A/N: Hey guys! I'm back with chapter 4! This is probably the last chapter in this story, and Austin and Ally are going to make up in this chapter, so I hope you enjoy this chapter!
Ally POV
When we got to the mall, Trish, Dez, and I went to Sonic Boom so I could check in with my dad. We found him unpacking a box of instruments.
"Hey Dad," I said.
He looked up from the box. "Oh hey honey, Dez, Trish," he nodded at the two of them. "What are you three up to?"
"I was just stopping in to check in with you. We're heading over to the food court, okay?" I told him.
He nodded. "Yeah, that's fine. Have fun!"
We left the store and headed over to the food court to grab a bite to eat. As soon as we were about to get into line at the Burger Stand, Trish froze.
"Uh, let's head over to Candy Land instead," she said suddenly, trying to steer me and Dez away.
"What, why?" Dez said, looking behind Trish. He obviously saw what Trish was looking at before. "Oh, yeah, Trish is right, let's go!"
"But I want a burger! Why can't we stay he-" I started to say, but stopped myself as I finally saw what they were looking at.
Austin was at the front of the line getting his food that he ordered, and was in the process of paying. We weren't quick enough to ditch, however, with my damn crutches, and he turned around and saw us.
Trish and Dez exchanged nervous glances with each other, then between me and Austin.
"Um, you guys go on ahead, I'm just going to head to Candy Land," I said quietly, breaking eye contact with Austin.
"I'll come with you," Trish said, and before I could argue, she gave Dez a knowing glance and then glanced towards Austin, and Dez understood.
"C'mon buddy, let's head over to your house and leave the girls to themselves," he suggested, heading towards Austin and steering him away.
As Trish and I were leaving, I could feel Austin's eyes burning into my skull, and I glanced over my shoulder to, indeed, see him looking at me. He quickly looked away and kept walking with Dez. I could have sworn I saw longing and regret in his eyes. At the thought of him, I suddenly started crying.
Trish looked alarmed. "Ally! What's wrong? Is it your foot again?"
I sniffled and shook my head. "No, Trish, my foot is fine. I feel so bad about Austin; I hate not talking to him. This is all my fault."
Trish nodded. "Yeah, I agree with you."
I stared at her shocked. "This is the part where you say 'Oh no it's not Ally.' You're not supposed to agree with me about it being my fault!"
"Oh, I don't agree with you on that, I meant I agree with you on how you said you hate not talking to him. It's super weird and unnatural that you two aren't talking. When you two are fighting, Dez and I feel like we have to pick sides because you're just Austin and Ally, not Austin&Ally. Does that make sense?" she said.
I nodded. "Yeah, it does. Thanks Trish." I gave her a big hug.
"Not a problem, that's what best friends are for," she said.
"Austin and I were best friends before the fight!" I wailed at the mention of 'best friends' and broke down crying again.
Trish sighed. "Oh, dear."
**PAGE BREAK**
Austin POV
"Dez, this sucks," I said as we were playing video games at my house.
Dez nodded. "I know, man, I'm kicking your butt today!"
"What? No, not that. I meant it sucks not talking to Ally. I feel so bad about our fight. It's all my fault. I miss her too," I said.
"Dude, don't beat yourself up over it. There's a simple solution to fix this whole mess," Dez said.
"Really? What does the amazing Dezmo have in mind?" I asked hopefully.
"Apologize to her," he said matter-of-factly.
I would have appreciated anything but that, I thought to myself.
"Um, no way, I'm not apologizing first, she needs to. She started the whole thing," I said angrily, going back to playing the video game.
"I hate to break it to you man, but it should be you apologizing first, not Ally, and Trish agrees with me," Dez told me.
At that, I paused the game. "Hey!" Dez complained.
I stood up. "I can't believe you guys are taking her side! She was too stubborn to admit that it was my fault she was stung by that damn jellyfish. She always has to be right, plus she said I had a huge ego!"
"Actually, she said you had a big ego, not huge," Dez replied.
"Not helping," I gritted my teeth.
He put his hands up in a surrender motion. "Okay dude, but she only said you had a big ego. You called her much worse things, plus you-" Dez stopped himself.
"I what?" I pressed.
"Nothing," he said quickly.
"No, tell me Dez!" I said.
He shook his head. "It's for Ally to tell you, not me. When you two are on speaking terms again," he added.
I sighed. "Fine."
"Honestly, Austin, are you willing to risk your friendship with Ally over a fight about whose fault it was that she got stung?" Dez asked.
I sat in silence for a second before whispering, "Of course not."
Dez nodded. "Well then, get up off your butt and go apologize to her." He started pushing me towards the door.
I planted my feet to the ground. "I can't right now, she probably hates me. You saw the way she ditched the food court as soon as she saw me today."
"Yeah, but that's because she thinks you don't want anything to do with her. Plus, she's still upset and hurt about what you called her," Dez said.
I turned around to look at him. "Is she really that upset?"
Dez nodded. "She said she cried herself to sleep last night, cried two hours after she left your house, and she started balling again today at Sweet Dreams."
"Seriously?"
"Yeah, man."
I shook my head and sighed. "Look, I need some time, okay? I just need to clear my head and figure everything out."
"Whatever, just don't wait too long. I hate seein' my best bud like this." Dez looked at his watch. "I've got to go, I have elephant riding lessons."
There's the old Dez, I thought. "See you," I said. Just as he was leaving, I said, "Hey Dez?"
He turned around. "Yeah?"
"Thanks man."
"No problem." He closed to door behind him
I grabbed the closest thing to me, which was a book, and chucked it across the room in anger. But not in anger at Ally this time. I was angry at myself.
Oh, Ally, I'm such a jerk, I thought.
**TWO DAYS LATER**
Ally POV
Trish brought me home after our girl's day at the spa. She had insisted that we have a little celebration since I could walk again and no longer need crutches, thank god. I still had a slight limp, but it was hardly noticeable.
"Thanks Trish, I'll text you later!" I waved as she pulled out of the driveway.
I headed inside and remembered that my dad was working, so it was just me and Astrid for the day…again.
Since it was Saturday, I quickly ran upstairs to change into skinny jeans, a white tank top, and a faded red plaid shirt that I left unbuttoned. I threw my hair into a messy bun at the nape of my neck, put on some slippers and went back downstairs to find Astrid.
I found her curled up in a ball on the couch in the living room.
"Well Astrid, since I can walk again, I'll take you for a walk. How does that sound?" I said to her.
She lifted her head and looked at me as if she just noticed I was there, then put it back down.
I scratched her ears. "Okay then, how about playing outside in the backyard instead?"
She perked up at the word 'play' and bolted for the screen door leading to my backyard.
I laughed. "I'll take that as a yes." I followed her to the door and opened it to let her out first, me bringing up the rear.
She grabbed her chew toy, which was a long rope with a squeaky bird at the end, trotted over and dropped it by my feet, tail wagging expectantly. I picked it up and threw it across my big yard, and she happily ran after it, yapping as she went. I couldn't help but giggle at her antics.
I walked over to the stereo I had outside and turned on some tunes. The song was "We Do It (Primo)" by Colette Carr. (A/N: Ccarr fans, you know what I'm talking about! :) if you don't, go look her up and the song, she's awesome and her music has such good beats!)
As the song played from the speakers, I sat down in the middle of the yard and Astrid came over, ready for another round of fetch. We played for about half and hour, as my puppy has tons of energy, and I was actually enjoying myself for the first time in three days.
But that was short lived. I was in the middle of a game of tug of war on the ground with Astrid when I heard the gate of the fence opening.
I glanced up to see who it was and I had to do a double take. Austin was leaning against the gate with his hands in his pockets. He was wearing a purple t-shirt with his whistle and dogchain, jeans with the signature chain, and his blue high-tops.
"Hi," he said quietly.
I game him a small wave in greeting, not trusting myself to speak. Astrid noticed he was standing there and ran over to him.
Austin bent down and petted her. "Hey girl. Having fun playing with Ally?"
Astrid yapped and wagged her tail in answer, causing Austin to chuckle.
"Well that's good then." He picked her up and she started licking his face. She had always loved Austin. I almost smiled at the sight of it. He carried her over to where I was sitting quietly in the grass and put her down beside me.
My favourite song "Sex" by Colette Carr (A/N: my favourite song at the moment as well!) decided at that particular moment to blare through the speakers. Really? I mentally cursed.
Austin gestured at my foot. "Crutches gone?"
I nodded. "Yep, yesterday."
"That's good." He shifted awkwardly before saying, "Um, can we talk?"
"About what?" I asked bitterly.
"You know exactly what, Ally," he said.
"I don't think that's a good idea. I'm probably too annoying, stubborn, and bitchy to listen to anyone else but myself talk, right?" I said. Yes, that was kind of harsh, but I'm a girl with issues, and I was still mad at him.
"Ally-"Austin started, but I cut him off.
"Let's go inside. I don't need the neighbours complaining if this turns into a screaming match again." I stood up and scooped up Astrid before making my way inside, Austin following behind me.
"I was hoping it wouldn't end up like that again," he said as he shut the screen door behind him.
I set my dog down and she walked out of the room. Bet she could sense the tension. Smart dog.
"I don't want it to either," I replied as I leaned against the counter looking at him.
He stood silently against the wall with his arms crossed for a minute before finally speaking. "Look Ally, I've been doing a lot of thinking over the past few days, and I realized that I was wrong. With Dez's help," he added.
I stared at him. "Finally admitting it wasn't your fault?"
He glanced at me. "I think I always kind of knew, I just didn't want to believe it because I hate when you're hurt, Ally. So I thought it would be better if I blamed myself, but look how well that turned out.
"And words can't even describe how terrible I feel about calling you all of those names, I didn't mean any of it, Ally, you've got to believe me," he pleaded. "You have to know I would never, EVER, call you those names on purpose." His voice cracked with emotion, and his eyes were glistening.
I sighed. "I do believe you Austin, but you really hurt me. Plus you-" my voice cracked as I felt tears stinging my eyes as well. "You brought up my mom."
He looked confused for a second, and I didn't blame him. He had no idea. But after a few seconds, realization dawned on him and his eyes went wide.
"Oh my god, Ally, I-" he started, but I held up a hand to stop him.
"Stop. I should probably tell you why my mom isn't around before you say anything. I should have told you this a long time ago." I took a deep breath and looked him straight in the eye.
"When I was ten, my mother had just picked me up from Heather's place and we were driving home when we came up to a busy intersection. Some idiot ran a red light, and I remember my mom-" my voice caught in my throat, and I cleared it. "Um, all I remember is my mom screaming and the impact of the crash.
"The next thing I knew, I was waking up in a hospital bed with my dad by my bedside. The first thing I asked him was 'Where's mommy?' and I still have the image of my father breaking down into sobs. It was the first time I'd ever seen him cry, which made me freak out. I kept asking him where Mom was, but he couldn't. I finally found out that the driver who ran the red light had apparently t-boned our vehicle and I was luckily on the passenger's side."
Austin was standing there as pale as a ghost and looking as guilty as I've ever seen him, just staring at me, listening intently.
"My mom wasn't as lucky. She never made it off the crash sight," I finally sobbed. I turned around, put my face in my hands, and cried.
"Oh, Ally," I heard Austin whisper. I heard him come up behind me and I felt him wrap his strong arms around me. He rested his chin on my head, and I don't know how it didn't feel uncomfortable with me shaking with sobs. Feeling his arms around me again made me realize how much I actually missed my best friend, my partner, over the past few days, which only made me cry harder.
Austin gently pulled me away from the counter and to the couch where he sat us down. He pulled me onto his lap and I buried my head in his chest while his arms tightened around me in a protective way.
"I had no idea Alls, I'm so sorry," he said quietly into my hair as he stroked it and cradled me. He started shushing me softly.
I shrugged weakly in his arms. "It's not your fault, I should've told you sooner," I said thickly.
I felt him shake his head. "No, I would have rather you waited until you were ready than you do it just because you felt you had to. I feel like such a jerk."
"Its fine Austin, it's done. We're okay now." I replied softly, rubbing his arm affectionately.
We sat in comfortable silence for a few minutes while I calmed down.
"You have no idea how much I've missed you over these past few days," Austin finally said.
I glanced up at him and smiled. "I missed you too. And I'm sorry."
He looked startled. "What are you sorry for?"
"Saying you had a big ego and arguing with you over such a little thing," I replied.
He scoffed. "Ally, you don't need to be sorry over that, you were right the whole time."
"Let's just promise that we're never going to fight over something stupid like that again," I said, standing up.
He followed suit. "Deal." He held out his arms. "Do I get a hug from my best friend? I haven't gotten one in three days and my arms missed you as much as I did," he grinned, his usual charm returning.
I smiled in return and stepped into his arms, mine going around his neck and his going around my waist. He put his head in the crook of my neck.
"Besides," he whispered in my ear. "I do have a big ego, I'll admit it. That's okay though, at least I'm still handsome," he teased.
I giggled, pulled back, and playfully hit his arm. "Oh, it's good to have you back, Austin Moon."
A/N: There's the last chapter of this story! I wasn't sure how to end this chapter, so I hope I did it justice. Hope you guys liked Austin and Ally's reunion, it was hard to try and get it in character, but I liked how it turned out. But of course, my opinion doesn't matter, yours does! So please review and tell me what you thought! I've got another story coming up soon, so stay tuned!
Joelle xx
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