I rested my head on the seat. I was on the plane back home. Luckily, someone cancelled, so I could take an earlier flight.

I felt empty. I had spent hours crying in bed, before I decided that crying wouldn't solve anything and I should just go home.

I hadn't said goodbye to Dez and Mimi. They would hate me, too.

I had, however, left Austin's Christmas present in my room. Maybe he would find it.

Maybe the cleaning lady got a nice Christmas present.

I couldn't bring myself to care.

I looked at my laptop in front of me. I'd just received a very angry email from Trish's boss that the article had to be on this afternoon. So I had to write something.

I could feel tears burning again, but I bit them back. I guessed Austin would read this article. Or at least Mimi would.

So this was kind of my goodbye.

And I'd better make it good.

*Austin's POV*

"You have to come out of bed, sweetie." I groaned, ignoring my mom.

Maybe if I ignored her, she would leave.

"I know you're hurt, baby. But you have a big performance, and you can't just let that slip away because of one girl."

I knew she was trying to help.

But Ally wasn't just a girl. And the performance could dissolve into thin air, for all I cared.

"Think of your fans."

Those were the only words that could get to me right now and she knew it.

I knew she was right. Slowly, I hauled myself out of bed. My mom gave me a sympathetic look before leaving the room.

I looked at Dez, who was sitting on a chair, just staring at me.

"Stop looking at me like that," I muttered. I put on a shirt I found next to my bed.

I wasn't sure if it was clean.

I didn't care.

"I'm not looking at you like anything, buddy. But you really look like crap."

"Thanks dude." I didn't say anything else. He wouldn't understand.

Ally was special. Or I thought she was. I thought she got me. I felt like I got her.

She was the first girl that had ever meant this much to me.

But it was all lies. Nothing of it was real.

I sighed. I was such an idiot. I needed to stop trusting people.

I had already missed the last rehearsal by lying in bed and staring at the ceiling or burying my head in my pillow to stop myself from crying.

Or to stop people from seeing.

I sat on my bed again. Dez wouldn't understand, but he was the only one who would at least listen.

"I really liked her, Dez."

"I know, mate," he answered. "You could even say you love her."

"Loved," I said bitterly. "Past tense."

"I don't think it's past tense, mate. Because if it was, you wouldn't have been crying your eyes out for the past ten hours."

Well, so much for stopping people from seeing.

"It doesn't matter anyway." I shook my head vigorously, squeezing my own hands just a little too tight. "She doesn't care about me."

I looked at the necklace with the whistle. Mom brought it to me when she came to tell me that Ally had left.

I knew she would leave.

She didn't even fight for us.

Because she didn't care. Her plan fell through, so there was nothing left for her here.

It was a nice necklace. A great present, actually. I would've loved it. Worn it every day.

But it didn't matter now.

Because she didn't care.

"She does care about you, actually. A lot," Dez said. I looked up at him.

He couldn't be serious right now.

"Dez, she lied to my face!"

"Technically, she didn't really lie. She just hid the fact that she wrote songs. And I can't blame her."

He had to be kidding.

"Excuse me?"

"Mate, look how you reacted! You literally threw her out of your life. You never trusted her to begin with. She was right, if she would have told you, you would've thought she was using you. Just like you're thinking now!" Dez explained.

Then he made a weird movement with his arms, that kind of resembled a really strange butterfly.

"You're in love with her. And she is in love with you. And you're an idiot for not seeing it."

I didn't even answer. He just didn't understand.

"Before you decide anything about Ally, I think you should read this." Dez came up to me, handing me a laptop.

"What is it?" I asked, not really keen on reading anything right now.

"Her article on you."

I sighed, knowing Dez wouldn't stop bothering me until I read it. Also, I might be just a little curious as to what Ally had written.

But whatever I was expecting, it wasn't this.

"I got the honour of spending a week with Austin Moon. The only thing I had to do was write a little article on him, full of things that even the big fans wouldn't know.

Now I can tell you all about how he can act a bit cocky, but it's all just a joke. An act, to hide the fact that he can get really insecure if his fans don't agree with something he does, because everything he does is for them. I can tell you all about how much he loves, truly loves, his fans.

But you all probably know that.

I can also tell you all about what a terrible cook he is. And how his favourite movies are chick flicks. And about how he wants to fly.

You might not have known that. But you might have.

I can tell you that he's amazingly talented and, as he insisted I would put in this article, very handsome.

But you obviously know that.

So I'm not going to talk about all of these things.

I'm going to talk about the person Austin is. The little things.

Like how he has different sorts of smiles. Only one genuine smile. That he doesn't use a lot.

Like how he prefers the Titanic over Zaliens, because the Zalien movies scare him.

Like how he is impossible to wake up when he is sleeping, and you should never ever try to wake him. Ever.

Like how he is the nicest person I've ever met. He is not only a gentleman. The thing that makes Austin the nicest person I've ever met, and probably ever will meet, is because he cares.

Like really, really cares. About the people he loves. He will protect them, no matter what it costs. I found that one out first handed.

Because when Austin loves you, he will put you above everything. He will do anything for you. He will be anything you want him to be.

Now you might think, how I would know all of these things. I admit, I never particularly liked pop sensation Austin Moon.

But the guy I met? Austin? I feel like I know him. And like he knows me. Really knows me.

He knows my heart by heart, you could say.

If you want to idolize someone, if you want to love someone, Austin Moon is a really good choice. So if you're a fan of Austin's, than congratulations, you've made a great decision.

And if you don't like him, well, give him a chance anyway.

Because I did, and I fell deeply, irrevocably, irrationally in love with him. Not with famous popstar Austin Moon, but with Austin, the boy whose eyes will tell you everything you need to know in life."

"Dez?" I said softly, trying to hide the crack in my voice. Trying to bite back my tears.

"Yeah buddy?"

"I messed up, didn't I?"

"Yes."

I cringed. I really made a mess of things if even Dez was seeing it so clearly.

"I need to fix it."

"Yes. You do. And I know exactly how."

Now mostly, you shouldn't take anything Dez says too seriously. Because the biggest part of what he says will be completely unuseful and the other part doesn't make any sense.

But he actually did have the solution. And since I couldn't think of anything better, I had to trust his judgement now.

He had been right about Ally, after all.

Unlike me.