Before we start, I really want to apologize for not getting this chapter to you by when I said I would (full description in AN), and I also want to say THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU for 200 reviews!

A&A

We stay in the shark tunnel for about another hour. At one point we decided to lie down, making it feel like I was lying at the bottom of the ocean.

Austin stands up and offers me his hand. I take it and he helps me to my feet. I follow him out of the hall. He leads me outside and we begin to walk back down the Strip to where we started. Even at three in the morning, Vegas is in full swing. People crowd the sidewalks, filtering in and out of buildings.

After we pass the Flamingo hotel, Austin grabs my arm to stop me.

"Close your eyes." He says.

"What? Why?" I ask, scrunching my eyebrows.

He rolls his eyes and smiles. "It's a surprise. I want you to see something."

"How am I supposed to see something if I have my eyes close?" I retort.

"You have to be in the perfect spot." He says vaguely.

I huff and close my eyes. "Fine."

"No peeking!" He says. He puts his hands over my eyes and tells me to start walking. He gives me directions until he finally tells me to stop. "Ok. One, two, three, open!"

When I open my eyes I let out a little gasp (geez, how many times have I done that in the past forty eight hours?). We're standing in the space between two hotels, in the perfect spot, just like Austin said. What makes the spot perfect? In front of us is the High Roller Ferris Wheel, and standing in this spot allows you to take in the whole wheel without craning your neck. What makes it even more spectacular is that it's a lit up, making the cars look like bright white stars in the sky.

"Wow." I say, impressed.

He looks over at me and smirks. "I told you it's the perfect spot. Do you want to-"

Austin's cut off by deafening squeals from a group of girls coming out of the hotel to our right.

Austin mutters a few swear words as the girls come running up to us. For a moment I'm confused, but then I look up at Austin and realize that he doesn't have his hat or sunglasses on. The girls practically tackle Austin to the ground as they reach him. I stand their dumbstruck, unsure of what to do. Do I intervene and make the girls go away? Austin's eyes dart to me. They're filled with apology.

I start to tell them to kindly leave Austin alone, but I'm drowned out by their excited screams.

"I CAN'T BELIEVE IT'S AUSTIN FREAKING MOON!"

"I LOVE YOU SO MUCH AUSTIN!"

Their screaming draws people's attention, and in a matter of seconds a crowd begins to form around him. First ten, then twenty, then fifty people circle around him. Still dumbstruck, I quickly lose sight of Austin as I'm jostled to the back. In a matter of seconds paparazzi swoop in, cameras flashing madly.

"Austin! Austin look here! Austin Moon!"

"Austin is it true you're getting married to Kira Starr?"

"Austin is it true that you're dating Chelsea Riviera?"

I step away from the growing crowd. I fumble for my phone in my bag and dial Richard.

"Richard!" I exclaim when he answers. "Austin's being mobbed by fans and paparazzi! What do I do?"

"Don't worry, Ally. I've just notified Austin's security and they should be there in a minute." I let out a sigh of relief. "If I were you I'd get out of there. It could get ugly when security gets there. Do you want me to come and get you?"

"No. I'm right across the street from the hotel." I say, glancing back at the crowd and knowing that there's no way I'm going to leave. "Austin's going to be ok, right?"

"He'll be fine. This definitely isn't the first time it's happened."

I bite my lip. "Ok. Thank you Richard."

"No problem Miss Ally."

I put my phone in my bag. I feel so guilty, just standing back and watching this happen. I feel a bit of relief when a black SUV pulls up to the curb and a bunch of men burst out and start pushing through the crowd. The driver of the SUV, who I recognize from seeing him around backstage, walks around the front of the car and up to me.

"Ally, you should go home now." He says firmly.

"But I want to make sure that Austin's ok."

He gives me a small sympathetic smile. "Don't worry, that's our job. We're going to be taking him home afterwards anyways."

I slowly nod. After one last look at the crowd I begin to walk towards the hotel. Even after I cross the street and am almost inside the hotel I can still hear the crowd. I hurry inside and into the elevator. As soon as it opens into the penthouse I rush to the window.

I'm just in time to see the security guards huddled around Austin escorting him to the SUV. The crowd has definitely died down, but many still remain to watch Austin get in the car.

I sink down into the window seat. As Austin steps into the car I swear he looks right up at my window, but I know that that's highly unlikely since I'm so high up. I stay at the window even after the car drives away. It's just all so surreal. The Austin that I spent today with is not the same Austin that I first met. And when I'm with him I completely forget that he's a celebrity, which is probably why that whole scene left me so confused. I guess that I also never realized he was that big of a celebrity, one that the paparazzi seek out.

I dig the dolphin that Austin gave me out of my bag and just stare at it for a few moments. Then I head upstairs, go into my room, and dig out the laptop that I bought a couple weeks ago. I open it and type "Austin Moon" into the search bar.

The first results that pop up are articles with headlines along the lines of "Austin Moon Spotted Out and About on the Strip"

I click on the first one. Pictures from the scene minutes ago pop up. Wow. They work fast.

I go back and scroll down a little bit. There are a few articles that date last week that mention Kira Starr in the headlines along with Austin. I click on one. Pictures of Austin with a girl in various locations in Vegas pop up. I scroll down to the article.

"Austin Moon and actress/model Kira Starr seemed to be inseparable tonight as they traversed through the Las Vegas strip with enough PDA to make us blush. The pair was even spotted playing games at the Circus Circus hotel, where it looks like Austin won a giant teddy bear, which he promptly gifted to Kira. The two were even seen grinning ear to ear as they entered Mandalay Bay's Shark Reef, which they were granted exclusive access to. To finish out the night, the couple boarded a private car on the High Roller Ferris Wheel. How romantic! What do you think about Vegas' new it couple?"

I scoff. Wow. So much for that special feeling I had just moments ago. Of course I'm not special. He does this to everyone, it seems. Whatever. It's a good thing that I don't like him, because if I did I'd probably be devastated and angry at this, but instead I just feel numb.

I go back to the search and scroll down even farther. Most of the headlines are "Austin Moon and [insert some model/actress/singer/heiress here] Spotted Out on Romantic Night in Vegas."

I skip over all of those, because I'm not really interested in all of Austin's conquests.

After much scrolling, one article catches my eye: "Austin Moon Spotted in Washington?"

Curious, I click on the article. There's only one picture. It's blurry, but it's definitely Austin. He has a black coat and a beanie on, and he's coming out of a building. I squint to get a better look at the sign. All I can make out is "Spokane" and "Center". I open a new tab and type in Spokane Center. The first result is Spokane Cancer Center. I click on it. On their home page, there's a picture of the facility, and it's definitely the same building Austin was coming out of.

Woah. Why was Austin at a cancer center? Why Washington? Why-

My colliding thoughts are interrupted by my phone ringing. I look at the screen. The caller ID says "Bestest Friend."

"Hello?" I answer.

"Hey, Ally." It's Austin. Of course.

"You put yourself in my phone as Bestest Friend?" I ask.

"Of course," he says, laughing.

I can't help but laugh too. "I thought I told you that you haven't earned that title yet."

"I know, I know, but I couldn't help myself." He admits, still laughing. Then there's a long pause.

"Hey, I'm really really sorry for what happened tonight." He says quietly after a moment.

"It's fine. I'm sorry I just stood by and watched it happen. I feel guilty for just leaving, too."

"No, you're fine. I'm actually glad that you weren't caught up in the crowd; it can get a little crazy sometimes. I promise it won't happen again. Usually I'm so good about not being seen, but I guess I just really wasn't paying attention to that."

Another pause.

"I think I'm going to try to lay low for the next couple days," He says.

For some reason I feel a little deflated. "Oh. Ok. I understand. I'm fine with exploring by myself."

"Hold on there, friend," he says, interrupting me. "I still want to hang out with you."

"But I thought you wanted to 'lay low'?"

"You could come over to my place and we could hang out."

I'm taken aback. "Come over?"

"Yes. To my place. To hang out. You know, like what friends do?"

I roll my eyes. "I know what you mean. But I guess I just wasn't expecting that."

"Well do you want to come over tomorrow or not?" He asks with a teasing voice.

"Fine, yeah, sure, I'll come over."

"Great! Richard will pick you up eleven!" And then he hangs up.

Woah. I'm going over to Austin Moon's place tomorrow. Didn't Delaney say that she hasn't even been there? This is a lot to take in. It kinda scares me, but at the same time I'm kind of excited. For a moment I consider calling Austin back and telling him that I don't feel well, but I quickly wave away that thought.

I lie down and quickly fall asleep, wondering what tomorrow holds.

A&A

My alarm wakes me up at 5:30. The Buzz. I completely forgot about it, but I drag myself out of bed and get ready. I dial Richard while I get dressed and five minutes later I meet him downstairs.

"Good morning, Miss Ally." He says as he helps me in.

"Good morning, Richard."

As he gets in the driver's seat he looks in the rearview mirror and asks, "Did everything work out last night?"

"Yes. Thank you so much for sending the security. I had no idea what to do and if wasn't for you Austin probably would've never been able to get away from the crowd."

He tips his hat and smiles at me.

When we get to The Buzz Jim is waiting for me at the door.

"Ally, so glad to see you! Are you feeling better?"

"Huh?" I ask, confused.

"You said you were sick the past two days…?" He says slowly, giving me a strange look.

Oh. Right. "Oh! Yes! I'm feeling so much better!"

"Good! We had a few regulars asking where you were. I'm sure they'll be glad you're back." Jim ushers me towards the stage.

I take the mic. "Hi, I'm Ally Dawson. For those of you who already know me, sorry I've been out the past couple days! But, anyways, here we go!"

I sing a few of my songs, ones that I've already performed here before, and the rest covers. I still have a hard time singing my own songs without my songbook; it just feels so wrong.

At the end of my set, everyone cheers as I do a little bow. I start packing up my stuff, but something catches my attention. Out of the corner of my eye I see someone in a black hoodie with the hood pulled over their head heading towards the door. I straighten up and look closer. I think it's the same person that interrupted my set a couple months ago!

I quickly weave through the crowd and am out the door seconds after the person. I look both ways and see the person down the sidewalk to the right.

"Hey!" I yell.

The person starts walking faster.

"Hey, wait!" I yell as I start to jog to catch up with them. The person breaks out into a run.

"Stop! I just want to talk to you!" I manage to yell despite becoming rapidly out of breath.

I silently curse the person. They are very tall and have long legs, so they quickly are able to gain distance between us.

"Please!" I yell out pathetically. Oh yeah, saying please will obviously make them stop right away.

They make a right at the next street, going out of sight. When I make it to the corner and look in the direction they went, I see nothing. They disappeared. Dang it. I just wanted to know who could empty out a coffee shop like that. Oh well.

I start to head back to The Buzz, hoping that the person doesn't call the cops on me for chasing them like a lunatic.

A&A

I lay around the penthouse until Richard calls me to let me know that he's downstairs.

When I'm inside the car, Richard gives me a sly grin in the mirror. "You must be pretty special."

I scrunch my eyebrows together. "What?"

"Austin never brings any girl to his place, so you must be pretty special." He gives me a wink.

I almost choke on my spit. "No! We're just friends. We're just hanging out."

"Sure…"

I give him a stern look.

He puts his hands up in surrender. "Fine, fine."

After a few minutes of driving he says, "I just think you'd be really good for him, that's all."

I roll my eyes. "We're just friends."

He drops the subject, thankfully. After a few more minutes, Richard pulls up to a gate with a sign on it that says: The Villas at the Mirage. Richard rolls down his window and nods at the guard in the booth, who nods back and hits a button that opens the gate.

Richard pulls in and stops in front of a set of glass doors. I look at him, unsure of what to do.

"Fourth one on the right," he says, winking at me as he helps me out. I slowly walk up the steps and enter the doors, which take me into a very long, wide, and ornate marble hallway. I pass the first door.

"One," I whisper and keep walking. It takes me a while to pass a second door. I keep walking until finally I'm at the fourth door on the right.

I stare at the door for a minute before finally raising my fist to knock, but the door swings open before I make contact.

"Ally! I'm so glad you came!" Austin says, smiling at me in the doorway.

"Did you think I wouldn't?" I ask.

Austin's smile falters for a minute. "Well, I was kind of scared that what happened last night would scare you off." He shakes his head and his megawatt smile returns.

"Anyways, welcome to my humble abode," he says as he gestures me into the door.

I roll my eyes. "Oh yes, humble is the exact word I would use to describe this place."

I walk through the door and let me tell you; this is the nicest place I've ever been in.

"Woah," I whisper. In front of me is a living room and kitchen the size of mine and Dallas' whole apartment back in Miami, and one thousand times nicer. There's not a single thing out of place. There's a huge TV above a fireplace on the left wall with huge white couches facing it. The kitchen on the right is huge and spotless, with white counters and black cabinets. There's a long island with lots of chairs, and there's also a long glass dining table in the space between the living room and the kitchen. The wall in front of me is like one big window, with double doors in the middle. Outside, I can see a large barbeque area, a pool with waterfalls coming out of the wall, a fire pit, an outdoor dining table, and lots of grass.

I'm so overwhelmed by what I've seen so far that I can't even imagine what could be down the hallways to both sides of me.

"Yeah," Austin says as he breezes past me, "I guess it is pretty nice."

He goes over to the kitchen. "Are you hungry? Thirsty?"

"No, I'm fine, thanks." I manage to say. I seem to be having a hard time forming words.

He opens the fridge and I can see that it only has a few water bottles in it. He grabs one and when he turns around he catches me staring.

"I don't really have much food or drinks stored away because if I want something I just call the food service."

"Oh." I croak. It's all just sensory overload. I watch as Austin goes and plops on the couch. I try to move, but my feet seem to be cemented to the marble flooring.

Austin looks over at me with a strange look. Then he pats the couch next to him. "You can come sit down, you know."

I shake my head to clear my thoughts.

"Oh, um, yeah, right." I stammer as my feet suddenly lurch forward. I plop down awkwardly onto the couch. Austin looks very amused.

"So, you never gave me an answer," Austin says.

"What?" I ask, confused.

"I asked you yesterday when you got into music and you didn't get the chance to answer."

I chew the inside of my cheek. Why does he want to get to know me? What's in it for him? Is he somehow using me? Maybe he's just trying to get me to write more music for the show. Bitterness suddenly bubbles up inside of me.

"Why do you want to know," I ask harshly.

Austin flinches. "What?"

I try to take a deep breath to calm down. It doesn't work. "Why did you invite me over here? Why are you spending so much time with me? I just don't understand. Are you planning on using me? It's just my music that you want, isn't it?"

Austin looks shocked. "What the hell, Ally? Who hurt you so bad that you can't trust that I might actually want to be your friend?"

Ouch. That hurts. It also makes memories of Dallas play through my mind. I can't stop the tears that suddenly spring to my eyes.

"Ally I'm sorry, I-I didn't mean to upset you-" Austin stammers.

I feel so embarrassed. I've been here less than five minutes and I'm already crying. I start to get up and walk out, "I should just go."

"Hey!" Austin springs up and grabs my wrist. "No. You're not leaving. We need to talk."

He reaches out and wipes a tear off my cheek, then lightly tilts my chin up. I look into his eyes and all I see is sincerity. I sit back down. Austin runs a hand through his hair.

"I'm-"

"We-"

We both start to talk at the same time.

"Listen," Austin says cautiously. "I'm sorry if I was giving you the wrong impression. I really want to get to know you."

"But why?" I sigh.

Austin looks down at his hands. "It's hard to find someone like you when you're someone like me."

"What do you mean, someone like me?"

"Someone who's genuine. It seems like everyone I meet is only interested in my fame. I really don't have anyone to talk to. That's why I wanted to be your friend. You're so down to Earth and unlike anyone I've met in Vegas."

"But how did you know that about me when we only started talking a few days ago?"

"I just know. I've seen the way you act at meet and greets. The other girls are like statues, but I've seen how you look out at the people and observe everything. And that little girl a couple months ago, the one that really wanted to meet you. And everyone backstage talks about you- your hairdresser and makeup artist always talk about how gracious you are and how you actually talk to them. And besides all that, I could just tell by looking at you."

I'm taken aback. All I can say is "Oh."

I feel like a big old jerk now. I judged him so quickly. He just needs someone to talk to.

"I understand if you don't believe me."

"N-no. I was just… confused, I guess. I mean, I just figured that since you do what we did last night with a lot of girls you were just, I don't know…" I trail off.

"How did you know that?"

"The internet." I say and laugh a little despite myself.

He smiles and shakes his head. "Those are all for publicity. My manager makes me take out random models/singers/actresses or whatever to help them get publicity and to get more publicity for the show. Letting the paparazzi photograph us together raises a lot of buzz so it helps both of us. Since I really don't care about those girls, I made up a loop to take them on that made sure the paparazzi would see us. I just thought that since the loop included a lot of places you wanted to see it'd be cool to take you on it."

"Wow." I say. "Then I guess it's my turn to say sorry. I misjudged you. I'm really sorry and I hope we can still be friends."

His smile widens. "Yes, of course. How about we put all this behind us and start fresh?"

"How?"

He smiles and reaches out his hand. "Hi, I'm Austin Moon."

I smile and shake his hand. "Ally Dawson."

"Shall we play twenty questions to get to know each other?"

I nod. "Sounds great."

"Ok, I'll go first." He says, then takes a moment to think. "How long have you lived in Miami?"

"My whole life. This is actually the farthest I've ever been from Miami." I take a second to think of a question for him. "Where did you grow up?"

"Well I was born in California and I lived there until I was six. My dad was in the military so we moved a lot. I've lived in thirty six states, and I actually lived in Miami for three months when I was thirteen. Do you have family in Miami?"

"Just my dad and my best friend, Trish." I hesitate for a moment, considering how much I should tell him, but I end up deciding I might as well just bare my soul and hopefully he'll do the same. "My mom died a few months after I was born, so it's always just been my dad and I. Do you have any brothers or sisters?"

"I have a little sister named Addie. She's seven. Do you miss your dad?"

I sigh. "Of course I do. He's called me at least a million times, but I just can't answer. I feel like he'd be… disappointed, I guess, in what I've been doing. I just don't think I could get him to understand why I'm in Vegas of all places. Is your dad still in the military?"

Austin looks down at his hands. "He died three years ago."

"Oh my God. I'm so sorry."

He cracks a little smile. "It's ok. He died a heroic death; he was protecting an orphanage from the Taliban."

"Wow," I breathe.

"Anyways, next question: what's your favorite color?"

Twenty questions turns into thirty questions, then forty, then fifty. We talk about everything: first kisses… childhood pets… everything. Now I feel like I've known Austin for years. We share embarrassing stories, inside jokes, and some serious stuff.

"So will you finally tell me when you got into music?" He asks as he recovers from laughing at my story of getting my teacher's sweater stuck in my braces in seventh grade.

"Well, I guess all I've ever really known is music. My dad owns a music store so I grew up surrounded by it. I learned to play every instrument that my dad carried, and then I guess songwriting just came to me. I just love music so much and I couldn't live without it. What about you? How come your show is so musical but you don't actually sing?"

"I'm just not really good at that stuff. I love music, don't get me wrong, but I'm just not a singer by any means."

I look outside and notice that it's already dark. We've been talking for so long that I completely lost track of time. Austin follows my gaze to the window.

"Wow. Would you look at that. Are you hungry? I'm going to order something."

"Yeah sure, just surprise me. Where's the bathroom?" I ask, standing up.

Austin's already in the kitchen dialing the phone.

"Down the left hall. Third door down," he says distractedly.

I follow his directions and go down the left hall, counting doors. When I reach the third, there's a door on both sides of the hall. Austin didn't tell me which one it was. I debate it for half a second, then open the door on the right.

It's definitely not the bathroom. It's a music room! There's a piano in the center of the room and a variety of instruments strewn about. But Austin said he wasn't really a musician? I look back down the hall, then slowly enter the room. Instinctively I head straight for the piano. I note that that piano is a very expensive one that I've only ever seen in my dad's catalogs. I just want to touch it.

But I stop in my tracks.

No freaking way.

A&A

I'm so so so so sorry that this chapter is almost a week late. I misjudged the time that I had between when I last posted and when I said this chapter would be up. I planned on writing it on that Thursday because I thought that I'd have that whole day to write, but I ended up going to SeaWorld with my sister (sidenote: I went in the shark tunnel and I had major Auslly feels omg). I also got really distracted because my parents came home from their two week trip to Ireland last Saturday, so I've been preoccupied with trying to help get things back together. Anyways, I made this chapter longer than usual to try to make it up to you guys.

I kinda feel like parts of this chapter may have been kind of awkwardly written, but I think I've just read it too many times, so I don't know.

Anyways, they're getting to know each other! I'm so freaking excited that this story is starting to really progress because I have big big plans. Someone asked how long this story will be, and I honestly don't really know. I think it's going to be pretty long, though.

Also, I love when you guys guess what's going to happen because some of you are so freaking smart. Maybe I've made some things too obvious, but don't worry, there's going to be some things that you'll never see coming.

If we can get to 230 reviews I can almost guarantee an update by Tuesday, Thursday at the latest. (But only if we get to 230!) I know it might seem like I'm begging for reviews (I mean I kinda am tbh) but they help me know that you guys like the story and want more. Plus they never fail to make me smile (my heart seriously leaps whenever I see REVIEW: MILLION DOLLAR MAGIC in my email like seriously) :)

I love you all so freaking much.

I own nothing

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|April|

PS: Let me know what you think is going to happen/what youwantto happen.