A/N: Hiii guys! New chapter in Austin's point of view. This is going on at the same time as the day party that Dallas is at in the previous chapter. Enjoy. :)

Twitter: didyousayashton

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Austin & Ally, nor am I associated with Austin & Ally.

"I don't know, Dez, I think you should go to the hospital." I sigh, handing Dez the bag of ice I had just made for him. It was his third one in the past two hours, and the bruising along his stomach and left side was becoming more and more prominent and painful. Walking in on Darron attacking Dez like that brings a guilty pang into my chest that I feel will never go away. It's my fault that Dallas knew Dez was an easy target, and I should have known Dallas would have done something stupid like bringing Darron on campus sooner or later. I know this is just the beginning of many blows from him, but I have to stand my ground... For Ally.

"I'm fine." Dez mutters, taking the bag from me and wincing as he presses it onto his bare stomach.

"Should we call the cops?" I ask, leaning against the wall.

"No, Austin," Dez snaps, "do you really want to get the law involved in something like this? They could fire right back and tell about all the times you've brought alcohol and all kinds of illegal drugs to their parties."

I frown, deciding not to say anymore. Obviously Dez was a little upset with me right now, and I can't blame him at all. And, of course, he had a good point. There was plenty of existing evidence that I had done more than one illegal thing since my freshman year, and I also knew that's why they kept trying to get me to come back. I knew they didn't actually want me for who I was but because they knew I came from a particularly wealthy family and was able to provide for them. Dallas also tries to make it out as if he's "protecting" me from falling into a boring lifestyle but I've come to discover that the life I'm living now is more than I could ever dream of.

"Guess I won't get to film for my channel today," Dez sighs, "can you put my camera back in it's case for me?"

"Sure thing." I say nodding, not even giving it a second thought. It's the least I could do after I let him get beat half to death by my old friends. I'm about to take the camera off of the tripod and put it back in storage when I see it: a blinking red light.

"Um, Dez, how long has this been on?" I ask.

"What? It shouldn't be on." He grumbles, removing the ice from his stomach and standing up from his bed to walk over to me despite the many times I've told him to stay laying down. He takes the camera off of the tripod and examines it with squinted eyes. "Huh. I guess I did turn it on right before the Druggies came in."

I feel a sudden burst of happiness. "You mean you got them beating you up on camera?" He scowls at my choice of words, but nods nonetheless. "So can we call the cops now?"

"No." He groans, shutting the camera and carefully placing it back in the bag where it belongs. "Absolutely not. We're not getting the law involved."

"I could have them in jail in a heartbeat!" I protest.

"Yeah, and they could do the same to you." He fights back. "I'll keep the recording saved just in case we ever need it, but I'm not going to throw this in their faces and piss them off even more than they already are."

I gave up trying to change his mind when he obviously wasn't going to. I flopped down on my bed while Dez returned to icing his bruises.

"So, how was Ally?" He asks casually. I begin to wonder how he can go from the extreme of getting beat to a pulp and asking about my girlfriend within the span of two hours.

I shrug. "She's good, same old."

Dez smiled over at me. "You really like her, don't you? Like... A lot."

I felt my cheeks beginning to heat up as I smiled. "Yeah."

"You know," Dez sighs, "I was worried about you, Austin... For a long time. Since the first time I met you I just knew you were going to be the type of guy that ended up getting hospitalized from overdose, or thrown in jail, or worse. After a few months, I realized that you weren't who you said you were... You're a great guy, and you deserve Ally. She's good for you, too."

I chuckled, then began to wonder where I would be without Ally... Nowhere good, that's for sure. I can't imagine life without Ally anymore, she's a piece of me now. She was all I ever wanted or needed, I couldn't wait to see what the future holds.

"What do you think Dallas is going to pull next?" Dez asks, readjusting his ice and wincing.

I sigh, knowing the possibilities are endless. "I'd say he'll just come by here and try to talk me into it again. Keep the door locked, by the way."

Dez nods. "You know, I'm really thinking they'll go to extremes to get some alcohol and drugs out of you."

I raise my eyebrows. "You think?"

He shrugs. "I think so. I mean, they're addicts, Austin. Lucky for you, you never really used the stuff, just provided it. I'd say Dallas's reputation is suffering big time right now, and you and I both know he won't have that."

I sigh. "I don't know... I think Dallas is crazy, but I don't think he's crazy enough to try and beat it out of me or anything..." I glance over at Dez. "I mean, I know they did it to you, but, offense... He knows his limits."

"That's why I think he'll get Darron to do his dirty work." Dez points out.

I run my hands over my face. "Look, Dez, I'll be fine. Don't worry about me."

He snorts. "Just watch your back. They're insane."

I chuckle, wondering what in the world they thought they could possibly do to me to get me to get them what they wanted. I didn't care what they did anymore, I was done with them.

A/N: Don't forget to review, favorite, and follow! :) I love hearing your guys' opinions, so leave me a little review and tell me what you think of the story overall so far. I like where it's going and I've got soo many new ideas, but as I said before, it's not for the faint of heart, so continue with caution! Thanks for sticking with me everyone, love you all. :) xx