The next couple of weeks were...hectic. Austin's father was coming over to Miami so he could talk to Austin before they all came over, and then he could fly with them to California. Ally had told her father about going to California. She'd expected him to go ballistic; start yelling at her that she was crazy, or grounding her...but he didn't. He was quiet for a moment, before he'd said, "This is what you really want? You want to pursue your dreams in California? You're sure?" Ally had replied with a confident, "I'm totally sure." Lester had then nodded. "Okay. I'm proud of you, kiddo." And that had been that.

Trish's parents still weren't keen on the idea of letting her go, but after talking with Mike Moon, they had come to an agreement that as summer break was approaching, Trish could go for a month, and see how things went from there. Trish was furious with this vague agreement, but she knew if she complained her parents wouldn't let her go at all, so she'd grudgingly agreed to this.

School was coming to an end for the summer, and Ally was beginning to get more and more stressed out. With exams looming over her, packing her bags and working at the store, her life had become one tangled mess of work. She hardly ever got to hang out with Trish, and having limited girl-time was driving her crazy. Also, she was seeing less and less of Austin, as he was constantly answering phone calls, packing his bags, studying for exams, as well as keeping his parents from ripping each other's throats out every time they saw each other. As much as Mimi Moon hated Mike, she was extremely supportive of Austin's dreams, and was happy for this opportunity, but desperately sad to see him go. Austin had been spending more and more time with her to compensate what she would miss. Any time Austin and Ally got to spend together when they weren't both exhausted was precious to them, and they treasured this best friend time.

Another thing that was stressing Ally out was the fact that Dallas kept hinting at his desire for them to get back together. Their relationship had always been on the rocks, and right now they were taking a break. She'd been sick and tired of him accusing her of cheating with Austin, so in the end, she'd simply snapped, "Let's just take a break, okay, Dallas? I can't handle this right now, and if you don't trust that Austin and I are just friends, then it's your loss!"

It had been the first time she'd ever snapped at him, and he'd been pretty shocked. Instead of yelling at her, he'd simply walked away in astonishment. That had only been a couple of weeks ago. She'd watched him hooking up with other girls in front of her to annoy her, but she'd been too busy to care. Clearly, now, he wanted her back.

"Ally, will you please just listen to me?" Dallas cried. She was working behind the counter at Sonic Boom, attempting to complete homework while serving customers, and he was seriously doing her head in.

"Can't you see that I'm working, Dallas?" she retorted impatiently.

"Ally!" he huffed. "Just listen to me; for five minutes, okay?"

She exhaled. "Alright, fine. What do you want?"

"You've been dodging my calls," he stated. "And...I miss you, Ally. I miss not having you around."

"Well, Dallas, it didn't seem like you missed me when I saw you with all those other girls," she pointed out, smiling a thank you at a customer she just served, before cashing the money.

"Ally, those girls were a distraction! I was trying to get my mind off of you, but I couldn't. You're all I can ever think about, Ally, and you drive me crazy," he told her.

Ally looked at him properly now, feeling a small smile tug at her lips. "Really?"

"Really," Dallas smiled in relief, glad he'd finally gotten her attention. He took her hand in his. "I know, I was being a jealous ass. But I just don't want to lose you; you're too good to lose, that's why I got so jealous of Moon."

"Dallas..." Ally gently freed her hand. "I can't be with you. I'm sorry."

He stared at her, taken aback. "What? Why?"

"I..." she looked down at the counter, before meeting his gaze. "Austin got a record deal in California. I'm moving there with him in a week."

Dallas's jaw dropped and he raised his voice. "You're doing WHAT?"

"Dallas, please keep your voice down," she begged pointlessly, but he wasn't listening to her.

"Are you crazy?" he demanded. "How can you do this? He's a jerk, Ally, and he's using you! He's using you for his own personal gain! You honestly think that tool cares about you?"

"Dallas, he's my best friend!" Ally argued. "Of course he cares about me, and he's not using me!"

"Yes, he is!" Dallas replied viciously. "And don't give me that 'he's my best friend' crap. You've cancelled on me so many times to hang out with him, and all he's ever done is mooch off you. He doesn't care about you! When are you going to grow up and realise that?"

"Dallas, if you don't stop yelling I'm going to have to ask you to leave," Ally hissed, trying to ignore the staring customers.

"Screw that!" he yelled. "You're my girlfriend, and if he thinks he can walk all over you and drag you all the way to Cali-frickin-fornia, then he has another thought coming! I'll beat the crap out of him!"

Ally tried to keep her voice calm and even as she replied. "I am not your girlfriend, because we are taking a break. And don't touch Austin. If you hurt Austin, I can promise you I will never speak to you again."

"You're not going!" Dallas grabbed her arm. "There's no way! You are not choosing him over me!"

Ally was used to Dallas's temper, so she usually remained calm when he yelled at her. But Austin, on the other hand, had never seen Dallas shout at Ally. So when he walked into Sonic Boom and saw him yelling in her face while grabbing her arm, his jaw had tightened with anger and he strode over with clenched fists.

"Ally!" he called, approaching them and glaring pointedly at the hand Dallas had on her. Dallas let her go and stepped back, focusing his glare on Austin. Austin ignored him and touched Ally's shoulder.

"You okay?" he asked her gently.

"I'm fine," she assured him quickly, before looking over at Dallas. "Dallas, I think you should leave."

"Ally, you may be okay with dropping everything for this idiot, but I'm not," Dallas said raggedly, glowering at Austin. "Can't you see he's ruining your life?"

"The only one ruining anything is you," Ally sighed. "Can you please, just go?"

Austin glared back at Dallas. "You heard her. Get out of here. And if I ever see you touching her like that again, I'm gonna kick your ass."

Dallas tore his gaze away from Austin to look at Ally. "If you're happy dumping your future in the trash for him, then so be it. I thought you were smarter than that, Ally." With that, he strode out of the shop, slamming the door behind him. Ally groaned in frustration, but felt grateful as the customers stopped staring and returned to admiring the instruments.

"Thanks, Austin," she mumbled, trying to forget what Dallas had said.

"It's okay," he nodded, looking away. "I, uh, I just wanted to drop by before I go out for lunch with my dad. I haven't seen you all week."

"I know," Ally forced a smile, trying to act as if that all hadn't happened. "I've been pretty busy."

"Yeah, me too," Austin smiled a little at her. "We'll hang out later on tonight, okay? I'm free, are you?"

Ally brightened at the prospect of spending time with him. "Yeah, I'm free. Feel like watching a movie at my place? My dad's at a convention."

"Sure," he smiled. "I'll be over at ten. Catch you later, Als." Shooting her one last, dazzling smile, Austin headed out the shop. Ally sighed, resting her elbows on the counter and burying her face in her hands. Dallas's words were ringing through her ears...dropping everything, and dumping your future. She hadn't given her future much thought ever since she'd decided to go to California. It was a box she wanted to leave unopened, at least for a while. But now that Dallas had reminded her of it, the prospect of leaving her future in the hands of fate was daunting. Ally was one of those organised people; the type who liked to have everything set out, and one who liked to plan ahead. But now her future was just...blank. No plans. And it scared the crap out of her.

Austin tried to keep his mind from wandering back to Ally as he ate lunch with his father. They were in some fancy restaurant he couldn't remember the name of, and he was eating the most delicious chicken pie in the world, but he couldn't focus on the taste of the pie. All he could think about was what Dallas had said to Ally. Was he really ruining her life? But Ally had been the one who had decided to come with him; he'd never actually forced her, had he? Sure, he'd tried his hardest to persuade her, but he'd never forced her. And Ally wasn't dumping her future in the trash, was she? There were plenty of music schools in California; besides, Ally's songs were amazing! She was sure to get recognition in California. There was no way he would record any songs on his album that weren't written by her anyway, and he would share the income with her.

"Austin?"

His dad's voice broke him from his thoughts. "Hm?"

"Are you alright? You seem a little distracted," Mike commented.

"I'm fine," he lied, quickly eating some more chicken pie. "I'm just a little overwhelmed with everything that's happening, that's all."

"Of course you are," his dad grinned. "You're going to California, son! And I'm so proud of you."

"Thanks, dad," Austin smiled. "That means a lot."

"I want to apologise to you, Austin," Mike said after a brief moment of silence.

"For what?" Austin asked absently, spooning more pie into his mouth.

"For ever doubting you," he said gently; his tone causing Austin to look up. "You know, I watched every video you posted on the internet, and each one made me so proud, and so happy to see you doing what you loved. I was just too proud to call you up and admit that I was wrong; wrong about everything. Wrong about music, and sure as hell wrong about you."

Austin smiled. "Thanks, dad. But I couldn't have done any of it without my friends. Especially Ally," he added.

"Yes, she seems like a lovely girl," Mike commented. "Are you two together, or...?"

"Just friends," he replied. "I love her, and I think she's awesome, but we're in the friend zone."

Was that disappointment he heard in his voice as he said that? No...he couldn't feel that way about Ally. If they dated, it could ruin their friendship, and he treasured his friendship with her too much to let that happen.

"She must really love you," Mike said, not realising how much these words were stunning Austin.

"Wh-what do you mean?" he stammered.

"Well, I just mean, she's willing to go wherever you go for your career," he shrugged. "I was just saying that she must really care about you."

"Uh, no..." Austin said hastily. "That's not it...uh, this is as much of an opportunity for her as it is for me, right?"

Mike eyed him doubtfully. "If you say so, son."

"What are you trying to say, Dad?" he sighed.

His father gave him an apologetic smile. "All I'm saying is...it's a bit of sacrifice for her to make, don't you think? So if you, you know, do love as more than a friend, you should tell her."

"Wait, is that what this is about? Telling her I love her in repayment for coming with me?" Austin said, his brain struggling to comprehend what his dad was implying.

Mike shrugged. "If you feel that way, of course."

Austin shook his head in bewilderment. "Wow, dad...just wow. Ally and I...we're just friends. Why does everyone keep saying she's sacrificing so much for me? I mean...is she?"

Mike sighed. "I don't want to tell you what to do –"

"No, please," he sighed. "Please do. I'm suddenly doubting this all."

His dad nodded. "Okay, I will. I just want you to make sure...make sure that going to California is what you both want. I want you to be sure that Ally is coming to California with you because it's what she wants, not because she loves you. I just don't want you to have to deal with the pressure of...a guilty conscience."

Austin exhaled worriedly. "A guilty conscience? What for?"

Mike sighed regretfully. "For keeping her from living her dreams."

Austin breathed out, leaning back in his chair and sighing. Crap. When did this get all complicated? I'm a terrible person, he realised.

"No, you're not," Mike said, causing Austin to look up, startled. Had he said that out loud? "You're just..." he smirked. "Blinded a little by love."

"I can't take Ally with me, can I?" he said grimly.

Mike regarded him sympathetically. "I don't think it would be right if you did."

Austin sighed. Well, hell.

Thanks for the reviews, and please let me know what you think :)