CW/TW: suggestive material, subtle mentions of sex

fyi, if you aren't comfortable reading this kind of material, feel free to skip this chapter! the next one will still make sense!

-ej

seven: conversations & close calls

the next day

The following afternoon, Austin, Ally, Trish, and Dez were all gathered around a table in front of "Scoop, There It Is," reminiscing about the show the previous night and gearing up for the one that evening. None of them could wait to hop on the bus that night and head to Jacksonville, where the tour would really begin.

"Oh, did you guys hear that one girl that screamed 'I love you Austin!' during 'Superchute'?" Dez asked, licking his cone. Instead of referring to it as the Superhero/Parachute mashup, they'd come up with the idea of blending the two words. Ally had pointed out that it was a little bit of a mouthful to say both names all the time, and after Austin had suggested the name, they'd started referring to it as "Superchute."

"You're going to have to be more specific," Austin replied, chuckling. "There was more than one."

"No, I think I know which one Dez is referring to," Trish said. "And if I remember right, it sounded like Austin's mom." Everyone except Austin chuckled at the idea of Mimi being a crazed fan of her own son. Sometimes, Mimi was too perky for her own good.

Austin shook his head incredulously. "Of course, it was my mom. I'd expect nothing less from my biggest fan." He paused, trying to get the image of Mimi standing amongst a crowd of teenage girls out of his head. "At least she won't be there the whole tour, though. It'll be nice to spend some time with my friends," he put his arm around Ally. "And my favorite girl."

Ally blushed and leaned into his shoulder. Trish rolled her eyes and Dez put his hand to his mouth, fighting back tears. "It's just so romantic."

Austin smiled. "We are pretty cute, aren't we?"

"I'll say," Ally responded, standing up from her chair and planting herself in his lap. She leaned into him closer and sighed. "I love love."

"Me too," Dez said, taking another bite of his ice cream. "That's why they call me the love whisperer."

"No one calls you that," Austin whispered back, and they all cracked up.

"No, seriously, I mean, what would you do if I hadn't given you that advice when we were playing video games?" Dez mused. Austin's eyes widened.

"Wh-what advice?" He tried to play it off like he didn't know, hoping that Dez wouldn't reveal anything. He and Ally hadn't talked about their future since his Miami show, and he'd played it off like he wasn't planning to propose until years from now. He was afraid she'd freak out if she knew he was planning to do it in the near future.

Dez scoffed. "You know what I'm talking about! The advice about ma"—

"—aking pancakes!" Austin finished, feeling tiny beads of sweat form on his brow. "Yeah, I asked Dez if I should share my secret pancake recipe with you, and he said yes!" Ally frowned. Austin only acted this way when he was hiding something. What was that all about?

"Um, that's great!" Ally exclaimed. "That'll be fun, we can use it to make breakfast when we're on tour." She hopped off of Austin's lap. "I have to use the restroom. Trish, come with me?"

Trish nodded. She'd gotten the sense that they were acting suspicious, as well. Ally dragged her friend around the corner and behind a potted plant, where they peered out at Austin and Dez.

"Well, they're certainly acting weirder than usual," Trish whispered. "I wonder what that was about?"

Ally shook her head. "I don't know, but this isn't like Austin to keep secrets from me. Do you think he's hiding something?"

"There's only one way to find out." Trish nodded, and Ally nodded back. They peeked through the leaves of the plant and tried to pick up on the boys' conversation.

"Dez!" They heard Austin exclaim. "You almost gave it away!"

"Gave what away?" Dez asked, clueless. "Your secret pancake recipe? Which, by the way, I didn't know existed... talk about secrets." He crossed his arms and pouted.

Austin ignored him. "No, the fact that I want to propose to Ally!"

Trish's eyes widened, and Ally felt herself getting lightheaded. Though they had talked about it that night at Austin's Miami show and in the car afterwards, she was still caught off guard for some reason. Ally braced herself against the wall as Trish looked at her with concern.

"You okay?" Trish asked. "You're as white as a sheet."

"Yeah... I think." She slowly slid down the wall until she hit the ground.

"Are you sure? You looked like you were about to pass out."

Ally glared at her. "Trish, I'm fine."

Trish put her hands up in defense. "I was just asking," she paused. "So... if you don't mind me asking, why are you caught off guard?" She furrowed her brow. "I thought you talked about this before Austin's show."

Ally sighed. "It's not that I'm caught off guard... I just didn't really take his comments about marriage that seriously. You know Austin... he loves to joke around and part of me thought that this was just another harmless joke. Plus, I didn't think he'd be planning to propose this soon! I always figured we'd wait a few years before even thinking about that type of stuff." Her eyes widened. Maybe this is connected to the dream somehow! she thought.

"What?" Trish asked, noticing her sudden moment of realization.

Ally pushed herself out from the wall. "Well, I had this dream the other night. It was super weird— Dez was in a unicorn onesie, holding French bread, you were a mime, and Austin was on one knee, proposing."

Trish raised one eyebrow. "So far I'm not hearing anything weird."

Ally ignored her. "But he was acting super awkward and nervous, and I couldn't tell where we were. It didn't feel like we were on the ground. As in, on top of a building."

Trish put her hands on her hips. "Hmm, that is a little weird." She looked over at Austin and Dez again, who seemed to still be arguing.

Ally shook her head. "You know what? It was probably just one of those dreams where nothing makes sense. I mean, how could there be any significance in that?" she asked, referring back to the dream.

Trish nodded in agreement. "Yeah, it was probably nothing. We should get back before they get suspicious though." Ally agreed, and they took a few steps back before emerging from the corner they disappeared behind a few minutes earlier.

"Hey," Ally said as nonchalantly as she could, sitting back down on Austin's lap, wrapping an arm around his neck and leaning her had on his shoulder as nonchalantly as she could. "What've you guys been talking about?"

"The pancake recipe," Austin replied. "Dez said his mom might want it, so I gave it to him."

Ally nodded. "So... Trish, what time are taking off tonight?"

Trish glanced at her watch. "It's up to you guys. Jacksonville is only a few hours away so we technically have all night to get there. We could probably play it by ear."

Ally shrugged. "That's true." Ally stood up and grabbed Austin's hand, pulling him up with her. "We should go get ready for the show tonight. You guys coming?"

"Yep," Trish responded.

"Right behind you." Dez stood up, followed by Austin and Trish. The four of them made their way back to the factory, where they had agreed to carpool over to the venue.

later that night

The four friends arrived back at the music factory at around 11:00, still reeling from the excitement of the show. The four of them grabbed their bags and followed Trish to where the bus was parked over on the west side of the mall. Ally yawned and checked her phone. It had been a long past couple of days and she was exhausted. I could go for a nap, she thought.

It didn't take long for them to find the tour bus; it was quite large and had both Austin and Ally's faces on the side, along with their logo. The driver was standing outside of the doors and smiled when he saw them coming. He looked to be in his mid-forties or early fifties, and he wore a baseball cap and sunglasses, despite it being pitch black outside.
"You must be Austin and Ally," he said, reaching out to shake their hands.

"That's us," Austin said. Each of them shook it, smiled, and nodded.

"Nice to meet you two. I'm Thomas, but most people call me Tommy. And you are?" he turned to Trish and Dez.

"I'm Trish and this is our friend, Dez. I'm their manager, I believe we spoke on the phone?" Trish greeted with a half-fake smile.

"Yes, I remember now," Tommy replied. "Well, everything is all set up in there. You can go ahead and make yourselves comfortable." They thanked him and ascended the steps of the bus, and immediately the memories of Austin and Ally's individual tours came flooding back. There was a small kitchen table with a cozy booth surrounding it right behind the driver's seat, and a mini flat screen sat across the aisle next to the brown leather couch. Down the hallway, there was a mini kitchen on the left and four bunks on the right. At the back of the bus was the bathroom and storage space. It was just as nice, if not nicer than the previous buses they had traveled on, and they spent a good five minutes just marveling at their home for the next few months.

"Isn't this nice?" Ally asked Austin, and he nodded.

"Yeah, it is." He plopped himself down on the couch and leaned his head back. "Ahhh..."

Ally sat down beside him and rested her head on his shoulder. "Feels nice to relax, doesn't it?"

"I CALL BEING THE FIRST ONE TO USE THE BATHROOM!" Dez shouted from the back of the bus, and they heard the door slam.

Austin chuckled. "This could be a long three months."

Ally smiled. "At least we're here together, that's all that matters." She closed her eyes and within minutes was out like a light. Austin grinned and lay his head on top of hers. Within minutes, they were both fast asleep.

Trish saw them sleeping and grinned. They might be grossly intimate sometimes, but they deserved a break because of the last few days they'd had. She even stopped Dez from grabbing the airhorn he'd brought for some odd reason to wake them up, and while he complained at first, he eventually just put it down and got ready for bed. Trish did the same and a half an hour later, all four of them were snoring happily and well on their way to Jacksonville, where the real adventure would begin.

Around 4:30 A.M., the bus pulled into the hotel. Everyone was still fast asleep, and once Tommy parked the bus, he turned the lights on low in hopes that it wouldn't wake Austin and Ally, who were still snuggled on the couch. A few minutes later, Ally woke up, and smiled when she realized that she was lying on Austin's chest. She still couldn't believe that this wasn't a dream— it sure felt like one. Ally wrapped her arms around him and pulled him closer. Realizing that they should probably start packing up their stuff and heading into the hotel, she tapped Austin lightly on the shoulder.

"Hey, babe?" she whispered. He fidgeted at the sound of her voice, then opened his eyes and squinted although the light was dim. Austin grumbled in response, and she giggled.

"Austin, we're here." He slowly opened his eyes all the wayand put his arms up to stretch, but accidentally punched her in the face.

"Ow..." Ally clutched her cheek, wincing a little in pain.

His eyes widened. "Oh, my... shit! Are you okay? I'm sorry, Ally..." He pulled her into a hug and she smiled.

"Don't worry about it, seriously. It wasn't even that hard." Austin sighed in relief and sank back onto the couch. "Well, we should wake Dez and Trish up. Trish has all the check-in information for the hotel." He nodded and they made their way to the bunks, where Trish and Dez were still passed out.

Austin pulled back the curtain in front of Dez's bunk and Ally pulled back Trish's, and they gently shook their friends awake. Dez was up within a few seconds, but Trish wasn't budging.

"Hold on, I have an idea." Dez tiptoed into the living area and grabbed the airhorn that he'd left on the kitchen table. Austin and Ally both groaned, knowing that what was about to happen would probably result in personal injury to one—or all— of them. They both let it happen, though, because they knew Dez would be the main target.

Dez smiled excitedly and put the bullhorn just a few inches away from Trish's head, while Austin and Ally covered their ears. He pushed the button and, as they'd expected, Trish's reaction was not good.

Her eyes shot open and she glared at Dez. She reached out, grabbed the airhorn from his hand, and threw it at him. "You asshole!" She rolled out of the bunk and immediately started after Dez, chasing him out the doors of the bus. Austin and Ally peered out the window at the dimly lit parking lot and chuckled as they watched Trish chase Dez all around the parking lot of the hotel. Ally noted that it must be quite a site for the hotel guests who were awake, to see two supposedly mature young adults chasing each other around the parking lot at 4 A.M. Then again, none of them were really that mature quite yet.

"We should probably go stop them," she said, unable to tear her eyes away from the window.

"Yeah," Austin agreed, and they were both silent. "Or... we could grab our luggage and wait in the lobby for them while they work it out on their own." Ally glanced at him and they both busted out laughing.

"If we do that, they'll be out there chasing each other until the sun comes up," she noted. "Which will be in approximately two and a half hours, if my math is right."

"Let's just go stop them," Austin said, and she followed him out to the parking lot, where Trish and Dez were still going at it. Each of them ran after their best friend and when they were finally able to get Dez and Trish to calm down, they made their way back to the bus to start unloading. Ally insisted that Dez apologize to Trish for waking her up with the airhorn and Trish apologize to Dez for swearing at him. Both were reluctant to apologize, but eventually conceded, as Ally had told them that the four of them were going to stay on the bus until Dez and Trish worked it out.

The four friends made their way inside the hotel, gaping at the fanciness of it. None of them had stayed somewhere quite as nice as this, and they marveled at how good of a job Trish had done picking out the hotel as they checked in at the front desk.

"Eh, it was nothing. I figured the first few days were going to be busy and you'd need to unwind somewhere classy and comfortable, so I booked the nicest rooms in all of Jacksonville." She grinned, obviously proud of the job she'd done. "I hope you don't expect the rest of the hotels to be this fancy, though, because they're definitely not," she said. They approached the front desk, and the hotel manager handed her a sheet of paper to fill out and sign.

"I didn't expect you to get this fancy of a hotel at all." Ally gaped at the stunning glass chandeliers hanging from the ceiling and the grand staircases to their left and right. On the floor sat stunning red carpet that looked like it belonged in a castle; and although it was nearly 4 a.m., there were a couple of guests milling about in the lobby.

Trish slid the piece of paper back toward the manager, who handed them their keys. "There is one catch, though," she said as soon as they started walking away from the desk. "Since this one is more money, we'll have to share rooms. At basically all of the other hotels, I got us our own rooms so we wouldn't get distracted by each other and can get full nights of sleep." She glanced at Austin and Ally, who were holding hands. Trish faked a cough. "Austin and Ally." Ally glanced over at her.

"You know," Ally said tiredly, fighting back a yawn, "normally I'd try to argue that, but... I'm too tired to try and come up with one."

A short elevator ride later, they reached the fifth floor and found their rooms after walking down the short hallway. Trish told them that their rooms were next to each other, so they'd technically be able to visit each other whenever they wanted. Ally and Austin grinned at each other.

"Don't get any ideas," Trish warned, sticking her key into the slot and entering the room. Dez did the same with his room key, which left Austin and Ally standing in the carpeted hallway, surrounding each other in a bear hug.

"I don't want to let go," Ally murmured into Austin's shirt.

"Me neither," he replied.

"So...let's not let go," Ally said, pulling away from his body, but still holding onto both of his hands. "Here, follow me." She opened the door to her hotel room and they both sauntered inside to find Trish passed out on one of the beds. Ally giggled.

"Well, that was fast."

"Here, let's go into my room," Austin suggested. He opened the connecting door and found Dez digging frantically through his suitcase, looking distressed.

Austin raised one eyebrow. "You looking for something, buddy?"

"Yeah, I can't find my lucky pants!" he exclaimed, whimpering.

"It's four in the morning, Dez! Why do you need them now?" Austin asked, exchanging looks with his girlfriend.

"I don't, I'm just setting out my clothes for tomorrow," Dez explained. "I could've sworn that I packed them." Austin put one hand on Dez's shoulder.

"It'll be okay, buddy. Go to bed and I'll help you find them in the morning." Dez nodded reluctantly and Austin and Ally couldn't help but laugh. They eventually agreed that both of them needed to get some sleep, and shared a quick kiss before Ally left through the connecting door.

about five hours later

The next morning (or rather, the same morning, just a few hours later), Trish was rudely awakened by Ally's alarm, which went off at 9. She grabbed one of her pillows and threw it in Ally's direction. It hit her square in the face and she groaned.

"Trish!" she exclaimed, sitting up immediately and giving her friend a hard stare.

Trish just groaned in response, and Ally shut her alarm off. She pulled out her suitcase and yanked some clothes for the day out at random. They wouldn't have to be dressed in their concert clothes until later, so she decided on a pastel yellow tank top and jean shorts. When she finished getting dressed and doing her hair, she came out of the bathroom to find Trish still snoring away. She smiled and shrugged, then knocked on the connecting door. Austin's voice yelled, "Come in!" on the other side, and she opened the door and made her way in.

"Good morning, beautiful," Austin greeted, pulling her into a side hug. Ally blushed.

"So, is that my pet name now?" she asked, unable to wipe the smile off her face.

"It can be," he replied, planting a kiss on her forehead. She blushed again, and they both stood there for a few seconds, staring into each other's eyes. Ally finally broke the silence.

"So, um, where's Dez?"

"Went to get breakfast," Austin responded. "I promised to meet him down there but"—

"But what?"

"But I think I have a better idea." With one swift motion, he bent down and kissed her. Ally closed her eyes and leaned into it, the kiss deepening and intensifying with every passing second. Austin put his hand on the back of Ally's neck, and she smiled and pulled away.

He couldn't help but laugh. "What?"

"Have I mentioned that you're a really good kisser?"

"I thought that was implied." He reached down to kiss her again, and immediately they both wrapped their arms around each other, using their bodies to deepen it further. Austin picked her up, wrapped her legs around his waist, and pushed her against the wall, being careful not to do it too hard. The last thing they needed was for Trish to wake up.

Their kiss became more heated and intense, both not wanting to let go. After about another minute, Austin picked Ally up again and brought her towards his bed, at which point Ally's mind started racing.

Wait...no, what? We're not— oh my gosh, we are! Ally pulled away, trying to catch her breath.

"Wow...that was...wow..." Austin breathed, until he noticed the look on her face. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, I just"—

"Don't want to go that far yet," Austin finished, looking disappointed. "I definitely knew that, 'cause you told me before my show, I'm just... sorry. I should have asked."

Ally shook her head. "No, it's fine, really. Don't be sorry. That was...pretty great. I just want to—"

"Wait until we're married, I know," Austin finished with a sigh. "I haven't forgotten about that conversation we had, don't worry."

Ally grinned. "I know you haven't." She flopped back on the bed and stared up at the ceiling. "So, would you say marriage is in the...near future?"

Austin sat down on the bed beside her. "Uhh, yeah." He grinned. "I've been thinking about this for a while now."

Ally sat up beside him, trying her best to pretend that she hadn't overheard Austin and Dez's conversation the night before. "Wait, really?"

"Oh, yeah," he wrapped his arm around her and she leaned on his shoulder. "For a long time, actually. Since I fake proposed to you in Home Ec. Class."

"Wait...that was over four years ago!" she giggled.

"I know," he said. "I guess I've always known you're the one I want to be with."

He's literally the sweetest, Ally thought.How did I get so lucky?

"So, what else have you thought about, lover boy?" she teased.

"Well, we'd buy a big house here in Miami so there's plenty of room for the octuplets," he said, and she giggled.

"What is it with you and octuplets?" she asked.

Austin paused, vividly picturing the dream he'd had all those years ago. "I dunno," he lied, shrugging. "I just want a lot of kids, so we can make a family band!"

Ally smiled. "I don't know if I want a lot of kids, but a couple, for sure. We can still have a family band with four or five of us, right?"

"Orrrr nine or ten." He smirked and Ally rolled her eyes. A few seconds later, Dez entered the room with three to-go boxes from the breakfast nook.

"Oh, hey, Ally." He nodded and turned to Austin. "Dude, what took you so long? They have pancakes down there!"

Austin's eyes widened. "Pancakes?" his voice squeaked a little and Ally laughed. She grabbed his hand.

"Let's go down and get some. I'll come with you."

"What about Trish?" Austin asked. "Shouldn't we wake her?"

"Trish isn't going to be up for another hour. Let's just go, just the two of us."

Austin shrugged. "Alright, let's go." They walked hand-in-hand down to the breakfast area, and Austin's eyes lit up when he saw the pancakes sitting in a warmer, in all their golden, fluffy glory. He took off running, dragging Ally with him and nearly knocking over other guests in the process. She finally let go of his hand and apologized to the guests, and then turned back to her boyfriend, who had since piled about five pancakes onto his plate.

"You look like a kid on Christmas morning," she joked, dishing up some cereal for herself.

"I wish it was Christmas," he mused, sitting down at a table and drowning his pancakes in syrup. "That would be amazing."

"Isn't this fun, though? We're on our first official tour as a duo! And our friends are here with us." She squeezed his hand, and he shrugged.

"Yeah. I can't wait until we can spend all our Christmases together." She could barely decipher what he was saying through his mouth full of pancakes, but understood the gist of it. She smiled and pulled out her phone to take a picture of him with a stack of cut-up pancakes on his fork, then uploaded it to her personal Instagram and added the caption: "My breakfast date 3 #TwoInAMillionTour." She showed it to him and he nodded in approval. Ally took a bite of her cereal and hit 'post.'

For another minute or so, she lovingly watched him devour his pancakes. However, their close call just minutes earlier hadn't left her mind. She pondered whether she should bring up the subject, especially in a breakfast area with other guests, when he spoke up.

"So, do you want to talk about...what happened earlier?" Austin put his fork down and glanced up at Ally.

Ally bit her lip. He literally read my mind. "I do at some point, but maybe we should go somewhere more...private?" she suggested. He nodded, standing up to throw his plate in the trash. They walked back up to their hotel rooms and decided to try Ally's room again, figuring that Trish would probably be awake by that time.

a few minutes later

Ally slid her keycard into the slot and they walked in to find Trish in the bathroom, curling her hair. Trish nodded, acknowledging that she'd seen them, and shut the bathroom door. Ally sighed and sat on the bed, Austin taking a place beside her.

"Do...you want to go first?" he asked.

"Sure," she replied, pushing herself farther back on the bed and crossing her legs. "So, first of all, I want to make it clear that I'm not apprehensive because it wasn't good. It was really good."

Austin smirked, leaning against the headboard and crossing his arms. "Why, thank you."

She ignored him. "But I think we need to learn to communicate with each other better, and set some boundaries, especially when we're spending all of our time together. I obviously don't want to go that far until we're married, and I'm uncomfortable with the premise of it because there are just so many things that can happen...like diseases... or, or pregnancy... and I'm definitely not ready to be a mom yet."

"I get it," Austin said. "I shouldn't have forced myself on you like that... I guess I just couldn't help myself. You're looking especially stunning today." Ally blushed, but shook it off, realizing that she couldn't let his cuteness tempt her into doing things she shouldn't be doing.

"That's not an excuse, Austin," Ally frowned, expecting a better answer. "You can't force yourself onto me and then flood me with compliments, and hope everything gets better." She stood up and walked to the other side of the room, Austin not far behind.

"Ally, wait! That's not what I"—

"Save it, Austin." Ally opened the connecting door and nodded toward his and Dez's room, indicating that he should probably leave. Austin walked slowly towards the door, but paused before walking through.

"Can we at least talk about this?"

Ally sighed and started to close the door, forcing him into his room. "I'll see you at sound check."

Can you say drama!? Who do you think is at fault, Austin, Ally, or both of them? Keep reading to find out what happens in the next chapter! Ily all! RFF (review, favorite, follow :))! *MUAH* - ej