"C'mon Ally, be realistic, why would her choose me over HER!"
"Because he is in LOVE with you, Trish and he has been for almost 4 years! He just didn't realize it because boys are stupid."
Confused? Let's go back to where this all started a few days earlier.
It was a bright and sunny morning in the beautiful city of Miami. Trish was in a very good mood because her last class before lunch had let out early. She made her way to the senior area, a content smile on her face. When she reached her destination she saw that Austin and Ally were already there, his arm around her shoulders and her head in the crook of his neck. What was strange about this situation was that a tall redhead was nowhere to be seen.
"Hey, have you guys heard from Dez? I haven't seen him all day, he wasn't in home room this morning." Trish asked the couple.
"Huh that's not like him." replied Austin, suspicion now resting on his face.
"He can't be sick, can he? I mean he was fine when we all saw him yesterday." Ally mused.
"Nah if he was sick he would've called or texted us. Something is up." the blonde decided.
Removing his arm from around his girlfriend and standing up, Austin pulled his phone out of his pocket ready to call Dez to find out what the heck was going on.
"Ugh it went straight to voicemail!" Austin said, growing worried for his best friend.
"Sweetie, calm down; I'm sure he's fine." Ally comforted, standing up and rubbing circles on his back soothingly.
"Are you sure?! I mean its not like him to skip class, especially without telling one of us first AND to not answer his phone AND-"
"Hey guys." the redhead in question greeted the two girls and the frantic blonde.
"DEZ YOU'RE OK!" Austin screamed in relief, practically tackling his best friend in a bone crushing hug.
"Where were you this morning? You made me sit through home room BY MYSLEF." Trish questioned Dez, angry because he was her only means on entertainment in that class.
"I'm sorry... I should've called you guys but I can explain!" Dez said.
"Explain what?"
"Carrie is coming back."
"What?!" the three friends replied, shocked.
"Well, not permanently. Her modeling agency is doing shoot here in Miami for a few days and obviously she volunteered to be a part of it, what with it being in her home town and all." Dez explained.
"When does she get in?" Austin asks.
"Tonight. I'm picking her up from the airport and we're gonna go out to dinner and catch up."
"Wait Dez isn't this a good thing? Like what if she wants to get back together? That's what you've wanted, right?" Ally mentioned.
"I mean yeah, I guess..." said Dez.
"You guess?" Trish questioned.
"Well... I mean... UGH I don't know!" the ginger said, running his hands through his hair in frustration.
"What is it, buddy?" Austin asked softly, placing his hand on his best friends shoulder.
"It's just... I thought I wanted to get back together with her, but I think it was just because our break up was so sudden! Like I still don't even know WHY she broke up with me. It just happened. One day we were fine and the next BOOM it's all gone, just like that." said Dez.
"So you're not looking to get back together with her?" Austin asked.
"Even if we did get back together, we'd just end up breaking up again. I mean she's in LA and I'm in Miami. What I really want to get from tonight is closure. I just wanna know why she broke up with me like what was the reason for it."
As soon as Dez had finished explaining his whole situation with Carrie, the bell rang signaling lunch and the four friends proceeded to the cafeteria.
Dez went home after school to get ready for his "dinner with his ex-girlfriend that he needs to get closure from and still isn't sure if he wants to get back together with her" date. "What should I wear? Should I dress up! I mean I'm not trying to impress her, really. THIS IS DIFFICULT." Dez expressed to himself.
After an hour of trying to figure out what to wear, Dez just ended up wearing what he was already wearing because he was going to be late to pick up Carrie if he wasted anymore time.
Carrie's flight landed at six, so that gave them plenty of time to work everything out, right?
Dez sat in his car in the pickup lane at the airport, going over the many different scenarios that the night could possibly end in.
Suddenly he heard a tap on his window pulling him out of his head.
Looking up, he saw his ex-girlfriend, looking pretty as ever. She was wearing orange sweat pants with a paisley design on them and a blue t-shirt paired with a turquoise sweater. She had her hair up in a bun that resembled a bird's nest after a long day of traveling and she was wearing her glasses, her face free of makeup.
Dez hopped out of the car and went to grab her luggage and lift it into the trunk. He then turned to her.
"Hey." he said softly.
"Hi." she replied airily, seeing him in the flesh after so long apart almost took her breath away.
He then leaned in and hugged her. And she hugged back. Dez was relieved. He had dreaded that this night would be terribly awkward but it was like nothing had changed. But a lot had changed.
After a few more moments they broke apart and he opened the passenger side door for her.
"Why thank you, kind gentleman." she said smiling.
"Anything for you, m'lady." he teased back.
After they had left the airport they decided to go eat at a restaurant near the beach that they were frequent visitors at when they were dating.
Once they had arrived at the restaurant, they were seated at an outside table where they had a beautiful view of the beach and the setting sun.
"So how have you been?" Dez asked Carrie, after they had ordered their drinks.
"I've been good." she replied. "Really busy, but good. I went to the dentist a few weeks ago and they said I have the best teeth they've ever seen. I bet its because of all the free toothpaste aquaswirl gave me, I used all 10 cases in like a week. I started using it as a condiment like where I would normally use ketchup or mustard I would use toothpaste. I also started washing my hair with it. You really should try it, I'm calling it the toothpaste cleanse." Carrie explained.
Dez laughed at her story. She hadn't changed at all. Granted, it had only been like 2 months, but still.
"So how have you been?" she asked him.
"Oh I've been great! As much fun as LA was for a while, I love being back in Miami. And yeah film school was awesome but now me, Austin and the girls have opened up this music school where we teach kids how to perform and make it in the music business, it's so much fun!" said Dez, as their waiter brought their drinks.
After they had placed their orders for dinner, Dez brought up the question he had been dying to ask all night.
"So... This might be a strange question and it might make things awkward... But... Why did you break up with me?" Dez asked Carrie, tentatively.
Carrie stopped making a caterpillar with her straw wrapper and looked up at him. She sighed.
"I knew you would ask that." she admitted.
He shrugged.
"The reason I broke things off with us was because... Well... How do I put this... You were becoming... Distant."
"Distant?" he asked.
"Yeah. All you ever did was talk about back home. About random things you had done with Austin and Ally and Trish. I saw how miserable you were and it made me realize what I was always afraid of." Carrie said.
"And what was that?" said Dez.
"That I wasn't good enough for you." she stated.
"What?! That's crazy! You were like my perfect woman!" Dez said, very confused.
"It's not that. It's that, well, you and Austin and Ally and Trish are so close and always have been and always will be. And when we first started dating I was a little intimidated by your closeness. I thought I'm never gonna fit in with you guys. You were already so tight. And it wasn't just me who felt like that, Piper felt it too when she was with Austin; heck, even Gavin and Jace were slightly terrified of you andAustin when they were dating Ally and Trish."
"What?! Why?!"
"Because we all saw how much you all mean to each other. And I think deep down all of us knew it would never work out with any of us. You guys all have a really special connection."
"I still don't understand why you broke up with me."
Carrie sighed again.
"Did you notice how I didn't categorize Austin and Ally differently because they are a couple?"
"No, not until you pointed it out."
"And as a coupe, Austin and Ally have that really special bond that everyone can see."
"Duh."
"Well, I finally noticed when we were in LA, that you and Trish have that same bond."
"What?! No way, we're just friends!" Dez explained quickly, his face heating up.
"Please Dez, I'm the love robot; I know these things."
Dez sighed.
"Ok I'd be lying if I said I've never wondered what could possibly happen between the two of us like that; I mean I feel like everyone does that when they have such a close friend of the opposite sex. And even if I did have feelings for Trish, she'd never in a million years wanna go out with me." Dez explained.
"Ok whatever you say."
Soon after, their food came. The dined on the exquisite food until they couldn't eat another bite.
Carrie was about to grab the check when Dez grabbed her wrist and stopped her.
"Now what kind of gentleman would I be if I let the lady pay on a date." he said teasingly.
Carrie just rolled her eyes, amused.
"Let's go for a walk. I mean you are only here for a few days, so you might as well enjoy the Atlantic ocean before you have to go back to the boring old pacific ocean."
Carrie giggled and followed him off in the direction of the beach.
The two walked along side each other in silence, just taking in their surroundings. After a few more moments, Carrie reached for Dez's hand and intertwined her fingers with his. Dez squeezed her hand softly to let her know that he was ok with it. He then looked over at her and smiled, which she returned. They continued to walk in silence, hand in hand, down the seashore.
They had finished their stroll and had driven back to Carrie's hotel. Dez was retrieving her luggage from the trunk of the car while she checked into her room.
He helped her bring all of her bags up to her room.
"Well, I guess this is it." Carrie said, getting up from her spot on the couch to stand in front of him.
"I guess it is." Dez replied, looking at her.
"I had a really nice time tonight, Dez." she told him.
"Yeah, me too." he said.
She then wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him into a goodbye hug, which he reciprocated; wrapping his arms tightly around her slender waist, burrying his face in her shoulder, taking in the sweet sent of her hair one last time.
After a few long moments, she broke the hug, pulling away slowly, looking into his crystal blue eyes.
Before she even registered what she was doing, she was leaning in and placing a soft kiss on his lips.
Dez was surprised nonetheless, but he kissed her back, never intensifying the softness.
They then broke the kiss, realizing what they were doing.
She coughed awkwardly and his hand went to the back of his neck and in his hair; a nervous habit of his that she happened to find adorable.
"Well... Um... Nice seeing you." said Dez, sticking out his hand for her to shake.
"Yes, yes, you too." Carrie said, shaking his hand.
He let go of her hand and quickly made his way to the door. Before he left he turned around to her and said "I'll call you tomorrow, ok?"
She nodded her head in confirmation. He smiled at her one last time before existing the room.
Once he was back in his car, he let out a loud, frustrated groan and dropped his head against the steering wheel.
Why did everything have to be so confusing?
After a restless night of trying to sleep, Dez made his way to the mall for a full day of lessons.
"Whoa Dez what happened to you?" a confused Dylan asked him as he entered the music factory.
Dez looked down at his clothes, he was wearing grey sweat pants and a tight black zaliens t-shirt, which he had slept in. He also had bags under his eyes and his hair was all over the place.
"Rough night." he told her. She shrugged as he went over to see Austin, Ally and Trish.
"Hey Dez! Whoa you look terrible." Trish commented.
"Not in the mood, Trish." Dez snapped back at her.
Trish was taken aback, and slightly hurt by Dez's sharpness.
Seeing Trish's, who was the toughest person he knew, hurt expression, immediately softened Dez.
"Oh Trish I'm sorry I didn't mean that, I just had a rough night. I didn't sleep at all." Dez explained.
"Up all night, huh? The date must've gone pretty well then..." Austin said wolfishly, which prompted Ally to gasp and smack her boyfriend on the arm.
"What? No! I was up all night because I was so confused; I literally couldn't turn my mind off!" said Dez.
"That bad?" asked Ally.
"Well no it actually went really well but then she said some things and stuff happened and now I'm confused!" Dez replied.
"What kind of "stuff" are you referring to?" Trish asked cautiously, her tone dripping with jealousy.
"Well it all started when I went to get her at the airport-" Dez began until he was interrupted.
"OHHHH who is this "her" you're talking about?! Is it your GIRLFRIEND?! Are you in love?!" Lily asked excitedly.
Dez sighed. "No Lily, she's just a friend who I used to date and was in love with and moved all the way across the country to be with her until she broke my heart forcing me to come back here as what felt like a shell of a human; no big deal." he said.
Lily's eyes widened.
"Did you really do all that?" she asked in wonder.
"Yeah, why do you seem so surprised?" Dez asked the little girl.
"Well its just that I always thought Austin was the super romantic one, but now turns out you're both pretty equally romantic." Lily explained.
"Yep, I guess so." Dez said quickly.
"Well, actually-" Austin began to explain to the little girl, clearly not ok with the fact that she said Dez was equally as romantic as him; he had always considered himself the "Romeo" of the group, if you will.
"Ok let's get to the lessons, shall we?" Dez said, interrupting Austin; eager to get the lessons over with so he can tell his friends about what all happened the previous night.
After an hour they took their lunch break. Austin and Dez had gone to get lunch for Ally and Trish, bringing Max and Herman with them, who were very excited to hang out with the older boys for some "bro time", even if it was just for a few minutes.
Back at the music factory Ally and Trish were straightening things up while Dylan strummed absentmindedly on her guitar and Lily stared of into space, a dreamy look on her face.
"Ally? Trish? Can I ask you something?" Lily spoke up, after sitting quietly for a while, consumed by her thoughts.
"Of course you can, Lily! You can always ask us anything." replied Ally
"Were Austin and Dez always this sweet and romantic? Will Dylan and I ever find boys as perfect as them?" Lily asked.
Ally and Trish laughed at the young girl's questions.
"Of course you two will find your perfect boys! It might just take some time becaus you're both still so young." Allu answered.
"And believe us, Austin and Dez are far from perfect." Trish added, still laughing.
"I find that hard to believe. They are both always such gentleman and are always so sweet and kind and thoughtful! Are you saying they weren't always like that?" Lily asked, confused.
"Well, yeah." Ally said. "when Trish and I first met the boys, they were pretty much the two most annoying humans on the planet." Ally recalled fondly.
"I mean we met them because the had stollen Ally's song so obviously we had already grown a grudge against them." Trish said.
"So why did you become friends with them if they were so annoying?"
"Well, annoying as they might've been they were both also very persistent and kept pushing themselves into our lives weather we liked it or not." Ally explained.
"And I'm ever so glad they were so persistent because I don't know where we would be if those weirdos hadn't tried so hard to become a part of our lives." Trish stated, as the boys returned from their outing.
"Ok girls, here's your pizza. Half pepperoni, half sausage, no mushrooms on a thin crust." said Dez, handing Trish the pizza box.
"Oh and Ally here's your pickles from the café across the street. I swear you are the only person on the planet who puts pickles on pizza." said Austin.
"Judge it if you must, but it is fantastic." Ally replied, strategically placing her pickle slices on her half of the pizza.
"No, I think it's adorable." said Austin, kissing the top of her head.
After they had eaten, finished their lessons and their students had left, they all made their was up to the practice room to hear what had happened between Dez and Carrie.
Dez went over how he had picked her up at the airport and how they had gone out to dinner (leaving out her telling him why she broke up with them, not wanting to bring it up in front of Trish), and then their walk on the beach, and finally he got to the part where they were in her hotel room.
"So I helped her bring her bag up to her room and then we hugged goodbye and then... And then... We kissed. I don't even know how it happened! I don't know why it happened it just did!" Dez explained, falling down on the couch, laying on his back and putting his hands on his face.
"Well do you still have feelings for her?" Ally asked.
"I thought so..." Dez started "but when we hugged and when we held hands and when we kissed... It all felt different. Like when I used to hold her hand, my whole arm would tingle in the best way ever. When we would hug, I felt like she was all I ever needed. And when we kissed it felt like she was the only thing in the world that mattered. And I didn't feel any of those things last night."
"I know how you feel, Dez." Trish said, sitting down next to him, rubbing his back comfortingly. "Right before Jace and I broke up, everything felt different. Like our relationship had lost its spark. I used to get butterflies in my stomach whenever I would see his name br /pop up on my phone, and then his name became just words on the screen like it didn't have any affect on me anymore."
Austin and Ally sat at the piano silently. They felt completely useless in this situation. Sure they knew what it was like to be heartbroken, but they didn't know how it felt to be heartbroken, yet over a person.
Dez went over to Austin's house later that night to tell him about what he didn't want to say in front of the girls.
He didn't even knock, he just walked right in, knowing that Mike and Mimi were still at the mattress store.
He made his way up the stairs to Austin's room, where the door was shut. Thinking nothing of it, Dez opened the door only to find Austin on top of Ally, kissing her neck as she moaned in delight; her hands running through his hair and over his shoulder blades.
"God, get a room you two!" Dez said, alerting the couple of his presence.
Austin stopped attacking Ally's neck with his mouth, his head now resting right next to hers, his face in the pillow.
"Well, funny enough we had a room until you showed up." Austin replied, irritated that their make out session had been cut short.
Ally looked over to identify their intruder. "Oh it's just Dez." she said, relieved. "I thought it was your parents." she said, turning to Austin.
"Yeah me too. What the hell, Dez! You nearly gave us each a heart attack!" Austin expressed to Dez.
"It's your own fault for not locking the door." Dez replied, calmly.
Austin ignored that statement.
"What are you doing here, Dez?" Ally asked, also upset that their make out session had ended so abruptly.
"Well I came here to talk to Austin about something really important but you two are obviously busy so-"
"No, you know what, it's ok! I should get going anyway, we have lessons early in the morning." Ally said, getting up from her spot next to Austin on his bed.
She walked over to the door, Austin followed her.
"I'll see you tomorrow, baby." she said softly to Austin, noticing the pout on his face when she said she had to leave.
He leaned in and kissed her; his hands on her hips, her hands working their way back into his hair.
It lasted much longer than a normal goodbye kiss should and would have kept going if Dez had not coughed and brought the couple back to reality.
They broke apart. Ally waved to Dez, gave Austin one last quick kiss on the lips, then walked downstairs.
Austin closed the door and leaned against it, a lovestruck expression on his face.
"Dude you should look in a mirror your hair is a mess." Dez commented.
Austin's cheeks turned a light shade of pink, remembering how his hair got so messed up.
"So what's up man? What's this super important thing?" Austin asked.
"I asked Carrie why she broke up with me the other night." Dez said, getting straight to the point.
"What did she say?"
"She said I started getting distant when we moved out to LA; which I don't get. I mean homesick yeah but distant, that's crazy!"
Austin nodded in agreement.
"Then she went onto say how she never felt like she fit in with us because the four of us were already so close. And then she started talking about how me and Trish have the same special connection that you and Ally have, which is what's really confusing me."
"Why is that confusing you?"
"I don't know! It's just that I've always thought those things in the back of my head but to hear someone else say them out loud made it seem like all these weird thoughts and feelings are real!"
"Well, are they?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean what are these thoughts and feelings about Trish. Tell me what you like about her."
"Uh... Well... I love how independent she is. She never wants anyone's help with anything even if it's for like reaching something on a high shelf which she is obviously too short to get and it's adorable. I love how determined she is. When she sets her mind to something, it happens no matter what. I love how she doesn't care what other people think. I love how she's so effortlessly gorgeous. I love how she scrunches her nose up when she laughs and I love how her nose slightly twitches like a bunny when she glare a at something. I love how funny she is. I love how her hair smells-"
"Whoa Dez, ok." Austin said stopping him, because he knew he would go on all night if he didn't.
"It sounds like to me that you are absolutely in love with her."
Dez just sat there. Processing his words. Him? In love with Trish? Wait shouldn't this sound weird? It sounds like the most natural and perfect thing in the world that would also explain all his feelings.
"I'm in love with Trish..." he said softly.
"What was that?" said Austin.
"I am in love with Trish." Dez repeated, louder and with more confidence.
Dez ended up spending the night at Austin's and the toy boys slept long into the afternoon the next day, leaving the girls to do that mornings lessons by themselves.
When all their students had left it was time for their break. Trish was already in the practice room while Ally straightened things up in the music factory.
"Ok what's up with you?" Ally asked Trish when she entered the practice room.
"What do you mean?" Trish replied.
"I mean you've been being quiet all day, I led all the lessons! I'm worried about you, Trish. You can talk to me, I'm your best friend." Ally said, sitting down next to Trish on the couch.
"Ok fine you got me something is up." Trish sighed.
"Then what is it?"
"It's just about a stupid boy..." Trish said quietly.
"Oh! Boy problems! Whew! I thought it was a disease or something." said Ally.
"What no!" Trish replied.
"So, what kind of boy problems are you having?" Ally asked.
"It all started when we all came back to Miami. Jace and I were still hanging in there in our relationship, but it had pretty much lost all it's spark. Then this guy-"
"Wait who is this guy? Is it someone I know? Is it someone the boys know? Will they not like him? Is that why you're not using his name?" Ally questioned.
"Yes it is someone you know."
"Do the boys know him?"
"You could say that..."
"What?"
"Well..."
"Oh my god..."
"Yep."
"Wait Trish are you serious?! You have feelings for Dez?!"
"It would appear that I do."
"This is amazing! Oh my god ever since Austin and I got back together I'd always hoped this would happen and now we can go on double dates and have a double wedding and we can all have kids at the same time and then they can be best friends just like us and-"
"Whoa Ally slow down and stop talking about having kids, you're scaring me. Let's focus on graduating high school first."
"Sorry... Wait so get back to your story I wanna know how this happened!"
"Things had been rough with Jace for a while but coming back to Miami and seeing Dez again made me realize that I had always liked him, I just never realized it.
"I didn't tell Jace when we broke it off because it was a mutual thing, but I should've told him that I had fallen for someone else." Trish explained to Ally.
"Wait so get back to Dez, I wanna know when you realized you liked him!" Ally asked excitedly.
"Well after we all got back the two of us hung out a lot more whenever you and Austin would be doing who knows what." Ally blushed at Trish's words.
"But when I actually realized it was when Jace and I were still together. Dez and I were playing video games in his basement and I was losing and he kept hitting me with all his adorably witty remarks and whatnot so I was getting irritated and then something happened: he let me win. He'd never done that before. So after he let me win I looked over at him and he had this soft smile on his face and his hair was lying so perfectly on his head and his eyes just looked so pretty and full of kindness and happiness- and that's when I realized."
"Awwwwwwwww!" Ally expressed not being able to hold it back anymore.
"So then things were great, we were both single we continued acting the way we always did, except now it felt more flirty, almost as if he knew I liked him. Everything was going so well and I felt like we were so close to actually getting together and then Carrie came back and I knew I was history."
"Did you really think that Trish?" Ally asked her.
Trish simply nodded.
"You do realize he has feelings for you too, right?"
"Haha that's funny, Ally. Sure he does." Trish replied sarcastically.
"I'm serious! I see the way he looks at you, the way he acts when your around, it's so obvious!"
"Ok so he might have feelings for me, but why would he be with me when e could be with a freakin model! She's literally his perfect woman! They have the exact same personality! Not to mention she's and skinny and beautiful and then there's me."
"But they aren't back together, shouldn't that tell you something!"
"C'mon Ally, be realistic, why would her choose me over HER!"
"Because he is in LOVE with you, Trish and he has been for almost 4 years! He just didn't realize it because boys are stupid."
Trish was quiet for a few moments.
"Is he really in love with me?" she asked quietly.
"I'm 100% positive he is."
"But why would be in love with me instead of her?"
"You can't choose who you fall in love with; there's just this invisible force that pulls you to that person without you even knowing it. And once you realize who that person that you're being pulled to is, you should waste no time in telling them how you feel. Love is weird, but amazing." Ally said.
Carrie flew back to LA that night. Dez dropped her off at the airport. He was glad he had finally gotten closure on their break up and was finally over the girl he thought was his true love. He had spent so much time looking for his perfect girl when she had been right next to him the whole time.
It was almost midnight by the time he got home. He made his way up to his bedroom opening the door sleepily only to find a girl sitting on his bed.
"Trish?"
"I'm here to tell you something important so please don't interrupt me until I am finished, ok?" she said standing up from his bed; he nodded.
"Dez... I... I... I'm in love with you. And I know this is sudden and out of the blue but I need you to know. I want to be with you but I'm not saying you have to I mean why would you want to be? You just sent your beautiful model ex girlfriend back to LA why would you wanna be with someone like me who is not nearly half as pretty as a girl like her and-"
Trish was silenced from the rest of her ramble by Dez's lips on top of hers. She was shocked at first, but then she eased into the kiss; letting herself go. She let her hands roam up his arms, onto his shoulders and into his hair as he deepened the kiss, one arm around her back pulling her closer to him, the other arm held her perfect curls fisted in his hand.
The kiss was passionate, full of longing and desire. Neither of them wanted it to ever end.
Unfortunately, the need for oxygen arose and they slowly broke apart. He pressed one last kiss to her lips before resting his forehead against hers.
"I told you not to interrupt me, you doof." Trish said, breathless.
"Well I'm sorry; I had just found out the girl I'm head over heels in love with loves me too and I couldn't help myself." Dez replied, just a breathless.
"Wait what?"
"I am in you with you Trish. I am so in love with you. And nothing would make me happier than being your boyfriend."
She said nothing. She just pulled him down and brought his mouth back on hers in another passionate kiss.
"So is that a yes? We're together now?" Dez asked breathlessly as they broke apart.
Trish just laughed, playfully rolled her eyes at him and kissed him again.
It was most certainly, a yes.
