(Tracks & Troubles, 30 minutes before the very beginning of the episode- the morning they texted about in the last chapter)
When Austin walked into the practice room at 9:00 on Sunday, Ally was already at the piano bench playing a slower tempo rendition of "Better Together". She stopped when she noticed him. She was wearing jeans and a cute pink top with strappy heels. Austin now noticed how good she looked every day. He noticed a lot more about her in general now that they were dating.
"Hey." she said with a soft smile.
"Hey, that sounded so good." Austin replied confidently. He couldn't fall asleep last night thinking about how excited he was to be with her again. They'd probably have about 30 minutes before Trish, Dez, and Lester Dawson showed up. He shut the door behind him and sat on Ally's right at the piano. They sat like they always did, not touching, just sitting up straight and ready to play. It was still the beginning of their relationship and knowing when or when not to hug, kiss, etc. was something they were figuring out as they went.
"You wouldn't believe the dream I had about that bear from the campout last night Ally. We were all camping and the bear came out of nowhere and roared super loud so we were all scared but then it picked up the marshmallows and started building a marshmallow teepee just like Dez's so Dez started to help the bear build the teepee and then Trish started performing on stage with the bear so Dez got mad because he wanted the bear's help…"
"Woah woah Austin, slow down!" Ally said, laughing, and Austin gave her a nervous chuckle. She noticed and appreciated his black jeans, a blue and green checkered shirt, and matching basketball shoes.
"Sorry… I don't know what just got into me." He said, in disbelief over himself.
"But anyway, it was wild." He reaffirmed.
"Sounds like it… I just had a dream that I was trying to perform at the beach and Dez was catapulting fruit at me." She replied.
"The funny thing is? He would totally do that." Austin said, and they both laughed, looking into each other's eyes for a second.
"We should probably get to work on the song." Ally said apologetically, breaking the moment.
"Yeah, let's do it. I'm excited." He said, and they began working together on the background music for "steal your heart", which didn't have lyrics yet. Just like they always did. At least for a little bit. About twenty minutes in, as they played a small duet part together on the piano and Austin sang, their hands brushed together and Austin's heart felt like it was about to leap out of his chest. He loved it when he and Ally's hands touched on the keys. He felt like every part of his body was being magnetically pulled towards her. When they brushed hands Austin stopped playing and turned his face to her, he couldn't take it.
"We have to get through the song Austin." Ally said a little bit insincerely, sensing what he'd rather be doing. A smile was forming on her face as she realized that his face was gradually moving closer to her.
"Maybe, but don't we have like all day?" He said, removing his hands from the piano keys. Their bodies still faced the piano but their eyes were now locked.
"We have a few days." She said, her stomach getting butterflies more intensely than when she had stage fright.
"So what's the rush then." He said, now turning his body to face her more. His sweet smile was irresistible.
"I don't know." She barely had time to say as she felt his lips slowly meet hers. His hands moved to her lower back, her right hand to his face. They parted for a moment and there was a silent agreement in their eyes that they shouldn't stop. Their lips met again and it became less slow and more deep as they processed and discovered how to channel their feelings into a kiss. They began to push off of eachother, and Ally's left hand joined her right at Austin's neck. They moved perfectly together, and Ally felt like a firework was going off in her chest as Austin's hands moved along her back, neck, and ran through her hair. Their bodies now totally faced each other. Austin moved his left leg so that he was nearly straddling the bench, and so did she. They were so entranced that they barely noticed themselves moving. How much time was passing, neither of them knew. This kiss was not just a burst of passion like the last time in the practice room, where they were covered in slime and hesitating to be together. For this they smiled when they caught air, taking their time and feeling happier than they'd ever felt before.
When a timer finally went off meaning that they had five minutes left to "work on the song" before people arrived at the store, they were standing, and Ally was nearly against the practice room door again. When they broke apart they felt like fish out of water. But Ally was already hearing the doors of Sonic Boom opening, and Austin must have too, because he rushed over to the piano to turn off the alarm, leaving Ally dazed and beaming and she leaned against the door.
"That was the best thing ever." Austin said to her a little shakily, also looking dazed.
"Why do people have to always barge in here?" Ally said breathlessly after nodding, walking towards Austin once more.
"People? You mean our friends Ally? And customers?" Austin said with a disbelieving laugh, inviting her into his arms again for a hug.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Ally said laughing, squeezing him tightly, still on a high.
"Let's go play fuzbol, Trish and Dez might walk in here any second. They don't need to know how we spent our last ten minutes of working on the song." Austin said, and Ally blushed a bit.
"Good idea." She said quickly. She heard Trish's voice from all the way upstairs. Austin went to the fusbol table while Ally opened the door again- the practice room door was hardly ever shut, so having it closed would look suspicious. Just like that they began a game of fusbol and pretended their 5 minute makeout session didn't happen. But it definitely did. And Ally would definitely never forget it. Counting their kisses last night seemed funny to her now. She now felt like they were in the hundreds. However, hearing Trish and Dez voices getting closer to the room made her realize that her concerns about their relationship were piling up, and she'd been ignoring them. She decided she needed to talk to Austin about it soon, because after what just happened at 9 AM in the practice room on a Sunday morning, she knew that their relationship was getting really serious.
(Tracks & Troubles, The next day when visiting Star Records to check out the recording studio)
"I was just comforting him, in a friendly way… Why does the media have to twist everything! Everyone is always sneaking pictures of us around the mall anyway, now they're gonna have a new motive." Ally said in hushed frustration to Trish as they stood in the hallway of Star Records. Trish had just shown her several celebrity gossip news headlines exploiting her and Austin's now alleged relationship, and it was all based on paparazzi photos that someone took of her and Austin in his Tesla when they were on their way to the campground for "Video Countdown Live" with Jett Deeley. All they showed was her comforting him with her hand on his arm.
"I know, I know… I just wish it wasn't spreading around so fast." Trish said. She had pulled Ally out to the hall at Star Records after she'd just talked to Jimmy Star to show her the viral photos and was rapidly scrolling through new on her phone as Ally watched behind her.
"If I'm being honest though Ally, you guys kind of do look like a couple there. It sorta does look like you're looking at him like he's more than a friend." Trish continued, and it made Ally feel ashamed. How could she be hiding this from Trish? She couldn't tell her now though, it would be too hurtful. But she also couldn't continue to lie.
"I know it does… I just need this to stop spreading. Jimmy Star can't see this, especially if he'll ever consider signing me, since I'm refusing to let Kira sing my song." She said this to Trish in a way that neither confirmed nor denied that she and Austin really were together.
"Right, I'll have to see if I can contact any of them… but it probably won't make any difference." Trish replied, looking down at her phone concerned.
"No no it's ok, you don't need to do that. I should just be more careful to not touch any guy in a place where I can be photographed apparently." Ally said.
"Never thought you'd have to think about that, huh. Paparazzi are so intrusive, I hate them! Except when they get good pics of Taylor Lautner." Trish conceded, and Ally rolled her eyes.
"But hey, as long as we all know the truth that you and Austin are just friends, who cares what a bunch of lame celebrity gossip articles say? Those people have nothing better to do in their life than create drama." Trish said reassuringly, and Ally felt sick continuing to lie to her best friend. She also felt sick knowing that people would go to such great efforts to exploit her relationship with Austin. She mostly cared about how it might affect Austin and his record deal if Jimmy Star caught wind of it.
"Yeah." was all she could say, and Trish pulled her back to Austin and Dez.
The night of Ally's performance of "Finally Me" at Kira's gig took a brutal turn for Austin and Ally, and neither would have ever seen it coming if you had asked them 2 mornings ago in the practice room. As the day's stress progressed with Kira, Jimmy Star, Austin losing his record deal, and the paparazzi photos on Monday, Ally decided that she needed to confront Austin sooner than she had wanted to. Not to mention, there had been at least ten camera flashes at Austin's car as he drove the four of them back to Sonic Boom that night after Kira ( and Ally's) performance. By that time Austin had seen at least a few of the celebrity gossip articles, so he knew why all of a sudden there was a big increase of paparazzi attention on him and Ally. Their relationship was becoming a danger to their lives, and their friends' lives, quite literally. And Austin's record deal. And they weren't being truthful. What if the camera flashes had caused Austin to wreck the car and injure their friends that night? Enough had become enough for Ally.
"Wow Austin, that caramel fudge shirt looks EPIC on you. When did you buy that?" Dez said enthusiastically as he pointed at Austin's shirt, which he had just spilled his ice cream on when dez hit his cone with a beach ball. Austin, Ally, Trish and Dez had brought ice cream to the beach after Kira's gig and were enjoying picnicking in the sand on the warm Miami night. However, Ally had other things than celebrating her amazing night in her mind at the moment unfortunately. It was very dark out and she was counting the minutes until Trish and Dez would leave so that she could talk to Austin alone. He was in such a good mood, she hated to most likely ruin their night. She also hadn't had time to have a conversation with just him at all since Sunday morning, so this would be a stark contrast to their last one-on-one interaction.
"Funny you should ask Dez, because I just bought it for free. From you. When you knocked my ice cream all over me." Austin said with ungenuine annoyance.
"You should start a food stain brand Dez. You'd have no trouble with the spilling food part." Trish said snarkily.
"Oh yeah? Well it looks like you have some issues with spilling… sand." Dez said, clearly struggling with that comeback.
"What is that even supposed to mean you doof-" Trish said, but she was cut off as Dez threw a handful of sand at her. They were all four sitting on a picnic blanket by the water, so Trish wasn't the only one who got some sand in their ice cream.
"Dez!" the three of them exclaimed, and Dez cringed.
"Uhhh, sorry! You know, it's actually, um, my bedtime… congrats Ally, gotta go!" Dez said frantically before running off for home in typical Dez fashion. Austin, Trish, and Dez just rolled their eyes.
"That kid drives me nuts sometimes... I'd better go too. Here, I'll throw away your guy's sandy ice creams. Thanks so much DEZ!" Trish yelled the last part out in the direction that Dez had run, but he was long gone from the beach.
"Bye Trish, thanks for being an amazing manager in the last few days." Ally said to Trish as she came back from the trashcan to grab her phone.
"Of course. You rocked Finally Me tonight Ally. See you later! Bye Austin!" Trish called out as she walked towards the mall. Ally saw a spark in Austin's eyes as she turned back to him in the moonlight, and it made her heart jump and sink all at once. It was such a perfectly romantic setting. They sat together on a picnic blanket, alone, only able to see each other by moonlight. The ocean waves were far enough away for their roar to be peaceful and relaxing. Ally could see Austin's muscles through his t-shirt. His hair blew a bit in the soft night breeze. So many things were making it hard for her to follow through with what she needed to do. Before she could start the conversation, Austin stood up and held out his hand to her.
"Midnight walk on the beach?" He asked it so sweetly; she had to take his hand and stand. The moment was so romantic that they couldn't just start walking. Austin kissed her tenderly, and she let her tense muscles relax. She'd savor what she was determined needed to be their last kiss for a long time. A beautiful, final kiss at the shore. She hated pulling away from him.
"Austin, we have to talk." She said with her face still inches away from his. His soft smile faded and the tone of the moment changed immediately.
"The thing is… Our relationship, especially in secret, is becoming harmful to our friends. And our careers." It shocked Ally when she saw in his face that he didn't seem entirely surprised by what she was saying.
"As much as I absolutely hate it, I know what you mean." He said after looking down to the sand for a few seconds. It was painful for him to say it. They then discussed all the ways that they'd already caused problems by lying to their friends, as well as risks that they really should have thought about the night of the Butch and Bitey pitch. Ally had feared that this conversation would end up one sided, and was honestly relieved that he'd had the same concerns. They were reluctantly on the same page. After a few minutes of talking and agreeing that the same risks would be the same and maybe even worse if they were public about their relationship, they found themselves just standing forehead to forehead, arms wrapped around each other, just listening to the ocean waves.
"I… don't want to let go of this." Austin sighed.
"Me either." Ally replied.
"But we are doing the right thing. Right?" Austin said.
"Of course." She said, her heart throbbing. She tried to stop a tear in her eye but it fell down her cheek anyway. He wiped it away.
"This isn't the end of Austin and Ally. Us staying just friends isn't going to change how I feel about you." Austin let out, stifling that he was getting upset.
"Same with me." she sighed. "We'll just need to learn how to be friends again. It's gonna end up the best for us and everyone around us." She had to say it again to reassure herself.
"Right." He said, but she was just seeing dissappointment in him. It hurt her, but she knew it would pass for both of them.
"We should probably go before this gets any harder… walk me to the Sonic Boom?" Ally said, moving her forehead from his.
"Yeah, of course." He shook off his sadness and grabbed her hand. "We can do this. We're Austin and Ally. We can do anything."
They walked hand in hand until they reached the end of the sand, and as soon as their hands separated, the romance of Austin and Ally was over. They were back to being Austin and Ally, best friends and music partners. With feelings for eachother… but what did it matter? What mattered to them at the time was making the smart decision. They reached Sonic Boom, said goodbye as casually as they ever would before they were dating, and Ally closed up shop. The only thing preventing her from breaking down in tears was the knowledge that no matter what, the feelings between them wouldn't die anytime soon. And the memories they made together in the week or so? They were everlasting.
Weeks passed of Austin and Ally being just friends before the day of taping Trish and Dez' "rockumetary", and they'd done a surprisingly good job at continuing to be alone together when no longer secretly dating. Working on songs and living their crazy lives with their friends was as normal as they could have hoped, although there was no shortage of flirting between them. They couldn't help it. Austin secretly loved carrying Ally around with the crystal shoes a few weeks back, even though he made a stink about it. They both felt good being so physically close again, despite the odd situation. Ally sensed that Trish was picking up on some of the flirtatious behavior, but she hadn't confronted Ally yet. Unfortunately for her, making out with Austin in front of Trish and Dez at the end of their argument filled day of filming the "rockumentary" was not a great coverup of them just being friends.
After they'd apologized to each other after the day's rift, there was no more hope that Trish would be oblivious to Austin and Ally's feelings for eachother. In fact, Ally worried that by how experienced they were with the kiss, and with their confession of still having feelings for eachother in the court case weeks ago (Tunes & Trials), Trish might suspect that they'd been together longer than she and Dez were informed about.
"Ahem, sorry to interrupt your moment, but what the heck was that kiss about?!" Trish exclaimed, eying them both suspiciously.
"Uhhhh." Austin and Ally stammered in unison.
"It's called acting?" Ally said, knowing she didn't sound convincing.
"Yeah, that looked like a lot more than just 'Uh, uh, acting'" Dez replied skeptically.
"I told you we could act professional, it was for the movie, man." Austin stammered out awkwardly, hoping Ally would keep playing along.
"Yeah, just for the movie, man. You are a really good actor Austin." Ally said similarly.
"You too Ally!... well bye." Austin said, and he and Ally darted away, leaving Trish and Dez absolutely confused but determined that something was going on. That whole situation was so unconvincing that Trish wanted to laugh at the pair of them. Austin meanwhile wanted to keep that kiss going forever, but was mostly kicking himself that they let that happen, right in front of their friends, after going so many weeks and doing so well at being "just friends." It didn't stop him from thinking about Ally all night though. How long could they be "just friends?". His mind raced with these thoughts as well as song lyrics he wanted to write about her all at once as he let his Tesla drive him home. This was a mess. But like he'd told her weeks before, they were Austin and Ally. They could do anything. It would be fine.
This concludes the story of the slightly longer start to Austin and Ally's relationship, but it's not the end of the fic. There will be several more chapters covering parts of season 3 and 4 soon. Sorry that this one was especially long haha. But as I've said before, reading this along with watching the episodes is the best way to enjoy this fic! I've been really enjoying writing this and I'd love to read reviews of any suggestions or thoughts that you guys have. Thank you :)