Austin's POV
After much deliberation and careful thought, I have come to the decision to tell Abbie the truth. I think she deserves to know and I'm not sure what else to do. I've already started on a chain of lies but I know that will go down terribly in the media. Trish and I talked this morning in depth about our course of action and once we did, I called Ally and talked to her. She told me to not worry about her and Bryn. They knew how to fend for themselves and wouldn't worry about it. After all, I wasn't telling the world, just Abbie and it might get out through her, but I had a sliver of hope it wouldn't. I couldn't really say anything though since I told Bryn she could tell anyone she wanted to whenever.
I found Abbie reading on the bed in the hotel room and I settled my nerves.
"Hey Abbie, can we talk?" I ask, sitting on the edge bed. She puts her book aside and looks up at me expectantly.
"I might not have been completely honest with you this past weekend," I confess and she raises her eyebrows.
"Last week I ran into Ally and it wasn't because of Trish. She was working at a restaurant I went to and we met accidentally. The thing is, that wasn't the first time we met. We were best friends when we were teenagers and eventually dated and had plans to get married." I pick at the bedspread, not wanting to meet her eyes and see the heartbreak but I will myself to. But the funny thing was, she didn't look surprised or upset.
"What?" I ask, confused.
"I already knew that," she says simply and I look at her, more confused than ever. This wasn't how this was supposed to go.
She continues, "I know about everything. And that includes your daughter." She doesn't speak with contempt, just in a matter-of-fact way.
"How?"
"I've known about how you dated Ally ever since I met you on set the first time. I called her this morning after you came up with your oh-so-believable story about how you met. She told me the entire story, from start to finish. So next time, don't lie because people always know more than they are willing to let on. But really, great try at a back story," She explains and flashes a teasing smile.
And that's when I realize how good of a person Abbie really is, she's not upset, rather wanting me to be with Ally.
"You're okay with this? The fact that I lied to you and I have a family?"
"Austin, I love you and that means I want to see you be happy with a person that makes you happy. Maybe I don't come off as the brightest bulb in the chandelier, but I know better than to hold you back from someone you truly care about for my own selfish purposes. I could tell you weren't fully in love with me but I tried to push it aside. Now I know I could never be with someone who feels that way. I don't mean that in a wa"
"You deserve better," I say.
"Yes, yes I do," She says with a laugh and then slaps me lightly on the arm. I make a face and throw a pillow at her. She catches it and tosses it back to me.
"Friends?"
"Friends."
"I'm going to go back home tonight to catch up on some work," Abbie says during dinner.
"You sure?"
"Yeah, it's just a day earlier. Besides, I'm not a big fan of hotel beds. Which is kind of hard since I'm always staying in one."
I nod in agreement. "When's your flight?"
"8. So I should get in about 10 their time." I check my watch, it was a little after 6.
"When are you leaving for the airport? I'll drive you."
"6:30? That should give me enough time. I've already packed."
"I want you to know that I;m not going to tell anybody if you don't want me to," Abbie says once we are in the car. "I'll just say we broke up over differences but we're remaining friends; didn't leave things on a sour note." I nod in agreement.
"Thank you for being so cool about this."
"Oh, trust me, there are plenty of guys who are dying to be with me. Your doing me a favor really, let me get with the hot guys instead of the sub par ones," She says giving me a pointed once over. I just roll my eyes and laugh.
"My six pack is offended," I inform her.
"Oh please, don't be so cocky."
We've never spoken so lightly about each other, in a bantering way like we are right now and I can tell we are better suited as friends. I can tell she feels the same way.
Before walking through security, she leans up and gives me a hug. "Call me if you need help with something, like winning Ally back," she says and then lightly kisses my cheek.
"Bye, Austin."
"Bye, Abbie."
And with that, she disappears into the sea of people. I turn around and head out of the airport, signing a few autographs on the way. Back in the car, I reflect on how today went a lot better than expected. I have one less obstacle and a great new friend. I swing into traffic and head to Ally's house, needing to talk to Trish.
I pull into Ally's driveway and see a new car parked there, one I assume is Liz's. I get out and knock on the front door, waiting for someone to answer.
"I got it," Bryn yells from inside. Breathless, she opens the door.
"Did you just run down the stairs? Because you know your mom doesn't appreciate that," I scold her teasingly.
She scowls at me and walks out onto the porch, shutting the door behind her. I raise my eyebrows.
"Mom's not here," she says.
"No, really?" I ask sarcastically, causing her to deepen her scowl.
"Then why are you here?"
"I need to talk to Trish."
"Well she's upstairs. But my friends are here; we're working on a project. Do you want me to get her?"
"Did you tell your friends about me?" I ignore her question
"Penton knows, but that was a week ago and he hasn't told anyone else yet. I just needed to talk to someone and he seemed like the best person."
"Ah, so the boyfriend knows?" I get shoved lightly.
"He is not my boyfriend!" She says exasperatedly.
"Who's not your boyfriend?" A dirty blonde says, opening the front door and then stopping when he sees me. "Oh. I didn't realize - I - um, well, Bryn, there's brownies inside. Mr. Moon," he says politely and turns around to go back inside.
"Pen, wait," Aubryn says and he turns around. "Austin, this Penton, Pen, this is Austin Moon," She introduces us and I shake his hand.
"So this is the boyfriend," I mouth at her and she sticks her tongue out at me.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Moon, Bryn's told me a little about you and of course Rylie Cate has talked my ear off about you since I met her," He says.
"Well Bryn's told me a little about you too," I tell him and his eyebrows shoot up.
"She has?"
"Oh yes, she has." I see Bryn looking at me very carefully trying to see where I am going with this. "Like how much of an athlete you are, with soccer and the other sports and how you came from Atlanta, it's a scary place isn't it?"
"Only in certain parts," He says. I see Bryn relax and I know it's time to embarrass her.
"She's also told me about your, shall I say for lack of a better term, affectionate relationship?" I wiggle my eyebrows suggestively and he turns a bright shade of red.
"Austin!" Bryn screams. "I think we're done here. I'll go get Trish. I'm really sorry Pen, we're still working on teaching him how to keep his mouth shut," She says looking at me pointedly and narrowing her eyes at me. Penton just nods.
"No, I think we're just getting started," I answer.
"Actually, I think that's a great idea. Have you met your biggest fan? And better question, do you value your hearing? Because you're about to lose it. Come with me to meet Rylie Cate Anderson," She says brightly and I see Penton laughing quietly. "Follow me."
She takes my hand and pulls me inside, Penton following behind is.
"Hey Ry?" Bryn calls out.
"Yeah?" I hear a reply from upstairs.
"Aubryn Harmony Dawson, what have your mother and I both told you about yelling inside? Because - Oh, Austin! What are you doing here?" Liz turns the corner, chastising Bryn. Before Bryn, can answer, another girl, most likely Rylie Cate, comes down the stairs.
"What do you want, Bryn? I've answered you like three times! OH MY GOD! IT'S AUSTIN MOON! YOU'RE AUSTIN MOON! BRYN, IT'S AUSTIN MOON. HUNTER, COME DOWN HERE AND SEE AUSTIN!" Bryn was right, I don't think I can hear anymore. But I laugh and hug her when she comes shooting over to me.
Another boy, Hunter, I'm assuming comes down the stairs. "God Rylie, calm down," He says tiredly and I see Penton and Bryn exchange worried glances although I'm not sure why.
Bryn walks over to me and Rylie Cate and pries her off me. Rylie Cate starts hyperventilating and asking a bunch of questions without taking a breath.
"Why is there so much yelling?" Trish yells annoyed from upstairs and I see the three others look completely lost. I guess they didn't know that Trish was here.
"Hey, Trish," I call and I get a grumpy reply. I roll my eyes and start upstairs to calm her down and bring her downstairs. "Be careful, there's a girl downstairs that makes really loud noises when excited," I joke.
"You think I didn't hear?" She says seriously.
"Well someone just woke up," I answered annoyed.
"Sorry." And I nod in acceptance.
Rylie Cate starts squealing again and I see Trish groan. I give her a light shove. "Behave." She makes a face at me but I don't back down.
Trish starts talking to her and Bryn pulls me aside.
"Can I tell them?"
"About?"
"You? About how you're my dad?"
"If you want another screaming fest to ensue, be my guest."
She laughs. "You're right."
"Can I quote you on that?"
"No."
"But really though, tell them if you think it's right." I tell her, unsure if I want her to or not.
"I guess I'll wait. Since she'll ask, I'll just tell Ry you were looking for Trish who's friends with my mother. Done. No more details necessary."
I nod approvingly. "You're better at making up back stories than I am."
"What was that?"
"I'll explain later. Maybe."
"Maybe?" She asks.
I nod. With a shrug, she turns her attention back to Rylie and Trish and I took a deep breath, unsure of what to do. Penton walks up to me.
"You know, sir? I would never date your daughter without consent and I know it's still early to date her, we're only in eighth grade. But if we still have feelings for each other, I would like to ask her out in high school."
My daughter.
I laugh at him, remembering when I was in his same position. "That's very thoughtful of you Penton. But don't feel the need to be all formal with me. And know I was only teasing you out on the porch."
He grins. "Just southern hospitality, Mr. Moon. It's how I was raised."
I give him a slap on the back, "You're going to go places, kid."
"Thank you."
"You're welcome. And yes, you may date Aubryn when you two deem the time is correct." Did I just play the role of dad? It leaves me a little confused, but I still feel good about having a new role.
"Thank you, sir."
"At least drop the 'sir'," I tell him.
"Yes sir. I mean-"
I laugh again. "It's fine." He's a good kid.
After her friends leave, Bryn goes upstairs and I spend the time talking to Trish and filling her in on all that happened with Abbie. Liz sits quietly off to the side, adding in different points every now and then. Eventually we get off topic and start talking about anything and everything and pretty soon, Liz is entertaining us with a hilarious Ally story. Right in the middle, Ally herself walks in and she immediately hits Liz upside the head with a packet of papers in her hand.
"What are those?" I ask.
"I'll tell you in the morning. It's been a long day, I think I'm going to bed. Feel free to crash on the couch, everything you used Friday night is in the closet right there. Liz, I'll talk to you tomorrow, thank you for keeping an eye on the four; you never know what they'll do when they're together." Liz nods and gathers her stuff together and gives Ally a hug before leaving.
Trish and Ally go upstairs and I make a bed on the couch.
Ally's POV
Tuesday morning I wake up and go downstairs, starting breakfast for Aubryn. Austin is still asleep on the couch and he looks peaceful, something I haven't seen in a long time. Ever since I saw him at Five, he's been upset about one thing or another and I feel bad that I'm the main cause for that. When I read the headlines about Austin and I on Saturday morning, I wasn't surprised necessarily, more upset that the tabloids had to take that and twist it into something it wasn't. But that's their job and they do it well.
I go upstairs to wake up Aubryn, cinnamon rolls waiting to eaten downstairs. Pretty soon, she's out the door and I'm still the only one awake. I go to my room to change into a pair of jeans and a grey t shirt. I pull my hair into a pnytail and put my contacts in, not bothering with makeup. I can't do too much cleaning since I have a sleeping person on both floors of my house so I settle to going through the papers I was given last night.
I make myself another cup of tea and grab the papers, a pen, and my laptop and sit in my normal oversized chair in the living room, careful not to wake Austin. The papers are for a substitute position at Bryn's old elementary school. The music teacher there, was going on maternity leave until the end of the school year and I was offered the position. I was told by the principal that it was a sort of trial run since the teacher was planning on moving to Ohio to be closer to her family after this school year was finished. It was a perfect opportunity for me and I already talked to Jonathan about it. He said he was more than willing to give me my job back if things fell through.
I read through everything, about school rules and schedules, fundraising and parent organizations, and basically everything else I had read when Bryn went there but I read through it all anyway.
Halfway through, I get a phone call from Liz.
"You didn't call me!" She accuses.
"I'm sorry! I got caught up."
"Well tell me about the papers."
"Oh they're from the school," I start and fill her in. We hang up an hour later, talking about an assortment of events.
I finish the papers and Austin woke up a little while later. After he got food and coffee, joined me in the living room again and we started talking. We talked about Abbie and how I talked to her (I had to; I felt terrible lying to her. She didn't deserve it). We talked about how cool she was with it which was a surprise, I expected a psycho reaction (reading enough of that kind of stuff can get it stuck in your head). He mentioned how he met Bryn's friends last night and their reactions. Then he brought up the topic of the papers and I explained. He congratulated me and pulled me into a hug where we stayed maybe a few seconds too long (not that I'm complaining; it was nice to feel his arms around me and feel safe again).
Trish woke up several hours later and we talked until I realized I still hadn't clean the house. I left them to talk and I started clean. My regular afternoon routine settled into place, just with two more people added in: Liz came and I left, I got to Five and started setting up for the night and the night got underway.
After we closed, Britt pulled me aside to talk to me.
"I went to the doctors the other day," She said.
"Yeah?"
"The baby's fine. It's 10 weeks old."
"That's great."
"Yeah." She said, not sounding like she believed it.
"What's wrong?"
"I haven't told anyone except Hunter and it killed him. He hasn't even made eye contact with me since I told him and he barely talks to anyone. I didn't want to upset him but I don't know what to do."
"Hey, it's okay. He'll come around to it. Just give him some time. He doesn't know what to do." I hadn't seen Hunter that much since Britt told me but I do remember Bryn asking about his behavior.
"If he tells Aubryn anything, will you let me know?"
"Of course. Go on home and get some rest. I'll see you tomorrow."
"Thanks, Ally."
"Anytime, Britt."
I finish cleaning up and head home where I find Austin, Trish, and Liz looking at me expectantly.
"What?"
And we're back! I hope y'all enjoyed this chapter. Austin is starting to embrace fatherhood and Abbie is semi out of the picture. Ally has a new job (maybe) and can spend more time with Bryn. Speaking of Bryn, there's a little addition to the Penton/Bryn relationship.
*Thanks to everyone who suggested ideas, it really helped! So please continue to review and do that. I want to bring Dez back in sometime soon but I'm unsure of how to do it. Any ideas?
I know it's a little odd that Abbie was so cool with everything but I just wasn't feeling like making her some psycho ex girlfriend. So, sorry if y'all were looking for something different.
I think that's it for now. I'm getting back into this story so I'm hoping I'll keep my updates fairly often. There will (fingers crossed) be another update before St Patrick's Day. - I'll be working this date for quite a while to make myself feel like I actually accomplish something when I post before it :)
~Reagan Maree