A/N: I am so so so sorry! Life has been so crazy lately, but I know it's been months. I really will try to get the next one up very soon, and it will be summer vacation really soon, so hopefully I will have time. I totally understand if none of you believe me though. But if any readers are left, please do enjoy this chapter!

Ally hardly seemed to see Austin for the next few days. She was so busy between school and her volunteer job that she barely had time for anything, let alone socializing. She had two major essays due at the end of the week, and a project for English. She got almost no sleep for two the first two nights that week, and it was seeming like Wednesday night wasn't going to be any different.

Ally glanced at the clock, groaning. It read 9:34, and she was barely halfway to her goal for the night. Looks like I'm gonna be up for a while, she thought to herself. I think I need a break though. She hadn't been able to focus her eyes on the paper in front of her for the last five minutes, staring off into space.

She was sitting in the middle of her practice room at Sonic Boom, papers spread all over the room. Ally had to pick her way around the pieces of her English project, careful not to wreck any of her careful work. She sat at the piano, rifling through her songbooks to find something to play that was upbeat enough to wake her up when she heard a knock on the door. Looking up through blurred eyes, she saw Austin in the doorway, peering around the room, mouth slightly agape as he witnessed the mess of her work.

Damn.

The brunette wasn't an idiot. She had seen the worried looks that her friend had been sending her all week as the circles around her eyes darkened. She thought she had done a pretty good job convincing him that she was fine though. The scene this room presented, however, said differently.

Austin crossed the room, careful not to step on any papers. He sat on the bench next to her. Ally stayed silent, not looking at him.

"Ally, what are you doing? When did you sleep last?"

"Austin, seriously, I'm fin-"

"Ally."

"Fine. I slept for like two hours last night. And-"

"And were you planning on going to bed anytime soon tonight?"

"…Maybe."

Austin sighed and stood up, offering his hand to her. "Come on. Your dad told me to get you home."

"Where is he? I thought he was downstairs in the shop."

"Apparently he heard about some big sale going on on the other side of the mall just as I walked in. I offered to give you a ride so he could go check it out."

The two knelt on the floor, picking up the papers strewn all around the room. With the two of them working, it was done in only a few minutes. As Ally shoved the last of her papers in her backpack, Austin grabbed it before she could.

As he guided her out of the practice room, she asked, "Wait, what were you doing here then?"

"I was coming to check on you. You've seemed half asleep all week, and I wanted to make sure you were all right." As he was talking, Ally narrowly avoided bumping into the counter, losing her balance. Austin reached out and steadied her. "Apparently you aren't. Ally, seriously, you can't do this to yourself. You really do need sleep to stay alive, you know."

They paused as Austin waited for Ally to find the right key on her key ring to lock up the store. When she finished, he put his arm around her shoulders to guide her out of the mall, half scared that she would just pass out from exhaustion right there.

"I know that," Ally responded. "And I'll sleep plenty this weekend when I have everything done."

Austin just frowned at this. They had reached his car, and he helped her into the car before moving around to his side. As he started the car, he glanced over at Ally to see that she had snuggled into the seat, and was already half asleep. But as they moved out of the mall parking lot, she seemed to wake up, and turned to look at him.

"Oh, Austin, I wanted to ask you something. Our family rents out a cabin on a lake about an hour away from here the first week of summer every year. My parents said I could bring a friend this year. Did you want to come?"

"Um, sure, that sounds great!" Austin grinned excitedly. Then, curiously, "Did you not ask Trish?"

Ally laughed sleepily. "Hell no. Trish doesn't do vacations that don't have 24/7 access to wifi and a five star hotel."

Austin chuckled. "Well in that case, I would love to come."

"Awesome."

They pulled up to Ally's house, and Austin parked the car. He walked her to her door, carrying her backpack still.

Ally turned at smiled at him when she reached her door. "Thanks for the ride." She held out her hand. "Can I have my backpack?"

Austin held it out of her reach. "That depends. Are you going to go to sleep, and not just stay up all night working?"

Ally rolled her eyes. "I do have a project due-" Austin raised an eyebrow, cutting her off. "Fine! I'll go to sleep! Happy?"

"Yes." Austin handed her the backpack. "Night."

"Night Austin."

Ally had gotten a ride from her mother to school the next morning, because she was going to work late, and Austin had to be at school early to talk to a teacher. She was walking up to her locker when Trish fell into step beside her.

Trish raised an eyebrow at her. "So, I haven't seen you in days. Where've you been?"

"I've been kinda busy." Ally shrugged as she opened her locker. "Sorry. We need to hang out."

"Have you been busy with Austin?" Trish asked excitedly.

Ally just raised an eyebrow. Trish seemed hooked on the idea of getting them together, no matter how much Ally insisted they were just friends. "No… with school. I've barely seen Austin either."

Trish looked disappointed."Awww. I was so hopeful." She pouted for a minute before her face brightened excitedly again. "So, did you hear the news? Apparently, we have a new student. Again."

"Wow, it's like the apocalypse around here. There's something weird going on. Two new students in less than a month?"

"Weird, I know."

Ally shut her locker, and nearly jumped out of her skin when Austin's face came into view directly behind her locker door.

"God Austin! You scared me!"

"Nice to see you to Ally." He grinned at her. Trish excused herself quietly, telling Ally she would catch up with her at lunch.

"So, what's this I hear about a new student? Is there really someone here other than me who hasn't lived here since they were born?"

"Apparently, there is. Don't know anything about them though. Except… Wait." Ally cut herself off, having spotted a girl on the other side of the hall. "I bet that's her."

She was proven right a moment later, when the girl approached them, holding a yellow sheet of paper with her schedule printed on it.

"Excuse me, I'm Brooke. I'm new here today. Any chance you could tell me where room 213 is?"

Wow, Ally thought. This new girl is really, really pretty. It was true, she looked like the typical All-American type of beauty. Blond hair, blue eyes, everything. Even Austin couldn't seem to look away, or answer her question for that matter.

Ally responded instead. "It's just down the hall. First turn on your right."

As Brooked turned to look at her, her face seemed to become forced, and her smile a little more plastic. She glanced quickly between Ally and Austin before replying, "Thanks! I'll see you later!" This last part seemed to be directed at Austin specifically.

Ally frowned as Brooke turned away. She started towards class, dragging Austin along. Something was off about that girl, and as nice as she appeared to be, for some reason, Ally doubted she was going to get along with the girl.

A/N: Reviews are great!