Alright so you may be like "Da fuq?" during this chapter.. but don't worry all will be revealed soon! :) Thank you so much for all the support on this story so far, I think it's gonna be a good one ;) I know these chapters are kind of slow, but let's be real they aren't going to just instantly fall in love.. but I hope you like it anyway! :)


It was almost noon and Austin still hadn't woken up. It was the start of a new week and Ally needed to make a good impression. She had awoken at the crack of dawn and prepared herself for the day ahead. She had driven Katie the short distance to school and came back to what she hoped would be something for her to do, but there was nothing. Ally checked the schedule Austin had pinned to the wall and it looked as if today was his free day. She had thought about going to wake him many times, but in the end fear got the better of her and she decided to leave him be. Maybe he needed this? She flicked through the channels of the massive television before settling on one of those generic daytime cooking shows. Ally never thought this job would be so.. uneventful.

"Just go wake him up." Carrie suggested over the phone.

"How exactly?"

"Open the door and say bitch wake up."

"Okay, one that's very rude and two I can't just barge in!" Ally insisted.

"Why not?"

"Because what if… what if he isn't wearing anything?!"

"I wouldn't mind seeing a naked Austin Moon." Ally could tell Carrie was smirking at that comment.

"Look, I do not want to see the man I work for naked!" Ally said sighing. She spun around to look at the clock to find Austin standing behind her trying to hold in his laughter. "Uh.."

"Oh my god is he there?" Carrie asked loudly. "That's hilarious."

"I have to call you back." Ally said before hanging up. "Austin.. that's not what you think." She began to explain.

"It's cool, I heard the parts before." He laughed.

"Right.. sorry.. That was my friend Carrie, she's a little bit… crazy." Ally smiled.

"I can tell." Austin agreed. "Sorry I didn't wake up, I was up all night working on that song." He said rubbing his eyes.

"I heard you." Ally said.

"Was it that loud? Damn I didn't even realize."

"No, I came down to get a glass of water and I overheard you singing."

"Ah, I see." He smiled. "So what do you think? Do I need some autotune?" He joked.

"Not at all." She reassured him. "It sounded amazing. You know I don't think I've ever actually heard one of your songs."

"I think thats a good thing." He said as he sat down. "A lot of my older music was kind of forced upon me, I didn't really like the style."

"Forced upon you?" She sat beside him.

"I was young and wanted to be a rockstar I guess." He laughed. "Ramone Records. They were the first to contact me. I signed the contract straight away and I guess I didn't read it all. I wasn't really allowed to write my own songs, which kind of sucked, but I was still young and famous so I didn't really care. But now, I actually can write all my own songs. I feel it's a whole lot better than being forced to sing lyrics you didn't write." He shrugged. "But that's just me."

"Well I'm glad you get to write your own songs now, I'm sure they are all amazing." She smiled.

"I'm still pretty popular, so I assume they are."

He leaned over and grabbed his guitar. Ally had always been fascinated with the way musicians played their instruments. Most guitar players had their generic rock and roll strumming, but he was more gentle. He treated it as if it were one of his children. He was older, maybe he cared about his instruments more. And then he began to sing. "It's a world full of heartbreak drive bys, we've seen our fair share of hard nights.. Looked right into the face of a goodbye, while we walked on the edge of a dark side.. after all this time…" Ally was in total awe at his voice. She had heard him sing last night, but it was quiet and muffled. His voice was raspy and never seemed to hit a wrong note. "We're not gonna fall now, we're not gonna bleed out, never gonna break down.. no, woah." And he ended with a final strum. There was a moment of silence as Ally took in what had just happened. He kept staring down at the ground, almost like he couldn't look up and face her. "Austin?" She asked. He slowly lifted his head to reveal tears forming in his eyes. "I'm sorry." He tried to laugh through it.

"What's wrong?" Ally sat up. "Do you want a glass of water or something?"

"No, no." He shook his head. "I'm fine." He reassured her. "Just an emotional song." He jumped up and placed the guitar back in it's stand. "I'm gonna just go get ready." He said nodding towards the stairs. "I'm going over to Dez's to pick some stuff up, you can come if you want."

"Sure." Ally nodded, still confused as to what just happened.

"Awesome.. Give me ten." He forced a smile and ran back up the stairs.

Austin locked his room door and leaned his head against it. "Fuck." He said quietly as he brought his hands up to run them through his hair. He turned to his bathroom and sighed as he made his way, turning the light on as he entered. He opened the cabinet and took out some containers, emptying some pills out into his hand. He looked down at them and all their colours, some white, some red, some mixed. He swallowed them whole before washing his mouth out with the half empty water bottle on the sink. "Idiot" he muttered to himself as he closed the cabinet doors. He splashed cold water up into his face, anything to try and make him feel better. He looked up at himself in the mirror and just stared.


"Alright ready to go?" He said happily.

"Yep." Ally stood up grabbing her bag.

"Awesome. I was thinking we could probably pick Katie up on the way back, we can just find something to do to pass the time." He smiled and opened the front door for her. "Hrmm… I feeling the BMW today." He chirped as he grabbed a set of keys and joined her outside. Ally made her way over to the car that was parked directly outside the door. "Uh Ally." He said and she turned to face him. "That's the BMW." He said pointing to a car parked off at the side.

"Oh.. I knew that." She raced ahead in front of him to try and hide her now bright red face.

Once they were in the car Austin began pressing buttons. Ally had no idea what he was doing and she was still embarrassed about what had just happened. The roof began to pull back letting the warm sun seep in. He reached over and turned the radio on.

"Could Austin Moon be nearing the end of his career? The singers newest album has been pushed back a further month leaving fans a little disappointed once again, but more worried about what could be causing the delay? Perhaps this could be the final album from the singer who is now significantly older since his first hit."

"No shit." Austin muttered. "These people are just out to get me." He sighed as he began to drive. "Obviously I'm older now, but that doesn't mean I wanna quit. I just struggle for time."

"I never listen to this station, that Jett Deely get's on my nerves." Ally said in an attempt to cheer him up. "Yeah." was Austins only response.

The car journey was quiet. Austin didn't talk much and the only sound came from the radio. Every so often he checked his phone, Ally thought it was incredibly dangerous, but she didn't want to upset him any more than he already was. That took Ally's mind back to what happened in the house. Why did he start crying? The song wasn't that emotional. They had only known each other for a short time, but Ally could tell he wasn't being fully honest with her. However she had to respect that. He was her boss and she was sure he wouldn't appreciate it if she started snoopy around and asking questions. She opted to stay in the car when they reached Dez, he promised he would only be five minutes. It was ten minutes before he reappeared. Not that Ally was counting or anything. "Alrighty." He said throwing himself back into the car. "We have about an hour before Katie get's outta school. Can I buy you a coffee?" He asked.

"Sure." She smiled.


"You know early, what happened at the house." Austin paused as he handed her the cup of coffee. "I'm sorry about that, I don't know what got into me." He smiled.

"It's okay, it's been forgotten. As long as you can forget about the whole seeing you naked thing." She laughed.

"Of course." He joined in. "And for the record, I don't sleep naked.. so you can come in anytime you want." He took a sip of his drink.

"I will keep that in mind."

"And uh… in case you know.. I need you. You don't sleep in the nude do you?" He raised an eyebrow. "No!" Ally raised her voice drawing the attention of the other customers. "No." She lowered her voice to which he laughed. "Awesome. So your friend Carrie, what's she like?"

"Well… she's crazy, sex obsessed, annoying and seems to get with a new guy everyday." Ally paused. "But she's my best friend." She smiled to herself. "She's been there for me through everything and I really don't know where I'd be without her."

"She seems nice. I'll have to meet her one day." He suggested.

"Oh that's probably not a good idea, she has a bit of a thing for you."

"Doesn't everyone?" He asked.

"I don't, so not everyone does, Mr rich and famous." Ally smirked.

"Alright that hurt my feelings." He said as he wiped away the fake tears gaining a laugh from her. And then for a split second their eyes met. Their laughter died down as they just looked into each others eyes. Ally smiled and he half smiled back before she broke the bond and looked at her watch. "We should probably get going." She prompted.

"Yeah." He agreed downing what he had left of his coffee.

"Daddy!" Katie shouted as she ran out of the school gate towards her dad who was leaning against his car. "Hey baby." He knelt down to match her height as she ran into his arms. "Sorry I wasn't awake this morning, won't happen again." He promised her.

"It better not." She said in a warning tone. "Ally!" She turned to Ally who was admiring the relationship the two had. "How was school?" Ally asked as the little girl attached herself around Ally. "boring!" was all she ever responded with.

"Boring?" Austin asked pretending to be shocked. "Is it ever anything other than boring?" He asked. His daughter paused for a second before answering. "No." She smiled and shook her head. "Didn't think so." He smiled lifting her into the car. "Alright, seatbelt." He said leaning over and helping her with it.


Ally stayed quiet for most of that journey. She just listened as Austin and Katie talked and laughed about all the good things in life. He was an amazing dad, from what Ally could tell anyway. Her dad wasn't the best. She hadn't seen him in what felt like years, in fact, it probably had been years. Her mother had left when she was young to travel the world, leaving her and her father alone. Ally didn't have many memories of fun, more just work. Lester, her father, owned a music store. It was his pride and joy. Ally loved the store too, but she knew her father was borderline obsessed. When she graduated from high school she was all set to move and go to college. Her mother had helped her save enough money to pay for the tuition and the big move. It was all going to be great, until the store got into trouble. The day before Ally was due to leave Lester took everything Ally had saved and spent it on the store. Every single dollar. Ally was heartbroken to say the least. When she addressed the matter Lester seemed less than interested in what she had to say. His only defense was that the store was his livelihood. Ally took that as a sign that he didn't really care what Ally done, as long as the store was okay. In the end her mother had to fly back and pay for everything herself. She never forgave her father.


"He just totally freaked out." Ally sighed laying back in her bed.

"Are you sure the song wasn't just sad? You know you are pretty emotionless." Carrie said over the phone. "Okay that is not true, and yes I'm sure. It's like he just had a breakdown or something. I don't know what happened."

"Just ask him."

"I can't.. he asked me to forget about it and I said I would, but it's bugging me. Do you think it was something I said?" Ally inquired.

"Ally you are a lot of things, but you aren't the type of person to reduce a grown man to tears with words. Maybe it's his time of the month."

"That's not even funny." Ally said.

"Well I don't know. I'd just forget about it." Carrie replied.

"Yeah.. you are probably right." Ally sighed.

"Why you so concerned?"

"I don't know.. It's not important anyway." Ally smiled to herself.

"Good. You get days off right?"

"Yeah." Ally replied.

"Okay, keep the 26th open. It's Elliot's birthday and we need to get fucked up." Carrie said.

"So are you back with Elliot now.. or?" Ally asked.

"It's complicated."