Hellooooo everybody! Welcome to my new story!

So I absolutely LOVE the musical Rent, and I absolutely LOVE the TV show Austin & Ally, so why not combine the two? And it also just so happened that the characters seemed to match up pretty well, mostly!

Disclaimer: I do not own RENT: The Musical (or movie), Austin & Ally or anything you recognise from the show in any way, shape or form, nor do I own any recognisable brands, songs or lyrics within them.

So, now that that's done, I hope you guys enjoy the first chapter!

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Chapter 1

Christmas Eve in Miami, Florida. It's cold… very cold. A very thin layer of snow dusts the streets, adding to what should be a 'Winter Wonderland' atmosphere at this time of year. But this is downtown Miami… the people here lead a very bohemian lifestyle, and the 'Christmas Spirit' we all know and love doesn't really exist in the same way in these parts.

Christmas decorations are sparse – far too expensive for the inhabitants of this area. No sign of any twinkly fairy lights; the electricity bill would be too much. No colourful tinsel in sight, as that is seen as 'tacky' and 'lame'. Also too expensive to buy.

In one of the many small apartments that fill this area, we find the two inhabitants, each of them focused on their individual tasks.

One of these two men is 23 year-old Austin, a tall blonde - the girls in school threw themselves at him. Austin is an aspiring musician, who can often be found alone with his guitar strumming away. He really wants to just write one great song, just so he can feel like he's accomplished something in his life. You see, like many residents of this area, Austin hasn't had the best life up until this point.

He has been struggling to hold down a job, making money tighter than ever. His life got even worse a couple of months ago, when his girlfriend Cassidy left him a note saying "We've got AIDs"… she was found a couple of days later… dead… having slit her own wrists. So now Austin was alone, poor and fighting against AIDs.

The only person Austin really had to rely on was his roommate, and good friend, Dez. A kind, but often crazy, redhead with an… interesting fashion sense, Dez is a film-maker who could on this night be found starting work on his latest documentary. Dez is the same age as Austin, and they have been friends since High School. Dez was happy in his relationship with a street performer, Kira… until Kira dumped him to be with another woman, a fairly successful lawyer named Trish. Let's just say Trish and Dez didn't exactly have the best friendship, and the whole Kira fiasco only made things more awkward between them.

On this Christmas Eve night Dez was filming the apartment, and turned to Austin, who was trying to tune his old, battered guitar. "Urgh, it's not tuning!" Austin grunts in annoyance at the old instrument.

"Yeah, I can tell." Dez says, making a face at the unpleasant sound the strings are making.

Austin looks up and gives Dez an annoyed face. "Shut up, Dez." He says, although it's really only half-serious. The pair were well-accustomed to the playful jokes between them. "Oh, by the way, Elliot texted me earlier, he should be here in a bit to hang out." Dez nods in response before picking his camera up.

"So, Austin, why don't you tell the folks at home what you're up to?" Dez said, walking towards the table Austin was perched on, camera recording in his hand.

"Oh, hey everybody, I'm Austin Moon." Austin says with a small smile and a nod into the camera lens. "And I'm just trying to-'' But Austin is cut off by the phone ringing.

Dez stops recording and goes to answer the phone. "Hello?" He says as he picks up the phone.

"Hey Dezzy-kins, it's Mom!" Dez's mom, Donna, replies down the phone, and Dez grimaces at the horrific nickname his mother has called him since he was a baby, despite his repeated requests for her to stop.

Dez's family moved to New York when he went off to college, and he can't afford to fly out to see them, but he still tries to contact them as often as he can. He's a little sad that he's not really very close to his family, but he's gotten used to it over all the years he's been on his own. At least here he had Austin.

"Hey, Mom. You okay?" Dez replies, as Austin starts to try and tune his guitar again.

"Yes, honey, we just wanted to call to say we love you very much and hope you have a good Christmas." His mother replied enthusiastically.

"Thanks, love you too. Is the whole family there?" He asks, a little enviously.

"Yeah, grandma and grandpa send their love sweetheart."

"Well that's nice." Dez says in a bitter tone, but his mom doesn't pick up on that.

"Oh and honey, we heard about Kira."

Dez groaned at this and threw his head back. He was kind of struggling to get over her; I mean it's never nice to hear that your girlfriend is dumping you because she's turned lesbian.

"Oh don't worry about it honey, who cares? There are plenty more fish in the sea, dear." Donna comforted him.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. Thanks Mom." Dez replied.

"By the way what's that awful racket in the background?" Donna questions, faintly hearing the straining notes coming from the guitar being tuned.

"Hmm? Oh, that's just Austin trying to tune his piece-of-junk guitar." Dez replied, briefly turning to face Austin and giving him a wink.

"Oh, well tell him I say hi, dear!" Donna said happily. Dez's mom and dad had always been like a second set of parents for Austin, and vice versa, since they'd been so close since they were in Middle School.

"I will, Mom. Love you, have a good Christmas."

"You too honey, speak soon!" Donna says before hanging up the phone, as Dez does the same.

"Okay, let's try this again." Dez says, picking his camera back up and once again beginning to record. "So, Austin, why don't you tell the folks at home what you're up to?" Dez said, walking back over to Austin on the table.

"Oh, hey everybody, I'm Austin Moon." Austin says, repeating his actions from earlier. "And right now I'm writing a so-'' But once again the phone ringing cuts him off. "Are you kidding me?" Austin says, annoyed and looking up at the ceiling.

Dez sighed, put his camera back down and once again walked over to the phone. "Hello?" He says, a little more forcefully and angrily this time.

"Oh, good evening to you too Dez." Comes the reply in a familiar voice.

"Oh hey Jace." Dez grumbles, before putting the phone on speaker. "Austin, it's Jace." He calls over.

"Oh shit!" Austin mutters beneath his breath, before putting his guitar down and walking over to stand by Dez so they can both hear the phone. "'Sup Jace."

"Good evening boys! Merry Christmas!" Jace says in an over-enthusiastic voice.

"Uh-huh." The two men deadpan in response, not exactly happy to have to be speaking to the one on the other end of the phone.

You see, Jace used to also be Austin and Dez's roommate, along with Kira until she broke up with Dez, however Jace then became a wealthy, affluent, successful landlord. To be more specific, Austin and Dez's landlord. Oh, the irony.

"Oh, come on guys, cheer up! It's Christmas for God's sake!" Jace replies.

"Whatever." Austin grumbles as their response. "Just what do you want now, Jace?"

"Just to let you guys know that I'm on my way over to your apartment now."

"Great!" Dez replied, trying to be nice and polite, whist at the same time Austin harshly said "Why?"

"Because, guys, you need to pay me the rent." Jace answers Austin's question.

"Rent? What rent?" Dez asks, confused.

"The rent for the last year, you know, the one that I let slide up until now?" Jace replies, his tone becoming more serious and slightly threatening at the end.

"What!? You said we didn't have to pay it!" Austin exclaims.

"Yeah, you did, when you lived with us, remember?" Dez adds, starting to panic as he and Austin both know they have nowhere near enough money to pay a year's rent.

"Yeah man what's happened to you?" Austin asks. "Ever since you moved out, you became a complete dick dude!"

Jace chuckled before replying. "Listen, boys, I don't think you realise how nice it was of me to let the rent slide this long. I've done everything I can to help you guys."

"Bullshit." Austin quickly mutters.

"But now the rent is due. So, get it together by the time I get there. Or else, I will have no choice but to evict you. And nobody wants that, do they?" Jace asked, in a way that was both kind and threatening at the same time.

"Jace, you know we-'' Dez starts but is cut off.

"Uh-uh-uh, guys, that's the final line on the matter. Rent. Needed. Now." Austin and Dez turn to each other, both feeling pissed off and a little anxious. "Oh, Dez, by the way, heard about Kira – ha!" Jace says coldly. "I heard she dumped you for someone else."

"Yes, that's true." Dez says through gritted teeth, as Austin puts a hand on his shoulder for sympathy.

"Ha, what's his name?" Jace continues.

There is a short pause before Dez answers. "Trish."

Hysterical laughter can be heard from the other end of the phone as Jace lost it and laughed at the situation, which just made Austin and Dez even madder at him and even more determined that they weren't going to pay Jace's precious rent, because he didn't deserve to receive it.

"Oh just piss off, man! And don't bother coming over here!" Austin says coldly, before hanging up as Jace's laughter continued to come through the receiver. "Man I can't believe him sometimes!"

"Ugh, I know, and to think he actually used to be cool." Dez replied, playing around with his camera lens as Austin walks back over to the table and his guitar.

. . . . .

So that's it, the first chapter! I know it's kind of short, but really it's just more of a taster chapter so I can gauge a response… if you want this to be continued, the only way that will happen is if you leave a review telling me so!

So yeah let me know what you think, whether you loved it or hated it!

Catch you later! :)