Thanks again to all my supportive reviewers! You guys are such sweeties. ;_; Don't be afraid to critique, too! If anything's unclear and/or worded weirdly, lemme know! ;D

Are you sure you want to delete this message?, read the pop-up on his bright little cellphone screen. After hitting "no", he sets the phone down on his side-table and seats himself on his bed. He runs his fingers through his auburn locks, feeling somewhat light-headed due to lack of sleep. His drowsy eyes move up to the Zalien egg-themed clock hanging on the wall opposite him.

Eight in the morning. Had he really been up all night trying to figure out how to reply?

Trish must be in L.A. by now, Dez figures, clasping his hands together in his lap and leaning forward. He isn't sure if it's the lack of sleep or the thought of her words that make his stomach churn. Heavy with guilt, he feels sick to the stomach. He lifts himself up from his bed, only to jump at the sound of his phone playing an upbeat tune. Austin.

Austin called several times the night before, so much so that Dez figured that he had given up by now. Realizing that there is probably no way he could avoid having this talk with his best friend, Dez answers the phone, "Hey, buddy."

"Don't 'hey, buddy' me, Dez. Why weren't you at the airport yesterday?" Austin's demanding voice booms through the phone, causing Dez to wince slightly. "Do you have any idea how much you hurt Trish? Dez, that was just wrong. She's your friend, you should've been there for her." Dez sucks in a large amount of air, holds it in for a few seconds, then exhales – trying to pull himself together in order to properly respond to Austin.

"Austin, look – I-I don't really want to talk about this right now, okay? I'm not feeling well," Dez groans. It certainly isn't a lie, as the pain he feels in his gut continues to grow.

"Oh…I'm…I'm sorry to hear that, man, I hope you feel better," Austin's voice softens. He can tell how pained Dez is, just through the sound of his voice. Not just from sickness, however. Something much deeper.

"I hope so, too," Dez replies, his voice reflecting his pain. "Can we…Can we talk about this later, maybe? I really need to lie down–" Dez pauses, hearing a beep from his phone, indicating that he has another call. He pulls his phone away from his ear to check.

Trish.

He taps "decline" on the incoming call, then resumes talking to his blonde friend, "Hello?"

"Yeah, I'm still here. You didn't answer my question," Austin states, wondering why there was a pause.

"Sorry, I had an incoming call. What was the question?" Dez asks him, pinching the bridge of his nose and closing his eyes shut tight, feeling a migraine coming on.

"Who was calling?" Austin questions him, even though he has a pretty good idea of who it must have been.

"That's not your question, Austin," Dez responds, trying to change the subject. Austin couldn't remember the last time he heard Dez sound as cold as he does at this moment. As if he is trying his hardest to keep everything in, which he rarely ever does.

"It was Trish, wasn't it? Dez, you should've answered," Austin frowns. He remembers the broken look on Trish's face after telling her Dez wouldn't come to see her before she left. It is not a look Trish wore often, and it was hard for him to see her like that. If Dez could have seen her, too…, Austin wonders to himself.

"Yeah. It was. What was your question?" Dez proceeds on, wanting to shove any thoughts of Trish away. He just cannot bring himself to talk about it right now. Austin figures that it would be best to save this conversation for later.

"I asked if you wanted to hang out later. At Sonic Boom? We could go instrument fishing or something. That always cheers you up!" Austin offers.

"Sure thing, buddy," Dez replies, though not as enthusiastically as he usually does when Austin asks him to join in on some antics. "I'll see ya later." Before Austin can even say goodbye, Dez hangs up. He sets the phone down on his side-table, then hops back into his bed. He isn't sure if he'll be able to rest, however.

"Maybe he's still asleep, Trish…" Trent tells the curly-haired girl as they wait for their luggage at the baggage claim. Trish shakes her head.

"I got sent straight to voicemail. He didn't want to pick up," she bites her lower lip, trying her best to keep it together. Trent takes her hand gently, in attempts to comfort her, but she quickly pulls it away. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Just tryna help. Sorry…I guess I shouldn't have done that," Trent grimaces nervously, rubbing the back of his head, then sticking his hands into his pockets.

"Yeah, you shouldn't've," Trish shoots back at him, scowling. Trent looks away, suddenly feeling very afraid of the girl. Her glower tends to do that to people.

"Oh – hey! Look! My bag!" Trent exclaims, quickly changing the subject and rushing towards his luggage. He pulls it off of the conveyer, then spots, well, spots. A couple of suitcases decorated with cheetah-print designs follow his luggage.

"These yours, Trish?" Trent asks the girl. She nods, and Trent pulls them off, as well. "Here ya go." Trish takes the heavy bags and hoists them onto the dolly cart that she had procured earlier, then heads off towards the exit, leaving Trent behind. But of course, he decides to follow. Irritated, she turns around to face him.

"Trent, quit following me!" she shouts at him, causing a few heads to turn. She glares at the people around them, warning them with her vicious mug to mind their own business. They look away quickly, not wanting to get into any confrontation.

"I just wanted to make sure you get where you need to go," Trent responds. "You came here all alone, and you don't have any friends or family nearby. But you got me." She isn't sure as to why she even informed him during the plane ride that she will be all alone in Los Angeles.

"How reassuring," Trish remarks, sarcastically. "Look, Trent," she states, in a foreboding tone of voice, "I can take care of myself. Get lost." She turns back around, waving her arm in attempts to try and call over a taxi. Trent smirks, admiring her attitude.

"Well, okay. I'll leave you alone. But," he pulls a notepad and pen out from the side pocket of his backpack. He scribbles down his number, rips the piece of paper out of the notepad, moves in front of Trish and hands it over to her. "If you need anything – anything at all, just call. If you're in trouble or just need somebody to talk to…Call me, okay?" Trish rolls her eyes, but grabs the piece of paper and stuffs it into her purse.

"Fine. Now go," the feisty girl demands, shooing him away. Trent nods, grabbing his luggage and heading off in another direction.

"Caught a large one!" Austin exclaims, reeling in a cello up onto the stairs. He pulls it up, and puts it into a pile with the other instruments that he and Dez had 'caught'.

"Austin! Careful, okay? Every time you two play this game, something breaks," Ally chides them from the register area.

"Don't worry, Als, we'll be careful!" Austin calls back to his girlfriend, Dez silently nodding beside him. "You wanna join us?"

"As much fun as that sounds," she snarks, "I need to watch the store."

"C'mon Ally, it's a slow day. Besides, you should take a break," Austin replies, giving her a sweet smile. "You work way too hard. You need to play hard, too!" Ally smiles back up at him.

"Maybe later…I'm actually waiting on Trish's call. She told me she'd face-chat with us via myTab once she's at her dorm," Ally explains, picking her myTab up off of the counter.

"Oh, that's right! Trish's gonna call!" Austin puts down his finishing rod, then slides down the railing of the staircase on his butt. He rushes over to Ally's side and hops up and takes a seat on the counter. "I hope she's enjoying L.A. so far. I'm kinda worried, y'know…Her being all alone there."

"Please, Austin…This is Trish we're talking about, she'll be fine," Ally comments, trying to reassure herself more than anything. She had to admit, the same worry had been plaguing her mind ever since she watched Trish board her plane to LAX.

Just as expected, her myTab starts to ring – Trish calling them to face-chat. Ally is quick to accept, excited to see her friend's face again. It had been a long, heart-wrenching night for her. It is refreshing to know that she can still see Trish often enough.

Austin looks over at Dez standing on the staircase, and beckons him over, gesturing with his hands. Dez shakes his head and heads on up to the practice room. The blonde frowns, remembering that he still needs to have a chat with Dez about the whole Trish-situation. He turns back around, smiling once Trish's face appears on the screen.

"Guess who's got an awesome dorm room in Los Angeles?" Trish states, doing her signature pose. She giggles, then adds. "Hi Ally, hi Austin! I miss you guys already."

"Trish! We miss you too!" Ally cries out. "Who am I gonna have girl-time with now?" Ally pouts, causing Austin to chuckle.

"You can have girl-time with me, Als," Austin comments. Ally gives him a look, and he quickly adds, "Yeah…Nevermind, that'd be weird." Austin then looks back at Trish. "So Trish, how're you liking Los Angeles?"

"The weather's nice and hot – reminds me a little of Miami. I didn't really get a chance to see much of the city yet, though…Still getting settled in," she says. She pauses for a beat, then adds, "Well...Not everything's all peaches-and-cream."

"Why? What's wrong?" Ally asks, her worries flooding her mind, once again. "Are you okay?"

"Trent's here, too. He was on my plane. Actually…His seat was right next to mine – can you believe that?" Trish remarks, sounding frustrated. Both Austin's and Ally's jaws drop, astounded. They figured that they had seen the last of Trent when he was made a fool of on the Wanda Watson Show.

"What?" the two singers exclaim in unison.

"He was trying to act all nice and stuff…I think he might be up to something. Tch, talking like he's a changed man and all that crap," Trish scoffs. "But anyway, I'm not too worried about him."

"Well, if he bothers you, let us know and we'll be on the next flight to L.A.," Austin assures her. "If any weirdos bother you…Or if anything at all happens, let us know, okay?" Trish nods, happy to know that she could get such support from thousands of miles away.

"Say…Speaking of weirdos…Where's Dez?" Trish asks, her voice sounding timid, rather than the usual snarky tone she carries when talking about the redhead.

"Oh…Uh…He's um…He's up in the practice room…I'll…I'll go get him," Austin tells her, hopping off of the counter and heading upstairs.

"I'm not talking to her, Austin, and that's final!" Dez shouts back at Austin, exasperated. Austin, after about five minutes of trying to convince his best friend to come downstairs and join the video chat, decides to address the issue at hand.

"Dez – can you just tell me what's wrong?" Austin asks him, trying to look his friend in the eye. Dez faces away from him, avoiding all eye-contact. "It's later now, Dez. Spill."

"I-I can't talk to her," Dez finally cracks. He turns away, facing the wall, "You have no idea how hard that would be for me, okay?! I need to move on, Austin…And seeing her isn't going to help."

"That's what this is all about? That's why you didn't show up at the airport? To save yourself from hurt feelings?" Austin shakes his head slightly, appalled by what he's hearing. "Dez, me and Ally didn't want to see her go, either. Trish is our best friend."

"It's not the same thing, Austin! It's…It's not…" frustrated, Dez turns back around to face Austin. "How would you feel if Ally left, and moved across the country? Huh?" the red-head demands.

"Dez, that's not the same thing, I love Ally…" Austin trails off, noticing the now-softened look on his best friend's face. It dawns on him, the message his friend had been trying to convey. "Woah…Dez…I knew you had feelings for her, but wow…Really?"

"I just want her to be happy, Austin. But she can't do that until we both move on," Dez shakes his head, burying his face into his hands as he takes a seat on a nearby chair. He rubs his face with his hands, then removes them from his face and looks up at his blonde friend. "This isn't just about me and my feelings…This is about her. Do you have any idea how hard this is for me? To pretend that I don't care – that I don't want to see her?" his eyes, now glazed-over with fresh tears, continue to stare up at Austin.

Austin nods, sighing. "Man, that's…That's really heavy," he says, not quite sure what to add at this point. "I should get back to the video chat now. Trish and Ally are waiting…" Austin turns around, heading out the door. Just as he's about to leave the room, he turns back to Dez. "I still don't think what you're doing is right, buddy. And…I really hope you two work this out," with that, Austin heads on downstairs, leaving Dez staring solemnly at the door.

Dez pulls his cellphone out from his pocket, then opens up Trish's text. He types up a short reply and hits send, hoping that he's doing the right thing.

Goodbye, Trish.

–Dez

So I'm getting feels just writing this. OTL

I hope you liked this chapter! Or hated it, because of it being depressing. Like-hated it? I hope you had some sort of strong feelings about this chapter, yes? XD

I'll try my best to add chapters on a weekly basis, but I am graduating soon and got tons of stuff to get done, so I can't promise anything 100%. ^^;

Peace!

-AJ