Hey guys here's chapter sixteen and well I came up with this one this morning as I was debating on getting out of bed or not haha. I do hope you like it and thank you all for reading and reviewing as an author it means a lot that there are people out there who would take the time to not only read what you wrote but review and tell you how much they love your material. Seriously between this story, In His Shadow, and Six Years Later I've gotten so much positive feedback and I feel like I can seriously write. So in closing you guys are awesome!
Enjoy the chapter...
I don't own Austin&Ally sadly ):
Summer of Love and Loss
Chapter Sixteen: The Seven Stages of Grief
"Come on lets get you home." Austin said.
With his arm around her for support the two of them made their way up the beach toward her house. Crying wasn't something he liked dealing with because he really didn't know how to make someone feel better. He usually just sputtered out words of comfort but he knew that in this situation there was nothing he could say that would make Ally feel better. For the next couple of days all anybody was going to say to her was "I'm sorry for your loss" but he knew from experience that those words did nothing to ease the pain, in his opinion those words only served as a reminder of the person or people that have died. This girl that had stolen his heart, that he loved more than words could express, was going to need him and he'd be there for her whether she wanted him to be or not.
Silence is what greeted them when they walked into her house. Austin guessed that everybody was still in shock over the sudden death of Mr. Dawson. They were probably in denial like he had been in for weeks following his parents death. There were seven stages to grief and he knew them all to well, Ally and her family were currently experiencing the first, shock and denial. Of course they were in pain but once the shock and denial wore off they'd experience it full force, he remembered his failure of getting through stage two of grief, pain and grief. To this day he still feels the pain over the loss of his parents and blames himself for their deaths, he's kept his pain hidden and has escaped it through the consumption of alcohol, his various flings with girls, and his brief experimentation with drugs. Sure he moved on to the rest of the stages of grief and had even learned to function but after a tragedy one is never the same as they were before. He looked down at Ally and silently promised to guide her through the seven stages of grief.
"Which one's your bedroom?" He asked as they made it upstairs.
"First door on the right." Ally said hoarsely.
Her room was cozy with light blue walls, white furniture, dark brown hardwood flooring, and green accents. He pulled the covers back and watched as she slowly got into her bed. Her fingers wrapped around his wrist the minute he turned to leave.
"Stay." She whispered. "Please."
"Ally I—"
"Its okay Austin, you can stay." Her mother said from the doorway. She walked in and from one of the dresser drawers she pulled out a pair of familiar looking black sweatpants and red t-shirt. "I believe these are yours."
She walked out of the room leaving the two of them alone. Austin walked into Ally's bathroom and changed out of his party clothes. He lay down beside her and took her into his arms, she silently cried into his chest while he stroked her hair. Soon she drifted off to sleep him following shortly after.
When he woke up Ally was still asleep, her mother peaked in several minutes after he was fully awake. She told him that she was headed off to Miami to handle things and asked him to look after Ally, he assured her he would. An hour later Erik came in and told him that he was headed off to work, the man had the oddest work hours but Austin figured that came with being an ER doctor. He got out of bed due to the fact that he was starving and was sure that the other two people in the house were hungry too.
"Hey Mic what you watching?" He asked the boy as he walked past the living room.
"Phineas and Ferb." Micah answered.
"That's one of my favorite shows." Austin said. "Have you had breakfast yet?"
"Nope we're out of Lucky Charms and Scarlett's not out of the bathroom yet, she takes forever in there." Micah said following Austin into the kitchen. "Is Ally going to be okay?"
"Eventually it won't hurt as much and she'll be able to move forward." Austin said opening the pantry and taking out the pancake batter. "How about I make us all some pancakes?"
"Can I help?" Micah asked excitedly.
"Yeah I could use an assistant." Austin said giving the boy a smile.
Micah read Austin the directions on the back of the box even though Austin could make pancakes with his eyes closed, though he didn't tell Micah that. From the utility closet Micah brought him the griddle and watched as Austin poured the batter on it making six perfectly round pancakes. With his eyes still on the pancakes Austin watched Micah cut up some strawberries and bananas.
"Alright go get your sister." Austin said as he flipped over the last pancake.
Micah returned several minutes later with a very different looking Scarlett. She looked like a completely different person in light make-up and with wavy hair. She was wearing jeans and a light blue top instead of some ridiculously short and tight outfit. If he didn't know it was her he wouldn't have guessed that the girl standing before him was the town's resident bitch.
"You didn't have to make breakfast Austin, I would have done it." She said sitting down at the table beside Micah.
"Its no big deal." Austin shrugged taking his seat across from the Jacobson siblings.
They settled into an uncomfortable silence. He never imagined himself sitting and having breakfast with Scarlett Jacobson, he had always thought of being near her as something worse than being thrown in shark infested water. As Micah eased them both into conversation he figured that she wasn't all that bad. She put up an act to hide her true self from others, she told him this as they washed the dishes since neither of them knew how to work the insanely complicated dishwasher.
"Why not show people the real you because she's a lot more tolerable to be around?" Austin asked.
"Why bother with that now, high school's almost over?" She said.
"So people can stop calling you a bitch or a slut." Austin shrugged.
"It doesn't matter to me now I'm used to it, I asked for it when I started acting the way I did. Everything will change when I leave for college." She said drying the last dish. "Listen Austin I'm sorry for everything I told Ally about you and everything I've done to try to keep you guys apart. You may not know this but you're quite popular among us girls and I like many had the biggest crush on you."
"That's in the past and lets keep it there." Austin said and Scarlett nodded.
"You should go check on Ally, she didn't want breakfast earlier but maybe now she's up for some pancakes." Scarlett shrugged. "I have to go keep the child entertained."
Ally refused the pancakes claiming that she wasn't hungry. After assuring her that he'd be back he went to his house to shower and change into clean clothes. He threw a week's worth of clothes into a duffle bag knowing exactly where he was going to spend his one week vacation. He told his aunt where he was going and what was going on before driving back down to Ally's house. He greeted Scarlett and Micah who were sitting on the couch yelling and grunting as they played Super Smash Brothers Brawl, they acknowledged his presence by grunting and waving.
Ally was curled still curled up under the covers when he walked into her room. She was crying heavily and he knew that she was now in stage two. He sat down beside her and she threw herself into his arms.
He spent the days hanging out with Micah and Scarlett while checking on Ally. At night he would hold Ally and fall asleep with her lying on his chest. She started eating but would refuse to join them instead she locked herself in her room and they let her grieve privately. She entered stage three and none of them were safe from it not even him, during this time he found himself asleep on the couch. While she was in stage three he was pretty sure she was also in stage four, depression.
"Austin." He heard Ally say from the bottom of the stairs.
"What is it Ally-cat?" He asked sitting up.
"I want to forget." She said sadly.
"You won't ever forget." Austin said in a somber tone.
"I know but I want to forget for just one moment." She said taking him by the hand and pulling him off of the couch.
She pulled him all the way up the stairs and into her bedroom where she closed the door. Her eyes wandered over his body, he heard the lock click. Before he could comprehend what was going on her lips crashed against his. It wasn't like any other kiss Ally had given him, this one was rough and hungry. He lost himself in it and kissed her back forcefully like she was the very air he needed to survive. Her hands found the hem of his shirt and he let her take it off. She wanted to forget and this is what she had thought of.
"Ally." He murmured.
"Shh." She said her lips traveling from his mouth across his jawline and down onto his neck.
"You underestimate my self control." Austin groaned as he somehow found himself lying on his back.
"Screw self control." Ally growled surprising him.
Somehow he managed to flip them over and take control of their situation. he knew where she wanted to go with this but he wasn't going to, it was taking advantage of her in her lowest point and it was betrayal of Erik's trust. "We can't do this Ally."
"Why not?" She said running her hands up and down his chest.
"Its not right." Austin said.
"Oh so you'll do it with a bunch of other girls but you won't do it with me." Ally screamed.
"Its not that, Ally believe me I want to do it with you but right now is not the time. You're not ready for it and are currently being driven by grief. If you think doing this will help you forget you're wrong because if we were to cross that line now you'll only associate it with the death of your father." Austin said not liking how here eyes were tearing up after being full with so much life just moments ago. He kissed her lightly before getting off of her and saying out loud and not in song, "I love you Ally Dawson."
"You do?"
"Yes and that's why I'm stopping you from doing something you'll regret later." Austin said wiping the tears off of her cheeks.
They were quiet for a long time and Austin was sure Ally had fallen asleep. Her soft voice startled him when she said, "Hey Austin."
"Yes?"
"I love you too."
"You need to get out of the house." Austin said kneeling down in front of the petite brunette. He brushed her hair out of her eyes and kissed her forehead. "Do you want to go on a walk with me? I have something I want to show you."
"Okay." Ally said sitting up and throwing the covers back. "Let me get dressed."
Once Ally was ready Austin led her out onto the beach, he had his acoustic on his back. She snaked her arm around his waist and leaned into him as they walked down the beach. It was foggy and cold for a summer day so she was glad she had decided to wear a sweater and the warmth that radiated off of Austin's body. He led her to an empty picnic area and while she sat down on the bench of the picnic table he sat on top of it. She took the song she had written out of her pocket and handed it to him.
"For you." She said. "Its how I feel about you."
"Really?" Austin asked as he read over her lyrics. "Funny because if I could write songs I'd write this about you. So I think I have the perfect melody to go with this. I was playing around with chords the other day because Scarlett and Micah wanted me to play something new and so I came up with this."
I wasn't looking for it
I wasn't ready for it
I was stumbling
But you were knocking on my door
I tried but I could not ignore
Your soft eyes
You had me wrapped around the feeling that just felt so right
You're such a wonderful surprise
I couldn't plan it if I tried
You turned my darkest days to light
Like a morning sun
You're such a wonderful surprise
I don't think you could do any wrong
You're like the hook in my favorite song
I wanna sing you
You're in my heart
You're on my mind
You pick me up at the lowest times
In my life
Everything happens for a reason
And now I see why
You're such a wonderful surprise
I couldn't plan it if I tried
You turned my darkest days to light
Like a morning sun
You're such a wonderful surprise
You make everything right
You took me by surprise
At the perfect time
You're such a wonderful surprise
I couldn't plan it if I tried
You turn my darkest days to light
Like a morning sun
You're such a wonderful surprise
I couldn't plan it if I tried
You turn my darkest days to light
Like a morning sun
You're such a wonderful surprise
I couldn't plan it if I tried
You turned my darkest days to light
Like a morning sun
You're such a wonderful surprise
Like a morning sun
You're such a wonderful surprise
They sat like that for what felt like hours, him playing random songs and she listening to him loving the sound of his voice more than she had the first time she heard him perform. Tomorrow they would all head off to Miami and bury her father but she figured she'd enjoy this calm quiet moment with Austin before then. She'd finish the rest of the seven stages of grief in due time and she'd struggle with adapting to live in Grover Beach and life without Trish when it came. The blond haired boy before her with his kind eyes and cocky smile wasn't going anywhere and knowing that she was sure she could face anything that came her way.
So there you have it chapter 16. I hope you guys liked it because I am satisfied with it, more than I thought I'd be haha. So I hope you guys stick around to see how this story concludes, I don't know how many more chapters there is but I know I ain't done with this just yet. The song used in this chapter is called Wonderful Surprise by Shawn Hlookoff and I don't own it.
Don't be shy, drop a review...I'll appreciate it a lot (: I'd like to see this story get to 100 reviews...its something that's really cool and rewarding haha.