Say You'll Stay: an R5 and Austin & Ally Love Story

Chapter 28

Austin’s P.O.V.

Everyone went back to Dez’s house for dinner after the funeral. It was so weird being there without Dez. He also didn’t have the biggest house. Everyone was crammed on a small deck that was off the house or in the family room.

Austin watched Acker stare at Amber intensely. He could tell he was still worried about that fall she took earlier. She was still holding her stomach, but she insisted there was nothing wrong. Acker had offered multiple times to take her to see the doctor, but she kept saying that today was about Dez, not her.

Austin stood next to Ally quietly. This was a party, but it wasn’t like most parties Austin has gone to. Everyone stood around with a plate in their hand, talking in a hushed tone. It was like there was a baby sleeping upstairs, and no one wanted to be the one to wake it. Austin knew he had to do something about that. Anyways, funerals are about celebrating the life of the person who died, not mourning about the loss.

Austin spoke up. “Excuse me, everybody.” Everyone stopped what they were doing and turned to look at Austin.

“I just wanted to say that if Dez were here, he wouldn’t want us all to stand around mourning. He would want us to dance, laugh, and celebrate. I don’t remember one time when Dez and I just stood there quietly. He was always making us laugh and do something. So please everyone, let's pretend that Dez is still here.”

Someone in the house turned on the stereo and “Call Me Maybe” by Carly Rae Jepsen came on. Austin grabbed Ally’s hand and started dancing. Sure Ally wasn’t the best dancer, but she was actually doing pretty well, and she wasn’t completely embarrassing herself. Soon enough, Aaron and Casey joined in along with Acker and Amber.

Soon everyone was up on their feet dancing, talking, and laughing. After about 30 straight minutes of dancing, Austin decided he needed a break.

“I’m going to get a drink. I’ll be right back,” he said in Ally’s ear. She nodded and he turned to walked towards the table with all the drinks. He took a quick glance back and saw Ally starting to dance with Trish.

When he reached the table, he saw a girl standing alone with a red cup in her hand. She was playing with the black bracelet around her wrist. Austin decided to approach her.

“Hey, why aren’t you dancing?” Austin asked Dani.

“Umm, I don’t really have anyone to dance with,” she said, her cheeks turning pink. Austin looked around and everyone was dancing with someone else. Even Ash had found a girl from Austin’s school to dance with. Her name was either Jamie or Jess, Austin didn’t really know. He decided he would ask Ash about her later.

“If you want, we could dance,” Austin offered.

“Really? Are you sure?”

“Positive. Come on.” Austin downed his drink and grabbed Dani’s hand, pulling her onto the dance floor.

After dancing for a little while, a slow song began to play. Everyone found someone to dance with and got close to one another. Aaron with Casey, Acker with Amber, and even Dez’s grandmother was dancing with Harry.

Dani slowly backed away. “Umm, it’s okay if you want to go and dance with Ally.”

Austin really wanted to go dance with Ally. This could be his chance to win her heart back. He looked at Dani. He could tell she was disappointed that they barely got to dance.

“No, I am going to dance with you.” Austin stepped closer and slipped his arms around Dani’s waist, intertwining his fingers and resting them on the small of her back. She put her arms around his neck, and they slowly moved to the beat.