It was a good thing she was wearing rubber gloves, otherwise her fingers would be raw by now from all the scrubbing she's been doing the past couple of days. To keep her mind clear of any thoughts of Austin, Ally had thrown herself into cleaning the house from top to bottom and bottom to top. Neither crack nor crevice went without seeing a feather duster and disinfectant spray at least once. And while Ally knew all this cleaning was a little over compulsive, she didn't care. The house got clean and thoughts of Austin stayed at bay.

Coughing from the invasion of the strong cleaning chemicals, Ally took the rubber gloves off of her sweaty hands and scratched her itching scalp. Watching the dandruff fall like flurries of snow, the young woman scrunched her nose in disgust. Pulling the collar of her shirt up to her nose, Ally smelled the fabric and winced. While cleaning the house, she'd forgotten to care about her personal hygiene. No longer wanting to be a walking body of dirt and grime and having bigger career ambitions than being the poster child for Suave body wash and shampoo, Ally Decided the house could wait and dropped the rubber gloves and cleaning supplies on the counter in the kitchen. Immediately she ran up the stairs as fast her legs would take her. Upon reaching the master bedroom, she kicked off her slippers and stripped before pulling her hair out of the messy bun that held it. Stepping into the shower, Ally let the gentle spray cascade over her body.

The gentle spray of the shower was quite relaxing for the stressed young woman. Closing her eyes, Ally couldn't help but think back to the thrill she felt whenever she stepped onto stage to see the roaring crowd screaming her name.

"Ally! Ally! Ally!"

They screamed her name as loudly as fans screamed Austin's. But they didn't want Austin Moon now. They wanted her. Ally Moon. After all, she was just as talented as Austin was and now she was out of the shadows behind her husband and in the spot light. Nobody wanted Austin anymore. They wanted her and that was a good feeling to have. After years of putting Austin's sky rocketing career first, it was finally time for her to shine. No more half written songs or people only knowing her because of Austin.

Although her body was scrubbed clean, her hair smelling like strawberries, and her fingertips pruned from the water, Ally was finding herself so relaxed and not wanting to leave. Taking a deep breath, she opened her eyes and decided that now was a good time to get out. She's been in there quite a long time, thinking about Austin and her career and who knew how much longer the hot water would last? Cold showers were the least bit pleasant, even during the hottest Miami days. Turning off the shower, Ally was greeted by the sound of Trish's voice echoing throughout the house.

"Guess who's a bigger a pop star than her husband?"

She should really change the locks, Ally mused. These daily occurrences of Trish and/or Dez showing up randomly needed to stop. Especially when Austin got home. They didn't need their goofball friends interrupting the most important conversation they've ever had. Sighing, Ally dried her body off with a towel before wandering to the bedroom to dress.

She found Trish snuggled against the arm rest of the sofa in the living room almost fifteen minutes later. On her lap was her laptop and beside her rested a stack of magazines. Her best friend looked quite content as she surfed the web, absent mindedly drumming the stack of magazines beside her as she waited for the webpage to finish loading. Trish never stated why she was here when she sensed Ally's presence either. Instead, she picked her head up and gazed around the room. Finally, her dark brown eyes rested on Ally who was dressed in a pair of shorts and a cute tank top. Once again, her damp hair was pulled back into a ponytail as she took a seat next to Trish.

"I've never seen this place so clean," the Latina commented with a knowing look in Ally's direction. It had never been a secret that Ally only compulsively cleaned like this when she had a lot on her mind.

Rolling her eyes, Ally picked up a magazine from the stack sitting between her and Trish. "It's been empty for three months," Ally replied. "It needed a good cleaning."

"You realize that when Austin gets home in three days, it's not going to be clean anymore."

Ally rolled her eyes. Of course it wasn't going to be clean once Austin returned home. The man was a slob and still shared month old sandwiches with Dez. She's probably lucky that she hasn't of had to take either one of them to the emergency room for food poisoning yet. Gazing at the magazine cover in her head, but her brain not quite able to register the contents yet, Ally commented:

"Dez isn't a slob."

Trish rolled and pointedly looked at Ally. "That's because he still lives with his parents." Chuckling, Ally nodded in agreement. "Austin on the other hand went straight from having his mom take of care him to a wife. He never learned how to grow up." It was true, the man was in his mid-twenties and he still acted like a child most of the time, especially when Dez was around. The men were goofballs. And as much as Austin's childlike behavior annoyed her, Ally couldn't help but smile at the thought of Austin's crazy antics. It was cute. He was cute.

After punching a few keys on her laptop, Trish set the device in Ally's lap, claiming that she had to see the screen. Rolling her eyes at Trish's exuberance, Ally gazed down at the screen before her and saw that it was open to the official Ally Moon fan site. As always, butterflies danced around Ally's stomach as she read through the reviews. It was always assuring when good reviews are received. Opting to bite her nails instead of her hair, Ally scrolled down the webpage to look at all the new posts. Slowly scrolling, her smile grew bigger at every new sentence she read.

"Oh my God!" she squealed in delight.

"What?" Trish asked, equally excited.

Excitedly, Ally turned the laptop so Trish could see the screen too. Pointing to one certain review in particular, Ally squealed again. "Austin Moon has some serious competition in the form of his wife! Seeing Ally's performance in Los Angeles was such a positive and heartwarming experience! She is such a talented singer and songwriter. If anyone deserves the titles of Pop Princess or the best of this generation, it's her!" Gushing, Ally repeated the review word for word.

Trish pointed at another review farther down the screen. "Look at this one!" She exclaimed, excitedly.

Ally squealed reading the anonymous post. "The world may love Austin Moon, but they love Ally more!"

Excitedly, going through review after review, Ally found that she couldn't contain her excitement anymore. Jumping to her feet, she ran to the kitchen and grabbed the phone off the hook. There was no way she could keep this to herself. She wanted to stand on a mountain top and shout so the world could hear how awesome she was. And maybe that thought wasn't so humble, but she didn't care! They loved her and they wanted more! It was great to have Trish around to bask in the glory with, but Trish didn't understand how she felt. Actually, there was one person she knew that understood how she felt at this very moment. Snuggling back into the sofa, Ally quickly dialed the number from heart.

xXx

"Ello?" Austin said, leaving off the H, into the phone, not bothering to glance at the caller I.D. While it's been a few days since his last fight with Ally, Austin found that he had only gotten a couple hours of sleep at most. The beautiful singer and songwriter danced in his head as thoughts of fighting with her kept rushing back, keeping his anger too near, forcing him to lie awake every night. Yet, for his string of last performances over on this continent he found himself wired and wide awake. Caffeine was his new best friend.

Austin didn't even need to ask the identity of the caller. He knew the sweet, chipper voice on the other end well. It was Ally. By the tone of her voice, she must have forgotten about their last fight. If it was still at the forefront of her mind, she wouldn't be calling him. Figuring that they still had a chance to make things right, Austin let out a deep breath in relief.

"Hi Als," He greeted her, using the nickname he had given her long ago.

Ally continued her rant, barely letting him get a word in edgewise. Being a gentleman like his mother tried to raise him to be, Austin listened intently, never interrupting her. He was glad to know that her tour had gone well, earning literally thousands of rave reviews from her fans and critics alike. After all, she deserved all the recognition she could get. She didn't get far as enough recognition as she deserved for writing his songs, so the public recognizing her splendid work was widely accepted and welcome.

However, as her rant continued, Austin's emotions changed from gladness and elation for his wife to that of concern. Ally had never spoken like she was better than him or anybody else before. Well, except while they were guest judges for that widely popular reality show for Moon Week. Forgetting the microphones were on, they accidentally insulted the other judges. But in their defense, the other judges were more off their rockers than a Vietnam War veteran with PTSD. And while she was known to get a little competiveness at times, she was generally the most humbled person he knew. She hardly ever talked about herself either, always caring more about what the other person had to say in a conversation. But now, she talked on and on about herself. If it wasn't for his breathing and his occasional "yeah" or "uh huh" to let her know he was listening, she probably would have forgotten that he was even there listening to her. Reading a few of the most recent interviews she'd given and seeing the photos taken of her, Austin knew that she wasn't camera shy at all. She was comfortable with all of the attention she was receiving and that scared him. Lately, it was as if he didn't even know his wife.

Whatever happened to the shy and maybe a little insecure Ally Dawson he had met and fallen in love with ten years ago? She was as sweet as sugar and as innocent as a rose. She could chew her hair in public and dance ridiculously because she didn't seem to care what other's thought of her. Maybe, except when she was trying to impress a cute boy. Even when people had made fun of her dancing, openly criticizing her, she didn't care. Instead of taking the criticism to heart, she chose to do her own thing. Hence the birth of a widely popular music video to an original song titled, The Ally Way. It was almost as if she had been content to be invisible back then, working behind the stage. She was completely content to let him have the spotlight and didn't complain if she wasn't recognized for writing all of his songs. Even though he was good at giving credit to where credit was due. Even after she had gotten over her overwhelming, crippling stage fright, she was content to let him have the spotlight. Austin Moon had always strived on the opinions of others and probably always would, while Ally Dawson had always performed because of her love of music, not to please the crowd. But, she was no longer Ally Dawson. She had dropped the Dawson name and took on the Moon name upon marrying him, claiming that she was his completely and always would be. Taking his name was one of her many ways of showing him how much she loved him. Although she had only changed her name, sometimes it felt like upon abandoning her father's name, she was also abandoning the loveable, dorky little girl she had once been. Not that that mattered to Austin. He loved the beautiful, confident, young woman that that shy, dorky, and adorable girl had grown into.

Yes, he still loved Ally. He always would. While at the time the lyrics were not about them, Timeless summed it up well. They were timeless and his love for her would never change.

Taking a deep breath, Austin prepared himself to do what he knew had to be done. "Ally," he said her name calmly and quietly. Upon hearing his voice, she immediately stopped gushing about her fans and the reviews they had given her to listen to what he had to say. At least he didn't have to fight for her attention. He took another deep breath before he continued as he was unsure of how to say what he needed to. Summoning all of the tact that he didn't always possess, Austin continued. "It's like you're letting all this fame get to your head and I don't like it."

xXx

What did he know about that anyways? How many times had he let his popularity increase his ego to the point that she barely recognized his caring and loveable personality? At times it felt like she was always deflating his ego just a bit so that he wouldn't change for the worse. Now, he was telling her that he didn't like that people loved her? For once, they loved her. They were screaming her name just like she had always hoped they would.

"You're just mad that people like me more than they like you!" She snapped into the phone. Furious that he would accuse her of being self-absorbed and vain, Ally felt she had nothing more to say to him. And definitely not wanting to hear any of his poor excuses, she took the phone away from her ear, abruptly ending the call. Screaming in frustration, she tossed the phone into the cushions of the sofa. Tears streaming down her face, Ally stomped out of the room, finding her forgotten cleaning supplies from earlier. First, Ally filled the sink with hot water and dish soap before pulling out every single dish from the cupboards.

Worried about her best friend, Trish followed Ally to the kitchen, watching the distressed woman vigorously scrub the clean dishes so they shone. Stepping beside Ally, Trish laid a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Just say the word and he's dead," she joked, hoping to lighten Ally's gloomy mood. However, Ally didn't say anything reply. She just kept scrubbing away until the dishes shone so they could be used as a mirror. Occasionally, her tears would become too great to see through, and Ally would use the back of her hand to wipe them away before continuing on with her mundane task. Grabbing the clean plate from Ally's grasp, Trish held it up, using it as a mirror as she fluffed the back of her hair. "Wow," she commented with an amused smile, hoping to pull Ally out of her mood. "These dishes look to good to eat off of! Seriously Ally, this is plate makes a better mirror than the one hanging in my bedroom!" Angrily, Ally dropped her hands into the hot soapy water, causing water to splash everywhere. Feeling droplets of water soak through her clothing, Trish leaped back in surprise. "Whoa there, Ally!" she exclaimed. "I'm already clean."

Finding that she couldn't see through the millions of blinding tears, Ally dried her right hand on her pants before dragging it across her face to wipe the intruding tears away. Able to see again, her hands went back to the water to continue to wash the dishes. New tears sprung to the surface and streamed down her face like rain on a car window. The more she thought about Austin and his insulting words, the more Ally scrubbed the dishes to perfection. Normally, cleaning helped keep any unwanted thoughts at bay. Now, it did no such thing.

Her hands were soaked and dripping as was the plate in her grasp, but she didn't think her fingers had completely turned to butter. Before she could set the plate into the rinsing water, the plate fell from her butter fingers and smashed into dozens of sharp pieces on the linoleum. Slamming the dishrag into the water so that it splashed even more soapy water around the area, Ally dropped to her knees to pick the pieces up. Deciding that it was probably best to help her upset friend out, Trish left to grab the broom to clean up the mess, leaving a sobbing Ally to herself. Pulling the garbage can out from underneath the sink, one by one, Ally began to clean the mess up. Cutting the soft flesh of her palm on a sharp piece of the broken glass, Ally cried out in pain as she fell backwards onto her butt, repositioning herself so that her knees came up to her chin. The blood seemed to just ooze from the wound, falling into a puddle on the flooring. Knowing she had to take care of the wound and stop the bleeding, but not wanting to trail more blood across the floor, Ally opted to stay where she was. Besides, she was too upset right now to care. More sobs racked her body, as she rested her head back on the cupboards behind her.

Coming back into the kitchen, Trish saw that her friend was an absolute mess. And knowing that jokes wouldn't cheer Ally up, Trish for once kept her mouth shut. Leaning the broom and dust pan against the counter, Trish ripped some paper towel off of the roll and knelt down beside her friend. "Oh Ally," she sighed, handing the paper towel to the crying woman. Grateful, Ally took the offered towel and wadded it up before pressing it to her wound to stop the bleeding. With Ally holding the now bloody towel to her wound, Trish helped her to her feet. Slowly, Ally retreated from the kitchen and upstairs to the bathroom to clean and bandage the wound. Once Ally's slumped body was out of sight, Trish cleaned up the rest of the glass and the pool of blood for her friend.

Trish didn't know when or how, but this whole mess with Austin had to end. She couldn't stand seeing her best friend hurting so much.

xXx

Hearing nothing but dead silence, Austin pulled the phone away from his ear and glanced at the screen. She had hung up on him. Groaning from his own stupidity, Austin dropped the phone, not caring where it landed so he could cover his face with his hands. What was he going to do now if she wouldn't even listen to what he had to say? Rubbing his hands over his face, Austin hoped the action would make him feel better. But it didn't. Sighing, he couldn't help but think back on their relationship. It had always been so easy. Even though Ally may have hated him at first for stealing her song, it hadn't taken him long to earn her forgiveness and her trust. As friends they hardly ever fought. The biggest arguments they'd ever gotten in then was him pressuring her to write him another song so people would stop mistaking him for the dog food guy. Very rarely had they disagreed on lyrics for a song since Ally knew him and what he liked. Things had been difficult the first time they tried dating as they were too afraid to hurt each other's feelings. But stepping back from being lovers to best friends, they were able to get to know each other better and let their feelings mature. When they tried dating again, things were still a little difficult at times, but easier. Through the whirlwind courtship and engagement things had mostly been positive with only a few bumps along the road. Even at the beginning of their marriage, everything was perfect. It was like those cliché fairytale endings, and they lived happily ever after. That's how Austin felt after he married Ally. However, the happily ever after obviously wasn't meant to last forever. But where had things started to go so wrong between them and why hadn't they of bothered to notice their derailing relationship sooner?

Dez wasn't stupid. He knew when fighting with Ally was slowly tearing Austin apart and eating away at his soul. While his energetic performances gave him an unmeasurable high that no drug could give him, off stage, Austin was absolutely miserable from fighting with Ally. Wishing that everything would work out in Austin's favor, Dez wanted nothing more than to hug his best friend and tell him that everything would be alright. Maybe that sounded a little girlie and much like a chick flick moment, but he didn't care. Austin needed him. Fighting with Ally wasn't only taking its toll on Austin, it was taking a toll on those close to the couple as well. All Dez knew was that the intense fighting needed to stop.

"Come on," he said, grabbing Austin's wrist, trying to pull him outside the tour bus. "I'm sure they've got an IHOP or someplace that sells pancakes around here," he commented.

Gloomily, Austin pulled his wrist out of Dez's grip and walked away. "I don't want any," he mumbled.

It was rare that Austin ever turned down pancakes. Sighing, Dez's shoulders slumped as he watched the depressed form of his retreating friend. He didn't know what, but something had to change between him and Ally. And while Austin didn't want to divorce Ally, maybe divorce was the best thing for them?