Hey everyone, this is part one of a story about Austin and Ally having back-to-back concerts in Atlanta. I imagined it to have happened in between the episodes "Beauties & Bullies" and "Records & Wrecking Balls" of season 3. This one is much more loosely based on the sequence and content of the episodes than most of my chapters, and is quite non-essential to the plot line of this fic. I just wrote it for fun because I liked to imagine that the four friends had more adventures outside of just Miami, and I wanted to include some Ausly in between prom and the finale episodes since it was severely lacking in those episodes in my opinion. I'll post the second part of this most likely within a week, and please feel free to give me some suggestions of things you want to happen during this little trip! Also, sorry that this part is a ton of exposition. I'm sure its pretty boring but I wanted to set it up that way so that part two could be more interesting and understandable... Thanks for your patience with this random story haha :)
Back-to-back concerts for Austin and Ally in Atlanta was a unique opportunity that they all could hardly wait for. Trish was pumped to get away from Miami and get some new city scenery, and Dez too, because he was tagging along as usual. It had been 3 weeks since prom, and being at school with this trip ahead of them made them all restless and ready to escape to a new place for a few days. Schoolwork and work was picking up, music deadlines were quickly approaching for Austin and Ally, the schools "Sleeping Beauty" play had been the previous week, which took time away from all of them, and the Video Countdown Live fiasco for Austin Moon week had gone down just a couple weeks before. Trish had booked Austin for the Verizon amphitheater on a bit of a whim a few weeks earlier when another artist had to reschedule part of their tour, and then she realized that there was an opening 2 nights later that would be a great opportunity for nearby fans to see both Austin and Ally perform within a few days of each other. She figured that it would be great for Ally's budding career, and the two concerts would be just far apart enough to not be too stressful for all of them. They would also have about a day to explore the city, which they looked forward to as well. Austin and Ally made sure to let Trish know that she did good on this one in the days leading up to the trip.
They arrived in Atlanta on a Friday night close to 9:00 PM after a very short flight, but were so tired after a full day of planning and double checking things that all of them had fallen asleep by the time they landed. Austin had to touch Ally's book on her lap to get her head off of his shoulder- she wasn't waking up for anything else, and he was convinced by now that she had some sixth sense for ensuring her book's safety. The three of them didn't go to school that day because of all the tour prep that had to be done, and none of them were too upset about that. Dez on the other hand was wide awake reading a comic book in the seat next to Trish, largely unaffected by any of their stress. Their junior year of school work had been surprisingly stressful and was proving difficult to manage alongside their music lifestyles. Some of their teachers were more lenient with them due to their careers, but Ally knew she may find herself trying to do some math homework in their hotel sometime in the next few nights regardless.
They were staying in the Westin Peachtree, a beautiful, 73 floor, rounded, glass skyscraper hotel in the city of Atlanta that excited them all just from pictures. Austin and Dez were pumped to check out the pool on the roof of part of the hotel, which had shades that opened up and allowed you to look up at the towering glass building or down at the amazing cityscape it overlooked. Trish and Ally were more interested in the restaurant at the highest floor of the building, which was well known for its striking view of the city. Trish wished she could dine there luxuriously every night, away from all the tour madness, and more importantly, Dez. Ally meanwhile was imagining a very romantic date with Austin with a nighttime view of the Atlanta lights. She didn't know it, but he'd been dreaming about a magical date with her there too. In reality they wouldn't be spending much time in the hotel at all, but they'd have this first night to unwind a little bit before spending most of the next day at the amphitheater. The next night would be Austin's concert, followed by a day to relax at the hotel, explore some of the city, and prepare for Ally's concert the next day. The night of Ally's concert would be their last night in the Peachtree, and they'd fly home the next morning, on Tuesday.
"I can't believe that I just saw a lambo and two corvettes in the valet parking." Austin let out as if he'd been holding his breath. They'd just entered the massive hotel and all of them were starstruck simply with the grandeur of the lobby. They had not even seen their rooms yet. Ally and Trish would be sharing a room that adjoined Austin and Dez's, which was a little bit daunting after hearing Dez and Austin talking about the Xbox they brought to play zombie games all night. Ally warned him that he would regret that at his concert the next day, but she had a feeling she would be hearing the faint sound of zombies screeching on the other side of their wall that night regardless.
"Look at the robots Austin. Even they seem a little amazed by this place. Maybe they do have some emotions." Ally said as they all walked through the lobby, and Austin grinned and nodded.
"Wow. I didn't think anything could impress them." he remarked. The four of them frequently called his buff bodyguards "the robots" due to their almost impressive lack of emotion and interaction with them. Ally figured that this was because two 17 year old pop stars with a 17 year old manager and their crazy friend was probably not a very appealing group to be buddy-buddy with.
"Apparently Atlanta can."
She and Austin walked hand in hand with their suitcases rolling behind them in their free hands, following the two bodyguards. Trish and Dez trailed behind them with a luggage cart. They happily inspected everything as they entered an elevator and then slowly rose to the 40th floor, chatting about plans for the next day and interesting people they saw around. People-watching was fun for the four of them on Austin's bus tour as they visited diverse cities, and they were continuing it as they looked around the luxurious spaces here. It was fun for them to notice and often laugh about the different types of people they ran across in different states and their local quirks. For example, the four of them found it funny how everyone around the midwest would say "Ope, sorry!" anytime they bumped into you or did anything remotely in your way. People in some of the big cities were a different story though- the four of them could never expect what they were gonna see or hear with them. Not many people were out at this time of night though, so they didn't have anyone very interesting to discuss before they arrived at their rooms.
"Hey Dez… I'll let you look at one of the fancy chocolates I bought at the airport later- unwrapped- if you unload my luggage for me... please?" Trish asked Dez with feigned sweetness as the four of them and the robots stood in the hall outside of their adjoining rooms.
"Uh uh, nice try Trish. I'm not gonna unload all this heavy stuff for you just to look at your fancy chocolate." Dez said smoothly.
"Ok ok, fine. I'll let you smell one." Trish replied.
"… deal!" Dez exclaimed. Trish rolled her eyes as Dez began enthusiastically removing her luggage from the cart, mouthing the word "doof" to Ally.
"Let's just open these doors already! I'm ready for this city view." Austin said, rubbing his hands together. Ally handed him a key card and he hurriedly swung open his and Dez' door. She smirked as she noticed his jaw drop.
"Come on, it can't seriously be that-." She stopped mid sentence as she moved into the doorframe and saw what Austin saw. Behind a full wall of curved glass window was a magnificent view of Atlanta from 40 floors up, with all of the tall building lights shining magically in the night and illuminating the dark room faintly. A bright carousel was visible very close to them and it made the scene even more aesthetically pleasing.
"...amazing." she finished. Her and Austin exchanged looks of awe in the doorway before she rushed to her and Trish's room right next door, and when Trish saw the view her jaw dropped as well.
"I just wanna lean against that glass wall and stare out there all night." Trish said in a dreamy tone, dragging her things haphazardly to the bed nearest the wall of glass.
"Sorry Ally but this bed is mine." Trish said quickly, knowing she had to make her claim fast. Ally was too busy checking out the room to hear her or care. She'd never stayed somewhere so nice in her life.
The four of them unpacked for a while once the initial awe wore off, and Trish somehow managed to swindle Dez into doing more physical labor for her- he'd hung all of her clothes into the closet, painted her toenails, and ironed a shirt for her by the time 10:00 PM hit. While Dez was busy sniffing Trish's chocolate graciously while doing a ridiculous amount of work for her, Ally talked to Austin in his room for a little bit. They marvelled at the city together and she helped him work on his outfit for the concert the next day, which they hadn't fully decided on yet. Not that he had a very extensive wardrobe, but it was still entertaining to think it out together. It went something like "Blue jacket white shirt black pants? Or blue jacket black shirt black pants? Or maybe blue jacket blue shirt red pants, with the white shoes." "No no no, never blue on blue. Black jacket white shirt and red pants." "Yeah ok but I don't know about red pants white shirt." etc.
When they had finally decided on black jacket, blue shirt, black pants, blue shoes, they calmed down and Austin was relieved to have a break from talking about clothes. They sat on the floor leaning against the edge of his bed that faced the windows and took a deep breath, releasing some of the stress of such a long day and feeling calm with the view ahead of them.
"I get overwhelmed just trying to choose between the same few shirts and jackets that I always wear. How do you ever pick everything for your concerts?" Austin said with a slight chuckle as he turned his head towards Ally.
"Trust me, it takes me just as long or longer to figure it out. Everything I'm wearing on Monday took me all week to think about. And that didn't even include my hair or makeup." She assured him, and he dropped his jaw dramatically. She just rolled her eyes and smiled.
"It's easy to get stressed about the little things, but when I go too crazy over it I just try to remind myself of the big picture. No matter what I wear, I have incredible fans that come to see me for my music. That's what is most important to me." She continued genuinely, admiring the way his soft hair and skin looked in the soft light of the Atlanta night.
"Yeah… true, well said. It really is special huh? Getting to-" Austin had started to sit up and become more passionate about their conversation when he was cut off by a loud yell.
"DEZ!" Trish bellowed from the other room, so powerfully that Ally thought the whole hotel floor may have heard it. Austin hoped that the robots wouldn't barge in- they were staying in rooms right across the hall. He and Ally grudgingly stood up from their serene city view moment and rushed into her and Trish's room.
"This imbecile just spilled an entire bottle of nail polish on my bag!" She fumed, giving Dez a death glare. He stood frozen with nail polish still in hand, cringing.
"Can I just smell the chocolate one more time?" He gasped out, but when Trish's expression didn't change he swiftly exited the room.
"Uhh, maybe try to wipe it up? Or actually, if you just let it dry maybe you could scrape it?" Ally suggested hesitantly. Austin just rocked back and forth on his feet with no clue what to do.
"I just… It's fine. I'll figure it out tomorrow. For now I just need a break from him. He's lucky he has some good moments because a lot of the time I just wanna kick that moron to the moon." Trish finally let out after a few moments of silent rage.
"Soo… I think I'd better go to bed. What time do we need to get out of here in the morning Trish?" Austin said, breaking the discomfort of the situation.
"Probably ten? We can grab breakfast at the Starbucks in the lobby. Just make sure you have yourself and your outfit and guitar and everything downstairs by 9:30 if we don't talk before then." Trish said as she collected herself and rose from where she sat on her bed, scooting her soiled bag to the trash.
"Ok, sounds good, see you in the morning. Goodnight Ally." He said, and they exchanged a quick kiss before he walked through their adjoined door with a spring in his step and shut it behind him. Ally felt a little bit unsatisfied as she stood at the door frame after his door closed, processing her emotions. They had just been starting such a good conversation that she'd been hoping to have with him for weeks since they got together, but it got cut short. They talked about music all the time of course- they worked on songs at the piano almost daily, and on many of their recent dates, which they'd had about five of, it was inevitable that they'd end up talking about new songs at some point- but she wanted to talk about their careers as a whole with him again under the new perspective of being in a relationship that was becoming serious. They almost got there tonight. But maybe some other point on the trip would be a good opportunity. They'd been so busy with songs, work, the school play, Austin Moon week, schoolwork, fitting in some dates, spending time with their parents, etc. in the last few weeks after prom that they hadn't had much chance to have deep discussions about the things that mattered to her most.
She dismissed her disappointment of this with the hope that at some point in Atlanta they'd have a good moment to just relax and talk, and instead turned her focus back to the huge windows in the room. She took a few photos of the view while she and Trish chatted about how the next day would need to go.
"The boys better not actually play that zombie game all night… If I hear them bashing zombie heads past midnight I might go in their and bash one of their heads." Trish said after a while as she entered the bathroom to take a shower.
"Same here. What were they thinking bringing it, it's not like they don't play it enough at home."
"I know right? And there are seriously hundreds of better things they could be doing in this hotel alone, not to mention this huge city."
"I don't know if we'll ever quite understand them and their antics. I'm dating one of them and I don't really get it."
"Yeahh, I happen to value a good night of sleep more than anything I can accomplish in a video game. But I guess when Austin falls asleep while singing tomorrow his values might change. Imagine that celebrity news headline. "BREAKING NEWS: Pop star Austin Moon collapses from exhaustion on stage- not even a plate of pancakes could revive him." Trish acted out before shutting the door, and they both laughed disbelievingly. After an hour or so Trish was passed out in her bed and the room was dark, but Ally laid awake with her eyes defocused in the direction of the city lights. The next few days would be hectic and busy, but she was so excited for her big show and the great memories she would make with Austin and her friends here.
Just before she finally fell asleep around 1 am, Ally heard the zombie video game sounds go silent, which made her smile. Austin was getting better at listening to her advice. She could finish that talk with him soon. She was in a beautiful new place. She was performing in three days. Life was good. She had no trouble succumbing to her exhaustion after that.