Always Were
by Taygeta

Author's Note/Spoilers: Very Auslly Fluff. This takes place right after the ending of "Real Life and Reel Life". So if you haven't seen it or the spoiler, well don't say I didn't warn you.

Disclaimer: These characters are not mine.

Ally sat in the practice room, scribbling lines in her notebook and contemplating for awhile before she dared to sing the lyrics out loud: "Every kiss with you is a dream come true..."

She tinkered with a melody on the piano tentatively, realizing that this song made her afraid. It made her face the moment she had run away earlier during their "rockumentary" filming.

She and Austin had kissed a number of times before, but reliving that first kiss - and making it a million times more magical and amazing and wonderful - especially after all this time made her so unsure about how she felt.

She almost lost him again as a friend because of misunderstanding and fear. Was the possibility of losing him - losing each other - unavoidable? And if that was true then why did they give up so fast on being together?

"How you open up my eyes..." she wrote and sang again.

There was a knock on the practice room door. She glanced over at the door, knowing that there could only be so many people who might knock on that door. She stared at the door for a long time before another tentative knock made her think she knew who it was.

"Come in," she said.

When Austin walked in, he confirmed her suspicions. He had taken off his Edward make-up and was dressed in his usual jeans and a bright sweatshirt. She was still in her "Bella" outfit, finding not much reason to change. She was relieved to see that he was no longer a brooding vampire. She personally hated the Twilight books, only going along because she understood the necessity of the reference for the rockumentary.

"Hey," he greeted, closing the door behind him. He nodded toward the song book she was writing in, "New song?"

Ally closed the book and shrugged, "Maybe. We'll see."

She watched as he tentatively walked toward the piano bench, his sneakers lightly walking - more like dancing - on the carpet. She loved the way he moved, so opposite of her awkward, sometimes jagged manner.

He danced; she stumbled.

He caught her; she let him.

"So..." he said as he sat down, his feet resting away from the piano as his back leaned toward the keys, his eyes glancing at her before they wandered around the room.

"So..." she echoed glancing at him, but also looking downward at the comfort of the black and white keyboard.

"About earlier," he said, "You know, when we..."

He trailed off and she finished, "Kissed?"

He nervously laughed suddenly, caught up in a memory, "Were we 'smooching' or were we 'scooching'?"

Ally found herself laughing, grinning widely. This was awkward, there was no way around it but at least they could laugh. She took a deep breath and closed the piano, so that she could rest her arms and look at him. "What about it?"

His eyes took her in. She loved the way he looked at her.

"What wasn't there about it?" he replied, softly.

Before she could say, "Austin..." and begin to rationalize everything, she found he had leaned closer. She felt him kiss her softly and before Ally knew it, his arms were around her just as they had been hours earlier, just as they had been during that brief and wonderful time they were together. She was reminded that the kissing - the closeness - was never the problem. She suddenly realized she didn't know what had been the problem in the first place.

When they both pulled away, breathless, he pressed his forehead against hers. She heard him whisper, "I really am sorry for the last couple days, Ally. I don't know where I would be without you."

She met his eyes and said, "I'm sorry too." She smiled softly and said, "It doesn't really explain why you're kissing me though."

He pulled away from her slightly and said, "This coming from the girl who is obviously kissing me back."

She sighed and found herself missing his closeness even though he had moved only a few inches away. She inched herself closer and he took the hint and held her tightly, his chin resting on the top of her head as she nestled into his chest.

"I miss this," she confessed.

"You do?" she felt that he was looking down at her, half-surprised and somewhat hopeful.

She nodded, "All the time. I think part of why I was angry about you finding someone else was because I think a part of me wonders if I'd lose out on this too...if we had a chance again... That you could replace me about this too."

"That's a little impossible," he said. "Seeing as how there's no one else in the world like you."

And how could she not kiss him after he said that? So she did.

Eventually the conversation led to the question, the question they thought they had answered a long time ago. Ally asked it, "What does this mean about us? Are we back together?"

Austin answered honestly looking at her with a wide smile, "Is it dumb if I say I think we always were, we just didn't realize it?"

Ally shook her head, "It's not dumb. It's true...but I also think we're kind of idiots."

He laughed, "That's saying a lot coming from you."

She pouted, "I know."

"Would it make you feel better if I said you're the smartest idiot I know?"

"A little," but then she added, "But do you know what would make me feel a lot better?"

"What?"

Wordlessly, she kissed him again and both couldn't help but hope Dez and Trish were very, very far away.

END. Feedback appreciated.