Ally charged down the hallway, her lips curled into a scorn. She shoved past anyone who tried to grab her attention. She had no interest in talking to anyone who wasn't Austin at the moment. She ignored her name being called curiously by a few crew members.
"Ally, I think-"
"Later." she snapped over her shoulder, continuing down the hallway, each step gaining aggressiveness. She turned the corner sharply, slamming her hands against the door. They were ready to curl into fists for one heavenly good strike to Austin's jaw.
That liar.
That jerk.
That douche bag.
Austin was just about to open his mouth to order out a coffee when he suddenly let out a startled yelp as he was shoved against the wall - hard. Ally gripped his shoulders, finger nails cutting through his skin. Austin blinked a couple times.
A smirk pulled on Austin's lips, "Well, Ally," he chuckled haughtily, "If you wanted me so bad, all you had to do was ask."
"You lied!" she snarled, shoving him again.
Austin flinched at the impact of his head hitting the wall. He shut his eyes for a moment before opening them again. Ally watched as a muscle in his jaw twitched."Do you mind?" he said, through gritted teeth, seeing a couple stars in his vision. When she didn't reply. He rolled his eyes. "I don't know what you're talking about."
Ally took a step back, scowl imprinted on her face. She dug a hand into her back pocket and snatched out an article. He watched as she unfolded the mysterious paper. She turned it over as his eyes caught the headline: Austin Moon's Mysterious New Songwriter.
"Mysterious new songwriter?" she growled, shoving him again.
Austin sighed. "Ally-"
"Don't 'Ally' me!" she barked, "I agreed to become your songwriter out of the goodness of my heart and you don't even give me a name! You said that this is how I could get my start!"
"It's not about the fame, Ally." Austin said, smoothly.
"You promised." Ally muttered, her bottom lip curling.
He stared at her lip for a moment before looking up at her eyes that held some sort of sense of betrayal. "I didn't." he replied. "There was no promise, there wasn't even an agreement. I never said this is how you could start, I just simply said this is how people could hear your music."
"Same thing!" she shoved him again.
"Stop that!" Austin hissed, grabbing her wrists and removing her hands from his shoulders. "If I remember correctly, you're not doing this for your start, you're doing this so Trish and Cassidy get to keep their jobs, and you get to keep that lovely apartment of yours."
"I'm not letting you take credit for my writing!" Ally growled.
"I don't recall ever telling anyone that I wrote the new song. I just never stated the writer's name." Austin said, giving her a taunting look.
"You said this was a chance for somebody to hear my music-"
"-And they are hearing it. They just don't know who the music is from other than who's singing it." Austin said, slyly.
"That's not what you told me." Ally said, angrily, yanking her wrists from out of his grasp. "I wanted people to hear my music, not yours, not some mysterious writer, mine, as in Ally Dawson. That's my music and you're not even granting me any acknowledgements for it."
Austin sighed with annoyance, "Look," Austin said, "This is the music industry. Nothing ever goes the way we want it to, you just have to go with it. There is no fantasy here, it's what the public wants."
"No," Ally hissed, "It's what you want! It's always want you want! You don't give a damn about anybody other than yourself! You don't care about where Cassidy and Trish end up, you don't care if I write for you or not, all you care about is having the best name on the best magazine."
"You know, Ally, there is so much in this industry that you don't know. This industry isn't for naive people like you." Austin deprecated.
"Oh, and you think it's for somebody as holy as you?" she retorted, "You don't...You don't even belong here. That's the horrible thing about this industry! The people who can make it have these big dreams and so much ambition but for some reason, it's only ever given to people like you. The people who don't deserve it. The people who don't care. The people who don't give a damn about anything." Ally glared at him as she leaned closer, "The people who are just losers." she spat.
"You're calling me a loser?" Austin scoffed, "Please, I'm in no mood for your little speeches about where my feet are in life."
"You said we could be incredible, but you can't even share the spotlight." Ally shook her head. "You said you believed in my music. You think they're just songs, but they're not. They're my everything. Everything that I am. My entire being is based on those songs." He saw a little glisten in the corner of her eye. "I don't want them to be just songs, I want them to mean something. Whether it's to you, or somebody in the crowd. I never wanted it to be just something in a magazine or something that's just on the radio when nothing else is left play."
Suddenly, a palm was placed over her lips. "You talk a lot." Austin whispered. She was starting to make too much sense. She was starting to make him feel guilty.
He stared down at her, lifting his free hand and using the knuckle of his index finger to wipe away that little glisten that was about to come down her cheek. She frowned at him, confused.
"I'm sorry." he finally said.
Her eyes widened slightly. She didn't know whether to laugh or gasp.
He rolled his eyes. "Yeah, Yeah, Yeah." he muttered, "I'm going to be honest and I'm only going to be honest with you once," he told her and then lowered his voice as if afraid that somebody would overhear, "You're the only assistant I've had that gets this job, that does it right, that pays attention to every little detail about my career, who pays attention to my career-"
"But you always said-"
"-Forget what I said," Austin shook his head and continued, "When they know that you're writing my songs, I know there's a chance that you're going to be asked to write for other musicians, and the opportunities are going to grow greater and better every time until you're probably going to have to quit this job, but we can't have that, Ally."
Ally removed his hand as she glared at him. "Why? Because then you're life isn't a perfect rainbow anymore?"
He gave her a serious look. "Because I need you."
Her eyes narrowed on him, but he didn't seem to be letting up an rueful smirk. His words hung loosely in the air, just dangling between the two of them. Ally wasn't sure what she was expecting - if she was even expecting anything at all. How could someone flash between a witty sass-master and a sincere and serious jock-like facade?
Suddenly, the door swung open.
"Austin, I-" Whoever had rushed through the door came to a sudden halt. "Oh."
Both Austin and Ally looked over to see Trish standing there, lips curled into a gaping 'O' shape as she blinked several times, trying to decipher what exactly it was that she was seeing.
It was this: Austin and Ally, standing close, very close, almost too close, close enough that Trish was frozen with surprise. Close enough that Trish quickly gave them both a questioning look.
Austin gifted his manager with a puzzled frown until he slowly looked down at Ally and realized just exactly how close she'd been standing. They mustn't have noticed in the midst of their bickering. Ally, just as confused, looked up at Austin with a small frown before her eyes widened and she took a step back - a giant step back.
"What...What's going on in here?" Trish wondered, eyes flickering between the two of them. Ally gripping her arms at her side and Austin looking around almost uncomfortably. Trish shook her head. She didn't want to know and quite frankly, she also believed that she didn't care to know.
"Did you need something?" Austin finally asked gruffly.
"Oh! Right." Trish said, "Your...Your song...It's amazing! We have to know who wrote it! It's sold more than your last single by far. It's so you but not you at the same time! I...I don't even...We need to hire whoever wrote this song immediately!" she quickly scowled at him, "Unless you stole it from somebody? Austin, I know your career has been-"
"-I didn't steal it!" Austin exclaimed, "I do have a writer." Austin averted his eyes to his assistant who was staring at the floor. He wasn't willing to let Ally be pulled away from him because of her remarkable writing talent, but he also wasn't willing to let her talent slip by unnoticed. He felt like it was a cross roads. But maybe after all, this wouldn't be a bad thing. Ally could be his assistant and songwriter.
"Well?" Trish pressed eagerly, "Who is it?"
"Ally. She wrote it."
Ally's eyes widened and she looked over at him. He gave her a glance, but quickly looked over to Trish who frowned in confusion.
"What?" Trish said, her eyes looking over to Ally who was gawking at Austin before she looked back over to Trish. "This Ally?" Both Austin and Ally nodded. "Ally..." she breathed before slapping her palm to her own forehead, "Why didn't I think of that?"
Ally frowned slightly, "What?"
"You! Why didn't I think about hiring you?!" Trish shrieked, "You were great at Cassidy's party. It should've been the first thing to come to mind! I can't believe I..." Trish shook her head, eyes lighting up and a grin stretching on her lips. "This is perfect, but...What about the assistant job? Who will do that?"
Austin frowned. "Um, Ally?"
"No, no. Ally can't do both." Trish said, "That's a lot of work. She can't assist you and then write with you."
"I don't mind." Ally said coyly, "Really, I don't. I can still do everything I was before and I can write."
"Ally," Trish shook her head, "It's going to sound fishy and desperate that we hired his assistant as his songwriter. Besides, that's like working two jobs a day. You'll be exhausted. You'll have to do what you normally do, but then on top of that, be pressured to write an album under a strict time limit."
"I can deal." Ally assured her. Ally glanced over to Austin. "As long as I get...acknowledged."
Trish thought for a moment, then said, "Well, if you're sure about this. I can contact Jimmy right away. The album really needs to be started. Austin's already behind since Jeremy quit."
Ally nodded her head. "I think we can do it. With Austin's help, of course."
"Wait...What?" Trish and Austin chorused together, looking at Ally.
Trish laughed slightly and then stared at Ally, "Did you say...Austin could help?"
Ally frowned and slowly nodded. "Well, Yeah. It's his album. We'll need to bounce ideas off of one another. We could collaborate and-"
"Whoa, Whoa, Whoa." Austin put a finger up, stopping Ally from continuing on. "You're my writer. You write for me. I just sing the stuff you write. There is no collaboration, no working together. It's just you giving me songs to sing."
"If you're going to sing my songs, you're going to help me with them." Ally said, sternly.
"Ally, I can't write." Austin said, shaking his head.
"Ally, he's a joke." Trish said. Austin looked at her as she sent him an apologetic look. "In the nicest way." she added. He rolled his eyes. "Austin needs a writer for a reason. Austin can do a lot of things, but writing...Yeah, not one of them."
"I can write." Austin said quickly, "I just...Not well."
"Hm." Trish hummed.
"We'll figure something out!" Ally assured, "Besides," Ally gave Austin a look, "You could use some time with the music."
Trish smiled at Ally slightly, no doubting the brunette for a moment. "Well, Alright. I'll pass this along to Jimmy." Trish exited the room.
Austin looked at Ally. "I'm not working with you. Trish wasn't kidding; I can't write a song. I've tried. Hence, why I need this from you."
"Fine," Ally said, "I'll write the words, you can sit there and...I don't know, judge?" Ally shook her head, "You can work on these with me. It's your album, Austin. You need to put it together."
"Fine." Austin said, rolling his eyes, "Whatever you say."
Ally smirked, "Good."
"Now get me a coffee."
x
Okay, so here's a note regarding the feedback I was getting on the last chapter:
First, thank you for all the compliments. It means a lot! :)
Second, Some people were concerned on how the song was a bad choice. Personally, it's a song that means a lot to me and I feel like it has deeper meaning that a lot of people truly think it does. However, it was originally supposed to be edited and I thought I had edited the song to make it sound more female-versioned, but I hadn't. So the fact that it wasn't edited to fit who was singing it was a mistake and I apologize.
Third, A lot of people dislike Austin and it makes perfect sense because he's kind of a jerk. To me, Austin is super fun to write because he's so mysterious, awful, and interesting all at once. Austin's character will, however, be looking up very soon now that he and Ally will be working together. She's his assistant and his songwriter, thus, this will soon introduce a bond that begins to form beautifully between the very unusually opposite characters.
I will award you with another fact that Austin does have a past (as does Ally) and you will be learning about it soon as it goes on and it will start to pull together loose ends on why Austin has acted up the way he has with his whole 'hot and cold' thing. So, Austin's character will have "momentum" and you will begin to see that he's really not as awful as he tries to be. ( I think that rhymed).
Also, Thank you to everyone who has reviewed, favourited, and/or followed this story! It means a lot and thanks for the patience you all seem to hold. Thanks for enjoying the story, reading it, and giving me feedback!