six: fancy dinners & first shows
one month later
Almost a month had passed, and it was now the day before the first show in Miami. Dez had come back from LA a few days prior, and while he missed Carrie, he was glad to be back with his friends. With this friend group, a lot of things hadn't changed for them since high school; Austin and Ally were in love, Trish was still their manager, and Dez was ecstatic about living on the bus for three months.
"Man, I can't wait for tour!" Dez exclaimed as the four friends sat together eating dinner. Austin had gotten them reservations at one of the fancier restaurants in Miami to celebrate the start of the tour.
"Yeah, me neither!" Ally agreed, locking hands with Austin. "It'll be so great to be able to sing again, not to mention romantic." She pecked his cheek and he blushed.
"Yeah... I could go without all of "—Dez gestured to the happy couple—"That." Trish nodded in agreement.
"I'm with him on this one. That's gonna get old pretty soon." When she and Dez glanced back toward Austin and Ally, they were kissing.
"I think it just did," Dez said. Trish made a face.
"Geez, get a room."
Austin and Ally pulled away, looking embarrassed. "Sorry," Ally apologized, picking up her menu. "Hey Austin, do you want to split something? It's kind of expensive here."
Austin waved his hand. "Don't worry about it, Ally. Dinner's on me tonight."
Ally looked at him. "Since when are you so flashy about money?"
"Since I decided that I wanted to treat my friends to a fancy dinner," Austin replied. "This is a momentous occasion, and I want to spoil you guys." Ally and Trish exchanged glances.
Ally grabbed his hand and grinned. "But shouldn't you be saving some of your money for tour? We've talked about this, Austin. Tour is expensive, and we're not getting any money from a record label."
"Ally, relax. I want to do this! It'll be no big deal."
"Sorry to interrupt your little squabble, but I have to agree with Ally on this one," Trish said, glancing up from her menu, "We're already in debt from booking the venues and hotels. Plus, you did promise to pay me double since I had to plan everything on such short notice. You might want to split something just to be safe."
Austin's expression closely resembled a deer caught in the headlights. "Uh, yeah. Right."
"Don't forget about me!" Dez, who had been blowing bubbles in his water, put his hands up to do jazz hands, knocking the glass over and spilling the water all over the table in the process.
"Dez!" The other three yelled. Ally scrambled to clean up his mess with her cloth napkin. Trish muttered something about having to clean up after him for the next three months, and Ally shot her a look.
"Sorry..." he mumbled.
Ally shook her head. "Don't worry about it—accidents happen. Now as for the money," she said, placing the wet cloth next to her, "we should really try to save as much of it as possible for tour. We're practically broke right now, and we could use it to cover some of the rental fees."
Trish nodded. "Agreed. Don't worry about paying me until the tour's over. I've got just enough money left from my previous jobs to get me through the next few months. Now," she mused, turning her attention back to the menu in front of her, "Where were we?"
The four friends ordered their food and stayed for another few hours, making small talk, mostly about tour. It seemed like that was all they had to talk about these days. After they were done, Austin went back to Ally's house with her to "help" her pack, and Dez and Trish went their own separate ways. Tomorrow was the start of the tour, and they wanted to get a good night's sleep. Trish had said earlier in the day that it might be their only chance to get one since tour would be so busy, and Ally wholeheartedly agreed. Austin still insisted on coming back to help her, and, being unable to say no to his puppy eyes, Ally said he could. She knew he wouldn't be a big help, but every moment spent together was precious, according to her. After all, they had four years of catching up to do.
9:17 p.m.
Austin pulled into the driveway of Ally's house, where she had lived for almost her entire life, aside from her college years. It was a quaint little townhouse, with light brown shingles and a cream-colored garage door with four little windows at the top. A concrete path led to the front door, which sat on top of a small porch. The awning above was supported by two posts the same color as the shingles. He put the car in park and they walked, hand in hand, up to the front door.
"My dad is probably sleeping, so we have to be quiet," Ally whispered as she turned the knob.
"Sleeping?" Austin asked, stifling a laugh. "It's only 9:30."
"He's an old man," Ally explained, smiling. "He's the type of person who always goes to bed early— it's weird, I know."
"Why am I not surprised?" he responded. The two of them tried to suppress their laughter but couldn't help giggling as Ally opened the front door. After Ally had closed and locked it behind them, they made their way upstairs to Ally's bedroom, which was still full of boxes. It had been a long time since Austin had been in her room, mainly because after the first time he'd been in there, Lester had forbidden it. From then on, he'd required that they hang out in the living room or basement.
Ally dragged her suitcase out from under her bed and put it on top. She unzipped the zipper and sighed. "Where do I even start?"
Austin closed the door gently behind them and turned around, his eyes scanning the room. "I have no idea."
"Well, the good news is that we'll be staying in hotels once we get to the city, so we can do laundry there. But it'll cost money, which we don't really have much of." She started to grab boxes and open them, occasionally pulling a shirt or two out and placing it on her bed. "It's hard to pack clothes for a tour where the range of temperatures is literally going to be from thirty to ninety degrees...the Midwest doesn't fool around."
Austin, who had been peeking in the closet just because, turned around. "Wait, nobody told me I'd have to pack winter clothes!"
Ally finished folding one of her shirts and giggled. "Yeah, I mean we're going to Minnesota, and it's cold there." She paused. "And Chicago, and Indianapolis, and I think Columbus? Trish has the full schedule. Anyway, if you want help packing, I can help you tomorrow after the show."
Austin nodded. "Yeah, thanks. I'm gonna need it." She smiled and continued folding the remaining shirts on her bed, then grabbed the box full of shorts. It went on like this for the rest of the night, the two of them making small talk, trying not to wake her dad with their laughter and resisting the strong urge to start making out right then and there. They'd had one close call later in the night, but Ally put a stop to it and insisted that she had too much packing to do. At about midnight, Austin decided he should go home and get some sleep, and she stood at the front of the house, door wide open and a big smile plastered on her face. This is it, she thought. Tour starts tomorrow. After a few hours of tossing and turning unable to sleep because of her excitement for the months to come, Ally finally fell asleep.
"Ally, I have a question to ask you." Austin stood in front of her, the look on his face making it obvious that he was nervous for some reason.
She hesitated. "Ohhhkay?"
"When we met, you changed my life. For the better. And when we were apart, I was so miserable. I never want to lose you again, Ally." Austin got down on one knee and Ally gasped.
"Ally Edgar Dawson, will you marry me?"
"SAY YES!" a familiar voice yelled from her left, and she turned to see Dez in a unicorn onesie, holding a video camera in one hand and baguette in the other.
This had better be a dream, she thought.
Ally stood there, in shock, unsure of what to say. "Uhhh..."
Then again, this was all pretty realistic. Dez had a fascination with onesies.
"Ally?" he asked.
"Yes?"
Just when Ally thought this couldn't get any weirder, Trish appeared in what appeared to be mime clothing. Her face was lathered with white face paint, and she was wearing a beret. She smiled, held her hand out in true Trish fashion, and with the other hand held up a sign that said, "Guess who got a job as a mime?"
Ally narrowed her eyebrows. What is happening?
"Ally? Ally!" he said, and she became really confused.
"What?" Her heart began to beat faster and faster. She was certain that it was going to pop out of her chest...
"Ally, wake up! You're gonna be late, sweetie." Ally's eyes sprung open to see her dad standing right above her. She let out a sigh. "Oh, it's you."
Lester frowned. "Well, good morning to you, too."
"No, it's not that. I just had a really...I don't know how to describe it...weird dream?"
Her dad smiled. "Haven't we all? Hey, I've gotta get going, but I figured you'd want to get up early to keep packing and whatnot. I'll see you before the show?"
She grinned. "You know it. Bye, dad." She pulled out her phone and found five messages from Trish, waiting to be read. She glanced over them and quickly became overwhelmed. Trish was asking when they'd agreed to meet at the music store again, and that they had access to the arena starting at noon, and that sound check was at five o'clock sharp and not to be late or she'd kill her...among other things. Touring was fun, but it also was a lot of hard work. Ally wouldn't trade it for the world, but she wished that she'd had more time to relax over these past few months.
Ally tried her best to focus on getting ready, but her mind was still stuck on that dream. It wasn't the onesie that threw her off guard, because that was fairly normal, even for Dez. It was the bread—and the fact that Trish was a mime. She shook her head. She wasn't about to let this confusing dream get in the way of her first show.
After getting dressed, she gave Austin a call to make sure he was awake. He picked up on the first ring.
"Morning," Austin greeted, and she could tell that he was eating from the way his voice was muffled.
"Morning."
"Are you ready?"
"Absolutely," Ally smiled, and glanced at the clock in the kitchen. It was a quarter to ten. "So, should I pick you up and then we can carpool to the factory? I think Trish is already there talking to the crew—knowing her, she's already got an entire schedule drawn out for the day."
"Sure."
"Sounds good," she said. "I'll be there in ten."
"Can't wait," Austin replied. Ally hung up the phone, grabbed her keys, and strolled out to her car, happier than she'd felt in a long time.
Ally backed out of her driveway, peering over her shoulder because she had trust issues when it came to backup cameras. As she drove down the road, she realized that she'd been to his apartment so many times this summer that she could let her mind wander for ten minutes and still somehow end up in the parking lot of his building. Still being careful to stop at every stop sign and double check that there weren't any cars coming, she found herself falling deeper into the void of her own mind with each passing minute. When she finally reached Austin's building, she texted him to let him know she was there, and he sent her an overly excited response, with many smiley and kissy emojis. Ally grinned and looked up to see him walking towards the car.
She rolled down the window. "Hey, you."
He came up beside her and kissed her on the cheek. "Hey, yourself."
She giggled. "Are you ready to do this?"
"Hell, yeah!" He ran over to the passenger seat and Ally rolled up her window. Austin sighed. "Wow, it's finally here. The first show of our first tour as an official duo." Neither of them could suppress their happiness.
"Yeah. It's so surreal; it feels like we were at the Helen show just yesterday and now...here we are." They sat in silence for a few seconds before Ally put the car in gear and they took off for the music factory. By this time, it was around 10:00, and both knew that Trish was expecting them. The couple made small talk until they reached the mall parking lot and waltzed into the factory to find Trish sitting on the couch in the lobby, typing something on her computer— probably an email, Ally assumed.
"Well, look who finally showed up," she said when she noticed them walking in.
Ally checked her phone. "We're only, like, three minutes late."
"I know," Trish replied, stifling a yawn. "Anyway, I typed out a schedule for the day so you know where to be and when." She handed them both a sheet of paper and they glanced over the schedule. "The band and the backup singers and dancers are going to meet us at the venue at noon."
"Sounds good," Ally said, setting the piece of paper down on the table in the middle, and Austin nodded in agreement, putting his arm around Ally's shoulder.
"Can't wait."
Moments later, Dez walked into the factory, dragging a huge suitcase. The other three gave him skeptical looks as he heaved the suitcase on top of the end table, panting.
"I'm not sure I want to know." Trish went back to scrolling on her phone. Austin raised his eyebrows.
"Whatcha doin', Dez?" he asked.
"I need your guys' help choosing my outfits for the tour," Dez replied nonchalantly, unzipping the suitcase. Ally's eyes widened when she saw the array of crazy patterns and designs on the clothing inside of it. Dez pulled out two pairs of pants, one zebra-striped and one with colorful polka dots.
"Is 'none of the above' an option?" Trish asked, not bothering to look up.
"Nope!" he replied. Austin and Ally sat down on the couch, both anxious to get to the venue. But Dez wouldn't take no for an answer, and they reluctantly helped him narrow down the outfits he chose, mainly so he could bring a smaller suitcase and there'd be room for the rest of their stuff on the bus.
The next few hours were chaotic, to say the least. Austin, Ally, Dez, and Trish, and the loading crew loaded up all the equipment needed for that night's concert, including Austin's guitar and Ally's grand piano, into the truck parked out back. The band was bringing their own equipment for the most part, but there were a few things that they needed to bring from the factory. Before long, they had made it to the arena with no major accidents (although, because Dez was helping, there were a few close calls) and plenty of time to spare. The crew had arrived and set everything up in the nick of time and everything was going according to plan. At about 2:30, Austin and Ally took the stage to do their first sound check.
"Alright, I'll have you two sing separately first, then together," their head sound manager Mike said, his voice echoing through the entire stadium and into the air above.
"Wow, he sounds just like the announcer at the Dolphins games," Austin remarked. Ally just smiled and rolled her eyes. He was too cute for his own good.
"Which song first?" she asked him through the microphone. Her voice boomed across the field, and they both winced as feedback came right after.
"Whatever showcases you and Austin separately and then together," he replied.
Ally turned to Austin. "So, 'You Can Come To Me'?" he nodded and told the band which song they were doing, then grabbed his guitar. He fiddled with the aux cord for a bit and strummed a few chords until they heard it through the speakers. He nodded, and Ally nodded back.
When Austin started to play the first chords, Ally was immediately taken back to that night at the Jungle Café. She started singing, and when she looked over at Austin, he was looking back at her. He came in with his part of the intro and she couldn't suppress her smile.
And even when it hurts the most, try to have a little hope
'cause someone's gonna be there when you don't... when you don't...
Austin and Ally locked eyes and didn't let go of each other's gaze for the rest of the chorus. Both were undoubtedly thinking about the other and how far they'd come since they'd sang this song for the first time. It so accurately described their relationship, and neither of them could think of a better way to close out their concert than with the song that had made them fall in love.
If you wanna cry, I'll be your shoulder
If you wanna laugh, I'll be your smile
If you wanna fly, I will be your sky
Anything you need, that's what I'll be
You can come to me
"Okay, that's good." Mike interrupted them and they stopped, both having forgotten he was even there. There was a pause as he adjusted the microphone levels and asked the band to play so he could adjust their sound as well.
Austin and Ally ran through a few more songs to make sure the levels were just right before breaking for an early dinner around 4:00 with Trish and Dez. They headed over to a buffet place not far from the stadium, which Trish and Ally were hesitant about. Initially, Trish was worried that the paparazzi and fans might not let them eat in peace, and Ally was concerned that Austin would go crazy with the food and get sick before the show. Eventually, though, Trish realized that getting everything to go and bringing it back would put their minds at ease— so that was exactly what they did. Before long, it was 6:00, which meant the doors were already open. Austin and Ally sat in their separate makeshift dressing rooms, getting their hair done and makeup touched up, hardly believing that this was real. At 6:30, the opening act went on and they peeked out of their dressing room to take a look at the size of the crowd. Both of their jaws dropped to the floor when they saw the packed house.
"Wow," Austin breathed. "That's..."
"A lot of people," Ally finished. "I don't think I've ever performed for a crowd this big before."
"Hey," Austin grabbed hold of her hand. "There's nothing to be nervous about. I'll be right next to you the whole time."
"Not the whole time, actually, just"— she paused when she realized that he meant he'd be next to her metaphorically, not physically. "Thanks." She smiled and they retreated back into their dressing rooms to do some vocal warm ups. They ran through "You Can Come to Me," "Don't Look Down," and the Superhero/Parachute mashup before they were directed to the wings of the stage. Austin grabbed his guitar and slung it over his shoulder, then grabbed Ally's hand.
"Are you ready?" he asked, looking back.
She nodded hesitantly, not sure if she meant it. Her stomach was already doing flips and everything inside of her was telling her that she needed to sit down.
"You've got this," he assured her, and pecked her on the cheek. She grinned but her stomach was doing somersaults and she felt like she was going to be sick. A stage manager handed them each microphone and said they had two minutes until they had to be onstage. Ally let go of Austin's hand and went to sit down on a stool nearby. He noticed and followed her over, then kneeled down beside her.
"You okay?"
"Yeah, I am. I just have some pre-show jitters, that's all."
"You look really pale," he observed, and Ally shot him a look.
"I said I'm fine. I just need some water and I'll be good."
"Are you sure?" Ally saw the concern in his eyes and found it absolutely adorable.
"Yes, I'm sure. Can you just go grab me some water?" Austin nodded and disappeared, returning with a water bottle a minute later. By the time he got back, the stage manager was urging them to get out onstage, but Austin refused to go out until he was sure Ally would be okay. He made her drink the entire bottle, despite her argument that she'd probably have to use the bathroom in five minutes' time. Austin didn't care. He wanted to be absolutely sure that Ally didn't get sick or hurt; this was their first concert together and he wanted it to be perfect.
After their names were announced and the cheers of the crowd became overwhelmingly loud, Austin and Ally finally walked out onstage, hand-in-hand, and unable to suppress their smiles. The crowd started chanting, "Auslly! Auslly! Auslly!" which made them both laugh.
"I still think shooting them out of cannons would have been cooler," Dez commented from backstage.
"Don't make me shoot you out of a cannon," Trish replied.
"What's up, Miami!" Austin yelled into his microphone and the crowd roared in response. They gazed out over the audience and saw many fans holding up signs that said things like "#Ausllyforever," "We love you, Austin," and "There's no way we could make it without you!" on them.
"Are you guys ready to rock?" he asked, and the crowd cheered even louder.
"We might need some help with this first one, because I think I forgot the words." He winked at Ally. "Do you think you can do that?" Of course, the crowd went crazy.
"Hit it, guys!" he said to the band, and the drummer counted "one, two, three, four!" He and Ally started clapping the beat to "Can't Do it Without You, encouraging the crowd to clap along.
"Say it with me!" Austin shouted, and began to sing:
When the crowd wants more, I bring on the thunder
'cause you've got my back and I'm not going under
You're my point
You're my guard
You're the perfect chord
And I see our names together on every billboard
As Ally joined in, she couldn't help thinking that their names were on every billboard now. This was real. They were really performing together on their first tour as an official duo. Neither one had to think about the words because they had practiced the song so much in the past few months, and all they could think about was how surreal this moment was. They fed off the crowd's energy and by the time they got to the superhero/parachute duet, it seemed like time had flown by. Austin strummed the opening chords to "Superhero" and within moments, most of the crowd had taken out their flashlights.
Sometimes love's a scary place, it's like standing in the dark
Flying through the universe, tryna fix your broken heart
It's ok to let it go, you don't have to be so brave
Take a chance, someone else is gonna swoop in and save the day
Ally gazed out at the crowd and barely entered in at the chorus on time. She found herself feeling so happy that the crowd enjoyed their music as much as she and Austin did.
You don't have to face your fears alone
'cause whenever you're in trouble
I know...
Let me be—
There's no gravity when you're next to me
You will always break my fall like a parachute—
Never be afraid if you fall, I'll carry you away from it all
Let me be your superhero, let me be—
My fall, like a parachute
They went on like that for the rest of the song, taking turns singing verses of their respective songs and coming together at the chorus. Ally had to give props to Austin— shockingly enough, it was his idea, and once they had worked out the kinks, she had agreed that they needed to perform it. Besides the slight tempo difference, the two songs went together great and she couldn't say no.
Once they'd finished Two in a Million and the crowd begged for more like they'd predicted, they came back out to perform You Can Come to Me. The fans switched on their flashlights yet again and Ally giggled. She and Austin sat down on the stools that had been placed upstage and she sighed into the microphone.
"Before we perform this last song, I'd just like to say that you guys have been, like, the best crowd ever!" The audience roared, and she and Austin smiled.
"No, but seriously," Austin said, "thank you so much for coming out tonight, we really appreciate you guys—you don't even know. Without you, we wouldn't be where we are today, so thank you, thank you, thank you, from the bottom of our hearts."
"This last song—and by last, I mean last... like, we literally don't have any other songs—is very special to Austin and I, and whenever we sing it, it brings me back to many, many years ago when we sang at the Jungle Café. How many of you remember that?" Ally asked, referring to the video of the performance that Dez had put on YouTube. The next day when they checked the web, it had literally gotten "a billion hits."
The crowd responded with an overwhelming "Yes!" Ally chuckled. "Alright, without further ado, here's 'You Can Come to Me.'"
When they started the song, Ally felt as if her heart might explode with happiness. Long after the concert, she was still reeling from the excitement of the night. Austin felt the same way. He saw the way that Ally looked at him during their duet and it only made him more sure that she was "the one." No other girl had looked at him that way before; Not Kiera, not Cassidy, not anybody (with the exception of Brooke, but that was a whole different story). He lay in bed that night, his heart and mind racing, practically bursting with excitement and anticipation of the surely adventurous months to come.
I'm not crying, you are :') Thanks for reading everyone, and remember RFF— review, favorite, follow! :)- ej