Austin's POV


We're lying down with both of our heads together. This is the best time that we've had together since the Stacy or as Alls likes to say the she-devil incident. I love to see her care-free and laughing. Seeing her happy makes me happy and that's all I really need. Except… I can't help but linger on the thought of DallASS. I mean what's going to happen between us three. It's not like I'm willing to say ok so I get Ally on Monday, Wednesday, and weekends, while he gets the rest of the days not mentioned. No, not going to happen and even if Ally can't see it, I know that what he's trying to get is far from a best friend relationship. Trust me the way he looks at her makes me want to beat the crap out of him.

"What are you thinking about Austin?" I hear a soft voice. I turn my head to see the big brown eyes that I love. Should I tell her about my feelings with DallASS or will that make her get mad and ruin this moment that we have only just created. Why do girls have to be so complicated? I mean with me, you just have to give me pancakes and everything is alright. While on the other hand, a girl, cough, cough, Ally, says one thing but does the other or says she prefers one thing when the truth she likes many. She says she won't get mad but she's an emotional person that can get so moody at times. Isn't there a handbook that says how to understand girls or better yet Ally Dawson for dummies? Because if there is; I really need to get myself one. "Umm Ally, are you and Dallas," I'm glad I remembered to not call him an ass in front of Ally, "a thing... or what exactly are you?" I know that I just put her on the spot but this question is essential for me. It's the matter of life or death. I can see her hesitate to answer the question but I know she will. She turns away from my gaze and says, "Well that's kind of a complicated story Austin." I'm in disbelief and hurt. Why isn't she telling me? I thought we were over this. A few seconds pass and I hear, "But the truth is that I don't even know where we are. I know for sure that he's one of my closest friends and he knows a lot about me but…" And then she leaves me hanging again. "But" what? What could that but be for? Oh please don't tell me that she wants an actual thing with him. "I don't know but he seems like a nice guy you know? Sometimes it feels like we're more of a couple than friends. Kind of like how people used to say that we were going to be the golden couple from high school. Psh… who ever came up with that conclusion must have not noticed that we never felt anything for one another," she finishes. Now it's my turn to get nervous. "Yea… that was dumb of them," I make an awkward chuckle and then I say, "Why would I be attracted to you or you to me? We practically like brother and sister, so that would only make this situation awkward." Great now I just made things between us awkward with my big mouth. I take a quick glimpse at Ally and I know she knows something's up. "Are you ok Austin?" she asks. "Yup! I'm as peachy as peach can be peachy!" I say too loud and fast. I know that she's going to bomb me with questions except the bell literally saves me. Oh I have never been glad to go to class before in my whole entire life!

"Well we should get to class Alls," I say while getting up and starting to get out things. I hand her backpack to her and she says, "Well let's walk to class together!" She has this smile that can light up the whole town and seeing her like this makes my heart skip a beat. She only makes it harder when she grabs my hand and intertwines our fingers. Beat that DallASS! I bet she never reached out for your hand! I'm special like that. We walk like this until we reach the door to the hallway and then it hits me that I'm late for something. I know that I'm about to look like a cold person but I don't want her to know anything because then she'll start to lecture me. I tear my hand from hers and she looks up at me hurt. As if I had slapped her across the face. If she felt anything more than a quick sting she never showed it because she makes her face recover and then says, "Yea good job Austin… we wouldn't want anyone to mistake that we're going out like in our last high school." With that she opens the door and walks out. Seeing that I'm not following, she turns around to look at me. "You know class starts in a few minutes right?" she tells me. "Yea Ally, about that, I have to go to the bathroom. I'll meet you at class," I try to say in my most convincing voice. I can tell that she knows something but that could just be my guilt. Her eyes are looking for an answer from my face that she knows I'm trying to hide, but she lets it go, "Fine, I'll save you a seat." I can feel myself breathing again and we say goodbye. I feel bad for not telling her the truth but I know that it's better if she knows less because if not, it could hurt her or me. I know that once I tell her she won't accept it and tell me to change to do something else about it but as hard as I try I can't seem to find another solution for it.


Ally POV


It's been three minutes since the bell rang and Austin still isn't here. I knew he was lying to me but I don't want to face the truth. The truth about the secrets that we still can't tell each other, the ones that are still hanging in the air between us. That we make things go awkward when a second ago we were just like the old times. I think that this is going to be harder. I've changed and he's changed. Time has passed without us being together or seeing one another and we've grown apart in some way. I can't finish his sentences like I use to. I can't figure out what he's thinking about and much less what he's going to do. Are we really going to be able to rebuild this relationship? The tardy bell has now rung and I know that he's not going to come to class today. Or at least for this period but that's just it with Austin; you never know when he is going to be there and when he's going to disappear.

The rest of the day went painfully slowly and I don't think Austin came back because I didn't see him around anywhere. "Ally… Ally… Dallas Lover!" I hear someone yell in my ear. I rub my ear and turn around to meet my friend Trish. Wait did she just call me "Dallas Lover?" "Trish we both know that I do not like Dallas. I've told you once and I'm telling you again, Dallas is just a friend and nothing else," I tell her while walking. Today was one of the days that Trish and I walk home to catch up with one another. "Sure… and I have a bad sense of fashion as you," she counteracted while rolling her eyes, "You keep staying in denial and when I'm planning your wedding I'll be saying I told you so!" I can't help but giggle at this but after holding hands with Austin; I'm not sure what I'm feeling. I can't deny that I find him attractive because what girl in her right mind doesn't? And he's sweet too, like how he sang that song to me. But I also feel comfortable with Dallas and he's so funny and can brighten up my mood with a joke or his smile. I know that one of them I feel comfortable being with them and it's just because I'm used to them that I feel this strange affection for them but the other one is the one that I actually like. Except the part that's confusing me is how do I tell each one apart. Well I did feel a pang of hurt when Austin took his hand away and I find myself thinking about him a lot but it's just because we have so much history together that I can't stop worrying about him, as a crush or as a brother. But then I also find myself thinking about Dallas and he's just always there for me. He's the one that I know that I can trust and the one that I can finish the sentences for now. He's the one that seems to be the one right? But then there's Austin and he just complicates the whole situation.

"Ally! ALLY!," I hear Trish yelling again, "Why do you keep spacing out about? I'm telling you about the jobs I've had in the past three days. You know like the pet store, and the ice cream shop, and the card shop, and are you listening to me?" She has stopped walking which made me stop and I look at her with a look that says can we please just drop it? "Oh I know what it is… You're thinking about the guy that sang that song to you am I right? Ok spill and tell me all the gossip. Not a single detail should be left out!" After telling her everything because something tells me that if I tell Dallas about my sort of feelings towards Austin, it'll make things awkward between us. Also I don't want to get lectures by him on how I shouldn't feel that way towards Austin because he's a jerk for telling me those things and what not. We reached my house an hour ago but Trish liked what I was telling her because she opened the door with the key we gave her, went to the kitchen made popcorn for her and brought me my jar pickles, and told me to continue when I gave her a weird expression.

"Ooohh! Girl! You've got it bad! Your life is like a novela! That's soap opera in Spanish," Trish exclaims. Things get quiet and then she says, "So you guys almost kissed?" She's raising her eyebrows while giving me this big smile and is waiting for my answer. When I told her that part she kept asking over and over again. "Well I already told you Trish that I'm not sure if he even was going to kiss me because we never did. What if I made it up in my head?" I ramble while chewing my hair. I don't know what Trish was thinking because after my response she got up and left. I know that her mind is coming up with a plan. And trust me when Trish thinks of something she doesn't stop until it becomes a reality.


Austin's POV


I'm getting home now and I see my mom running around the house as a headless chicken and I see my baby girl bawling her eyes out while Ross keeps shouting at her to tell her to shut up. This is the life. "Mom Rydel's crying!" I shout. "Ross I know that your sister is annoying you but she's your sister which means you're practically stuck with her," I tell him while carrying my little sister, trying to hush her down. I look around and the house is a mess. Toys are all over the house and the trash is overfilling. The sink is overloaded with dishes and I can see cloths all over the house which I'm guessing is my mom trying to find something to wear to work. I turn the TV on which makes Ross stop what he's doing and becomes quiet. You have to love the power of the remote control. "Mom, are you ok? You seem to be a train wreck. Why don't you call it a day and go to work tomorrow?" I tell her while following her around the house. "I know that you're worried about me honey, but you know that we can't afford for me to miss work. We can barely make it with the income that I'm bringing and," she stops at midsentence when she looks at the clock. "I'm late… Look Austin you know the rules no opening the house to strangers, put them to bed and I'll see you later. I promise to come back in time before you go to sleep tonight," she speaks while messing up my hair and giving Rydel, Ross and me a kiss on our foreheads. Before I can say anything else she walks out the door and I'm left with my two siblings and the house cleaning that I always end up doing.

"Where is mama going Ausi?" my little brother asks me. I keep looking at the door, hoping that she'll come back. "I don't know Ross. I wish I did, but I don't."


The rest of the week goes well. I manage to keep doing my normal routine and the guy that I work for gave me some slack and said that this week I should spend my time catching up with my school work. My mom always told me that school should be my priority and it is only after my brother, sister, my mom, Ally, Dez, work, and then school. It's not that far behind right? I want to do great and give my mom something to be proud of, but I have so many things to worry about. I think the only reason why I haven't dropped out is because of my mom. Don't get me wrong, my mom's a great mom is just sometimes she's gone a lot of the times. Like my brother's birthday she wasn't there. Or she didn't get to hear the first word that my sister said. I think that what hurts the most. Not seeing her and feeling like I'm alone. I can tell that Ross is getting more curious with mom and why she's gone a lot of the times but what am I supposed to say…. "Yea our mom might be doing god knows what and that's the reason why she hasn't been home too much or the reason why I act more like your parent than she does." Yup that just doesn't sound right. Plus I know the only reason why she's doing this is because she cares. If she didn't she wouldn't be trying. That's all that counts right; that she's trying.

Ally and I have been doing great. It gets awkward every now and then when we have a flashback on something and laugh and Dallass is just sitting there all alone and confused. I get annoyed when he pulls her away from me and I can tell that Ally doesn't know how to react to any of us. We are both pulling her to come to our side without the other and I think that she's about to rip both of our heads up. But you can't really blame me? I was here first so I get dibs on Ally. It just works that way.


Ally POV


Austin and I have been doing great but there's something missing. It's not like how we use to be and much less how we use to act. I don't feel the same around him and I'm still trying to figure out if I can trust him. It's also awkward with Dallas. I feel like they are fighting for something but I'm not sure. Maybe they just don't get along. Austin has tried to get us some quality time together and it's been great except the things that I use to do aren't the same and I'm new. He's also changed. When he told me that the Notebook is his favorite movie, it kind of scared me. I feel like the person that I knew and loved is a whole different person, and I'm not sure if it's for the best. Also I know that he's trying to hide something from me and I'm going to get to the bottom of it. I just hope that it isn't bad. This is what I'm also talking about, the Austin I knew hated school but he didn't ditch. So far Trish is the only friend that I have loved spending time with. She doesn't tell me to choose sides. That's the only thing Austin and Dallas are alike in. They both make me choose between them and I hate every second of it.

Today I think that Austin told me something about going to the store that my dad has. I'm happy to show him Sonic Boom except I'm scared. One thing that Austin and I love to do together was to write songs. Sometimes we used to put them on the internet but it was when we were making them that were the best time of all. We shared this connection that we would only ever know. No one else would. No matter who came or what happened between us, music has always been our way of communicating. Of telling one another what we feel without having to speak. What I'm worried about is what if we don't have this connection any more. This would be devastating to me.

A/N: I know that this is a really bad chapter and all. I've had writers block for the longest time with this story and I'm trying to write something down. I know where i want to go with this story, except I'm not sure how to get there. Please bare with me and I promise the next one will get better. Thank you to all of those that have given this story a chance. It really means a lot to me. And Thank you to all of you guys that have reviewed followed and all. I'm not really expecting any reviews from this chapter. IT's bad i know but i promise to make it up next chapter. Thanks for waiting and I'll upload sooner.

I do not own Austin and Ally.