I'm sorry it's taken so long to update this story but please enjoy and review! :)
I woke up around ten o'clock and rolled around in bed for a while, trying to will my restless body back to sleep. When I decided that it was in vain, I picked myself up and shoved my feet into a pair of sandals resting beside my bed. I looked in the mirror and swept my blonde hair to the left and then to the right and back again, trying to fix the mat of bed head that had formed. When it finally looked decent I took a t-shirt out of my drawer and pulled it over my head. I looked in the mirror once more and pushed my hands against the dresser that was in front of it.
"Austin. What the hell are you doing." It was more of a statement than a question, but I couldn't look myself in the eye after that, fearing the reflection would provide more lies or, more practically, insight into what I was doing and why. I grabbed an old sweatshirt out of my suitcase and shoved Ally's songbook into my backpack and walked into the living room to find my mom watching some reality show and my dad trying to feign interest in what was going on onscreen while he started to doze off next to her. I walked in and put my hand on the couch behind my mom's shoulder. "I'll be back later."
"Where are you going, sweetheart?" My mom paused the show and turned to me.
"Nowhere in particular," I stated, turning toward the door. "Just out for a walk."
Once I closed the door I could hear my mom turn to my dad and say. "That boy is not just going out for a walk at nearly ten-thirty at night." My dad grunted and then returned his head to his right hand on the couch as my mom restarted the show. I ignored their comments and opted to walk, as I had said, rather than drive. The mall was only a mile and a half walk from my house, I'd ran it before to get to Ally's fundraiser, and I didn't feel like driving anyway. Walking would give me time to think. Time to convince myself that this is a a bad idea, hopefully.
I walked slowly, thinking of every possible thought I could just to keep the idea of Ally Dawson from my mind. Her eyes, her hair, her hands, everything about her kept appearing in my imagination. Her laugh echoed in my mind with every whiz of a car rushing by and her arms wrapped around me with every gush of wind that hit me. All I wanted was for it all to be real.
Eventually I walked into the desolate parking lot of the Mall of Miami and ambled toward the door as controlled as possibly, secretly hoping that I could remember and pick out Ally's car from the few that were still in the parking lot- if she was even still here. If she even had the same car. It hit me that in that past seven years I'd known nothing of who Ally's become. A "Sonic Boom" sticker flickered on one of the bumpers as I got closer to the entrance to the mall and with it a spark of hope flashed up beneath my chest. Ally might just be here. I only hoped now that it wasn't with Owen.
I swung the back entrance to the mall open, just like I had done countless times back when I would hang out with Ally in all of my spare time, and I crept through the silent halls. The mall cops wouldn't be in this wing for another hour at least and they all knew Ally well. She was an ever-present feature of this wing of the mall and she would always say hi to them and give them gifts on holidays. That's my Ally. Well, not anymore. As I came upon Sonic Boom I noticed the lights on upstairs and I stood in the lone spotlight cast upon the pavement, looking into the window and hoping to see a flash of her ombré hair in the practice room. After a few minutes I saw her stand her, just a flash, and then I heard music coming from the room above me. Quiet and beautiful and only after a moment did I realize that I knew the song well. I listened as her voice entered and she began to bring the song to life. It was like traveling back in time and I was completely dazed by her voice. Ally's voice was a siren's song and I was a sailor lost at sea.
As the song wound down I heard the final lines, "you're my parachute", just like she'd sang them all those years ago and I waited with baited breath for a clap from inside the practice room. I waited for any indication that she was not alone in the store and when ti did not come I stood for only a moment more and then crept back around the room to the door and pulled, expecting it to be locked like usual because Ally was always safe- well that's not true, she used to leave the door unlocked when she knew I was coming over to work on a song, but I stumbled back when I realized that the door was unlocked. Did she expect me? Is this still a bad decision? It never crossed my mind that the door could be unlocked for anyone except for me. I stepped into the store and breathed it in like a spring breeze after a long, dark winter.
A song I didn't know drifted down the stairs into the store and I ascended the steps with quiet feet. I knocked stood against the doorframe because the door was wide open and I watched her fingers sprawl across the keys and her back as she breathed slowly, singing lightly. When she had finished I clapped. She leaned against the piano and laughed, "Hi ow-". She turned toward me and I saw a look of surprise lay over her face as her smile faded. "Austin." She stood quickly and closed the book leaning against the piano. A new songbook.
"Hi." Ally said standing up. "What are you doing here?" There were wedding magazines all over the table on the practice room.
"Well I um. I came to give you something." I said slowly and I lifted my backpack from one of my shoulders until it hung in front of me sliding the zipper open and pulling the brown book from the depths of the bag. Her face grew solemn and sober as she walked toward me. I held the book out to her and she pushed my hand away from her and flung herself into my arms. I held the songbook until my knuckles were white and I wrapped my arms as tightly around her as I could manage without stopping the air to her lungs. It took a while but eventually she released her just as lethal grip on me and held me in front of her, examining everything about me, and then pushing my hand from her back and holding one of my hands with hers as she pushed the songbook against my chest.
"I gave it to you, Austin. I gave it to you for a reason." She let go of my hand and the book and let her arms fall back to her sides. "I don't want it back." I smiled and she returned it wholeheartedly.
"Okay." I said, but I laid the book on the table among the magazines and she smiled at me again. "What was that song?"
"I'm writing it for the wedding," she said. "It's going to be our first dance." She grinned and I saw that she was half thinking about Owen. "Do you want to hear it?" She leads me to the bench and motions for me to sit next to her. I slip myself into the piano bench and leave my hands on my lap as she sits close beside me and turns the page of the new songbook. She starts to play and I read the music on the page and after the first few lines I put my hands on the keys and join her. It's a beautiful melody and it just makes me realize again how incredibly talented this girl beside me is. She's the best writer in the business. Possibly in the world, or at least in my world.
Our hands swept across the keys and I felt a surge of energy go through me as we played. It felt like I was eighteen years old again. Like I could do anything in the world if Ally was beside me. My hand slowly crept toward her side of the piano, trying to make one of those accidental connections happen. Her hand did just the same, as far as I could tell, and I felt her hand brush against mine and then again. It was magic. We faced each other briefly but she turned away before we could feel the static between our lips from our proximity. As the end of the song drew near I felt her eyes drift to my hands and when we finished playing it she turned toward me and learned her head against my shoulder.
"Austin. I miss you- all the time I miss you." I didn't know what to say so I just leaned my cheek against hers again.
"I have to go." I said and I stood up, her head snapping up and looking at me. Her eyes were just a little red and I knew she was on the verge of a tear. As I stood up and walked toward the door I grabbed my backpack. She ran behind me and grabbed something from the table.
"Austin, wait!" She tucked an invitation into her old songbook and shoved it into my chest again. "Keep it." Then she stood on her toes and held my wrists tightly as I held the songbook. She pressed her lips against mine gently for a few seconds and then pulled away, settling back on her heals and pursing her lips, looking for some kind of response.
"Good luck with your wedding. I- uh," I stopped myself before I could say the L-word, I don't know why it was coming up, and I had to turn away. "See ya." I turned out the door and felt her arm slide down my arm and around my hip as she let me go.
"See you." She stood in the doorway and watched me go. Before I was out the door though I dropped my bag at the front door and ran back up the stairs, jumping around the barrier in the middle of the steps and running up. I pushed her against the wall as she stood atop the stairs and kissed her like I'd never done before. It was passionate beyond anything I've ever experienced. Then I my head against the wall behind her and turned my mouth toward her ear.
"I love you. And I had to do that one more time." I kissed her once more and turned back to the door and ran down the stairs and grabbed my backpack. I turned back and looked back at Ally and opened the door and felt the warm night air sweep around me. I hadn't felt this bittersweet in years, not since I got on the truck with Cassidy after Ally gave me the songbook. I heard footsteps coming from the opposite direction and made a beeline for the bushes. I watched Owen walk to Sonic Boom and throw the door open, greeting Ally in a way-too-enthusiastic way and I watched as the door swung behind him. He locked it and walked inside. I turned away and felt my eyes sting but I kept walking into the darkness.
Ooo drama. Okay I'm really sorry for waiting this long to post. I haven't had any time and I have NO inspiration whatsoever and I really need some good ideas to keep the story going!