Here is Part 3 of my Austin and Ally back-to-back concerts in Atlanta series- read parts 1 & 2 first! My next chapters will return to plots that revolve around the events of specific episodes of the show, but this was just a fun opportunity for me to be creative with my own story line. Thanks for reading! I'll post a new regular chapter hopefully within a week :)

It was 7 PM on Sunday night, the night after Austin's Atlanta show, and the night before Ally's. Austin was patiently awaiting her at the base of the glass elevator in the lobby of the Westin Peachtree, the incredible hotel that they'd been staying at for the last two nights. Earlier that day he'd asked her to dinner at the Sun Dial, the hotel's restaurant on the 73rd floor, which had live jazz and a 360 degree view of the city. The only way to get there was this private elevator. Ally had been talking about it ever since Trish booked their rooms here, and he couldn't wait to experience it with her. They'd spent most of the day walking through the city streets, and now they'd have a gorgeous nighttime view of it all from above. When Ally finally appeared in the lobby he found himself feeling nervous; she looked breathtaking in a burnt red dress and gray heels.

"Hey." She said as she approached him, stretching up to hug him. He squeezed her back joyfully.

"Hey. You look incredible." He said, trying to regain normal breathing.

"You too." She said, looking him up and down and grinning a little as he placed his arm around her. He had on a snug-fitting long sleeved gray dress shirt with a button undone, tapered black slacks, and black derbies. His skin looked perfect and his hair was fluffed up showing his forehead a little more than usual- she loved it. In the back of her mind she was wishing to have more than her eyes all over him as she felt his muscles against her, but she swallowed that quickly as she gazed up at his eyes, grasping his right hand- which was dangling over her shoulder- in hers.

"I'm so excited to do this. I haven't been able to stop thinking about this restaurant for weeks." She said as they awaited the elevator to come down together.

"I know… at one point I was keeping a tally of how many times you brought it up, but after the 30th time I just gave up." He remarked, giving her a disbelieving smile.

"Alright, I may have been a little crazy about it. But in my defense, school has been so intense recently and this trip has been the light at the end of the tunnel. I mean I barely got to see you last week." She said, and they had to pause their conversation to board the blue-lit glass elevator.

"Yeah, I know. That part sucked. It's been the same for me… although I've been doing way less homework. I just couldn't stop thinking about this trip and my show, but more importantly the time I'd get to have with you." He said, looking down to her eyes. The elevator doors had shut and they were alone. She smiled widely and squeezed him as it began to rise. Sometimes he said things that were just… perfect.

"Me too. I'm so, so happy now. When we tried dating before, the few times we could have together were a secret, and it just felt so shaky. And when we spent all that time apart and first decided to date other people, it seriously bothered me. More than I would admit." Ally said. She did not mean to start such a deeper conversation here or now and felt regretful that she had said something so emotional already. There was just so much on her mind. They watched the view of the city outside the rising elevator for a few moments before he responded.

"Yeah… I never told you completely, but it drove me crazy being on my tour with you and just being friends. And then coming home and trying to live life like I didn't like you- it felt like I was lying every day." He said, surprising her as his tone became more serious near the end. His words made her heart throb. She let his arm drop off of her shoulder, turned towards him, and upon looking at each other they kissed. Austin happily moved his hands to her back. It was safe, there would have been no way for someone to see it. She pulled away after just a few seconds even though he wanted it to linger, knowing they were nearly to the 73rd floor.

"It was definitely the hardest thing I've had to do- pretending I didn't have feelings for you. But we are here now." She said, close to his face, smiling gratefully as she thought about her words.

"Let's keep it like this." He finished, glowing. The elevator doors began to open and he took her arm in his.

"Now, let's finally have this fancy dinner."

After they'd gotten their table, ordered food, and walked around to some of the different viewing areas in the restaurant arm in arm, chatting about Ally's upcoming concert and taking photos, they talked with their hands clasped together across their table. They had somehow gotten into a conversation of ways to spice up their concerts if their careers ever started to flop, and it was clear that they were slap happy after a long day.

"...So in summary of all that, you think that I should cancel everything I've had planned for weeks for my opening song of the concert, rent a horse, ride onto the stage with him, perform my first song as a country song, and reveal to everyone that I've fooled the masses and I actually want to be a country singer. In front of 12,000 people who paid for Austin & Ally pop weekend. And just hope that they all love it?" Ally summarized, looking at Austin incredulously and giggling as he tried to keep a straight face.

"Yep."

"Ok, and then Ronnie Ramone will just accept me for me and let me change my entire album to country."

"Yep."

"And you say that I should… and I quote… 'Call Ronnie Ramone 'Buckaroo' when I get on the phone and explain myself to him?" Ally said, and they were both laughing now.

"Hey this is an amazing idea don't shoot me down. He'd be flattered." Austin said, and Ally just marveled at his antics.

"It certainly would add flavor to my career. Although if we are going to base this off of your history of great ideas, you do remember that you wore stolen ruby slippers and almost injured the president at a concert once, right?" She reminded him, and they'd never fully thought about how bizarre that experience was after the fact, so it made them laugh harder. Before either of them had a chance to say anything else, however, their food arrived, and at the same time Ally's phone began to ring.

"Oh no, it's Ronnie. This can't be good, he's calling at a weird time." Ally commented, her laughter turning to apprehension.

"So… now's a bad time to call him Buckaroo?" Austin asked, and Ally gave him a look that said "not gonna happen". She answered the call, and Austin's face expression slowly turned from joy to stress as he listened in on the phone conversation. Ronnie Ramone told her that two of her backup dancers came down with the flu during rehearsals back in Miami, meaning they would definitely not be able to fly out and perform tomorrow, so she and him needed to make some calls and work something out ASAP. Ally slowly hung up the phone and almost felt like crying.

"This is not going to work. How am I going to find new dancers? I only have one backup that I could probably call back in Miami, but who knows if she could come in this short notice. Then I need a guy as the other one, and I don't have any back up person for that. I just feel so bad that my dancers are sick too, I hope they didn't practice too hard and get worn down." She said, beginning to rub her temples.

"Hey it'll be alright, why don't you call the girl and I can think of ideas for the guy. Luckily you only need dancers for a couple of the songs right? The others are just you and the piano?" Austin tried to reassure her. Their food sat on the table untouched, but there was too much stress to focus on eating.

"That's true, but learning two full dance numbers in just one day- if a new guy could even get out here by morning- would be so stressful for them. I don't want to stress anyone out like that. And I would need to be rehearsing with the other dancers without them all day." Ally said anxiously, resisting the urge to chew her hair.

"Let's just make a plan. You can make some calls, find a guy who is willing to fly out, and I can help him learn the dance. I've watched you practicing with the dancers enough that I feel like I have a lot of it memorized anyway." Austin said, squeezing Ally's hand for a second and hoping the panic would pass soon so that they could keep enjoying their date.

"That would be really helpful, thank you Austin. I'll just need to work on finding someone and seeing if my backup can come. I have a lot of calls to make… I'm so sorry. This night was starting out so great. Go ahead and eat, don't wait for me. I'm going to go out and call Ronnie and then everyone else. I'll come back soon." Ally said, rising from the table quickly with her phone.

"Don't worry about me, go ahead." He responded, and she gave him a pitiful look before walking off. He wasn't sure what to do other than eat his food and wish she was across from him. They'd been having so much fun. After 5 minutes Trish called him saying that Ally told her what was going on, so he talked to her about the situation, and an idea came into his head. He wanted to tell her right away, but Ally still hadn't come back after ten minutes. When she finally returned to the table she looked burnt out.

"I didn't mean to be on the phone that long, I'm sorry. The good news is that Ronnie approved my plan of finding a new guy and using the backup girl. The bad news is, I can't get a hold of her, and the guys I've called have all rejected." She sat down again as she said this, looking defeated.

"Ally… why don't I just dance backup for you? I know the dances really well and then you don't have to worry about finding and stressing some random guy out." Austin said, hoping to see a spark of hope in her.

"That's really sweet, and a really good idea, but do you really think Jimmy would let you do that? I don't mean to be negative, but when I think about what Jimmy has said before, I'm doubtful." Ally replied, thankful for Austin's willingness regardless.

"I'll call him, maybe he'll understand. I'll be back." Austin said as he rushed off to call Jimmy. Ally focused on texting Trish about more possible dancers and eating some of her meal. After a few minutes Austin came back to the table with a sour look.

"You were right. Jimmy said it would be bad for my image to dance back up, and he was already risking a lot letting me do a concert so close to yours, bla bla bla. But I swear I would if I could." He reported apologetically. Ally wasn't surprised but still a little disappointed.

"It's ok, this just sucks. I need to call a few more guys that Trish just sent me… I feel bad just having you wait here." She said, looking very sorrowful.

"If it will make you feel better, I'll stick around for a little longer, and if you are still making calls after 10 minutes I'll head back to my room. I want you to be able to focus on you right now."

"Ok, that would make me feel better. But I feel terrible." Ally said sadly with a sigh.

"You can't help that this is happening. We'll get it figured out, I'll do some research back at the room." He said assuredly, and Ally rose from the table, kissed his cheek, and had to answer a phone call from Trish right away, mouthing "sorry" and leaving him at the table with 2 nearly empty plates, despite the fact that they didn't get to eat any of it together. He was disappointed but mostly worried for Ally. He didn't want her to feel bad about any of this. Ten minutes passed and she was still on a balcony on the phone, so he paid for the food and left as she'd wanted. There was nothing he could do to help her just by being there so he resolved to do what he could with Trish back at the rooms.

(2 hours later)

It was around 9:30 when Ally had finally flung off her heels in she and Trish's room, collapsing onto her bed after finally getting her backup dancer situation sorted out. She and Trish had been on the phone in the hallway for a while, and Austin was passed out in the chair in he and Dez' room due to a long day and his concert the night before. He had been helping research dancers for a while but couldn't stay awake. Dez was busy practicing dances, even after Trish and Ally told him a hundred times that he could not be the backup dancer and do a tap routine. The whole night had been a mess, but it was over. Although Ally was relieved, it didn't make her any less sad that it ruined her date with Austin. She wasn't going to wake him up though, and she needed to sleep before another long day, so she just went to bed feeling unsatisfied.

After a while of laying still in the dark room, trying to get sleepy, she gave up and decided she needed to do something other than roll around and ruminate on her disappointment about what was supposed to be the perfect date night. She grabbed her book, phone, key card and earbuds and slipped out of the room, then texted Trish saying she was taking a walk in case she noticed that she was missing. After 5 minutes of walking Ally found herself in the elevator headed to the pool; maybe the view there would be calming for her to write out her thoughts. She was pleased to find that the pool was still open and nobody was inside, so she walked in and sat against one of the curved windows that looked over the city and began writing.

Before long she was feeling better. She'd filled a whole page of her book, there was just enough light in the domed pool room to see it. Still nobody had come in, and she was enjoying the ambiance of light water flow and warm, moist air. The shades were down, so she could clearly see the stars, as well as the second tower of the hotel gleaming above. In her writing she'd come to the decision that she would force out some time with Austin the next day to finally have the good talk with him that she wanted, and to of course apologize again for the messy night. This made her feel more at peace, and she put in her ear buds.

"Steal Your Heart" came on. It made her heart flutter unexpectedly. She realized she'd never just listened to Austin's like this. As she focused on every sound in the song, the facets of his voice, and most importantly, the lyrics, she thought about him writing it and thinking of her. It hit her that he probably thought about and dreamed about her the way that she dreamed about him, and when the song ended, she felt euphoric. That voice- which millions of girls listened to and fawned over- was singing about her. How could that be? She then played "Who U R", and even though she had written the lyrics, she could feel his emotions channeling through his vocals. She was sure she looked crazy, listening to music by herself in a low-lit empty hotel pool room, wearing pajama shorts and a sweatshirt, with a ridiculous smile on her face. But nobody could see her.

That was when she froze- someone had walked in. She could only see their silhouette, and it was an odd shape. She didn't want to look creepy, however, so she looked away and picked up her book to write. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed the person toss a sweatshirt onto a nearby chair and carry something to the pool's edge… what was it? They didn't appear to have noticed her. It was when the figure had sat down on the ledge and began to move the object that she realized. It was a guitar, and it looked very familiar.

"Austin?" She called out from behind him, standing up. When she heard him finger picking her favorite duet with him, she knew it was him.

"Ally? What are you doing here?" Austin said, clearly surprised after his eyes adjusted and he realized who he was looking at, but starting to smile.

"Probably the same thing as you." She said, walking closer and sitting sideways next to him at the pool ledge.

"I was trying to fall asleep but it felt like my brain was buzzing. I think after everything that happened tonight my body just isn't able to shut down. But anyway, I came here because I figured it would be quiet and peaceful to write. So I was doing that, and then you showed up." She explained.

"Me too. Well, the sleeping part. I woke up in that chair in my room all confused and I thought you all were asleep. Even Dez was in bed, which was shocking. I decided I just needed to just take my guitar somewhere and relax. But Ally, what happened with the dancers? I'm so sorry that I fell asleep, I seriously wanted to do everything I could to help." He said, and Ally couldn't help getting lost in his eyes. He was so attractive and so passionate about his words. He really did care, and she felt bad that he was so apologetic over her own mess.

"Austin, it really is ok. I mean you just performed last night, and it means a lot that you wanted to be there for me even after I made our date a mess. I ended up finding a guy that was super willing and kind about coming out and learning the dances tomorrow, and he's really good too. Trish went into full manager mode and worked out the flights for him and my other girl, who I finally got a hold of in the restaurant. It's all- finally- fine. Tomorrow should go smoothly now." She explained, and Austin looked relieved.

"I'm so happy to hear that. I hated to see you so stressed. I knew you'd get it solved though. You're amazing." He said, and he took off his guitar and set it behind them. She smiled and didn't know how to respond to him.

"How do you always know the perfect thing to say?" Was all she could utter.

"I don't know, nobody has ever said that to me... something about you makes everything make sense. It's very surprising to hear you say that though considering how much time I spend hanging around Dez." He replied, looking somewhat touched.

"Touche." She said with a slight laugh. They looked down to the water for a few seconds, subconsciously joining hands.

"I'm glad it's all fixed now, but I'm still sad that our dinner had to be corrupted by concert stuff. I was so excited." She remarked, not hiding her disappointment.

"The first bit was still nice though, so thank you." She finished sincerely. She loved seeing his soft smile in the reflection of the water.

"Of course… someday let's come back here and have a do-over dinner. That place really was dope. I get now why you were so excited."

"Definitely."

"Maybe by then we'll have resorted to our backup career options."

"Right… I'd be a country singer and you'll be playing traditional celtic music on bagpipes. In that case, I hope we never come back."

"Oh come on, you know you'd like my bagpipe concerts."

"Yeah... I would. I can't even lie." They laughed.

Ally began to realize the longer they sat together that this was her opportunity to bring up the things that she'd wanted to bring up.

"So, I feel like we haven't had time to talk about some things since Prom." She said casually.

"I'm sure that's true. Just promise me that this conversation isn't going to end with breaking up."

He said it jokingly, but also looked up to her quickly to search her eyes. It was rightful for him to be legitimately concerned- they'd had two serious conversations as a couple that ended with staying friends.

"Austin, the last thing I want to do right now is break up with you." She replied, silently giddy at the relief on his face. She wondered if his heart also jumped around in his chest when they talked.

"That's good to hear… so what's up?" He asked. She began to talk about paparazzi, how much they should try to avoid publicity of their relationship, threats from his exes, etc. They'd been talking for a few minutes before Ally brought up something she hadn't thought about until then.

"Jimmy and Ronnie don't even know about us yet. Do you think it'll change anything with them once they know we are together?"

"I feel like it would be fine. I mean it's not their business anyway and it doesn't alter our careers…"

Austin's sentence trailed off as he remembered the chanting at his concert the night before, spurred by the crowd seeing him hug Ally off stage. Ally hadn't heard what they were saying, but he did. She noticed his hesitation.

"What?"

"Nothing, I was just thinking about how my fans went crazy at the show last night."

"I see… what aren't you telling me?"

"It's no big deal at all. It's just that after I hugged you everyone went ballistic wanting you to come out on the stage. People are really seeming to be obsessed with the two of us."

"Ohh… that's what they were screaming about? That's a little scary. I mean what do they want?"

"That's the thing, I don't know. But it was kinda overwhelming, and they don't even know for sure that we are together. It just got me thinking. Is that the future of all my shows? Fans being more excited about seeing you and I than about my music?" He said, and Ally looked a bit troubled, but he squeezed her hand.

"I don't say that to upset you because I don't care what they do and don't do. It's worth it to be with you. It's just still alarming." He followed up.

"No, I get it. Unfortunately that happens to tons of people in the spotlight, people love to obsess over relationships like that, and I somewhat understand. I think that It's just something we may have to deal with for a while, but it will die down eventually." She replied with hope, and he nodded sincerely. She was feeling better after everything they'd talked about so many things. Their date may have been a failure, but this unexpected meetup was a very pleasant surprise.

"You're right. I just hope you know that all this tough stuff doesn't change my mind. You're worth all of it." Austin said, and she noticed a familiar glint in his eyes.

"I know. I just want to be with you." She said, her heart burning and leaping and feeling everything. Their lips met and everything about him allured her as usual. Austin didn't hesitate to make the kiss deeper, and the sensation of water against his legs slowly faded away as their moment became everything. Emotions flowed heavily through their movements, but it was soon clear how tired they both were, so Ally broke it off hesitantly after a few minutes, remembering her show the next day. She hadn't been sure when the right time was to first say "I love you" to him, but when they said goodnight outside of their hotel rooms that night, she struggled to not say it.

There was no trouble sleeping that night after their pool date, and Ally's show was a huge success, as expected. The newer dancers did great with Austin's guidance, and Trish worked on meditation techniques throughout the day to help her avoid playing the zombie video game. Fortunately that was mostly successful for her after Austin and Ally held an intervention for Dez and hid the game, but Austin dreading dealing with Dez' zombie withdrawal when they got back to Miami.

At the end of her show, Ally ran off stage and hugged Austin without worrying who saw it. She felt like she was on top of the world, and as they walked to her dressing room together amid the roar of fans, she knew that Austin & Ally's back-to-back pop weekend in Atlanta was officially a success.