Hi! I'm so, so happy that people have left reviews on the first chapter! I honestly wasn't expecting any response, so when I got the alerts in my email...oh goodness, I freaked out. Anyways, I know the first chapter was a little short, but I tried to make up for it in the second chapter. Hope you like it! :)

Disclaimer: I own nothing of Austin and Ally.

The walls of this room seemed so familiar to her; like clockwork, she could re-imagine the image perfectly onto a piece of paper: the pastel yellow, the hanging Christmas lights, the desk where all of her biggest homework obstacles had been faced. Just sitting in the company of these things gave her such security, and within that, a safety net for any tough time she had been through. After that disastrous night with Austin, it seemed that all she did was stare at those walls and memorize the patterns. When everything else seemed to fall apart, those patterns and her song book were all she had. That and Trish. She always had Trish.

The thought of refuge, for some reason, reminded Ally of the night her stage fright ended…the night she kissed Austin. While another girl did come and sort of ruin the whole "bask in the afterglow of what just happened", Ally couldn't help but blush every time she remembered the glint in his eyes, the shine of his hair, the smile that glowed upon his face as he leaned closer to hers…

Ally tried to ignore the shivers she felt.

Yet, what disappointed her most about the whole situation was the loss of the safety net she thought she had with him. Out of everything, the last possible outcome would have been to lose Austin all together. Sure, she expected fights with him; they were pretty much complete opposites, but she never imagined losing him. That broke her heart the most, knowing that instead of sitting in the upstairs practice room at Sonic Boom, writing new lyrics to a cool guitar rift Austin made up, she was preparing to go on a date with the guy who worked at the cellphone stand. This date signaled the new chapter in her life, a new approach to the security she thought she had at one point with the guy of her dreams…

A tear slid down her cheek as she looked in the mirror and saw the casual red dress that Trish picked out for her. It gave the impression, as she had said, "flirtatious, but not too gun-ho about it". Austin would have loved this dress; red was his favorite color.

Another tear found its way down her face as she picked up her phone and quickly dialed a number.

Austin strummed a G major chord, examining the floor as if it had the answer he was looking for. Every time he thought about Ally, he felt the resentment within himself grow ever so slightly more. He still suffered from the guilt of it, even after the months that have gone by. He masked it incredibly well; only Dez knew of the lingering feelings that were brought up frequently in their most reticent conversations. Still, he owed it to everyone involved to let it be. Let things go as they may.

He finally realized why he was never able to write songs until he met Ally, though. When she came into his life, he never really had any deep things to think about, much less to write about. Most of his time would be spent on a ballad towards his love for pancakes, but who would relate to that? It was a very special feeling. Nevertheless, Ally opened his heart up to the things truly worth writing about: the smile of a stranger, self-revelation, the heart that is worth driving ten million miles for, and a second half that life would be empty without. Those are the things that people relate to; the things not so easily spoken, but that could be effortlessly sung. Songs were meant to empower people, to give them a sort of courage that plain-old words couldn't. Whenever he was on that stage, he felt empowered. When he strummed chords to an acoustic melody, he felt empowered.

When he was with Ally, he felt empowered.

Austin sighed and lowered his face into his hands, forcing the darkness into his mind to alleviate the thoughts of her and anything having to do with that night. He felt powerless, because he knew from the bottom of his heart that she deserved him standing outside her window, crooning tunes of apologies and begging her for forgiveness. Why wasn't he there then?

With the close of that thought, his phone began to vibrate continuously. Someone was calling him.

Ally nervously tapped her fingers against her knee, impatient and, quite frankly, the most nervous she had been in ages.

"…Ally?" a voice timidly answered.

"Oh thank God you answered Trish," Ally sighed and smiled at the relief she felt. That did not last long. "Trish, I don't think I can go through with this."

"Ally, I literally just left your house," annoyance snuck into her tone and she breathed an exasperated sigh. "Do I need to turn around and come back?"

"No, no," Ally didn't need the onus of Trish's lost time on her conscience tonight. "I just need one of your famous pep talks!"

"Oh, well, if you insist…"

Austin nervously reached towards the flashing screen. After seeing the I.D. of the caller, a sensation of disappointment shot through his body, but like the flash of a comet, it raced away. "Hello?" His hazel orbs looked at the wall in slight nonchalance.

"AUSTIN? I've texted you, like, seven times! What's going on?" a high-pitched feminine voice almost screeched through the phone's speakers.

"Sorry," he sighed, "I was writing a song and kind of got lost in it. That's why I didn't check my phone."

"Hmph, okay…" her voice trailed off. "Anything you want to talk about?"

"Actually, yes," Austin sat his cobalt-colored guitar on the sheets of his bed. "There are some things we should talk about."

"Be yourself. Your personality is contagious. Promise, Ally, it will go better than how you think it will." Trish's words of encouragement echoed in her head as she sat in her living room, nibbling a few strands of hair. It was a nervous habit she wished she could break. She felt like she had so much to stress over, but at least her date wouldn't have to meet her father, since he was off on a business trip. That saved her some anxiety.

She got up and walked to the bathroom, viewing herself one last time before he arrived. She usually didn't wear a bunch of make-up, but Trish insisted on a little eyeliner and red lipstick. How could her night be anything but good? She had on her red dress, her red lipstick, had her pep talk from Trish; what could prepare her any better? Maybe a jar of pickles could, but Trish took that with her before she left. "Can't be messing up your pretty lipstick!" Ally could just hear the judgment from Trish's voice at the thought of her even wanting to eat a pickle or two before the date.

The doorbell rang and Ally was instantly struck with fear. 'It's really happening now. Woah, okay, be myself, no pickles, la la la umm, I'm contagious' She took a deep breath in as she opened the front door.

The sight before her almost took her breath away. There stood Dallas in a deep blue button-up, khaki pants, and Sperry Top-Siders. His dark chestnut hair seemed mangled, but tamed at the same time. Eyes of chocolate, Ally noticed, and skin a shade that hers could never be no matter how long she stood out in the sun. It was all nice to soak in, and she smiled. "Hey Dallas!"

"Hey Ally," he returned the smile. "Gosh, you look great!"

She couldn't help but blush at his compliment. "Not so bad yourself," she gave him a small punch in the arm. 'Why did I do that?' She freaked out on the inside, but thankfully, he chuckled and offered an arm for her to take.

"M'lady?" Gosh, those eyes could melt chocolate instead of be it.

"Of course," she snapped out of her reverie and interlocked her arm with his. She looked up, seeing millions of stars shining down on her. The spring air was crisp; perfect weather for a walk on the beach. The whole night was starting out so perfectly, and it felt perfect too.

Laughter echoed off the walls of Austin's room. "Yea….yea I can't forget that day either. That pancake was just too delicious," he smiled. "You can really cook those, you know?"

"Yea, I know," a female's voice giggled in response. A beep interrupted a few of those and Austin looked to see who could be calling him at this hour.

"Hey, Dez is calling me. I'll call you right back, okay?" Before he could hear a response, he clicked over to the other line. "Dez, what's up?"

"You will probably be mad at me for telling you this," Dez took no hesitation in failing to give Austin a chance to object. "Ally's going on a date tonight…with Dallas."

"DALLAS?" Austin shot skyward and was sitting straight up on his bed. "I mean…oh, good for Ally! I'm glad she's found someone."

"…You're joking, right?" His best friend sighed over the phone. "Earlier today, you were finding any excuse to go into Sonic Boom, and you still didn't. You told me to tell you anything that I found out or overheard about Ally. Now, you don't care?" Austin could imagine Dez shaking his head on the other end of the conversation. "Come on, dude."

"I don't know. Elizabeth and I talked and—"

"Oh…" he voiced trailed off. "I see."

"Dez, it isn't like tha—"

"I gotta go. Family stuff in the morning," there was a moment of silence.

"Alright, man," Austin clicked back to the other line, the feeling in his stomach radiating more than it usually did. "Hey. Something came up. I got to go," was all Austin could say.

"Okay, baby. Talk to you tomorrow?" Elizabeth cooed in response.

"Yep," Austin clicked the "end" button and chucked his phone across the room.

"Do you remember the day Trish accidentally put you on the jumbo-tron in the mall plaza?" Dallas was laughing as if someone had punched in the gut, and instead of cries of agony, he chose to laugh instead. Ally didn't mind though; she loved the sound of laughter.

"Oh, don't remind me. That was so embarrassing…" she covered her face with her hands, attempting to mask the shade of red her cheeks were surely showing right now.

"But it was so adorable," the laughs slowed down as his face softened. "You are adorable."

Ally parted her fingers so she could see his face. She could definitely feel the rush of blood part into her cheeks. He surely noticed, because he smiled and took her hands and cuffed them into his own. "Ally, I really did have a nice time tonight," his eyes emitted a force close to what she had seen only twice before. "Thank you for allowing me spend the evening with you."

Her nervous energy seemed to take over as the hold over her composure was beginning to falter. "Oh shucks," she giggled before she realized how lame she had sounded. "I mean, of course, any time!"

"Any time?" A playful glow filled his stare. "So that means I can see you again tomorrow night?"

Oh, he was a smart one. "I guess it does," Ally bashfully responded, splitting her gaze between him and the floor of her porch. They had already walked from his car to her house, and the perfect night was about to come to an end, a somewhat perfect end, Ally observed.

"I'll call you then," he suddenly released her hand and brought her into a tight hug, his cologne hypnotizing Ally as she really couldn't focus on anything but the warmth she felt and the nerves sprinting through her body. Once he let go, he gave her one last grin and started on the way to his car. Ally took a moment to "beam in the afterglow of what just happened", as she never really got to do before. After a moment of composure, she unlocked the door to the house and entered.

Once she recognized the familiarity of the living room, she closed the door with her back and slid to the floor, a sigh of…contentment escaped her lips. It was then she felt a vibration from her black clutch she was carrying. Curiosity took a moment's lead as she reached for her phone.

9 missed text messages, all from Trish:

"Hey girl! Let me know how the date goes! You looked so pretty, oooooo, he is going to be so impressed! :))"

"Okay, the suspense is killing me. Can you tell me what he said when he saw you?"

"You're probably really busy though, so just text me when you are home from your date!"

"Ally it's been two hours are you home yet?"

"I don't think I can take it I need to know"

"This better be a good story or I swear"

"Alllllllly"

"You have got to be home now. I need to know the deets!"

"ALLY ! ! !"

Ally tried to quell a giggle as the appreciation she felt for having such a clingy friend warmed her soul. While that sounds sarcastic, Ally didn't mind having someone there who had to know what was going on at all times. It was nice having someone around who willingly listened to everything she had to say, good or bad.

Ally dialed in the number she had memorized so easily and wasn't surprised when the phone clicked after the very first ring. "Ally, you best start explaining!"

"Okay, okay," the radiance she could feel just from those thoughts made her want to go drive really fast or go para-sailing. She felt like she could do anything. "Well, he picked me up from my house and took me over to Ruth's downtown-"

"Oh, fancy, fancy!" Ally recoiled from the excitement she could hear. It was almost too much for her eardrums to handle.

"Yea…it was really nice. After dinner, he took me to the beach and we just walked and talked for a while. Then he took me home."

"Eeeeee! Did he kiss you?" She went straight for the juicy stuff.

"Nooooo. It was only our first date!" Still, Ally was flustered by the thought.

"Okay, that's understandable. Still, I'm glad you had fun! See? You don't need Austin," victory rang through Trish's voice.

Austin…Ally caught her breath. He really didn't cross her mind any throughout the night…except for once. She had to get her best friend's advice about it. "Trish, there's something I need to ask you about that deals with Austin."

"Okay…" the victorious ring that flowed through her words just seconds before seemed to just dissipate as quickly as it came.

"I had so much fun with Dallas, I really did…but when we were at Ruth's, all I could think about...well, hope for, was Austin barging in and ruining the whole date to tell me…you know…"

"I was afraid this was going to happen," Trish sighed. "Look, we both know that Austin is over this. He never had the decently to talk to you about anything that happened. He has a girlfriend now, and you're alone. He's probably hanging out with her tonight while you are sitting here questioning this new opportunity you have with someone else. That thought you had...only happens in movies, and I'm sure the guys that do it have more of a heart than Austin Moon does."

"You're right…" she didn't want to admit that; that's the last thing she wanted to realize. Maybe that safety net had no way of returning.

"I know, and I'm so sorry about it, Ally…" her apology was so sincere, it brought tears to Ally's eyes. "Now, enough about this, when will you see Dallas again?"

Ally wiped away a tear that was peeking over the edge of her bottom eyelid. "Umm, probably tomorrow night, actually. I just remembered, I have a meeting at the studio tomorrow. I just need one more track before the record's done!"

"Yea, I know! See? Why even think about Austin when you have this cute guy just drooling over you, and a record that's about to be released. Your life is about to change so much," she was relieved to hear the Latina's pep back in her voice.

"I'll realize it soon enough," Ally smiled. "Speaking of the record, though, I need to go finish the song for the meeting tomorrow. See you then?"

"You got it, girl!" The phone clicked off and she slowly placed it back in her clutch.

Now the room was back to silence. When she first walked in, it was filled with this serenity, warmth that reflected the amazing time she had with Dallas. After that talk with Trish, it was as if she realized she was lying to herself the whole time. In the back of her mind, her deepest desire was for her perfect night to be ruined. Ruined by an obnoxious boy who was probably still doing all the things he did that had hurt her…

Before she let any more tears fall, she ran up the stairs to her room. In the drawer beside her bed sat the one thing she knew would help her process all these unfair and irrational thoughts. She grabbed it, and without a second thought, she ran downstairs and through the front door to her car.

As she buckled her seat belt, she thought of all the reasons why she shouldn't do this. She has never done anything so reckless before, but her dad wasn't home to fuss at her and she felt this would be the perfect occasion to experiment.

Once she arrived to the mall parking lot, she made her way to the plaza. It wasn't an indoor mall, so no doors stopped her. No guards were in sight, so they didn't stop her either. She fiddled around her clutch for the keys to Sonic Boom, and once she found them, she had made it, by memory, to her dad's store.

The store was so peaceful at night, and so dark too. She had only been here once this late…

Maybe coming here wasn't the greatest idea.

Regardless, she soaked in the feeling of rebellion, despite the fact that she really wasn't doing anything wrong. She turned on the switch for a few lights in the back of the store, enough for her to make it up the stairs to the practice room. She twisted the knob and turned on the lights, seeing a sight she hadn't seen in months. Ever since that night, she decided to never step foot into this room again. Drastic, yes, but she wanted to prove to herself that she wouldn't fold. She wanted to forget every aspect of the boy she had spent so many days with in this room, at that piano in the corner. As she was hit with all the memories at once, she felt her knees weaken beneath her. Before she fell to them, she made it to the piano and took a seat at the bench.

Being here tonight wasn't a sign of surrender. No, she had every right to be in this room. This was never Austin's room, this was hers. This was originally her sanctuary. To think that he could take away from her that too…no, she wouldn't allow that anymore. Tonight was a night of "new beginnings"; she already made that clear to herself today in the store. It was time to break free of the shackles Austin had unknowingly put on her heart, on her thoughts and actions. She looked at the item she had grabbed from her nightstand and smiled.

She opened her song book to a blank page, sat it on the stand above the piano keys, and began playing a melody that came to her mind.

What did you think? I know it sort of seems "stagnant", but what I have planned for the next chapter is where the wheels will really begin to turn. I just have to build up to it. Please review if you have anything you'd like to share with me about this! I really enjoy feedback, and follows. Those too :)

Thanks again!