," he whispers.
"Austin."
"You're okay."
"Of course I'm okay, why?"
"You're dad said you were hurt."
"No, I'm fine."
"I can't believe I'm seeing you again." The tears are brimming. He's so in love with her he wonders if he's crazy.
And she begins to cry. This is why she hated goodbyes. The tears, the emotion. She didn't do well with them.
He scoops her up in his arms and buries his face in her hair, and for the first time in five weeks, he feels like he's home. He feels like there's nothing he can't accomplish now that's he's here with her.
She's breathless. And happy to be with him. And scared he'll have to leave soon. And confused. "Where's my dad them?" she asks.
He pulls away, equally curious. He wipes the tears away from his face. "I don't know."
"I'm here," Lester says, walking up with Mike and Mimi.
Austin and Ally share a quick glance.
"Let us explain," Mimi says.
It's been two weeks since the reunion, and Austin and Ally are stronger than ever. They're always holding hands when they can and sometimes Austin sits in on lectures. The pair has written seven songs for Austin's new album and three for Ally's, though her album isn't as pressing.
And even though they both know he'll have to leave soon, they're okay with it now. They're going to keep in touch.
They're happy now.
Dear Ally,
I miss you.
I talked to my parents about MUNY. It really is a terrific school. I'm going to apply there in the spring! I'm doing my extra credits now and Jimmy worked it out so I'll have one more tour before school. I'll be able to be with you and do what I love and learn about it. I've never been so excited.
Maybe we can finally be together. Fingers crossed. I'm thinking of you,
Love, Austin.
The end.
Not my favourite story, but basically the idea has been in my head for a good week and I think I might have gone insane if I didn't write it. Hope you enjoyed it!