four: new songs & last nerves

one week later

"Okay, what do you think about this chord?" Austin asked his girlfriend. Since appearing on the Helen Show, the two of them had had decided that they needed new material for the tour. They had both been up in the practice room working on new songs for the past week and they were starting to become exhausted from writing so much.

Ally smiled. "Yeah, I like that."

The two of them played around with chords for a while until Dez burst into the practice room.

"Uh, Dez, can't you see we're in the middle of working on a song?" Ally asked, a little annoyed.

"You want a break? Gotcha. Well, I was thinking about how you two should make your entrance on stage in Miami and"—

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. I'm going to stop you right there." Austin stood up from the bench. "We already told you, we're not riding in on elephants."

"Or alpacas," Ally added.

"Or llamas."

"Or zebras."

"Ally, don't be ridiculous. Zebras aren't even real."

Ally ignored her boyfriend and stood up. "The point is, we're not riding out on any sort of land animal."

"I know that," Dez replied. "I'm just trying to brainstorm more ideas. This entrance needs to be perfect— it's your first time on stage together in years!"

Ally sighed, knowing that Dez wouldn't leave them alone until they considered his ideas. "Okay, let's get this over with. Whaddya got so far?"

"Well, my first idea involves shooting you both out of cannons"—

"No," they said in unison.

Dez frowned. "Okay, well, number two is kind of like that music video that Austin shot with Kiera back in the day— you guys would both roll out on stage from separate directions"—

"Still no," said Ally. Austin nodded in agreement. "Why can't we just walk out normally?" she asked. "It'll be just as exciting!" She sat back down on the bench and started to glance at her songbook.

"Walking out is too basic," Dez said, scratching his chin. His face lit up. "Ooh! What if it starts raining confetti when you guys walk out?"

"No," Ally said, putting her head in her hands. "That's way too messy; I would feel bad if our crew had to pick up all those little confetti pieces, one by one..."

"Fine. What about"—

Just then, Trish walked in, looking frazzled. "Am I interrupting something?"

"Nope," Ally said without missing a beat.

"Not a thing," Austin echoed.

"I was telling them ideas for their grand entrance at the Miami show," Dez mused, ignoring them. "Wanna hear?"

"Nope," Trish stated. She turned to Austin and Ally. "I was just looking at the calendar, and I'm freaking out. I did the math, and if we want to stay on track for the tour starting at the end of August, we have to get all of our crews hired and venues booked by next month. Next month! Do you know how long all of that will take?"

"Well, why don't Austin and I pitch in?" Ally suggested. "I mean, after all, it is our tour."

"Yeah," Austin agreed. "I can pitch in, for sure." He bowed to Trish. "How may I be of assistance?"

Trish smiled. "That's real cute of you to offer, but I can't just have anyone take care of these things. No offense."

Ally frowned. "Well, if you didn't want us to help, then why did you come and complain about it?"

"Because she wanted me to help. Right, Trish?" Dez put a hand on Trish's shoulder. She flung it off, disgusted, shooting him a glare.

"Absolutely not." She turned back to Austin and Ally. "I came and told you this because I was wondering if you guys would... consider hiring another manager? Let's face it: this tour is in"— Trish looked at the calendar on her phone— "exactly three months, and I'm in over my head."

Ally glanced at Austin, but she couldn't read his face. "Can we talk about it and get back to you?" she asked.

Trish sighed. "Sure, but you'd better make the decision fast, because I need help, like, yesterday."

Ally nodded. "No problem. Now, if you guys would excuse us," she put a hand on Trish and Dez's shoulders and pushed them out of the room, "we've got a song to finish." Once they were outside, she closed the door and leaned up against it. Austin put his hands on his hips and sighed.

"So."

"So," Ally replied.

"Are you feeling guilty for putting all this responsibility on Trish like I am?" he asked, sitting down in one of the comfy chairs.

"A little," she said. "I'm not sure about hiring another manager, though. It would be another person to pay, and we don't have a ton of extra money. We have to book the venues and the trailer for equipment, rent the tour busses, pay the drivers...let's not forget I just graduated college and I'm still trying to pay off my student loans."

Austin nodded. "Believe it or not, my tours didn't make as much money when we were broken up. I pretty much broke even on the one I did when you were at college. And since we're not with a record company anymore, we have to find a way to pay for everything ourselves."

Ally grinned. "Yeah, I believe it. From what I heard, you weren't yourself after we broke up." she laughed a little. "I wasn't either. But seriously, I don't see why we can't pitch in— we can have Trish train us."

"What about those songs that we were going to finish?" Austin asked, a hint of disappointment in his voice.

"I'm sure we could make it work," Ally said, but she seemed unconvinced herself. The pair sat in silence for a minute or so, trying to figure out how they could make it all work. "Don't worry," Austin finally said. "We'll figure it out. We make a great team." Ally smiled, but started to chew on her fingernails. The tour wasn't for another few months, and she was already stressed. Never in a million years did she think that they would be back together and planning another tour so quickly after she finished college, but here they were.

Austin grabbed her hand and kissed it lightly. "Don't stress; we've got this." Ally smiled. How in the world did I get so lucky? she thought.

Just as Austin and Ally were sitting down at the piano bench, getting ready to keep working on the song, Dez burst in the room again. Austin and Ally both groaned.

"What now?" Austin asked. His voice rose, indicating that he was annoyed.

Dez frowned. "I'm just here to take pizza orders. Trish is ordering some since we'll probably be here a little while longer."

Ally glanced at her watch. "Oh, yeah, it's almost noon. I completely lost track of time." She gave Austin a look that asked how he could speak to his friend so harshly.

Austin smiled sheepishly. "Uh, I'm okay with whatever. Like, pepperoni or sausage?" When the gang ordered pizza, they usually got two: one for the guys and one for the girls. This way, each had some leftover for lunch the next day; or as Austin and Dez preferred, for breakfast —cold, of course.

"I was going to suggest the three meat," Dez said. "But if you want just plain pepperoni"—

"No, get the three meat! Get the three meat!" Austin exclaimed. Dez nodded and jotted it down on his phone.

"And what do you want, Ally?"

"What does Trish want?"

"She told me that it's your turn to decide," Dez responded. The girls usually had a harder time agreeing on a flavor than the guys, so they took turns picking.

"Uhm, okay. Well, in that case, I'll have the vegetarian, please." She turned back to her songbook. "Thanks, Dez." He nodded and left, closing the door behind him. The duo turned their attention back to their unfinished song.

"Okay, so I was thinking for this part, it could go like this." Austin played a few chords on the piano, and Ally harmonized with him on the lower keys. By lunchtime, they had gotten the melody figured out, and they decided to take a break and joined their friends downstairs. They both noted how miraculous it was that they weren't interrupted again.

When they got downstairs to the common area, the smell of pizza filled the air. Dez was munching happily on his second piece and Trish was on the phone in the other room, getting more impatient by the second. Austin reached for a piece of the three-meat and Ally looked around, confused.

"Where's Trish?" she asked.

"On a phone call. Again," Dez rolled his eyes. "You know, sometimes it seems like Trish doesn't want to hang out with me. And with you two in the studio all the time, I'm mostly just alone." He took another big bite out of his pizza.

"I'm sure it's not like that," Ally said, trying her best to cheer him up. "She's just really busy trying to get things set for tour. Plus, don't you have anything you could be working on?"

"Nah," Dez replied. "I just wish she'd let me help her, but she thinks I'm irresponsible."

"Gee, I wonder why she'd think that," Ally said sarcastically. It's not like you crash-landed a piano into my party."

"Or ruined the snack table at the Christmas party when you and Chuck were fighting in those fat Santa suits," Austin added.

"Or swung in on a literal vine and crashed into the music equipment at Trish's Quinceanera," mused Ally. "Shall we go on?"

"Nah, you're right. She's probably better off with me just sitting here...sulking...being miserable."

"Come on, buddy. Cheer up!" Austin exclaimed, trying to sound peppy. "Hey, you never told us how your trip to see Carrie went."

"Oh, it was great! She's living the dream out there. I wish I could stay out there with her for a while. I really miss her."

Austin and Ally exchanged glances. "What's stopping you?" Ally asked. "We want you to be happy, and if you stay here you'll be miserable. Why don't you go spend a few weeks out in LA?"

Dez's face lit up. "Wow, that's actually a pretty good idea. I mean, there's nothing for me here."

"What do you mean, 'nothing for you?' We're here!" Austin retorted.

"I meant there's nothing for me to do! Claws: (dun dun dun) just came out, and the chances of a sequel are pretty slim. If I went to LA, there would be more stuff for me to work on."

The three friends sat in silence, eating their pizza for about five minutes longer, while Trish yelled occasionally in the background. As much as Austin and Ally wanted Dez to stay, without anything to do or anyone else to hang out with, he tended to get on their nerves. And if he moved out to LA for a few weeks, he could still be back in time for the tour. One thing was for sure, though: Trish was in dire need of assistance. She came storming out of the recording studio about a minute later, her face scrunched and bright red. Ally was pretty sure she could see steam coming from her ears.

"Trish! So great of you to join us. Pizza?" Dez gestured to the boxes on the table and Trish shook her head.

"What's wrong? Need any help?" Ally took a bite of her pizza.

"I'm trying to book US Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, and it isn't going well. They sure don't like it when you try to book a big concert only three months in advance. Who came up with the idea that Minnesotans are always nice?" Trish scoffed. "Minnesota nice my ass..."

Ally just glanced at her feet. She never knew what to say in situations like this.

"Well..." Austin started. "Why don't you let me talk to them?"

Trish made a face. "No offense, Austin, but you're way too nice."

"Why not? I can be mean!" He argued, and Ally snickered.

"What?" he asked defensively. "You agree with her?"

"I mean, kind of."

Austin pouted, and Ally rubbed his shoulder. "It's okay, cupcake." She planted a kiss on his cheek and he grinned. "I like that you're not mean."

Trish made a face. "I think I'm going to throw up."

"How about this," Ally started to clean up the mess they had been making. "After you're done eating, we'll observe you doing your manager-y stuff and we can learn how to do it ourselves. That way we save money, and gain some knowledge about managing, too."

Trish paused for a minute, but reluctantly agreed. After the four friends finished dinner, they gathered around Trish while she called the US Bank Stadium back. She googled the number for event services and dialed it on her cell phone.

"Put it on speaker!" Ally whispered.

Trish rolled her eyes and hit the speaker button. Somebody picked up after about three rings.

"Thank you for calling Event Services at US Bank Stadium, this is Dana speaking. How may I help you?"

"Hi," Trish said. "This is Trish De La Rosa and I represent Austin Moon and Ally Dawson as their manager— I'd like to book US Bank Stadium for the 21st and 22nd of September."

There was a pause on the end of the line. "Okay, wonderful. So, this is for a concert, correct?"

"Yes, I'm working on booking their national tour." Trish smiled. Austin and Ally locked hands and she leaned on his shoulder.

"Okay, awesome. So, it's a little on the late side, but as long as you start to complete the paperwork right away, we should be able to guarantee the stadium for you." All four friends started cheering silently.

"Great, thanks." They waited a little while as the lady on the other end of the line shuffled through some papers. Finally, she spoke up.

"Alright, Trish—it was Trish wasn't it?"

"Yeah, it is," Trish responded.

"Just making sure," she said with a chuckle. "Anyways, I'm going to send these contracts in the mail for you. These just make sure that you and the performers understand the terms and conditions that we here at US Bank Stadium expect you to follow while you have the space rented out. One other thing that we should talk about now is the rental fee..." The call continued for about another twenty minutes while Trish worked to negotiate the rental fees. The friends stood wide-eyed as they watched her work her magic and bring the price down to one they didn't even think was possible. After the phone call, Trish hung up and let out a deep sigh.

"You see what I have to go through?" she asked. "I repeat this process every single time I book a show. It's exhausting."

"Well, let us help you," Ally pleaded. "I could do what you just did—seems easy." Austin nodded but said nothing.

"Well, I don't know..." Trish hesitated. "I guess I could teach you a few things and then walk you through how to do it yourself. I'm just nervous that you'll"—

"Mess up?" Dez finished.

"Well, when you put it like that..." Trish sighed.

"You don't have to worry about us, Trish." Ally interjected. "I'm a fast learner, and I'm sure Austin will catch on just as easily."

Trish nodded. "Maybe you're right. Maybe I will let you help."

"Awesome!" Austin exclaimed. "I've always wondered what it would be like to be a manager."

"Great," Trish said. "Here's the list of venues we still have to book." She handed Austin a list of about fifteen venues and contact numbers and his eyes widened. "I'm going to get started with hiring the crews. Ally, do you still have the number for your crew manager from your tour?"

"Yeah, it's in my phone, hold on." She turned to Austin. "Can you start calling those numbers or do you need my help?"

"I need help," Austin said without missing a beat. "I can't do this alone!"

Ally laughed. "Relax, I'll be right there. Okay, Trish, let me just go grab my phone from upstairs. I'll be right back."

Austin continued to stare at the list. How are we going to get this all done in time? he thought. The amount of contracts we had to sign for just one venue was insane...then if you times that by fifteen, that's...really insane!

When Ally got back downstairs, Austin was still staring at the paper. She giggled. "You want to get started with these?" He nodded, still not saying a word.

"Let's get started, then." Ally started to dial the first number while Trish went into the other room to call Ally's former crew manager. Dez had disappeared a while ago to call Carrie, which left Austin and Ally in the room alone.

By dinnertime, Ally had managed to call and book five more venues, all of which promised to send paperwork by mail within a few days' time. Trish had gotten in contact with the crew manager who worked on Ally's tour, and he had heartily agreed to work Austin and Ally's tour as well. Around 4:45, Dez came back downstairs.

"Where have you been?" Ally asked, jotting a note down in what Trish had deemed "The Tour Notebook." That was where they kept the schedule, to-do list, and everything else tour-related. The chances were, if somebody had a question about the tour, they would be directed to the Tour Notebook.

"Carrie and I had a really long conversation," Dez said. "I'm going to stay there until a week before tour."

"Wait, really?" Ally asked. "Good for you, Dez!"

"Seriously?" Austin looked less enthusiastic. "Why would you do that to me? That means I'll be stuck with her."

Ally frowned. "Stuck with me? Gee, thanks."

"Ally, I didn't mean it that way. I'm just gonna miss him, that's all." She didn't seem convinced.

Ally grabbed the Tour Notebook and stood up. "I'm going to go work on our new song— join me if you want to."

Austin sighed. "What did I do?"

"That's the thing with women," Dez said. "You can do absolutely nothing and they'll still get mad."

Austin nodded. "You know, I'm gonna miss having you around the next few months. Now I'm gonna have no one to hang out and play video games with."

"We can still play can't we? Just give me a call if you go online," said Dez.

"Good point," Austin replied. "So, when are you leaving?"

"In two days," Dez answered.

"You'd better go get packed then." Austin patted Dez on the back and Dez left the music factory with a faint smile and wave. He sat back down on the couch and stayed there for a few minutes until he remembered that Ally was in the practice room working on their new song by herself. He stood up, ran upstairs, and burst into the room. He saw Ally jump, which made him flinch.

"Ally."

"I thought you didn't want to be 'stuck' with me."

He approached his girlfriend, who was sitting at the piano bench. "Ally, look. I'm sorry. I was just bummed that Dez was leaving for such a long time. You know he's my second-best friend."

Ally narrowed her eyebrows. "I thought he was your best friend."

"He was," Austin said. "Until I met you."

Ally smiled. He sure knows the way to my heart, she thought. "Alright, I accept your apology. Now, do you want to work on this song, or what?"

"Actually, I had a different idea." He pulled out a bandana and put it over her eyes.

"Austin, wha"—

He laughed. "Don't worry, I'm not gonna kidnap you or anything. Just take my hand. I've got a surprise for you." Ally reluctantly obeyed. She trusted him, but she was a little suspicious at the same time. He gripped her hand and led her down the stairs, out to the parking lot, and into his car. Austin desperately hoped that she would like where he was taking her. It might not make up for their argument earlier, but he was crossing his fingers that it would make her happy.

If I know Ally, he thought, it definitely will.

What did you guys think? Like I said, a bit boring but it will pick up soon I promise. Also, side note with this ending here- it will come up in a future chapter so just keep this part tucked into your brain for a while! It's going to end up being a really important detail and significant to the plot. :) Love y'all! You know the drill- review, favorite, follow! *blows air kisses* -EJ