Should I Trust Him? (Austin Moon Fan Fiction)

Chapter Ten

Two weeks after the competition, I came home from California and arrived at Sonic Boom early that Monday morning. I was grateful that Ally's dad was fine with me taking a few weeks to go back home for some personal reasons, but I just hope that Ally hadn't told him anything about why. Yes, I wanted to run away for a little while, but once I got home, I realized how homesick I was already. It was nice to see my mom, too, though she seemed to quickly remind me of why I had left in the first place. I tried to push aside the thoughts of my mess of a mom and focus on work, but it was hard.

"Hey Hailey! I'm so glad you're back." Ally rushed to give me a hug, and I smiled as I hugged back.

"Thanks. Sorry for the whole disappearing thing. There was just a lot going on." I was being vague, but the look of pity in her eye quickly made me feel a little worse.

"Not because of the Austin thing," I assured her before she could say anything.

"Well, I'm just glad that you came back. Everyone has been driving me nuts."

I giggled, "Yeah, I bet Dez has been fun to deal with since Isabella and I weren't here to distract him from destroying the store."

"You don't even know the half of it," she murmured gesturing behind her.

Sure enough, there was Dez, who had somehow tangled himself in a harp and some guitars.

"Hailey! You're back!" He raised his hands, both trapped in the strings of two guitars. "Uhh... Can I get a little help please?"

I shook my head, holding back laughter, "Of course, Dez."

After spending about 30 minutes trying to get Dez untangled, we managed to salvage the instruments, thank god. I went back to the counter to help Ally organize a few items when she started to act a little weird.

"Are you good?" I asked as she kept looking up to the entrance of the shop.

"Um.. Yeah. I mean... It's just that Austin is supposed to be here in a little bit so we can work on a song together.." I could tell she was trying to study my reaction, but I just waved her off.

"Everything is fine, Ally. We agreed to be friends and talk later. You don't have to be weird about us or around us." I took a breath. "The last thing I want is to cause any awkwardness in the group. Besides, I knew he would be here today because this is literally where he spends all of his time"

She nodded along, seeming to not know how to take what I said, but it was true. When I hopped on the plane with Isabella, I had text the group chat to let them know I was going back home for a while, and after a few days of ignoring all sorts of questions and texts, I reached out to him. I apologized for practically running away, and told him that I just needed time to deal with everything in my life. He said he understood, apologized for anything he did or said that upset me, then we both agreed to talk whenever I got back and I wasn't busy.

"Okay, well, just let me know if you want me to move up to the practice room or something if you're feeling overwhelmed or anything."

"I'm fine, Ally. Really." I offered her a smile that she returned.

A few moments later, Austin walked through the entrance, slowing when he saw me.

"Hey," he said nervously.

"Hey," I responded.

A beat skipped before Ally ushered Austin off to the piano, her songbook already propped up on the music stand ready for them to get to work. I filled my time with little tasks, trying not to focus too much on them, but it was hard not to watch their process. I admired Ally for being so gifted musically, whether it was playing any instrument, singing, or writing songs. One could only dream of being so talented.