Forever and Always

Chapter 19

She had been home for over a month now, her and Ronnie still not talking. He tried, he called her over and over when he first got home, even showed up at Matt's a couple times. She refused to talk to him each time. She needed to move on from him once and for all, let him be with his new family.

It had been confirmed that Amber's baby was his. She was due in two months and Ally was for sure that once the baby got here, he would forget about her and Joey. It was best to just cut all ties, only letting Joey see Ronnie when Joey asked about him. Usually Matt or Max would meet Ronnie somwhere, dropping Joey off with him. She couldn't bring herself to do it, to see him again.

She went back to work, working as many hours as she could. It was the place where she didn't think about him constantly. Although, every song she picked out to dance to, usually reminded her of him. It was like there was no getting away from him. He was with her everywhere, it was driving her crazy.

When she wasn't at work or taking care of Joey, she was locked away in her room, barely talking to anyone. Matt tried, so did Max, to get her out, to make her laugh, but nothing they did was helping her. She was even considering moving away. She was offered a teaching job at another dance studio in Colorado and she was seriously thinking about accepting it. It paid well and came with an apartment attached. She hadn't told anyone about it, not wanting anyone to try and talk het out of it.

"Ally." She looked up as her door was thrown open and Max stood there looking at her. He walked in and sat on the bed next to her running his hand down the back of her head. They sat there in silence, him holding her hand, hating to see her this way. "I told you this would happen." She shook her head and stood up. "I told you he would leave again, Ally." She looked at Max and chuckled.

"He didn't do anything. I left him." His eyes widened and looked away.

"Why? You loved him so much alienated yourself from me and Matt for him. Why would you leave him?"

"I was scared. Scared that once he found out that baby was his, which it is. He would leave anyway. I couldn't go through that again. The funny thing is, he still calls. Once in the morning and once at night. Leaves me messages that he still loves me and wants me, and I can't bring myself to answer or call him back." She ran a hand through her hair and looked at him. "I miss him so much, Max. You have no idea. I miss his voice, his laugh. I miss his smile and the way he would look at me, the way he was with our son. I ruined it this time, not him." She turned away from him, hating herself for what she did.

"Al, if he's still calling, you can fix this. He obviously still wants to be with you. Talk to him."

"I'm leaving. I got offered a job in Colorado and I'm thinking about taking it." He got up and walked to her.

"Are you serious? You can't leave it like this. Look at you, you can barely function now, without him. How are you going to move that far away and take care of Joey too? You have to talk to him. I know where he's going to be tonight. Their playing a show, get ready, we're going." She looked at him astonished that he would talk to her that way.

"I'm not going anywhere near him. How dare you talk to me like that?" She backed away from him as he stalked closer to her.

"What? You don't like the truth? You barely leave the house, make Matt and I take Joey to him cause you can't bring yourself to see him. He's not good, Ally. Did you know he came home early from that tour, trying to see you but Matt wouldn't let him. Told him you needed time to figure this out on your own. He's barely had any interest in anything since then. You're both miserable. Now get ready. You can shower and change or you're going in your sweats, either way you're going." With that he stormed out and slammed the door behind him.

She took a long, hot shower, purposely taking her time. Max could wait, she didn't want to do this anyway. She got out and dried off, getting dressed and drying her newly cut hair. "Ally." Max knocked lightly on the door before opening it. "We need to go. Derek is the only one who knows we're coming. Our names are on the list." She rolled her eyes as she grabbed her phone. Looking at it she noticed a text message from Ronnie. Max saw it too and before she could clear the notification, he grabbed her phone and looked at the message.

"I love you." Max read the message and handed her back her phone.

"Are you going to text him back?" She shook her head and slipped the phone in her back pocket. "You should. Tell him you love him too." She ignored him as they walked out of the house.

They arrived at the venue after a short ride across town. Her hands shaking the whole way there, not knowing what the hell she was suppose to do once she saw him or what she was suppose to say. Max parked the car and smiled at her as he got out, urging her to do the same. "I will pull you out of this car if you don't get out. And don't think I won't." She knew better than to think that so she climbed out and ran her hands along her jeans. "It's going to be fine, Ally. He's going to go crazy when he sees you." He took hold of her arm as they walked toward the door. The closer she got, the more the butterflies were dancing in her stomach. Funny how this is how it all started for them again, at one of his shows. She listened as Max gave security their names.

Once they were in, they had full access, so they could go wherever they wanted. He tried to go back stage and she shook her head. She couldn't start there. He nodded as they walked toward the crowd, getting as close as they could which was about three rows from the stage. She needed to cage his reaction to her being there before she talked to him.

"We're late so we should have missed the opening bands, they should be up next." She looked around, feeling like she was going to get sick. She couldn't do this, what if he didn't want to see her, what if he was done? Just as she was going to walk away, the lights dimmed and they started walking out, all except Ronnie. He always stayed back till the last possible moment, she just wanted a glimpse of him.

She heard the screams getting louder and as the lights came back up, there he was with a smile on his face. She watched as the music started, missing him even more now that she saw him. Wishing she wasn't such a fool, wishing she would have listened to him. Who was she kidding? Max was right, she couldn't function without him.

She was getting ready to turn and leave, needing some air when their eyes connected. He looked at her, shocked that she was there, but so happy to see her. He had missed her like crazy, everything he loved in his life not having the same meaning since she'd been gone. Hell, even his music had lost meaning without her. He stopped singing, he just stared at her. The music stopped, everyone looking around to see what was going on. Max gripped her arm, knowing that she wanted to flea, but wasn't going to let her.

Ronnie looked at Max, nodding his head toward back stage and Max nodded back. He pulled Ally a long with him as Ronnie talked to the crowd.

"Hey, guys, sorry. I'm having an issue with my ear piece, I can't hear shit out of it. Can you guys please be patient while it gets figured out?" The crowd went crazy and he walked off stage, to Ally. He couldn't get there fast enough, he was almost running in his haste to get to her.

Max walked her back to a room and opened the door, letting her in before shutting the door. She turned around, expecting Max to be there, but she was alone. Her heart started racing as she heard their voices outside the door. Ronnie thanking Max for bringing her here. She was nervous, more nervous then she'd ever been in her whole life.

The door opened and he looked around before his eyes landed on her. He walked further into the room, shutting the door behind him and waited. Waited for her to tell him why she was here. He wanted nothing more then to go to her, take her in his arms and kiss her. But he wasn't going to make this easy for her. He'd called and called her, text her even and she never responded. Now, it was up to her.