twelve: cancellations & quarantine

the next day, 9:45 a.m.

Ally woke up with a huge smile on her face, still reliving the events from the night before. She couldn't believe that she was actually engaged to the love of her life. Austin was still swooning, too—he'd woken up at about the same time and texted his parents to let them know Ally said yes. He knew that his mom would be dying to know.

Austin: morning, mom. had a great night last night. b4 u ask, ally said yes! i can call her my fiancée now :) it'll be awesome when i can call her my wife. so excited. I'll call later. Love u ❤️

Not even a minute later, he received a text back. Austin chuckled as he read it— he could practically hear his mom screaming with excitement through the phone.

Mimi: AAAAHHHH! CONGRATS! :D I've been on the edge of my seat over here! Call me when you get the chance! I want to talk to Ally, too! Love you!

Austin shut his phone off and set it down on the bed. He decided to pull on some clothes and head over to Ally's room, since they still had a while before they needed to be at the venue for the concert that night. For now, he just wanted to get breakfast with his fiancée and relax a bit.

Holy crap. Fiancée. He still couldn't believe he got to call Ally that.

Ten minutes later, he knocked on Ally's hotel room door. He was much more relaxed than he had been the night before, and Ally could tell, too, when she opened it to find him standing there. They greeted each other with matching grins, and Austin immediately pulled her in for a hug. Ally shut the door and sighed wistfully.

"How'd you sleep, fiancé?"

Austin chuckled. "Not too bad. Although, I was still reeling from the excitement of everything and didn't actually get to sleep until about one a.m.," he kissed her forehead and they made their way over to the bed, which Ally had just finished making. "How about you, fianceé?"

Ally shook her head. "Besides that brief, twenty-minute nap I took on the Uber ride back to the hotel, I didn't sleep a wink. It was from excitement, though, if that makes a difference."

Austin nodded and put his arm around her. "Have you told your parents yet?"

Ally's smile became wider. "I was waiting for you so we could FaceTime them and tell them together." She pulled out her phone and hit her mom's contact. Within seconds, Penny's face popped up.

"Hi, guys!" Penny greeted, and Austin and Ally waved back.

"Hi, mom!" Ally exclaimed.

"Hey, Mrs. Dawson," Austin said, grinning at his fiancée's sudden burst of energy.

"We just wanted to call and say hi...and also share some exciting news," Ally looked over at Austin, who gave her a little nod. "Last night, Austin took me on this amazing date to the Eiffel Tower— we ate at the restaurant there, which was delicious, and then we went out onto the balcony where there was this lovely string quartet"—

"We're engaged!" Austin blurted. Ally gave him a light punch in the shoulder while Penny freaked out on the other end of the line.

"Oh my—congratulations!" Penny shrieked, and the couple burst into a fit of laughter, pulling each other closer.

"Thanks," she replied, gazing up at Austin. "I'm really, really happy." Austin gave her a peck on the lips.

"We're really happy," Austin corrected. Penny watched the lovebirds gaze into each other's eyes, getting slightly emotional at the sight of her daughter and future son-in-law.

"I'm so happy for you guys," she finally said. A second later, Penny cleared her throat. "Well, I should probably let you go, but congrats again!" Austin and Ally waved goodbye to Penny, and Ally hung up the phone. Austin pulled Ally closer and kissed the top of her forehead, and they sat there for another minute, soaking up the moment.

A few moments later, Austin suggested that they call his parents to tell them the news. As he suspected, Mimi was over the moon (pun intended) at the news, even though she had already found out from the text he sent her just minutes earlier. Ally counted about seventeen times that she congratulated them, before Mike made his short appearance in front of the camera, telling them congrats before disappearing to grab a beer out of the fridge. Austin and Ally exchanged looks, grabbing hands out of habit as Mimi went on and on about what they should do for their wedding (she suggested a summer theme, and they should of course have it on the beach because Austin loves the beach, and ooh, they should do this song for their first dance because it's a classic and so pretty!). Once Austin finally managed to get Mimi to stop talking long enough to say goodbye and hang up the phone, Ally flopped back on the bed, sighing.

Austin lay down next to her, and they both stared up at the ceiling. "Whatcha thinking about?" he asked after a few silent seconds had passed.

"A lot of things," she replied, similar to how he had responded the night before, "But mostly how lucky I am, and how surreal this all is." She turned her head towards him. "In the best way possible. I'm still trying to process everything and..."

"It's a little overwhelming," Austin finished, giving her a knowing smile. "Yeah, I know what you mean."

Before they could say anything else, there was a knock at the door. Austin jumped up off the bed and walked over to the door with a skip in his step. He pulled it open to find Dez and Trish standing there, with worried looks on their faces.

"Hey, guys!" he greeted. His smile faded when he saw their expressions. "Is everything okay?"

Trish bit her lip. "You guys are going to want to see this. Follow us." Austin frowned and motioned for Ally to join him. She slipped on her flip-flops and rushed out the door hurriedly, only seconds behind her fiancé.

"Trish, what's this about?" Austin questioned as Trish slid her key into the slot on her hotel room door. She said nothing, and held the door open for her friends as they piled into her room and sat down on the bed.

In front of them on the TV was the local news channel, but it was the headline that made both of their jaws drop to the floor.

DEADLY NEW DISEASE, CORONAVIRUS, QUICKLY SPREADS TO OTHER PARTS OF EUROPE

Citizens Are Encouraged to Stay Home in Order to Mitigate Risk of Transmitting New Disease, Coronavirus (COVID-19)

Trish stood next to the TV, watching the expressions on her friends' faces. Austin had grabbed Ally's hand out of habit, and they were both staring at the TV, their faces unreadable. Finally, Ally spoke up.

"Wow, I didn't know it had gotten this bad," she noted. "I've heard about it, but I...I didn't know it was deadly."

"This is all news to me," Austin said, his voice emotionless. "When did the outbreak happen?"

Trish shrugged. "Sometime in January, I think? Frankly, I'm surprised we were even allowed into the country."

"So, what does this mean for our tour?" Austin asked hesitantly, afraid of her answer. He was confused, a little frustrated, but most of all, caught off guard. This was the first time he'd heard about the virus.

Trish shook her head. "Well, I don't know. As your manager, the only thing I can do is persuade you to make a decision one way or the other. You guys are the ones who have to make that call."

Austin's heart dropped. He looked down at his and Ally's hands, which were still gripping each other tightly. He had a gut feeling that Ally was going to try convince him they needed to cancel the rest of the tour. He looked up at Ally, whose eyes were brimming with tears. "What are we gonna do?" he whispered.

Trish sighed. "Like I said, it's your guys' call. I'll let you two talk it over." Ally looked into Austin's eyes, which were starting to fill with tears now, too. Not bothering to say anything else, she embraced him in a hug. Ally rubbed her fiancé's back lightly, and she felt tears drop onto her shirt. She'd never seen Austin cry— not when they broke up, or even when he hadn't been allowed to perform. Deep down, she knew what they had to do, and it broke her heart to think about seeing Austin like this long-term. As he demonstrated at every concert they played and every meet and greet they had, he'd never been in it for the money—it was all for the fans. They were the reason he loved playing music so much.

Trish made her way to the other part of the room to communicate with the band, backup dancers, and crew while Dez flipped through the pictures he'd taken the previous night on his camera. He originally wanted to show them all to Austin and Ally that morning, but this news had put a damper on things. Instead, he looked at them himself until Trish came back into the main part of the room, looking visibly tense.

Austin wiped his eyes with his sleeve, looking up at his fiancée again. She pursed her lips, thoughts swirling around in her brain. She knew what they had to do, but she had no idea how to break it to Austin.

Austin pulled Ally into another hug and they sat there, watching the footage from the hospitals that the news channel was showing— doctors wearing protective masks and scrubs from head to toe, patients on ventilators, struggling to breathe, hospital emergency wards packed to the brim with patients—it was all too much for them to handle. How could this have escalated so quickly? Ally began to feel more scared than anything.

A million thoughts swirled around in Ally's head, and she went from scared and confused to frustrated within a matter of seconds. Everything had been going so well—they were selling out venues left and right gaining more social media followers by the day— not to mention their engagement. Their fans would be devastated at the news, and that made her heart shatter.

Ally broke the silence after a few minutes, still trying to take everything in. She shook her head as her eyes stayed glued to the screen. "I don't know how we can keep playing concerts when there's a virus going around," she whispered. She looked to Austin, placing her hand on top of his. "I think we're gonna have to cancel."

Trish pressed her lips once again and nodded slowly. "I think that's for the best. From what I've heard, this virus is too contagious to play sold-out concerts. We should probably book our flights back to Miami."

Austin groaned. "This sucks. I was really looking forward to telling our fans that we're engaged tonight." Ally grabbed his hand, stroking the top of it with her thumb.

"I know it does, Austin. I'm bummed out, too, but the safety of our fans should come first. Besides, we can still announce the big news...it just can't be onstage." Trish's frown quickly turned into a smile as an idea popped into her head.

"You're... you're absolutely right! Here, Ally, give me your phone. You guys are going to make that announcement right now—we can post it on your social media pages!"

Ally grinned. "Great idea, Trish," she glanced over at Austin, who still looked bummed out, "I think that's the perfect distraction. We can go live on our Austin & Ally page and make the announcement to everyone in real time."

Ally rubbed Austin's back. "Everything's going to turn out fine," she whispered in his ear. He cracked a small smile.

"I sure hope so."

A few minutes later, once Dez had helped Trish figure out how to start an Instagram live, she pressed the button and the pair waved cheerfully. Austin's arm was wrapped around his fiancée, and she held his hand in hers as she leaned on his shoulder.

"What's up, guys?" Austin greeted. "It's Austin and Ally here, and we have some big news to share."

Ally glanced up at him and asked, "Should I just say it?"

He shrugged. "I don't see why not."

"Wait, wait, wait, let's do it together, ready? One, two three..."

"We're engaged!" the pair yelled in unison, and Trish chuckled behind the camera. What a bunch of dorks.

"I know you guys will want to know more details, but we'll have to save those for later. We kinda have a lot on our plate right now, but we'll both post more about it later," Ally concluded, glancing up at Trish, who was nodding, indicating that they could announce the news about their tour. They had discussed it briefly and agreed that they should tell their fans about the cancellation of the rest of their tour sooner rather than later. She looked up at Austin, whose smile had turned into a frown, and cleared her throat. "Um, there's something else you guys should know."

"We found out this morning that the virus is spreading rapidly, and while we were initially mad and upset about it, we realized that this is a very real thing and something to be taken seriously," Austin continued. "With that being said, we do unfortunately have to cancel the rest of our world tour."

"We're absolutely devastated about this, and we'll be sure to work with the vendors to get you guys full refunds if you had tickets to the international tour," Ally said, fidgeting with her hands, "In the meantime, please please stay safe, stay home, wear a mask, social distance...do what you need to do. We'll be posting more tour pictures on our socials when we get back to Miami."

"Thank you guys so much for all of your support— we truly couldn't make it without you," Austin finished with a smile. "We hope to be back onstage again soon, but until then, stay safe. We love you guys." Trish ended the live and nodded, immediately going back over to her computer. She spent the next couple of hours getting last-minute tickets back to Miami while the rest of them started to pack their bags. Dez mentioned that he wanted to show them the engagement photos he'd taken the night before, but Austin and Ally both agreed to wait until getting back to Miami to look at them; with the world shutting down and a deadly virus spreading rapidly, the timing just didn't feel right.

Somehow, Trish had managed to get them flights back to Miami for a week later, and the four friends spent the rest of the day and that week packing and watching the news for updates. Ally insisted they all get masks to wear on the plane, and she'd taken a quick trip to the store to get some. There wasn't a mask mandate in France just yet, but she knew there eventually would be, and trusted science more than her own instincts—rather, her friends' instincts. Everyone had also taken the time to call their parents and update them on the situation, which seemed weird, given than they'd just shared good news with them that morning. After speaking to their parents, everyone decided to quarantine together at the music factory upon arrival back in Miami, just to be safe. Mike, Mimi, and Lester promised to have sleeping bags and food waiting for them when they got there, which gave everyone peace of mind. Still, nothing could have prepared them for the months ahead.

One week later, the 'fearsome foursome' grudgingly boarded the plane back home and braced themselves for the long flights ahead. As expected, Lester had dropped off four sleeping bags, a plethora of pillows, and more nonperishable food items than they would ever need. Ally suspected it was a result of his couponing habits. All four of them collapsed on the furniture in exhaustion, still recovering from the series of long flights. Nobody said much those first few hours they were back in Miami— there wasn't a lot to say, anyway. Austin and Ally both grabbed a sleeping bag and a couple of pillows and headed up to the practice room to work on some new songs. There's no time like quarantine to boost your creativity, right?

Wrong. After a few hours, the pair finally accepted the fact that they weren't going to get anything done and set up their sleeping bags. Dez and Trish were both still downstairs working, which gave the couple some much-needed alone time. Ally started to lay out her sleeping bag and Austin followed suit.

"You know," she started, "Out of all the places I imagined that we'd be in a week, I definitely didn't expect it to be Miami." She sat down on her sleeping bag and sighed. "Everything just happened so fast. It was like, one minute we're celebrating our engagement in the most romantic city in the world, the next we're back in Miami quarantining for two weeks."

Austin nodded, yawning. "Yeah. I still don't even know what this virus is. All I know is that it cancelled our tour and I don't get to perform for...who knows how long?" he paused, picking up his phone. "This all just sucks."

Ally reached for his hand and squeezed it. "I know. We're gonna get through it together, though." A thought came to her head and Ally perked up a little. "You know what...this is the perfect opportunity to do some research!"

Austin groaned. "I thought you graduated, Ally! Besides, this is no time for homework."

"No, silly. Research for our wedding! You do still want to marry me, right?"

"More than anything." he grinned. "Okay, so what do we need to figure out?" Ally stared at him blankly.

"What do you mean, 'what do we need to figure out?' Only everything! The location, the menu options, the guest list..." her voice trailed off. "We're gonna need some help."

Austin nodded vigorously. "You can say that again." Ally grabbed her computer and headed back down the stairs.

"Wait, where are you going?" he called after her, furrowing his brow. Austin jumped up and bounded down the stairs and into the dance studio, where Trish was wearing a smug look on her face.

"Guess who got a job as your wedding planner?" She held her hands out in true Trish fashion, half-grinning, half-smirking. Ally beamed at her fiancé.

"Isn't this great? Now we'll have something to talk about the next few weeks besides the fact that we can't perform. Plus, it's Trish! She knows what we want, and she'll get it for us at a lower cost." Austin smiled seeing his fiancée so happy. He nodded.

"Cool. I look forward to doing business with you." He stuck out his hand and Trish shook it.

"Me, too." She turned to Ally. "Alright, the first thing we have to do is decide on a date and a venue. Since we don't know if any indoor spaces are going to be available because of this whole virus thing, my suggestion is that you do something outdoors."

"Ah, I see. That way there will be less risk of transmitting the virus," Ally nodded. "Good idea, Trish."

"And if we do it outside, I can have my bouncy house!" Austin exclaimed. "I can't wait!"

Ally frowned. "Who said you were getting a bouncy house?"

"You don't remember that from our Home Ec wedding?" Austin asked. "I said either a bouncy house or a petting zoo...and then you shut both ideas down. Before you do it again, though, I found the perfect one! Here, look at this," Austin pulled up a photo of a white bouncy house, decorated with green and white flowers across the top. It was completely open in the front and there was an entire wedding party, including a bride and groom, frozen in midair. "Doesn't it look like they're having fun?" he asked. Ally grinned at his childlike innocence.

"It does," she said hesitantly. "How much does it cost, though? This is going to be a budget wedding; I hope you know that."

"Yeah, I know," Austin said quickly, "I just...I really want this. It would really make up for not being able to perform."

Ally bit her lip and Austin made a puppy dog face. She groaned. "Don't make that face. You know I can't say no to your puppy dog face."

Austin smirked. "Exactly."

Ally rolled her eyes. "Fine. You can have your bouncy house."

"YESSSS!" Austin exclaimed, going over to Dez to do their handshake. Dez grinned and showed Austin his computer, where he'd been busy editing the photos from Valentine's Day. Austin's jaw dropped to the floor.

"Als, you gotta come look at these," he breathed, motioning for her to come over. Ally leaned over her fiancé's shoulder and covered her mouth with her hand, in complete awe.

"Dez, these are beautiful," she choked, letting a tear escape her eye. "Ho-how did you make them look so good?"

"Just a little photoshop magic," he replied, scrolling through all the photos. By the time that Austin had popped the question that night, the lights from the Eiffel tower had been shining bright enough to light up the couple's faces, capturing Ally's reaction perfectly. Austin wrapped his arm around Ally, and they stood there as Dez scrolled all the way to the end, smiles etched on both of their faces.

"Wow. Dez, these photos are amazing," Austin said as soon as he'd scrolled through them all. "I feel like we should give you something for taking them."

Dez shook his head. "No can do, buddy. I won't let you. Just remember this the next time you owe me something."

Austin chuckled. "Deal." he paused, then said, "Actually, what if we add onto this and make you our wedding videographer? Think about it. Trish is helping us plan, and Ally and I will be too busy these next few months to hire one. What do you say?"

"I'm in!" They did their handshake again and the girls smiled.

"Now, back to what we were discussing before we looked at the pictures," Ally said, "How much was that bouncy house, Austin?"

"Oh, not much," Austin squeaked, his eyes widening when he heard how high his voice was. "Just, uh... eighundrahsgha."

"How much?"

Austin fake coughed. "eIGHUNDREDADGHHAH."

Ally's eyes widened. "Did you say eight hundred!? Austin, we don't have enough money for that! Are you crazy?"

Dez leaned closer to Austin, whispering in his ear, "Consider this a sneak peek of what it'll be like when you're married." He patted his best friend on the shoulder and winked.

Austin pursed his lips. "So, are you changing your mind?" Ally sighed when she saw his expression turn from guilty to disappointed.

"I don't know, I... maybe we can sacrifice something else so that we can fit it in. I'm just not sure how much money we're going to have for the wedding since the tour got cancelled and we're probably going to lose the deposits that we put into those venues." She sighed. "As long as I get my bouquet of lilies and orchids, I really don't care what else we have. Relationships are all about compromise and communication, after all."

Austin pulled Ally into a hug. "Thanks, Als. You won't regret it, I promise."

She smirked. "I'd better not. If I catch you in the bouncy house with Dez instead of taking pictures, though, I'm popping that thing."

Austin rolled his eyes. "Love you."

"Love you, too. Now, let's get started with planning all these little details. Trish, you coming?" Ally asked, standing at the door of the dance studio.

"Yeah, just give me a sec," Trish mumbled, glued to her phone. "I'm doing something important."

"Alright, just meet us out in the main area when you're done," Ally said as she, Dez, and Austin exited the room. Trish looked up from her phone and pressed a contact in her phone, then smiled brightly.

"What were you saying, babe?"

about an hour later

A little while later, everyone except Trish was out in the lobby, doing research for the wedding. They had all been getting suspicious with each passing minute, especially Ally. She finally spoke up and said that she would be right back. She crept along the wall next to the studio, trying to listen in on Trish's conversation.

"No, you hang up!" Trish exclaimed, giggling. There was a pause. "No, I love you more! No, that's impossible, because I love you more!" she burst out laughing and Ally frowned. Did Trish have a boyfriend? How long had this been going on, and why hadn't she told them?

Ally was still listening intently when she felt Austin breathing heavily on her neck. She jumped and clutched her heart, whisper-yelling, "You nearly gave me a heart attack!"

Austin shrugged. "Sorry. Who's she talking to?"

Ally shook her head. "I don't know. Something's telling me that she's keeping a secret from us, though."

"Why's that?" Dez said at normal volume approaching the couple, and Ally immediately shushed him.

"Dez, be quiet! We don't want her to hear us," Ally whispered, peeking into the room, where Trish was still arguing with whoever was on the other end. "I think that Trish is dating somebody. She keeps saying things like 'babe' and 'I love you.' That's the only logical explanation." Austin nodded and Dez furrowed his brow. Suddenly, they heard her start to yell in a more aggressive tone.

"Dang it, I said you hang up! No, I love you more! Ugh, you're so frustrating!" Trish pressed the end call button and stood up, at which point Ally motioned for them all to run back to the main area so she didn't see them standing there.

"Act natural!" Ally whisper-yelled, striking an awkward pose. Austin and Dez did the same, their facial expressions unnatural and forced. Trish stormed out of the dance studio and glanced at her friends, raising an eyebrow.

"Everything okay in here?" she asked slowly.

"Yeah, yeah, everything's fine," Ally waved her hand, trying to be nonchalant and failing. "What about you, everything okay? Anything...new?" She, Dez, and Austin inched closer to Trish, all wearing quizzical looks.

Trish blinked. "You were listening to my conversation, weren't you?"

"Whaaaat? Why would you think that?" Ally's voice became high and squeaky. Austin gave her a light punch in the shoulder. "Owww," she whined, giving him a hurt look.

Trish put her hands on her head, exhaling deeply. "You know what, I was afraid of this. I knew you'd find out one of these days, being that we're quarantining together and everything." She took out her phone and hesitated, then said, "I'll tell you guys who I was talking to if you promise not to freak out."

"Sure," Austin said.

"Okay," Ally agreed.

"Just as long as it's not Chuck," Dez joked, cracking himself up. Trish cringed. Austin and Ally's expressions changed and they exchanged glances.

"Wait, it's not actually Chuck," Ally raised her eyebrows, "is it?"

"Actually..." Trish started. Dez's jaw dropped.

"Seriously?" Austin asked. "You're dating Chuck?"

"I wanted to tell you guys... I really did!" Trish argued, "but I was afraid of how you'd react. He just reached out one day when I was at home, and he was being really sweet. Suddenly, he didn't seem like as much of a jerk as he was in high school. One thing led to another and now, things are getting pretty serious."

The room fell silent for a moment. Dez finally spoke up a few seconds later, unaware that everybody in the room was looking at him. "When did this happen?"

"Back in December," Trish replied. "It was one of those days when we didn't meet up at the factory. He texted me, I texted back...we hit it off. Simple as that."

"Well, I'm happy for you," Ally smiled. "You deserve to have your special someone. After all, Austin and I have each other, Dez has Carrie...congrats, Trish." Ally pulled her in for a hug, and Austin nodded.

"Me, too. I'm glad you found your person." They stared at Dez, who was looking at the ground.

"Dez?" Trish asked. "You okay?"

"I guess... I'm just a little shocked is all. Chuck and I are enemies, and it might take some getting used to, but...I'm happy for you." Trish breathed a sigh of relief, and Dez joined in on the group hug. The friends talked about Trish's new relationship, the Auslly wedding, and everything in between for the next few hours until they realized it was nearly one a.m. They went to bed that night and fell right asleep, another long day in quarantine ahead of them. They might be isolated, but they were isolated together, and that was all that mattered.

Wow, a lot happened in this chapter lol. Austin and Ally's tour got cancelled and Trish is dating Chuck :0 What'd you guys think about it? Make sure to follow, favorite, and review! Love y'all! -ej