"Are we really allowed to be up this close?" Ally questioned, focusing on not tripping and falling to her death. The hill was rocky and bumpy, only a few more steps and she could actually touch the letters.

"Probably not, but I've learned that I'm pretty good at getting away with murder." Austin smirked.

"That must be nice." Ally said. Austin laughed.

"Help?" he questioned, reaching out his hand. She clutched his hand and he helped her take the next step, bringing her closer to him as she did so. She looked up and realized her face was a little bit too close to Austin's for her personal liking - Okay, so she did kind of like it. Not that it was ever going to be admitted.

"This is romantic." he teased.

"You're so different." Ally said, her voice gentler.

"Yeah, well, as much as it might surprise you, I'm not a total ass all the time." Austin replied.

"You're right," she said, "That does surprise me."

He chuckled. He turned around and continued the messy steps towards the sign, still having a hold on Ally's hand. With a few more grunts, the duo had gotten to the sign. Well, the back of it anyways. Austin rested his back up against the letters, breathing heavily.

"Think we dropped a few pounds?" Austin asked her. Ally laughed and nodded, standing next to him as she leaned her back against the sign.

It fell quiet between the two.

"So, what's the story?" Ally blurted.

"What?" replied Austin.

"About how you became such an ass over such a short period of time. What's the story behind it?" she questioned.

"There isn't one." Austin shook his head.

"Nobody is America's Sweetie Pie and then turns into America's Devil without some sort of story." Ally said.

"If by Devil, you mean devilishly handsome," Austin smirked, "I'll just say that maturity looks better on some of us than others."

Ally shook her head. "Oh, Come on," she said, elbowing his arm, silently wondering if she was even allowed to do so. Austin might have granted her a break, but that didn't mean she could lose all morals on him. The respect that he was still her boss was still standing. No matter how much she wished it wasn't.

He took a deep breath and exhaled quietly. "Alright..." he mumbled unsurely, "Have I ever mentioned my Mom?"

Ally slowly shook her head.

He nodded. "I was fourteen when all of this started, when Jimmy had signed me. I moved to L.A. from my hometown with my parents and Trish. Life felt good. I felt like I had everything." Long pause. "When I was sixteen, my career had just taken a leap for the better. Things felt like they had just tied together, I was so totally complete. But, um, on the way to one of my concerts one night," he licked his lips nervously, "My...My Mom had ran a red light. I told her that it was fine that she was late, but she really hated missing my concerts. They were her favourite thing. Apparently, she'd ended up hitting another car and she'd been going so fast that the car rolled and wrapped around pole. She died on impact. She was killed instantly."

Ally's eyes softened up, they liquefied into pools of regret. "Austin, I'm-"

He swallowed a lump in his throat, pushing back the stinging behind his eye lids, ignoring the throb in his chest. "But I'm kinda glad for that, you know? Glad that she didn't have to...you know, suffer. It's best she didn't know what hit her."

Ally stayed silent.

He continued after a moment, "My Dad...I don't know, he just...he's never been the same. I guess I can't expect him to; he really loved my Mom and she really loved him. Something changed in him that night. He started drinking a lot, and still does. Even after three years. I think he blames me - No, I know he blames me. I shouldn't have told her to come to the show. She could've just stayed home and the whole thing would've been avoided. She'd maybe still be here. I'd still have my Mom, he'd still have his wife." Something cold shaded Austin's eyes. "But what's the point of thinking about it now? It happened. It's done. I can't go back. Why live in the past when you can move forward, huh?"

Ally touched his arm for comfort, but retracted her hand when he cringed away. She swallowed, "Does your Dad come around much? I've never met him...or seen him."

Austin cleared his throat, looking away in the distance. "No. Not really, and when he does, he's usually drunk off his ass." Austin looked to his hands, fiddling with a key chain. "Isn't it funny how one moment...one small moment...can change absolutely everything?"

Ally slowly nodded. "Yeah." Her voice sounded a little bit hoarse.

He cleared his throat and looked at her. His eyes once again, void of emotion. "Does that answer your question?"

Ally slowly looked away, unable to answer him.

Awful. That's how she felt.

Maybe she was even disgusted with herself for asking. She should keep her nose out of his business. Her mind was still wandering through everything he'd said. She had recalled an articles regarding his mother's death, but she'd always assumed it wasn't real, that maybe it had been fiction. She wished it had been fiction.

"Sorry." Ally mumbled.

"Yeah." The word jumped out coldly.

There was a two-way silence between the duo. An uncomfortable one for Ally, but a comfortable one for Austin. He didn't mind just standing here next to her and thinking about what he'd just told her. She minded standing next to him and letting his words sink in. They were sitting in her gut uncomfortably.

"Um, if it...if it makes you feel any better...um...my mom...my mom left. When I was twelve. But my parents had been divorced since I was nine. I...I know that's not even relatively the same thing but I just-"

"-Ally." Austin interrupted, halting her words. She looked at him. "Stop." he said. She slowly nodded and looked away. "I didn't tell you so you could feel bad for me." She nodded again.

"I'm sorry about your Mom." he said, after a couple beats.

"Yeah." she replied.

"What happened?" he asked.

Ally was quite surprised he wanted to further the conversation. It made her feel uncomfortable talking about the woman she's spent so long trying to forget about, but she reasoned that he shared his story after she'd pried, it was only fair that she shared a bit of hers as well.

"Well," Ally began, "My parents starting fighting when I was eight. They had really bad fights. Sometimes my neighbors would call the police, and, well, you know, that kind of stuff." Ally shook her head, "Um, It was later when my Dad found out my mom had been cheating on him. Actually, I was the one who told him. I caught her in...in bed with some stranger and she made me promise not to tell anyone, but...I was just a kid at the time, I didn't really understand and I didn't want to lie so...I told him." She paused. "My Dad immediately filed a divorce and she moved out by the following month. She was really mad at first, but then she wasn't, I guess because she didn't have to sneak around anymore. I'm not sure.

It was months and months of back and forth, until I was about twelve. That's when, I, uh, woke up to an empty house. She left a note in the kitchen and her wedding ring. Even after the divorce, I never thought she'd take it off, but she did. I guess I never thought she'd...leave for good either. But she did that, too." Ally explained, "Then my Dad received full custody of me and the rest is history." She gave a pained smile.

At some point during the long story, the two had sat down, sitting so close that their shoulders were brushing up against one another. Neither of them moved.

"What about your Dad?" he asked her.

She smiled at the thought of him. "I love my Dad. I'll admit, he didn't like the idea of me being here, but I think he's okay. He has a girlfriend now. She's good for him."

"Do you hate your Mom?" he quizzed, his fingers subconsciously twitching towards her fingers but they didn't touch.

"My Mom made a lot of mistakes. She'll never win the best mother award, but I love her anyway." Ally replied.

"My Mom would." Austin mumbled, "You know...You remind me of her." he admitted.

Ally's eye brows twitched with surprise. "I do?" she pointed to herself.

He chuckled slightly and nodded. "Yeah. You...You, um, you made pancakes that morning." he said. Ally frowned in confusion, before a memory sparked her mind.

/ He took a whiff of the air and something brightened in his dark irises. "Is that...pancakes?" he questioned.

"Yeah, do you want some?" Ally offered. A shade fell over his eyes making Ally's eyes narrow with confusion.

"No." he snapped. "No, I don't." /

"Pancakes." she repeated.

He nodded, fiddling with his hands. "She used to make pancakes. They were my favourite. They still are, but I..." he shook his head, "I've never touched a pancake since the day she died. I can't bring myself to."

Ally looked at him. "You should've told me that."

He snorted. "I should've told you? What should I have said? Throw them in the garbage, my dead mother used to make those?"

Ally flinched. "No...I just...No." She sighed.

"You act like her sometimes," Austin said.

"Do I?" she questioned softly. Austin nodded. "How?"

"You just do. Just the way you are, how you handle things, the way you do things." Austin said. Ally smiled slightly. "She'd be so upset if she could see me."

Ally shook her head. "That's not true."

"The things I've done, the parties I've gone to, the girls I've played. She would be so mad." Austin said.

"She'd understand, Austin." Ally reasoned. He shook his head. "Do you always refuse to listen to what other people are saying?" she asked. He laughed slightly.

Another silence drifted between them. This time is was one-way. It was all comfortable, maybe even peaceful.

this one is like super short, but i'm really tired and i always feel like people are waiting anxiously so i might as well update now and give a little something-something instead of nothing. anyway. there's a bit of austin's story and a bit of ally's. ally still has a little more of sharing to do about her mother. austin also has a bit of catching ally up on what he's been doing over the last three years that has got him in such a cold rut, so the personal sharing has yet to be finished! i'm gonna try to work on chapter 13 a bit right now or tomorrow...not sure when it will be posted though. hopefully soon! peacing out!