I am a terrible person for not updating this story in 5 years, and I apologize. Truly. Writers block hit me super hard and then life carried on and I pushed all my writing projects to the side. But for tha time being, I am back. I don't know how many stories I will be picking back up (if you're a fan of my other works), but this one I have some ideas to bring back.
So, here is a much needed, much anticipated, much deserved update.
As always, please review - good or bad, I love the feedback.
I do not own Austin&Ally.
Austin POV
"Ally!" I yelled out for what felt like the hundredth time, cupping my hands around my mouth to enhance the sound. My yell echoed around me faintly before dying amongst the trees. I sighed and ran my hand through my hair, still feeling dirt caked into the strands. Trish and I have been walking around for what feels like hours yet all we see is the same scenery. We stumbled upon a small lagoon with a waterfall a while back and rejoiced in finding fresh water to drink. Trish was doing okay, all things considered. I checked in on her every now and then to make sure she was still doing alright with her head wound. She assured me every time that she was "just fine" and was just worried about finding everyone else. She didn't think she could handle finding anyone else the way we found Kira; honestly, I don't think I would be able to stomach losing anyone else either. I can't even begin to think how I'm going to tell Dez and Ally... or Jimmy... Oh God, I completely forgot I was going to have to tell Jimmy about his daughter.
I pushed the thought of Kira's mangled body out of my head and looked to my right at Trish, who walked about 5 feet away from me, hands cupped around her mouth calling out for Dez.
"How are you doing, do you need to stop for a minute?" I walked towards her, and she turned to look at me, stopping in her tracks and dropping her hands back down to her sides.
"I'm as fine as I was when you asked me 15 minutes ago, Austin," She replied, coldly. "I just need to find Dez and Ally. We can't stop now." She sighed and continued walking forward, calling out again, this time for Ally.
"No need for the cold shoulder, Trish. I want to find them just as badly as you do. Trust me." I shuffled my feet but quickly matched her pace, walking next to her.
"You keep asking me how I'm doing... but how are you?" She turned to look at me, still keeping a steady pace.
"I really don't know," I looked over at my injured shoulder. Trish had done a well enough job of stopping the bleeding, but it still hurt like hell. "My shoulder still kills, but at least I've stopped coughing." I shrugged, feeling thankful that my coughing had subsided once we found the lagoon. Maybe I had overreacted a bit about internal bleeding. I wasn't ready to cross it off the list completely, but I felt a bit better all things considered.
"Well that's decent, when you put everything in perspective, I guess."
"Yeah, I guess."
Trish stopped in her tracks, seemingly out of nowhere, balled her hands into fists and screamed up to the sky. When she brought her face back down to look at me, she had tears welling up in her eyes. "I just need to know that they're okay, Austin. I can't lose them. Not knowing where they are or if they're dead or alive is the worst pain I've ever felt." She sobbed, searching my face for some sort of reassurance.
I stepped towards her, wrapping my good arm around her shoulders, feeling similar hot tears well behind my eyes and nodded, swallowing hard and telling her, "We're going to find them Trish. I promise." I rested my head atop hers and blinked quickly, refusing to let myself break down right now. I had to find my friends.
"Austin? Trish?" I jerked my head off of Trish's and turned quickly around towards the sound of the voice. I felt my heart start to beat faster and my stomach flipped. I breathed a sigh of relief and nearly ran to my best friend, enveloping him in a hug.
"Dez! Are you okay? Have you seen Ally? Do you know the plane crashed? Are you hurt? Where did you come from?" I asked in rapid succession.
"Austin, I'm so happy to see you. I'm okay.. I think I broke some fingers and my head hurts a little but other than that," He trailed off, looking around me at Trish, quickly walking over to her, who was staring at him dumbfounded. He quickly wrapped her in a hug that she reciprocated to my surprise.
I made my way towards the pair who pulled apart as quickly as they had embraced and put my hand on Dez's shoulder, turning him a bit towards me. "Dez. Have you seen Ally?"
"Yeah," he shrugged.
A grin crossed my lips and I moved my head towards him, beckoning him to tell me. "Where is she? Is she okay? Is she hurt? Why isn't she with you?" I asked in the same rapid succession as before, quickly looking behind him, hoping to see her tiny frame shortly behind Dez.
"Ohhh, you meant after the plane crashed. No, nope, haven't seen her. I hope she's okay though," he started, scratching the back of his head and looking around. "Hey, where's Kira?"
I closed my eyes and took in a sharp, deep breath and nodded my head.
"Kira is dead, Dez." Trish spoke slowly. "She was killed in the crash."
"Oh my god, Austin, I'm so sorry," Dez put his hand on mine that was still resting on his shoulder. I opened my eyes and met his gaze, and for the first time in our friendship, saw a look on his face that I had never seen before. There was no joy behind his eyes, no whimsical grin creeping at the corners of his mouth, only a straight line that dipped slightly downward crossed his lips. I swallowed hard and nodded again, licking my lips. "You don't have to talk about it. Let's just find Ally." He nodded firmly once, his face softening as he moved his hand off of mine and took a few steps forward to continue in the direction Trish and I had been heading.
"Actually, guys," I started, feeling as though my legs had suddenly become trapped in blocks of cement. They turned to look at me. "Trish, do you think you can remember how to get back to the lagoon?"
"I think so. I remember the tree that looked like an old man's face that we passed. Why?"
"I'll meet you guys back there before it gets dark. I need some time by myself. I'm going to try and find the plane, see if there's anything salvageable and see if I can find Ally."
"Austin, are you sure that's the best idea? We're all alone, we're all hurt and-" Dez started.
"You two have each other, just keep looking for Ally and anyone else you can find. I'll be alright. I'll meet you two later. I promise." I smiled at the pair weakly, unconvincingly. They seemed to understand that I needed time and both nodded weakly, turning and continuing forward, starting to call out for Ally again. I turned, took a breath and started heading to my right, hoping for something good. Hoping to find something to help us all. Hoping to find Ally alive and well. Hoping to get out of here alive.
Ally POV
You are not a damsel in distress. You are not a damsel in distress. Damnit, Dawson, you are not a damsel in distress.
I repeated this in my head over and over to find the strength to pull myself up off the ground and stop waiting around for someone to find me. I need to save myself. Placing my hands on either side of my body and bending my knees, I rotated my body 180 degrees so that I was facing the tree I had been leaning against. Taking a deep breath, I moved my left hand up to grab the side of the tree as tightly as I could. I could feel the bark digging underneath my fingernails as I braced my right hand on the ground next to me, and mustering up all my strength, I pushed off the ground hard. I tried to avoid putting any weight on my broken and throbbing foot but failed as I extended my legs beneath me, losing my grip on the tree and nearly falling backwards. I gasped aloud and quickly grabbed the tree with my other hand, pulling myself into it a bit too hard, subsequently making direct contact with my face. I groaned softly, grabbing my nose and making sure I didn't cause more damage than already done. I pulled my hand away and breathed out in relief not seeing any blood. As quickly as I celebrated not breaking my nose, I realized I had a bigger challenge ahead of me - trying to walk.
My foot ached constantly, even more so when I applied any pressure. I figured the best and really only option to make my way anywhere was to use the dense trees to my advantage. If I could use the trunks to steady myself as I push forward I may just be able to get some distance. I wanted to find the wreckage, see if there were any supplies salvageable... and see if anyone else had the same idea as me - or see if anyone else was alive for that matter.
Of course the fear that my best friends were dead somewhere crossed my mind in the time that I was slumped against that tree, but I tried my best not to think too hard about it. I had to believe and keep the faith that they were okay. We were going to survive this ordeal together, the fearsome foursome, as Austin once called us. Austin... my mind wandered back to the plane ride, how his hand felt nestled in mine. How safe he made me feel, how easy it has always been between us. I remembered his sweatshirt tied tightly around me and felt a pang of guilt knowing that I had gotten blood all over it. I knew he wouldn't mind, all things considered, but part of me just couldn't help it.
I braced myself against the closest tree and outstretched my arm to reach the next one, placing my palm flat against the rough bark and hobbling towards it, catching myself with my other hand. I grimaced through the pain, knowing that I had to keep going. I was not going to sit around any longer worrying about my friends and waiting for some savior. I kept a slow pace that worked for me, hopping from one tree to the next, keeping my leg bent beneath me to keep the weight off of my mangled foot. My sights were completely set on the patch of thinning trees and the deep blue water that existed just past them.
I don't know how many trees I clung to when I finally reached the clearing in the woods where I noticed the ocean. With the trees thinning so much, I had to hobble a bit farther before I could steady myself. I was managing alright until I finally reached the clearing. I noticed water, I noticed sand, I noticed a blue sky. But most of all, I noticed the remnants of the plane. Large chunks of metal scattered across the beach, an entire wing stayed intact and was protruding from the shallows of the vast ocean in front of me. I took a tentative hop forward and stumbled, tumbling down a small sand dune I hadn't realized I was standing on and landing hard on my side. I clenched my teeth and pushed myself up on my arm, surveying the unbelievable damage around me. I felt something wet on my cheek and quickly reached up to feel my face. I pulled my hand away and realized I wasn't bleeding, but I was crying. The tears came quickly and freely, sob after sob escaping my lips, my chest heaving. I felt like I couldn't breathe and reached up to grab at my chest, needing to feel something to ground myself past the horror that I was staring at.
I heard a faint beeping noise and pulled myself out of my fit of sobs, trying to focus my attention away from my heaving breaths and heavy beating heart. I decided my new best course of action was to, unfortunately, crawl my way down the beach. I dropped my elbows to the sand and bent my knees beneath me, beginning my descent towards the source of the sound. It was coming from the nose of the jet. It didn't take me very long to reach my destination and I carefully tried to peer inside the cabin, which wasn't much of a cabin anymore - two sides had been blown off, enabling me to see straight through. I realized from my position, however, I wasn't able to see much inside the actual cabin. So I cautiously pulled myself up into a standing position using the side and floor of the jet to balance myself. I then hoisted myself up into the room after noticing a drooped hand off the side of the captain's chair. My heart nearly stopped and my breathing hitched as I called out, "Hello? Are you alright?"
Slowly hopping towards the chair, trying to maintain my balance, my ears perked to the continued beeping emitting from the console. There was broken glass all around me and barely any walls keeping the cabin enclosed. I placed my hand on the back of the chair and looked around it, letting out a high pitched scream. There, in the captain's chair, sat Jimmy Starr. Dead. Glass shards stuck out every direction from his face and chest, his head was down and a great deal of blood covered the front of his tailored suit. I stumbled backwards, tripping, yet again, over my broken foot. I landed on my butt with a hard thud, and quickly scooted back, throwing my legs off the side of the cabin and hurrying out. Tears stung my eyes yet again and I realized keeping them in was beyond my control as I dropped to my knees and promptly vomited. I hadn't realized Jimmy was the one flying the jet. I only paid attention to myself and Austin when we boarded the plane. I sat up and turned away from my stomach contents, facing the ocean. Tears streaming down my face, I almost laughed. The ocean was so calm, even with all the chaos that had occurred on its shores. I also realized I had another item to add to my list of reasons I hated the beach.
I moved my legs carefully so they rested straight out in front of me. I took the time to survey the damage to my foot once again. My left foot was just limply hanging at an odd angle, nearly twisted into a 45* angle. It was horribly bruised, turning different shades of purple, blue, and red. I didn't even want to look at it, honestly, it made we feel like I was going to be sick again. I grabbed one of my braids, pulling it over my shoulder and up to my mouth to start chewing on the ends, but I quickly spit it out at the taste. I had been sitting against that tree for at least 30 minutes, God knows what was on that tree, so now only God knows what could be in my hair. I shuddered at the thought and dropped my hair and my arm back down into my lap, starting to pick at my nails. My mind started wandering as I stared out into the blue water illuminated beautifully by a sinking orange sun.
"That is not how you play a D-chord, superstar." I nudged Austin's arm with my elbow, teasing him. We were sitting in our practice room at Sonic Book, working on a new song for Austin's next album. He rolled his eyes at me and pushed back against me with his arm.
"I was just testing your ear, Al." He joked back with a smile. "You know I know how to play a D-chord," he rolled his eyes and pressed his fingers on the correct keys, flawlessly emitting the chord. "See?"
"Yeah, yeah, I'm just trying to help." I shrugged.
"Can we take a break? We've been at this for ages. I need a snack." He groaned, stretching his arms up and behind his head, causing his gray tee shirt to lift a bit, exposing the tan skin of his hip and I couldn't stop myself from staring just a second too long. He didn't seem to notice as I finally averted my gaze.
"Austin, we really need to finish this song. We're almost done, can you just wait a little while longer?" I pleaded, gesturing to the sheet music in front of us, only having a few remaining bars we needed to fill in. The lyrics were finished, we were now just putting music to the words. Sometimes this was the most tedious part of the entire songwriting process. Bouncing ideas off of each other for lyrics was fun, but trying to form chords that flowed well together and didn't sound like any of Austin's other songs was, at times, difficult.
"Ally..." he put a hand to his chest, the other one grabbed my forearm tightly, his eyes growing big. "I don't think... I can go on." He sighed dramatically, leaning backwards on the bench, releasing his grip on my arm and letting his legs roll off as he landed on his back with a 'thud' "Need... pancakes." He started breathing rapidly, reaching out a hand to me before letting it fall at his side and rolling his head to look at me and promptly closing his eyes, emitting a deep sigh.
I rolled my eyes and chucked, "Fine, Austin, we can go get you pancakes. But we are finishing this song by the end of the night!" I stood from the bench and walked over to him, extending my hand out to help him off the floor. His eyes shot open and a huge grin spread across his face, reaching up and grabbing my hand, nearly jumping off the floor to stand.
We were standing only a few inches apart, I could feel his breath on my face and my heart started to race. Neither of us moved for a moment; we had stood this close before, but this time felt different. Why was I nervous? Why had I never noticed how good Austin smelled? Or the way that his shirt clung lightly to his chest. I ached to reach up and touch him. What was wrong with me? This was Austin, my best friend. Our hands were still clasped together between our bodies, and I could feel my hand becoming clammy in nervousness. I quickly let go of his hand and took a step back, clearing my throat.
"So, pancakes?" I stumbled over the easy words.
"Pancakes." He grinned, taking strides towards the door, opening it and waiting for me to follow. I stepped through the door and felt his hand on the small of my back for a moment before sliding up to rest on my shoulder, his arm around me. He had done this before, and it never made me blush before, usually I just pushed him away. This time, however, I felt my cheeks burning and considered reaching up to grab his hand but I refrained. Butterflies were having a dance party in my stomach at this new contact. I kept this feeling of nervousness walking to Peggy's diner, a restaurant in the mall we visited frequently for all of our pancake needs. I kept repeating in my head that I needed to breathe normally and to stop freaking out - this was just Austin, there was literally zero reason to be nervous with him. We had made this walk hundreds of time, in this same position.
We sat down at our usual booth when we arrived, quickly ordering pancakes for Austin and hot chocolate for me. We started a conversation about the song and others on his album, how he was feeling about the new music, about the possibility of a second tour, and, of course, how delicious the pancakes were. I couldn't lose the smile on my face the whole time we were at the diner, watching Austin get lost in talking about the things he was the most passionate about. His happiness made me genuinely happy. I loved seeing him lost in talking like this.
A thought crossed my mind and I choked on my drink, coughing harshly. Austin put his fork down, mid-pancake bite, a concerned look flashing in his eyes, "Ally, you okay?" I could only nod in response, continuing to cough. He pushed his glass of water towards me, and I took a small sip between fits of coughing. It helped. "What was that about?" He inquired, picking the fork back up to continue his bite.
"Nothing," I shrugged and wiped my mouth with a napkin. "Wrong pipe, I guess." My mind was spinning but I just prayed that my outside demeanor stayed calm and collected.
Our server walked over, producing the check, which Austin grabbed from her, quickly producing his card to pay for his pancakes and my drink.
"Are you sure? I can pay for mine separately, I don't mind." I asked him, reaching in my back pocket for my card.
"Ally, I got it. Don't worry about it." He smiled at me, and smiled at our server, who smiled back and walked away.
"Thanks, Austin." I pushed my card back into my pocket and finished my hot chocolate in a few more sips, just when the server returned to give Austin his card back. He thanked her, jotted down a tip amount, signed the paper and looked at me, sliding out of his side of the booth, holding out his hand to help me out of my side. I smiled at him and took his hand, exiting the booth and walking out of the diner. He held the door open for me and we made our way back to Sonic Boom to finish this song, walking side by side.
My mind continued to spin for the rest of the evening, until we were finished with the song and Austin left to go home. As soon as he was gone, I locked up the store and rushed back up into the practice room, sitting down at the piano and lazily playing a few chords, humming a light melody. My playing got more serious as I fell into the song, one that I had known for ages - my mom loved playing Elvis when she was still here.
"Wise men say, only fools rush in. But I can't help falling in love with you.." My voice trailed off and I stopped playing. I sighed deeply and grabbed my phone, quickly typing a text to Trish.
'SOS. I think I love Austin.'
I snapped out of my thoughts and quickly came back down to reality. That day had been shortly before Austin and Kira had gotten together. I did my best to hide my feelings and keep my chin up throughout the past 6 months. I knew Austin would never feel the way about me that I felt about him. We were just friends - best friends. That would never change, especially with how much he talked about Kira. The worst part was that I didn't hate her. She was so nice, so kind, so pretty, and she cared so deeply for Austin. I just hated that she had what I never would.
The sun was blinding so I brought my hand up to shield my eyes. The sky was beginning to darken as the sun was setting. All things considered, let me tell you this: that sunset was probably the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. The sun had a beautiful orange hue that illuminated the waves like glass. The sound of the water gently lapping at the shore was arguably the most angelic sound I had heard in awhile. It was so different from the hustle and bustle of working in the mall, living in Miami. Here it was just so peaceful looking out into the horizon, waiting for the sun to go down.
The thought crossed my mind that I had no idea what I would do when the sun really set and I had no daylight to guide me. My phone was no longer in my pocket, where I had put it upon boarding the plane. I debated on returning to the wreckage, searching through other bits of plane left to try and find a first aid kit, but I couldn't will my body to move, I was too afraid of what else I might find. And having only moonlight soon to search wasn't my ideal situation. I realized I was just going to have to settle in on the beach by myself for the night, and continue searching tomorrow. I unwrapped Austin's sweatshirt from around my middle and cautiously lifted my shirt to survey the wound on my side.
It wasn't as bad as I had first anticipated. It was a long cut, probably 4 or 5 inches long stretching from just beneath my right breast heading diagonally down towards my belly button, but it wasn't very deep. It didn't appear to be bleeding any longer, and although I feared it starting again once I removed the pressure, I knew my first priority should be staying warm throughout the night. I slipped the sweatshirt, which was much too big for my petite frame, over my shoulders and zipped up the front of it. I turned in the sand and laid on my side, pulling the hood over my head, much like how I had done on the plane. Pulling my knees up to my chest, I watched the sun sink lower and lower past the horizon, listening to the waves gently crash and lap at the shore. In a mix between dehydration, exhaustion, and even a little defeat, I closed my eyes and began do drift to sleep.
Thanks for reading, y'all. Hope you enjoyed - don't forget to leave a review!
Also, no worries on waiting another 5 years for an update. Chapter 4 is already in the works. I don't know how frequent the chapters will be posted, but it should be fairly quickly. (Quicker if you review lol)
