Chapter VIII:

Sorry for the week long wait for a new chapter! I've been super busy and I was really at a loss for inspiration of what should come next in the story. Anyway, I figured out where I wanted the next chapter to go while sitting in social studies so "yay" for boring speeches about Japan (no offense to Japan :D). I hope you enjoy this chapter and trust me the drama is only getting thicker! So, enjoy and read on! Make sure to REVIEW please, I really love to read them and I love how involved you guys are! :D

Three Years Later: JFK Airport, New York City, New York:

"Bye Trish." Ally said, kissing her friends cheek and grabbing her little carry on suitcase. She fixed her shoulder-strap of her purse and handed the attendant her ticket, smiling back at Trish again.

Ally had recently gotten a job to work for a company in L.A. writing music for big celebrities, originally she had been working from her apartment in New York and sending her ideas and songs to the company. As she climbed in importance and "hierarchy" of the company her boss decided that she needed to come to L.A. and work for him professionally in an office. Ally wasn't excited about leaving, per se, because of the fact that she had never worked in a real office and had never been away from her family or Trish for a very long time and now she was moving and is going to be in a new place with absolutely nobody to fall back on. To put it simply, she was scared. Terrified even. But in all her years Ally had gotten to be fed up with being scared and shy and this was part of her plan to become more outgoing and brave. When she decided to go to school for music in New York, that was her first big step in overcoming her shyness but she knew that she always had Trish to back her up. After a week of convincing from her boss in L.A. and constant support and encouragement from Trish and her parents, she took the job. Now all her boxes were sent and a few suitcases were on the plane and she was walking down the hall towards the plane... and so much more.

When Ally got on board she found a seat and made herself comfortable near the window and took out her book, Little Women, one of her favorites. "Hi, is this seat taken?" A girl asked, Ally shook her head then looked up and smiled,

"No, go ahead." Ally returned to her book and opened it to the page that she had left off on.

"My name's Cassidy," the girl said, putting her bags in the compartment and sitting in the aisle seat, leaving the middle for extra space since it was a relatively empty flight considering it was about six o'clock in the morning.

"Ally," Ally said, closing her book and turning to speak to the girl.

"Where are you headed?" Cassidy asked, seeming sincerely interested. Ally thought this a refreshing fact since she found it so hard to meet anyone that actually wanted to have a conversation with you, let alone actually be interested in anything the other person had to say.

"I'm a songwriter," Ally responded, determined to actually have a conversation with this girl, "I got a job in L.A. so I'm moving out there. What about you?"

"You're a songwriter? That's awesome! I'm in a band, we just got signed to Starr Records a few months back and we were recording some stuff for a month. I'm the lead singer and the rest of my band went back to L.A. yesterday but I stayed to do a little extra writing," Cassidy said, stopping somewhat short realizing how long she had been talking. Ally smiled at her the two of them continued their conversation for another half an hour before Cassidy settled back into her seat after deciding to take a nap and Ally took out her book again.

"Do you have a boyfriend?" Cassidy asked, about 2 hours later, stretching and looking curious. Ally, startled by her question's personal level and the fact that she was pretty sure that Cassidy had still been asleep, closed her book and sighed.

"No," Ally said, finally, turning her head toward the girl as she cracked her neck from the odd position that she had been sleeping in. "Do you?" Ally inquired.

"Um, we don't have to talk about that, I'm sorry. I was just making conversation," Cassidy said quickly. She returned her seat to its original position, much to the gratitude of the man sitting behind her, and awkwardly smiled at Ally.

"I should suppose you do," Ally laughed a little, "It's okay, tell me about him?" Cassidy smiled at her kindness, obviously surprised, and started to speak again;

"Well, uh, we've been dating for about a year now. Um, actually he helped me get my-I mean our, like my band and me- our contract at Starr Records. He's really great and um... he's signed there too. He's... he's just really sweet and I'm really excited to see him 'cause I haven't spent any time with him for, like, over two months." Cassidy sighed, feeling she was talking far too much about something she assumed that Ally wasn't at all interested in. Ally smiled back at her, with abnormally rapt attention. It was less the girl or her story of this boy that she was with, it was mostly just the mentioning of Starr Records and a guy that was so sweet. Obviously any girlfriend would say the latter but it still felt like she had a connection with this girl because of it. She couldn't quite tell if the connection was good or bad yet, but she was going to make good of it for the time being and see how things turned out, after all, she'd probably never see this girl again after they got off of this plane.

"15 minutes until we land in sunny Los Angeles, you know what to do," the captain's voice rang over the loudspeaker and a chorus of seat's being raised and tray tables being snapped back into place followed the crackle showing that he was finished speaking.

When the plane finally landed, everyone stood up and Ally silently thanked everyone on the plane for not clapping like idiots. Cassidy grabbed her bags from the compartment and handed Ally hers. They walked down the aisle in tandem and next to each other down the little hall to the airport. Parting ways, the two girls said goodbye and smiled again at each other. Ally tried to memorize her face considering she would probably never see her again so that she could always remember her friend that she had made on the plane to her new life.

While they were walking Cassidy dropped her coat and had to stop to pick it up, having already said goodbye and after Cassidy refused help, Ally continued into the airport and towards the baggage claim. This was the moment that changed everything for her. There, sitting just a few seats away from where she was standing, was a certain blonde boy whom she knew very well and had never quite forgotten about, even though she always knew it was much more. After a moment's contemplation of what to do next, Ally decided to walk towards him. Perhaps he would see her, maybe he would hug her and maybe kiss her or... the thought had never occurred to her that it was weird for Austin to just be hanging around the airport for no reason, because, of course there was a reason. Ally heard a squeal from behind her and saw the blonde boy stand up and open his arms. Cassidy came running out from the gate and towards the boy, dropping her little backpack and jumping up into his arms. He spun her around and around and when he finally put her down her kissed her passionately on the lips. Ally felt a buried memory resurface with that kiss, one that had been pushed down and pulled back up it hurt her head just to think about it. Quickly, she collected her suitcase which was standing next to her and made her way towards the sign that said "Baggage Claim".

"Hey," she heard a voice call, turning around she saw the Cassidy holding the hand of the blonde boy and waving, "come here! I thought you had already left, I wanna introduce you to someone!" Cassidy was beaming and she leaned against the boy and looked into his eyes. When their eyes left each others, Ally locked her gaze on the boy whose eyes had found their way to staring at hers.

"Ally," was what the boy managed to say when he could make a sound.

OOO drama! I know you all love it! :D Anyways, I would love it if in your reviews you would tell me your favorite quote or part of the chapter? Thanks a ton for reading! I love you all! VIRTUAL HUGS ALL AROUND!