Chapter Three

Day two: Cuddle by the Fire.

"Ok, how about this?" Ally asks as she plays a few chords on the piano. Austin nods along to the beat.

"You're going places, And winning races, so don't stop, until you reach the top," the blonde sang. His partner smiles and nods in response

Trish and Dez burst through the practice room door, nearly tripping over one another. Trish turns to excuse Dez of purposely tripping her and Dez argues that he did not. Ally and Austin turn to face them, confused by their friends' excited expressions. Yet, they sigh wryly when the ginger and Latina start to fight.

"Uh, guys? Mind telling us what's so important?" Austin asks. The two arguing friends look over to the waiting couple and immediately apologize.
"Guys, guess what!" Dez shouts excitedly, despite the recent event. Ally shakes her head at their wild friend. Austin's face lights up like a young child on Christmas morning.
"You got Zombie Slayer 4?" Austin says with equal excitement. Dez slumps and shakes his head sadly. Trish rolls her eyes, always annoyed at the ginger.

"We got a gig at the beach tonight!" The Latina exclaims, ignoring Dez's disappointment that he didn't get the game. Both musically talented teens jump up and high five the others. Dez gives a half-hearted high five to Austin, still in despair about his game.

"At least you get to go to the beach," Austin says, trying to comfort Dez. The wild red head smiles brightly at Austin. Oh, how easy it is to change his mood.

"Ally, you're going to sing with Austin," Trish announces. The brunette smiles brightly. A few months ago she would have dreaded singing onstage. Now that her stage fright is cured, Ally is more than ecstatic.

"Wait, we haven't finished our song," Austin says disappointedly. The three teens around him frown.

"Then get to work, lazy bums!" Trish declares as she drags Dez out of the room. The ginger complains of course, saying he needs his cake from the fridge. Austin and Ally glance at each other before laughing good heartedly.

Over the next three hours, the song was finished. That is after a snack break and goofing off. Goofing off includes: Dancing, popcorn wars, arguing who won the war, giving the winner a kiss on the cheek, and cleaning up.

"Yes! We finally got the song done!" Austin cheers. Ally stands and looks at the wall clock.

"It's already five o'clock. The party is in an hour and we haven't even got ready," the girl says worriedly. Austin moves to stand beside her, hugging her from behind.

"Can't we be a little late? We are the main act. They can't start without us," Austin whispers in Ally's ear. She bites her lip, weighing the choices.

"No, we have to get ready," the brunette says reluctantly. The blonde sighs overdramatically and stomps playfully downstairs, leaving a giggly Ally behind him.

TIME SKIP

Austin stands behind the navy blue curtain, waiting for his partner. It has ten minutes until they go on and neither hide nor tail has been seen of Ally. The rocker is starting to wonder if she chickened out.

Just as Austin decides to tell the manger they're not performing, he catches a glimpse of familiar brown hair pushing her way through the crowd. Austin jumps off stage in an attempt to find the girl. As he nears the brunette, she disappears from his sight. Struggling to find the all too familiar figure, the blonde stands on his toes and cranes his neck, trying to see over the heads of others.

"Ally?" Austin calls. He listens closely for a moment. Sure enough, a faint but clear voice answers, "Over here."

With stumbling, hurried steps, the rock star follows the direction of the voice. The crowd pays no attention to Austin.

"Alls?" the blonde shouts, barely heard over the bantering people. He checks his watch, surprised to find it is five minutes till show time. The rocker speeds up his searching.

Austin has almost given up looking for his friend when he stumbles, flying toward the not-so-soft sand. However, it's not the sand he lands on.

"OUF!"

"Oops, I'm sorry. I just wasn't watching where I was going and I fell and you where right there and…" Austin starts ramble slightly, not paying attention to his surroundings. A light giggling sound beckons the boy to peer down. Instantly, Austin realizes who he landed on.

"Found you," Ally says, still pinned under the blonder rocker. Austin smiles down at her and stands up.

"I think it's the other way around," Austin laughs, assisting the girl to her feet. She rolls her eyes playfully.

They hurry backstage just in time to straighten they're slightly rumpled clothes and wish each other good luck before the announcer taps the microphone. The crowd goes almost dead silent. Austin wishes it would have that easy to make the people quiet down when he was searching for Ally.

"Attention, may I have your attention? We have a very special performance for you tonight. I give you…Austin and Ally!" As the announcer says this, the crowd goes wild with cheers. The couple watches as the blue curtain rises slowly, revealing tons of fans. Ally is almost in awe at the amount of people. The brunette completely zones out.

Austin nudges the songwriter in the side gently, retrieving her from wherever her mind has wondered. Ally jumps then blushes faintly.

Music starts to pour out of the speakers. An upbeat tune captures the ears of the cheering fans. They fall relatively quiet as Austin starts singing.

Austin:

Here we go

Uh!

Oh yea

I know you inside out

I know you've got your doubts

Come on, face the crowd

Don't be afraid to get loud

Every breathe you take

You think is a mistake

But I know what's in you're heart

I know you're gonna be a star~!

Ally:

I'm afraid of standing out

Don't really wanna shout

The one that's dependable

To stay invisible

Too scared to make a scene

I'd rather be unseen

Then all that fear

You made it disappear

Both:

May not be perfect

But this makes it worth it

Right here right now

We're figuring it out

We're not perfect

But this makes it worth it

(Worth it worth it Oh Yea)

Austin:

Now you're getting it girl

I'm gonna take you for a whirl

Show you what you've been missin'

Can you hear the beat now listen

Ally:

Everything is being changed

Places being rearranged

But we've got our music

We'll make it through it

Austin:

Uh oh uh-huh

You're going places

Winning races

So don't stop

Until you reach the top!

Both:

May not be perfect

But this makes it worth it

Right here right now

We're figuring it out

We're not perfect

(No no no)

But this makes it worth it

(Worth it worth it Oh Yea)

We're far from perfect

But this is worth it~

As the music and their voices fade, the crowd goes absolutely wild. Both singers take a humble bow. They walk off stage and are greeted by Trish and Dez.

"You guys we're great!" The ginger says with his usual excitement. Trish nods, for once agreeing with Dez.

"Thank you," Ally says politely, as usual. Austin gives her a loving smile that the other two friends notice.

"Guess who got a job at Murices' Marshmallows?" Trish asks, showing off a large bag of fluffy marshmallows. Austin and Ally chuckle as Dez reaches for the bag but misses. The ginger grunts and reaches again. Trish pulls them any from Dez, very reluctant to give them up.

"Oh, come on! I just want one," the wild boy complains, once again snatching at the bag.

"Yea, one… then another… and another…" Trish trails off but clearly explains. The ginger frowns as the Latina moves them, yet again, out of his reach.

"Alright, how about we all share the marshmallows?" Austin suggestions, trying to settle things between the two continuously fighting friends. They both nod. Ally smiles up at her boyfriend, happy that she might just be rubbing off on him.

TIME SKIP

The gang is piled around the camp fire on the beach, thoroughly enjoying the soft, mushy marshmallows. Austin sits on the right side of the fire facing the ocean, Ally right next to him. Trish sits on the opposite side of the couple. While Dez, the odd one out as always, is sprawled out on the sand.

"Dez, what, exactly, are you doing?" Ally inquires. The boy looks up and points to the sky.

"Counting the stars. Duh," The ginger answers. The rest of the gang grins at one another and rolls their eyes.

"This is nice. Just to take a break from everything, you know?" Austin sighs happily. Ally and Trish nod.

The full moon reflecting off the still ocean make a bit of a romantic atmosphere. The soft breeze blowing through the brunette girl's hair distracts Austin for a moment or two. Ally glances up at him, watching the boy's eyes shine.

"Hey, if you're gonna get all lovey-dopey, do it somewhere else," Trish teases. The couple blushes crimson red from being called out and returns to their partially forgotten marshmallows.

Austin slyly wraps his arm around Ally's waist. She blushes but doesn't look up. Instead, the songwriter leans into him, resting her head on his shoulder. He smiles smugly, tilting her head up.

"You look perfect. You know that, right?" The rocker asks quietly. Ally grins, blushing wildly. Austin leans down, kissing her nose.

A crackling and sizzling sound is heard.

"Oh, darn. There goes our snack," Ally sighs as she watches the marshmallows melt in the fire.

Austin raises his stick to lick the marshmallow residue. Ally giggles and rolls her eyes playfully.

"What? It's good marshmallow! Want some?" The blonde offers. The brunette cringes, shaking her head.

"But it's good!" Austin insists.

A few moments later, Austin is chasing Ally around the beach with a sticky marshmallow in his hand.

A/N: Please don't steal my song. The season two finale was horribly sad, wasn't it? I wish I knew what that card said!