Ally refused to get out of bed as she thought about the events of the previous days. With the sun streaming in through the curtains, she rolled onto her stomach, burying her face in her pillow. The last few days had been absolutely insane. They had fought intensely, sending Ally into tears more than once. However, the more intense the fight, the more passionate the make-up sex was. She was just grateful that they had made up in time to finish the song they had started and since forgotten after the fight had broken out. More than that, she was even more grateful that they had made up before Austin left on his tour. If the tour arrived and they still weren't speaking to each other, Ally would have known for a fact that when they arrived home to Miami, they'd find themselves divorced and single. But that wasn't the case, giving Ally hope that they may have a chance yet.

Unable to fight the brightness of the sun, even with her face buried in the pillow, the young woman decided to get up. So, throwing the covers back, she looked around. Austin was already up, leaving only the wrinkled sheets as evidence that he'd actually been there. Hearing the soft cascade of the shower running and the muffled sound of his singing voice, she smirked, looking down at her naked body from the night before. In a few short hours, he would be aboard an international flight heading for England. Wanting him to be with her again, she quietly made her way to the bathroom. Pulling the shower curtain back a little, she stepped in behind him. With his back to her, she wrapped her arms around his torso from behind, planting delicate little kisses on his shoulders.

xXx

Fumbling with the lock on the front door, Trish cursed. "God, why do they lock their doors at night? We live in Miami! It's not like the crime rate is ridiculously high or anything!" She snatched the key from Dez's hand.

"I don't know," Dez replied, stuffing his hands in the pockets of his striped pants as he waited for her to unlock the door. "There have been a series of home invasions, lately."

"Oh please," Trish said with a roll of her eyes, flipping her long black hair over her shoulder. "It's not like they own anything worth stealing."

"Do you know how much a Kleenex used by Austin Moon goes for on eBay?" Dez asked, "Or the cotton swabs Ally Moon uses to remove her makeup?" When he received no answer, he continued in a higher sing-song pitch to emphasize his point. "A lot."

With the door unlocked, Trish pushed it open. Stepping inside into the darkened corridor, she was contemplating other ways to get rich quick. "I wonder how much a used condom or tampon would sell for."

xXx

Hearing the jabber of the all too familiar voices downstairs, Ally groaned. Feeling her frustration, Austin kissed her head. Then in one swift movement, he turned the shower off, grabbing a towel from the nearby towel rack. After he was dry, he effortlessly threw his towel at Ally so she could dry her dripping body as he disappeared to get dressed.

"The door's locked," Ally mused, following him. "How do they keep getting in?"

Pulling on a pair of blue jeans, Austin turned away from her as she dressed. Sheepishly, he admitted the truth. "They have a key."

Shocked at his revelation, Ally dropped her bra in surprise. Picking it up, she asked in confirmation. "They have a key?" She only received a grunt from Austin. "Why do they have a key?"

Turning around so he could look at her, Austin pulled a white t-shirt over his head, watching her get dressed in a cute sundress. "Remember our third anniversary, and we could finally afford to go on a real honeymoon?" Ally nodded in agreement, remembering their trip to Italy, smiling coyly to herself at the memories that flooded to her mind. Grabbing a zip up hoody to complete his look, Austin continued as he ran a comb through his hair. "And do you remember Rex?"

Ally frowned at his question, as she ran a brush through her snarly curls. "The goldfish you won at the fair?" Seeing Austin nod his head in confirmation, Ally continued. "What about it?"

"We were gone for a month," Austin reminded Ally. "Somebody had to look after the place and feed Rex for us." Ally didn't reply. But knowing that what he did was the responsible thing to do and knowing that Ally liked responsibility, he added, laying the charm on as thickly as one would pour hot fudge over vanilla ice cream, he said smiling, "I know. I'm a nice guy."

Frowning, Ally wandered back to the bathroom to gaze at her reflection in the full length mirror. Satisfied with her appearance, she walked back to Austin. "I remember coming home to opened mail, a trashed house, and a dead goldfish."

xXx

Flipping the pancakes to golden brown perfection, Ally divided them onto four plates, since Dez and Trish had so kindly invited themselves to breakfast. Settling into the stool next to Austin, Ally poured a light amount of maple syrup over her stack of pancakes, uneasily eyeing Dez as he slapped half of a stick of butter on his pancakes along with peanut butter, before heavily dumping a quarter of the bottle of syrup. Shaking her head, she delicately began cutting the flap jacks into perfect little bites.

Austin just stared at the pancakes, poking them with his fork as if they were some foreign dish that looked more like something a cat threw up. "Ally," he whined.

Dez and Trish were silently eating, except for the fact that Dez sounded and looked more like a cow chewing cud since he refused to chew with his mouth closed. Putting her fork down on the table, Ally turned so she was facing her husband. Concerned that something was wrong with him, she placed the back of her hand over his forehead to feel his body temperature. "What's wrong, Austin?"

"There's chocolate chips in my pancakes."

Removing her hand from his head, Ally frowned. "That's because they're chocolate chip pancakes, Austin," she explained through bites of her own.

"Nobody puts chocolate in pancakes!"

With a roll of her eyes, Ally handed him the butter and the syrup so he could dress his stack of pancakes. "Just try it. You'll like it."

Uncertainly, Austin spread the butter and the syrup over his pancakes before taking a small bite. Deciding that he liked the taste of chocolate chip pancakes, he dug in with much gusto.

With each of them eating their own breakfast, silence engulfed the room. However, silence can't remain for long in the presence of Dez and Trish. A sticky mixture of butter and syrup splashed, splattering the faces of three unsuspecting occupants of the table. Outraged that the sticky mixture landed in her hair and in her eye, Trish's eyes narrowed as she realized where the mess had come from. Glaring at the unsuspecting boy happily munching away at the delectable breakfast, she grabbed a tuft of his red hair. Then, with as much force and strength as she could muster, she slammed his freckled face into his plate of hot pancakes, causing more of the sticky mess to splatter. However she didn't mind this time, because the look of his face when she pulled it out of his plate caused her to laugh hysterically.

xXx

Hearing the uncontrollable laughter coming from the backseat, Ally looked in the rearview mirror to see Dez and Trish huddled close together watching some sort of video on an ipad. Rolling her eyes, she glanced over at Austin who was twisted in his seat, so he was facing their friends. "What's so funny?" she asked, afraid she'd regret asking.

"Ooh," Dez sang, grinning from ear to ear in amusement. "Someone got a little flushed on stage."

"What are you talking about?" Ally asked.

Leaning forward, Trish simultaneously smacked Austin and Ally's shoulders. "I told you sing to a bunch of kids, not be the subjects of a porno video!"

"What are you talking about?" Ally repeated.

"I'm talking about that kiss on stage!" Trish said exclaimed.

"It was just a kiss," Austin defended.

Snorting, Trish shoved the device into his hands. Surprised at her actions, Austin settled back into his seat, leaning closer to Ally. He pressed replay on the You Tube video. Glancing away from the road, Ally looked at the screen. Two similar looking blonde teenage girls popped up on the screen. In the background was the packed auditorium of Marino High School. One of the girls' voice broke the silence as she laughed at the other's silly actions of pretending to dump water on the heads of the boys seated in front of them, before making kissy faces at them. The cameraman told a joke, earning even more laughter from the blonde girls. Unsure of how the teenage nonsense on screen had anything to do with them, Ally turned her attention back to the road ahead. Suddenly, the video changed and she was surprised to hear her own voice. Glancing back to the device being firmly held in Austin's grip, she watched herself on stage from the performance from the other day. Even, she couldn't help but chuckle at Austin's comments, finding them endearing now, though she had found them so insulting then. Thinking back, Ally couldn't believe how miffed she'd been at his quirkiness; the exact same quirkiness that had caused her to originally fall in love with him so many years ago. Then suddenly the camera was back on the teenagers and their actions. Suddenly, the camera jumped back to the stage revealing two teenagers doing a hilarious reinterpretation of the balcony scene of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. Having made the famous scene their own by using modern dialogue and witty humor, they caused the audience to laugh out loud. Even Ally had to chuckle a little bit as she watched it. Meanwhile she remembered the time that she, Austin, Dez, and Trish had to read Romeo and Juliet in their English class. Poor Trish was called on to play the part of Juliet one day as Dez had been asked to play the part of Romeo. The most famously, tragic love story was reinvented that day to a comedy. Then suddenly, the camera was back on her and Austin, capturing their entire performance of "You Can Come to Me." Then the kiss came. Blushing, Ally turned her focus back to the road. While the lip action was nowhere near to being porno as Trish described it, she had to admit that they probably shouldn't have kissed on that stage. Risking a quick glance back to the device, she could even see the red hue of her cheeks as she and Austin touched foreheads.

Once the video ended, Austin handed the ipad back to Trish.

"It's amazing some of the stuff that pops up when you type Austin and Ally into a search engine," Dez commented, his uncontrollable laughter turning into a contented sigh.

xXx

The airport was full of eager travelers and lamenting family members who had to stay behind. Even as he heard his flight being called, Austin refused to let go of Ally. Burying his face into her neck, he whispered soothing words to hers. Nearby they heard the laughter of Trish and Dez. And although Austin and Ally both wondered what the two were laughing at, they refused to pull away, relishing the moment.

"I love you," Ally whispered to him as she clung to him for dear life as if he would disappear forever if she let him go.

"I love you more," Austin replied just as quietly, causing Ally to smile despite her tears.

Finally the time came when they had to pull away less Austin and Dez missed their flight. With a quick, but passionate kiss goodbye they were separated as Austin and Dez disappeared into the sea of travelers. Even though she could no longer see them, Ally continued to wave goodbye to them. Cupping her hands to her mouth, Trish called after them.

"Don't you dare leave him in Europe, Austin Moon!"

Rather confused, Ally slung her arm around her friend's shoulder as they left the airport. "Ever since his tour was booked, you've been begging Austin to leave Dez in Europe," Ally commented. "Now you're telling him not to?"

Trish shrugged. "What can I say? It would suck finding a new punching bag."

xXx

"I'd love to hang out with you since Austin's gone," Trish said to a slightly depressed Ally, "but I have to go get fired my job." Then, without so much as a see you later, the Latina was gone, sauntering through the mall trying to make herself even more late for her job.

Rolling her eyes at her friend's behavior, Ally let out a heavy sigh. Austin was gone. Now that they had made up and things had gotten hot between them, how was she supposed to live without him? Chastising herself for thinking like a little girl with a crush, Ally reminded herself that she was a grown woman. When you love someone, you love them even when you're apart, if you don't love them more. After all, absence does indeed make the heart grow fonder. Even though she missed Austin terribly, she would survive. She should stop thinking such vacuous thoughts and start focusing.

Closing her eyes, Ally took a deep breath, counting to five. Upon opening her eyes, she glanced down the silver watch on her wrist. She'd been standing there like that since Trish left five minutes ago? Reprimanding herself for getting lost in thought, she began walking the maze off mall until she reached Sonic Boom.

"Ally!"

Before she could make it to her destination, the young woman heard her name being called from behind. Like a surrounded player on the court, Ally pivoted so fast, her long hair whipped the side of her face as she inspected the crowd of people for a familiar face. Recognizing her mother-in-law, Mimi Moon, Ally waved in greeting. Striding over to the older woman, Ally dared not dawdle.

Mimi engulfed her tiny frame into a hug. "I'm so glad I got to see you before you leave on tour!" she exclaimed. Her smile beaming, Ally agreed. She had always loved spending time with Austin's parents who though quirky, were genuine people who supported their son's career whole heartedly. Actually, she was pretty positive that they were the administrators of the official Austin and Ally fan site. "What do you say we grab an early lunch?"

Deciding that she could visit her dad later, Ally looked delighted as she nodded in agreement to Mimi's suggestion. Wandering to the food court, meaningless small talk dominated their conversation, refusing to let anything meaningful penetrate their current conversation. In fact their conversation didn't leave such topics such as the weather or Austin until they had sat down at a small table in the middle of the food court.

Only then did the conversation shift from Austin to Austin and Ally.

Dunking a few French fries in ketchup, Ally listened only half-heartedly as Mimi recalled a recent conversation she had with an elderly woman inside Moon's Mattress Kingdom. Only did her interest become piqued when she heard her name mentioned. Only, she realized that Mimi was talking about her and Austin.

"…and I then I went out and bought that magazine myself to read the article…."

She must have been talking about the Cheetah Beat article about her and Austin.

"…just the picture of the two of you on the cover was enough to make me cry…"

Oh yes, the obviously photo shopped image of her and Austin on the cover of that issue was a nice touch. She'd almost forgotten about that.

"…and then I actually read the article…."

Ally prayed that her mother-in-law would not start crying.

"…and shouldn't they get their facts straight before publishing something like that?"

Wait, what?

"Celebrity marriages, they never last. Do they?"

Not expecting that last statement to come from her mother-in-law, Ally felt her last gulp of water travel down her trachea instead of her esophagus, causing her to start coughing as she choked. Taking slow sips from her bottled water so she could breathe properly, Ally asked, "What?"

Mimi reached over, gently patting Ally's hand. "I didn't mean you and Austin, dear."

Ally nodded, unable to concentrate on the extremely long list of failed celebrity marriages that Mimi was rattling off as thought about her and Austin. Although they had made up before he had left on tour, Ally still feared for her marriage. After all, things had been strained between them for a while. That fight was just the final crack that sent the already crumbling foundation to the ground. Not wanting to worry Mimi, Ally decided not to voice her fears, especially since Austin had obviously not told his parents about their issues. And so she only nodded in agreement with a weak smile, hoping that Mimi would not notice that she was keeping something hidden.

Mimi had said so herself. Celebrity marriages never last. All of the statistics were there for anybody to see. Austin had even admitted to the reporters that their marriage sucked. It wasn't as easy as it was a few years ago, that was for sure. With their booming careers, they didn't have that Austin and Ally alone time they had always made an effort to have even back when they were just friends. They didn't have time, so they didn't even try to make the time anymore. But, after the time her and Austin just shared, she liked to think that their marriage wasn't completely unsalvageable.

With her heart racing uncontrollably, Ally immediately pulled out her cellphone as soon as lunch was over. As Mimi went to continue her shopping, Ally booked it over to Sonic Boom. With her phone to her ear, she anxiously drummed a rhythm out on her leg with her fingertips as she waited for Austin to answer. When Austin's cheery voicemail greeting kicked in, Ally felt her breathing unnaturally speed up.

"Austin!" she exclaimed his name louder than necessary when the beep sounded so she could leave a message. Although she didn't know what she wanted to say, or what she was trying to say, Ally knew she needed some comfort from the troubling thoughts that have taken up residence in her mind. Her voice grew quieter. "Uh, please call me back, okay? I just really need to hear your voice right now."