Chapter 6: The Friendship Kiss

Austin POV:

"You ain't gotta answer none of my calls."

"I believe that you'll pick up one day."

I sang the new song I was given this morning and tried my hardest to make it work. It had more of an R&B feel, than pop.

"Alright, Austin we're gonna take it from the bridge, again okay? Ready?"

I nodded briefly hoping I could do it right this time. The weird part, was that I wasn't even sure if I wanted to get it right. I wasn't sure if I cared. And that scared me a bit. If I loved singing, why would I not want to get this perfect? Maybe I didn't love it anymore.

"You ain't gotta make your mind up, you ain't gotta make your mind up right now."

"I know, I know I messed up on the last part, but-" I tried to explain to the producer, but he didn't want to hear what I had to say.

"You know Austin, it's not that. Why don't we all just take a break. We'll come back another day."

Everyone began to pack up their stuff. I felt humiliated. My parents pulled me out of the booth and roughly dragged me out of the studio. My mom without a word opened the passenger seat and sat inside. My dad cursed at me as he once more carelessly shoved me into the back seat of the Porsche, before shutting the door. I sighed as I looked outside of the window noticing it was pitch black outside. Just for once, I wish a recording session could end before dark. Then I wouldn't have to start my schoolwork so late. The car was silent. I was enjoying the silence. Until suddenly, as if to rain on my parade, my dad snapped.

"What was that? So you get sick, then all of the sudden you forget how to sing?" My dad yelled tightly gripping the steering wheel. As his voice rose, I trembled lightly feeling the vibration of his loud tone fill the car.

"I was just having a bad day I guess. I was trying my best."

"No, you don't get to have bad days. You're Austin Moon. Austin Moon doesn't have bad days. He has good days and excellent days. Tonight you are going to practice that song until it's perfect. You will never show up to another recording like that again. Do you understand?"

"We had been recording for four hours." I said.

"And when we get home, you're going to rehearse for four more hours if that's what it takes." My mom responded.

My parents brought me home around 11:00. I had not started any of my school work for the day. I told them, but they told me I'd have to do it after I perfected the song.

"But, that will take me all night!" I tried to reason with them. "I can just do my schoolwork as I practice the song."

"No, you can't, you'll be too distracted. Rehearse the song first, then work on school."

My throat was killing me and I have been getting C's in some of my classes already. So I decided for myself, that school was more important, than that song. I grabbed my backpack and my keys, after my parents went upstairs. I left through the back door, so that they wouldn't hear me.

I pulled up onto her driveway and rang the doorbell. Only having on a blue jean jacket and black jeans, I was freezing.

"Austin? Hey what's up? I thought you had a recording session tonight." Ally answered the door in her PJ's lightly rubbing her eyes.

"I did, but It... ended early. And my parents are being crazy again. Can I stay the night?" I asked slightly frustrated as I thought briefly of my parents.

Ally nodded letting me into the house. I took off my jacket and placed it on the coat hanger. Mrs. Dawson came down the steps with her robe tightly wrapped around herself, squinting as if to make sure it was really me.

"Mom, Austin had an altercation with his parents. Can he stay the night?" Ally asked.

"Of course, honey, ummm Trish just came over last night, you can sleep in her bed. Okay?"

I nodded my head and thanked her.

"Are you okay Austin?" She asked.

"Yes, I'm fine" I responded shyly.

"There's some leftovers from dinner if you get hungry Austin." She told him. "Don't stay up too late guys. Goodnight, I love you both."

We watched her go upstairs before we went into the kitchen.

"Are you hungry?" Ally asked me.

"Starving!" I exclaimed. "You know I haven't eaten since like noon. My parents wouldn't let me go out during the lunch break."

"Your parents are stupid. No offense." She said handing me a plate.

"No offense taken."

"I hope you like casserole, because that's what's for dinner."

"I actually... can't eat cheese." I replied. She placed the dish back on the counter in confusion.

"Since when don't you eat cheese?"

"Since my parents made me quit dairy."

"Are you serious?"

"I know, apparently dairy isn't good for your vocal chords. Like I care."

Ally and I just ate cereal, I ate mine with water, then we went into the living room to watch TV. We sat on the couch flipping through channels trying to keep ourselves warm as it began to rain outside.

"Are you cold? I asked her noticing the familiar gesture. She nodded, so I came closer to her and put my arm around her as well as half my blanket. She leaned against my chest.

"Austin," She looked up at me with the bright brown eyes.

"Yeah?" I answered.

"What has been going on with you and your parents?" She asked carefully readjusting her hand on my chest.

I sighed not knowing she was going to ask about them. I felt disappointed. All that mattered was that I was here with her and not with them. I came over for a reason, not to think about my parents for one night. Now she was forcing me to not only think about them, but to talk about them. Which I was not even slightly fond of. She scooted up to fully look at me, and asked me once more.

"If you feel uncomfortable, it's okay." She told me.

"No, it's not that I feel uncomfortable. It's just that.. Uhh" I sighed once more in frustration. Even thinking about talking about them brought me stress. She wrapped my her small hand in mine giving me a tight smile, in which I returned. She was a good friend to me.

"Do you need any bed clothes for tonight?" Ally asked leaning back into me.

"No, it's fine. I'll just sleep in my clothes. I don't wanna wake your mom up again."

"She doesn't mind, she loves you."

"I know, I just don't want to be a bother. The fact that she's letting me sleep over at such late notice is already super generous." She smiled and looked up at me.

"Hey, it's just like old times. You're practically family." We both laughed lightly and I entertained myself by casually fondling her long brown locks. Twisting her curls with my hands playfully.

"You're not wearing any rings are you?" She asked sitting up. She was probably thinking back to the time my ring got caught in her hair. It took all night to get out. That was back in 8th grade when I wore spiky rings. My ring collection has calmed down a lot since then.

"No, I'm not wearing any." I said pushing her back into my chest.

"Ow!" She exclaimed rubbing her arm.

"Sorry. But, this is very therapeutic." I said in a calm tranquility voice as I re curled her hair with my fingers.

"Playing with my hair?" She laughed.

I nodded my head and closed my eyes pretending to feel super calm.

"How's school been?" I asked her. She seemed off put at the mention of the subject. I mean I would be too, but that's just because I don't like school. Ally loves school and always has. You would think she would be thrilled to talk about school.

"It's umm…"

Suddenly are heads simultaneously whipped towards the TV as our names were mentioned on E news.

Teen sensation Ally Dawson caught fighting another student at her high school Marino high?

So true.

I guess next time, she'll be redialing, her boyfriend, Ethan to help her.

Did Ally Dawson get plastic surgery on her nose to make it smaller?

So False.

I guess she's happy with it. Now we know why she's not dating her superstar friend Austin Moon. It looks like he's out of her league!

I looked at Ally with wide eyes and a huge grin on my face. after, they showed a clip of Ally fighting the girl.

I laughed watching the video on the screen of her fighting the girl. "Wow, you're really..wow." I chuckled before looking back at her. She didn't look the slightest amused watching herself beat this girl up. She looked sad watching it and looked down, as if unable to watch it anymore. Ally sat up getting off of me and grabbed the remote and turned the TV off. "Ally, what happened? Why were you fighting that girl?" I asked chuckling lightly as she sat there with her arms crossed and a mad expression.

"It doesn't matter." She muttered clearly upset looking down at her hands.

"Clearly, it does if you're this mad, just tell me."

She gave up and turned to me.

"It's not a big deal. This girl, Nia just started a rumor about me at school."

"What was the rumor about?" I almost whispered afraid she wouldn't tell me. She rolled her eyes before replying.

"She just said some stupid stuff about me being ugly and saying I wasn't good enough for you and that's why I'm with Ethan. Then she spread a rumor that I cheated on Ethan with you and that I only met up with you so we could hook-up. Ethan questioned the pictures of us holding hands by your car, and got really jealous. He started to believe the rumors were true. I got really upset so I confronted her about it and..yeah things got physical. Ethan saw me and he broke up with me. He told me the rumors were obviously true if I got this upset. See, it's not a big deal." She said quickly standing up. She sat at the piano silently sniffing. I rose from my seat and went over to join her. I sat down next to her.

"That's awful, Ally." I told her. "I'm sorry she treated you that way." She didn't respond. Her eyes focused on the keys not saying a word. I could see the feelings she tried to conceal. I don't know why she was keeping it inside, but she was. There was something she really didn't want me to know. I took this opportunity to play her my song. It basically told the story of my parents. I felt like I owed it to her. I lightly pressed on the keys and played the rhythm of the song on my right hand and the chords on my left.

I try not to think

About the pain I feel inside

Did you know you used to be my hero?

All the days you spent with me

Now seem so far away

And it feels like you don't care anymore

And now I try hard to make it

I just wanna make you proud

I'm never gonna be good enough for you

I can't stand another fight

And nothing's alright

'Cause we lost it all

Nothing lasts forever

I'm sorry

I can't be perfect

Now it's just too late

And we can't go back

I'm sorry

I can't be perfect

I guess I got lost in the song because when I looked at Ally, her eyes were red and she was rubbing them tirelessly. She was crying.

"Hey, don't cry." I whispered before pulling her in my arms letting her cry in the crook of my neck. She held me tighter as her tears began to fall freely. I closed my eyes and let her cry for as long as she needed to. I would be here all night anyway. After a little while she wiped her tears and pulled away from me and leaned back into herself. I looked down at our hands which are parallel to the piano. I gently placed my hand over hers, before I intertwined my hand with hers. Her eyes are still red and puffy and looked like they were on the brink of another tear escaping.

"That girl Nia was right, you're not pretty, You're beautiful." I told her. I could tell she was confused so I continued. "Your beautiful soul, makes you beautiful on the outside as well as the inside. Ally, I would be lucky to be your boyfriend. And I am lucky to be your best friend. I'm not too good for you. I'll never be." A light smile grazed her lips. Her tears began to dry and the color in her face was slowly coming back replacing the dull pale color with vibrant colors.

"How did you know, I was thinking about that?" She asked pulling her hair out of her face, sniffing as if to recover from her previous state.

"Because I know you. And unfortunately, I know your insecurities." I told her honestly. She leaned on my chest and I naturally swung my arm over her shoulder.

"Why is that a bad thing? She laughed lightly, grabbing hold of my dangling hand.

"Because I wish there were no insecurities to discover. I wish you would realize how awesome you are. " She grinned lightly and that made me smile happily. I then did something I've never done before. I absentmindedly gave her a small kiss. On the lips. The weirdest part, was that is wasn't weird. At all.

I've never done that before. It should have been weird. Kissing your friend isn't normal. It's weird. But that kiss, was everything but weird.

Ally grinned briefly, before closing her eyes. She brought me into a warm embrace. She threw her arms around my neck leaning into me. Her action was so abrupt it almost made the chair fall over. As I hugged her, I faintly heard her whisper "Thank you." into my ear. I've probably never been more confused in my life. Was she thanking me for the… kiss? If that is something people do. She didn't think it was weird?

I decided her gratitude was towards me comforting her in general, so I didn't say anything and just hugged her. I closed my eyes and enjoyed the moment.

I don't know why I did that. I don't know why I kissed her. We've always been close, but that's not something we usually do. Sure she's given me quick little pecks on the cheek before a show sometimes, but never on the lips. That's too intimate. I wanted to make her feel better, but I'm not sure if kissing her was the appropriate thing to do. We're not together, so such affection shouldn't be apart of our relationship. Right? But, it felt so natural. How could something I've never done before- or even thought about doing, feel so natural? It wasn't like a slow passionate fiery kiss or anything like that. It was very short and reassuring. It didn't feel romantic. That's what it was! It was a reassuring kiss. To reassure her that I'd always have her back and be there to comfort her whenever she needed me. A little promise. I'm just glad her dad didn't come down stairs in the middle of our… friendship kiss. He would have definitely gotten the wrong idea. Imagine me yelling "It was just a reassuring kiss!" at the top of my lungs as he chases me out of the house with a bat.

I suddenly feel a soft breath against my neck that begins to develop a pattern. It's actually quite soothing. Ally has fallen asleep. Realizing the relaxing pattern of her breath might put me to sleep, I decide it's best for us to go to bed. I carried her off the bench into my arms. Her arms tighten around my neck and I make my way through the dark hallway towards the staircase. I take a deep breath before heading up the big staircase. I take extra caution opening her bedroom door, trying not to let any sounds escape. I notice a blow up mattress and sheets nicely folded on the floor next to her bed.

I gently lay her down on the bed and remove her tightly wrapped arms from my neck. I lay the covers over her, tucking in each side to keep her warm. It reminded me of how my mom used to tuck me in at night when I was little. And she would kiss my forehead before telling my goodnight. I softly kissed Ally's forehead thinking of my mother, (Wow, two friendship kisses in one day. I must be the best friend ever.) then I wished her a goodnight. Although I'm not sure she could hear me. Here I go again, getting all nostalgic. I stood looking at her for a bit as she slept beautifully. Then I heard foot steps. I quickly but quietly found the blow up mattress on the floor and pulled the covers over myself and shut my eyes. The footsteps came closer until they were inside of the room. The light was turned on, and the door pushed open a little wider.

Thank you everyone for reading. And thanks for the comments they're fun to read and I like to know what people are thinking after each chapter.