Austin stops at the door. His book bag was slung over his shoulder. He watches Ally clean the whiteboard spotless with cleaner and a rag. She glances over and rolls her eyes. "Don't." she said in a warning voice.

"What were you seeing?" Austin wondered. He figured now that he knew about the small fiasco when her mind had tricked her into believing the weatherman knew about Dez's case that Austin now had the right to know everything. However, Ally thought differently.

"I didn't see anything." Ally lied but it didn't matter if she would have been telling the truth either, he didn't need to know anything. They're hardly friends. Austin stared at her. She knew that he knew she was lying, but she wouldn't give him the satisfaction of being right. "You shouldn't be here."

"Well, I am." Austin replied, walking into the classroom and sitting on one of the front desk's.

"Ms. Hadley is going to get mad and you're going to extend my detention plus earn yourself your own." Ally said, "I don't know about you but I have better things to do than be in detention."

'Things like talk to imaginary people?" Austin shot back. He knew his remark was cold but he didn't care. Ally didn't seem to be too sensitive either. She glared at him.

"Things like help my cousin get his justice." she growled through gritted teeth. Austin stared at her. "I know you think I'm just a lunatic but I'm not. Not completely. I still have a little bit of my soul left." she bit out.

She continued, changing the subject, "Why are you here?"

"It's easy being around you." Austin said. She glanced over at him and then focused on making the board completely spotless which was difficult with all the smudge marks. "There's not much to...pretend." he said.

"Wow, Friendships that are based on lies and playing pretend, that sounds like the kind that only come once in a lifetime." Ally let the sarcasm ooze in her voice. Austin rolled his eyes.

"It's not like that." he denied, "They're good people, okay?"

"Hm, that's why they hated you until you stopped hanging out with my cousin." Ally said.

"Shut up, Ally!" Austin howled, angrily. "You don't know shit! You're just some chick psycho chick who's helping me bust a some bitch!"

By his use of vocabulary, Ally knew she hit a nerve. "Moody," Ally smirked at him, dropping her bottle and rag down onto a desk. She dropped her smirk. "If you're not going to leave, then you have to help me move these desks to the side. I have to mop. I've got a whole list here and I can't leave until it's done." Ally said, handing him a piece of paper that he hesitantly took.

"Reorganize the bookshelf in alphabetical order?" Austin read out, looking at her, "Wow, your job is fun."

Ally shook her head and started moving the desks. Austin jumped off his desk and started pushing the other desks as well. "What if Ms Hadley catches you in here?"

"She won't. I just witnessed Jace punch some kid in the nose and I frantically forced her to go help. You know how she gets." Austin said, gesturing to the fact that Ms Hadley tends to be the mothering type. Ally laughed slightly.

When all the desks were pushed to the side, Ally walked to the hallway and wheeled the mop into the classroom. "The thing that sucks is that I could totally leave right now but if I do, I'll probably have more work to do tomorrow."

Austin laughed slightly. He jumped up on the teacher's desk and watched as Ally slapped the mop to the floor, the soapy water cleansing the smooth, hard floor. "What did you do last night?" he questioned, trying to make small talk.

Ally didn't seem to fazed by it. She shrugged her shoulders. "My step-sister forced me to go shopping with her and her other friends. I hate shopping. I don't like walking for two hours just to buy things that you're gonna just toss in your closet and forget about the next day."

"You make a valid point." Austin said. The room fell silent again. "So," Austin started, breaking it, "Why did you stop taking your pills?" He saw her sigh heavily. "Not trying to bombard you with this topic, I'm just trying...to understand it. I mean, they help you. Wouldn't you want help?"

"The pills make me feel dead and tired and ugh." Ally said, scrunching up her face like it was so disgusting to talk about meds. It probably was to her, Austin decided.

"Don't you feel even more dead when you're not taking them?" Austin asked. Ally looked at him. "You look kinda dead, that's why I'm asking."

Ally laughed slightly and shook her head as she continued to smother the floor with the mop. "No, in fact, it makes me feel more alive." Ally said. Austin narrowed his eyes in confusion. "You know you're really alive when you have the most fucked up life, the most fucked up head, and you can't get out of it. When you're stuck and trapped inside your own mind. That's how you know you're alive."

Austin stared at her for a moment. He let her words sink in. It must be hard to live like her, he thought to himself, never knowing what's real and what's not. He's still confused why she's doing this to herself. He watched her mop the floor for a few moments. "What's it like?" he asked softly, "The...The schizophrenia...What's that like?"

Ally looked over at him. She held onto the stick of the mop before she focused on continued to clean the floors again. "There's no way I can explain it where you'll ever understand." Ally told him honestly, "But if I'm going to try...I'd tell you that every day is like going to war, you have to fight for peace. A peace of mind. But the tragic thing is," she looked over at him, "You never find it. You just get worse and worse and worse." Austin stared at her, his heart tugged.

"And you're willing to just live like that? Fighting for yourself?" Austin questioned.

"Yeah," Ally nodded her head, "Because it's not fair that nobody else has to take pills. Why should I?" Ally questioned. Because you're mentally fucked up, Austin felt like saying but he didn't. He nodded instead. After all, it was her life, she could do what she wanted and he didn't have a say in it.

. . . . .

Austin couldn't sleep that night. The more he and Ally carried on with the case, the more he obsessed over it. It was all he thought about night and he was being haunted by the memories of Dez. He glanced at his clock. It was two in the morning. He decided that he needed some air.

He slipped out the door, tugging his leather jacket onto his arms. He ran his fingers through his blonde mess of hair and sighed. He could see his breath in the night air. Tonight was colder than usual, it felt haunting. He stuffed his hands into the pockets of his sweatpants.

He was walking towards the park to take a seat on the bench when he noticed somebody sitting there. Somebody with their hands over their ears and their knees pressed towards their chest. He recognized the chestnut hair that looked messier than usual, like the stranger had just raked themselves from their bed. Probably did, too. As he got closer, he knew it was Ally. She wasn't shaking but her eyes were closed and her ears were covering her ears like earmuffs. He stood behind her, hands still in his pockets.

"Ally." Austin called, looking down at her.

It was like she snapped out of something. She jumps, her eyes open wide, and she takes her hands from her ears. She gazes around the park, like she's looking for something but she doesn't find it. She slowly glances up and sees Austin. She looks scared but then she grins slyly at him.

He rounds the bench and plops down next to her. He stares at her for a moment before looking out at the view. He lets his eyes roam along the grass blades that seem to be holding a form of dew on them from the coolness of the night.

"What are you doing here?" Ally questioned, dropping her legs and letting her feet touch the cold ground.

"I could ask you the same thing." Austin said.

"I like staying up at night. It's always calm and sometimes haunting." Ally replied.

"I couldn't sleep." Austin said. "I feel like the case needs to be solved."

Ally suddenly flinches, "Don't say that." she mumbled. He looked at her oddly. She looks over her shoulder, shrugging down on the bench like she's trying to sink into herself, like she wants to hide. She looks around again, she swallows thickly.

"What?" Austin questioned her. He looked around but didn't see anything. Ally shook her head. She tugged her sleeves over her hands, trying to warm them. She glances over her shoulder again before crossing her arms over her chest and snuggling into herself.

"Nothing." Ally said, because she knows whatever she's feeling is all just in her head.

"I would consider us friends now." Austin said, "Okay? So you can tell me anything, Ally."

"I don't consider you my friend." Ally replied.

"Well, you should." Austin said, "I helped you finish cleaning that classroom. We could at least call each other buddies." Ally glanced over at him before she looked down at her feet.

"It's nothing." she said, "It's just..." she flinches again like whatever she needed to say was going to sting, "It's just in my head." she mumbles, her voice cracks. It's like she's telling herself, like she's trying to comfort herself, trying to soothe herself. Austin looks down at her. She looks scared again.

He looks away from her and sighs in frustration as he looks at the sky, "Just take your pills, Ally."

"I can't." her voice catches again. She pulls her legs back towards her chest, wraps her arms around them, and buries her face into her knees. Austin watches her. She's serious, he thinks to himself, she really thinks she can't take them? Why not?

He blurts it out, "Why not?"

"I can't." she repeats. Austin has a feeling that's as far as she's going to tell him about not taking her pills: she just can't take them. He notices that she's drumming her finger tips in an anxious way. She looks over her shoulder again and then puts her face back into her knee caps.

"What is it?" he asks again. Maybe he could help her somehow, after all, she is helping him, the least he could do was lend a helping hand to her as well. The easiest thing he could do was maybe calm her slightly, put her mind at ease. He knew it was more than just simple anxiety, but it was always worth a try, right?

"I just..." she swallowed, not looking at him and pressing her forehead harder onto her kneecaps until her head ached. Her breathing is a tad shaky, but only enough for him to know that she's feeling nothing more than a little bit of anxiousness. She glances over her shoulder once more and then hides her face once again into her boney knee caps. "I feel like somebody's watching me."

He stared at her for a moment, his face a mixture of confusion and pity. He looks up and glances around. He had good senses, he would know if somebody was watching them and he didn't feel that at all. He gazes hard and sees nothing. It's just them. It wasn't like there was anywhere to hide. There weren't a lot of trees around here. It was wide open space.

"There's not." he whispered, wanting to keep his voice soft for the sake of her mentality.

She whispered, too, "I told you it's in my head."

Austin stared at her with a long moment of sympathy before he twisted his body and stared up at the sky. "Is that why you came out here? You thought somebody was watching you?"

She swallowed hard. She knew it was in her head now. She trusted Austin and if he said nobody was watching, then she knew nobody was. "I tried hiding in my closet but I still...I was being watched." she mumbled. Austin looked at her.

"No, Ally, you weren't being watched. You're not being watched." Austin assured her. She slowly nodded and the more Austin convinced her that it wasn't happening, the more she could feel the odd feeling flee. She was coming back to the reality of life where she was just sitting next to Austin in a park with nobody else around.

Austin heard Ally make a muffled sound. He glanced over and realized that she had tears falling down her cheeks in rapid movements; she was crying. Austin's face softened. He straightened up. "Ally," he said, "Ally, it's okay."

She shook her head, "No, it's not." she whispered. She didn't like showing this kind of emotion to Austin but she was scared and not because she felt like she was being watched. She was scared because she hated that she had to go on pills to be normal, she was scared because she didn't want to fade out of reality and she knew she was but she could not take those pills. She couldn't do it.

Austin thought for a moment and then he acted. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder and sat closer to her. "It's okay." he assured her, nudging her shoulder comfortingly. She let her head fall into his shoulder. Austin brushed a tear with his thumb. He didn't normally comfort people, especially people with emotional problems like hers, but he couldn't just watch her and not help her. After all, she was Dez's favourite cousin. Dez loved her like she was his sister, actually. That made her important to Austin.

Ally was pleased sitting next to Austin. She felt safer but she wondered how long that would last before her perception of him would be warped. She remembered flashing a knife on her father one year because the voices told her that he was plotting to kill her. What if she did that to Austin?

She dug inside her pocket. "I found this." she said, sniffling lightly. She lifted her head from his shoulder but stayed curled into his side. She pulled out the piece of paper. She handed it to him. Austin noticed it was ripped from an article. "Mr. Corelli refused to be questioned by the detectives."

Austin took the paper. "No way." he muttered. He read the small article and shook his head. "Do you think?"

"I don't know, maybe?" Ally replied. She dropped to her onto his shoulder again while he read the article.

"I can't believe this." he muttered, "And they didn't bother questioning him?"

"They tried but he wouldn't do it. He claimed it was hard on him and he didn't want to believe Dez was gone but it sounds suspicious." Ally replied. Austin nodded. He looked down at her and noticed that her eyes were fluttering.

"Are you tired?" he questioned her, gently grazing his thumb on a dried trail of tears. He wasn't sure what it was about Ally, but he felt like she was important. He guessed it was either pity or the fact that Dez loved Ally so much that Austin felt like he needed to keep her close to his heart.

Ally lied as she shook her head at him, "No."

"Do you sleep at night?" he asked after a moment. Ally shook her head. He nodded slowly. He figured that the answer would be no. He knew by the look of her face when they were in class. Her eyes were getting baggier and darker. The sleep deprivation was written on her face.

While Austin analyzes the article again, Ally's eyes close and her breathing softens. When Austin looks back at her, he sees that she's sound asleep. He stared at her for a moment. He wondered how they would do this case when she was in such a bad state, but he would need her for this, so he'd need to learn how to deal with it.

After a few moments. He shifts and cradles her into his arms and gets up from the bench. He walks down the street that led to her house. He recalled watching her walk down this street numerous times and he only knows he's at her place when he sees her step-sister, Trish, standing outside. She notices him and notices Ally.

"Is she okay?" she asks him, concerned.

"She's asleep. She was on the park bench just down a couple streets from here. Did you know she was gone?" Austin asked.

Trish nodded, "Yeah. She was telling me how she had to leave because somebody was trying to find her." Trish said. Austin slowly nodded. It was sad, listening to how Ally's perception was changed in every way. In ways that she couldn't stop it from happening without pills. "I tried to go after her but she went running."

"She's fine, don't worry." Austin said. Trish nodded.

"Come inside. Her rooms upstairs." Trish said. Austin nodded and followed Trish inside. He kept quiet for anybody who was sleeping in the house. He got Ally to her bed and laid her down. She was freezing and he wondered how long she sat out there before he came along.

"There you go." he whispered in Ally's ear although he doubted she'd hear it. Her eyes suddenly open tiredly and he feels bad for waking her. "Sorry." he laughs lightly. He glances to the door and sees Trish isn't there anymore. He looks back at Ally.

"You should stay." she suggests, catching him off guard. He wouldn't have expected her to invite him to stay ever but he dismissed it for her being too tired.

"Get some sleep, Ally." he said. She nodded slowly. He almost felt bad having to leave when she asked him to stay. He left the house and made his way home. He felt tired now and once his head hit his pillow, he was sound asleep.