The Hurricane
Chapter One – Promise

Summary: "He's got the way of the hurricane." / In which Austin is the delinquent bad boy, and Ally is the girl determined enough to figure him out. And he lets her – only at the promise that she lets him protect her.

Prompt: Hurricane by Bridgit Mendler and Spiral.

Disclaimer: Mirror, mirror on the wall, who's the girl that owns this show? Of course, it's not me.

Rumors – he had always been the center of them. Wherever I go, every inch of this school, this entire fucking town, he was all everyone and anyone could talk about. And he always, always, gave them something to talk about.

But I don't see him any different than I see myself. He's just another person, another poor unfortunate soul, stuck in the loop of our small town. And I believe, he's got something to hide – just like everybody else. And I'm determined to figure it out.

It's not because I'm in love with him – far from it. He's Austin Moon, for goodness sakes. Girls, albeit scared, fawn over him 24/7. I'm not like those girls. I'm just a curious cat, with a newspaper article to write.

"Ally!" The call of my name snapped me out of my thoughts. "Did you hear what I said?"

"Um, no?" I replied sheepishly, rubbing the back of my neck with my slim fingers.

"Of course you didn't. You know why? Because you're off to La-la-land again." My best friend – a feisty latina with unruly ebony hair, and almost obsidian-like colored eyes, going by the name Patricia de la Rosa – scolded me, hands on her hips, and frown on her lips.

"I'm sorry Trish." I sigh, calling her by her nickname. "I've just been thinking a lot, I guess."

"About what?" She asks, black brows arched in confusion.

"You know, this whole Austin Moon case." I shrugged, trying to act like it was no big deal, when the truth is, this is a big deal.

"Oh yeah. I heard he killed Dianna." Her face twisted into disgust, and I felt very uncomfortable at her mention of the recent event.

"We're not even sure if it's true Trish. For all we know, the teachers could be right. She probably just took suicide." I tried to reason out. I may not be Austin Moon's biggest fan but, there is no way in hell he – no matter how bad his reputation is – could do something so bad as that.

"Ally, she didn't jump off the freaking roof. The rail broke and she fell. And he was the only one there to witness it." She rolls her eyes, turning around before stalking off towards our first period. "If that's not proof enough for you, then I don't know what is."

"Then how come the investigators haven't claimed him guilty yet?" I asked in suspicion, trying to catch up to her.

"Maybe they just need more evidence?" Now it's her turn to shrug.

"But—"

"Why are so sure he's innocent anyway?" She questions, snapping her head to face me, eyebrows arched and a daring look flashing through her eyes. "Why are you defending him?"

"I—" I'm at lost for words because I truthfully do not know why I'm trying so hard to prove his innocence. Maybe, it's not about this whole article I plan to write on him. Maybe, I just want to be that girl who believed in him, when nobody ever did.

"If you're just going to use this article excuse, then save it. There is no way you're going to get the whole school believe that he's innocent without a solid proof." She hisses at me before turning back around, and walking away, leaving me to muse on my own thoughts.

I stand there for a while, thinking over everything she's said. And I know she's right. I need evidence – a good one too. I don't know how I know – I just know I do – that Austin Moon is not guilty. And I want to prove people that.

Sighing, I turn around to head off to a completely different direction. There's no time to go to school, not when there's a story to uncover, and a truth to expose. And I'm not missing much anyway. After all, I already know the theory behind stem cell research.

xoxo

I stop right in front of the principal's office, before gently knocking at the door. I could hear the loud arguing voices behind it stop, before Mr. White, our vice principal, slightly opens it.

"Yes Allyson?" He asks me, his dull grey eyes staring intensely at me through those square-rimmed glasses of his.

"Um, May I see Austin Moon, Sir?" I ask politely, feeling proud that my voice has not cracked – yet.

"Why?" His tone suddenly sounded harsh, making me feel ten times more nervous than I already am. I swallowed hard before daring to answer.

"I—"

The door bursts open, startling both me and Mr. White. Out came Austin Moon with his bleached blonde hair perfectly tousled over his head, and his uniform a messy fashion. He ignores the protests behind him – coming from all the teachers involved in the investigation – before slamming close the door, and wrapping his strong, calloused hand around my thin wrist. He drags me away, a scowl adorning his lips, and his eyes flaring the color of golden whiskey.

"Austin I—"

He doesn't let me finish talking before he slams me onto a nearby locker, and looked me dead in the eye. He grips my shoulder tight, and I feel myself cower before this boy. What if, he really was a murderer? Then what have I gotten myself into?!

"I didn't fucking kill her." He says in a breathy whisper, the tone of his voice harsh. My eyes grew wide in hearing him say that, and my mouth slacked open – though words refused to come out.

Moments of silence pass, and his grip on my shoulder stays tight. He finally looks away, and I just stare at him in shock.

I don't know what to say, or what to do. But, all I can think to wonder is, why is he so desperate for me to believe him? Because normally, Austin Moon would not give two shits about what people think of him – rather, he'd probably be proud of it. But then again, who would be proud of being accused of murdering someone; much less at seventeen.

"I believe you." I finally found the courage to say, and he loosens his grip on me, before completely letting me go. "I want to help you."

He slowly turns to look at me, questions in his eyes. He shoves a hand into his pocket, and gestures for me to continue with the other.

"I'm Ally Daw—"

"I know who you are." He snaps irritably. In normal occasions, I would probably be very cross. But not right now, no – there isn't a time for that.

"Right." I mumbled, playing with the tips of my hair, purely tempted to shove it all into my mouth – a nervous habit I never seem to get rid of. "Well, I run a newspaper club and—"

"I also know that." He cuts me off again. And this time, he adds in a smirk, slowly getting into my nerves. "You're the only member of that club."

"Why you—"

"But I like your stories." He tells me, and I was left completely speechless. "All the articles you've written up to now are pretty good. I always keep tabs on them."

I almost thought I saw him grin – almost. But I dismiss this thought. This is Austin Moon, after all, and Austin Moon never grins, or smiles; he only smirks.

"Thank you." I whisper shyly in gratitude. No one has ever complimented my work. I barely thought anyone read it.

"So, what's the deal?" He asks, tapping an impatient foot against our tiled hallway floor, his eyebrows arched in question.

"Like I was trying to say before," I roll my eyes, leaning against the locker for comfort, and turning to look everywhere but at him. I continued on saying, "I want to write an article, about the murder. And, I feel like you're innocent. But I could be dead wrong about this. However, I'm giving up so much, going with my instincts, and believing in you. That is, only if you help me find the truth about everything."

I don't know what I expected. Maybe a sarcastic remark, or maybe a "leave me alone, stay out of my life" comment. But nothing prepared me for what he had said next.

"That's a dangerous fucking bargain you're putting up." He whispers, slamming both hands against the locker, caging me. "You have no idea what you're getting yourself into."

I turned to lock my eyes onto his. The whiskey in them swirls with a little bit of olive. My eyes go down to look at the bridge of his nose, counting the obvious freckles on them. And finally, I dropped my gaze to look at his pink, plum lips, licking my own at the sight of such a dangerous temptation.

"I'll prove you innocent, just let me help you." I say, almost begging him.

"Okay." He lets out a long and deep sigh, before moving closer to me, and pressing his entire body against mine. I could feel his hot breath at the tip of my ear, causing my whole entire body to heat up.

I placed my hands on his chest, almost retracting them when I felt how hard his pecs were. But I kept it there for a moment as he whispers into my ear.

"Promise me you'll let me protect you." He says so desperately, but I can't grasp the hidden meaning behind it. "Don't push me away when things get rough."

"I promise."

xoxo

I let Austin into my small little clubroom. All that's there is an old, worn-out piano, my cherry-red HP laptop, a table, and a few chairs. He makes himself comfortable at the piano bench, pulling in a chair to rest his feet on. I sat down across him, taking a notepad out of my bag before interrogating him.

"Tell me first what you know about this case." I say as seriously as I could, and he only chuckles at me.

"You're too cute to threaten me." He smirks again and I just roll my eyes, tucking in loose bits of my ombré hair behind my ear.

"Answer my question." I snapped, slightly annoyed, glaring at him.

"Fine." He mutters, following it with an inaudible, "Kill joy."

"Austin!" I whined, tempted to bang my head against the table. This caused him to chuckle once again. "Come on, take this seriously. You want my help, or not?"

"If I can recall this properly, wasn't it you who offered it, and profusely made me agree?" He raises his eyebrow at me, an untold challenge written across his eyes. His smirk is smug, and I couldn't help but think how well it looks on him.

"I did no such thing!" I protest, feeling slightly flustered as he continued to stare at me with those whiskey eyes of his.

"If that's what makes you happy." He shrugs casually, leaning back and closing his eyes. I was about to counter before, he started to speak, voice sounding ever so serious. "It wasn't suicide."

"Really?" I asked, slightly shocked, whilst I wrote down on my pad everything he says.

"She was trying to look across the field when the screws on the railing broke, causing her to fall over." He then opens his eyes, looking a little too calm from what one would expect from someone going through what he's going through. "I was up there at the rooftop taking a nap. That's what I always do – everyone should know this by now. And when she came, she startled me awake. I was about to tell her to go away but I just thought, no, I'd rather hide and see what she's up to. And yeah, that's how she died."

If this wasn't such a serious matter, I would've laughed at how he told the story. But it was and, as much as I wanted to, I didn't. I wrote down everything on my little pad whilst – at the corner of my eye I could see – he laid back and closed his eyes.

Silence passed by us. And when I was finally done, I sighed in relief. I looked up, about to ask him if he knew anything else, when I saw him with his eyes closed. I stood up from my place and walked slowly over to him, watching his calm face and softened features. I smiled, hearing him snore lightly. The gentle breeze from the open window blew pass his hair, and his head slacked over the piano's covered keys. I grab my jacket from the other side of the room before placing it on top of him, brushing away strands of hair from his face.

Now I see why every girl falls so hard for him. He was attractive, yes. But, his personality – may be cocky, and can be slightly frustrating – was quite charming and endearing. But the difference between me and all those other girls is, they may have never seen this side of him. And this side of him, so innocent and pure, I want to keep it all to myself, and protect it. I will never let anyone take this away from him – from me; ever.

A/N: I'm back. And maybe, for good.