DISCLAIMER: I own nothing. These characters are solely those of the original producers, 'Kevin and Heath Productions' and 'Disney'. I do not take credit for characters or relationships between characters. Do not sue. Copyright infringement not intended.

We were checking out of the hospital and the four of us – Austin, Trish, Dez and I – were waiting for our parents by the front doors. Austin had his arm around my shoulder and Trish was trying to convince Dez to lend her a dollar for a bag of chips from the vending machine.

"No," he said.

"Please," she begged.

"No."

"Please."

"No."

"Please."

"Fine."

"Really?"

"No!"

And this went on and on. My head was bouncing back and forth between them like a tennis match.

"Guys," Austin shouted over them.

"That's enough," I finished. I pulled out a dollar bill from my pocket. "Here, Trish."

She takes it and thanks me. She slaps Dez on the shoulder. He holds it in mock agony. I roll my eyes and laugh.

Once my dad and Austin's parents come out, I hug Dez and Austin and he kisses me on the forehead. I smile. Trish hugs them both and feigns disgust at Dez but laughs all the while.

"Bye," Trish and I call to the guys. They wave in response and we go our separate ways.

In the car, my dad decides to be a dad. "So," he says, trying to be casual. "You and Austin, now, eh?"

"Yes, Dad," I say, rolling my eyes. "It's no big deal."

"Well your first boyfriend and all..."

"It's all good," I say. "No worries."

"I'm not worried," he lies. "I know Austin loves you." This time he meant it.

"And I love him."

"Good. But I'm your father and I want you to know that I'll always be here if you want to talk about... you know... stuff."

I clue in. "Dad!" I groan. "Nothing like that is happening, Dad. You left us alone for the whole weekend and nothing happened."

"Yeah," Trish pipes in. "The most exciting thing to happen was Dez falling through your floor."

"Oh, yeah, I have to fix that," Dad sighs.

Trish and I laugh from the back seat. I love my dad, but sometimes he talks too much.

It was a peaceful drive home.

AUSTIN'S POINT OF VIEW

Once Dez and I were home, his leg started hurting again. "It's been a while," I say, surprised. "When should it be healed completely?"

"It's healed, now," he tells me. "The doctor said I may have an occasional pain here or there for a cuple months, though."

"Ah," I nod.

Everything is back to normal, luckily. Ally and I plan on getting together for lunch tomorrow and trying to work on a new song. Tonight, Dez and I are going to Skype with the girls. It's only 7 right now and Ally said she'd call at 9:30. For now, Dez throws a movie into his laptop and we lounge around watching it.

I could hardly focus on it, though. All I could think about is Ally. And Trent. And how I really enjoyed giving him what he deserved. And I hate that. I hate that it felt good. I don't know if maybe I'd feel different if it was someone else he had kidnapped. But Ally is my best friend and my girlfriend and my inspiration.

I remember the very first time I met Ally. It was a warm day in Miami. I woke up that morning feeling rested and ready for anything. I always knew that I wanted to be a musician. But that morning I felt more determined. I had called up Dez and demanded he come over. We decided that no matter what happened that day, it was going to be the first step towards success. I was tired of waking up every summer morning to the same old routine. Dez and I went to the mall and bought pancakes from Mini's. They were delicious, all 4 Oreo-sized pancakes with my tiny chocolate milk. Dez had told me about this music store called Sonic Boom that sold almost every kind of instrument. We decided to go see what kind of instrument appealed the most to me. I had a guitar, but maybe something else would catch my eye. Well something did. The cute cashier in the store who was firm but polite. I guess I didn't really notice then how great she was. I pretty much ignored her while I was there.

I started playing all the instruments. All of them. Even the drums. In retrospect, I don't really know why I was using corn dogs as drum sticks. She didn't like it. She complained how we weren't following the rules, that we were being unsanitary and her sarcastic responses were hilarious, though I didn't think so at the time. I accidentally stole her song and made it a huge hit. I felt immensely awful about it. She forgave me, though, because Ally is an amazing person. She helped me right another song. And another. And it just worked. We clicked. The four of us became best friends and assembled Team Austin.

To this day, I don't think I have thanked her enough. She is far too humble and doesn't seem to realize that.

I'm lost in thought when my laptop rings. I realize it's 9:30 on the dot. I smile a big smile and Dez pauses the movie.

I answer the call and the it's like the four of us are together in the same room.