Behind the Music

Chapter 10

"Hollywood is the time
The stars are shining
For you and me tonight in this city
Where dreams are made of…"

If there had been one thing that Patricia Maria de la Rosa always needed, it would be control. She needed to have control over everything in her life, a sort of comfort for her. Having control meant she wouldn't get any unwelcome surprises. So when the opportunity came to fly with the rest of Team Austin (plus his mother) to Los Angeles, she jumped at the chance, completely forgetting that they'd be flying. Because since she wouldn't be flying the plane, that meant she didn't have control.

Her tiny hand gripped the arm rest tightly, her eyes darting every which way on the plane. Trish glanced at Mrs. Moon who sat between herself and Ally. The blonde haired woman sat calmly, her eyes closed though the Latina could tell she was still semi-conscious. Her dark eyes drifted towards Ally.

Her best friend sat in her window seat, furiously scribbling away in her songbook. The brown haired girl spent the first hour and a half of their nearly four and a half hour flight like that. Releasing one of the armrests, Trish leaned over Mrs. Moon and poked Ally. She jumped in her seat before glaring at Trish.

"What 'cha writing?" the short girl asked, trying to sound as casual as possible. Ally closed her songbook quickly and gave her friend a sympathetic look, having noticed her faltering voice.

"Trish, I am so sorry! I forgot that you hate flying!" Trish narrowed her eyes at the girl.

"I don't hate flying. I just hate not being in control," she said, trying to sound as convincing as possible. Ally rolled her eyes before patting her best friend's hand.

So what if at times Trish forgot details about Ally's life? It didn't make her any less of a best friend. Trish was her confidant, the person she could go to for anything. And Ally was the same to her.

They were eight and Trish had been invited to go to New York with Ally to visit her cousins. The group got along really well and the Latina girl had spent her entire summer thinking about the trip. It was then that she noticed how much she hated having a lack of control. The way that she couldn't take charge of a situation made her feel insecure, weak.

A bit of turbulence shook Trish out of her thoughts and she squeezed Ally's hand, looking over to her best friend from her aisle seat.

"Trish, it's only a couple more hours. Put your iPod on and try to fall asleep. It'll pass quicker that way," Ally suggested. Trish nodded and relinquished the other armrest of her remaining hand, using it to dig through her carry-on bag. A sigh of relief escaped her lips before grabbing her iPod and putting on the headphones.

Only a minute later did the music stop and Trish glanced down at her music player. 'Low battery!' it had blinked before turning black. Groaning, she threw the music player back into her bag.

"Here," the songwriter said, gently handing Trish her own iPod. She looked up to see the timid girl grabbing a few of her things.

"Where are you going?" Trish asked. Ally pointed to the other side of the plane where Dez began to stand, clumsily making his way past the older woman sitting in the aisle seat and almost dropping his camera in the process.

"Austin wants to talk to me," she replied simply. Trish inwardly groaned at the thought of Dez replacing Ally's seat. Blasting the music, she leaned back and closed her eyes. 'Thank goodness Mrs. Moon is sitting between us.'

Ally fell into the empty middle seat between Austin and an older woman after tripping over the latter's feet.

"You okay?" The blond asked his best friend once she situated herself.

"Um, yeah," she said with a shake of her head. "What did you need to talk to me about?" Ally watched as Austin had a, very visible, debate with himself over what to tell her.

"Okay, I'll be honest since you like honesty." He took a deep breath, eyes flickering over to Dez before back to Ally. "I don't have to talk to you about anything. Dez just wanted to switch seats." Ally raised an eyebrow at this and waited for Austin to continue but he dropped the subject there.

"Is this because he likes Trish?" she asked bluntly. Austin's eyes widened at the mention of this secret. He didn't make it seem too obvious, did he? "I figured it out last week." The singer let out a breath of relief before smiling at her.

"What have you been writing the entire time?"

Ally gave the boy a quizzical look. "You noticed I've been writing?" she asked, yawning a bit while wondering how often he looked across the aisle at her. She didn't notice the light pink stain his cheeks.

"I was making sure everything was okay over there," he answered which was only partially true. He had seen the guy sitting behind Ally's original seat and Austin didn't miss the onceover that the teenager gave her. He was just being a protective best friend. Ally just laughed and rolled her eyes at the blonde boy before leaning back and closing her eyes.

Austin watched as her eyes fluttered closed and her breathing slowed a bit. The group had to get up really early for their flight and everyone was pretty tired. He took a cue from his best friend and leaned back as well, letting his eyes slip closed.

The feeling of the plane landing jolted Ally awake from the very nice dream she was having. Sitting up very suddenly, her head collided with Austin's and by the looks of it he was woken by the impact. She figured that when she fell asleep, her head fell on his shoulders, his head following suit.

LAX seemed to be very busy and reminded her much of JFK in New York. Ally's eyes took in the atmosphere of Los Angeles and had become so consumed just by the airport itself that she almost lost the rest of her group. She brought her attention back to her group at the sound of Trish's voice.

"I thought that flight would have never ended!" the Latina groaned. Ally laughed as Trish grabbed her luggage as it appeared on the conveyer belt. She practically threw them onto the ground right near Dez's feet.

"Didn't you have a bunch of important stuff in there, Trish?" Austin asked from beside Ally. The short girl simply shrugged and walked over to the awaiting Mrs. Moon, assuming that Dez would carry her luggage.

"I can't believe it! We're actually in LA!" Ally squealed and the boys just winced. The group gathered together before catching a cab outside of the airport entrance. Each person had surprisingly fit their bags in the trunk before squishing into the van. Their eyes were glued on the scenery outside of the car once they started their way to the hotel.

"Look! There's the Hollywood sign!" Mrs. Moon pointed out as they drove past it. Ally's mouth fell open as she stared at the big white letters. Was she dreaming? Here she was in Los Angeles with her best friends yet it all felt like it wasn't real. If anyone told her a year ago she would be in Hollywood with a friend that had just gotten signed to a label, she would have laughed until she passed out.

The palm trees that lined some of the roads reminded her so much of Miami and she felt comfortable. Maybe LA won't be too bad. Sure, the traffic was a worse, she had already noted, but it was a minor detail.

Her hand flew forward as she pointed towards a street sign. "It's Rodeo Drive!" she nearly shouted. Austin leaned forward and squinted, examining the street as they drove down it.

"So? What's so important about it?" he asked with a shrug. Trish and Ally shared a look. Boys just wouldn't understand-

"Is that Rachael McAdams?" Austin yelled. He leaned over Dez and Trish to gaze out the window at the woman. Being pushed back into his seat by his friends, Ally noticed the love-struck look on his face. With a roll of her eyes, she continued to watch Los Angeles fly by her, welcoming the breeze from her open window.

The group of five had reached their hotel shortly after and got showered and changed. They had two adjoining hotel rooms, one for the girls and the other for the boys. Each one held two beds, a small table for two, and a bathroom. Clothes already littered the room from Trish and Mrs. Moon trying to find new outfits.

"Knock knock!" Austin said from their side of the door. Ally opened the adjoining door and the boys walked in leisurely.

"Ready for lunch?" Mrs. Moon asked the group as she put on new earrings. The four teenagers nodded and they made their way to the restaurant on the first floor.

Theodore Adams had e-mailed Trish during the week, wanting to arrange a lunch for all of them. Ally knew how big this entire trip was for Austin; after all, the president of a record company doesn't have personal interaction with every one of their clients. Yet she couldn't stop the sinking feeling in her stomach as they approached the restaurant. She knew that something just didn't add up.

"Mrs. Moon, thank you for bringing your son and the rest of Team Austin to LA for the weekend," Theodore Adams said as he stood from his seat at the table. He gently grabbed the blonde woman's hand and kissed her knuckles before nodding at the rest of the group. His eyes landed on Ally. "Ms. Dawson, I didn't know that you were going to be coming on the trip as well," he said.

Ally couldn't help the shiver that went down her spine. Thankfully no one else noticed this but she just didn't trust the man. Austin opened his mouth to speak, the confused expression on his face. His eyes locked with Ally and she just shook her head. It wasn't worth it.

"Please, sit down everyone," the Thrills Records president said. The group made each took a seat at the round table, Mrs. Moon beside Theodore and Austin beside her. The singer insisted on his songwriter sitting beside him because she's one of the most important people at the table. He wouldn't even have this chance if it wasn't for him. Trish sat beside her best friend and Dez happily sat between Trish and Theodore.

The table was silent for a moment and Ally awkwardly grasped her menu. She didn't know what to order. If she ordered a low priced meal, would Theodore think she was being cheap? Then again, she couldn't very well afford the rest of the items on the menu.

"Order whatever you would like, it's on me," he said. Ally quickly glanced at her friends before back at her menu. Everything here was so expensive. What if she ordered a more expensive meal and Theodore thought she was just trying to get the most out of his money? She had been so consumed by her thoughts that she didn't notice the waitress asking for their drink orders and Ally was relieved when her Pepsi showed up in front of her.

"Thank you," she whispered to Austin, realizing he was the one that ordered it for her. He was the only person that actually knew her favorite drink. The blond shrugged and gave her his signature smile before his eyes landed on their waitress who had gathered almost everyone's orders.

"I'll have the lobster," Austin said with a smile, politely handing the woman the menu.

"I'll have the same," Ally spoke, so quietly that Austin had to repeat what she had said so the waitress could catch it.

Theodore Adams folded his hands in front of him and looked directly at Austin. "Thank you for joining me in LA. I wish to personally get your career rolling immediately." A wide smile graced the singer's features.

"It was no problem, Mr. Adams," he responded enthusiastically.

"Now, have you thought anymore about moving to LA?"

"Moving to LA?" Austin asked, his eyebrows knit in confusion. "Why would I move to LA?" Theodore's laugh roared and Ally shared a nervous look with Trish.

"Why wouldn't you move to LA?" the record label president responded. "We can't have you recording songs in Florida! Los Angeles is one of the best places for your career at this point."

The silence that fell over the table was unlike any before. Austin gulped and looked from his mother, to his best friends, to Theodore.

"I think I'm going to need a few more days to think about that," Austin finally said, the food arriving once he finished speaking.

The lobster, though expensive, didn't taste as good as Ally had hoped it would. Maybe it was just due to her high expectations of the fancy restaurant. But she couldn't fool herself; she knew that the recent conversation had just ruined her mood. Her brown eyes traveled to Dez and Trish who were silently arguing about something insignificant it seemed. If Austin moved to Los Angeles, where would that leave the rest of Team Austin?

Oh my gosh, I am so sorry. I am such a horrible author. I'm sorry. I honestly have no excuse so feel free to yell at me.

And I'm sorry this chapter is kind of short and not that great. But obviously, there's some trouble brewing for Team Austin!

Big, big, BIG thanks to everyone who reviewed, favorited, added this to alerts, or even is a silent reader. I really just want to thank you all! I love getting e-mails from fanfiction telling me that something of mine got added to alerts, got favorited, or even got a review! I love reading what you all say! And I would really appreciate some critism to improve my writing and whatnot. But seriously, I want to hear your opinions about my story so far! Did you love a certain part more than others? Did you hate a part? I love hearing all your thoughts!

And OH MY GOSH! 68 REVIEWS? WHAT? HOW? I really appreciate the fact that some of you guys review after every chapter. It makes me feel so special that you care enough to do that every time. I LOVE YOU GUYS! :D

Review responses (thank you all so much for reviewing!);;

Bubblelina15: Yes! And as you can see, she kind of has every right to. Things are about to get crazy!

ctiger: Hm... Will he or won't he? Or will he try his best to? All these questions! And I'm almost one hundred percent certain that there'll be some major Auslly moments in the next chapter! ;D

jazzmonkey: I am SO SORRY that my update is practically a month later. I am so so so sorry! But aw, I liked writing her finding out about who he liked too! I feel like she's got that girl intuition. Things will get very, VERY interesting soon!

squirtlepokemon215: Hahaha your reviews always make me laugh and smile! I feel like if Tilly and Dallas got together, it'd at first probably be to get Austin and/or Ally back/jealous and then they'd fall in love. But they seem to make a very interesting pair! I'm glad you love it so far! YAY! :D

shimmeringbubbles: Oh my gosh, you are too sweet. I don't think I'm that good but thank you so much! I really appreciate your review! It made me smile so much! :D

Taylors sister: Yes, she kind of is but is really in deep denial. I saw that you reviewed on almost every chapter! Thank you so much for that! It made me so happy! I cannot wait to hear more from you!

Seriously, you guys are the best. I love you all! I cannot thank you enough.

Until next time... :)