Yeah, when my world is falling apart
When there's no light to break up the dark
That's when I, I, I look at you

-Miley Cyrus, When I Look At You.

October 29: 2016: 10:13 pm: Vancouver

"Two encores? Austin, I don't know what's going on with you tonight, but you're completely kicking ass! Now, get out there," Ally gushed, taking the now soaking towel from the talented performer and pushing him back towards the stage. Discarding the towel in a bin marked, LAUNDRY, Ally went to take her spot on the side of the stage so she can watch the end of the show.

"Thank you so very much, Vancouver! Now, I'm going to play a song I haven't performed live before, a cover of a song I love a lot. It's by a fellow Canadian-" at this, the crowd cheered loudly and Austin laughed, "-that I admire in for his passionate lyrics. This is 'Close.'" Austin sat there on his stool, centre stage with the spotlight on him, and Ally felt her heart rate pick up.

Ally's dad loved country music and had it playing in their home all the time. Spending a lot of time together had exposed Austin to Ally's dad's preference of music, and he had grown to love a lot of what he heard. Aaron Lines was one of the few artists Ally could stand, and this song was one of her favourites. But she'd never told Austin that before.

Strumming his acoustic guitar, the crowd was so silent, you could hear a pin drop. When Austin started singing, his voice adopted a deep rough tone that Ally wasn't used to. But it did nothing to slow her heart beating rapidly in her chest.

Throughout the entire song, Austin did not look into the crowd at all. And there was a faint red tinge to his cheeks that Ally was not used to. She reminded herself to ask him about it later, but her brain was barely working- Austin was coming to the end of the song, and the use of the word 'Darlin' had always made Ally breathless, but this was quite different. Without realizing it, Ally reached out and grabbed a hold of the wall. She felt her head go light and she needed to steady herself.

"Ally?" Austin's voice seemed far away, and she looked out for him. She couldn't see much though, since everything was going dark. "Ally?" came his voice again, much closer this time. She could feel his arm around her shoulder, and then felt herself being swept up into strong arms, and carried away.

When she came to, Ally was laying on the couch in Austin's hotel room.

"How did I get here?" she asked, sitting up and smoothing out her skirt. Austin was wearing dark sweats and a white tee, obviously getting ready for bed. He looked worried and exhausted, but he smiled at her warmly.

"I carried you out to the vehicle after dropping off the mics and thanking the crowd. And I drove us here. Come check out the view!" Austin answered, standing in front of the full window in the hotel room. She got up on unsteady legs, but walked strongly over to him and stood beside him and looked down at the most gorgeous scene she'd ever witnessed.

"It's beautiful!" she gasped, pressing a hand against the cold pane of glass. Below them was rolling mountains, snow capped and sprinkled with trees. The sky above them was full of stars. Ally loved it.

"I requested a hotel with a nice view, and they sent me out of the city, but it was well worth it. Oh! There are pajamas for you, in the corner on the chair, by the way." Austin turned towards her. But she could not tear her eyes away from the scene before her. He grabbed her hand and led her over to the warmest looking pajamas she had ever seen.

"Where are these from?" Ally asked, picking them up and heading for the bathroom, finally out of the trance of the view.

"The hotel giftshop. You are staying with Trish and Dez in a hotel in Vancouver, so I didn't get a chance to grab your stuff. I hope that's fine with you," Austin said, rubbing the back of his neck uncomfortably.

Suddenly, before Ally could respond, there was a loud and fast knock at the door. Ally headed into the washroom to change, allowing Austin to answer it.

"Is Ally here?" Trish's voice travelled through the door and Ally giggled to herself.

"I'm in here, Trish. I'm just slipping into a pair of pajamas, I'll be out in a minute," Ally responded, buttoning the front of the shirt and stepping into the pants. They were so soft against her skin, in a deep purple colour she adored. She opened the door and stepped into the hotel room.

"What are you guys doing here?" Dez asked, an eyebrow raised and a smirk on his face. Ally rolled her eyes.

"I don't exactly know what happened, but when I came offstage, Ally was gripping the wall like it was keeping her world together. And she was unresponsive. So, I brought her here," Austin shrugged, as if it was no big deal. But when his eyes flicked to hers, they held worry. She smiled, trying to reassure him, but the worry didn't fade.

"What are you two doing here?" asked Ally, going over to sit next to Dez on the couch. There was a cup of hot chocolate in front of her and she reached for it.

"We came to discuss something with you two," Trish answered, sitting down on the floor, against the wall. There was a perfectly fine chair in front of the couch, but she motioned for Austin to sit in it. Austin sat next to her on the floor instead.

"Is it about the album? Because Ally and I decided to just stop trying to write for a month, and we're only a couple of weeks in-" Austin started, but Trish cut him off.

"That's not what this is about-"

"Is it about the book?" Ally asked, sipping the hot chocolate slowly. It was, well, hot.

"No, it's-"

"Then it's something about the tour. Did a date get changed? Did we get booted from New Years Eve-" Austin started in, beginning to look panicked.

"IT'S NOT ABOUT YOU TWO!" Dez shouted, not angrily but frustrated enough to shut them up. "Sorry, but it's not about Austin and Ally- the music or the friendship. It's about us," Dez shrugged, suddenly very interested in a loose hem on his pant leg.

"Who do you mean by 'us'?" Austin asked, looking over to Ally, confused. Ally was trying to hide a smirk, but Austin had no idea what was going on.

"Dez and I," Trish said simply. Silence fell in the room, and then suddenly, Austin burst into laughter.

"Dez and you? As in, you're dating?" he got in, in between breaths of laughter. When he realized that no one else was laughing, he stopped suddenly. "What? No one else finds that remotely funny? Not even a little bit?" He looked around to the three most important people in his life, and sighed a breath of relief when he saw Trish crack a little bit.

"Yeah, I thought it was bizarre as well, when this first started," she shrugged. Dez smiled over to her, and she smiled right back. Austin suddenly became very aware of some similar looks he'd noticed before, but hadn't put two and two together until I was spelled out for him.

"When did this first start?" Austin asked, getting up and switching spots with Dez so that the two lovebirds could lean on one another against the wall.

"About the same time tour started," Dez said, his mind obviously working to try to figure out the exact moment. But he came up foggy. "Most of our early moments were drunken," he mumbled, a little sheepishly.

Austin and Ally laughed, because they could recall, almost every single time the gang went out for drinks, Dez and Trish getting a little too cozy than they'd have been if they had been sober.

"During the tour, things have become pretty serious though," Trish continued. "We decided to tell you about it because of the seriousness of our relationship."

Ally could feel Austin stiffen up where he now sat next to her, and put a hand on his arm to relax him. She smiled when he instantly sank back into the cushions.

"What makes you think we wouldn't be okay with this?" he asked, a little saddened by the thought.

"We never thought you'd have a problem. But, we didn't want to drag you two into something even we weren't sure of," Dez said, smiling reassurances at his friend.

"Especially since you two have been working so hard on the tour and the new album. And, Ally has been having those personal issues with dumbass Jim-"

"Hey!" Ally said, but she laughed.

"Anyways, we didn't want to burden you unless it was something real," at this, Trish laced her fingers in Dez's. "And this is something real," she smiled. Ally automatically smiled with her, because she'd never seen her friend so pleased about something before. "Sorry about the comment," Trish mouthed, but Ally shrugged.

"Jim and I are done now," she said, and the three noticed the sadness in her voice.

"What do you mean?" Trish asked, getting up and kneeling in front of her.

"I told him I was done because I needed to figure things out about myself before I continue on with him. But, it's okay. I feel more free now!" she said, cracking a broken smile. But Trish saw that her friend was okay- no tears!

"Okay, good! Then we need to celebrate," Trish said, clapping her hands.

"I'm on it!" Austin said, getting up and heading to the phone. Ally watched him pick it up and order a couple bottles of champagne and a fruit platter. Then he laughed, cancelled the order, and changed it to some beers and burgers. Whilst talking to the person at the other end of the line, Austin looked up at her, and her heartbeat raced once more.

a/n: This is short, but I felt it didn't need to be longer. Also, thanks again for all those who review, who I can't reply back to. And, I don't own Austin and Ally.

-Kali xo.