September 18th, 2015

They had left on Wednesday, and it was taking them a few days to reach Maine, their first tour stop. Ally found out about a cute little apple orchard by where they were performing, and she was hoping to get there a day early so they could spend the day together.

It was now very early Friday morning, well not too early for Ally, who was up and looking at the sunrise and scenery through the tinted windows of the tour bus. It was about six a.m. eastern time, and they were still in New Hampshire, it would be a couple of hours until they reached Maine.

Austin, Trish, and Dez were all passed out in bed, but Ally saw it coming. Dez and Austin had been up all night playing the new Zaliens video game. And Trish, well she would sleep in as late as possible anyway.

Considering it was still pretty early, Ally decided to sit back and read the comments on Austin's blog. However, as she began to read her breath hitched in her throat.

fngrl4ever

wat do u mean A&A r engaged? shes sooooo ugly and untalented

That stung a little, but she tried to shrug her off. She reminded herself that a girl who had a terrible sense of grammar and spelling had wrote it.

mrsmoonluv

I know right?! he deserves someone at least on the same level as him. someone who can actually sing and dance. i feel so bad for him being stuck with her. he deserves so much better.

Ally immediately shut down the website and turned off her phone. She knew that she had to get used to mean comments. Even Austin had haters. But part of her couldn't shake off the fact that maybe they were right. She thought she was a good singer, even though she wasn't gifted in the dancing department. Maybe he did deserve better…

She tried not to think about it, and she turned her attention to the clock, which signifying that it was almost eight thirty. They were due to arrive at the orchard around eleven. Trish, Dez, and Austin were still fast asleep, and she knew it would destructive if she woke them up (Trish especially). So she walked to the kitchenette and pulled out the ingredients for apple cinnamon pancakes. That would at least get Austin up in no time.

Fifteen minutes later, she started flipping the batter on the griddle, and she had made some bacon and eggs as well. She was actually enjoying her peace and quiet.

"Is that pancakes I smell?!" A childish voice called from the other side of the bus.

So much for that.

Austin and Dez both ran out at once, trying to call dibs on the first pancake.

"I want it!" Dez whined. "I'm so hungry…"

"So?" Austin fired back and wrapped an arm around Ally. "My girlfriend made these, she knows they are my favorite and obviously made them for me!"

Dez glared mockingly. "Yeah well you're 'girlfriend' should really learn to brush that rat's nest before she gets out off bed."

Ally tensed. That was harsh. Dez was always the one who put her down the most, but it was mostly just to tease her. But that hit a little close to home.

"See?" Austin remarked. "You're mean to her. She likes me better, so I will get the first pancake! Right Ally?" All eyes turned to her.

She didn't know what to say. Dez had just insulted her and Austin didn't even defend her. All he cares about are his stupid pancakes. She took the platter of cakes and set it down on the table. The boys began to dig in and she just walked into the other room without saying a word.

She sat down on her bottom bunk, because Trish was still sleeping on the top bunk, and tears wet her eyes. She sniffled and wiped them away hastily. She was making a big deal out of nothing. It was just her insecurities getting the best of her again. At least that's what she would tell herself.

"Hey, what's wrong?"

Ally jumped back when she realized that Trish had awoken while she was dozing off. She plastered a fake smile on and twirled her hair. "What? Everything's fine."

"Ally, you're twirling your hair, and your eyes are red and puffy." Trish gave her a look. "What happened, and who do I have to kill?"

Ally shrugged. "It's really not a big deal. I was being stupid and decided to look at some off the comments on Austin's blog… you know…"

"Oh…." Trish understood now. This wasn't the first time that Ally has dealt with this. "Well, haters gonna hate. But you need to tell Austin."

Ally shook her head. "Honestly, I don't even know if he cares…" Her eyes watered once more. "He can't defend me from Dez when he puts me down. There is no way he can defend me from a million fangirls.."

Trish wrapped an arm around her comfortingly. "Ally, I know this is hard. But you have to do this. Do you really want to repress this and ruin your relationship with Austin just because of some hurt feelings? Just let love flow like the river." As soon as the words left her mouth she shuddered. "Ew, I've been spending way too much time around Dez…"

That brought a smile to Ally's face. Though those two bickered, she knew that one day, it would be inevitable that they would end up together. After all, they were just boulders that were stopping the river of love from flowing.

Great, now she was spending too much time around Dez…

x.x

They arrived at the orchard around noon, and the sights were everything they imagined. Magnificent Oaks lined each side of the rocky road, and their leaves were filled with brilliant reds, burnt oranges, and sunny yellow hues. Dew drops still lingered on the grass, and the air smelt of crisp leaves and faintly of sea water. Ally was immediately reminded of home. However, this smell of sea water didn't follow with hot temperatures and thick humid airs. Instead, the wind carried a chilly breeze that kept everyone awake. Everything seemed fresh and their breath was visible. That's how cold it was.

The bus parked and the foursome got off and looked around in awe. They were on a hill and they could see valleys of multi-colored leaves and purplish mountains cascading in the background. It almost seemed like they were in a painting. It was unbelievable. The apple orchard was just down the valley, easy walking distance. There were rows and rows of trees filled with delicious golden and granny smith apples.

"Wow! This place is amazing!" Ally marveled at the beauty of the landscape. Austin agreed and wrapped an arm around her, but she was still mad from earlier so she shrugged it off and walked over by Trish, leaving him confused.

"Yeah I could do without the cold though…" Trish tighten her leopard print fur coat tighter.

"Can we just go already? Race you to the doughnuts!" Dez started running full speed down the hill towards the building.

Austin started running after him. "Right behind you, buddy!"

Ally and Trish shook their heads and walked slowly down the steep hill.

x.x

It had only been two hours and they had already done a lot. Dez and Austin went pumpkin launching, which Ally supported because they could finally go through with their crazy schemes in an appropriate setting. They went through the farmer's market, which made Ally happy because she loved trying new things. Trish complained the entire time because she would've preferred a shopping mall or a store that sold purses.

They went picking for apples around two, and it was a great time. It got warmer throughout the day and the field of apple trees was huge. Trish was on her phone the whole time and Dez sat on the ground eating all of the apples he picked. Austin and Ally were a little ways down the field, Ally decided to shrug off this morning. Austin could sometimes be oblivious and she knew he didn't do anything on purpose.

There was a shiny, plump, red apple sitting on a high branch, and Ally wanted it. She jumped on her tiptoes and she still wasn't in range for it, Austin chuckled and picked it for her. "Here shorty," He teased. As she reached for it, he held it above his head. "Almost had it!"

"Austin Monica Moon!" Ally scolded and rested her hands on her hips. "You better hand me that apple or there will be consequences…" She had a stern tone but her lips curled in a smile.

Austin grinned, unable to resist. "Oh really? Are you going to tell on me?"

Ally smirked. "No, but I can do this!" She tickled him on his side.

He squealed in response and laughed childishly. "Stop it!"

"Or what?" Ally challenged.

Austin pulled her close and kissed her deeply. "You'll see..." He handed her the apple and continued filling his bucket.

Ally couldn't stop smiling, she was so happy. She was traveling the country with her friends and fiancee. What could be better?

Her text tone snapped her out of her daydream, she went to open it, but her face dropped when she saw the content.

Anonymous

You may be happy now… but not for much longer… you have something of ours and we will get it back

"Who was that, Ally?" Austin called from the other side of the tree.

She panicked and shoved her phone in her pocket. "N-nothing! Just spam…"

Austin saw her distressed look and had a worried tone. "Ally, are you okay?"

"Hey lovebirds!" Trish called and walked over. "Doofus wants to explore the corn maze, apparently it's the third largest in the country."

Austin held Ally's hand, she was looking down and seemed out of it. "You guys go ahead. We'll catch up with you."

Dez smiled. "Ahhh.. I get it.. you guys want some 'alone' time. I can tell by the look on your face! That's why they call me the love whisperer…" Dez did his usual gesture and everyone rolled their eyes. Trish caught Ally's gaze and sighed.

"Fine…" She whined. "C'mon you doof, the sooner we go into the corn maze, the sooner we get out." Trish dragged Dez away and now Austin and Ally were left alone.

Austin knew something was wrong since this morning, but he didn't figure it was super important. However, Ally was very quiet and introverted and when she wasn't rambling, he knew that there was something wrong.

He held her hand and walked her over to the hay rides, they showed their wristbands and got on. They sat on the last bail of hay, and besides a couple of ten year olds, they were the only ones there.

"Ally…" He started, but she just shook her head and turned away. The wagon started to move, and he waited to speak until they were a bit isolated from everyone. "Please…" He held her chin and stared into her eyes, she could tell that he was concerned.

She sighed. "It's kind of a long story…" She started. "Maybe it's best if I show you…" She pulled out her phone and showed him the messages that she screenshotted earlier.

He started to read and his eyes widened. "What?! Ally, why didn't you show me this sooner!" His voice raised and she winced. She knew she should've, but she didn't think it mattered.

"It's not that big of a deal…" She trailed off. "I didn't want to ruin your tour… besides, hate mail is nothing new."

Austin sighed and pulled her into a hug. "Ally, if it's hurting you then it is a big deal. Don't listen to them. You are perfect for me."

She started to smile. "Thanks Austin." She leaned up and kissed his cheek. She was glad that he saw the comments. But she didn't want to show anyone the text threat.

x.x

"Ugh, how much longer are we going to be in here?" Trish whined and followed Dez, who was carefully checking their surroundings.

"Don't worry! We're almost done." He pointed at a stalk of corn. "This looks like the same corn that we saw on our way coming in, so we must be close!"

Trish looked at him with rage. "Dez! All the corn looks the same! You got us lost!"

"Pfft, we aren't lost!" He argued. He continued walking until he hit a dead end. "Oh… yeah Trish, we're lost."

Trish gave him a death glare and kept her hands in fists to keep from strangling him. "Fine… I'll just call Ally." She got out her phone only to realize the battery was dead. "What?! I charged this last night! I'm sure I did!"

Dez scratched the back of his neck nervously. "Yeah… about that.. I noticed last night that I left my charger in Miami, so I generously used yours!"

"Dez! You took my charger without permission?! It was your idea to go into this stupid corn maze and now we're lost and won't get out until who knows when?!"

He put his hands on his hips. "Hey, don't blame me for all of this! If you hadn't been using your phone all day, you wouldn't have killed the battery. So there." He stuck his tongue out at her and she narrowed her eyes and started walking at him slowly. "Uh oh!" He immediately took off running the opposite direction, being chased by a very angry Trish.

x.x

Meanwhile, Austin and Ally were inside the food market sharing some apple cider and doughnuts. Trish and Dez had been gone for three hours. It was now five and their concert started at seven thirty, which means they had almost two hours to get ready and do soundcheck.

"Where are they?" Ally thought to herself. "We can't be late… this is our first performance…"

Austin shrugged and crunched on his caramel apple. Ally watched in disgust. "How can you eat that… it's so unhealthy and you can get cavities and-"

"Ally, chill." He continued eating. "Technically, we're on vacation, therefore, there are no limits."

Ally shook her head and she felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. Thinking it was Trish, she immediately took it out to respond, but what she found shook her to the core.

Anonymous

We see you.. you better back off or else

She shut off her phone and looked around nervously. Who was sending these texts? She knew they were spying on her, and she didn't feel comfortable staying for much longer. "Um, why don't we go outside? Fresh air will do us good!" She took Austin's hand and almost sprinted out of there.

"Woah, Ally!" He almost dropped his caramel apple due to her forcefulness. "What was that about?"

"Just kinda stuffy in there…" She lied through her teeth. "Besides, you were right about there being no limits.. don't wanna be tempted by that apple cobbler!"

His eyes widened. "There was apple cobbler? Where?!" He turned around and she rolled her eyes and kept hold of his hand.

"Focus Austin. We have to find Trish and Dez."

He groaned. "I hate it when you're right…"

A high pitched scream pierced the air and the couple turned around to see a screaming Dez running out of the cornfield with Trish trailing close behind.

Dez looked truly terrified and had grass and wheat sticking out of his hair. He ran over to Austin and jumped into his arms. "Austin! Save me!"

Ally held back Trish. "Woah, what's going on?!"

Trish pointed at Dez. "That bozo got us lost, used my charger, and called me a wildebeest!"

"Nu uh! I said you are a wild beast!" Dez argued and Trish lunged at him again, but she was being held back by Ally. Dez tightened his grip on Austin and buried his face in the crook of his neck.

"Geez, you two are acting like a couple of five year olds…" Ally pointed out.

Austin set Dez down. "Yeah." He agreed but soon forgot all about the conversation. "Hey look! They have those cardboard cutouts where you can put your face in it and take pictures!" He ran over. "I call the cow!"

Dez followed. "I call the chicken!"

Ally nodded. "Thanks for proving my point."

x.x

They were cutting it close, but because they were so close to the venue, they managed to make it on time. Austin was performing first, and he was ready in his ripped jeans, red t-shirt, and black leather jacket. Ally matched him in a glittery red t-shirt, dark jeans, and boots. The crowds chanted their names and they were both very excited. They were going to alternate on stage with a few duets in between, and they were going to end on a high note with a huge duet at the end.

"Are you ready?" Austin asked and wrapped his arm around her.

She laughed. "You're asking me? You're the one who is about to go on stage."

He smiled. "We will be up there together. We make a good team." He scanned her. "By the way, did I ever tell you that red is my favorite color on you?"

She grinned and leaned in to kiss him, but was soon interrupted by Trish. "Ok Austin! It's time to get on stage!"

He kissed her cheek. "I'll see you soon." He winked and bounded on the stage. "How are you tonight Portland!" The crowd responded with many cheers and enthusiastic screams.

He started to sing A Billion Hits, and Ally was enjoying watching his energy. Dez was somewhere in the crowd filming it for a new video and Trish was in the back on her phone. Austin was halfway through the song when she realized that she'd forgotten her cell phone in the dressing room.

She ran quickly to the small room, not wanting to miss her first song. She didn't remember much, but she did know that as soon as she turned around, she saw a few unfamiliar faces.

Then everything went dark.

x.x

"Overload the Internet, a billion hits is what I'll get." He ended the song with one of his signature moves and smiled as the crowd got wild. "Thank you Portland! That song was written by my partner Ally Dawson, who will be coming up next!" He ran off the stage to see a very worried Trish. "Trish where is Ally? She's on now."

"Yeah… about that…" She started. "I went into the back to make a phone call. I came back and Ally was gone! She went missing Austin, nobody can find her! Trust me, everyone is looking everywhere…"

"Missing? This venue isn't that big, how many places could she be?!" He grabbed his phone to call her, only to be greeted by this text.

Anonymous

Go into the building behind the stadium if you ever want to see her again

"Ally!"

Dun dun dun… don't worry, just adding a bit of drama. Nothing gruesome. What did you all think about the finale? Feely right? I'm in the middle of writing a oneshot for it.

Until next time!

-Evelyn