i hope you guys liked the last chapter, and so here's another! haha i just remembered that disclaimer

Disclaimer: no.

i guess ill just have to put that on the last what? 25 chapters?

oh and im sorry about the weirdtext thingy that went on.i deleted it,but if you guys stillhave problems, just contact me like Chloeauslly- thanks girl!and im glad you like my story!

Ally's House

"So he just left?" curls bounced as the girl shook her head in disbelief.

Ally lied back down on the hammock, staring up at the shading leaves, protecting her from the sun's glare. She sighed. "Well, no. He said he had somewhere to be, and he left in a rush."

Trish contemplated this. "Cryptic."

Ally shut her eyes. Austin was always the problem, wasn't he? "You know, I thought that since Elliot asked me on a date, everything would start to get normal again and heal or something stupid like that." The brunette furrowed her brows. "But I cannot stand to be happy when Austin is going through something horrible."

Her friend listened, worried. Ally sounded like she was going to do something. There was no need to add more drama. Especially when Ally didn't know.

Ally opened her eyes, maybe expecting to find a solution in the clouds. Of course, she found none. Frustrated, she vented, "I just wish I could help. I wish he could tell me. I wish I could make it all go away. I wish…" Ally bit her lip, the situation swimming before her. "I wish this didn't have to be so hard."

"I know, Ally," Trish comforted softly. She winced at what she was about to say next. "But you should know something."

Ally didn't show any signs of listening, but she was. Her body was motionless as Trish said, "Austin asked Keira to be his girlfriend."

"Oh."

It was funny how devoid of emotion she seemed, and yet was able to pack so much into one simple utterance.

Keira and Austin spent the rest of the day together.

Dez went home, devising a plan.

Trish wanted to stay over at Ally's that night, but Ally insisted she was okay.

The reality was she wanted to be alone. She was distraught, confused, and unfazed all at the same time. Staring at her phone screen, she wandered through Pandora , and then through her messages. She read through her texts with Austin, laughing and cooing and tearing up. She then went through her texts with Elliot – just a simple comparison. She chuckled and cooed at them. She scrolled down to see if she felt like reading anyone else's texts when she came to Mark.

They had been chatting and getting along fairly well the past two weeks. They were slowly rebuilding a friendship. Ally liked that – the feeling of healing and second chances. She clicked on his contact, and – what the hey! – called him. She was in that indifferent kind of mood.

He picked up. "Ally?"

"Hey," she started.

"What's up? Is something wrong?" Mark asked anxiously.

Ally grinned. "You're such a worrywart nowadays. What happened to the laid back, feet on the table, hakuna matata Mark?"

He had a crooked grin plastered on his face. "Yeah, whatever." He put his feet on the table for good measure and continued talking. "I have changed a little," he admitted.

"But in a good way," Ally added for her friend.

Mark smiled again. "What is it, Ally? We both know you aren't calling for kicks and giggles."

Her grin faded. "I know," she sighed. "Don't get exasperated or anything, but it's about Austin."

Mark threw his head back, slid his hand down his face and half heartedly slapped it on the table. "Of course it is," he sighed. While Trish had Dez to confide in, Ally had Mark. He had become her guy friend who gave her boy advice. Well not…I mean not boy advice, but um. Boy advice. Austin advice. They talked about Austin mainly, then about dating Elliot, and her two crazy friends, Dez and Trish. And they also talked about soccer and whatever else happened in Mark's life, which wasn't much. Mainly soccer. And soccer. And his horrible parents. But we digress.

"What is it this time?" he asked.

The brunette bit her lip. "It's the same thing really. Always the same thing. It's like…I dunno depression or something. Something he refuses to talk about. Depression is what the internet told me." Ally looked out her window. "I can't stand seeing him like this, and especially not being able to help." She sighed. "I think it's time that I do some snooping, try to get to the bottom of this. What do you think?"

Mark kept quiet a few minutes. "I think…." he said, gathering his thoughts. "I think that you can't talk to him. I think the person he doesn't want to talk to at all about his problem is you."

The brunette sat up. Her doe eyes sprinkled with hurt. "Me?" Her eyebrows furrowed into her forehead. "Why me?" she asked, incredulous.

"Hey, don't shoot the messenger, but come on. It hasn't occurred to you?"

Ally gulped. "What?"

The black haired boy sighed. "I know this isn't what you wanna hear, but Austin doesn't want to talk to you about this. For whatever reason."

"What?" she gasped. There was never a thing that Austin didn't tell Ally. Never a thing she didn't tell him. Except for the past two months. There was so much that they weren't saying to each other.

"Okay. So this is like one of the only secrets he's ever kept from you for this long, right?"

"Mhmm."

"And he refuses to talk about it with you, but he'll talk about it with Dez, right?"

"Yeah, I see them whispering all the time."

"He doesn't want you to know about it, because, for some reason, you're either involved, or you'll get involved, or you'll be affected by it, or maybe all three," Mark finished, sounding pleased with himself for coming to this conclusion.

Ally sat there a moment. "So he's doing this 'for my own good'?" she asked.

"Yes."

She made a snorting sound. "It's too late! I'm already involved! I'm his best friend, for crying out loud!" she angrily raised her voice. "Mark, we're getting to the bottom of this!" she cried, as a powerful index finger punctured the air.

He scratched his head. "How do you suppose you're gonna do that?" he asked, dreading the answer.

"Um, you of course," she said a matter-of-fact like.

The one time I'm a genius…

He ran his hand down his face.

Sunday

Trish had gussed Ally up again for another date. It wasn't some movie and a lounging bite at Mini's thing. No, it was important.

"He's totally gonna ask you to be his girlfriend!" Trish squealed in excitement.

The brunette smiled lovingly at her best friend's enthusiasm. "Maybe," was all she said as Trish turned her to the mirror.

Ally appraised herself. She was wearing a black, lacy dress. It hugged her thin body all the way down to her knees. There were slight short sleeves attached. The front was cut in a suggestive, narrow V neck that plunged all the way down to the middle of her cleavage. The back was cut into a V, up to her butt, with the openness spread over with swirly laced designs. The whole thing was simple and sophisticated, yet sexy. She wore simple black pumps and stringy, elegant, gold earrings. Her necklace was gold and had a simple isosceles triangle floating on it, point facing down. Her hair was styled in big curls to the side, and her eyeliner looked bold. Her cheekbones stuck out and her lipstick was a deep, almost dark red.

"Are you sure it's not too…too much?" Ally asked, anxious.

Trish looked at her defiantly. "He said fancy, and fancy is what he's gonna get."

The dazzling brunette laughed. "I love you, Trish!" They commenced hugging. "Thank you for all this…again," she smiled.

"You're welcome…again!" her best friend giggled. She flipped her curls. "I know, I know – I'm like the best person in the world…"

"I wasn't going to sa – "

"…but you don't have to say it. It's all right," she said, quite humbly. "I know how great I am."

Ally pulled back from the hug, gave her a look, and hugged her again. Once they broke off the hug, Ally looked in the mirror again. "Are you sure it's not too much?" she asked, turning and twisting to see every aspect of the dress.

"Honey, I was gonna go for leopard print and five inch heels," Trish scoffed.

Ally twirled once more. "I just look so…grown up," she said, a bit astonished at the image before her.

"Well, you and Elliot are going to a high end place. It's gonna be a bunch of old people there," Trish explained. Elliot was even wearing a nice suit. The short girl squealed again. "He's putting so much effort into this date. He's gonna ask you out!" Trish was studying Ally's response intensely beneath her mile wide smile.

The end of Ally's lips formed an unmistakable smile as she stared at the woman in the mirror. The woman looked proud, sophisticated, and gorgeous. But the shy girl behind her examined the woman and couldn't help but try to look for something that simply wasn't there.

Her smile never reached her eyes.

so well i know trish is confusing right now. she's on ally's side. which means shes going to do what ally wants, meaning she's going to compare how she looks like she feels with austin and also with elliot,compare, and then push whichever two together. shes not telling dez this, and dez already assumes shes rooting for austin, cause hes such an auslly shipper.

but yeah i guess i should put that in my next chapter because having to explain my own story is just sad.

if you guys have any questions, critiques, sparkling encouragements of admiration for my story (wink,wink) then pretty please review!
and thank you to SassyRaptor and PrincessVenture for all the support! thanks guys!