Hey everyone, welcome back to the story! I hope you enjoy this chapter!

So I've decided that this story is going to be split into a trilogy! This is just because it will be easier for me to keep a regular update schedule on this story, and I think with the way I have the plot laid out it will just work that way really well. Plus if it was all one story I think it might end up just too long and so people might be put off reading it. So yeah, that's my decision and I hope you guys agree with it :)

As ever, I do not own Austin and Ally or anything you recognise from the show in any way, shape or form, nor do I own any recognisable brands, songs or lyrics within them.

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Chapter Eight: New Friends and Old Enemies

Ally's POV

"I believe you." I say to Austin when we pull apart from the hug, and his face lights up like a lightbulb.

"Really?" He asks excitedly, a huge grin on his face to match mine.

"Yes," I reply nodding. "and I'm sorry it took me this long to realise that you are not at all like your reputation, but if you still wanted to I'd love to try and be friends with you."

He picks me up and spins me round again, saying "Yes yes yes yes yes" repeatedly as he does so, which I giggle at. "Thank you Ally." He says softly when he puts me back down. "Thank you for believing in me."

I just smile in response before we turn back to Miss Kennedy who is finishing up the lesson and congratulating us all on our performances.

We pack our stuff away as the bell goes and walk out together. "So, now that I'm your friend do I get to meet all your other friends?" He asks cheerily as we begin to walk down the hallway.

"Uh, I only really have one friend… well, two now cos of you, but apart from you only one real friend." I say nervously.

"That's okay; I'd still love to meet them… I'm guessing it's that curly haired Latina girl, right? What's her name?"

"She's called Trish." I reply. "And quick warning, she hates you." He chuckles a little when I see this but then immediately stops when he can tell from my face that I'm being serious.

"Hates me? Why, she's never met me?" He asks defensively and confused.

"Well you know yourself, Austin, that the rumours really don't paint you in a good light." He mumbles in agreement. "And some girls seem to love them and like you even more, but let's just say that Trish is most definitely not one of those girls."

"Ah, I see." He comments as we continue to walk towards Trish's geography classroom. "Well, if I managed to win you over, Dawson, I'm sure I can do the same with Trish." He continues confidently.

"Yeah, we'll see." I say under my breath. "Just don't make her mad, you'll really regret it." Once again he laughs, and once again he stops when he sees I'm serious. "I'm not even kidding, she's more violent and stronger than most of the guys on the football team." I say, having a flashback to the time the quarterback in freshman year made her drop her ice cream and ended up with a broken nose and sprained ankle, which makes me shudder a little.

"Got it." He says as we arrive at the room. I stand by the door waiting and Austin leans on the lockers behind me.

A couple of minutes later Trish strolls out of the room (she was being kept back by the teacher, getting lectured on how globes should not be used as bouncy balls or something like that) and smiles as she greets me. Then she sees Austin behind me and she looks annoyed. "Look out, Ally, Blondie is stood behind you." She says, glaring at Austin.

"I know." I reply calmly. I figure it's probably best to just be upfront and tell her so we can move on quicker. "Austin's my friend now."

"WHAT!?" She shrieks and grabs me by the wrist, pulling me into the janitor's closet next to us. I just manage to call out to Austin to tell him to 'stay there' and 'we'll be right back' before we're into the dark closet with the door closed. "What the hell do you mean 'you're friends now'?"

"I mean just that." I respond. "Austin and I are friends now."

"Ally, are you out of your mind?" Trish asks exasperatedly. "What in the world would make you want to be friends with that douchebag?"

"You know, Trish, he's really not that bad. All those rumours are complete lies; he's nothing like how he is made to be seen." I try to defend Austin but I don't think Trish is buying it.

"Really?" She asks. She opens the door and points to Austin, surrounded by and being clung to by the popular girls. "Cause he sure doesn't look like he's different at all!"

My heart sinks a little at the sight, but I know that Austin's not really enjoying it. Is he?

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Austin's POV

I should have known it was a bad idea to just stay stood there alone in the hallway whilst Ally and Trish were in the closet. I'd been stood there for no more than a minute before they showed up. 'They' obviously being Violet, Carrie, Tilly and Kimmy.

"Hey Austy!" Tilly used the usual greeting, claiming a spot wrapped around my right arm. Here we go.

"Hi Austin, miss me?" Carrie claims the other arm.

"Austy! Hi!" Kimmy says, giggling and shoving Tilly out of the way to claim the right arm… which only led to them getting in a mini cat-fight over who gets to wrap themselves around me like a boa constrictor. Wonderful.

"Ignore them, Austy, focus on me instead." Violet almost purred, taking the now vacant spot at my right arm and blocking the fighting blonde girls out of my view.

"We haven't seen you in a while, Austy." Carrie says in a pouty tone, with a face to match.

"I spoke to you this morning." I deadpan back.

"But that's still too long to go without you!" Carrie says back.

At this point Tilly and Kimmy simultaneously stop fighting and both rush round to cling onto my chest like their lives depended on it.

"So, Austy, you got a date for prom? I'm totally available." Tilly winks at me, and I fight off the urge to throw up all over them… even though it might teach them a lesson… nah, wouldn't work.

"Umm, Tilly? Prom's not for another nine months." I reply.

"So!? Never too early to plan the perfect night with the perfect guy!" She practically shrieks, before hugging me round the waist, and with Violet and Carrie hanging off my arms I can't really do anything to push her away, so I have to just stand there and pray for help.

I see the door of the janitor's closet open and the heads of Ally and Trish peek out in my direction. Trish looks revolted, and I can completely understand why, and Ally looks… almost hurt, or disappointed. I send her a desperate sign for help through my eyes, and when I do this I can see her relax a little as she realises that this is not my intention. I mouth to them "HELP ME" and Ally starts to giggle but Trish still looks sceptical.

Ally whispers something to Trish and gives her a look, but Trish finally rolls her eyes and I can see rather than hear her say "Fine." Before walking over to us and loudly whistling to catch the popular girls' attention.

"What do you want, curls?" Violet asks, glaring at Trish. I can see Trish tense up, but she manages to plaster a smile on her face before speaking.

"Hey, girls, you know there's a sale on for fake nails and make-up in the parking lot but only for another…" She pretends to check her watch. "Three minutes?" She asks in a fake girly voice.

"Oh, my, God, we need to go!" Kimmy squeals, and Tilly, Violet and Carrie all agree before all scuttling off down the hallway, shouting out that they love me over their shoulders. I'm just glad they're gone, for now at least.

"Thank God!" I breath out a sigh of relief. "Cheers, Trish, I owe you one." I say.

"I still don't trust you, Blondie, but if Ally wants to be your friend then I'll try my best." She says as Ally walks over to us, beaming.

"Have a nice time, Austy?" Ally asks when she arrives, imitating the popular girls and getting a giggle from Trish.

"Watch it, Dawson." I reply jokingly as we walk down the hallway towards the main entrance. "So, you've shown me your friend and now it's time for you to meet mine. Well, my best friend anyway."

We walk out the doors and Dez is waiting for me at the top of the stairs like I texted him telling him to.

"Guys, this is my best friend Dez, Dez this is my new friend Ally and her new friend Trish." I say pointing between the redhead and the girls.

"Nice to meet you, Dez." Ally says politely.

"Freckles!?" Trish asks with a scowl on her face.

"Wait, you two know each other already?" I ask indicating between Trish and Dez.

"Oh yes. I know Patricia." Dez answers, and Trish seems to get annoyed by Dez's use of her full name… so I'm guessing Dez did that on purpose.

"Yeah. The redhead and I were dance partners Freshman year." Trish continues to explain. "Well, I use the term 'dance' lightly… it seems Dez wouldn't know what dancing was if it smacked him right round his stupid face!" She gets very angry very quickly and I'm suddenly nervous in her presence.

"Well it would have helped if, like I suggested many times, you lifted me and not the other way round!" Dez replied angrily and I knew that me and Ally had no chance of getting a word in from then on.

"But it's your fault that you're too weak to even lift a girl in the first place!"

I could tell what thought entered Dez's mind and I was just hoping and praying that he wouldn't say what I thought he was going to say.

It seems Ally had the same thought as me, though, as I felt a hand on my shoulder and heard Ally whisper in my ear "Just back away slowly, and when he says it, we run." I nodded my agreement and moved with her, slowly enough so that it wouldn't be too noticeable, even though at the same time I knew they were both deeply absorbed in the argument.

"Well maybe I would have been able to lift you" 'This is your last chance Dez, please, for your own good, don't say it!' "if you didn't weigh so much!"

Well shit. He said it.

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Ally's POV

The instant those words left Dez's mouth, and without even having to look at each other to check if we were ready, Austin and I literally full-on sprinted away from them down the steps and around the corner, but to be honest I don't really think either Dez nor Trish realised we were going.

We ran, laughing with each other, towards the parking lot. Austin led me to his car and I got in, he didn't even need to ask if I needed a lift since we were both half-laughing, half-afraid of the situation.

There is no doubt that Trish would have just gone completely psycho on Dez after that comment. Poor guy. But he did kinda ask for it.

Austin pulled out of the parking lot and out onto the road. "So where do you live? I'll take you home." He offered as we stopped laughing and settled into the drive.

"Oh no I'm not going home, I need to go to work." I explain and he nods.

"Cool, so where do you work then?"

"Just drop me off at the mall, that'd be great." I reply with a smile and he nods in response.

He flicks on the radio to avoid a silence, which I'm thankful for. We both start humming along to the song at first, but by the end of it we're full-on singing our hearts out. Austin has a really nice voice, and I actually think our two voices complement each other really well, we have natural harmonies.

By the time the song finishes we were just pulling up outside the mall. I lean over and give Austin a quick hug, thanking him for the ride before hopping out the car and waving to him before closing the door and walking off into the mall.

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Austin's POV

Ally's voice is beautiful. There is no other way to describe it. Well, actually, there are many ways; gorgeous, enchanting, stunning, amazing, incredible, perfect.

But, as we were singing along to the radio together and I heard the way our voices suited each other perfectly, I realised something.

All those words I was using, I wasn't really describing Ally's voice. I was describing Ally.

Ally is perfect.

And I think I have a crush on her.

But this all just seems crazy! I've known her for three days, and she didn't even like me as a friend until about an hour ago! And yet, I already feel like I know her inside and out and she's the same with me, I feel so much happier when she's around me, I feel more comfortable when she's in the room, and I know for certain my heart sank like a rock when she had to get out of the car when we reached the mall.

Suddenly the car was just the car again, not the centre of all that's good in the world like it was when we were singing together on the drive. Suddenly the radio was boring to me, as nothing else could replace the sound of her angelic singing. And suddenly I felt alone.

If these aren't the signs of a crush, I don't know what are.

But it's stupid, and I know it's stupid, and I feel stupid for allowing my stupid self to think stupid thoughts! Like I said, Ally didn't even want to be my friend until today, so obviously she's not going to feel the same towards me.

But I can hope. And hope I shall!

I decide it's probably best for me to just push those thoughts out of my head, for a while at least. I drive home, and find the house is a complete mess. There's a note left on the counter, like yesterday, but this one says that my dad's gone out for a drink and my mom's out on a walk clearing her mind, as they'd had a 'minor disagreement'. Well, that explained the condition of the house – 'minor' my ass.

I quickly straighten up most of the furniture, before deciding that they can do the rest and going upstairs to my room.

I figure I should probably at least check that Dez is still living after him and Trish had a 'minor disagreement' of their own earlier. I fear that the weight comment was almost certainly a step too far, which is why Ally and I didn't stick around to see what Trish would do next.

I call him and he picks up on the third ring. "Hey buddy." He says in his normal cheery voice. Phew, he's still breathing, then.

"Hey Dez, you okay?" I ask, still worried about his physical condition.

"Oh yeah I'm great, why wouldn't I be?" He responds as if it's the stupidest question in the world.

"I was just worried about what might have happened during the 'conversation' between you and Trish… you know that weight comment was probably a step too far, dude."

"Are you kidding me?" He asks with a hint of a laugh in his voice. "What you and Ally saw was nothing compared to our normal arguments, man. Trust me, I know how to handle it with her, everything's fine."

"Okay, if you're sure she hasn't crippled you in any way…"

I hear Dez laugh again. "No, Austin, she hasn't. Not recently, anyway." I decide not to comment on that last part. "So anyway, Ally seems nice."

"Yeah, she really is. I really like her, Dez." I say, almost getting lost in a daydream thinking about her. Wow, I've really fallen hard.

"Oh, is this a really like her or a really like her like her?" He asks and I can hear the smirk in his voice.

"Yeah, yeah, you were right the other day. I do have a crush on her."

"A-ha! I knew it!"

"BUT! In my defence, I didn't even realise I liked her until we left after your argument today."

"No matter! I still knew that you would like her, that's why they call me 'The Love Whisperer'." He whispers the last part.

"Nobody calls you that." I reply in the same whisper voice. "But yeah, I think she's perfect." I find myself getting lost as I think about her beautiful brown eyes and perfect hair, and I can faintly hear a mumbly voice in my ear as I almost forget I'm on the phone to Dez. "Huh? Say that again, buddy."

"You were just thinking about her, weren't you?" I can again hear that annoying smirk.

"Whaaaaaat?" I ask in an abnormally high voice. "Okay, maybe." I add meekly.

"Ha! See! I do know about this stuff!" He sounds triumphant and pleased with himself. "And I said, what made you realise that she is, as you say, perfect?"

"It was just when we were in the car, when we left midway through your argument, we had the radio on and we were singing along and having fun, and something just clicked in my mind." I smile fondly at the memories.

"Aww, how cute." Dez's voice again shatters my daydream at the memories. "But I'm warning you, Austin, you had better not just dump Ally like you do with all the other girls. She's a really nice girl."

"Dez, you don't even need to worry about that. I mean it's not like she'd ever feel the same about me, anyway."

"I wouldn't be so sure, Austin. I mean, you're that popular with the ladies for a reason, it will eventually happen to Ally too I'm sure of it."

"Yeah, right." I reply.

"Listen to the love whisperer Austin! I'm always right and you know it!" He taunts.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. I hope you're right, anyway. I gotta go, see you tomorrow okay?"

"Okay buddy, good luck with Ally."

And with that he rings off, leaving me thinking about what he said. He has a point, lots of girls are obsessed with me and there must be a reason for that… but will Ally be the same? For some reason I find myself doubting it…

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Ally's POV

I walk into Sonic Boom and greet my Dad like normal, with a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

But again, like yesterday, I can smell alcohol in his breath as he speaks to me, and it seems to be a little stronger than yesterday too. I decide not to confront him about it, at least not yet. I mean I don't really have any sort of evidence or reason to ask. He's still acting like his normal self.

We go through the usual routine of me doing my homework and having a snack in the practice room, going downstairs, taking over the store and saying bye to my dad.

The store is busier tonight and I don't have as much time to myself. I wanted to call Trish and ask what happened after we left but I don't get time to. Never mind, it can wait.

Eventually it's time to close up, and I am exhausted, that was the busiest shift I've had in quite a while.

I drag myself home, looking forward to my nice comfortable bed. By the time I get home it's just after 10, and normally by this point both my parents are in bed, which is why I'm surprised when I walk in to find light coming from the kitchen.

I walk in and see my mom sat at the table, a cold cup of coffee in her hands, just staring into space, seemingly in shock. "Mom? Are-are you okay?" I ask a little nervously.

She doesn't seem to even notice I was there, and jumps a little when I start to speak. "Oh, hi honey, yes I'm fine, just had a long day at work is all." I don't believe her but decide not to press for any more information.

"Oh, okay. Um, where's dad?" I ask, spying a few beer bottles in the trash can behind her. At the word 'dad' she freezes up a little.

"He's in bed already dear, you know he likes his sleep." She replies with a fairly pathetic smile. This definitely doesn't feel right but I'm too tired to try and confront my mom about it now.

"Right, well I'm going to bed, are you okay to lock up before you go upstairs?" I ask.

"Yes of course, you go and get some sleep. I'll lock up, besides I'm going to sleep down here tonight anyway. I need to be straight out in the morning and I don't want to disturb anyone." She says.

"Ummm… okay. Well, goodnight then." I say and turn to leave the kitchen.

"Goodnight honey, sleep well, I love you!" She says as I walk out, and I call a 'love you too' over my shoulder as I reach the stairs.

I can hear my dad's heavy snoring as I pass their bedroom, so at least I can rest a little easier knowing that she wasn't lying about him being asleep already.

I do my usual bedtime routine and I'm asleep practically as soon as I get into bed.

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That was chapter eight! I hope you enjoyed it and if you did make sure to leave a review!

So Austin and Ally are now friends (yay!) AND Austin has realised he has feelings for Ally! Will he choose to act on these feelings and try and get Ally to feel the same way, and if so how? Also, what's happening with Ally's parents? And Austin's parents? Leave your ideas in a review!

Please remember to follow, favourite, review, and leave suggestions and questions! It means a lot to me!

Catch you later! :)