GUYS! I'M SO SAD THAT THIS IS OVER :((( Ugh I can't express how much this little (big lol) fanfic has meant to me. It's kept me sane through a year of quarantine and social unrest, especially since most of the unrest happened about forty five minutes from where I live (give or take). This has brought be so much joy and though I'm sad that this is the last chapter I'm excited for you guys to see how I wrapped it all up.

I will save my closing thoughts for the end of the chapter as always, but for now, here is the final chapter of Two in a Million :)

(btdubs, in case you were wondering why there were random numbers in parenthesis, those are the timestamps from Duets & Destiny :))

-Ej

Thirty: Stories & Surprises

Ally knew the day would come when she and Austin had to tell the kids about the miscarriage. She didn't know it would come this quickly, however—or in the way that it did. And although she'd been expecting it in some ways, it had completely caught her off guard. She didn't think they would be having this discussion for at least a couple more years.

They were eating dinner together as a family the next day when Ava asked the question. Ally nearly did a spit take and looked at Austin, eyes wide.

"Um...what?"

"Are you having a baby?" Ava repeated. She looked up at her mom, blinking, as Ally searched for a way to answer her question.

"Uhh, no. No, definitely not. What made you think that?"

"You were talking about a baby," Alex mused, pushing the broccoli on his plate around with his fork. He looked up at his parents. "I heard you."

Austin and Ally exchanged glances. "Um, Austin, can I talk to you for a sec?" He nodded and they went into the living room. "What do we do?" Ally whispered. "Should we tell them?"

Austin bit his lip. "I dunno. They're a little young."

"How do we get out of this, then?" Her eyes suddenly seemed sad and desperate. "We should just tell them the truth and move on. They're gonna find out eventually." As she started to walk back to the kitchen, Austin grabbed her hand. He pulled her back slowly towards him.

"Are you sure?" He rubbed her hand with the top of his thumb. "We can figure out a way around it and then tell them later." Ally sighed.

"No. Something's telling me we need to do it now." Austin reluctantly let go of her hand and they both sat down at the table again. They again exchanged glances and Austin gave her a little nod.

"Um, kids?" Alex and Ava both looked up from their plates. "There's something we need to talk to you about." Ava sat up a bit.

"We were talking about a baby, but not because I'm pregnant." Ally sighed. "About a year before you were born, Ava, mommy lost a baby while it was still in her tummy." Ava and Alex looked at each other.

Ava hesitated. "Why?"

"We don't know," Austin replied, "there isn't really an answer to that." There was silence among the four of them for a minute. Ally bit her lip. That's it?

"Is the baby in heaven?" Ava whispered. Ally managed a small smile.

"Maybe. We hope so." Ava nodded.

"Do you guys have any other questions?" Ally asked, looking between her two kids. They both shook their heads. "Alright why don't you guys go play with Paris in the backyard, okay?" She stood to start clearing the dishes as Ava, Alex, and Paris rushed out the back door and down the deck stairs. It was quiet for a few seconds until Ally spoke up again. "Is it just me, or does it seem like their reactions weren't as strong as I expected them to be?"

Austin shrugged. "They probably just don't understand. They're only five and three." Ally nodded.

"I guess you're right. Maybe we should have just waited, like you said."

Austin raised an eyebrow, smirking. "Oh, so now you're admitting I was right?"

Ally rolled her eyes. "I'm not admitting anything. I just...I don't know."

"Well, I think you're in denial because I'm the one that was right."

"Nobody was right or wrong, Austin," Ally said, picking up a rag and wetting it down. "Let's just drop it." Austin frowned.

"Are you okay?" Ally shook her head.

"I don't know, honestly. I talked to Trish earlier today and she took your side on the whole therapy thing, saying I should make an appointment. So, I did..."

"That's great, Ally! I'm proud of you." Austin gave her a side hug and she grinned.

"But then I cancelled it."

"Wait, why?" Austin asked, wrapped his arms around Ally's waist and rested his head on her shoulder. "Als, we've talked about this. You can't just push it away forever. If you won't do it for yourself, do it for me."

Ally grinned, pulling away from his grasp. "As sweet as that is, I'm still not sure. It's been so long, maybe it's best to just try and move on as much as we can. I don't need anybody's help to do that."

"It'll be good for you, trust me," Austin argued, grabbing her hand and pulling her back towards him. Ally sighed. "What if I go with you?" She raised an eyebrow.

"Seriously?" Austin nodded.

"Yeah. I want you to be able to cope with this in a healthy way, Ally." He paused. "Do it for the kids?" Ally looked down at the floor.

"Okay." She paused. "I'll do it for the kids, but not for you," she teased. Austin grinned as he wrapped her in a bear hug from behind, lifting her up in the air. Ally shrieked and let out a belly laugh, making Austin laugh just as hard. He swung her around in a circle before she begged to be put down in between wheezing laughs. Ally leaned on the counter with both hands, trying to steady herself. Austin leaned in and wrapped his arms around her. He pecked her on the cheek and Ally blushed. They were both silent for a minute until Austin leaned in and gave her a kiss in the lips. They lingered in that for a moment but quickly pulled away when they heard shrieking from outside. Austin ran out to the deck to check on the kids, then came back inside.

"They're fine," he said. "They're both gonna need to be hosed down after this, but they're fine." Ally grinned. "So, what do you think about...me coming with?" Ally shrugged.

"If you want to. There will probably be a lot of ugly crying, but it's nothing you haven't seen before."

"Great." He pecked her on the lips one more time before grabbing his phone off the counter. Ally frowned.

"Great that I agreed to let you come with, or great that there will be ugly crying?"

"The first one," Austin replied. "I want to be a part of this and help you get better."

Ally looked down at her feet. "Thanks, Austin."

"You know I'd do anything for you, Ally." He pecked her on the forehead then grabbed his phone. "I'll be right back," he said before disappearing into the other room.

one week later

Ally paced the length of the small waiting room at the counselor's office while Austin pretended to read a magazine in one of the chairs in the corner. After watching her for a few seconds, he sighed and put the magazine down.

"It's gonna be fine, Als. There's nothing to worry about." She looked at him but continued pacing, biting her lip. "Ally," he said again. He patted the seat next to him. "Sit down." She did as he said, coming over and sitting down next to him. A couple of seconds later, her leg started bouncing involuntarily. Austin reached over and put his hand on her knee. She looked up at him, then back down at her lap.

"What are you scared about?" he whispered. "This lady is going to be able to help."

"How do you know?" she replied, "What if she can't?"

"She will. Trust me." Ally shook her head.

"How do you do this all the time?" she asked. "How do you stay so...so positive? I don't get it." Austin shrugged.

"I dunno. Something about having you by my side gives me a reason to keep going." Ally blushed. "Makes me want to do everything I can to make you happy, y'know? Because when I'm happy, you seem to be happy, too." He paused. "But Als, seeing you upset about this makes me want to help you. And I'm not sure how." Ally bit her lip. "That's why I did this. Not to put any pressure on you or to humiliate you but to help you." Ally nodded. "Now, are you ready to do this?" he asked. Another nod. "Cool."

A couple seconds later, a middle-aged woman with brown hair and glasses stepped out. "Ally Moon?"

Austin and Ally followed the woman, who'd introduced herself as Michelle, down the short hallway and into a room with tan walls. In the back right corner was a desk with a computer and a black swivel chair. There were pictures plastered around the walls of various natural elements: plants, bodies of water, clouds, among many others. There was a long couch up against the wall immediately to their left as they entered, and a chair of the same color across from it. The two windows that lined the wall ahead of them and on the left wall had blinds that made the brightness in the room subtle and comfortable.

"Go ahead and sit down on the couch, make yourselves comfortable," Michelle said as she grabbed a notepad from her desk. She gave them a reassuring smile and Austin grabbed Ally's hand in his, rubbing the top of it with his thumb.

"Alright," she mused, sitting down in her tan chair across from the couple. "So, what brings you guys here today?"

Ally faked a smile. "Can't you just...look at the form we filled out online? Tells you everything you need to know."

"Ally," Austin whispered.

"What? Just saying," she mumbled. Michelle smiled.

"I have looked at your form, but I wanted to see what you had to say when you came in today, as well."

Ally looked over at her husband. "I'm here because I can't deal with something that happened eight years ago. There, are you happy? Let's go, Austin. We're wasting our time." She stood up and started to walk away when Austin grabbed her hand and pulled her back.

"Ally," he said gently, "sit back down."

"Why should I?" she asked, turning back around. Her eyes were starting to water now. Austin gently placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Because I want to help you," he whispered. "Plus, we already paid for this appointment." Ally bit back a laugh.

"Fine." She walked back over to the couch and plopped down next to her husband.

"I can see you're having second thoughts about being here," Michelle spoke up after a few seconds of silence. "Do you have any idea why that is?"

"I... wasn't sure if this was going to help since the...thing happened over eight years ago," Ally replied. "It's basically an ancient memory now."

Michelle wrote a couple notes down on her notepad. "I see. And Ally, could you tell me in your own words what happened eight years ago?" She looked to Austin. "I want to just hear from Ally's perspective right now. Austin, I'll have you cut in a little later." He nodded and looked to Ally, who took a deep breath.

"Okay, well, um... it was October of 2021, and we were moving into our new house." A single tear made its way down her face as she relived the events of the day in her head. "We had been working hard all day moving stuff in, and around lunchtime I had started to have cramps." She shrugged. "I hadn't thought anything of it, because my periods have always been irregular and inconsistent." Ally paused as Michelle kept jotting down notes in her notebook.

"And anyway, it was after our friends Trish and Dez left that they started to get stronger. At around 9:00 pm, I felt this really strong one, and the pain was so intense that I fell down." More and more tears fought their way out. Ally sniffed and wiped them away.

"Austin heard me fall, so he took me to the hospital. They told me I had a miscarriage." Austin wrapped an arm around her as more silence ensued. Michelle just nodded.

"Neither of us had known I was even pregnant," Ally croaked. "It was one of the worst days of my entire life."

"Well, I'm sorry for your loss," Michelle started. "Those things are never easy."

"It definitely wasn't," Austin added. He shook his head. "Ally didn't get out of bed for days, I...I thought I was gonna lose her." He planted a kiss on the top of her head. "Thank goodness I didn't. I would have lost the best thing that's ever happened to me."

Michelle nodded. "Can you elaborate on that a bit, Austin?"

"Um, sure," he replied. "The next couple of days were a whirlwind. I didn't know what to do because Ally wasn't herself." Austin paused. "I was so busy making sure that she was okay that I had forgotten to grieve myself." Michelle nodded, looking from Austin to her notebook, encouraging him to go on.

Austin sighed. "Until about two years ago, when I found this towel that I had grabbed out of the bathroom cabinet the night of the miscarriage for Ally to sit on. It still had a stain on it and... I completely lost it."

"And... why do you think that was?"

"Because I was reliving it," he choked, wiping a few stray tears away. "Everything immediately came back to me. I broke down on the floor and Ally found me." The counselor nodded again.

"There's a purpose for me making you kind of relive this whole situation, I promise. You're being vulnerable about it, and that's good." Michelle paused as she finished scribbling a note in her notebook. "So, what happened after that?"

"We burned it." Ally grabbed Austin's hand as she took over the talking for him this time. "We both figured that we needed to discard it in some way, shape or form, and throwing it away isn't nearly as dramatic." Michelle let out a laugh.

"That's good," she mused, "and how did that feel?"

"Like... a weight was lifted off my shoulders," Ally replied. "It was a good feeling."

"I bet." Michelle checked her watch. "We have maybe twenty minutes left, so I'll start the next part of our session by saying this. I can definitely tell that, although you both took this loss hard, your marriage benefited from it. Couples who go through losses like this tend to come out stronger on the other side. Would you say that's true?"

Austin nodded. "Yeah. I think so."

"In a time when you didn't have anyone else to lean on, you leaned on each other." Austin and Ally both nodded. "Do you have any other children?"

"Yeah, two," Austin replied, grinning. "Ava and Alex."

"And how old are they?"

"Five and three," Ally said, perking up a little. "They're amazing kids. Little mini-me's of both of us."

Michelle grinned. "And how have they affected how you look at the miscarriage?"

"They really put things into perspective, I think. After the miscarriage happened, I was worried that I wouldn't be able to have kids at all. I knew how much Austin wanted to be a dad, and I thought that I was letting him down because of it." Austin bit his lip.

"Ally..." she looked over at him as his eyes started to water. "You will never let me down. I promise." He kissed the top of her hand. He immediately pulled her into a hug and felt his shirt start to get soaked with tears.

"That feeling is common with couples who go through losses like this. It's hard not to feel like it was your fault. Many women often blame themselves if this kind of thing happens." Ally nodded. "Now, I noticed when I was looking at your file, I noticed that you, Ally, have a history of anxiety and panic attacks. Do you want to tell me a little bit more about that?" Ally cracked a smile.

"It's a long story."

"We've got twenty minutes," Michelle returned it as Ally took a deep breath.

"Well, it all started when I was auditioning for this music school, MUNY..."

twentyish minutes later

Austin and Ally both walked out the door of the counseling office, hand-in-hand. When they got to the car, Austin unlocked it and they both got inside, staying quiet for a minute. Finally, Austin spoke up.

"Told ya that would be fun."

"Um, no," Ally replied. "Counseling appointments are most definitely not fun."

"No, not that... the other part." Austin smirked. Ally smacked him on the shoulder.

"Oh, right. Of course you're referring to the post-appointment sex we had in the bathroom. Our second time doing it in a public establishment."

"Mmmm, I'm pretty sure it's our third," Austin argued. "There was that time on our honeymoon when we totally did it in the tiny bathroom on that boat during the dinner cruise—"

"Austin, seriously!"

"What?" he asked. "I'm just saying...technically, it's three." She smacked him again, a little harder this time. "Ow!"

"Well, you deserve it!" she retorted, bursting into a fit of giggles. "You know, that appointment wasn't as bad as I thought it was gonna be."

"What did I tell you?" Austin asked, rubbing her shoulder. "Was it helpful, or was it helpful?" Ally gave him a look.

"Okay, fine. It was helpful," she murmured. "We should probably get going. Don't want to dump the kids on your parents for longer than we have to."

"Orrrrr..." Austin raised an eyebrow.

"Or what?"

"Or we could head into that grocery store over there and make it #4." This time, Ally flat our punched him in the arm. "Oooowwwww!" he whined. "That hurt!"

Ally smirked. "That was the point."

nine months later

August 2029

Ally picked her buzzing phone up from the table and grinned when she saw that it was Trish. "Hey, Trish! What's up?"

"Hey!" Trish greeted. "What are you guys up to today?"

"Just cleaning up from Alex's big birthday bash yesterday," Ally replied. "He had a couple friends from preschool over and they made a complete mess. What about you guys? What's new? I feel like I haven't seen you guys in forever."

"That's actually what I was calling about," Trish said. "I thought it would be fun if the four of us could get together again. I miss you guys."

"We miss you too," Ally started to grab the random sheets of tissue paper off the floor in the living room. "And I agree, a reunion is way overdue. But...you guys are still in LA. How are you going to get here?"

"We'll figure it out," Trish responded. "Dez has connections." She paused to look at her calendar. How's one week from Friday?"

"That sounds great! I'll tell Austin and the kids. We'll see you then!"

"Bye, Ally! Love you!"

"Love you, too!" Ally hung up the phone and set it down on the table, feeling a grin spread across her face. "Hey Austin," she called as she descended the stairs to the basement.

one week later

"Mommy," Ava asked as she slipped her shoes on. They were about to take off for the factory. "Where are we going?"

"We're going to the place where your dad and I met," Ally replied, grabbing her purse from the table. "The A&A Music Factory." Austin descended the stairs wearing a black jacket, white t-shirt and dark jeans. He held Alex, who was wearing an identical outfit to his dad, on his left hip. "Well, don't you guys look handsome." Austin smirked.

"Why, thank you," he said, pecking her on the forehead. "I like the haircut, by the way." Ally ran her hands through her hair, which she'd just gotten cut the other day. It was shorter than she was used to, but she liked it that way.

"Thanks. I wanted to try something new." She turned to Ava. "You guys ready to go?" Austin set Alex down and Ally ushered everyone out to the car.

"Well, kids, here we are," Ally mused as they entered the factory. "The place that fostered the greatest love story of all time." Ava looked up at her parents intently while Austin set Alex down. "See, it all started with a drum set, a corndog, and a dream." Austin chuckled.

"That's one way to put it."

"Well, it's true!" Ally giggled. "See, before we turned this place into a music school, it was a music store. And right over there," she pointed to the stage, "used to be a drum set. One day, your father walked in and started to play the drums. With corndogs."

"Dez was making a short film," Austin explained, "called 'Austin plays the drums with corndogs.'" Ally rolled her eyes.

"Anyway, after I told him to stop, he said, 'it's okay. I'm an awesome drummer!' And the rest is history."

"Why don't we just tell them the whole story while we wait for Trish and Dez to get here?" he asked. "We have about a half an hour."

"It's gonna take a lot longer than thirty minutes to explain everything," Ally said. "We could summarize it, though."

"Perfect," he replied. "Sit down, kids. Get comfortable 'cause it's a long story."

"Once upon a time, there was a shy girl who worked at a music store called 'Sonic Boom,'" Ally started. "And a crazy, extroverted musician with a dream."

Austin raised an eyebrow. "You calling me crazy?"

"Yep." Austin rolled his eyes this time.

"One day, me and your uncle Dez came into the store to make a video. And your mom came over and told us to stop."

"You left out the part about the 'please do not play the drums' sign," Ally said. "There was a sign clearly telling customers not to play the drums, and he still did.

"I didn't see it!" Austin argued.

"Yeah, right. It was right behind you. How could you not have seen that?" Austin shot her a look.

"Anyway, then I told her that we were there to shoot my first music video and played a trumpet through another trumpet."

Alex's eyes widened. "Really?" He asked. "Cool!"

"And then he stole my song," Ally added.

"Not cool, dad," Ava replied.

"Exactly. See, she agrees with me!" Austin pursed his lips.

"Well, if I hadn't stolen your song, she wouldn't exist. So there!" Ally rolled her eyes.

"After your dad stole my song, we became partners. And then Trish and Dez rounded out our friend group as his manager and director."

"Eventually, your mom and I sang a duet at the Jungle Café. That's when she overcame her stage fright."

"And when we realized we liked each other," Ally finished with a smile. "We also had our first kiss that night."

"Eeeeewwww, GROSS!" Ava and Alex exclaimed, making their parents laugh.

"Hey, do you want to hear the whole story or not?" Ally asked. "There's a lot of mushy love stuff involved."

Ava scrunched up her nose. "Not really."

"Well, too bad. We're gonna tell it anyways."

"We had lots of fun adventures with Trish and Dez during high school," Austin said. "There was this one time that we got locked in an ice cream shop on the morning I was supposed to play at the Miami Beach Bash."

"Don't forget that it was, like, four in the morning," Ally pointed out. "And the only reason we didn't get arrested is cause I left money for the ice cream that we ate."

"I don't think I ever thanked you for that," Austin mused. "So, thanks."

Ally let out a laugh. "No problem."

"Another time, I was doing this interview for Cheetah Beat, and Trish made up a bunch of crazy stuff that I had to do. We went bungee jumping..."

"He had to eat bugs," Ally added.

"And I had to chop a block of wood in half, because Trish said I knew karate."

"Do you?" Ava asked.

"Nope."

"Ooh, what about that time you got the ruby red slippers stuck on your feet at the museum?" Ally asked. "And then you had to put those really big shoes on, but they flew off during the show when you were dancing."

"Don't worry, though, I told the truth. And then the president gave me a medal of honor." He paused. "I still wouldn't recommend stealing a priceless artifact from a museum, though."

Alex's eyes widened. "Wooooaaah. The president!?"

"Yup," Austin chirped. "Oh, and then I joined the glee club and led us to victory with my awesome dance moves." He stood up, showed a couple of his moves off and crossed his arms. "'Sup." Ally rolled her eyes.

"No, we led the team to victory because we worked together to come up with a great routine. You and your ego sometimes, I swear."

Austin and Ally continued to tell the kids stories about their high school experience together with Trish and Dez for a while longer. They told them about the time Austin starred in a beach musical, which he had always wanted to do. They told about the relationship ups and downs they had gone through during high school, figuring out their feelings for one another, then breaking up, then getting back together again, then breaking up again...then Austin professing his love for her at the WMAs fifteen minutes later. They laughed together about all the stunts Austin and Dez had pulled, the gigs Trish messed up, and how ridiculous they had acted the first time they tried to date. They told the kids about opening the A&A Music Factory and when Jimmy had finally let Austin perform again. Austin even demonstrated a little of his Spanish skills when they told the story about him being one credit short at school. After a while, Ally stood up and led the kids over to the various pictures that were displayed on the opposite side of the room. Austin picked Alex up again as Ally told the story of their reunion.

"After we graduated from high school, we kind of grew apart. I was in college, and your dad was always on tour. We had no time to see each other... so we broke up... for the third time." Ally's face fell for a second, then lit up again. "Until Dez and Trish reunited us on the Helen Show."

"And then your mom destroyed Helen's set...again." Ally rolled her eyes.

"You're missing the point. When we reunited, we fell in love all over again. It was so magical. One of the best days of my life."

(21:09)

Austin smiled. "And people were so excited about us getting back together that our appearance on the Helen Show actually got a billion hits."

Ally bent down. "After that, we went on tour together, and when we were in Paris, your father asked me to marry him."

Just then, Trish and Dez walked through the doors of the music factory. Trish held her hands up. "Guess who made it to Miami?"

"Hey!" Ally exclaimed. "Go give a hug to your aunt Trish and uncle Dez!"

"Aunt Trish!"

"Dez!"

Dez picked Alex up. "We came straight from the set of Claws (dun dun dun) 8," he said, tickling the four-year-old. He set Alex down and Ally led her kids over to the couch.

"The studio gave us a private jet," Trish explained.

"Trish is amazing in the movie," Dez mused. "I really think she's gonna win a 'Best Actress' award."

"The four I've won are plenty." She paused. "Ah, who am I kidding. I want five!"

"Ah, there's my wife," Dez said as Carrie walked in the door.

"Where?" Carrie looked around the room, confused.

"I'm talking about you, Carrie. You're my wife!"

"Phew," she replied, "for a second I thought you married someone else." Dez gave her a hug and Ally narrowed her eyebrows.

"Where's Darrie?"

"He went away to college. Didn't we tell you?"

"College?" Austin asked, "But he's six."

"Uh, yeah. Our son is officially the world's smartest kid." Dez pulled out a picture of Darrie in a cap and gown, holding his diploma.

"The scientist guy said Darrie had a 300 QI," said Carrie.

"It's IQ," Trish corrected.

"Spelling's not really my thing."

"The point is," Dez continued, "Our kid's the best."

"Not so fast, red." Dez turned to see Chuck in the doorway, sporting his usual country getup. He narrowed hie eyebrows. "With...little touches of grey." Dez' jaw dropped and he started to comb back his hair with his fingers, suddenly nervous about grey hairs showing.

"Hey, wifeypoo," Chuck greeted.

"Hey, Chuckalicious," Trish replied. He pulled her into a hug then looked straight back at Dez.

"Trish and I have the best kid. And Princess Magnolia Rose has the Little Miss Preschool America pageant trophy to prove it." The six of them looked toward the doorway where, sure enough, Magnolia was standing with a trophy that was bigger than her.

"Guess who won Little Miss Preschool?" Maggie stood with her hands out, in true Trish style. Chuck and Carrie went off to the side and Trish came closer to the group.

"It's so amazing to be back here. Where it all began for the four of us."

"I'm really glad we're all here together," Ally mused. "No matter where our lives take us, we'll always be best friends." Trish and Dez grinned.

"I love you guys," Austin said. Ally pulled Trish in for a hug, while Dez and Austin shared one as well. After that, the four of them all shared one together.

"Hey, why don't Dez and I take everyone out for ice cream at 'Scoop, There It Is,' for old times' sake?" Trish suggested. "Dez' treat."

"That sounds great," Ally replied. Austin nodded in agreement.

"Yeah," Dez agreed. "Let's do it." He paused. "Wait... did you say my treat?"

"You already agreed," Trish said with a laugh. Dez frowned. "What? You have a successful movie franchise, and you're telling me that you're too cheap to take everyone out for ice cream?"

Dez groaned. "Fine. But everybody only gets one topping. No more, no less." He frowned. "Actually, you can get less. But no more,"

"But it was my birthday yesterday," Alex said. "Can't I get two, uncle Dez?"

"Okay, fine. But no more than two." Alex jumped up and down in celebration.

"Yaaaay!" he turned to his sister. "Ava, I get two!"

Ally grinned at the sight. "Are we ready to go?" Everyone agreed and made their way to the food court where, like Trish had promised, Dez bought everyone ice cream. They chatted over dessert for a while until Ally mentioned that she needed to go close up the factory. Trish and Dez promised to watch the kids while she and Austin went back to the factory quick to lock up.

"Hey, do you want to see if the practice room has changed?" Austin suggested as soon as they stepped in the doors. Ally shrugged.

"Sure. Let's do it." They climbed the stairs and Ally opened the door. Austin smiled.

(24:10)

"Wow. It's all still here. It's like we never left."

"Yeah," Ally agreed. "Even the old piano." The couple stepped toward the piano.

"Okay, we've got eighteen hours to write the greatest song ever." They both laughed as Ally looked up at him.

Ally stepped toward the piano further and Austin followed, both sitting down at the bench. Austin let out a sigh. Ally turned to look at him.

"Remember this one?"

Ugh, all the feels with this one. All. The. Feels.

Sooo, what'd you think? Tell me everything that you liked from this fanfic: favorite chapter, favorite line, favorite scene? It was such a journey writing this, one that required lots of research (aka going back and watching old episodes) but this was the kind of research that I don't actually mind doing. It was so fun writing this and keep your eye out for more one-shots in the future. I also miiighttt just have an idea for another multi-chap living rent-free in my brain— this one will be an AU.

Thank you all so much for coming on this journey with me and for supporting this book. I never imagined that one of my books would get almost this much attention on this site or wattpad, or that people would even read it at all. It went from being for my own sake, to being for you guys and that's what kept me writing.

Like I said, this isn't goodbye! I have ideas for one-shots and an AU that I will hopefully be able to start after finals are over next week. Until then, if you want to stay updated with everything I'm doing, make sure to follow me and add this book to your library if you haven't already, along with doing the usual voting, commenting, etc. It was such a pleasure to write this for you all, and I love you guys so much! Until next time!

-Ej