Austin's P.O.V.
"I don't know if I can do this."
Ally held her hand out to the boy she had considered shallow and big-headed two weeks ago. After all the drama, all the fun, and all the tears, here they were.
Friday.
The last Friday before school started. It was here. It was ending.
Austin grabbed Ally's outstretched hand. She gave him a smile that made his stomach flip, and he nodded, determination set in his face. Today was the day he was going to have to say goodbye.
And he was determined not to cry.
It seemed so weird that it was only two weeks ago that he had first crossed this threshold, positive that this was going to be the most sucky winter break ever. It already felt like a lifetime to him. Deep down he knew that he was no longer that self-centered jerk. Things happened. The kids happened. The fun happened. His inner nerd definitely happened.
And Ally happened.
Ally. The best thing that ever happened to him. The girl who taught him to be himself, who accepted him for himself. The girl who opened his eyes to reality. Who showed him what he was missing out on.
Eleven days.
That was a exactly how long he had really known her for. But to him it could have been eleven years. He felt like he really knew her, and other than Dez, she was the only one who really knew him. Who he truly was.
Because in all honesty, he was a good boy.
He just liked to pretend to be a bad boy.
But Ally changed that. She changed all that. Before, when he was in with his friends, he had no problem making out with whatever girl was in arms reach, and cuss words filled his sentences. But lately, when ever he was with his friends, he felt odd, and out of place. Like he didn't belong.
He slipped out of his shoes wordlessly. The truth was, he was afraid. That's right, Austin Moon, popular guy, was scared. He didn't want to go back to school. Or rather, he didn't want to go back to his old self.
"Austin! Ally! You're here!" The squeals immediately brought a smile to his face. He opened his arms as three bodies barreled into him. Kalei pushed her brothers aside, claiming the top spot and sitting on his shoulders. The boys pouted, but the smile instantly returned to their faces.
"Ally said that we can go to the waterpark today!" Keenan grinned.
"We even got water balloons!" Kainoah added in. Austin smiled.
"Awesome!" Thalia came over and hugged him. "And how are you doing today?"
"Good thanks," Thalia whispered to him. She had finally gotten over her shyness with the other kids in her group, but she was still a quiet person by nature.
"Well," He said, standing up and grabbing Thalia's hand while balancing Kalei on his shoulders, "Shall we be off?"
Peter and Thomas ran upstairs, presumably to get their swim trunks on, Ally turned to Austin, an apologetic smile on her face.
"Sorry I forgot to warn you. The kids have been begging me for months to take them, and I thought it would be a fun way to spend our last day."
"It's an awesome idea," He told her genuinly. "Don't worry, I have extra trunks in my car."
The next hour was chaos, as Ally ran around, making sure everyone was lathered in sunscreen. Honestly, she put about an inch thick of cream on everyone. Including Austin. But he didn't complain about that.
"Does everyone have everything?" Ally asked for the fourth time. Austin resisted the urge to roll his eyes. THey were so close to being out the door. Ally did another head count. He wondered how she got anything done, as he grabbed her hand and pulled her outside much to her protest.
"Austin-"
"Come on Ally! We don't want to be old by the time we get there!" He laughed as she grumbled and complied. The kids all caried a small water bucket, a towel around their shoulders. Being a gentleman, he was carrying Ally's beach bag, although why she needed to bring an umbrella to the beach, he was unsure of.
"Ally, why are you bringing a helmut to the waterpark?" He asked her as they doddled at the back of the group. The kids new where they were going, and the older teens were just making sure none of them got any ideas and ran out into the middle of the road.
"Well, I figured I might as well be prepared in case I want to skip rope. They have some for rent there."
His eyes widened as he watched the brunette in a newfound light. "How do you skip rope? Because I'm pretty sure that you're doing it wrong."
She rolled her eyes, and punched his shoulder. He mocked hurt, but ended up laughing. His stupid arm, having a mind of it's own, put itself to rest on her shoulders. She tensed for the slightest second, before leaning into him. His heart felt like he ran a marathon.
The waterpark was amazing. At one point they brought out the water balloons, and they teamed up boys verse girls, the boys suffering a humiliating defeat. But they got their revenge quick enough by stealing the girls towels, and running around the park.
Austin bought the kids ice cream from the nearby vendor, but he and Ally stayed in the water. It was after lunch, and Ally was standing by the side, contemplating if she really wanted to go back into the cool water. Austin made the decision for her.
"Austin put me down!" She squealed, hitting his back. He chuckled, but it was too late. He ran through the spraying water, Ally squealing like one of the littles. The adults turned and looked at them curiously, as they were the only teens surrounded by the children, but they quickly smiled before turning back to attend to their own problems.
Austin stopped and put Ally down once they were in the middle of a circle of water that was spraying up from the ground. As soon as he put her down, she charged him, and he turned and ran. He ran until he saw an umbrella, and ducked behind it. Ally found him, dripping wet, a scowl on his face.
"Austin Moon how-"
"Please don't kill me!" He squeaked, raising his arms to shield himself. She wacked him softly on the head. As soon as she turned back around, intending to stomp back to her dry, and currently safe, towel, he wrapped his arms around her, lifting her up again.
"Austin!" She shrieked, but started giggling. A smile broke across his face.
"Mr. Moon? Ms. Dawson?"
He turned around, setting Ally on the ground, but not removing his arms from her waist. He was met by a middle aged woman.
"Mrs. Delanie?" His voice portrayed his confusion at seeing the school's principle. Then he noticed the little boy with the same green eyes and sandy hair, hiding behind his mothers leg and drinking a juicebox.
"How are you...?" Mrs. Delanie gestured between Austin and Ally. He blushed a shade of red, and removed his arms from her. "I thought you were supposed to be volunteering."
"He is," Allybeat him to the response. She gestured over to where Elise and Thalia sat sun tanning, and Kalei was picking mud out of her hair while scowling at her brothers. Thomas and Peter were eating apples. "We brought the kids to the waterpark."
"It's nice to see the two of you getting along so well. I had no idea that you volunteered Ally," Mrs. Delanie smiled. Ally did too.
"Yeah. When I found out two weeks ago that I had to trained this oaf," She gestured to Austin, "I was pretty upset. But it didn't turn out half bad."
"Hey, what are you talking about?" He pretended to scold her. "It was awesomeness! Or you could say, Austinness!"
She rolled her eyes. "Egotistical," She sung.
"Whatever," He laughed good naturedly. "At least I wasn't the one fangirling to anauthor yesterday."
"You're right. You put fangirls to shame," She said laughing. He rolled his eyes, then turned back to the principle.
"We should go. See you on Monday," He told her. She smiled warmly at him.
"I'll see you two on Monday," She said, tuning to the little boy who had been trying to catch his mothers attention. Austin and Ally ran back to the kids. After some scoldings, they started to pack up.
They dried off quickly, before heading home. As they entered the house, everyone was laughing. Nothing could make the day more perfect. The triplets ran off, as Austin and Ally brought everyone to the kitchen. He turned to place the bags on the counter, and when he turned back he was in for a surprise. The triplets stood in front of him, and Kalei was holding out a book. Austin looked around at the smiling faces, before reaching for it.
"What's this?" He asked as he flipped it around so he could read it.
"A scrapebook, to remember us." Kalei smiled. The front cover had a picture that they had taken at the zoo together. And as he flipped through the pages, he couldn't help his teary eyes. There was a picture of him and the triplets, and the time Peter dressed up as Peter Pan and was sitting on Austin's shoulders. Another was taken as they were eating lunch, all of them holding up smiley face cookies.
He flipped the book close, and on the back cover was a final picture, framed by the childrens names. It had been when they were at the park the other day, playing Percy Jackson. Thomas sat on Austin's shoulders, and Ally was holding Peter. The kids were all laughing, and even Thalia had gotten in the picture. He remembered a passing dog walker taking the picture for them. Underneath the picture in Ally's cursive handing writing were the words, Say You'll Stay.
"You guys made this for me?" He smiled at the children. They nodded.
"So you never ever forget us," Elise told him. They all ran and hugged him. "Thank you Austin."
He cried for the goodbyes.
Every single one of them. He hugged them and kissed their forheads. Even Thalia was crying when he hugged her.
"Remember what I said, yeah?" He told the girl. She nodded, before encasing him in a hug. He hugged her back, before making his way to the front door.
As he was leaving, he turned back to the children that had changed his life for the better, he gave them one last smile. "This isn't the end," He told them. "After all," He held up his most prized book, "We still have to finish Percy Jackson sometime."
Ally walked with him to his car, after the children went back to the house. They stopped and stood in silence for a minute, each unsure of what to say.
"Were you serious about visiting?" She asked him, her chocolate eyes boring into him. He nodded and smiled tight-lipped from the tears.
"Yeah. I didn't realize how much they mean to me."
"Good," Ally smiled at him. "Because you mean alot to them too. You mean alot to me."
She hugged him, and Austin couldn't help the dreaded feeling that this was a goodbye. He pulled away slowly.
"Are you doing anything Sunday night?" Ally asked him. He felt his heart speed up, but he shook his head. "Well, if you want, Dez Trish and I were going to have a small party for you, for finishing with the volunteering. It was just a small thing, and we're going to have it at Sonic Boom."
"I wouldn't miss it for the world," He smiled at the brunette. "What time?"
"Six," She smiled. "School's the next day, and we wouldn't want to be tired now, would we?"
"Oh yes," He rolled his eyes but laughed. THere was silence again, before Austin gestured to his car. "I should go. See you Sunday?"
"Sunday," Ally confirmed, before walking off. Austin watched her go, before pulling out of the driveway and heading home.
Annalei and Annabeth insisted on giving him a make-over the moment he walked into his house. Not wanting to break their hearts, he agreed. His mother shot him a smirk, which he rolled his eyes at. But as soon as he sat down in the girls room, he regretted it.
They spent all night putting his hair in pigtails and slathering makeup in the most gruesome way over his face. He objected at the princess dress, but slid into the tutu grudgingly. Around eight oclock he heard laughter from the door and turned to see his parents smiling at their kids as his mom snapped a photo.
"Mom!" He whined, causing them to laugh harder. And that was when he realized that he hadn't done this in forever. Hung out with his sisters. Since junior year started he felt that he was too 'cool' to play dress up. Just another thing that ALly changed.
After doing his best to scrub his face, and exchanging the tutu for a pair of sweats, Austin settled down for bed. He was almost asleep when his phone rang.
"Hello?" His voice was full of sleep, but he was half hoping it would be Ally.
"Hey Austy! Where have you been all break?" He did his best to suppress a groan.
"Cassidy! I've been doing community service because of the stunt I pulled before the break," He told her.
"Oh, that sucks. Anyways, I'm having my annual End-of-Winter-Break party Sunday night, and you are my guest of honor!"
Shoot. He couldn't do that, because A) He told Ally he could go to her party, and B) He WANTED to go to Ally's. He started to think of an excuse. "Actually Cass, I-"
"Can't wait to see you!" She squealed while hanging up. He stared at his dead phone, not believe his luck. It was like the universe didn't want him and Ally to be together- er, um, hang out together.
Saturday came with his sisters squealing and the smell of pancakes. He slipped into a shirt, and enjoyed breakfast with his family. As he listened to Annalei ramble about some new toy, he realized just how much he missed hanging out with his little sisters.
Saturday afternoon was spent watching princess movies with them, while Austin thought of the best way to let Cassidy down. He just wanted to tell her that he was hanging out with Ally that night, and couldn't make it. But some tiny, extremly evil part of his brain wouldn't let him.
Sunday morning he awoke assured that he would go to Ally's. After spending the afternoon getting ready (As he ended up sleeping to noon after their movie marathon went to midnight) He picked up his phone, ready to go to Sonic Boom. He was outside, walking to his car, when a convertible packed with Cassidy, Kira, and Dallas pulled up.
"Hey Aus! Ready to go I see," Dallas smiled at him. Austin internally panicked..
"Actually I'm-"
"Dude, Kira got free beer!" The other teen held up the twelve pack while Kira smirked in her seat. Austin's palms were sweaty now.
"But i was-"
"Come on! Get in the car, we don't have all day!"
For reasons unknown to him, he slid into the back seat behind Dallas. H e wanted to go to Ally's, he NEEDED to go to Ally's.
And yet he couldn't.
Cassidy's party had already started when they got there, because it had started at five, since there was school tomorrow. The others had been on beer run when they caught Austin. As they pulled into the driveway, where some kid was already puking, Austin glanced at his watch. It was quarter to six now. He made a plan. Ten minutes at the party, get lost in the crowd, then sprint over to Sonic Booms. No one would notice he was gone, and he'd get to Ally's party.
As they entered the house which was shaking from the music, he found his stomach curling at the sight of couples making out. Red solo cups filled kids hands, and he was hardly in the door when one was shoved in his own. He tried to offer it back to Trent.
"Come on man! You've been gone all break, and now you're trying to act like that goody-goody you've been working with?"
Austin swallowed. He opened his mouth to defend Ally, but couldn't, and found himself drinking the alcohol instead. Trent smiled. "There's my man."
As soon as the alcohol hit his throat, he felt the affects. Why didn't he defend Ally? What was he doing? But he couldn't stop. He passed CAssidy, who was wearing a shorter than average dress, spilling alcohol as she walked, clearly drunk already. She must have done a keg or something.
He walked after her, determined to tell her thanks but no thanks. HE followed her into a hallways, that was a bit quieter than the rest of the house.
"Cass?"
"Oh hey Austin," She slurred. He gulped, but felt his mind mentally slow down too. He stared at the solo cup, that was now empty. How did that happen? Whatever was in it, must have been spiked, because suddenly he couldn't seem to focus on anything as CAssidy pushed him against the wall.
"What is it Austy?" She purred. He gulped, but could only focus on her eyes. She had pretty eyes. His eyes glanced over his watch face, which read six ten already. When did that happen? Didn't he have to go somewhere?
But his mind turned off as he felt Cassidy's tongue slid into his own mouth. It was wrong. He had to go and meet Ally. But at the moment, his mind was blurry. He should've pulled away. He was late. He had made a promise.
But instead he kissed her back.
AND BAM!
So... please don't kill me. I promised you more drama right? Hehe, and that was about four chapters... I think.
Q. If you ever met Rick Riordan would your reaction be more like Ally? or Austin?
A. For any other famous person, even Ross Lynch, I would react like Ally. Pretty cool and collected, with the occasional out break. But Rick Riordan... I'd totally fangirl like Austin did, and then try to deny it. He's just such an amazing writer.
Q. How many chapters are left?
A. I don't know. I'd say about ten or so.
Q. When is winter break going to be over?
A. Well, this was answered... but MONDAY IS SCHOOL!
Q. Who's you're favourite/least favourite character in PJO?
A. Favourite is tied between Grover and Tyson, because tree huggers are cool, and who here doesn't love PEANUT BUTTER as a battle cry? Least favourite is definitely Jason. I almost feel as though he stole Percy's thunder. No pun intended.
Q. Do you ship Tratie? Who should Jason end up with? Who should Leo end up with? Who should Nico end up with?
A. Yes I ship Tratie, Jason should definitely end up with Piper (Sorry Jeyna people) and Leo with Hazel (Sorry Frazel shippers) As for Nico... HE"S MINE! JK, but because of my major crush on him, I hope he stays forever alone. It's kind of hard to be in love with someone who has a girlfriend.
Sequel news... I HAVE AN IDEA! Now I just have to finish this one, and we'll be on our way!
And to all those who haven't read PJO, you don't know what you're missing. Seriously. Stop reading this fanfiction and go find yourself a copy of the lightening thief because I swear that you won't put it down until you finish Mark of Athena, and when you do, you'll be cursing Rick Riordan out of existance. It's that good.
And I'm all better! Thanks for the reviews and get wells!
So... Please review! Let's see how many we can get! You guys are awesome!