This is a really long and probably chaotic chapter, sorry! It skips through several episodes halfway through. I wanted to make a chapter that elaborated a little more on how Austin and Ally might have started considering the possibility of staying together long term when they were still in high school, and I wanted to include another less common character a little bit. Please feel free to send me some ideas for new chapters, I'm running a little low on my own ideas and I love to include what you guys want to see! I have an interesting chapter planned next and I have no idea when I'll post it, but hopefully soon... it may have some mature content (mildly), so let me know what you think about that. It may be a longer period than usual between now and my next chapter but I'll be keeping your comments in mind as I write. Thanks! :)

(Grand Openings & Great Expectations S4- In between Timestamp 21:54 and 21:57)

It was very early on a hot Friday morning in Miami, and Ally was headed to the Music Factory. She'd decided that she needed to go record some samples for her latest song in their studio while she could- they had the day off of school and wouldn't have music students for a couple hours, so it would be perfect to be there before Austin, Dez, and Trish showed up. She felt sure that they would all be sleeping in before coming to work- especially after they'd just had their students showcase their first song at the factory the night before. That's why she was very surprised to see Austin strumming a bass guitar and singing by himself on the practice stage when she approached the glass doors in the mall.

She swung them open and exclaimed "Austin?" He jumped at the noise and put his hand over his heart dramatically.

"Ally, I almost had a heart attack!" He gasped.

"And before you ask, I'm here because I was bored and I wanted to come jam for a while." He continued in response to her incredulous look. She walked over and he set down the guitar.

"No, it's fine, you can do that. I was just surprised to see you, I figured you'd be sleeping in." She remarked. She sat in one of the curvy sofas and he joined her.

"Yeah, me too. But I woke up and felt like performing I guess." He replied.

"I get it. I woke up and felt like recording. So that's why I'm here. I need to go in and make a couple samples for Ronnie, do you want to help?" She asked.

"Sure!"

His enthusiasm showed that he truly was bored; recording samples wasn't exactly thrilling.

"You look nice." He added, moving a curl to the side of her face as he caressed it. It was unexpected but made her smile.

"Thank you, you and your hair look nice too."

He smirked and pretended to check himself out, making her giggle. Both of them valued his hair maybe a little too much. They then got up and chatted in the studio before recording, agreeing that there was no way Trish would be showing up anytime soon. Sure enough, once her samples were finished they were still alone in the factory.

"Soo… what do you want to do? Practice room?" Austin suggested in the sound booth, slightly high pitched. Ally didn't know exactly what "practice room?" meant, but she liked the sound of it.

"Sure, and I'm gonna get some mocha's delivered here. I need one." She replied. They headed upstairs together as she did an online coffee order on her phone, choosing to ignore that they had a small dispenser downstairs. Their long days of frantically trying to get their first students ready for the showcase recently deserved some nicer cups of coffee. After subconsciously sitting next to each other at the piano bench, Ally began playing "The Way That You Do", which Austin joined in a duet. They played softly, just enjoying each other's presence before Austin spoke.

"It feels kinda odd to be in here sometimes, after all the hours we were in here working on songs for me in the past three years. And now I'm helping you with your music, which I love. But isn't it just crazy how things turned around?" Austin reminisced.

"Yeah, we came such a long way in here. Remember when we were working on 'Heard it on The Radio' and I was scared of the beach so I wanted it to be sad and in a minor key? I was just so scared back then in general, sometimes I can't believe that was ever me. I'm glad you helped me find my confidence." Ally said, feeling a little bit surprised that he'd started such a thoughtful conversation out of the blue.

"It is odd to think about how different we were. We're all so much more mature and adult-y now." Austin replied enthusiastically. He could tell by Ally's expression that using the word "adult-y" wasn't a great demonstration of his maturity.

"But yeah, you definitely helped me keep my feet on the ground too. I was crazy approaching everything the way that I did. Dez and I are a little dangerous when it's just us two making decisions." He stated as if it was new information.

"Yeah, I've noticed." She laughed.

"The one thing that I have to remind me of every version of myself is my songbook. I don't use it as a diary as much as you may expect, it really is just a ton of song lyrics and summaries of all my favorite memories. Someday I'll let you touch it. Maybe even read it." She continued, and Austin looked shocked. Her book was sitting on top of the piano and he reached for it, but she slapped his hand away.

"Don't touch my book!"

They started cracking up because of how hard she had slapped him by accident.

"So I guess someday is not anytime soon." He stated dramatically, rubbing his hand.

"Um yeah, keyword was someday."

"Maybe someday I'll let you know my middle name." Austin remarked cleverly, but his face quickly sunk as he remembered that his middle name was common knowledge among them all.

"I'm glad I already know that. Austin Monica Moon, so elegant." She swooned, and he sucker punched her arm lightly in response. They paused their playing, enjoying being in the factory without the noise of kids everywhere for the first time. It almost felt too quiet.

"I can't believe how awkward we were the first time we were together. Well, the real first time. The second first time wasn't as bad. And the fake second time was totally fine of course." Ally remarked, looking strained as she organized their relationship.

"Man, we were a mess. Clearly." He chuckled.

"No kidding."

"But yeah. That was rough. We were too worried about the little things. I like to look at the big picture these days, what's most important to me." Austin finished, smiling at her. Ally was a sucker for that smile.

Meanwhile, Dez and Trish had just walked in downstairs. Trish sent Ally a text that the two of them were coming in early, but she hadn't read it yet.

"It's nice to be here when it's not packed." Trish said as she and Dez sat in the sofas.

"Yeah, when too many people are here you act like an angry bear." He replied, and once he noticed Trish's expression he scratched his head and avoided eye contact.

"When too many people are here you act like a doof. And when no people are here. Actually, you always act like a doof." Trish countered.

"Touche."

Trish rolled her eyes.

"Look, someone's delivering two coffees here… Aww, you didn't have to order me a coffee Trish!" Dez cooed, noticing a delivery guy at the door.

"I know, that's why I didn't… I guess Austin and Ally must be here."

"Huh, where are they?" Dez replied, confused.

"Eh, probably making out in the practice room. Let's just drink them." Trish said bluntly, and Dez looked skeptical, but they ran to the door and retrieved the coffees excitedly anyway. After a few minutes of sipping the mocha's, Trish noticed that Ally had just answered her text. She said that she was surprised they were coming in so early and that they were coming down to talk.

"Dez, quick, hide the drinks!" She shouted in a whisper. They slid the drinks under the sofa and Trish pulled out the newspaper she'd brought with her- the reason she woke up early to be there- just in time as the practice room door opened. The way that Austin and Ally sauntered into the sitting area together confirmed Trish's previous suspicion.

(Last Scene of Grand Openings & Great Expectations begins- Timestamp 21:57)

"Hey, what are you guys looking at?" Ally asked Trish and Dez. They began talking about the article in the newspaper by Beverly Robins, Senior Editor of Miami Daily Star Gazette, as she was so fond of reminding them. It was exciting for them to hear good things published about the music factory after their hard work getting the kids together. One thing led to another and after a few minutes, Dez was ballroom dancing with Austin, naturally. Ally collected herself after being pushed aside by Dez and shoved him off of Austin, returning herself to his arms. As they finished out their ballroom dance, Ally remembered something.

"Austin… Why haven't our coffees gotten here yet? I ordered them a long time ago." She said as she sat next to Trish on the sofa, feeling a little winded. She couldn't keep up with Austin's dancing, even ballroom dancing.

"Huh, I don't know. That's weird." He said, and Trish and Dez simultaneously froze and exchanged nervous glances.

"Uhh, I think I saw a coffee delivery guy being chased away by a giant crab on my way here. I bet that was your guy." Dez stammered.

"That's odd, I thought I saw that a delivery guy had tripped and spilled some coffees in the mall. Maybe those were yours. That would make a LOT more sense." Trish added cooly with a pointed glare at Dez.

"Ok… weird. Whatever. So guys, how should we move forward with the factory? I can't believe how well Lily did with her new bass guitar. And Max pulled through on the keyboard way better than I expected, I guess the video game rig was perfect for him." Ally lavished, and the others nodded.

"Yeah, if I'm being honest I didn't think you guys would pull it off. I'm glad you had them play that first song before the kids took things into their own hands… the second song might have closed down the factory." Trish commented.

"Me too." Ally replied, looking like she'd seen a ghost as she remembered how the kids sounded when they went freestyle.

"Yeah, they were awwwful." Dez stated. The other three looked at him.

"They'll get better, I'm so excited to work with all of them. I'm glad Dylan showed up, it really bothered me that she was going to give up because of what her friends would think. I'd think it's awesome to be learning lead guitar, her friends must be lame." Austin responded, sounding hopeful.

"Yeah, me too. And thank goodness we got Herman those glasses. When I talked to him a few days ago he was telling me about how he thought a grasshopper was a piece of candy once." Trish added. They all cringed.

"I'm excited to start working with them on videos, it's cool to be able to help a kid fulfill the same dreams you had when you were their age." Dez stated in a rare moment of seriousness.

"Yeah... It'll be great. We're gonna help them become an awesome team. I'm so glad we got a good start last night." Ally said, and everyone agreed. They then started making some decisions about what they should do with the kids next. The rest of the day of dancing, singing, editing, playing guitars, and working on gigs went well, other than Dez spilling his stolen coffee all over the dance studio. The factory was showing a bright future ahead, and Austin was finally feeling some fulfillment in music for the first time since he lost his career.

(Several weeks later- Hours after the end scene of Karaoke & Kalamity. Seniors & Senors, Homework & Hidden Talents, Duos & Deception, and Wedding Bells & Wacky Birds have passed by)

"Hey guys!" Dez shouted as he burst into the practice room. He'd just been at the rodeo with his uncle for most of the afternoon- his uncle being the old cowboy that Ally had thought was Austin in disguise earlier that day. Several weeks had passed since their opening showcase of the music factory.

"Uh, Dez? What are you so hyped about?" Austin whispered disbelievingly as he sat at the table by the door. Dez looked like he'd just found out a new Zaliens movie was coming out as he sat down across from him. Ally and Trish were in a virtual meeting through Trish's laptop with Ronni Ramone on the couch; they both glared at Dez and Austin.

"We need to whisper, they're in a meeting." Austin told Dez, who still looked like he wanted to start dancing.

"Ohh… well at the rodeo I got a call from Carrie and she said that she's flying out to Miami at 11:00 tonight as a surprise!" Dez exclaimed as quietly as he could.

"That's great man! But doesn't that mean she's going to get here super early?"

"Yeah! I'm going to pick her up at 4:30 tomorrow morning!" Dez announced, and Austin was surprised by his peppiness.

"What will you guys do so early? Nothing will be open." Austin replied incredulously. They could hear the faint sound of Ronnie saying "Let me get right to the point" in the background of their whispers.

"That's where you come in." Dez stated excitedly, awaiting a reaction from Austin, who just looked at him, confused.

"By the time we drive out to the area it will be getting light out. You and Ally should meet us at the beach and we could all watch the sunrise and play games! Carrie hasn't seen you guys since the perfume commercial and it would be great to have some time to all talk before the music factory gets busy." Dez suggested joyfully. Austin looked a little skeptical at first. A double date with Dez and Carrie? That would be… interesting. He also figured Ally might be a little less than happy to wake up super early and then immediately interact with Dez.

"Great idea, eh? Also, I'm sure it would give you some romantic brownie points with Ally." Dez continued, noticing Austin's hesitation and glancing in the direction of Ally, who looked thoroughly confused by all their whispering as she tried to focus on her meeting.

"That's so true… Let's do it!" Austin proclaimed. He immediately regretted that.

"Shhhh!"

Trish walked over to them at the table and Austin and Dez feared for their lives.

"Guys, instead of having that whole whisper conversation you could have just walked literally 3 feet out of the room and talked." Trish said, and Austin and Dez nodded slowly.

"Good point." Austin said. With that he and Dez rose and left the room to start planning their surprise for Ally and Carrie the next day.

(The next morning, 5:45 AM)

The next day Austin sat rubbing his eyes in his Tesla in Ally's driveway, parked conspicuously behind Mr. Dawson at 5:45 in the morning. He had set an alarm on Ally's phone to go off at 5:50 without telling her the day before, and planned to text her right at the time the alarm went off to tell her he was in the driveway and that they were going on an adventure. He and Dez formulated this so that she would wake up and immediately get excited to go out with him, but their destination would be a surprise. He had high hopes as the clock turned to 5:50 and he sent Ally the text telling her to get ready and come outside. He was in a snug long sleeved shirt with a jacket and jeans and figured she could just dress casual really quick too. Unfortunately for him, Ally appeared far earlier than he expected, still in pajamas and messy hair, shielding her face from his headlights, and looking anything but excited. She tapped on the driver side window and he reluctantly rolled it down, immediately feeling like he and Dez might not have made the best plan ever as she crossed her arms in disbelief and looked at him through the window.

"Austin… what are you… nevermind, can you just explain?" She sighed tiredly after she noticed him wincing at her expression.

"Uh, well, Dez and I had this great idea to surprise you, and I guess I wasn't supposed to say that Dez is coming, shoot, but I swear it's gonna be cool. Maybe I should have just told you, but… do you think you could just get ready and trust me?" Austin finished, his words jumbled at first.

"Ok, that cleared up nothing... but, I'll come with you. Just know that making me wake up early with no warning and then not telling me what's going on is never happening again. And we'd better be back before we need to get to the factory. And you'd better hope my dad doesn't find out about this." She declared, and he nodded, slightly relieved and scared at the same time. She shuffled back to her door before he could say another word, and Austin began feeling nervous. He wanted this to be romantic and a good memory for all of them, not another bad memory to add to Ally's negative beach experiences. She returned after ten minutes with her hair straightened and in jeans, sandals, and a blue top, but her expression was unchanged. She settled into his passenger seat silently and for a second they just looked at each other as Ally rhuminated in her bad mood. Austin didn't know what to say.

"Look, I'm sorry, it was stupid to have you wake up this early and set the alarm and all that. I just wanted to make a cool memory like all the ones we got to have over the summer, and I think we still can." He explained, but she didn't seem totally convinced. She couldn't stay mad at him however, especially because he was trying to do something nice and she could tell he was anxious about her reaction.

"It's ok, let's just go. Now you have me curious about what's so special." She admitted, cracking a smile.

"I don't think you'll be disappointed." He assured her, strongly hoping that was true. He turned up the music and she leaned into her hand against the door still seeming a bit grumpy, but Austin was determined to change that when they arrived at the nearby beach. The sun was already peaking up. His only fear was that interacting with both Dez and Carrie right away might put her over the edge, but he just kept driving, hoping that his good intentions would win over whatever happened.

Ally meanwhile was extremely confused, exhausted, and in a bad mood, but she was willing to give Austin a chance because she desperately missed being with him on her tour too. The memories they made travelling were so special to her, and all their unique experiences helped them bond in ways that the typical high school relationship experience- even as pop stars- wouldn't have allowed. Hearing that he had come up with this whole idea with Dez was questionable, however. Whatever they were about to do needed to be pretty amazing to get her out of her current funk. She just hoped she wasn't being taken to some crazy convention.

Austin had to shake Ally awake when they arrived at the public beach, but when she awoke that time, her feelings about Austin were much different. Through the windshield was the most beautiful ocean sunrise she'd ever seen, with hues of red and orange illuminating the few clouds and a pink gradient along the water. Austin was transfixed too, he didn't expect it to be so beautiful.

"Austin, this is incredible." She uttered, turning to him happily.

"Right? I brought some food, a blanket, and a speaker… wanna get closer?" He asked, feeling sparks in his chest as he saw the way her face was lighting up.

"Definitely."

"Perfect… although, there's another thing to know." He added hesitantly.

"Go on."

"Dez and Carrie are hanging with us too."

He cringed as he said it but was glad to see that Ally didn't have any strong reaction.

"Carrie's visiting? You could have just told me all this Austin. It's fine, this will be nice." Ally assured him, grabbing his hand. She felt bad now for being in a mood when he clearly had this all planned out to make her happy. He smiled, and it seemed like he'd been holding his breath up until that point.

"My intentions are there, but I think my methods need some work." He summarized.

"I think you just need to stop getting advice from Dez."

"Very true."

After they got their stuff together they found Dez and Carrie at a picnic blanket by the shore and walked over to lay out their own.

"There they are! Wow Ally, you look hideous!" Carrie shouted as the waves crashed nearby and Austin and Ally approached them.

"Oh uh, thanks Carrie! You too." Ally answered, as Carrie stood to hug her. It took her a second to remember that she'd told Carrie that hideous meant beautiful at the VMA's.

"Can you guys believe this sunrise?" Dez asked.

"Yeah, it's like a sunset. Amazing." Carrie commented. Unsure of what to make of that, Austin and Ally just looked at each other before snuggling up on their blanket. The air was pretty chilly and their hair was blowing around, but laying together was warm enough to make the sunrise viewing pleasurable. Dez and Carrie were busy eating some fruit next to them.

"This is definitely amazing." Austin stated. Ally showed her agreement by rolling over and kissing his cheek, and he knew that meant that this plan was a success.

"How was your flight Carrie?" Ally asked.

"It was good, although I had to sit by this super tall guy so I was kind of squished. He said he was a professional basketball player, but I know he was lying so that was annoying." Carrie answered, and Austin perked up.

"Wait, he said he was a pro basketball player? What was his name? How tall was he?" he asked.

"He was pretty giant. I didn't ask him what his name was but everyone around me kept whispering about him. I think they said his name was shed." Carrie explained.

"What? shed…"

"Or no, not shed, shack I think."

"Shack… as in Shaq?! Shaquille O'Neal? Carrie you sat next to Shaq on a plane, that is epic!" Austin exclaimed.

"No way Carrie, I thought you were telling me that you sat in a shed on the plane. That is way cooler!" Dez added, and Carrie seemed very underwhelmed.

"Huh, well I guess he really was a basketball player. Woops, I told him he was a big liar when he offered to sign my basketball." Carrie said, and Austin looked like he was going to faint.

"Shaq offered to sign your basketball and you said no? Why did you even have a basketball with you?" He practically cried out.

"My mom said she heard that some famous basketball player might be on my flight and so she sent me with one- ohh…" Carrie realized her mistake after Austin had already dramatically hid his face in his hands.

"It's ok babe, I bet we'll meet him again someday." Dez reassured her, and they continued eating their food as Ally massaged Austin's head and laughed at him. He was not over it. He kept muttering things like "If I had met shaq on a plane…" but eventually he relaxed and they continued enjoying the view.

"I miss the nights on tour." Ally said after a few minutes. Dez and Carrie were taking a walk in the distance and Ally had wanted to say that for a while. He knew she was referring to all the nights they'd slept cuddled together on the freezing bus, still on a high after one of Ally's shows or an adventure they'd just had in whatever city they'd just been in.

"Me too." He answered. Laying with her like they were was an almost painful reminder of how glorious it was to live together on the bus all summer.

"Life changed so fast when we got back. And now Jimmy is- or at least was- considering letting you perform again. I never thought that would happen. I'm so glad." She said.

"Me either… I want to do everything I can to prove myself to him. Even though I don't want to because he humiliated me, I'm stuck in that ten year contract whether I like it or not." He said, determined.

"I'm with you. He'll wake up soon, I'm sure of it. He needs you, you're the best artist he's got, we all know it. He was even impressed with Flermy McGergin." Ally agreed.

"Thanks Ally. But you Trish and Dez may be a little biased." Austin answered, grinning. Ally turned her head to see his face better, feeling warm and happy as the sunset still flared ahead of them. She gazed at his pink lips, soft skin, the wrinkles of his smile, his hair cascading against the blanket in the wind. Then she kissed him on impulse, and he quickly returned it. As they continued, the moment felt surreal, and forgotten emotions unexpectedly came flashing back to Ally. The first feelings she felt for him, the way his smile had never changed, the way he cheered for her at every concert over the summer like it was the first time he was seeing it, the times he led her around crowded streets to point out something ridiculous that she wouldn't have noticed without him, the many many slaphappy hours they'd spent perfecting harmonies in the practice room over the years. Their moment didn't last more than a minute because Dez and Carrie returned shortly, but it was powerful enough to leave them both feeling dazed.

Ally went from feeling irritated and tired that morning to feeling closer to Austin than she'd ever felt before, as all of her feelings for him had just combined at once. It was unspoken, but in that random, unplanned, simple moment they had both felt undoubtedly that they were meant to be together. She'd felt sure of that before, but never quite so powerfully. As they sat up catching their breath and looking into each other's eyes, they both felt a little bit shocked at how strong the emotion was, neither wanting to tell the other about it for fear that it would freak them out. So they didn't. Instead they just moved on as if it was any other kiss, and played spoons with Carrie and Dez before leaving for the music factory.

But Ally kept thinking about it all day. She remembered their fake wedding in Home Ec class as she drove home that night and felt giddy. It was the first time that she'd really, deeply, thought about what it would feel like to be with Austin forever. It was slowly becoming a reachable reality in her head, but she prevented herself from thinking too much about it because she couldn't be sure what life would hold. Despite that, she couldn't help but indulge in the idea a little bit as she drove home, especially after that morning.

"Austin and Ally might never end." She thought, biting her lip. It felt good to indulge.