Summary: Ally Dawson's story begins after she is accepted to her dream school in New York. When her talent is quickly recognized and fame is thrust upon her, she thinks she has it all together – until she meets Austin Moon, who turns her world upside down. / Based off 1989 by Taylor Swift. Multi-Chapter.
A/N: I decided to update a little earlier than usual since the last chapter was late. So, here's chapter ten! :)
Disclaimer: I don't own Austin & Ally or 1989 by Taylor Swift.
How You Get The Girl:
"Then one day he comes back."
- Taylor Swift
Three weeks later, everything changes again. But this time, it isn't her fault.
She's just gotten back home from a busy day at the studio to find her apartment empty. Trish left a note on the kitchen counter that reads, Since you don't seem to be answering your phone – I'm out with Cassidy while you're at the studio. We should be back before seven.
She pulls her phone out of her purse, then turns it on. Trish must've forgotten Ally likes to turn off her phone when she was at the studio. It helped her concentrate better. Turning it on, she can see all the messages she received from Trish while she was at the studio, most trying to get her attention and the last saying the same thing on the note.
She puts her purse down on the kitchen counter, then glances at the time. 6:27PM. They won't be back for another half hour, it seems. So, putting her phone down, she turns on the TV to the music channel, then turns it up loud and walks into the kitchen again, preparing to start dinner.
As soon as she has everything she needs set out to start cooking, the doorbell rings.
"Back already?" she says to herself as she turns the volume down on the TV. It's only been about five minutes. But when she reaches the door, the person standing on the other side isn't Cassidy or Trish. In fact, it's last person she ever expected to see again.
"Austin?" she asks in shock.
He smiles nervously. "Hi, Ally," he says.
She knows the polite thing to do would be to hug him, or invite him in, but she does neither of those things. Instead, she says, "What are you doing here?"
"I, uh, I wanted to talk to you," he says slowly. "Can I come in?"
Ignoring his question, she asks, "What did you want to talk about?"
"I..." he starts. "Is it alright if I tell you inside your apartment instead? It's kind of...personal."
She sighs. It looks like she's not gonna be able to get rid of him easily. Opening the door wider, she says, "I guess you can come in."
"Thanks," he says, walking inside. Looking around, he asks, "Are you alone right now?"
She shuts the door, then crosses the floor to where he's standing by the coffee table, but keeps a safe distance away from him. Crossing her arms, she says, "I am alone. Now, can you please tell me why you're here, Austin?"
He nods. "I will. I just...I don't know where to start."
"The beginning, maybe?" she suggests, suddenly angry. Angry that he broke up with her, that he came back to New York but didn't try to talk to her, that he showed up just after she started to get over him. "Why are you here? Why did you come back to New York? Why didn't you try to talk to me once ever since you moved back?" She pauses. "Why did you say the things you did to me six months ago?"
He looks down, sticking his hands in his pockets. He shrugs. "It's kind of a long story, I guess. All of it. Everything that happened."
"Tell it," she says.
He nods again, then walks over to the couch and sits down. She hesitates, then reluctantly follows and sits next to him.
Austin takes a deep breath. "Before I start, can I just say how sorry I am about everything I said? I don't know what I was thinking. I wasn't thinking. I was just...I don't know. But I didn't mean it."
She just shakes her head. "I don't care, Austin."
"Right," he mutters. Clearing his throat, he starts.
"After the fight, I went to a hotel downtown to stay at until I had to leave for my plane. But I didn't sleep. The second I walked out that door, I regretted everything I said. But I was too afraid to take it back, so I kept walking. I thought maybe I could try and fix things in the morning, that maybe you'd forgive me and show up before I left, but you didn't. So, I went to LA.
"It was nice, LA. It's big. Easy to get lost in. So is New York, but it wasn't like New York, and I didn't like that. I started recording the day after I arrived, but right away we had problems. See, I can't write very well, so Jimmy had to hire a couple songwriters, but even then, it wasn't right. Something was off. And I quickly learned that it was me. Because of me, because of the breakup, I just...wasn't right. I was sad a lot, and I kept snapping at people for no reason. I think there was a couple times when I wanted to give up on the whole thing and fly back to New York, but I stuck my ground. Eventually, one my songwriters just told me to write down what I was feeling, and then I was off. I channeled my feelings into my music, and everything was good – at least, at the studio.
"Like I said, I liked LA, but it wasn't New York, so I knew after I was done I had to come back. I missed this place. It's my home now." He pauses to face Ally, who looks down at her hands in her lap. "I wanted to talk to you. Every day I was in LA, I wanted to call. But I knew the conversation we needed to have couldn't be done over the phone. So I waited. And when I came back to New York, I think I just lost the courage to reconnect. I was afraid it was too late. So I told myself to let go, and to leave you alone.
"But I saw you everywhere I went, Ally. I went to that coffee shop we first met at, the one by the corner? One night, I looked out the window and I could've sworn I saw you walking past. But by the time I made it outside, you were gone."
"That was me," she mutters.
"What?"
She looks up. "That was me. Outside the coffee shop. I walked past that night and saw you inside. I almost went inside, too, but I figured you hated me or something, so I just...went home."
"What would make you think I hated you?" he asks.
"Because, Austin, you didn't try talking to me once in over three months! You dumped me, then moved to LA! And when you came back, you made no effort to fix anything. I know you said you were afraid to, but you could've at least tried, Austin. It would've counted for something."
"I know, and I get that, and I'm sorry, Ally," he apologizes. "But like you said, it'd been three months! I thought we were over. But that day, the day I saw you, my mind changed again.
"After I saw you outside the coffee shop, I decided to drive past your place to see if you were home. I know you're like four stories up, but I figured I might see something. And I did. You were standing outside on your balcony, looking down. Looking at me, I thought. But you made no sign that you knew it was me, so I just kept driving. But I never stopped thinking about you."
This time, she doesn't tell him that she was thinking the same thing.
He continues, "The next day, I finally decided to take a direct approach. I called you. For the first time in over three months, I finally called you. And I could hardly believe it when you hung up on me. I didn't even get the chance to say hello. The phone just kept ringing, and then it just...stopped. And I think that's when I knew you were finally over me.
"It only got worse a few days later when someone came to my apartment and left a box in front of my door. There was no note, just a plain box out in the hallway. And it was full of our stuff. Things I'd left behind, or things I gave you." He pauses. "Do you know how much it hurt me to find that there? To not even see you do it, but know that you had come to my place and gave me back all of my things? Like you had officially kicked me out of your life for good? Because it really hurt, Ally. It felt like someone had come up behind me and just stabbed me right through. You did that to me."
"I didn't," she mutters.
"What do you mean, you didn't? Who else would've had all of our stuff?" he asks.
"Cassidy," she replies. "She, uh, she talked me into going through my things and getting rid of anything that was yours. She said she'd take care of it. I didn't realize she meant that she'd be giving it all back to you. For that, I'm sorry."
Austin just shrugs. "It's whatever now. I got over it eventually. At least, I thought I did, until I saw you at the WMA's. It all came back, when I saw you sitting in front of me. You had no idea how close we were, and not once did you turn around to see if maybe I was sitting behind you. I tried not to let that get to me, knowing you probably weren't even trying to look for me. But I had hope. And I think when I saw you backstage, I could tell just by the way you looked at me that we weren't over yet. And I knew I had to do something about that.
"So, here we are. It's been a couple months, I know, but because of my music I had to keep putting it off. I wanted this moment to be perfect. The moment where I would finally come back to talk to you, and ask for forgiveness. Because I have never regretted anything so much in my life than breaking up with you all those months ago. I really am sorry, Ally."
He finally stops, and she can feel his gaze on her as he waits expectantly for an answer. But she has no idea what to tell him anymore. She knows what he wants to hear, she's sure of that, but she's not sure she can give it to him anymore.
Slowly, she looks up to meet his gaze.
"I do forgive you, Austin," she says. "I think I forgave you a long time ago. I always blamed myself for the breakup, anyway. But if you came here looking for forgiveness, I can give you that." She pauses to take a deep breath. "But I have a feeling that's not the only reason you came back. Is it?"
He sighs, then shakes his head. "No. It's not," he says. "I'm glad that you forgave me, Ally, but the real reason I came here was to ask you something else. Something a lot bigger. I – I know it's been like six months and we've barely even said two words to each other in all that time and I'm sure you're well on your way to moving on, but I just can't get over the fact that I don't think our story is over yet. I miss you, Ally, and...I'm still in love with you." He pauses. "Do you still feel the same way about me?"
She gapes at him, then looks away. She's dreamed of him coming back and saying these words to her hundreds of times, but not once did she think it would ever actually happen. And once she realized the truth, that she was no longer in love with him, she thought saying no to him would be easier now. But the moment's here, and it's real, and she has no idea what to tell him.
She sighs. "Is it alright if I think about this for a while? It's just...it's a lot to take in, that's all," she says.
He nods. "Okay," he says. "Okay. I understand. I can wait."
She smiles a little, but stays looking down as he stands up from the couch and slowly makes his way over to the front door.
"I guess I'll just be leaving, then," he says. "It was nice to see you again, Ally."
She nods. "You, too," she says quietly.
He hesitates by the door, quiet, before finally opening it and shutting it behind him. She doesn't move once he's gone, unsure of how to do anything at the moment. She feels something wet slide down her cheek and lifts her hand to feel tears present. She doesn't bother wiping them away.
It's been three weeks since she finally began to move on from him, but he came back to her, and she can't help but think that she just took ten giant steps back again.
- Yaiii: Guess you'll just have to wait and see what happens... But I'm glad to know you're excited! I'm excited, too, haha. :)
- axswiftxa13: I know you didn't ask a question, but I'm honestly really curious to know how you think I'm gonna twist the last code of this (whatever it is won't mess up the ending since it's already written, or you could always wait to tell me after it's completed...or maybe not at all, idk, haha. That's up to you).
- CrackFicGirl: OKAY I KNOW YOU DIDN'T ASK A QUESTION TOO BUT I JUST WANTED TO SAY I THINK IT'S REALLY COOL THAT YOU'RE GONNA SEE TAYLOR SOON AND MEET HER TOO? THAT IS SO AWESOME. IM EXCITED FOR YOU.
I hope I didn't disappoint too many of you when Austin finally came back but Ally didn't answer his question (yet). You will just have to wait and see what becomes of them in the next couple chapters. Now that I think about it, there aren't too many left.
Anyways. Thanks for reading! Tell me what you thought in the reviews? :)