Chapter 15

"Sure, Dez. That'd be great," Austin replied and cut the call first. Then he dialed anther number that was on speed dial. "Hey! Yeah, it's been a while, I know," Austin began.

"Too long. You got that right!" responded the other voice.

"So any chance of you flying up to Vermont?" he asked.

"Vermont?!" she was shocked. "What? Why? I thought you were in Colorado."

"I do live in Colorado. I'm just um, on a small trip."

"Then why do you need me there?" she questioned.

"I need help."

"Why? Did you get in trouble again? You promised Mike and Mimi that you'd stay out of it!"

"That's not it! I'll explain later. Do you have time?"

"Yeah, sure. In my BUSY schedule I have time for Austin Moon," she replied sarcastically.

"Thanks your the best!"

"Yeah, yeah. Better be first-class and you're paying, right?"

"Yes, yes. I'm paying. I'll text you the information later." And he cut the call first.

Austin sighed. What has happened to his life? What the hell is wrong with him? Why can't he get things right? And why'd he have to meet up with her again? He was glad they have met again but in this circumstance? Not good. What was he to do?

He did see Ally at the store the other day, but he just ducked behind another column of groceries. He heard quick footsteps follow him, but he had a good hiding spot. He heard her sigh sadly and it broke his heart. But he couldn't show his face to her, at least not at the moment. He really didn't know he was going to do, so his best bet would be to call for some back-up. So he did.

But the cause of that, he had to leave town for a couple days because they we coming in on two separate flights that were a day in-between. So he didn't want to drive two hours and back two days in a row, so he decided to stay at a hotel in the city for a few days. So now he was at the airport waiting for his best friend.

"Incoming flight 243 from LAX has landed."

That was Dez. So within an hour or so he'd be here. Time went by really slowly and he couldn't pass the time by calling or texting Ally because well, he can't face he so he most definitely can't talk to her.

"Austin!" Dez called.

Austin waved and jogged over. "Hey buddy!" They went in for a bro hug before Austin said, "It's been a while."

"Yeah," the red-head agreed. "A long while."

"Well you're looking as sharp as ever," Austin commented, looking at Dez's get-up. "You look... great! Wow Dez!"

He'd changed. Well he was Dez Perrado, one of the biggest, best directors from Hollywood. Of course he had to change, but Austin couldn't believe it. He always portrayed his best friend as weird and obnoxious. Now Austin had no right to say that. This new Dez didn't wear striped pants with chains or tie-dye t-shirts. Instead he was wearing brown loafers, dark blue jeans that fit the Vermont country vibe, white button-up shirt, with a dark blue tie. Plus a beige colored wool coat. He looked business casual.

"Yeah, I know. But..." Dez smiled. He opened his coat to show his white shirt, tie, and surprise!- suspenders. "..I can't give these up."

Austin laughed. "There's the Dez I know. Suspenders, huh?"

"Gottta love them," he stated.

Austin just chuckled and grabbed one of his buddy's two bags and walked with Dez to his car. "So how's it going? Anything new?"

"Not much. Frankly I'm on vacation from directing, but I still get calls from the studio even though I made it clear that I'd put all my calls though my secretary."

"Duty calls!" Austin joked.

"Yeah, so what about you? Making it all big to play with the big boys," Dez said looking at Austin. "You must be popular with the ladies."

Austin frowned at that statement. "There are hard-core fans, but I'm not much of a ladies' man anymore."

"Whoa! Dropped the gun, I guess?" Dez shook his head. Even though he had changed, so had Austin. Look where ten years lead them to. Still best buds, but not who they really once were.

"Yeah." Austin looked around, not able to make eye-contact.

"...I'm sorry Austin. If that offended you," Dez suddenly said.

"No, no, not at all. I was once that, but I've changed. And apparently so have you."

"Yeah, life's crazy... So are we heading to your apartment now?"

"Oh no. A hotel tonight. I still have one more to pick up. She arrives tomorrow. So I didn't want to drive back and forth two days in a row, so that's what I came up with."

"Couldn't you have bought us tickets that were... oh, I don't know... on the same day maybe around the same time, too," he complained.

"Hey! It's the best that I could get," Austin defended himself. "Either it was tomorrow and today or today and the day after tomorrow."

"Okay," Dez cocked his head back and forth, "that makes sense."

"See?!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. So when is she arriving?"

"Why? Wanna go for her?!" Austin wriggled his eyebrows.

"God, no!" Dez exclaimed. "Do you even know her?! She's just...ugh!"

"Dude! She's your friend and my sister, don't talk about her that way!"

"It was you who suggest that I try seduce her!" Dez said.

"It was a joke, man!"

"Yeah, so when does she get in? And why did you call us here?"

"10:30 AM, tomorrow." Austin rubbed the back of his neck, unsure of how to answer the second question. "As for the second one... uh.. It's a bit complicated. I'll tell both of you guys at a later time."

Dez nodded in understanding.

...

"Austin!" she squealed.

"Heeyy!" Austin called, running up to her. "Nice to see you, too! It's been months!"

"Yeah," she agreed, releasing from their hug. "Nice to see you too, bro! And... Dez!"

"Hey..." Dez waved, uncertain and clearly uncomfortable. "Nice to see you too. It's been uh, a while... I guess...?"

"Dezzy!" she squealed, running up to him for a hug. "Nice to see my two favorite guys still alive."

"What do you mean, still alive?"

"I mean... alive and well. You didn't get beat up by fans.." she told the two, "Dez, you didn't get such bad reviews and run amok by 'big' actors and actress. And as for you Austin, you're a pretty decent player and you haven't injured yourself that badly."

"Hey!" both guys exclaimed in protest.

"I'm not a decent player! I'm an awesome player!"

"Such bad reviews?! Do you not speak English?"

She shook her head. "Boys, boys, boys," she clicked her tongue a few times. "So anyway, what's the deal Austin? Why do you need us here?"

"I'll tell you later," he said, walking away.

"What's with him?" she turned to Dez.

He shrugged. "I clearly have no idea. But he's your brother you should know." And with that Dez started to trail after his friend, leaving her to stare at the two in disbelief. Boys.

Austin sat at the table waiting patiently for Dez and his sister. He had let them off to do whatever they pleased as long as they meet him for dinner at promptly six today. And that was now and where were they? Suddenly his sister rushes in and plops herself into her seat.

"Sorry I was late, Austin," she gasped for air, "busy... shopping.. so many.. clothes!"

He shook his head at her. "Really? Clothes?"

She nodded. "Well, duh. If I go somewhere I HAVE to shop. Okay, so where's Dez?"

"Haven't seen him," Austin replied.

"Hey, do you remember that Ally girl in high school that you dated?" she cautiously asked.

"Um, yeah? Why?"

"Because I think I just saw her. In fact I ran into her, right outside..."

"What?!" Austin turned in his seat to look out the glass windows of the restaurant. She was no where to be seen. "Ally's here?!"

"Yeah, just ran into her, I think... If that was her," she replied.

"I'll explain as soon as Dez gets here," Austin said, quite irritated.

"Hey guys," Dez greeted as he sat down to face Austin.

"Where have you been?!" Austin questioned. "It's been a while. And you're late. It's past six."

"Jeez. Relax, man," Dez said, surprised. "It's not the end of the world and I was only late by uh..." He looked down at his watch to check the time. "By exactly eight minutes."

"Okay, gotta give you credit," Austin agreed. "You did show up, that's what matters."

"So does that mean you'll cut the attitude and tell us what's going on?" his sister demanded. "I've been going around all day trying to figure this out!"

Austin help up his hands in defeat. "Okay! So that girl 'Ally' that you ran into in front, that's probably 'Ally'. You guys remember her, right?"

Both Dez and his sister gasped. "No!" "She isn't! Or is she really?"

Austin nodded. "After all this time! We meet again. So after all that drama, she left, right? I was so devastated and I searched desperately for her. I was on the brink of giving up, when I met her again. But here's the thing..." Austin stopped for a dramatic pause.

"Well come on! Go on with the story," Dez urged, fully intrigued.

"Okay, so when we met just off the street, we didn't know each other. More like we didn't recognize the other. So we hit it off and started dating, again. We fell in love again."

His sister gasped. Well who wouldn't with such an amazing love story? "So...?"

"..So we were happy. Then Elliot had to show up."

"Her sister? The one who made the bet with you?" Dez asked with a cold chill in his eyes.

Austin nodded. "I beat in up in a bar and Ally got mad at me. Now were on the rocks and I have no idea. Then right after that I found out that she's 'Ally' from high school. I can't believe this! It's like we're fated to meet again."

"It's probably because you are," Dez mumbled.

"And I don't think she even knows!" Austin continued his rant. "I don't think she knows that I'm the guy that broke her! I don't think she knows her brother caused all that pain and heartbreak! She's like so clueless and I don't know what to do! I don't know what to tell her! I can't even look her in the eyes anymore! But all I want is to have her back!" he proclaimed.

Dez furrowed his eyebrows, keeping silent deep in thought. His sister, though, was one to say her thoughts out-loud. "You guys didn't recognize each other? That's good! Well not good, but good also. And then there's Elliot, and then dating again and your history! Oh my goodness that's a lot to keep track of!"

Austin sighed, confused. "That's why I need you guys here. To help me. I don't know what to do or say. Say you'll help..." he pleaded.

Both of his companions nodded. "Of course we will, Austin, right Dez?" She nudged Dez in the side, hard.

"Ow! Uh, yeah." And Dez moaned over in pain.

"Thanks. So what do we do now?" he asked, looking between the two.

"Well don't tell her, its just going to make things worse," his sister advised. "Tell her! You need to come clean," said Dez at the exact same time. They both eyed each other before saying the same thing, at the same time. "Stop it! No! You stop it!"

"Guys! GUYS!" Austin exclaimed, gathering their attention. "Stop it. I need help not you two. So back to the drawing board?"

"No exactly..." Dez said. "You could always..."

The rest of the evening wad drunk in having fun, reminiscing all the old memories. Teasing, laughing, talking it had been fun for the three. Not just twenty minutes away from that restaurant, sat Ally on her bed re-thinking her relationship with Austin. She had no idea what to do. Did they need a break or something?

No! She couldn't bear the thought of being away from him. But maybe they needed it. She was hell lost!

Austin was in the bookstore. Not a place you'd normally see him, but he wasn't here for himself. He was here for Ally. He wanted to buy her a book. One he think would make a good read for her. So as he roamed the shelves the smell of coffee from the Lighthouse Café, across the street, dawned to him. He really wanted to get one with all the cold winter weather, but he needed to buy a book. That was his main priority.

When he finally found one he bought it along with a highlighter. He was going to tell her someway. And this was his way.

Now sitting in the Lighthouse Book Café, with a steaming coffee, that jerk Dallas and nearly spilt on him he was working with the highlighter and the book.

"Austin."

He breath hitched. He knew that voice. He could recognize it from anywhere. He slowly looked up to see... Ally. "Um, hi...? Ni-nice to see you."

"Hey, Austin," she said, not sitting down but just standing there.

"So uh, what's up?" Real smooth, Austin. Real smooth.

She didn't answer. Instead she said something else. "Let's take a break."

And then his heart broke. Into a billion pieces. "What?!" he croaked out, not really able to breath.

"Let's take a break," came the simple reply.

Author's Note: Well hello to you to! It's been a while. Well, thanks for staying faithful and I might be back with once a week updates if my schedule allows it.
But on a brighter note please check out a new story, that is being co-written with daddysgirll11, on my page! It's called Your First Everything and its about Austin wanting to be Ally's first kiss, boyfriend, etc. Will he succeed? I'd appreciate if you'd check it out! It's humor because sometimes you need a laugh once in a while.

Well until next time, Hade. (Swedish)