WHAT UP!

I would say something cool but I'm just not really feeling happy right now. I don't really know if you care to hear, but I've been out of school since December and while people are saying it's my decision, a lot of my family have been sort of placing blame and guilt on me. I feel like it was actually a bad idea to do it and that I'm a failure for it.

I know no one is actually listening, but I just needed to get that off my chest.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to Austin & Ally

Chapter 5

Coming Clean

No One's POV:

A beautiful October Saturday morning usually means sleeping in after a long week of school, but for the Dawson family, it meant preparing for an anniversary party. Each member of the Dawson clan, Austin, his friend Dez, and Trish were all gathered at Sonic Boom arranging food, decorations, and setting up a sound system for the DJ.

Sonic Boom wasn't big, but it wasn't small either, so, in Lester's eyes, it was the perfect place to hold the party. If you ask Penny it's just Lester trying to be a cheap ass again. They also cut costs by having Ally, Elliot and their friends help set everything up. Elliot, Austin and Dez were in charge of moving heavy objects, like the speakers, chairs and tables, while Trish and Ally set up food trays, decorations and directing the boys on where to put things. For Ally, it was fun, but very tiresome.

She was just into her third month and her belly had become a little rounder than before and it was getting harder to hide it. Yesterday, her mother had asked her if she was exercising enough because she was starting to get 'chubby'. Now most girls, even teenagers, would just brush that off and go on with their lives, but for a pregnant teenager, it was like the whole world had fallen out from under her.

Ally had completely lost it and began ranting to her mother about how being a certain size is harder than it looks or not everyone has time to exercise when their looking at colleges and going through high school. It ended when her mother had calmed her down and managed to convince her that she was just worried about her and her health, so it was all water under the bridge. Being pregnant, Ally realized, made her even more sensitive to everything and anything anyone said. She nearly bit off Austin's head when he suggested they take up jogging a few weeks ago.

Now all she had to focus on was hanging this, 'Happy 25th Anniversary', banner above the guitar and violin section of the store.

"A little to the left," She said, directing Austin and Elliot as they stood on opposite ends of the banner. Austin was on the left, while Elliot was on the right, both standing on ladders. "A little more…a little more,"

"Ally, if we go to the left anymore, we're both going to fall off our ladders and break our heads." Elliot said, sounding very annoyed. Ally crossed her arms like a petulant child and 'hmped' at her brother.

"Fine, it's perfect, so you get off the ladders now and go back to whatever it is you were doing." She 'hmped' again and walked over Trish, who was directing Dez on setting up the DJ system.

Elliot and Austin tied the banner to the railing and got off the ladders, Elliot still looking annoyed at his sister. She had been beyond moody these last couple of weeks and it was starting to get on his nerves. Sure, he had experienced mood swings before with her, but they were never as bad as they were these past few weeks.

"Man, what crawled up her ass and died?" He said. Austin stood next to him and gave him a questioning look.

"What do you mean; she's just stressed about tonight. No big deal to talk about your sister like that."

"It's not just tonight, Austin, she's been biting our heads off over every little thing. Small things, big things she always ends up breaking down about something. I tell you, if she wasn't my sister, I would slap her into next week." Austin felt his stomach clench at what Elliot said. Only he knew why Ally was being so irritable these last couple of weeks.

At their last appointment Dr. Hawthorne had said that Ally would begin to experience intense mood swings as she neared her third month. At first, they had shaken it off, saying that it wouldn't be any different from what she experienced with her periods. Oh boy were they wrong. They had to be at least 5 or 10 times worse than usual.

Hopefully, after tonight, they'll take it easy on her because they were coming clean tonight at the party. To say Austin was nervous about it would be an understatement. Every time he thought about what was to happen tonight, his stomach curled into knots, he would start to sweat and his voice got oddly high pitched, almost squeaky like. Elliot had noticed it a couple of times, but shook it off to school and putting out his demos to record labels.

"So, look Austin, there's a party at the Sigma Kai fraternity tomorrow night and it's supposed to be crawling with babes. What do you say, pick me up at 8?" Elliot said, nudging Austin in the arm.

"No thanks man, I've got studying for my midterms, so I'm gonna be cooped up in my apartment for the next couple of days." Austin said, lying through his teeth. Well, not really, about half of that was a lie.

He would be in his apartment, but not studying. In fact, he would be starting something entirely different from studying.

It happened last night…

Austin and Ally were cuddled up together on the couch, Ally lying with her back on Austin's chest and his arms and hands wrapped around her mid-section, watching TV. Ally had managed to convince her parents that she was spending the night at Trish's before coming to his apartment for the night. Dez was still at class, so they had the entire apartment to themselves for a while. It kind of, almost, felt like they were living together and it was beyond nice.

She shifted her head to face him and kissed him on the cheek. He smiled at her and kissed her forehead and then connected their lips. Their small kiss escalated into a full make out session, with Austin pulling Ally to straddle his waist and her arms going around his neck. They were kissing for what felt like hours when Austin's phone began to ring. They broke apart so that Austin could answer it. It was unknown number, but Austin seemed anxious to answer it.

Ally got off him, sat back on the couch and watched as Austin pulled the phone to his ear. He got off the couch and walked back towards his bedroom. He stood in the doorway with his back to Ally and started talking,

"Hello? Yes, this is him… Yeah, yeah…really, you're kidding?" A happy and surprised expression appeared on Austin's face. Ally was beyond confused now. Who was he talking to and why did he seem so excited? Then a though appeared in her head. No… It couldn't be… Could it?

Suddenly excited, Ally bolted off the couch and stood behind Austin as he continued his phone conversation. She could feel her stomach twisting as she listened to what he was saying.

"Oh my God, that's amazing! Yes, I'll be down tomorrow afternoon! Thank you so much!" And he hung up the phone. He turned around to face her, a huge smile etched on his face, as he scooped her up into his arms and spun her around, yelling,

"I got the contract, I got the contract!" She laughed and threw her arms around his neck in a hug.

"You really got the record contract?!" He shook his head in a 'yes', "Who wants to sign you?"

"Jimmy Starr of Starr Records, he says that my voice and music are exactly what he expects for a future superstar." He put her down and bent lower to face her stomach. He began placing kiss after kiss on her stomach as he said,

"You hear that baby girl? Daddy's going to be a big singer and be able to pay for whatever the hell you want." Ally giggled at that and brought him back up to her level. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him, which he readily returned back.

They pulled apart and rested their foreheads against each other. They were about to kiss again when,

"Excuse me; another person is in the room, so please refrain from any more tonsil hockey." They turned towards the entrance to see Dez standing there with his messenger bag thrown over his shoulder. Ally extracted herself, not much, from Austin as her entire face turned bright red.

Austin walked up to Dez, did their special handshake and Austin proceeded to tell his great news,

"I got it; I got the record deal with Starr Records!"

"What, no way, I knew it would be Starr Records! I never doubted you for a moment, buddy!" They enveloped each other in a hug before Austin pulled back.

"Hold on, you did doubt me, remember?" He tried to sound accusing, but it came out as more of joke.

"I only did that so that it would happen, you know, kind of like reverse psychology." They kind of agreed on that idea, "Anyway, there's something that I need to talk to you two about and it kind of can't wait." They both nodded and walked back to the couch.

Austin sat on the couch, Ally sitting sideways on his lap, while Dez sat in the arm chair across from them. He threw one leg over the other and folded his hands together, staring at the couple with a serious look. Dez only got serious when the conversation called for it and Austin and Ally both became a little worried.

"So, I have come to a decision that I think will benefit both of us." He began, "You two are having baby and I think that a baby needs a stable home to grow and mature in its life."

Wait what?

"So, I have come to the decision to move out and let Ally move in with you." This definitely surprised Austin and Ally. Move in together?

The thought had crossed their minds several times, but each time they had said that it was a little too soon to be thinking about it. But, that was before Ally had gotten pregnant and now…

"But, if Ally moves in where are you going to live?" Austin asked.

"I've already found a great apartment closer to the school and I can use the money I make from my short films to pay off the rent." Even though he said that, Austin still wasn't reassured. "Look, I'm just thinking about what will be best for your situation. After you reveal your secret tomorrow, how do you think Ally's parents will feel when they find out you aren't even moving in together?" He had a point there. Ally's parents were kind of old fashioned and while having a baby would be bad, it would be even worse if they didn't have a somewhat stable home for that baby.

Austin and Ally looked at each other and silently came to the decision; they would be moving in together by the end of the month.

Needless to say with finding out he got a record deal and moving in with his girlfriend, Austin was nervous, anxious and excited about his life. He told Elliot about the record deal and excused himself when his phone rang with another call from Jimmy.

Ally watched and listened to the conversation between her boyfriend and brother and was glad Austin blew Elliot off. She kind of wondered if Austin missed living out the rest of his college days like normal college students; going to parties and having one night stands with random girls. That is what college guys do, right? Either way, she was happy he was there for her.

She was going to need as much support as she could for tonight.

Ally was setting up food, taking small bites here and there, when she felt a tap at her shoulder. She jumped a little, a carrot sticking out from her mouth, when she came face to face with Trish.

"Well, that's a pretty face. I can see why Austin was so desperate to ask you out." She joked. Ally took the end of the carrot out of her mouth and chewed the rest of it before answering.

"Yeah, well you try being three months pregnant and surrounded by food." They both laughed at that. "So, did you get it?" She asked. Trish shook her head and reached into the pocket of her leopard print jeans, pulling out a card and envelope.

"Great, this may ease my parents into the idea of being grandparents especially if they see the sonogram." Ally said. The card she was holding read, 'To Grandma and Grandpa, Love Your Grandbaby'. Ally had come up with the idea as a way to ease the blow that might happen tonight when they tell the news.

"Yeah, that's what every parent wants for their anniversary, being told that they're going to be grandparents. Way to make them feel old." They both giggled again and Ally slipped the card and envelope into her purse.

They had finished setting up, so each went to their homes and apartments to get cleaned and dressed for the party. Ally and Elliot were once again fighting over who got to use the shower first; Elliot complaining that Ally would take too long and use up all the hot water and Ally complained that she at least didn't do it on purpose to annoy her younger sister. In the end, their father ended up giving them both a set time of 10 minutes to use the shower; Ally went first and then Elliot.

Ally walked back to her room after to put on her new dress, checking in the mirror that it effectively covered her belly, followed by a pair of stretchy shorts underneath and a pair of wedged silver shoes. She put her hair in an elaborate up-do, put on light make-up and hung a pair of sterling silver earrings from her ears. She looked great, but if only her stomach stopped twisting into knots. She placed a hand over her belly and began to smoothly rub it in circles. The feeling soon went away. Austin always did that and it always seemed to calm the baby down, lucky for her.

She walked out of her room, grabbing her purse on the way, and walked down the stairs to the rest of her family. Her mom and dad were arriving later, so she and Elliot would be hitching a ride with Austin. Elliot was already standing by the door and Austin was waiting in his truck outside. Elliot was wearing a light blue collared shirt with a pair of white jeans and slip on Vans shoes.

"Took you long enough, what do you do up there?" Elliot asked.

"Putting on clothes unless you would rather I go in my birthday suit?" He backed off after that and they both walked the short distance to Austin's truck. Ally got in first and Elliot took the window seat.

"Hey, you look really great." Austin said.

"Thanks, man, I was trying to go for the casual, dressy kind of look." Elliot replied. Ally knew that the remark was meant for her, but let it go… for now at least.

The drive to the mall was very awkward for the young couple. Sitting so close together and not being able to touch each other or hold hands was just about killing them inside. They just hoped that everything went smoothly and that her parents didn't take it too hard. When they finally arrived, Ally decided to pull Austin aside to explain her plan.

"So, I'm gonna put the ultrasound in this card and then when I make my speech, I'm going to hand it to them."

"How is that going to tell them that we're dating?"

"I'm going to say that it's from both of us and then we'll just come out and say it." That sort of made sense, but at this point in the game, they had no other plan to go by. Austin heaved a sigh and threw his hands behind his head.

"I just hope your dad doesn't try to kill me afterwards." Ally walked over to him and wrapped her arms around his waist, resting her head on his chest.

"It'll be fine. I bet when they see how much we love and care for each other and this baby, they'll forget about any and all anger they might have." He wrapped one arm around her shoulder and looked down at her while she looked up at him.

"How can you be sure?"

"Babies bring people together and if there's one thing my mom loves more than gorillas, it's having babies around the house." Austin chuckled and kissed her on the forehead and then the lips. They broke apart and walked to the front doors of Sonic Boom.

The party had started out like any other; greeting friends of their parents who haven't seen them since they were 'this tall', eating finger foods and trying to explain to Dez why his face was pasted to a dart board in her dad's office. When her parents had finally arrived, it was time for Ally and Elliot to give their speeches.

Earlier in the planning Ally and Elliot had decided to write speeches to honor their parents, but now Ally had more to say than Elliot. Elliot had taken the microphone from the nearby stand and began his speech. However, Ally had completely blocked out anything he was saying. Her mind and heart were jumping at a million miles per hour, agonizing over what her parents would say when they found out.

Would they hate her for keeping it a secret or getting pregnant in general? Would they disown her? Never speak to her again? Act like she and her baby didn't exist at all? Each of those thoughts made that queasy feeling come back up again. Ally almost passed out when she felt a hand on her abdomen. She looked down and saw Austin discreetly rubbing his hand over her stomach in soothing circles, making the queasy feeling vanish from her belly. She looked up at him and him down at her and gave her a reassuring smile. That smile summed up anything he could have physically said and Ally knew she could get through this.

"…And so, I would just like to say, that when I have my own kids, I hope to raise them just as well as my parents raised me. Here's to you, Mom and Dad, and may you have another 25 years to come." Elliot finished his speech and raised his champagne flute in a salute to his parents. Ally took in a breath and dove headfirst into the waterfall.

Elliot handed her the microphone and moved to stand next to their parents. Bringing the microphone to her mouth, Ally began what would be the greatest speech of her life.

"Well, what can I say about my parents? They're possibly the best a girl can ask for. My mom has always been there for me when I needed her the most; dealing with boys, high school and other subjects we won't touch upon." That got the audience laughing a little, "My dad has always been there as well, to give me advice, teach me the value of a dollar and not to break rules, like never eating in the store or letting the customers touch the instruments without permission." Again another laugh, but now was the time to get serious. Ally walked over to Austin and took his hand in hers. "I can only hope that my relationship lasts as long as my parents and that our kids turn out as amazing as me and Elliot have become. Which is why I have decided to tell you that Austin and I have been dating for the last year," Lester and Penny's eyes widened comically and Elliot looked like he had just seen a ghost. "Just thought we break the news to you, so happy 25th Mom and Dad, may you have 25 more years together."

There was hesitant clapping before Lester marched over to Austin and Ally, ordering them upstairs to the practice room. There he, Penny and Elliot stood around Austin and Ally as they sat on the couch. Lester began pacing as he read them both the riot act.

"How could you two not tell us you were dating? You," He pointed to Austin, "should know better than to take advantage of a young girl."

"Austin was not taking advantage of me in any way. He never once pressured me into doing anything I wasn't ready for, he's kind, generous and I really love him." Ally could hear Elliot scoff in the background. "We only kept it a secret because we know you wouldn't have approved."

"You're damn right about that. Ally, you are too young to be dating a 22 year old, especially when you're still in high school. Who knows what else you could get into?" Penny said rather angrily. And now onto phase 2 of their grand plan and hopefully it would ease the tension of the room.

"Look, I know this might now be the right time, but will you at least read this card that Austin and I got you?" She pulled out the card from her purse and held it out to her father. He eyed it once before taking it, ripping the envelope open and pulling the card out.

Penny hovered over his right shoulder and Elliot his left while they read the card. Once again their eyes widened towards the young couple, who just sat on the couch with their hands wrapped around the other.

"I'm also three months pregnant." Ally finally said, "Surprise?"

OOOOHHHH CLIFFHANGER! How do you think Ally's family will react to this news? Will they yell at them, disown them or accept them? You'll have to continue reviewing for the next chapter.

Thanks and as always, stay ROSSOME!