Friday

Austin's POV

"I want tonight to be special." I said driving.

"Me too. Performing in front of a crowd, it's exciting but I'm really nervous. It's going to be a night I'll never forget." She said from the passenger side.

"Ally, I love you." I said glancing at her quickly. "I love your talent, and your beauty, and your dorky-ness, and the fact that you blush at every little thing."

She laughed and I kept my eyes on the road, knowing she was blushing. "I love you too, Austin."

"Tonight.. I think we're finally both ready." I said.

"Really?" She asked.

"Well, you love me right?" I chuckled.

"Of course." She answered holding my free hand.

"By the way, do I really have to wait to hear the song? I'm curious!" I said driving towards the beach.

"You are unbelievably impatient." She laughed in disbelief. "You have to wait."

Later-

"Are you sure?" I asked one more time.

"Seriously, you're the only one worried. And Ally is the only one who needs to be worried." Trish said.

"I'm fine. Singing in front of you guys wasn't even as bad as I thought." Ally answered defending herself. "Singing in front of a few more people will be fine. As long as they don't boo me."

"We'll be cheering louder than anyone who might be booing!" Dez said.

"Words of encouragement, only from us!" Trish said standing next to him, both with huge smiles.

"Wait. What if people don't like the song?" Ally freaked out as I glared at Dez and Trish.

"Sorry. We were only kidding." Dez said.

"They will love you, Ally." Trish said hugging her.

"Thanks, Trish." She said hugging her back. "Austin, I am a little nervous." She said after pulling out of the hug. "Do you think you could play the piano or something on stage while I sing?"

"Of course." I answered.

"When are you going on?" Dez asked.

"In a half hour." She answered. "You can learn it by then, right?"

"Of course." I replied.

"Let's get to work." She said.

"Lyrics too?" I asked hopeful.

"No!" She laughed. "Just the music part. You can't hear the lyrics till I'm on stage performing."

"Fine." I gave in.

Later-

"Ally Dawson!" I said into the microphone sitting at the piano and began to play. She nodded and I gave her an encouraging smile. She closed her eyes and took a breath and sang.

"Friday night beneath the stars,
in a field behind your yard,
you and I are paintin' pictures in the sky.
And sometimes we don't say a thing;
just listen to the crickets sing.
Everything I need is right here by my side.
And I know everything about you I don't wanna live without you." She sang. I played the piano, by memorization now.

"I'm only up when you're not down.
Don't wanna fly if you're still on the ground.
It's like no matter what I do.
Well you drive me crazy half the time;
the other half I'm only trying to let you know that what I feel is true.
And I'm only me when I'm with you.." She sang to me facing the crowd.

"Don't wanna fly if you're still on the ground." I mumbled still playing the piano.

"Just a small town boy and girl livin' in a crazy world.
Tryin' to figure out what is and isn't true.
And I don't try to hide my tears.
The secrets or my deepest fears.
Through it all nobody gets me like you do.
And you know everything about me.
You say that you can't live without me." She sang this time looking at me, not sad like me, but with a smile.

"When I'm with anybody else it's so hard to be myself. Only you can tell." She sang, her voice flowing perfectly and sweetly.

"That I'm only up when you're not down.
Don't wanna fly if you're still on the ground.
It's like no matter what I do.
Well you drive me crazy half the time;
the other half I'm only trying to let you know that what I feel is true.
And I'm only me
Who I wanna be
Well, I'm only me when I'm with you
With you
Uh huh Yeah" She finished.

Ally's POV

"I can't believe I just performed!" I screamed jumping into Austin's arms when we ran off stage.

"I could! I knew you had it in you all along." He said as Trish and Dez met us.

"You did amazing, Ally! Everyone loves it!" Trish said hugging me. "I am so proud!"

"Thanks, Trish." I said hugging her tight.

"Perfecto!" Dez said giving me a quick tight hug.

"I feel amazing! I feel so free and so happy!" I jumped into his arms again. "Performing in front of a real crowd is so thrilling. I can't explain the feeling."

"It's amazing, isn't it?" Austin asked. "By the way, I can't believe you wrote that."

"You're my muse." I smiled but he frowned.

"I don't want to live without you either. I can't." He said referring to the lyrics a little mad but looked down at the ground really depressed.

I turned back around to Dez and Trish who took the hint.

"You did great! But me and Dez have to go." Trish said a little awkwardly.

"See you guys tomorrow morning." Dez said walking off with Trish.

"Austin-"

"Ally, I can't leave you here by yourself." He said cutting me off in frustration.

"Austin that song wasn't me asking for you to stay." I said walking closer and picking up his head with his chin.

"No." He said looking away laughing a little. "Of course it was." He said looking back at me as my hand fell to my side.

"I want you to go. Maybe not so soon, but I want you to." I said grabbing his hand and squeezing it tight.

"Everyday not seeing you." He said to himself looking away again, ignoring what I just said.

"Aren't I supposed to be the one taking this hard?" I asked giving him a small smile but he still didn't look back at me, wanting to be serious.

"I'm not kidding." He said finally looking back at me. "The whole time I was worrying about how you would take things and once I finally told you, you were upset but you were alright. Once I saw that you handled it, I didn't have to worry about you anymore. Ally, I was so busy worrying about you, I didn't once think about how I'd feel leaving you."

"I'm here with you know." I smiled but he still looked unconvinced.

"Just for tonight." He said looking down to the shore. "The sun is already going down."

"Then let's not waste anytime we have fighting." I said.

"I'm leaving you here alone. I'm the person who's hurting you but I don't want to." He said.

"You're not hurting me. I'd hate myself if I made you stay. That's not what I want. I want you to go work on music at college and get signed." I said smiling. "And anyways, you're not leaving me behind somewhere alone. You're going away for a while. And I'll be here, home, with my dad." I shrugged. "And by this time next year I'll hopefully be joining you in college."

"Hopefully?" He asked a little scared.

"I'm positive you're going to have a record deal by then." I laughed swinging our intertwined hands together playfully.

"Maybe you will too with the way you performed tonight." He said flirtatiously, all signs of sadness disappeared, as he leaned in and kissed me.

"Get a room." A girl said rolling her eyes walking by with a few friends who laughed.

"Ignore them." Austin smiled his face just an inch away from mines.

"I think I'd rather take their advice." I smiled kissing him again then leading him to the beach's parking lot holding his hand.

"I love you so much it's crazy but beautiful." He said laughing.