Ooh, hi there! Well, before reading, I want to give a shout out to WritingWithReason because she helped me out with this by doing a beta read. :D So, yay! :) And, if you haven't already, you should read some of her fanfics too. Because one, she's an awesome writer(well I did pick her to beta read this, so she has to be good :P), and two, she's just awesome. :D

I hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing! :D …Well, technically, I do own… *looks down* This shirt. And, uh, *looks around room* this room…?

I open up the door to my apartment and throw my phone against the wall. I can hear the screen crack. Then, my phone falls onto the couch, which bounces off of the furniture and onto the floor. For some random reason, it starts to ring. But ignoring the device, I enter my bedroom and collapse on my bed. The covers are wrinkled and the pillow lies upside down on the floor.

I take my hand and wipe my hand down from my forehead to my chin. My eyes close shut tight so that I don't have to look at anything in this cruel, cruel world. Truth is, today has been a crappy day at Starr Records. No – it was more than that; today in general has been a hellish day. It all started this morning.

Earlier This Morning

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

Groaning, I stretched out my hand from under the covers and slammed down the snooze button on my alarm clock. I blinked twice; waiting for my eyes to adjust to the brightness in the room. When I could finally see the time, it said – 11:33 A.M.

Wait. 11:33?! Oh, crap…

I'm late for a recording session today! Not just late by five or ten minutes though. No, I was late by nearly three hours.

I immediately jumped out of bed; throwing up the covers and letting my pillow fall on the floor. Running to the bathroom, I squirted toothpaste – too much that is – on my toothbrush and rapidly brushed my teeth. Then, I flung a handful of water on my face and wiped it off with a towel. Taking a comb, I then brushed through my messed up hair and, well, slightly messed it up again. What? It's how my hair always looks.

Walking into my closet, I randomly picked out an ordinary white V-neck shirt, worn out blue jeans, a black belt, and silver chains. I took off my tank top and pulled the V-neck shirt over my head. Then, I hurriedly put on the jeans over my blue boxers; attaching my belt and chains on them too.

Throwing on a pair of ordinary sneakers, I ignored the thought of eating anything, and grabbed my phone, car keys, and wallet before heading out of my apartment. This was not good. Not good at all.

As I headed out of the building, I noticed that the sky was a dark gray color, signifying a storm approaching. Though, I slightly unheeded the current weather, and opened the car door to my red Ferrari; putting the key hastily into the ignition. I twisted the key to start the car, but it wouldn't. It wouldn't start. Come on, come on…

After about a couple of minutes, I once again groaned in frustration. I instantly got out, and began walking to Starr Records instead. But, I realized that I was wasting more time by walking, so my walk turned into a jog, which turned into a run. While I was running to the studio though, the sky roared with a booming thunder, and a brightening jolt flashed across the sky. The cycle repeated itself – boom and flash, boom and flash. The oncoming storm made me realize that it hadn't crossed my mind to bring a jacket or anything to cover myself up. So, it made my run turn into a sprint.

The rain nearly came out of nowhere. It initiated with a cool drizzle, but swiftly transformed into a downpour of water drops; wetting my hair and clothes. I kept on running and continued to wish that my car had started in the first place.

Eventually, I reached the entrance to Starr Record's recording studio, and entered the lobby. I looked up at the wall clock and noticed that it was almost noon. 11:58 A.M. to be more precise.

Sitting in a chair with a magazine in her hands was Kira. Her eyes moved left and right while she held the magazine, until she looked up from the pages and looked right at me. Kira's mouth gaped open, and she sets the publication down. She walked in my direction and looked me up and down; taking notice of my appearance. Head to toe I was covered in water.

"Austin," she said. "My dad wants to see you up in his office."

I shrugged. "Oh, alright. What about the recording session?"

"Oh…" Kira bit her lip, but went on to tell me, "You don't have to do a recording session."

"Really?" Sighing in relief, I voiced aloud, "Well, thank God. I thought I was in trouble or something."

The girl looked down, but left after noting, "Um, yeah… Just go up to his office." And with that, she went back to where she was before reading her magazine.

Going over to the elevator, I went in, and pushed the button for the floor that had Jimmy's office on it. A little tune of light elevator music started playing, and I couldn't help but to let my foot tap to the rhythm. When the door opened on the twenty-third floor, I headed to the third room on my left. My fist knocked on the hard wood of the door, and I heard a faint voice that said, "Come in!" I recognized the voice as Jimmy's.

I entered the room, and decided to sit in the chair in front of the desk. "You wanted to see me?" I asked. The chair squeaked in response due to me still being soaked from the storm earlier. Jimmy looked up from doing his paperwork and at me, eyeing the way I looked. I knew that I looked like I just went swimming at the beach, and didn't bother drying off. But, my mind was being an idiot today, and I never thought of bringing anything else along with me.

The head of the record label let his pen fall on his desk, and took out a magazine from one of his desk drawers. He sighed, and threw the article it was opened up to right in front of me. Jimmy said, "Austin, I'm not even gonna ask about why you're wet. But, I wanna ask, what is this?"

I hadn't seen this article, but I knew what it was about. About me. And, this wasn't one about one of my new songs, albums, awards, or anything like that. More so, the article didn't represent anything good.

It was an article about me being at another club. But, so what? I was just having some fun last night; just at a later time. That may or may not being around eleven to midnight… I'm twenty-one years old though; wasn't I supposed to be having fun? The problem was that the magazine article made me look like I wasn't giving a care in the world. Damn.

I tried my best to casually brush the topic of this off. "Yeah, what about this?"

Jimmy furrowed his eyebrows. "Don't give me that 'what about this?' tone! Articles like this have been popping up for months now!" Okay, so maybe this wasn't one of my boss's good days… Maybe he was just having a bad day. "Your behavior is starting to affect the record label itself. You acting this way is giving bad publicity to Starr Records!"

Immediately, I said, "Hey! It's not my fault the media made me look so bad!" God, the paparazzi these days. How could being at clubs at eleven o'clock be any of my fault?!

"No Austin, not all of this is the media's fault." Now it was my time to furrow my eyebrows. What was his point? "This is your fault too."

I felt my hands clench into balls of fists. "Wait, how is any of this my fault?!"

"Your fault?!" His voice raised in volume. "The cause of this is your fault! I mean, I just don't understand!"

"What do you mean?"

"What I mean is that maybe, you or this record label wouldn't get any of this bad publicity if you behaved properly." I was given a stern look from him, and I gave a blank stare back. "You know, maybe if Ally, Dez, or Trish were still around, this wouldn't have happened."

I cringed at the mention of my old friends. Jimmy rarely brought up the topic of those three, possibly because they had left Team Austin long ago. The subject of the original Team Austin only had bad memories come back. Every time I've had to talk about them, my insides would tie themselves into knots, and I felt myself mentally reliving the events of the happenings.

I stayed silent.

"Jimmy, I promise I'll improve," I tried to convince him. But I suddenly remembered that that's what I've been saying the past few months.

Again, Jimmy sighed. "Austin, you don't need to improve. Not for me, at least."

I became confused again. "What? What's that supposed to mean?"

My boss stood up from his seat. "Austin Moon, I've given you many chances time to time to try to change your behavior. But now, I can see that you clearly can't!" I opened up my mouth to respond, but he cut me off. "From this point on, you are no longer a Starr Records recording artist. Consider yourself dismissed from this meeting."

My mouth gaped open. I wanted to scream and protest from him making the decision. But I knew it was already done. There was nothing I could possibly do to change his old mind, so I left. I left for probably what was the last time from Starr Records.

When I had left the building of my former recording studio, I noticed that the rain had stopped, but it was still cloudy, and the ground had numerous amounts of puddles everywhere. It was also foggy, so I couldn't exactly see clearly in my surroundings. Only what was instantly coming right towards me.

Trying to cheer myself up, I called my girlfriend to meet me at The Melody Diner. Zoey.

Zoey and I have been dating for three years. I remember when I first met her after the original Team Austin broke up long ago. I was walking through the mall after it happened, and she came up to me, instantly reading my mood. She offered to treat me to Mini's, to which I accepted as a way of her trying to cheer me up. She was overall, hot. Her body had the perfect curves, and her blonde hair and skinny self was entirely covered in mists of perfume. But, I liked it that way; I never really knew what the scent was, though it must be pretty good. The happenings of after us hanging out at Mini's… Well, things went from there.

Having agreed to meet me at The Melody Diner, she brought up that she had something to tell me. I hoped that maybe it would be something good to make my day better, considering this one is as bad as hell.

I made my way to the restaurant, and found the blonde already sitting down at one of the tables. By that time, I had already managed to dry myself off from the rain, but my hair was still in a bit of a mess, and my shoes still made the tiniest squeaks on the ground.

I attempted to make myself look as good as I could, and sat at the table she was at. "Hey, babe. You wanted to see me?" I gave her a flirty look; hoping that she would play along with me. I couldn't care less if this was in public.

"Oh, hey Austin… And yeah, I did want to see you…" Her voice gradually trailed off. I spotted her fiddling with her thumbs, which was one of her nervous habits. What was wrong?

Since Zoe seemed like she could use some cheering up from me, myself, and I, I offered to order something from her. "Cool. But, what about? I'll order a chocolate milkshake for you."

"Thanks, but I don't like chocolate, remember?" Damn. I always forget that she doesn't like chocolate. "And, I'm not hungry anyways. We just need to talk about…" Again, her voice trailed off.

"About…?"

Zoey took a deep breath and licked her lips. "Us." I nodded, slightly confused. "I want to talk about us."

"Okay…? And, what about us?"

Another deep breath. Another lick of her lips. My eyes pleaded curiously for her to instantly say for what was on her mind. "Look Austin, you're a really great guy."

I decided to wink at her. "I know." I also did a hair flip, but neither of those things wooed her like they usually did.

"And, me being your manager and songwriter, I know that you're really, really talented." The compliments don't stop with her don't they?

Now it was my turn to lick my lips. "Well, of course! I am world-wide famous after all."

"But, I'm breaking up with you."

And yeah, she thinks that – Wait a minute. "You're breaking up with me?! Why?!" What did I do wrong this time?

The blonde said two words. "You've changed."

What did that mean? I've changed? I'm still the same old me!

I didn't say anything; Zoey chose to explain her reasoning. "Austin, you're not the same as you once were. You seem like the world just revolves around you."

Furrowing my eyebrows, I protested, "What?! I don't think that!" That is completely, and totally untrue. "I'm just really famous and awesome, that's all!"

"See, that's exactly what I mean!" She stood up from her seat. "You can't go five minutes without saying how awesome, amazing, talented, or great you are!" The volume in her voice lowered. "I'm sorry to say this, but you're just not the same kind and caring boy I met at first. You're selfish, self-centered, and extremely arrogant. Oh, and don't even get me started on how you go to clubs late at night."

I was speechless, unsure of how to respond to her mini rant. And so, Zoe sealed that deal.

She sighed. "I've been putting up with this for so long, hoping that you would somehow change back to who you once were, but I can't handle it anymore. We're through."

Afterwards, my now ex-girlfriend headed out of the diner. She left me alone at the table, silent. And right then and there, I was single again. Well, three years was a long time, but it just had to end now, didn't it… It was like all this time the entire relationship was a bunch of shit.

So, the day was absolutely horrible. Horrible as hell.

Both hands in my two front pockets, I walked through the rest of the Miami Mall. Well, more like idiotically sulking. Constantly, I would accidentally bump into someone or run into a door or wall due to me having my head down. I didn't even bother saying a "sorry" or "excuse me". No, I was too depressed and bothered by my own life. Because, as of right now, it totally sucked.

Not to mention the twinge of hunger that I got from skipping breakfast earlier. I was planning on eating at The Melody Diner, but when Zoey left after dumping me, I immediately lost my appetite for that plate of pancakes. It wasn't before long that I left too.

Continuing to mope around the mall, my ears suddenly perked up to a faint sound.

It was music. A faint sound of music.

There was a nice ring to it, but only making me just a little bit happier by just a little bit.

I lifted my head up and scanned the area of where the sounds were coming from. Then, I found the source, or sources, of the cheerful noise. But the location itself, I didn't exactly find so cheerful.

At least, in my opinion, it wasn't a cheerful place. Not for a long time.

It had been nearly three years since I had seen or thought about the music store – Sonic Boom. The last time I was there, I was with my former songwriter. Or rather, my former, former songwriter. The one brunette. But, I didn't want to think about that at the moment. I hated the memories of that.

In the store, there was an employee working behind the counter that I didn't recognize. Possibly a new worker. Possibly a new worker that was new three years ago. I didn't go deeper into it though. I didn't even care what he looked like. But, I couldn't care less of who my stupid brain visualized him as.

The brunette.

Over by the grand piano, there were two girls – one being older than the other. The older girl was sitting at the piano playing a vaguely familiar tune, while the younger girl was simply watching her. I imagined the girl's fingers naturally moving across the piano keys in order to create a soothing melody. Then, the younger girl started to sing along to the music.

"The me that you don't see is praying there's a chance you still believe. Tell me that I'm worth it.

And then, both of them were singing along. "I'll prove that I deserve it, and I can be the me that you don't see."

I knew this song now. I knew it all too well. It was the opening act of my first national tour right in Miami, and I couldn't have been more happy that night, since it took a huge step in my career. But, hearing that song now didn't feel right, even if it's not being sung by the person who wrote it. I felt disgusted hearing it.

Nothing about that song felt right to me.

Subsequently, I started hearing things. Tiny little voices inside my head. To add on to that, I felt myself only hearing one word in my mind, but the words bugged me. I don't even know why. Not just that though, I was confused by them too.

"Always."

"Promise."

"Change."

"Break."

"Reasons."

"Possibilities."

"Flying."

"Pieces."

"Unite."

What did those mean? I didn't understand. Was my brain playing tricks with me? Playing mind games with me? Or was it something else? Maybe it was this place. I knew that it always brought bad memories. Memories full of fiery hate. Memories I hated reliving in my head. Memories I wished would go away.

I hadn't even stepped inside the store, and yet, I hated being in its presence. So, without taking another glance at it, I instantly walked away back to my apartment, tears nearly forming to sting my eyes.

The fog didn't really go away as I walked to the apartment building. It just stayed there, only letting up a tiny bit. I didn't know what was up with the weather though. Literally, yesterday it was perfectly sunny – only a few scattered clouds in the sky – and now, it had stormed with misty clouds of fog in the air. Though, since I had dried from the rain already, the forecast hadn't bothered me all too much. I just thought it was weird for things to be like that. But, whatever. Not like it matters anyway.

When I had gotten back, I walked inside the building, ready to pull out my room key, but I realized something from outside.

The parking spot in the lot that had my car parked in it. It was empty. Where the hell was my car?

Panicking, I looked in each and every other parking spot in the lot, to see if it was there. I looked in neighboring parking spaces surrounding the apartment. I looked everywhere. But no, nothing; I found no trace of my car, or where it could be. Could someone have hot-wired my car?

But, that's when I realized the next thing.

I never took out the keys this morning.

And there's another idiotic mistake of the Austin Moon!

God, I loved that car. If I wasn't so stupid to remember to take out the keys from the ignition, that definitely wouldn't have happened. Now I have no transportation whatsoever. I mean, walking I suppose was okay, but taking the bus or the train sucked. I literally couldn't stand being in those things. The people there always managed to somehow get on my nerves.

Knowing that there was absolutely nothing I could do about the missing car, I decided to go back into my room. I wished I could do something about it, but I never bothered to even remember the license plate number of the Ferrari. So, there was nothing I could actually do. Except for maybe get a new car. Problem was, even with the money I had, it was just enough to pay for my apartment, and I spent the rest on vacations and other luxury things.

Again, another idiotic mistake of the Austin Moon!

Now lying in my bed, I roll around on the mattress, trying to find a comforting spot, but I can't. Honestly though, I don't think anything can make me feel comforted or better right now. This is all too much. All in one day, I was extremely late for a recording session, my car wouldn't start, I got soaked in the rain, I was dropped as a recording artist for my now ex-record label, Zoey dumped me, I was hit with hateful memories from the past, my mind is still confused from those ringing words, my car gets stolen, my phone is probably at least half-broken from when I threw it, and now I'm laying here not knowing what to do.

I wish that I had someone to go to. Someone that I know so well that would be willing to help me out at any time, any place. It was evident that Zoey and I would most likely not even be on speaking terms anymore, much less be friends with. The three closest friends I had from forever ago are no longer there for me. My parents are usually out of town.

Which means I get to spend my time alone for a while. Is there even a reason for this? Is there a reason for why this happening? And, why? Why the goddamn hell did this happen to me? Because, since when did I make mistakes? As far as I could remember, I couldn't have made any major mistakes within the past few years… That was other people's faults, not mine.

Thoughts in mind, I allow to myself to just instead close my eyes, and let sleep come to me.

I know the first chapter seems kind of… Dramatic. And when I say "kind of", I mean, "it is". But then again, it is a drama type story. XP But, uh… Idk. It just seems so overly dramatic, but I think I'll tone that down in the future.

I should also mention that this fanfic isn't exactly my top priority at the moment because I'm currently working on, and will be finishing another one, before making this my main focus. Though, I did put a lot of work into writing this chapter meaning there was – *cough*foreshadowingandsymbolism*cough*. Asides that point, I apologize in advance if this doesn't get updated too often.

…Should be about it. Even with this dramatic stuff, hoped y'all liked this so far! :) Until next time readers! :D