Hey! :) So I know this chapter is a little later than expected and I'm really sorry for that. I've just started college so things have been a little hectic but hopefully things have smoothed themselves out now :) I hope you enjoy the chapter, it's the longest one so far. Fun fact: It is also the first chapter in a long while to include Ally (Yes, she's back!). This chapter should start to get things back in motion so be prepared for the next couple of chapters! :) Let me know what you think :) Roughly, sixty five percent of this chapter is Austin, and the other thirty five is Ally, just so you know :) THANK YOU for all your reviews, follows and favourites by the way!

Also, just a heads up, Sean is Echo's older brother. I went over the chapter and realised I'd mentioned him but didn't say who he was but talking about his character in more than just passing didn't make sense.

Disclaimer: I own nothing, with the exception of Chase and Echo, etc.

"And even when it hurts the most, try to have a little hope that someone's gonna be there when you don't."

It was like the entire world had just frozen around him. No longer could he hear the steady sound of Echo's clock ticking atop her desk, or the melodic chirp of the bird just beyond the window; to Austin everything had stopped. That is until he received a rather powerful punch to his shoulder.

Austin yelped in surprise, his hands flying up to guard his now throbbing arm.

Echo merely shrugged, clearly unapologetic for not only injuring the blond heartthrob but also for sending him into near cardiac arrest. "What?"

"Chase is your brother?" Austin choked out. Yes, he barely knew Echo but she seemed alright and it was strange to have to associate her with the devil in disguise.

Echo's face soured, her lips curving in disgust as her eyes narrowed dangerously. "No, he is not my brother," The brunette snapped, bringing her legs to her chest before wrapping her arms tightly around her knobbly knees. "He's by step-brother, nothing more."

"You're still related," Austin hissed. "And you didn't tell me! You lied to me." His mind was running at a mile a minute; he almost wished he could put this kind of energy into his schoolwork (almost).

"I didn't lie to you!" Echo insisted. "I just - I didn't want you to know, okay?" Though her voice had started out powerful, the strength behind it was beginning to waver and no longer were her dark eyes watching Austin. "I wanted to help you with Ally, I still do. I saw you in that cafeteria today and though you may not see me, not many people do... I know enough about you to know that you really like this girl."

Austin scoffed. "Likely story. I bet you just dragged me here to keep me away from Ally while Chase makes his move! Hmm? Isn't that how it goes? Blood being thicker than water or something."

"He's not my blood!" Echo lashed out harshly, her hands balling into tightly squeezed fists. "I'm not doing this for Chase... not exactly."

"Then why don't you explain to me what the fuck is going on?!" Austin demanded. Though he'd been in his fair share of arguments he'd never flared up at anyone like this before; he was sure that if he were to look in a mirror his face would be a violent shade of red and his eyes would be reduced to tiny slits. "Because I sure as hell don't know."

If Austin expected Echo to cower in fear at his screeching, he was wrong. Echo merely glared back at him, her hands clenched so tightly that her knuckles were white. "Can you please," Her voice cracked, her tone pleading. "Just drop it? I want to help you, isn't that enough?"

"No, it's not enough!" Austin said, jumping up from his spot at the end of the bed and proceeding to pace back and forth in front of the door. "It's not enough because you've crossed enemy lines. How do I know you're not just messing with me to get me out of the picture for Chase?"

"I want Chase and Ally together about as much as I want to see socks with sandals become the next big fashion statement," Echo huffed, her lips pursed. "They aren't right for each other anyone with eyes can see that."

"That doesn't explain why you'd want to help me," Austin stressed, pausing his pacing for only a moment so as to wave his had manically for dramatic effect. "You barely know me, we've never talked and you're Chase's sister, which you conveniently managed to overlook in luring me here."

"For the last fucking time you jerk, Chase and I are not related!" Echo growled, storming to her feet and coming face to face with Austin; he'd be a fool to say it aloud but Austin couldn't help but compare her to an angry bear. "The only thing that connects Chase and I is a pointless piece of paper declaring our dad's as 'partners' that's it! That's fucking it, okay? And it's people like you that make this so damn difficult because you're so small minded. It's why my dad goes through so much fucking shit that he shouldn't have to deal with. It's why I'm so fucking scared of -" and then she cut herself of, her hand flying up to cover her lips. Eyes wide and frightened, Echo took a step back as if trying to reverse the events that had just played out.

Austin's mouth was slightly agape. Though he was nowhere near pleased with Echo's decision to keep her connection to Chase a secret, he couldn't help but want to reach out for her; he wanted to place his hand on her shoulder, like he often did for Dez, and tell her that it was okay and that she didn't need to be afraid... but what was she afraid of?

"Scared of what?" Austin asked, his voice soft like silk. He took a cautious step forward, his hand outstretched as he moved towards the quivering teenager before him.

Echo shook her head, the motion sending her hair falling into her face and shielding her terrified eyes from Austin's own curious ones. It was strange to see her like this; they had met mere hours ago and the entire time Echo had worn the mask of a strong, fearless woman who wasn't about to take anyone's crap but now the facade had ended and instead there stood a shaking mess of a girl.

"Echo," Austin tried again. He wasn't sure what to say exactly, he hadn't had to deal with anything like this from either Ally or Trish. If Trish was upset then Ally usually took care of it and if Ally was upset it didn't take much of an effort on Austin's part to get her to open up to him. Echo was different; he knew nothing of her, other than her incredible artistic prowess, and so he had no idea how to break down the walls she had built up - the currently crumbling walls.

"Don't," Echo squeaked, attempting to back up further, only to be halted by the edge of the bed pressing against the back of her knees. "Please, just... don't. I'm sorry - I shouldn't have... forget I said anything."

"I can't help you if you push me away," Austin said gently. He had to be careful not to press too much or else he might run the risk of scaring her off for good; for someone that had earlier resembled an irate bear, Echo was now edging closer to the terrified bunny category. "You said you wanted to help me, yeah? Well you can, just let me help you first."

He couldn't be certain but Austin was certain the next sound that came out of Echo's mouth was a strangled sob. "You can't," She snivelled. "No one can help me - I'm so fucked up!" The anger was returning and Echo reaching out to fling a handful of coloured pencils across the room was evidence enough of that.

"Why? Why are you fucked up?" Austin said, treading lightly. Though he was slowly making his way towards Echo, he was careful to keep a watchful eye on her hands which were currently searching for further things to throw.

Much to Austin's relief, Echo's hands did not claim another set of perfectly sharpened pencils but instead moved up to rub at her now puffy face. Her mouth moved as if she were about to answer but instead Echo shook her head before dropping to the ground and slotting herself into the narrow space between the foot of the bed and her desk.

Seeing the silence as an opportunity to be taken advantage of, Austin moved with catlike agility to Echo's side; unlike Echo, he had a great deal more difficulty tucking himself into the gap being that he was twice Echo's size, however, he knew better than to complain and so arranged himself without a word.

"It pisses me off that people think they know shit about these things when they don't," Echo began and although Austin was entirely clueless to what she was talking about he let her go on. "Like, my dad has been through some real shit because of who he is and he's dealt with even more shit because my mom is... a cunt," Austin tried not to wince at the word. "but even he wouldn't get it. He'd go fucking nuts if he knew... and maybe I don't care what other people think but I care what he thinks, you know?"

No, Austin didn't know. Frankly, he was maybe more confused than he had ever been in his life but Echo was opening up to him and it didn't take a genius to work out that he was possibly the first person she'd opened up to in a while.

"You see people all over the place, online, on TV, on the radio, you name it and it's probably there, you hear them talking about how it doesn't matter who you are and that you can love anyone you want to love, regardless of your gender. That it's not bad to fall in love because it's something that we can't stop... but I wish I could. I wish I could just make it stop," Echo stared at her hands, flexing them repeatedly in her lap.

"Why?" Austin asked, his voice softer than he had ever thought possible. "Why do you hate love so much?"

"Because it's a really fucked up concept," Echo snorted, though it came out as more of a hiccough. "I watched my mom burn the heart out of my dad. For as long as I can remember he'd always been the one to take care of me and my brother while my mom ran around doing whatever the fuck it is she did. I don't even remember her, Sean does but he doesn't like to talk about her much... I just know that whatever my dad did it was never good enough for my mom and then she went and got herself thrown into jail and -"

"What?" Austin gaped, the words tumbling out of his mouth before he could stop them.

Echo blinked, her body jostling slightly at the sound of Austin's voice in her ear. "I told you she was a cun- not a very nice person," Echo corrected, apparently having noticed Austin's discomfort at the word. "I don't know what she did, dad doesn't like to talk about her and Sean still maintains that I'm 'too young' to get involved. It couldn't have been that bad though, she was out again soon enough and fucking with my dad's heart all over again."

"So how did he meet... Stan?" Austin said, guessing at the name of her step-father; perhaps she had already mentioned it but the blond had been far too caught up in the Chase bombshell to take much notice at the time.

"Steve," Echo corrected with a roll of her unfortunately puffy eyes. "A little while after my mom's jailbird stint she ran off with some guy. I don't know his name but I know he's got enough money to bail my mom out whenever she needs it. Last I heard she'd turned things around quite a bit; got married, popped out some more kids, vacation home in the south of France. " She waved her hand airily as though the details didn't matter. "She's not interested in Sean and I though, and we're not interested in her so it works out. After she left though my dad was pretty fucked up, he still did his best to take care of Sean and I, and he always had a smile on his face while he was doing it but... he wasn't happy. Then, one day, out of the blue, he was happy again."

"I take it that was right around the time he met Steve?" Austin offered, his mind still working frantically to put the pieces of the puzzle together; things still weren't adding up. Was Echo purposely deflecting from her own issues by distracting him with some story about her dad?

"Bingo!" Echo grinned, though the smile didn't quite reach her eyes. "He had joined some single fathers group thing at the community centre downtown and he met Steve through that. I don't know all the ins and outs of it, and honestly I don't want to," She let out an exaggerated shudder. "But long story short, Steve made my dad seriously happy..."

There was a pause as Echo trailed off and the heavy feeling in Austin's stomach told him that they were beginning to edge towards the root of the problem. "And you're not happy about that?"

"What?" Echo said, snapping out of her quiet daze. "No, I was I just... Look, my dad and Steve go through a lot of shit just because of who they are. Sure, things are a hell of a lot better than they could be and most people understand or just don't give a fuck either way but then there are some people... they aren't quite as accepting and if they don't accept my dad then why would anyone ever accept me?"

Austin licked his lips uncomfortably; it was a trait he had picked up long ago for when he was unsure of how to approach an issue. "I don't... I don't get it. Like, I get where you're coming from with the other people thing but you mentioned earlier your dad wouldn't accept you and if you're gay then surely your dad, of all people, would be okay with that?"

Echo snorted; her voice thick with phlegm and despite their red rim there was a hint of amusement sparkling in her eyes. "You think I'm gay?"

"Well, aren't you?" Austin asked, feeling both confused and embarrassed. "After everything you said, I just kinda assumed..."

"You should never assume anything, 'cause when you do you make an 'ass' out of 'u' and 'me'," Echo replied, the corners of her lips twitching skyward ever so slightly. "I'm not gay, Austin."

"Then what are you so worked up about?" Austin frowned, the crease between his eyebrows deepening in the process. "You're not into like animals or something, right? Because I could kinda understand why people might think that's weird."

"No, I'm not into animals!" Echo snapped, shoving Austin playfully in disapproval. "That's bestiality and I'm pretty sure that's illegal."

"I was kidding," Austin said, only lying a little bit. He hadn't thought Echo would be into animals that way but he had also only moments ago accused her of being gay, so he supposed there was a slight chance he could have been wrong (thankfully he was not).

"Geez, what is it with people and making disgusting jokes about sex with animals?" Echo shook her head, looking up at Austin in mock repulsion. "Bestiality is never a laughing matter. Unless, of course, you're fucking a hyena."

Austin barked out a laugh, momentarily forgetting the reason they were sat on the floor, squashed between the bed and desk. "Okay, fair enough. So now we've established that you're not gay or crushing on any animals, do you want to tell me what's bugging you so much? You're helping me with Ally, and it wouldn't be fair if I didn't do the same for you."

For a moment Echo didn't answer and Austin found himself instantly regretting his decision to bring the topic back up. However, if his friends had taught him anything, it was that ignoring a problem was never the answer for it often made things worse. Even though he knew it may be hard for Echo and there was every possibility she would cry and get snot all over his shirt, Austin had to do the right thing.

Finally, the brunette answered. "I like Chase."

Austin blinked. Due to his immense dislike for the boy, the blond was unsure how to reply and so merely nodded in response, gesturing to Echo to continue.

"As in like him like him," Echo's face had scrunched up, distorting her baby-faced features so that she resembled a displeased child. "I have for a while."

Austin hummed in thought. "Well, it could be worse. You could have fallen for your step-father, imagine how awkward that would be?"

"Would you be serious?" Echo glared, pinching the skin of Austin's forearm between her thumb and index finger. "People aren't supposed to fall for their step-siblings. It's weird."

"Not necessarily," Austin bit his lip, wondering how to best tackle the situation. "It's not like you're actually related or anything... and you're both gonna be heading off to college soon anyway so it's not like your parents could stop you."

"Okay, one, two years is not soon and we could end up on opposite sides of the country," Echo argued, throwing her arms up in exasperation. "Two, you're talking as if he likes me, which he doesn't. He's into Ally."

At this Austin found himself frowning alongside his new friend. "Oh."

"However," Echo began, the corners of her lips beginning to curve upwards in a telltale smirk. "That's the whole reason I invited you over here in the first place. If we can get Ally to forget Chase and Chase to forget Ally, then both of us might actually stand a chance at getting what we want. "

"Five minutes ago you were freaking out about how your parents would reacting to the idea of you having a crush on Chase, and now you're talking about actually going for it and asking the guy out?" Austin said skeptically. Though he was all for winning Ally back, Austin wasn't sure he approved of Echo taking a chance on Chase; the guy was an asshole, Echo didn't deserve to get her heartbroken by him.

The brunette shrugged. "I didn't necessarily mean dating him but at least if he's single things will go back to the way they used to be."

"And that would be?"

Echo huffed. "Chase likes to act like a total big shot but he's not. Sure, he argues with his dad and walks around school like he owns the place but that's about it. As much as he likes to say he's slept with half the female population of our school, he hasn't. A quarter, maybe but the rest just like to act like they have because it makes them seem cool."

"So why does he go along with it?"

"I'm not sure, exactly. I think maybe he's trying to hide from the fact that he's still hurting over the deaths of his mom and sister, ya know? Why else would he still want to stay in their old house? He's not too great at opening up either and for as long as I've known him he's been in total denial of his feelings. He likes to pretend he hasn't got a heart."

"But you think he does?" Austin said, finding it hard to believe that Chase Hardy was not in fact a bad boy extraordinaire but instead a vulnerable dork who apparently liked to play pretend.

"I know he does," Echo smiled softly at whatever memory was washing over her. "He opened up to me. Not to begin with, when we first met I think he hated me just as much as I hated him but we were a similar age so our dads kind of pushed us together... and, over time I guess he got used to me because no matter how hard he pushed I was still there - not that I wanted to be half the time, but my dad insisted."

"Guess that backfired on your dad, huh?" Austin joked lightly. Much to his relief, Echo laughed.

"A little, yeah... I tried pushing him away in return but he didn't like that very much. If I pushed him away he always came back, like a needy puppy. That's when he opened up to me..." The fond look in Echo's eyes vanished suddenly, as though someone had just poured ice water over her body, destroying any ounce of warmth in its wake. "He was my first kiss."

If Austin had been drinking and if he had any idea of comedic timing, he would have done a spit take. "What?" He spluttered, his eyes wide with surprise. "I thought you said he didn't like you."

Echo shrugged, her expression forlorn. "Kissing is just kissing, it means nothing... at least, that's what Chase told me."

"So why do you still like that jerk?" Austin snapped, unable to wrap his mind around Echo's thought process. He felt his stomach drop to his toes as he realised the implication of what Echo had just said; if kissing meant nothing to Chase and if he didn't do 'feeling's, then what the fuck was he doing with Ally?

"I can't explain it," Echo said helplessly. "He's a jerk but... I know that deep down there's a good guy in him. I've seen it but he gets scared and then this douchey side of him comes out again. He kissed me, you know? I never would have had the balls to do that but he did but he got scared and after that things haven't been right between us. He's been avoiding me, he hardly ever shows up for dinner anymore and as you know, he's been a total asshole to Ally."

Austin frowned, still finding Echo's story hard to swallow. If it weren't for the sincerity to her voice or her mild, if somewhat uncalled for, break down earlier, he wouldn't have believed her. "Okay, so what's the plan?"

Echo beamed. "Really? You're in?"

"I don't trust Chase but maybe you're right and the guy I see is just the jerk he pretends to be to keep people out, so yeah, I'm in. If it means getting Ally back I'll do anything, and if it makes you happy along the way then that's just a bonus," At the indication Echo's smile might grow larger Austin held up a hand to pause her. "But, if Chase really is a douche then I won't let you make a move on him, okay? Friends don't let friends get hurt."

"Friends?" Echo said in disbelief, her eyes wistful at the mention of the pair being friends. Without warning the girl threw her arms open and enveloped Austin in a tight, yes somewhat awkward, hug. It ended quickly. "Don't tell anyone about that."

Austin coughed uncomfortably. "Didn't plan to."

"Good, I don't need people thinking I have cooties now," Echo teased, punching Austin lightly in the arm. "Now, here's what we're going to do..."

Ally stared at the phone in her hand, rolling it over repeatedly in her palm as she silently dared it to ring or vibrate or do anything except lie limp before her.

"Honey, didn't I ever teach you that a watched phone never rings?" Lester Dawson said, glancing at his daughter with concerned eyes as he passed her by to make it to the sink.

"What?" Ally blinked, unaware that her father was in the room much less talking to her. "I'm sorry dad, I just..." She trailed off, not knowing how to explain the direness of the situation.

"Seem a bit distracted?" Lester finished for her, as he rinsed his empty cereal bowl under the faucet before reaching for a cloth to dry it. "Ally, I know I'm not your mom or anything but you know you can come to me whenever you have a problem, right?"

Ally nodded, not wanting her dad to think she didn't think he was as good as her mom. "No, I know that."

"Good," He smiled warmly, leaning back against the kitchen cabinets. He wasn't planning on pushing Ally to talk, he'd flicked through enough parenting magazines and been lectured numerous times by his ex-wife, to know that if he pushed too hard Ally might just shut off altogether. Instead, he merely stood back and waited for her to broach the topic on her own. "It's like that song you and Austin wrote, you remember the one I'm talking about, right? If you wanna cry, I'll be your shoulder. If you wanna laugh, I'll be your smile. If you wanna -"

Though she appreciated his efforts, and despite the fact that she almost cracked a smile at Lester's off key singing, Ally found herself unable to fall into the comfort her father was offering. "Yeah..."

Lester sighed; he wasn't used to seeing his daughter this upset. "Are you sure there's nothing you want to talk about?" He asked, hoping that the young brunette would open up. He may not be as good as his ex-wife when it came to this kind of thing but Lester liked to think he wasn't all bad.

After one last glance at her myPhone, Ally relented."Trish, Dez and Austin aren't talking to me."

Lester frowned. "Why? What happened?" Though Trish was often unreliable she had never abandoned Ally, and from what he could tell Dez and Austin weren't that way inclined either. "Did you get in a fight?"

"Sort of," Ally said, struggling to explain the situation appropriately; she had very little desire to tell her dad about her endeavours with Chase Hardy. "They're not happy with me because they think I've changed and that I don't want to be their friend anymore."

"Does this have anything to do with the shopping bags that have been littering your bedroom floor for the past couple of days?" Lester raised an knowing eyebrow at her causing an embarrassed blush to spread across Ally's cheeks.

"Yes," She groaned, accepting her defeat. She had to tell him; no one else was going to listen. Ally lay her head down on the granite counter top, her hands pulling at random strands of hair. "I thought... I thought it might get a boy to like me..."

Lester straightened at this, suddenly feeling uncomfortable; perhaps he should have left this to Penny."Oh... but honey, Austin likes you as you are."

"Does everything always have to be about Austin?!" Ally snapped, her head flying up from the counter so that she could shoot the older man a steely glare. Noting the surprise on her father's face, Ally softened. "I'm sorry dad. I just - I'm so tired of everyone automatically assuming that Austin and I like each other when we're just friends."

Lester remained silent, his lips pursed as though to prevent any uncalculated words falling out. "Are you sure about that, Ally?" He asked, his voice hesitant; he really didn't want to get yelled at again.

Though her mouth opened immediately, answer prepared no doubt, Ally was quick to shut it again. "Well... I mean, I did... I guess. He's my best friend though, and my partner, I didn't want to ruin that. So, I never said anything, and then Chase came along and -"

"Chase?" Lester frowned. Perhaps it was wrong of him to feel pleased that Ally only had three friends in the world but truthfully it was a comfort to know that she had three friends she could count on no matter what, as opposed to a hundred friends who could drop her at a moment's notice. So, the mention of this 'Chase' boy really threw Lester through a loop. "Who's Chase?"

Ally felt her cheeks heat under the inquiry; if possible her face was redder now than it had been even after the Helen Show fiasco. "Um... well, you see... He's a friend, a very good friend, that I, uh... met in detention..."

Lester's jaw dropped. He had known his daughter had been subject to a detention; she'd mentioned that part to him before, but she'd never mentioned a boy. "Okay and you like Chase?"

Ally bit her lip, unsure of how to answer. Finally, she nodded. "Yeah, a little."

"And you don't like Austin anymore?"

This time Ally wasn't so quick to reply, and as Lester had expected, her hand moved slowly to a lock of her hair before bringing it to her mouth. "Um..."

Lester smirked to himself. He knew his daughter well enough to know that she most definitely had feelings for Austin, and it didn't matter who else came along because Austin was there first. However, just because Lester knew of Austin's importance to Ally, that didn't necessarily mean Ally did. "Well?"

"I don't know," Ally huffed, ripping her hair from her mouth, wincing in pain as thin strands got caught in her teeth. "I didn't think I did but now he's ignoring me and sure, we argued but I wish I could go back and change that because I hate arguing with him. I miss him."

Lester nodded, tucking his hands into his pockets in an attempt to stop himself from throwing his arm up in triumph. "Right, and what did you argue about? Is it the same thing you argued about with Trish and Dez? Was it Chase?"

"Sort of. Trish is mad at me because she doesn't like that I'm changing because of a guy, but what does Trish know, right? I'm growing up, maybe I'm just evolving as a person," Ally defended, folding her arms over her chest and holding her chin high in the air. "A person that likes to wear fishnet tights and heavy boots..."

"Of course," Lester said, though he didn't believe a word she was saying. Never in her life had Ally been remotely interested in outfits like that. Even when she had been what Austin had once referred to as a 'drizzle of darkness', Ally had still worn bright, girly clothes. "And Dez?"

"No, I think he's just mad at me because Trish is mad at me, you know? I saw them heading into Austin's house the night we argued... that hurt. I wasn't invited so it was pretty clear then that they were all mad at me," Ally frowned, glaring at the dark pattern of the kitchen counter top.

"But you're growing up, right?" Lester prodded, silently hoping he was going in the right direction with this. "Surely, you're not upset that your friends had a sleepover without you?"

"Of course I am!" Ally said, her voice raising several octaves. "This was, like, the day before the clothing thing so I don't even know what I did wrong for them all to ditch me... well, okay, maybe they weren't happy that I bailed on the football game and Austin might have still been mad because of what happened in the janitor's closet -"

"The janitor's closet?!" Lester exclaimed, his mind reeling. He had been a teenager once and he knew exactly what happened inside janitor's closets and it had nothing to do with keeping the school clean.

"It wasn't like that, dad," Ally insisted, though she hoped the heat that rose on her cheeks was not too pronounced as she recollected how close she and Austin had actually been inside that closet. "We just argued, it was stupid... I just wish I could make things right again, you know?"

"And why can't you?"

"Because I've messed up so badly," The brunette admitted; it was quite the feat for someone who rarely owned up to being wrong. "Like I said, they're all ignoring me... they even got together to put on a pep rally earlier, without me... Apparently Austin was going to debut a new song and if that's true then he's obviously got a new partner," The hurt was evident in Ally's voice as she rubbed her eyes with the back of her hands, a valiant effort to hide her tears. "I lost all my friends because I made a new one."

"I'm not sure this is about friends anymore, sweetheart," Lester said softly, reaching across the kitchen island to place a comforting hand in his daughter's hair.

At his touch Ally let her tears fall freely, her chest heaving as she released ugly sobs of despair. "Wh-wh-What d'you mean?"

"Well, sure, the Trish and Dez parts are down to your friendships, but Austin... Honey, you already admitted that you have a crush on Chase and would I be wrong to assume that Chase maybe likes you too?"

"I don't know!" She wailed, her eyes burning as she furiously wiped her tears away. ""We kissed a couple of times," Later she would feel embarrassed at having confessed such sordid details to her father but in the moment she was too broken up to care. "But he doesn't do relationships like that and he says he doesn't want to hurt me. Plus he keeps bringing up Austin every time something like that happens but I already told him that there's nothing going on between Austin and I."

Lester snorted though he was quick to disguise it as a cough. "Right... Well, have you ever thought that maybe Chase wasn't wrong when he thought there was more than meets the eye to your relationship with Austin? You two are rather close."

"So? Can't guys and girls just be friends? No one ever accuses me of wanting to date Dez but because it's Austin something has to be going on," Ally said in exasperation, her tears becoming less hurt filled and more angry. "We're just friends! Whatever I used to feel or - whatever, for Austin, it was unrequited anyway."

Lester sighed. If he didn't say it, who would? "Are you sure about that?"

"What?" Ally snivelled, her voice low and raspy. "Of course I'm sure. Austin has never said anything to me like that... He just sees me as a friend. Sure, he doesn't like Chase but that doesn't mean anything. Trish and Dez don't like him either."

Lester nodded, resigned to the fact that he might not be getting anywhere with this today. "Okay."

"I just... I messed up so badly, daddy," Ally cried, her head falling into her hands as she relinquished all her dignity and sobbed loudly into the long sleeves of a sweater Austin had loaned her once; the damn thing smelt just like him, summery and breezy. "I miss them. I miss Trish, I miss Dez and I really, really, really miss Austin."

"I know you do sweetie, I know," Lester said quietly, his voice soft and soothing like it had been when she was a child and afraid of the monsters under the bed. He moved quickly around the island before wrapping his arms around his daughter, engulfing her small frame entirely. "It'll be okay, I promise."