Hey everyone, welcome back to the story!

IMPORTANT: As you may or may not have seen, I have started another new story (you should totally check it out), so from now on chapters of this story will only be uploaded once a week on Mondays to give me more time to write chapters for that story too... I hope you guys don't mind and continue to support this story! :)

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 Eleven: Obsessions and Threats

Ally's POV

Austin said as we left Chemistry that he was just going to his locker, but he's been gone for over ten minutes, and Dez and I are sat on our own at a table because Trish is with the girls again this lunch.

Whilst I'm waiting for Austin I decide to write an entry in my songbook.

Dear songbook/diary,

It's Friday today, so the first week of junior year is finally coming to an end, even though so much has happened in this short space of time!

Austin's my friend now. He's proven himself to be a really sweet, caring (not to mention incredibly good-looking) guy and I'm really happy we're friends now. We had to write a song for music class, and his performance was what won me over. It was magical.

I don't know how I really feel about him though. I mean I definitely like him, but I don't know if it's as a friend or potentially as something more… for example, last night we were writing a song together in the practice room in Sonic Boom, and for those few hours I felt like he would be amazing as my boyfriend, and then I kissed him on the cheek without even thinking about it. But at the same time, Austin can do so much better than me, and he has to know that. Pretty much every girl in school practically drools over him 24/7.

Also, Brooke is not happy about my friendship with Austin. Whenever I see her she always sends me the dirtiest looks imaginable. I get that she's pretty much obsessed with him but she doesn't need to take it out one me for being friends with him!

Oh, he's finally turned up at lunch so I gotta go. Write later!

Love, Ally x

"Hey!" I say with a smile looking up at Austin as he sits down next to me.

"Hi." He replies with a small smile, but something's definitely off about him.

"What took you so long?" I joke, but he looks mad and sad. "What's up? Is everything okay?" I place a hand on his shoulder and I can feel his whole body is really tense.

"Guess who turned up at my locker telling me to 'stay away from his girl'." He said in an irritated voice.

"He didn't!" Said Dez in a low voice, looking mad too. "Please tell me he didn't!" Austin just nodded his head. "That jerk!" Dez suddenly exploded. "I can't believe him!" He continued, and started rambling incoherently about how much he hated Alex, or something along those lines.

I noticed Austin still looked really mad and stressed. I knew that he may blow up at me, but I knew he needed someone to try and help him calm down.

"Are you okay, Austin?" I ask gently, looking from the side into his eyes. Those eyes which are usually so mesmerising and vibrant, but that are now just dark and clouded.

"Do I look like I'm okay?" He snapped back harshly. It hurt a little but I knew that he was just angry and trying to get it out of his system.

"Austin, calm down." I say gently and he closes his eyes tightly. "You know that you're a bigger man than Alex, and that whatever he says about you is nothing compared to what should be said about him, right?" I say. He nods tensely. "And that no matter, we know the truth about you and you've always got me, okay?"

He lets out a small smile at the part about always having me, which is a relief.

Austin and Dez calm down after a couple of minutes and we agree to not think about it and talk about something else, which we do happily for the rest of lunch break.

The next three periods pass by and it's time for music. Austin's in a much better mood now, which is good because I know how much Austin loves music and music class and I don't want him to be miserable through it.

The lesson itself is uneventful. Miss Kennedy told us we would be working together on a song – it was Austin and me as one group and the other three as the other group, and that worked just fine for me! She then said that all we had to do was write a song together and perform it at the end of the lesson.

Me and Austin just used 'Popular', the song we wrote last night and Austin performed it at the end of class – needless to say everyone loved it and we got an awesome grade for it.

Next thing I knew, the bell rang and it was the weekend…

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Austin's POV

I walked out of school with Ally. She didn't have to wait for Trish today so we just left straight away. It was officially the start of the weekend, and it was a gorgeous day out, which I intended to take full advantage of.

"So, Als, you wanna do something fun this evening?" I ask as we walk in the sun.

"Sorry, Austin, I have to work at Sonic Boom." She says back, disappointed.

"No worries, can I stop by the store later and visit you?" I ask.

"Of course!" She says with a giggle. "It's a lot more bearable when I have a friend there to talk to, even if they can only stay for a couple of minutes. Usually Trish stops by, but she can never stay long."

I nod and we keep walking. When we have to go our separate ways I give her a hug before walking down my road.

I get my homework done straight away, and I do it out in my garden in the sun with my headphones in. I'm done in record time, and it's a great feeling knowing that I've done my homework so the rest of my weekend is completely clear to do whatever I want to.

It's about five o'clock, and I decide to head to Sonic Boom for about seven. I pick up all my work stuff and walk back inside and take it up to my room, before going back downstairs to get a drink. As I walk into the kitchen I hear the front door open. "Austin, I'm home!" My dad called out through the house.

He was always home earlier on Fridays, as he didn't go to the store and instead went to his part-time job working at a bar. "In the kitchen, dad." I call back and he walks through.

"How was your day at school?" He asks as he walks to the fridge.

"It was okay, I guess." I reply. I decide not to tell him about Alex, or Ally for that matter. I doubt he really cares that much anyway, he just wants me to go to business school. "How was work?"

"Ugh, boring, I hate working at that bar." He moans. "Plus today I had this guy come in around lunch time and he got absolutely wasted." He says, rubbing his hands over his face.

"Oh really?" I say. "Do you know him?" I might be able to at least get a bit of gossip out of this.

"No, not really. I think he owns some store in the mall, though, which makes it even worse. He said he was just on his lunch break, but he was there for a good couple of hours, just having beer after beer after beer. We had to stop serving him eventually, we were worried he'd be completely gone if he took another sip."

"Wow, that's awful." I say. "I hope he didn't go back to work after that."

"Oh, but he did." My dad continues. "He kept saying 'I sober up really quickly, I'll be fine' whenever he ordered another drink. He was quite determined. I just feel bad for his customers who'd have had to be served by him after that."

"Yeah…" I agree. Part of me is slightly wondering if my parents have ever done something like that before going back to work… no, I doubt it. They're too 'professional' to do that. I think.

I spend an hour or so watching some crap show on TV that I have no interest in, before going upstairs to get ready to go out to Sonic Boom.

I fixed my hair into its perfectly messy state and sprayed some more cologne on, before grabbing my phone, keys and sunglasses and heading out the door. It's still a really nice day out, so I decide to walk to the mall for a change instead of driving.

I plug in my headphones again as I start to walk, and for a couple of minutes my walk is perfect. The sun is shining, it's warm but not unbearable, there's a cool breeze and the music is perfect.

All this is interrupted, however, when I walk past the park. Initially it's fine, there is the gentle sound of children squealing with joy and excitement as they play on the playground, but then who should come running up the path of the park to be next to me on the sidewalk but Brooke. Brooke. The girl who is seriously obsessed with me and has no shame in it.

"Oh hey, Austin, funny running into you here." She says before giggling in a way that is similar to Kimmy.

"Yeah, sure, whatever." I say dismissively as I slightly increase my walking speed, but of course she just speeds up too to keep up with me.

For a couple of minutes Brooke is silent, and I actually begin to relax again a little, but that is soon ruined when she reaches over and pulls out my headphones sharply before beginning to speak. So much for a relaxing walk.

"So, Austin, how about our date this weekend?" She says, batting her eyelashes and smiling, which just puts me off her more.

"We don't have a date this weekend, Brooke. Never have, never will." I reply, hoping against all hope that she'll just drop it. Oh who am I kidding? She'll never drop the subject, that's the one thing in life I'm pretty certain about.

She giggles again and I cringe. "Oh, Austin, you're soooo funny!" She says before giggling again. "That's why we're so perfect for each other." She says. I feel like vomiting.

I don't even bother to respond – I know that nothing I say will help, she's dead certain that we are soulmates or whatever and nothing's gonna stop that so why bother.

"So anyway, do you have any plans this weekend?" She asks.

"Yes." I just say bluntly in an attempt to shut the conversation down. That's a complete lie, I have absolutely no plans whatsoever this weekend, I was just hoping to spend it hanging out with Ally, but Brooke doesn't need to know that.

"Oh cool, you're always so active." She says. "What are you going to be doing? Anything exciting? Well, of course it will be, everything you do is exciting!"

"Just stuff, Brooke, you really don't need to know." I think the annoyance is starting to come through in my voice, and I honestly kind of hope it is so that she can pick up on it and realise that I just want her to leave me alone. Why is it so difficult for her to understand!?

"Ooh, mysterious, I like it!" Oh my God. I am about to lose it.

"Of course you do."

She giggles again, and she has the most annoying giggle I've ever heard. It's annoying and squeaky, like Kimmy's, whereas Ally's giggle is soft, gentle and just really cute. See, even Ally's giggle is perfect, and Brooke's is definitely far from it.

"So Austin, I never asked, where exactly are you going now?" It's true, she never did ask that, she just followed me like the stalker she is.

"The mall." Is all I say in response.

"Aww, how sweet, you're taking me shopping for our first date! That's so cute." She says and I am so close to just punching her in the face. But obviously I'd never do that… ever. No matter how incredibly tempting it is.

"Brooke for God's sake get it into your head! This is not a date and I will never go on a date with you, I'm just trying to go to the mall on my own so give it a rest!" I finally lose it and shout this at her. I don't care if it's mean anymore, I'm just completely fed up of her and her giggling.

"Ooh, feisty, that's so sexy Austy!" AAAAARGH!

"You're unbelievable." I mutter under my breath and start walking as fast as I can, but somehow she manages to keep up.

"So if you're not taking me on our date, why are you going to the mall?" She asks.

"It's none of your business," I reply. "but I'm going to see Ally."

Her eyes widen slightly and I can see her get a little annoyed just at the mention of Ally's name. "You've been spending quite a lot of time with Ally recently, huh?" She says through gritted teeth as we continue to walk.

"Yes. Yes I have. I really like her." I say, realising that this is a way to get her wound up and fed up and therefore get rid of her.

"Why? She's a dork, and she's not even that pretty." I hear her remark snidely.

"I don't think she's either of those things. To me, Ally Dawson is the kindest, sweetest, smartest, but above all most beautiful girl I know." I say confidently.

"Well, apart from me obviously." Brooke adds and I feel like laughing in her face but I know for some weird reason that will just encourage her.

"Wait, Brooke, where the hell are you going? You were just in the park until you started following me." I say.

"Oh I'll just come with you and say hi to Ally. We're like sisters." She lies really badly.

"Really? But you just said 'she's a dork and she's not even that pretty', yet she's 'like your sister'?"

"Yeah, she's the dorky, ugly sister but we're still real close." I pretend to go along with this even though it's so obviously not true. "So you're, no, we're meeting Ally in the mall?"

"No, Brooke, I am going to see Ally at work, and you are being an obsessive, creepy stalker and following me and I'm hoping that you'll just leave me and her alone." I deadpan.

She throws her head back and laughs obnoxiously. "Oh, Austin, you're so funny. Have I told you that before?"

"Only about a million times."

She laughs again. "There it is again! That sense of humour that I love about you so much." I just shake my head. I feel kinda sorry for her in a way. But only the tiniest bit, and it's completely gone again within half a second. "So Ally works at the mall?"

"Again, this really isn't your business, but if you must know she works at her dad's music store, Sonic Boom." For a split second I can see a hint of a mischievous, slightly evil glint in her eye, but it's gone again before I can properly tell what it is.

"Ally plays music?" Brooke says in a disgusted voice. "That's so lame."

"I love playing music too."

"Oh that's so cool! I love music, anyone who can play is amazing in my eyes." This is incredible.

Mercifully we've reached the mall at this point and I practically sprint to Sonic Boom, unable to handle another second alone with Brooke.

"Hey, Ally." I say as I burst through the doors.

. . . . .

Ally's POV

I say goodbye to Austin before continuing my walk to the mall. The whole Alex situation has really gotten to him more than he lets on, I think, but he seems to be blocking it all out of his mind for now, which is good.

I hated seeing him so distressed and angry earlier, I wanted nothing more than to just give him a big hug and stay like that forever, but obviously that would be a little weird in the middle of the school cafeteria at lunch.

I get to the mall about half an hour earlier than I usually do, and I don't feel like going in to Sonic Boom just yet, plus it's a beautiful day, so I sit on one of the benches in the sun for a bit.

When half an hour has passed I reluctantly stand up and walk across to the store.

There aren't any customers in the shop when I walk in, just my dad stood facing away from me behind the counter.

"Hey dad." I say like I always do and he turns to face me.

"Hi honey." He says, his voice not completely clear.

I walk over and hug him, again like a normally do, but this time I can smell the alcohol coming off him from about a foot away. I also notice him swaying a little, barely noticeable but still happening. "Uh… Dad, have you been drinking?" I ask nervously.

"I just had a glass or two at lunch time, not much." He says, slurring slightly on some words. This is not good.

"O-okay, why don't you just go home now and take a nap, okay? I can take over the store straight away." I say.

"If you're sure, dear, but I think I'm okay." This sentence is shorter but he slurs it more.

"No, dad, you need to go home." I say. "Did you drive here?" I ask and he nods. "Okay well you're certainly not driving home, I'll call mom to come and drive you home." I say pulling out my phone. He begins to protest but I just tell him not to.

About 20 minutes later my mom arrives and leads him away to his car to drive him home, and I breathe a sigh of relief… but I'm not really relieved at all, why was he drinking?

Within ten or so minutes the store starts to get busier again, and it's like that until about 6:50, when it begins to quieten down.

I'm hoping for Austin to walk through the door, I really need to relax a little right now and he always seems to manage to make me do that.

I decide that whilst it's quiet I might as well try and do some of my homework, since I had to take over the store straight away and didn't get a chance to do it then.

About ten minutes into my English essay I hear the best sound I've heard all day: "Hey, Ally."

I smile instantly and look up, but that smile soon disappears when I see Brooke walking in behind him. I shoot him a look asking what the hell Brooke is doing here and he mouths 'sorry' and gives me a look that I know means he'll explain later.

"Hi Austin." I reply. "Hi Brooke." I say a little quieter.

"Hello Ally!" Brooke says in a fake cheery voice. Everyone in the room knows she's not really happy to see me at all.

Austin walks over to me at the counter whilst Brooke walks around the store looking at everything. "Why is Brooke here?" I ask Austin in a loud whisper, annoyed.

"I'm sorry, Ally, I really don't want her here either. I was walking here and when I went past the park she suddenly appeared at my side and followed me here." He replies in the same whispered voice.

I'm annoyed and stressed and really just need a hug from Austin right now, but I know that with Brooke in the store that probably wouldn't be a good idea.

"Austin, what's this thing?" Brooke calls out, pointing to a violin. Wow, she really is thick.

"It's a violin, Brooke." Austin replies. She looks at him blankly. "It's an instrument." At this she smiles and nods, before continuing to walk around the store. "Hey, I'll be right back, just gotta run to the restroom, okay?" Austin says with a smile before walking out of the store.

Not a second after the door's closed, Brooke turns to me with a scowl on her face.

"Okay listen here, Dawson." She says with disgust, as if even saying my last name insults her. "I don't know what the hell you think you're doing, but back off Austin!"

"Brooke, what are you talking about? Austin's just my friend." I try to defend myself.

"Yes but it's so obvious that you're obsessed with him but that he has absolutely no interest in you! It's completely embarrassing even to watch!" She shrieks. Is she having a laugh? Has she seen the way she acts with Austin? I decide not to say this though.

"Look, Brooke, I have no interest in being with Austin that way."

"Well you had better not! Austin's mine, and I am not going to let anything, especially a pathetic little slut like you get in the way of it, you get that?" She hisses. "I said, you get that?" I just nod sarcastically. I'm not sacred of her at all. "Besides, be real Ally. I've told you this before, but you don't seem to get it, Austin would never like you like that. I mean please, he has taste!"

She is getting dangerously close to crossing the line, here.

"I mean look at you!" She continues. "You're a short, ugly, rat-haired dork and he's like a freaking God! He can have any girl in the school, and if there's one thing I know is that he's a lot more likely to choose a hot girl like me, or one of the cheerleaders, than a pathetic, miserable nobody who has worse dress sense than a homeless person and has deluded dreams of music when all you're ever gonna be is a sad loser that nobody likes!" She says, stepping closer to me with every word.

I lose it at this point. She's close enough for me to land a sharp, painful slap across her stupid face. I've never done anything like this before, and I instantly feel horrible for doing it.

She smirks evilly at me after a minute or so of silence as we both comprehend what just happened. "You're gonna regret that, Dawson, I'm gonna make sure of it! This is your last warning, stay away from my Austin!"

"JUST GET THE HELL OUT OF MY STORE!" I yell, having completely had enough. I don't think either of us were expecting that, though, as we both take a few steps back in shock.

"Actually it's your dad's store." Brooke says with a smirk. "I know these things." She says, slowly backing away towards the door.

"How do yo…" At that moment Austin walks back in.

"Austy!" Brooke says enthusiastically, wrapping her arms around him in a hug. "I have to go now, but thanks for a great date babe, I'll call you!" She says. And then she does it.

She turns and looks me straight in the eye, smirking. Then…

She kisses him.

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There you go, guys, chapter 11. I hope you enjoyed it!

Brooke is becoming an increasingly larger problem for both Austin and Ally, how will they deal with her and her threats? And what did she mean "you're gonna regret that, I'm gonna make sure of it"?

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Catch you later! :)