I'm sorry it took so long for me to get back to this! I got distracted and i had slight writer's block, but here it is. Better late than never right? right?
He took the long way home. The back roads were dark and empty which was better for Austin. That way, he wouldn't have to pay as much attention to where he was on the road. He didn't have to swerve at the last second, more than one time that is. By the time he made it home, it was already early in the morning and he should have been asleep hours ago. He did feel tired, but not physically. His brain had been running so fast for the past twenty-four hours that it was worn out. His body moved on it's own, parking his car in the garage and dragging into the house. He crashed on the couch before he could even make it to the stairs. The house was quiet. All of the lights had been turned off and the curtains closed. Austin leaned his head back into one of the cushy pillows on the couch. He thought of all of the events of the day. How he had acted. The look of Ally's face as she slept. An involuntary smile slid across his face but his brain couldn't hold it back. It was no use denying it. He needed advice as soon as possible. The clock next to him blinked 7:45 meaning it was around three in the morning. Des was already coming over in eight hours anyway, he'd let him sleep. Austin stared up at the ceiling, not focusing on blocking out thoughts. He drifted into a deep sleep thinking about the one thing that scared him the most in that moment; how much Ally made him smile. Funnily enough, his dreams had nothing to do with his predicament. He replayed an old episode of the show Friends over and over again in his head.
When the smell of cooking pancake batter filled his nose, he gagged. His eyes shot open and he sat up straight, still wearing his clothes from the day before. Normally, waking up in the morning to the smell of pancakes was a welcome surprise. He would jump out of bed and head downstairs in his pajamas. Now he pinched his nose and made his way upstairs as fast as possible. He closed his door behind him. A few of the shirts lying about made a perfect stopper for the gap under his door. He turned on his ceiling fan and sprayed some of his emergency febreeze. Nothing but Rushing Valley Spring filled his nose as he collapsed on his bed. There was no denying that something was wrong with him. Why couldn't he stand the smell of his favorite food? He attributed it to his recent predicament and ignored the dizziness that was induced by the air freshener. The room spun but he closed his eyes. He'd much rather be in the dark than be spinning in circles. Recently that's all he seemed to be doing.
He knew that he needed to talk to someone about this. Des had been his best friend since grade school. Besides, it's not like he could talk to Trish or Ally about it. So the call it's self came easy. He was speed dial number thirty-six; his favorite number. Simply punching in three keys wasn't hard. It was trying to get Des to wake up earlier than nine in the morning. They had a deal that said if Austin can wake Des up before then, he deserves what ever he wants. It took him twenty-three calls to his cell and one to his home, which his mother picked up instantly after two rings. It was a dirty trick to bring his mother into this, but Austin knew that that was the only way to get Des to wake up outside of his sleep schedule. He was put on hold and he could hear her heels click as she walked across the wood floors to Des's room. There was a slight knock and Austin was put on mute. He couldn't hear anything. When Des's mother returned to the phone she said that Des's exact words were "It has to be pretty important. I'll be there." Des automatically knew that Austin needed him to come over. It seemed only natural. It took him a while to get there, because of the long bike ride, but eventually there was a ring at the doorbell. Austin held his breathe and ran like hell down the stairs. He ripped open the door and dragged Des up to his room, After fumigating his room he fell onto his bed and pulled his stuffed dolphin to his chest. Des didn't say anything. He just took a seat in the swivel y desk chair until Austin found his voice. He hesitated before speaking up.
"Is it still a lie if you said it before you knew it was a lie?" his voice full of honest curiosity, maybe some grief. Des looked over to his friend as Austin buried his face into the stuffed doll. It's a rare thing to see, Des's all knowing smile. Des always knew what was going on, what people thought of him, how the way he acted made him seem simple. He smiled at his friend and in his eyes, Austin could see everything.
"Yes." Des replied matter-of-factly. His strangely understanding eyes smiled at Austin as he leaned back into the chair. "but even if it is a lie, you didn't do anything wrong." Austin scrunched his face together and sat up, still hugging the dolphin. "Not everyone tells the truth. What you make of the outcome is what makes it a good or bad thing." He reached into his bag and grabbed a large sandwich out of the largest pocket. Austin seemed even more confused.
"But you just said that it was a lie, how is that not bad? If I lied to you about something without knowing it, it's still a lie isn't it?" Des shook his head and swallowed a large bite of the sandwich.
"I'm not here to talk about you and me. I'm here to talk about you and Ally." Austin coughed in surprise, after almost inhaling his own spit. He had always know Des knew things, but he didn't know he knew everything. He wasn't even going to ask how, he needed different answers.
"But why do I feel horrible if it wasn't a lie?" Austin decided would be a good way to continue. Des shook his head again.
"Weren't you listening? I just told you that it was a lie." He sighed in exasperation as he found the solution to be easy. Austin's head was swimming. So he had lied to her. This whole time he had lied to her without even knowing it. Des finished his sandwich as Austin mulled this over in his brain. "other than the fact that you lied to her, what could be making you feel this way?" Des said with as much subtext as he could muster, trying to mentally give Austin the answer. Austin looked up in surprise. He understood. Not only had he lied to her—he was still lying to her. He felt like this because he wasn't telling the truth. Not just to her, but to himself. He liked Ally Dawson and he was making excuses as to why it could never happen. He hadn't told himself the truth once.
"I like her." He said more to himself than to Des. "I like Ally Dawson." The truth escaped his mouth and half of his burdens ran away. "I like Ally Dawson as more than just a friend. Her smile, her smell, her horrible dance moves." He released his grasp on the dolphin and stared at Des with a smile to match his. Des nodded. He had known all along, before anyone probably. Now he stared over at his friend like he was a baby duck that had just learned how to swim. This was something that he would always need to know and now he did. Austin was his best friend. He was like a brother and now that he realized this crucial piece of information he wasn't jealous, he wasn't annoyed that it took so long; he was proud. He was proud of his best friend.
I'll start working on the next part right away. Sorry again for the wait! Please review and tell me how you liked it. I had some trouble with this one.