Okay first let me just say that this was originally a "Twisted" fic but I am absolutely in love with it and was curious about how it might translate into other fandoms. So I changed some names and situations to make it work. This is AU and only 2 chapters long and it's also not your typical Auslly so tread lightly...
Austin had seen this kind of thing in movies, the husband who was too stressed or too tired or too afraid to come home, but he never thought he'd be that guy. They weren't even married for Christ's sake. But he certainly hadn't been sitting out in the parking lot going on 11 minutes because he just loved the feel of his Honda's interior.
"What are you doing Moon?" he groaned, running both hands through his hair. It was a little bit longer and deliberately more unruly than usual. She kept hounding him to get a haircut so he just let it grow out of spite; a small victory in a petty war. Austin took a deep breath of preparation and grabbed the plastic Walmart bags from his passenger seat.
"Opa Gangnam style! Heeeey sexy laaaaday!" his cell blasted a ringtone Ally had set up months ago as a prank. It was ridiculous but he never changed it. That silly joke was proof that they used to be so much happier.
"Hey Dez." he answered after checking the screen.
"Dude! Job interview at Sea Salt Productions this Thursday. You in?"
"Sea Salt Productions? Isn't that where you work?"
"Yeah."
"Sooo what would you be my boss or something?"
Dez hissed sympathetically, "Nooot exactly..?"
Austin rolled his eyes as his best friend started rambling senselessly like he always did. It was good to see him being his normal self though. After Trish flew halfway across the country to attend UCLA last year, Dez had fallen into this pseudo-depression. The unequivocal ache of love unrequited combined with his and Trish's inability to reconcile created a black hole that nearly swallowed him completely. Fortunately, Ally and Austin remained in Miami and were able to facilitate his speedy rejuvenation.
Ally and Dez both enrolled at the University of Miami. Currently out for the summer, Dez had started a mandatory co-op for his Bachelor of Arts Film Production program about 3 weeks prior.
"Whoa ok breathe man. Stop rambling and just spit it out." Austin pulled a Slim Jim from one of the Walmart bags. "What position am I interviewing for?"
"Well you'd kinda be like a gopher...not a real gopher animal, you'd be the one to buy coffee and run errands and like...'Oh hey Austin GO FOR some donuts for the board meeting' or 'GO FOR my dry cleaning because I'm the CEO and I like crisp shirts' or 'GO FOR uh to McDonalds and-'"
"Dez I get it!"
"Uh yeah ok so, are you interested or what?"
Austin leaned his head back and sighed with everything in him. Dez wasn't going to be his boss, EVERYBODY was going to be his boss. He stared at the overhead light of his car.
After leaving Marino High School his junior year and rocketing to nationwide fame, Austin couldn't believe it had all been ripped from him. He was a real life popstar for maybe a year and a half when the blog surfaced. Dez had called it "H8ter Girl on STEROIDS!" because that's truly what it was. The pictures, though innocent enough, were given very incriminating captions. The headlines were far more vicious, the quotes were taken so far out of context they warped into these offensive things that Austin would never really say. Where Tilly Thompson's site had been mean but silly, this new blog was downright hateful. Under the anonymous name "DarksideOfThe…", somebody out there in the world laced Austin Moons image, persona, actions, and words with so much malice it was difficult to ignore. Especially since everything was real; the photos, the blurbs all accurate but spun to paint him as the worst kind of person.
They discovered right away that it wasn't Tilly exacting revenge. With her credibility publicly ruined, she had retired from social media indefinitely, choosing instead to attend some technical college in Georgia and focus on an associate's degree in entomology. So when even private investigators couldn't discover the identity of "DarksideOfThe…", Austin could only go on talk shows to deny the blog's rumors. It was a he said she said situation and he lost, horribly. The worst part was that his fans didn't abandon him immediately, no their betrayal was much more insidious. The gigs grew far and few between before reaching a point of sporadic cancellations. Album sales took a heartbreaking nosedive. Companies unwilling to associate themselves with a less than reputable character terminated endorsement deals and put future projects on temporary hiatus. When Starr Records finally dropped him, it had been his lowest point. Jimmy didn't even have the decency to do it in person.
He had been basically unemployed ever since, doing club appearances and random shows that were always sparsley populated, grossly underpaying, and tragically infrequent. The residual cash from his 18 months of celebrity had dwindled fast, prompting him to live off the few gigs he booked, a little financial help from his parents, and his girlfriend, Ally; which, really, was no way for any self-respecting man to survive. So he was forced to shelve dreams of regaining stardom and actually look for a normal occupation; but that had proven to be fucking impossible. It was frustrating but still not a huge surprise that jobs didn't want to hire the high school dropout with nothing but a failed singing career on his resume.
He ripped the plastic from the Slim Jim with his teeth, "Yeah I'm in." He paused for a second, "This isn't gonna be like that one 'interview' you set me up with is it?"
"Ok look Austin, I SWEAR that I didn't know it was a strip club!"
"Suuure you didn't."
"Their want ad was very professional!"
"Right."
"You know you probably could've gotten the job if you'd actually put some thought into a routine-"
"I am not having this conversation." Austin chuckled.
"Well the interview's at 2."
"Thanks man."
"Yeah no problem."
A weighted lull in the conversation left both guys pondering very different things and unsure of what to say.
"Austin-"
"How-"
They began simultaneously.
"Go ahead." Dez prompted.
"I was just gonna ask how you were doing. I know it's been a tough year for you."
"I could ask you the same thing."
Silence settled. Austin waited.
"She still might come visit. You know like towards the end of the summer before school starts back up." Dez attempted to convince them both.
"She might..." Austin nodded slowly, "...but if she doesn't..."
"I'll be disappointed sure but, I'm not gonna get the Trish De La Rosa blues again I promise."
"Good."
"Yeah."
Another palpable lapse in dialogue.
"What were you gonna say before?"
"I can't even remember." Dez laughed a nervous laugh that was really more sad than anything.
"Ok well you know if you wanna talk-"
"Yeah sure man. Listen I gotta go get these files uh...filed before 5. I'll talk to you later."
"Alri-"
The dial tone said goodbye before he could. He set the phone down on his thigh and took a bite of Slim Jim. Dez had been his bestfriend for a very long time. And he always at had a hand in everything positive that happened in his career. And even though Austin felt he could never repay the guy for constantly having his back, Dez always did kind, selfless things, as if it was he who owed Austin.
Half the beef jerky gone, he finally found some kind of courage. He'd been out in the parking lot for nearly half an hour and the last thing he needed was for her to grow impatient. But everything felt so ominous after his conscious decision to man up. The rustle of the Walmart bags, the reassuring beep of his Honda's locking mechanism, even his sneakers' gentle scrape across the asphalt lot drew him closer to a nerve-frazzling uncertainty. He paused and set the bags down before quickly finger combing his hair into a semi-decent style; one less thing for her to harp about.
Austin slowly ascended the stairs of building 12. He planned on telling her about the interview right away. Ally always said she loved him in a suit. Maybe a job where he'd potentially have to wear a button up shirt and tie everyday would put her in a good mood. The very possibility made those last few steps to apartment B bearable.
He entered the small but well-constructed residence with a rush of apprehension and the remaining Slim Jim cigar-like between his teeth.
"It's about time. What took you so long?"
Ally was sitting on the couch with all the attitude in the world, scribbling in her ever-present book. She didn't even look up as he silently walked through the living room. Now that he was back in the line of fire, Austin's trepidation immediately gave way to annoyance.
"Did you get my blue ranch?" she asked.
He heard her approaching as he set the bags down on their dark, cherry wood kitchen table.
"Yeah." he mumbled around the Slim Jim, passing her a party sized bag of chips.
"What about the yogurt?"
Austin handed her a tub of vanilla Yoplait before pulling out the few groceries he'd bought: milk, eggs, and pancake mix. He put the cold stuff in the fridge and the mix on top of it. Ally set her yogurt on the counter and ripped the lid off, not noticing that Austin had stopped to watch. She slowly peeled the plastic cover back, taking her time to lick the vanilla skin there. Her boyfriend leaned against the fridge and stared, suddenly very, very aware of how long it had been since they had sex. Completely clean, the plastic film lay forgotten on the floor as she pulled the chip bag open. That strong blue ranch smell wafted from inside and made her mouth water. She'd had an intense craving hours before she made Austin go on a Walmart run and now that her brain sensed satisfaction, an almost euphoric sensation washed over her.
Ally gingerly reached for the biggest chip she could see and carefully dipped it into the semi-firm vanilla yogurt. Not caring about manners or appearances, she shoved the whole sweet and tangy combo in her mouth. Austin's dick stirred juuust a little as he watched her lick 2 of her fingertips. He was too used to her bizarre eating habits to be disgusted. Especially when her dimples sank deeper as she smiled a genuine smile for the first time in days. Her light brown eyes suddenly regarded him quizzically.
"Wha?" she asked, mouth totally full.
He took another bite of jerky and chewed slowly. Her hair, which had gotten even longer and shinier the past few months, was down in an uncontrollable mess of natural waves. He couldn't remember the last time he ran his fingers through it. Her skin, though pale, was more radiant than ever, even up where it was wrinkling in confusion on her forehead. She shifted under his gaze, causing her slightly larger breasts to shift as well. The tight white Beatles shirt, which she refused to stop wearing until it absolutely didn't fit anymore, cried out for 'Help!' Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr's faces stretched almost beyond recognition over her boobs. But it was really John Lennon who suffered. He was a bunched and taut mass of wrinkles attempting to cover the vast expanse of her belly.
Ally was 6 months pregnant.
The next chapter is also the final one. Oh but posting is so exhausting, if only I had some reviews to motivate me…..