"Austin, man, glad you came," I heard Dallas say, locking the door.
"Yeah, where's Ally?" he asked.
"Home. I work here now," he laughed. "Just kidding, she's upstairs. She's working on a song," Dallas laughed again.
"Great," he sighed and made his way up the stairs.
"Hey," he managed to say, still frowning. It hurts me seeing him like this. I know he's not happy about this plan and neither am I, but Elliot left Austin alone today.
"I'm so sorry about this," I immediately ran up to hug him, but he pushed me away. "Did I do something?" I whispered.
"No, not at all. I'm just really confused on what is going on," he sighed, sitting on the bench.
"Listen, you're just as confused as I am. I had no idea what Dallas was doing this morning, but Elliot left you alone, right?" he nodded. "See, he left you alone, that's what you wanted, right?" he shook his head, disappointed.
"No, I want my girlfriend back, I don't want my best friend fake dating my girlfriend, and I don't want Elliot to hurt you or Dallas," he snapped. I could tell anger was taking over his mind. He looked frustrated since this morning. This was so unlike Austin.
"You ended it with me, if you want me back, you have me, I'm forever yours," I hollered. "You wanted Elliot out of your face one day, now you're telling me you don't? Can you make up your mind? Dallas and I are trying our hardest to figure this out for you, but if you're going to throw a fit at us for trying to help you, then we're not, okay?" I snapped. I looked at Austin; he was more surprised than angry now. I have never snapped at someone as badly as I just did to Austin. "I'm so sorry," I whispered, taking a few steps back.
"Ally…I appreciate it, really, but wow," he stuttered. He was just as confused as I was right now.
We looked at each other in silence, not knowing what to do. One of tried to speak, but couldn't. It was like this for a few minutes until Dallas came upstairs.
"You two kill each other yet?" he smirked, looking at us.
"No," we said in unison, still staring at each other.
"Can you two just kiss and make up? I'm getting sick of spying on you two," he chuckled, pushing us together.
"No," Austin mumbled. Before I could speak, he turned the other direction and walked out of the room.
"Austin, where are you going?" I yelled.
"Somewhere to think," he muttered and left.
"Great," I sighed. "What do we do next?"
"Today's Wednesday, right?" Dallas asked.
"Yes…why?" I looked at him in confusion.
"Follow me, I know where he's going," he groaned, grabbing my arm. It's funny, you would have expected Austin and Dez to be really close, but it was Austin and Dallas. Dez always talks to highly of Austin and how great of friends they were, but instead, he decided to remain out of this whole Austin-Elliot situation. Now, Dallas, barely talked about Austin, but decided to stay in this whole Austin-Elliot situation. Something seems wrong about this.
"Dallas, why are you so concerned about Austin so much? You barely talked about him?" I asked.
"I used to be Austin's go-to friend if Dez was busy, but since Dez was away the whole summer, Austin and I spent a lot of time together when you were away," he sighed.
"Why is Dez not in on this? He's only in on it when he feels he needs to be, but they're best friends?"
"Dez and Austin are best friend still, but Dez hates this stuff so much. Which is dumb because I hate it too, but I doubt you and Austin could take on Elliot," he laughed.
"Where are we even going?" I whispered.
"The graveyard. He goes there to talk to Matthew about things and praying for advice. Him and I went there over the summer. He actually needed advice on you," he laughed, slowing down his pace.
"Why are we slowing down…?
"Because Austin isn't here…something is really wrong about this. It's Wednesday at eight at night. He goes every Wednesday, why isn't he here?" he whisper-yelled.
"Because I'm behind you," I heard Austin say.
"What? You followed us? Uncool, Moon," Dallas smirked. If any of you haven't noticed, Dallas is a huge jokester. He tries to turn awkward, uncomfortable situations into non-awkward ones. In reality, it makes it ten times more awkward than before.
"Actually, you followed me," he glared at us.
"Ally wants to talk to you," Dallas yelled and ran towards the sidewalk.
"Ally, I really don't think this is a good idea," he sighed.
"Can you just listen to me?"
"Fine," he shrugged.
"I'm sorry for freaking out on you. I'm still not used to this whole high school drama stuff, and I doubt I ever will. I'm not used to a lot of things. Like pretending to be someone's girlfriend. Or pretending that I'm fine after our breakup, or sneaking around with Dallas trying to dig up stuff about Elliot. I'm not used to any of this. I have a lot of questions, but I have to remain silent because they'll either get answered, or no one understands why I'm asking them," I mumbled, trying not to cry.
"I don't even care that you freaked out on me, I'm actually impressed that you did. What bothers me is that you care too much. Both you and Dallas care too much about me. I stopped talking to Dallas and Dez because they cared too much after what happened last year. They figured because my brother is dead, they should feel sorry for me. Shit happens, and I have to get over it. Yeah, I'm still upset by it, but you know what? I needed someone who wouldn't treat that and me any different than before, but since Elliot has turned into a raging asshole with jealousy, you've been treating me way different than before. I know some of it was my fault, I'm not stupid, but if you two are going to keep worrying about me, it's not going to work out," he whisper-yelled. "I love you, don't get me wrong. You make me crazy, but I need to be strong on my own, and if Elliot wants to fight me, he can. I don't want you or Dallas getting hurt, especially you. I love you too much to see something scary happen to you," he sighed.
"Austin, I'm so sorry," I sighed and leaned into him. I wanted to cry, I really did. I just felt so bad about myself the minute he said that. I expected him to just stand there, unsure on what to do. Instead, he grabbed me and pulled me closer.
"No, I'm sorry. I overreacted, but you need to stop worrying about me. I'm doing better. I'm finally at a place in my life where I'm happy for the life that I have. I can deal with Elliot myself. Just please promise me you and Dallas won't get involved in this? I can handle it," he mumbled into my hair.
"I'm sorry for treating you differently. I just got too attached too quickly," I sobbed into his chest.
"Are you crying?" he softly chuckled.
"No…maybe…yes," I mumbled.
"I'm sorry," he laughed.
"Sorry for crying," I sighed.
"Stop saying sorry. You're always sorry," he laughed, looking down at me.
"Sorry," I lightly laughed.
"Ally, what did I say about being sorry?"
"My bad," I grinned.
"Better, but here, let me walk you home," he smirked, grabbing my hand.
The walk home was peaceful and by peaceful, I meant quiet. Austin seemed a lot better considering he got everything he has ever wants to say to Dallas and I off of his chest. He was still worried about something. I shouldn't ask because I care too much, but I can't help it.
"Austin, what are we?" I asked.
"Whatever you want to be," he smiled and squeezed my hand. That didn't answer much at all. I was still confused whether we were friends, best friends, boyfriend and girlfriend, or none of that.
"I don't know…it's your choice," I sighed, unsure what he was going to say.