"A playground? Really?" I asked. Even I could hear how judging my voice sounded, but I couldn't stop myself.

"You've got a problem with that? What are you, against fun or something?" Austin teased. I puffed, but didn't answer him.

He didn't deserve that.

Mimi sighed. "Sometimes they are a little bit childish." I sat next to her on the bench while Austin and Dez were playing around with the swings.

Childish, I wrote in my book.

"That's not necessarily bad," I told her. "I think everyone needs to hold on to that little kid part of them." I shrugged. "Too many people grow up to fast, you know."

Mimi smiled at me.

"You seem like a smart girl, Ally. I hope you rub off on Austin a little bit." I grimaced.

"Yeah, I wouldn't count on it." We were silent for a little while.

"You know, I wish there were more people like you in Austin's life. Smart girls his age, I mean. He doesn't really have anyone besides Dez and the girls he hangs out with every now and then are always so shallow."

"Just with him for fame and money, huh?" I said. She seemed to think about that, for a little while.

"Not necessarily. I think they do like him. They just don't… really like him, you know. They have this idea in their heads of what Austin Moon is. Of who he is. And usually, he doesn't meet their expectations. But it's never fair, really. Nobody is perfect."

"Yet that's what everyone expects from celebrities," I finished for her. She nodded.

I thought about that for a while. I guess she was right. But Austin wasn't just not perfect, he was a jerk.

Or maybe he was only acting like that with me. Maybe it was just because we hadn't had the best start.

Well, I had apologized for that and it was hardly my fault. It was gravity's fault, really.

So he shouldn't hold grudge for that.

After some more chit chat, it was finally time for lunch. Which was good, because I was really hungry.

And cold. Spending two hours on a playground could've been fun.

But not in December. Not even in Miami.

We went to a diner. It was a cute little diner, clearly not really popular. The waitress was an older woman who seemed to be simultaneously a waitress, the cook, the barmaid and the boss.

"I love this place," Dez said to me. "It's so 80s. We always try to eat here when we're in Miami, right Austin?" He didn't respond, but Dez didn't seem too bothered by that.

"Well, since you live in Miami, that mustn't be too hard, right?" I said.

I liked Dez. And I liked the idea of having people to talk to the following week, since I obviously didn't have to expect a lot of conversation coming from Austin's side.

"We live on the other side of Miami. That's why we're staying in a hotel room. Too much travel time. I guess we could eat here, if we would travel. But Austin is too busy to eat out most of the time and I'm not going to go alone." I wondered if he didn't have any other friends, but I decided not to push it.

Friends were quite often a delicate subject.

I knew it was for me.

"You know what," Mimi said excitedly, "You should ask Austin some questions for your article."

I almost choked on my mineral water.

"What, now?"

"No, next year," Austin said. He was smirking again and I shot him the deadliest look I could manage.

"I don't actually think I have a lot to ask," I said softly.

"Isn't that the whole idea of being a reporter?" Dez asked.

"Well yeah, but I…" I was going to tell him I wasn't really a reporter, but I decided against it. Austin could have me fired for that and I would hate to let Trish down after I'd come so far.

"I have kind of my own style. I'd rather observe people, and make up my own mind, then have them tell me what they're all about, you know. If not, I wouldn't have to spend all week with you, I could just sit here for an hour and write down everything he says."

"That could work," Austin muttered under his breath. I could tell by Mimi's look that she hadn't heard what he had said, but she was feeling it wasn't good.

If he continued like that, she would notice something was up.

So I kicked him under the table.

He whimpered, looking at me in shock.

I couldn't help it. He needed to stop being a jerk to me.

Not because I wanted him to like me. But because I liked Mimi, and I wasn't going to hurt her by writing a bad article on Austin. I didn't like hurting people.

But if Austin kept being a jerk, I had no other choice than to expose him. Because I also hated lying.

I made small talk with Dez and Mimi during the meal. Austin just sat there, not saying anything, playing with his food.

I didn't care. I would explain the kick to him later, when we were alone.

I didn't get that chance until we got at the place where Austin rehearses. When Mimi left me on my own to deal with some manager stuff, I decided to take my chance and I went looking for Austin.

He wasn't hard to find. He was on stage, sitting on the floor, playing his guitar.

I stood for a little while, just watching him. Every now and then he would stop playing and fiddle with some strings or buttons on the sound panel in front of him.

He was a good guitar player. I had to give him that.

When he got up, ready to leave, I came out of the shadows.

"Austin… We have to talk." He looked up, looking amused.

"Can you please not come too close? This is my favourite guitar."

I sighed in frustration.

"I'm sorry for breaking your guitar, okay! But I can hardly change what happened."

"No, but we can make sure it doesn't happen again," he said with a smirk.

So I kept my distance.

"I just wanted to talk to you about why I kicked you."

He frowned.

"Yeah, what the hell was that all about? That hurt. You've got a good kick." I grinned at the compliment.

"For a girl."

Of course it wasn't a compliment.

What was I expecting?

"Yeah, well, build a bridge and get over it. So, I know you don't like me. You've made that very clear. But I…"

"Hey!" he interrupted me. "Don't look at me like that. It's not that I don't like you. Well, I don't, but I have my reasons!"

My eyes widened. The nerve that boy had!

"Really, now? Like what? Not being as famous as you?"

He snorted, visibly hurt.

"I would, thank you very much, never dislike someone because they're not famous. Quite the opposite, actually. I don't like you because, one, you broke my guitar and covered me in coffee. Twice!"

"Well, I didn't do that on purpose," I muttered. I could hardly blame him for not liking me in that moment.

But could he really not find it in his heart to forgive me for that?

"And I was totally ready to forgive you for that, too. And when you looked at me like I was something you scraped off your shoe when we officially met, I thought it was perhaps just nerves." He jumped of the stage, walking up to me.

I instinctively stepped back.

"But when you said that we didn't have to pretend, around you, when my mom told you I'm nice to my fans? That said enough, Ally. You've already got your mind made up that I'm some kind of stuck up jerk. You already think you know my heart by heart."

I was opening my mouth, to protest, to tell him that that was not what I meant, that I was just trying to calm his mother down, but no sound came out.

"If that's what you think of me, I'm not going to try and prove you wrong. It would just be a waste of energy, because you would just think I was fake. And I get why you kicked me. Because you want my mom to like you and me not liking you kind of puts a dent in your plan."

He stepped forward a little. And I stepped back again.

"Now I will play nice around you, because we both know that it's just a week and then we can leave and never see each other again. But if I find out that you're trying to use my mom for anything other than pleasant conversation and motherly love, I will…" He swallowed heavily, not finishing his sentence.

He didn't have to.

He seemed to think about something for a little while, like he wanted to say something, but wasn't sure if he should And so he left, leaving the room silent. And cold, somehow.

I took out my notepad.

Protective of family.