Ally watches in dismay as he completely ignores his fans, as he holds his head high. So indifferent to their love, to the fact they were the real reason for his success, and so entirely different and arrogant compared to the big-hearted person Austin once was.
Even Ally he often neglects nowadays. He doesn't need her anymore, after all. He has professional songwriters, signed by Jimmy Starr himself, to do all of her old work. She supports him deep down, but he doesn't need support.
He's forgotten about all of those who helped him rise to the top. He's forgotten Trish, the main reason he'd been given so many opportunities to be heard in the past. He's forgotten about Dez, once his best friend, the guy who always had his back. He doesn't even talk to them anymore. They're too far below his new standards. It's kind of strange that he still speaks to Ally at all. Yet she'd been the first on Team Austin to be replaced.
She winces, recalling the moment in which he tells her she's no longer needed. Fortunately it'd been before he stopped caring, before he became who he is now.
"Hey, Ally," he interrupts in the middle of a casual songwriting session. Coincidentally their last songwriting session as partners.
"Just hold on a second, Austin. I need to finish up the lyrics for the third verse." She scribbles words down, then looks up cheerfully. Her smile falters when she sees guilt briefly flash through his eyes. "Is something wrong?" she asks warily.
"Sort of. Yes...yes. I'm really sorry, Ally."
"For what?"
"I...I made a mistake."
"I'm sure it's fine, Austin," she reassures. He shakes his head.
"It's not like that, though. Jimmy called me into a meeting with one of his songwriters." He doesn't even have to finish his explanation, her heart has already broken.
"Oh. Oh ok. I get it," she whispers, her voice cracking.
"They won't replace you, Ally."
Yet slowly but surely, they have. Suddenly, she's just some old friend. Suddenly, she's no longer invited to any of his parties. Suddenly, they are no longer partners, and it's like they never were.
"Do you have the bus driver's number?" he asks. They are at the back of the arena now, waiting for his tour bus. The only reason Ally has been invited along is not because it's her birthday (he wouldn't remember that anyways), but just because she managed to convince Jimmy to land him a concert in this location. The tour bus will drop her off at the nearest airport so she can catch a flight home, alone. Austin will continue on his tour, alone. That is the way it is.
She shakes her head in response to his previous question. "He's your driver. Do you even know his name?"
"Why would I?" She decides not to bring up that, aside from the fact that his name is Norman Riery, he is sixty-three years old, and when he isn't driving Austin's bus, he lives a retired life with his wife Ruby in Georgia.
None of these things matter to Austin.
Ally pulls her jacket tighter, as a cold breeze whipped through her hair. She wonders how Austin isn't freezing in only his t-shirt. Part of a magazine, just a couple of pages, blows into her feet. She uses the toe of her shoe to flip it over. Austin is on the cover.
Austin Moon: Kind, Generous, Caring
Yeah, right. Ally snorts. Austin turns to her.
"What's so funny?"
"This magazine claims you to be kind, generous, and caring." He shrugs.
"So what? I see that one all the time." Ally narrows her eyes.
"They only love you because they think you're this guy." She picks up the pages, jabbing the caption. "But this is who you used to be. Now you're...you're horrible. Someone like you does not deserve the privileges you've been granted. It's sickening." Austin says nothing, and because in the middle of her rant she turned her back to him, she doesn't know if he's even heard anything she's just said.
"The bus is here."
"I can see that," Ally says with a sigh. "I'll tell Norman Riery you say hi." The doors swoosh opened, and she steps inside, giving Norman a false smile before irritably making her way to the back of the bus. Austin is still outside. "Hurry up!" she shouts out the window. "I've got a plane to catch!"
A minute later, he's on the bus. The engine loudly starts up, and Ally stares out the window, thinking of how Austin used to be just like the magazine portrays him.
"Happy birthday," he says softly from behind her. She ignores him, like he usually ignores her.
