Chapter 8 everybody! So I'm going to keep this intro card as short as I possibly can, so we can jump straight into the story.

Enjoy!

Two weeks had passed since Austin and Ally's offer was accepted. Now fully moved into their new home, the pair were happier than ever. Ally even flipped off their old neighbors as she drove off.

Right now, however, the pair were busy going over color swatches, trying to decide on the perfect color scheme for their wedding. They had been at it for over an hour and hadn't gotten anywhere.

'' Agh! This is so hard, why did they make so many colors'' Ally growled.

'' Easy Goose pickle, relax. Look, this is tough, we need to find a perfect color combination, not easy when you're as creative as we are'' Austin said, patting his fiancée's back as he went to go pour the pair two mugs of coffee.

'' True, but there are so many choices for fall. We can't go orange because then I'll be walking down the aisle looking like a pumpkin, neo colors are way too…Dez'' Ally explained, a mug being placed in front of her.

'' Ally, we're running out of choices here, we'll have to go through the Crayola box soon to get any kind of color ideas.''

Ally snorted into her coffee before speaking. '' Well, look, I've been going over most of this, let's do this like we would if we were writing a song. Bounce your ideas off of me.''

'' Alright, I'm thinking black, it's a cool color.''

'' Really? Isn't that a bit too gothic for our taste? I mean, sure its going to be around the time of Halloween that we get married, but don't you think it's a bit too…dark?''

'' Not really, plenty of people have the color black at their weddings, but you're right, it does sort of give off the vibe of a funeral. How about red?''

'' Also too dark, kind of reminds me of blood, and I don't feel like attracting roaming vampires if you don't mind. Also red's complimentary color is green and we don't want a Christmas theme at our wedding do we?''

'' No, true. I just think some darker colors would be cool, don't you?''

'' Not really, I feel like some more traditional and less edgy colors would be kind of nice.''

'' Ok'' Austin shrugged, taking the empty mugs to the kitchen sink.

'' Hold on'' Ally said, from the adjacent room. '' I found it.''

'' Found what?'' Austin asked, sitting next to his fiancée.

'' The first color of our color scheme'' Ally showed Austin a particular shade of purple.

'' Purple? Isn't that a bit too…weird? I never really thought of it as your color anyway.''

'' Its royal purple. In ancient times it was reserved for only society's elites. Its so pretty'' Ally smiled creepily, kind of giving Austin, Gollum vibes.

'' Well, I'm not such a big fan, it's a bit too flashy for my taste. How about white, it's a classic, its battle-tested, its-

'' Overdone. Austin, I don't want a cliché wedding. White is just too…basic, you know?'' Ally interrupted.

'' I get that, but come on quit shooting down my ideas already. How about gold?''

'' Hmm, gold…historical significance, symbolizes extravagance and wealth, I like it. But what else, we can't just have gold, who are we, Shiny Money?''

'' Yeah…let's…not go there'' Austin laughed.

'' Oh please, he's over it, if he wasn't then he wouldn't have already RSVPed.''

'' Fair enough. So besides gold, what other color are you interested in?''

'' Hmm, I really don't know, I'm actually at a loss for words.''

'' That's a new one'' Austin muttered. Sensing Ally's glare, the man quickly changed the subject.

'' I really wish we didn't have to work today. I'd much rather be here planning with you.''

'' Austin Monica Moon, did you seriously say you'd prefer organization and planning to your singing career?'' Ally asked.

'' I'm doing it with you, that automatically makes it awesome.''

'' Aww, Cute nickname'' Ally beamed, embracing her fiancé in a gentle bearhug. '' I'll be fine, remember that I'm meeting with Trish later to do invitations.''

'' You sure you want Trish in charge of that? I mean I love her, she was our manager for a really long time, but she kind of only has one specific style… loud and animal print.''

'' Come on, she's not going to insist that our wedding invitations have cheetah-print borders and hot pink interiors'' Ally defended, rolling her eyes.

-x-

An hour later, both Ally and Trish found themselves inside of a card store, who specialized in customized wedding invitations.

'' Thanks for asking me to help Ally, I could really use a break from my bosses'' Trish said exasperated.

'' Trish, you're the marketing director for A&A Records, I'm your boss, and so is Austin.''

'' Oh right, forgot about that. Moving on, how's the wedding planning going, also, when do I get to see this house of yours that you won't stop raving about?'' Trish asked, quickly.

'' Its going really well, except for the fact that we cant decide on a color scheme, I'm really digging royal purple but Austin says its too flashy'' Ally pouted. '' But we settled on gold and something else.''

'' Gold and something else? That's interesting. Hey, I've got an idea, what about platinum? Remember, the first album you guys released together became a platinum record? You guys sold like 2 million copies worldwide, even B.B bought a copy, and she hates everything!''

'' Fine, but let's see what happens'' Ally responded, as she and Trish approached a young salesclerk, easily only 16 at most. Neither of the women could get a decent look at her though, seeing as she was currently hunched over a clipboard, most liking ticking boxes for inventory purposes.

'' Hey!'' Trish barked.

'' Don't be rude, sorry…Deb'' Ally said, reading the clerk's nametag.

'' Don't worry about it, I'm used to- oh my God you're Ally Dawson!" Deb shrieked. '' The pop princess herself is right in front of me. I loved redial, I think its one of the best songs I've ever heard'' Deb remarked, not stopping to take a breath of air.

'' Relax, keep it down will ya? We don't want an entire swarm of people running here do we?'' Trish hissed.

'' No, I guess not. Sorry, guess I got a bit star-struck. So, let me try again, hi, I'm Deb, welcome to Cardinals, where we solve all card related problems.''

'' Cardinals? As in high ranking priests?'' Ally raised an eyebrow.

'' Yeah, the owner originally named it after a sports team he likes, the fact that we sell greeting cards is more or less just a neat coincidence.''

'' Well then, let me get right to the point, I'm engaged-

'' To Austin Moon, I know, it's the greatest news I ever heard! Sorry, did it again'' Deb smiled, sheepishly.

'' Perfectly fine. So, Austin and I want our invitations to be as original as possible, and we heard you guys do custom wedding invitations.''

'' That we do, follow me'' Deb led the two women to the backroom, where the saw a large touch-screen computer.

'' Wow, pretty impressive'' Trish breathed.

'' Thanks, I tell ya, if it weren't for this thing, we'd be bankrupt. So, before we start I need to ask you what your preferred type-style is. Most people go for the standard Arial or Calibri, but I prefer a more unorthodox style'' Deb responded.

'' Well, I do know calligraphy, could you do anything with that?'' Ally asked.

'' Pfft, easy'' Deb tapped a few icons on the screen and dragged her finger across it, writing out the word cat as an example.''

'' Wow, I'm impressed'' Ally marveled.

'' Thanks, we get some rather weird requests, so we've got a whole lot of different styles on here. If you want I can make it look like the letters have been burnt onto your invites?''

'' No thanks, if my fiancé finds out that was an option, he'll send me back here. I think I'll stick with a calligraphy-style thanks.''

'' Suit yourself. So, next order of business, color scheme, here at Cardinals we do the area of the invitation in one color and your border and actual writing in a separate one. Have you decided on your scheme yet?'' Deb asked, her tone exuding confidence.

'' Actually…I have.''

'' You have?'' Trish responded.

'' Yes…I have'' Ally grinned. '' Our color scheme is platinum and navy blue.''

'' Wow, an interesting choice if I do say so myself. So, how does…this look?'' Deb asked, pointing to a document on the screen, navy blue in color.

'' Not bad, but can I rather get the platinum as the area and the navy blue as the writing?''

'' Sure, why not?'' Deb again tapped the screen, this time navy blue was the writing, and platinum engulfed the area.

'' Love it'' Ally sighed, her attention fading.

'' Is she daydreaming?'' Deb pointed to Ally.

'' Oh yeah, she does it a lot. Hold on'' Trish clapped her hands in front of her friend, breaking Ally out of her trance.

'' Huh, what happened?'' Ally asked.

'' You zoned out again'' Trish caught her up to speed.

'' Oh, ok. So let me guess, you need writing now? Like the actual message?'' Ally asked.

'' Ding ding ding. So, what do you want to write?'' Deb asked.

'' First…'' Ally dug in her purse, and pulled out her phone. The woman then proceeded to video call a specific person.

'' Goose-pickle? What's going on?'' Austin asked, his face emerging on the screen.

'' Austin Moon! This is the greatest day of my 16-year old life!'' Deb shrieked, looking at the screen.

'' Who's that?'' Austin asked. '' And again, what's going on?''

'' In order, this is Deb, she's the salesclerk who's helping us out with the invitation customizing process, also, not sure why Ally called you'' Trish answered.

'' I called him, because he's the one I want, to help speak the message for the invitations'' Ally explained.

'' You ready?'' Austin asked.

'' Absolutely'' Ally responded. The pretty brunette then began to speak. '' We're beyond excited to begin this chapter of our lives together, however we need people in attendance'' Ally started.

'' Therefore we would like to ask you, blank space, to join us on October 27th, 2023 at the Sunshine Hotel from 10AM to 8PM. Kindly RSVP by March 21st. We hope to see you there, on what will most definitely be the happiest day of our lives'' Austin finished.

'' Aww, I love that, I just wish I'd typed it'' Deb gushed.

'' What?!" the trio shrieked.

'' Kidding, its all right here'' the teenager laughed, pointing to the screen. On it, was a platinum document, navy-blue calligraphy words, slanted to the left, containing the previously spoken message, in word form.

'' Two more things'' Deb said.

'' Yes?'' Trish raised an eyebrow.

'' One, we need a border style, we have your traditional broken lines, to something more unorthodox, like this'' the salesclerk tapped on the screen, and showed a series of treble clefts going both vertically and horizontally across the page's border.

'' Treble clefts'' the trio said in unison.

'' Figures, the musicians would want those'' Deb smirked.

'' What's the other thing?'' Ally asked.

'' Oh, I want you to autograph this'' the salesclerk dug into a leather bag on a nearby table and pulled out a copy of Austin and Ally's first album together.

'' Every time'' Ally sighed, pulling a marker out of her purse and scribbling on the case.

-x-

'' I've been looking forward to this ever since France. Its probably going to be my favorite part of our wedding'' Austin said, rubbing his hands together.

'' So, marrying the love of your life is what, a bonus?'' Ally quipped.

'' Well, uhm, I-''

'' Kidding. Honestly, you make this too easy sometimes'' Ally laughed, as she and Austin exited her Volvo.

A week had passed since the invitations were done, and already the pair had gotten multiple RSVPs from almost their entire guest list. However, right now, the pair found themselves in front of a local bakery they had found ever since moving to Wave-view. The bakery was called Sweet Treatz, not only were they a premier service for almost all events in the area, but they were known for their odd and extravagant cakes. It also helped that they were run by a man called David Lindtz, a man who had studied baking in some of the best bakeries in the world, ranging from Paris to Toronto to even Santiago. Despite working around food 24/7, he was painfully skinny, and almost always looked terminally ill.

Entering, the pair were greeted by a rather interesting sight, an elderly man, easily looking as if he shouldn't be able to make it through a long sentence without having to stick his finger in a wall socket Tom and Jerry-style. The man was busy getting into an argument with one of Sweet Treatz's employees, a young man named Al.

'' Sir, we don't sell soup here, this is a bakery'' Al said softly.

'' I want soup dammit!'' the man shouted.

'' Again, this is a bakery, we don't sell soup here.''

'' You promised me soup!''

'' No, I didn't! Oh, for the love of- David!'' AL yelled, the chef emerging from a door behind the front counter.

'' What's wrong?'' David asked.

'' This old fart want's soup.''

'' We don't sell soup!''

'' Then just give him a bag of buttercream frosting'' David said, cynically, sauntering back out the door.

'' Oh wow, that's…brilliant'' Al said, handing the elderly man a spare bag behind the counter.

'' Here you go sir, chicken noodle soup'' Al smiled, handing the bag over.

'' He seems nice'' Ally smiled, approaching the front counter.

'' Third, time, this week'' Al sighed.

'' But its Tuesday-

'' Exactly! How can I help you guys?'' Al asked.

'' We have an appointment with David, to try out cake samples for our wedding'' Austin answered.

'' Oh right, I have you down right here'' Al pointed a nearby clipboard. '' David's in the back, I should warn you however, he's a big fan.''

'' We're used to it. We made the mistake of going into a toy store once, we ended up leaving with three gigs at three different Bar mitzvahs'' Austin responded.

'' No no, I mean, huge. Like tween fangirls don't hold a candle to him.''

'' Relax, we can handle it, we're tough'' Ally responded.

'' Fine'' Al shrugged.

The pair walking into the backroom where they were greeted with hundreds of different samples, ranging from common cakes types such as lamington and black forest, to more extravagant flavors such as strawberry pudding and black velvet. However, what was most striking was the fact that the entire room was decorated with tons of Austin and Ally merchandise, from an original bottle of Sweet Puppy cologne to the roll of doubly-ply Ally toilet paper that Trish had made.

'' Wow, I think I'm getting cavities just from looking at this'' Austin marveled.

'' Like 'em?'' came a voice from behind them.

'' David! You scared us'' Ally gasped.

'' Yeah, I can be pretty stealthy if I want to be. So, on the phone you said you wanted white chocolate, but that's not what I do here.''

'' Wait, so you can't do a white chocolate cake?'' Ally raised an eyebrow.

'' Oh no, I can easily do that, the thing is, I do dual flavored cakes. Meaning the white chocolate is easy, but I need a second flavor to complete the order. Since, you didn't know, I whipped up all these different samples for you to try. I have some paperwork to do, but I'll be back in about…half an hour?'' David consulted his watch.

'' Sure, but uhm, what's with the shrine?'' Ally breathed.

'' Oh, I'm a huge fan of yours. I cleared my entire morning just to see you guys. I own every single copy of all of your albums, even the ones before you became a duet. I followed you guys all over the continent on your North American tour, I was even at that open-air sold out show in northern Quebec.''

'' Didn't like 10 people almost freeze to death there?'' Austin asked.

'' Oh yeah, I wasn't expecting winter weather, so I came in shorts and an A&A T-shirt, I got frostbite and almost lost 3 toes, but to see you guys in person, it was so worth it'' David gushed.

'' Hey, sorry to interrupt this, David, the old guy is back, he wants soup again'' Al said, popping his head round the door.

'' Oh, for the love of- sir! We don't have soup!"' David shouted, marching out the door.

'' Wow, they really get some odd customers here'' Austin breathed, before looking behind him. '' Ally!'' his fiancée had immediately dug into the cake samples without him.

'' You going to complain or join me?'' Ally said between mouthfuls.

'' Damn you're persuasive.''

-x-

True to his word, David returned half an hour later to see his idols moaning as they were so full. Surrounding the pair were multiple empty plates, as well some samples with small bites an nibbles taken out of them.

'' Wow ho. I never knew Austin Moon and Ally Dawson were such big sweet tooths, of what am I saying? Of course I knew. So, what are we thinking? What's going with his white chocolate cake of yours?''

Austin pushed himself upright. '' I think I want to sew my ass shut so that strawberry cake of yours never leaves my system.''

'' Excuse my fiancé, he's a bit…uncouth. But honestly, even though I don't even like the taste of bananas, I'd kill for more of your banana-cream frosting.''

'' Aww, aren't you two the perfect flatterers? Is that what you're thinking? A white chocolate cake with a mix of banana and strawberry flavors inside?''

'' Actually'' Ally looked at Austin. '' We were completely blown away by one of your samples with a chocolate and caramel pudding filling, it blew our minds!''

'' Ah, a personal favorite of mine. So let me guess. White chocolate six tier cake with chocolate/caramel filling?''

'' Yep. How much is it going to cost us though?'' Austin asked, as David led them out of the backroom.

'' Honestly, I'd say it'll only cost you about 350. Considering the amount of tiers you want, you'll more or less be within that price range I'd say'' David answered.

'' Only 350? I was actually expecting more'' Austin remarked.

'' Me too. That's less than I paid for those shoes I bought the other day on Austin's credit card.''

'' Yeah, wait-what?''

David sighed, before resting his arms on the table in front of him. '' Look, I need an upfront payment, its my business policy, sorry.''

Austin dug in his pocket for his wallet, but to no avail. '' Allz, I don't have my wallet.''

Ally dug in her purse, same result. '' Me neither. Sorry, David, we'll have to find another place-''

'' Wait!'' David stopped the pair with a loud shout. '' I can't charge you two for this.''

'' Why not?'' Ally asked, before Austin's hand covered her mouth.

'' Ssh, free cake. Let the man speak.''

'' I'm not charging you because of how big an impact you guys had on my life. Al told you why I'm a huge fan right?''

'' No, why?'' Ally raised an eyebrow.

'' I started listening to your stuff when I was in my late twenties, I was lost, an alcoholic drug-addicted deadbeat. Then, one day at an AA meeting, someone's phone went off and played Double Take. After that I fell in love with your guys' music. I got clean, became a baker, and opened up Sweet Treatz. I owe it to your songs for my new life. So, consider this a huge thank you.''

'' Aww, that's so sweet'' Ally cooed. '' In that case, thank you so much David. Here's my number, call or text me if you need any clarifications.''

'' I just got…Ally Dawson's…phone number'' David breathed, before feinting.

'' Oh my Gd he feinted. Austin- wait where're you going?'' Ally gasped, noticing Austin by her car.

'' Get in, I'm not going to jail because of another feinter!''

Ah Austin, clearly Lester's rubbed off on him Thanks so much for reading guys, hope you enjoyed the chapter, until next time. Stay safe, and stay awesome!