Disclaimer: I do not own Austin and Ally, or the song Dog Days Are Over by Florence and the Machine. All mistakes are my own.
Ally clutches the yellow teddy bear close to her chest, leaning back into the headboard of her daughter's bed. She doesn't want to cry because today is a happy day; her baby is six years old. But the teddy bear smells like her daughter, and the familiar scent of watermelon shampoo brings tears to her eyes. Before she knows it, she's sobbing into the yellow bear, huddled on her daughter's bed in the pink bedroom.
She hears Trish's knock on the door, but doesn't look up. She attempts to dry her tears, but knows that she doesn't need to in front of Trish. Her friend sits down on the pink bed, and Ally wonders how much weight it can take in the back of her mind, before she sees her father appear in the doorway. They are silent at the sight of her tears, but Trish pulls her into a hug. Ally doesn't protest.
"Ally…" Lester starts off, pain evident in his voice. Ally wants to feel bad for him, but can't help but feel like she has it much worse. Her daughter is out there somewhere, probably alone. Was she cold, was she hungry? Was she missing her teddy bear? The tears sprang back into Ally's eyes, and she turned into Trish's shoulder. Her friend started to pat her back, bringing Ally little comfort.
"She's been gone for almost a year now." Lester sounds cautious, almost like he's afraid that Ally would blow up at him. She already did three months ago, when he and the police suggested that they stop looking for Willow. It had been nine months. Ally wanted to correct him, but turned her head to look at him instead. Her eyes were blurry with tears, but she didn't wipe them away.
Ally hears footsteps against the wooden floor of the hallway, and sees Jimmy Starr standing behind her father in the doorway. He's dressed in his usual suit and tie combo, but his sunglasses are off, which are rare. His eyes hold pity for her, but she doesn't want it. "How long has Austin been gone?" Ally asks, her voice hoarse. She first found out about Austin's kidnapping a few months after Willow's fifth bithday. She and Austin had decided to stay friends before she started dating Ethan, but after the pregnancy, Ally started to distance herself from Team Austin. Ethan left her three weeks after she gave birth, and Trish was the only member of Team Austin that she still spoke to. Needless to say, the news of Austin's kidnapping came as a shock to her.
Jimmy clears his throat. "Austin's been gone for eleven months," He says. His voice attempts to be gentle, something that Ally never knew he could do before. Ally nodded to herself, blinking back more tears. She remembers all of the nights that she sat awake, wondering if Austin was alright. It's like a double whammy, with the both of them being gone at the same time.
"They haven't found any bodies…" Lester continues. Ally swallows, because she knows what is coming. She pulls away from Trish and sits back on her knees, fixing both men with a cold stare. Lester fumbles with his fingers and looks down at them instead of looking at Ally. "So the police want you to be prepared." He clears his throat.
Ally folds her arms together, feeling anger bubble up in her chest. "Be prepared for what?" She snaps. She doesn't mean to be upset, but damn it, she should be allowed to. One of her best friends and her daughter disappeared, and her father was trying to tell her that the police can't do anything about it? What was the point in involving the police, then?
"The police want you to be prepared for the possibility that Willow and Austin may never be found." Jimmy steps in. His voice is oddly smooth, but it always was. For a moment, Ally wonders how Austin's parents react, before feeling burning hot anger in her chest.
"Why? Because they don't know how to do their fucking job?" Ally blurts out. She can practically feel her eyes popping out. "They've had almost a year to look." She spews. "My daughter isn't dead. I can feel her."
Lester and Jimmy stare at her with matching expressions, ones that hold pity in their eyes. They feel sorry for her, because she's the one that's wrong. It makes Ally's hands clench into fists, and she jumps up to her feet. Lester looks startled, but Jimmy doesn't flinch. Trish reaches up to try to comfort Ally, but Ally snatches her hand away. She's not mad at Trish directly, but she's mad at everyone right now.
"They were saying that you should start thinking about funeral ideas… Austin's parents are going to." Jimmy suggests. He looks so professional about it, like the fact that Austin might be dead isn't a big deal to him. Ally is fuming.
"They're going to bury him without a body?" She asks incredulously. Her eyes search her father's, but he doesn't hold any answers for her. She lets out some sort of groan that sounds more like a yell, and knows that it was loud when Trish steps away from her. "That's insane! There are people who are kidnapped and gone for years, but their parents never hold funerals." She glares at the men in front of her. They make her sick. Her daughter's yellow teddy bear is still in her arms, but it doesn't do anything to comfort her.
Trish, Lester, and Jimmy are silent. Ally shrugs, getting off of the bed and brushing off the skirt of her dress. It took a good six months for her to start getting ready in the mornings again. "Fine, whatever, do what you want. I know that I'm never going to stop looking for them." She walks out of her daughter's room and out the front door of her father's house, the door slamming behind her.
Austin rolls over to see a small body next to him, and realizes that the little girl must've crawled into bed with him last night. He knew that it probably wasn't healthy for her to be sleeping in bed with him when she was so old, but he couldn't tell her no. Besides, even he was scared of the monster that could barge into the room at night and take them away.
Austin shakes the girl with gentle hands. "Willow," He whispers. His eyes dart up towards the door; a reflex at this point. He usually didn't come for at least fifteen more minutes, but Austin has come to learn to expect the unexpected. Willow blinks her big chocolate colored eyes at him, reminding him way too much of Ally. He wonders how she's dealing with this, if she still looks for Willow, if she has guessed that she and Austin were taken by the same person. He has to wonder if she even cares about him being taken. She sure didn't seem to care about him when she got pregnant.
"Is it my birthday yet?" Willow asks, her voice cloudy with sleep. Austin can't help but grin as he nods at the little girl. "I think so. Today is June 22nd…" His voice trails off as Willow starts to bounce on the bed, clapping her hands together.
"I'm six! I'm six, I'm six, I'm six!" She squeals. Austin laughs along with her, pulling her into a hug. He presses a kiss to her forehead, but holds a finger to his lips to remind her to be quiet. He glances up at the door again, but it's still shut.
Willow nods at him, holding one of her own fingers to her lips in understanding. Willow reminds him so much of Ally that it's crazy. They have the same chocolate colored eyes and hair, and their laughs sound almost exactly the same. It makes Austin's heart ache sometimes, because he remembers all of the times that he's made Ally laugh.
Willow walks over to the dresser in the corner, standing on her toes to reach into the drawer that holds her clothes. He never hesitated to buy things for the little girl whenever she asked, and Austin can't blame him; Willow is absolutely adorable. She pulls out a purple polka dotted shirt and blue jeans, throwing them out on the floor in front of her. She looks over to Austin's ripped jeans and sweatshirt, a frown on her face. There aren't any clothes for Austin in the dresser and she knows this, but it she still opens the other drawers anyway.
Austin gives Willow a small smile and averts his eyes as Willow changes. She's more than comfortable with changing around him after nine months of being together, but Austin still tries to respect her privacy. They can't use the bathroom until he opens the door, and there's no telling when that will be. It's always a different time each morning.
The room that they've spent most of their time is fairly small, with a trundle bed in one corner, a small closet, and a brown dresser on the other side of the room. The room is musty, and the only window that they have is the skylight on the ceiling above. The rest of the light that they have is from the lamps in each corner of the room. It going tiring to look at day after day, but having Willow around made things better. Austin knew that he would've gone crazy months ago if she weren't here. It's almost like having a piece of sunshine with him.
Austin moves to get up, but winces at the pain in his leg. Was it broken? God, he wouldn't be able to move anywhere if it was broken. He remembers when Ally broke his ankle, and a small is on his face for a brief moment. "Willow, can you do me a favor?" He asks. Willow nods adamantly, her eyes wide with excitement. Austin has to smile at the girl's enthusiasm. "Can you get the trash bag out of the closet, but be very, very quiet?" He asks. Austin's voice is a whisper, as though he can hear them on the other side of the door. Willow nods before running over to the closet, swinging the black garbage bag over her shoulder and walking over to Austin.
Austin leans up on his knees to grab some clothes out of the dresser and throw it into the bag, which already holds toilet paper, a blanket, and a first aid kit. "Do you need me to get the food, too?" Willow asks. Her brown eyes are wide, but hold a certain level of understanding as her eyes travel over the bruises on Austin's face. He smiles and nods at her, and she scampers over to the dresser, bending down to the lowers drawer. She pulls it out and pushes most of the clothing to the side, revealing the canned food that she and Austin have been gathering for the past six months. He never noticed that they were gone, if only a few were missing every month. Willow walks two cans over to the bag at a time, and Austin stops her when there are ten cans. That should be enough, right? He didn't want the bag to be too heavy; especially Austin wasn't sure what conditions they'd be traveling in.
"How are we gonna fight him, Austin?"
Austin's eyes snap open at the question, and he starts to shake his head. "We aren't doing anything. I'm gonna try to fight him with these," Austin pulls out the second to last drawer, pushes the clothing aside, and pulls out a fork and knife. He drops them on the ground next to them, fixing Willow with a stern gaze. "And you're gonna wait until I'm done."
Willow starts to shake her head. "But I have to help, Austin! Your foot is hurt, and what if something happens to you? I'm not going to get out then, and my birthday will be all sad." She pouts. Austin lets out a sigh, wondering how Ally gets around all of the cuteness.
"Willow, he'll hurt you if you try to hurt him." Austin tries to explain.
"But he already hurts you, and he'll hurt you even more if you try to hurt him." Willow points out, jutting out her chin in Austin's direction. He groans.
"You're helping me just by making sure that you follow the plan, alright?" He asks. Willow nods slowly, looking slightly disappointed. Austin knew that he wouldn't be able to focus if he had to worry about Willow getting hurt. He already would be worried about her, even when she was hidden. "Do you remember the plan?" He asks her. Willow nods.
"I'm gonna tell him that I have to use the bathroom, and then I hide in there until you tell me to come out. Then we run as fast as we can." The little girl rattles off. Austin nods, pressing a kiss to her forehead.
"Now can you pull this back in the closet for me?" He asks, his voice soft. Willow nods, though she doesn't jump up the way that she did before, and drags the bag back into the closet. Austin can already feel the adrenaline pumping through his veins. It's like he's just about to jump on stage and perform; only this is a life or death situation.
"Can we talk to Mommy before he comes?" Willow asks, her voice soft as she watches Austin stare into space. She's used to him dazing off, and it's gotten worse with each passing month because of the pills that he forced Austin to take. Austin shakes himself out of his thoughts, giving her a small smile when he sees the concern on her face. "Of course we can," He pulls Willow onto his lap.
"Mommy, I want you to know that I miss you lots, and even though it's still scary here, my friend Austin makes everything really nice. Austin tells me stories about you when you were little, and you're really clumsy, Mommy." Willow giggles, and Austin wishes he had his phone so that he could record the sound. "Austin says that you miss me lots too, and I hope that I get to see you really soon. That's my birthday wish." Willow finished, looking to Austin with expectant eyes. He bit his lip, and looked down.
"Hi, Ally," Austin starts. "Speaking" to Ally was something that he'd done with Willow ever since she first showed up; it was something that made them both feel more at ease. Willow spoke about her mother so adamantly every day, and Austin can't imagine her forgetting her mother, but he still tries to make sure that she hears about her mother every day. He doesn't mind talking about Ally all of the time. Most of the time, he enjoys it.
"I guess that… I'm sorry that you don't get to see Willow on her birthday, because I know that she misses you and you must miss her so much… and I hope that I can get her back to you soon." His voice lowers at the end of his sentence. He's been preparing for this day ever since they were brought here. The plan is foul proof; it can't go wrong.
"Yay!" Willow applauds, snapping Austin out of his thoughts again. He can feel the familiar headache coming on, and knows that he will be unlocking their door soon. Austin pulled Willow in for a hug.
"We're gonna get you out of here today, alright?" He whispers. Willow stares at the bruise on the side of Austin's neck, making him pull the hoodie higher up.
"That looks really bad." She whispers. Austin racks his mind for something to say, but it's blank. "Can you sing Happy Birthday to me?" She asks. Austin opens his mouth to start singing, grateful for the distraction. He freezes at the sound of the door clicking open, pulling Willow closer to his body. Willow's eyes widen just a tad, but she tries her hardest not to show her fear. It's something that she's learned from Austin. He wants to tell her that she doesn't need to be scared, because he will never touch her, but Austin can't form the words.
"Hey, Princess!" A sickly sweet voice croons from the door. Austin can feel Willow tensing up as the voice speaks. The little girl slowly turns her head to face the man anyway, giving a small wave. Her body is shaking. Austin turns with her, not wanting Willow to have to face their kidnapper on her own.
"Hi, Mr. Starr," Willow answers, her voice barely a whisper.
So I know that I shouldn't be writing another story since I'm already working on another one, but So Close is almost done, so I need something else to keep me busy. Tell me what you think, please?