Silence.

Why had that become almost a regular thing lately? Austin had to drum his calloused fingers on the table top just to take the ice off of the quietness that felt too overbearing.

Jimmy stared forward. His hands were folded, one on top of the other, his shoulders broad and straight. His eyes looked like storms, dark and full of something that wasn't easily read.

Austin could handle loud mobs, over-excited reporters with noisy flashing cameras, speakers that boomed dangerously, and fans damaging their vocal chords as they sang along to his music, he could handle almost anything, but this silence. It was like something he'd never heard before. So incredibly loud and so intriguingly nerve-racking.

"Where is Ally?" Jimmy finally said, or rather, asked. The silence deteriorated.

"I gave her the day off." Austin replied.

"Does she know what you're telling me?" Jimmy questioned.

Austin shook his head. "No."

"Who else knows?"

The questions felt like aches in his body and Austin regretted not having the brunette seated beside him for the conversation, but he wanted to spare Ally any hurt feelings if the conversation went badly - which Austin suspected it would - so he decided to talk to Jimmy himself.

"Everyone, as in, Dez, Cassidy, Trish, my Dad, her Dad, her friends back in Miami." Austin responded, wincing.

"Everyone but me." Jimmy voiced. Austin remained stiff and silent. "You want to hop on that train?"

Narrowing his eyes, Austin spat, "Don't treat her like she's just a ride that I'm gonna jump on and then jump off, because that's not it. Not this time."

"So, you're serious this time?" Jimmy quizzed him.

"Remember, your daughter is the one who spoke to the press and had a sob-story written all over her hands." Austin snarled.

"Watch it." Jimmy's voice sharpened slightly.

He watched as Austin exhaled, rolling his eyes and looking away from him.

"Did your manager approve? How about your publicist?" Jimmy queried.

"In the blink of an eye." Austin said, instantly.

He was honestly quite surprised that Trish hadn't pulled him aside and scolded him. After all, she was the one who told him in the very beginning that he was not to invest into an romantic relationships with his new assistant, but she seemed very okay with his new relationship. Cassidy, too. But Dez seemed the happiest for Austin.

"I presume Ally was the one who wanted me to know this information?" Jimmy arched an eye brow, knowingly.

"All her." Austin replied, nodding his head.

"I have nothing against any romantic relationships you have with her. I know you weren't looking for any permission." Jimmy said. "I'm just hoping that you both have full-knowledge of this choice you've made."

"Binders full." Austin countered.

"Well, then, I wish you two the best." Jimmy finalized.

Austin's lips twitched, but he didn't dare show Jimmy the joy that was bubbling beneath his cool facade. "Thank you."

"Speaking of Ally..." Jimmy said, carefully as he watched Austin raise a brow. "She tell you that she sent me a demo?"

"I didn't know we finished my newest song?" Austin said with confusion. He didn't recall recording anything that was even ready to be a demo just yet.

Jimmy shook his head, "It wasn't your song. It was hers."

"What?" Austin said.

Jimmy nodded. "She sent me a demo last night for her own music. I only heard it this morning."

Austin didn't know why Ally hadn't told him. He didn't even know she'd recorded one of her own songs or how she'd done it behind his back. Being his assistant, she was normally with him every moment of every second. He was feeling a little baffled.

"Was it any good?" Austin finally asked.

"Best fifty-three seconds of music I've heard." Jimmy replied, walking towards a shelf and retrieving a disc from the drawer. He waved the silver disc at Austin. "Take a listen." Jimmy placed it inside a small stereo.

Her voice filled the room.

I can't decide if it's a choice

Getting swept away

I hear the sound of my own voice

Asking you to stay

And all we are is skin and bone

Trained to get along

Forever going with the flow,

But you're friction

This slope is treacherous

This path is reckless

This slope is treacherous

And I, I, I like it

There was a small silence followed after the music.

"You want to sign her?" Austin hesitantly asked.

Jimmy shrugged and then nodded his head. "She's the kind of talent you don't want to pass you by."

Austin knew Jimmy was right. Ally was talented; she had an amazing gift for writing, her voice never fluttered off key, and her music, all-in-all, was fantastic. She was the kind of girl who would do well in the music industry. She could release an album and make millions from it, most likely win awards and probably outrank many artists in the business.

Ally was standing outside the door and Jimmy was opening it for her. Ally could go places that she'd probably never dreamed of going. He'd known it the second he first heard her sing and this demo was just the bonus proof.

Austin's fingers twitched as a burning sensation swirled inside his chest. He shook his head and stood up. "No. You're not signing her."

"Excuse me?" Jimmy blinked.

That wasn't the response Jimmy had expected.

"You're not going to sign Ally." Austin said, "And I'll make you regret it if you do."

Jimmy wasn't fazed by the threat, but he was definitely fazed by Austin's abruptness and his determination that Ally was not signed to the label.

"Austin, you heard the demo. You know she deserves this." Jimmy said, "and this could do so much for her and this label. Don't you want this for her?"

There was guilt turning Austin's tongue sour.

"No, I don't."

The lie made Austin's tongue tingle, but he just couldn't let Jimmy sign her. Not in a million years.

Ally was his songwriter and his assistant. If Jimmy signed her, it could jeopardize everything. Austin needed Ally to write his songs, he needed her to assist him - she was the only person he knew who could do both things right. Not only was she going to leave him in the dust, but she was going to do it behind his back? He didn't know whether to be mad or happy that she took this risk.

Jimmy huffed, shaking his head at Austin. "You're really something." Jimmy took the disc out from the stereo. "Only because you seem so set on the fact that she doesn't get signed," Jimmy dropped the disc in the garbage, "I guess I never listened to it, because if I had, there's no way I'd let a talent like hers go to waste. Only a selfish bastard would do that."

"Then let's call me a bastard." Austin said, turning around and leaving Jimmy's office.

"Unbelievable." Jimmy breathed, his eyes falling over to the disc that sat in the black tinned can.

Austin pushed the door open to the men's restroom. He leaned his head over the bathroom sink and then slowly looked up to his reflection. The guilt and, even a twinge of regret, spidered up his spine and gripped his throat.

"You are the world's worst boyfriend." Austin muttered to himself.

Was he really selfish enough to throw away his girlfriend's biggest dreams? Yes, he was. He swore it was all good reasons. The small ones like he didn't want her leaving him and he didn't want to become the dust she'd walk on one day, but the claws of frustration at himself sunk deep and painfully into his gut.

He suddenly didn't want to go to her apartment anymore, where he'd recently been spending nearly every night. He didn't want to see her smile at him or feel her kiss him. He didn't want to walk in on her singing in the kitchen while she made dinner or catching her dancing offbeat and horribly to a Katy Perry song. He didn't want to see it, because he didn't deserve to see it.

She'd be mortified if she knew what he'd done. She'd be disgusted and angry. He didn't know what was worse, her leaving him to start her own career or her leaving him like this? Because of something so stupid, because his arrogance, fear, and selfishness got in the way of him even seeing her happiness.

He turned on the water faucet and cupped water into his hands, splashing it onto his face. It was cold and got the tips of bangs wet. He used the sleeves of his shirt to dry his face. He looked at himself in the mirror again and shook his head.

There was no way he was going to be more angry at Ally than he was at himself.

x

Ally peered around the corner when she heard the front door open. She smiled at the blonde hair and brown eyes. "I made Mac and Cheese."

He almost jumped, not expecting her to be standing there.

He looked at her and nodded his head. "Um, Great."

She suddenly felt worried. "Do you not like Mac and Cheese? I just made it, because it was easy and-"

"-It's fine." Austin assured her, interrupting. "I actually love Mac and Cheese. My favourite food."

She grinned. "Great!"

He inwardly groaned as she pranced back into the kitchen and he heard the clanging of plates. He ran his fingers through his hair, trying to hold back his grunt of frustration. He didn't realize how long he'd been standing in the hallway, beating himself up about it until he heard her sweet voice calling him to hurry.

He dropped his jacket down on the chair next to him and immediately stabbed a fork into his meal, shoving it into his mouth, swallowing it the same way he was trying to swallow the guilt. Ally didn't seem to notice as she started telling him about all the things she'd done on her day off. He tried to listen.

He suddenly realized they'd been sitting in silence for a couple of minutes. He looked over at her and saw her staring down at her plate, her mind sunk deep inside her thoughts.

"What?" he asked, nudging her foot with his beneath the table.

She looked up and sighed. "I need to tell you something."

He felt like screaming. He knew exactly what this conversation was.

He forced a comforting smile, "What is it?"

She took a deep breath, exhaling slowly and then a guilty look shaded her face. "I sent in a demo to Jimmy."

He really didn't know how to reply and not for the reason she thought he was silent for.

She quickly sat straight, eyes frantic and ready to defend herself. "I know, I know, I know I should I have told you sooner, but you were busy recording your album and then I noticed that you've been super tired, because of the non-stop interviews lately, so I just...I went ahead and recorded something short and I sent it in last night."

She thought her guilt was pretty bad? She'd get a kick out of what he was feeling in this moment.

"I don't want you to think I used you to get a record deal, because I didn't. Honest. I just...I wrote this song and I really wanted to record it myself and as I was...recording, I realized I wanted somebody else to hear it." Ally said.

Austin took a deep breath and nodded his head. "Yeah...Yeah, I know about your demo. I heard it."

"What?" Her eyes grew.

He slowly nodded his head. "Yeah, um...I was with Jimmy earlier today. I...I told him about us."

"Oh." Ally's lips formed a circular shape, her eyes surprised.

"I wanted to get it off our backs, so I thought I would tell him. He's pretty supportive."

Unlike me, Austin thought.

Ally felt relieved. "Good."

He nodded and balled one hand into a fist under the table as he sputtered out a lie quickly, "I saw your disc, um, sitting on his desk. I asked him to play it for me and he did." He almost cringed at the grin that split her face in half. "But," he paused and watched the grin fade slowly, "he told me that it wasn't what he was...looking for."

"Oh..." Ally's eyes were downcast for a moment, before she looked at him again and a warm smile lit her face once again, "Well, that's okay. At least I tried."

He wanted to puke from the guilt that was balled inside his stomach.

"Yeah...Yeah." Austin said, gently, nodding his head.

He pushed his plate away from him, having lost his appetite.

Suddenly, her phone started to ring and she jumped up from the table to grab it. Austin took a deep breath and turned his head to her, "Ally," he called.

She stopped in her steps and turned to him expectantly, "Yeah?"

"I love you." he told her.

A smile curled onto her lips, "I love you, too."

Then she raced to grab her phone and he listened to her gentle conversation to whomever she was talking, too. He opened his palm to look at the half-moon shapes he'd welted into his palms from clenching his fists so tight. He exhaled slowly.

He didn't deserve her and he definitely knew it now.