This story was a request from my dear, good friend Keri, whom we affectionately call Kero ( kero_hero on Twitter). I realize it's been months since you requested this and I'm sorry for the long wait but I keep my promises and here it is! I'm not sure it could be different from what you imagined but I got inspiration for it and here it is! HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY! :D
the love whisperer strikes
Dez let out a long, exasperated sigh as he stomped into Sonic Boom.
Ally Dawson, the daughter and sole worker of the music store, stared confusedly at the tall redhead. Her eyebrows shot up as he climbed onto the counter and lay down, both his arms dangled off the sides.
Ally was quite perplexed by Dez's actions, as she usually was, and was torn between playing therapist and finding out what was wrong or going back to attending the store.
Dez let out another exasperated sigh and whined, "Alllllllllly."
'Therapist it is' Ally thought as she reached over the counter to grab her songbook. She walked around the counter so she was in front of Dez and kneeled down so she could look him in the eyes.
"So, how's life?" Ally asked awkwardly.
"Disappointing." Dez lamented, flipping his hair so it wouldn't fall on his pouting face.
"Uh-huh. Go on?" Ally probed, opening her songbook and getting ready to write.
"Well, Dez sighed out; ever since Austin started dating Kira I haven't seen him at all."
Ally gave him a comforting smile, "Oh Dez, that's normal. Kira is Austin's first serious girlfriend. Give it time and I'm sure he'll be back to spending time with you. They have only been dating for a few weeks."
"But I have no one to hang out withhhhhhh!" Dez cried out, placing his hands over his eyes.
"Aw, Dez! Part of growing up is learning to be your own best friend. I'm sure you can have fun without Austin, right?" Ally told him sympathetically, lightly grasping his arm in a comforting manner.
"I know, but I don't want to hang out alone. I did enough of that before I met Austin and it stunk." Dez murmured, crossing his arms over his chest.
Ally nodded in understanding. She knew what it was like to feel left out. Sure she had Trish but she had other friends and she was more capable of handling herself in social situations. Ally was shy and awkward and dorky; most kids didn't really like talking to her.
"I get it, Dez. It stinks not having anyone to hang out because they don't understand you or accepts you for who you are. That's why I learned to hang out by myself. I'm the only one that really understands and accepts me. Well, most of the time…" Ally quipped and Dez let out a laugh.
"Yeah, you are pretty weird and difficult to understand." Dez remarked and Ally gave him a stern glare as he sat up on the counter.
"So, do you feel better?" Ally stood up, dusting herself off.
"Yeah, I guess so. You know what, maybe I can try that whole "be my own best friend" philosophy of yours!" he grinned.
Ally smiled back, "That's great, Dez! Now I'm just gonna go back-"
"PLEASE DON'T LEAVE ME ALONE MYSELF IS NOT ENOUGH" Dez cried out helplessly as he quickly jumped of the counter and wrapped his arms around Ally.
Ally steadied and herself and gently rolled her eyes, "Dez, I need to get back to work."
"Ally, please, please, please hang out with me? The loneliness is eating me alive!" Dez complained as he pressed his cheek and his pout on her shoulder.
"Dez, I can't just abandon my responsibilities because you're lonely. Besides, I would have to ask my dad if I could have the day off at least a day in advance-"
"Oh, it's okay honey. The store is pretty slow today so I'll just take over." Lester Dawson commented as he passed by them.
Ally let out a little glare at her father and Dez turned to her face so that he could show her his puppy dog pout.
Ally groaned, "Oh okay, I'll hang out with you. But only for today!" Dez immediately released her and let out a big whoop. Ally couldn't help but laugh but her face contorted into confusion when he ran around her in a circle and ran up to the practice room.
"Dez! What in the world are you doing?!"
"Just give me a minute! Get ready to have some good old fun!"
Ally shook her head and smiled. She walked back to the counter to exchange her songbook for her purse when she noticed a familiar curly haired Latina enter the store.
"Guess who got a job at Champy's Sports Grill!" Trish de la Rosa boomed, striking her hands up in a pose, as she always did. "Hey, where are you heading off to? I thought you had to work today."
"Oh, look who's talking!" Ally teased and Trish merely rolled her eyes at her dorky best friend.
"My dad gave me the day off so I could go hang out with Dez." Ally explained as she put her purse over her shoulder.
"Dez? You willingly want to hang out with Dez?" Trish inquired; extremely baffled that Ally would even consider this.
"Yes, Dez. He's been really bummed that Austin has been spending all his time with Kira. I know what it's like to be lonely so I want to help him to feel better."
"Oh, really? Wow, I guess that must stink. So, are you okay? You must be missing your Austin & Ally time too, huh? Trish wondered, putting a comforting hand on her friend's shoulder.
Just two weeks before, Ally had realized that her feelings for Austin ran much deeper than friendship. This occurred right around the time that Austin was falling for Kira Starr, the daughter of the owner of his record label. Instead of telling Austin how she felt, Ally helped Austin get together with Kira.
Ally shrugged Trish's hand off her shoulder and gave her a smile, "I'm okay. Why wouldn't I be okay?"
Trish shook her head, "Just two weeks ago you were so happy that you found out that you liked him and now it seems like you're over him. Come on, Ally. You can talk to me."
Ally turned her head, "There's nothing to talk about! I couldn't be happier that Austin is happy with Kira!" Ally bit out with a fake smile.
Trish let out a small smile, "Well, okay, if you say so. Just remember, my shoulder is always here for you to lean on." Ally gave her a look before leaning her head on her shoulder and pretending to sniff and cry. Trish patted her head in mock comfort and they both shared a laugh as Dez ran back down the stairs.
"Oh, hey! What did you go up there to find?" Ally pondered as she took her head off of Trish's shoulder.
"Oh, I was just finding something. Ta-da!" Dez whipped up a shirt from behind him.
"My cloud watching club t-shirt!" Ally screamed in excitement as she grabbed the shirt in her hand, wait, you want to go cloud watching? I thought you didn't like it?"
"Well, it turns out that I have a big appreciation for the puffy pillows in the sky that make beautiful shapes and give us the rain that's part of the necessary water cycle." Dez drawled out, staring dreamily at seemingly nothing. "Oh, and the shirt is really nice." He exclaimed as he took off the shirt he had on to reveal his own cloud watching club t-shirt.
"Haha, well, okay! We'll see you in a couple of hours, Trish!" Ally laughed as she put her shirt on and walked out of Sonic Boom together.
"You kids have fun! I'll just be napping on the bench over there." Trish smirked, resting her back and stretching out her legs after a long day of not working.
nobody-line-breaks-the-way-that-i-do
Trish woke up to the sounds of two people stepping into the semi-quiet store. "Hey, will you keep it down! Some of us are trying to sleep!" Trish yelled out, twisting her position on the bench.
"Trish?" she heard a familiar voice ask. She opened one eye to see the face of her blonde haired client and his new girlfriend, who clang to his arm as if she were joined to it.
"Oh, it's you two." Trish groaned, stretching her arms and sitting up on the bench.
"Nice to see you too, Trish." Austin quipped and Kira giggled at him. Trish rolled her eyes, 'Just because Ally is okay with them doesn't mean I have to be."
"So, what brings you guys over here? I thought you guys were at Phil's Fun Town." Trish asked, walking over to them.
"We just got back! It was so much fun!" Austin grinned, grasping Kira closer to him.
"I won him this giant panda!" Kira commented proudly to the stuffed panda they both held.
"Awe, you weren't supposed to tell anybody that!" Austin groaned.
"Awe, you're so cute when you pout!" Kira cooed, petting Austin's nose with the giant panda's arm.
"Awe, you're so cute when you tell me I'm so cute!" Austin cooed back and doing the same to her.
"Awe, aren't you two so cute that you're making me want to barf!" Trish interrupted, taking both Austin and Kira out of their little cooing trance.
"Well, someone woke up on the wrong side of the bench." Austin quipped yet again and Trish stuck her tongue out at him. Austin laughed until he noticed that his favorite short and adorkable songwriter wasn't behind the counter. "Hey, where's Ally? Wasn't she working today?"
"Oh, yeah she was but her dad gave her the day off." Trish stretched.
"Really? We could've all gone to Phil's Fun Town together if I had known." Austin almost lamented.
Trish raised an eyebrow and Kira narrowed her eyes in confusion at him. Austin let out an awkward laugh, "Not that I didn't have fun with you!" Austin griped Kira's shoulder more tightly and she let out a semi-satisfied smile.
"Well, she didn't plan on having the day off. Dez was kinda having an emotional dilemma and Ally wanted to cheer him up so her dad let her go out with him."
"Oh, that's great!" Austin smiled, a little bit forced. Truth was he missed hanging out with Ally and had hoped to hang out with her the next time she had a day off. "So, when did she say they were coming back-" Austin was cut off by then entry of his two best friends, both laughing their heads off.
"I can't believe that you spotted that!" Ally shrieked with a hand over her heart.
"Me neither! I guess I was just looking at the right place at the right time." Dez commented as he laughed along with her, their arms bumping into each other.
"Hey guys, looks like you've been having some fun!" Kira smiled at them, her expression dropping when she felt Austin's arm leave her shoulders.
"We've had a blast! We've been cloud watching for hours and we even went to this cloud watching museum that I didn't even know existed!" Ally squealed, almost hopping from excitement. Austin couldn't help but crack a smile but it quickly disappeared when Dez put his arm around her shoulder.
"Yep, me and miss Ally-gator have had quite the fun times today."
"Right back at ya, Dez-pez!" Dez looked at her in confusion, "Pez is fish in Spanish. I'll figure out a better nickname later." Dez let out an "o" before high fiving Ally with a grin and turning back to their friends. Austin couldn't stop staring at the arm around Ally's shoulder that Dez still had not removed.
"So, I have to be getting back now. Will you walk me out?" Kira batted her eyelashes at Austin but stopped when she noticed when he wasn't even looking at her.
Ally finally stopped laughing with Dez and realized that Austin hadn't stopped looking in their direction, even when his girlfriend had asked him a question. She gave him a pointed look and Austin finally jumped out of his reverie, "Oh yeah, of course! Cause you're my girlfriend and that's what boyfriends do for their girlfriends." Austin murmured and Kira nodded at him.
"So, are you going to walk me out?" Kira asked him again, noticing that he wasn't looking at her, again.
"Oh here, allow me!" Dez released Ally and pulled Kira out of the store. Austin barely heard her complaints or moved in her direction as she was rushed out by his best friend.
Austin rubbed the back of his neck and looked back at Ally and Trish.
"Well, I'm just gonna go somewhere that's not here." Trish informed them as she walked out the store which left Austin and Ally alone. Things were quiet as Austin & Ally looked around awkwardly. They hadn't been alone in the same room since Ally had prepped him on what a perfect date should be like and they had shared a moment. A perfect moment where her head was on his neck, his arm was around her and he almost melted into her beautiful smile.
"So, did you have fun at Phil's Fun Town today with Kira?" Ally asked him, hating the silence that had engulfed them.
"Oh, great. Greaty, great, great! Yeah, Kira is just awesome!" Austin told her and Ally nodded.
"That's awesome, Austin. I'm happy that she makes you happy." She smiled genuinely at him and he couldn't help the goofy smile that appeared on his own lips.
"Yeah, you- I mean, she's just, wow." Austin stumbled and Ally let out a laugh, her pearly teeth revealing themselves. Their eyes remained completely glued to each other's as neither moved from where they stood.
"Hey, are you guys having a 'who can stare and smile at each other the longest' contest?" Dez pondered, popping up in between the two. Austin and Ally snapped their gazes away and jumped a little.
"Oh, sorry, I ruined the game!" Dez pouted.
Ally smiled and gently put a hand on his arm, "Aw, it's okay Dez. We can always have other 'smiling and staring' contests!"
"Nope, count me out of those future 'smiling and staring' contests. I am terrible at staring!" Dez replied and Ally shook her head as she smiled at him. Austin felt his stomach turn upside down at their little exchange.
"Well, I'm gonna go change out of this shirt. It was pretty hot today and let's just say wearing two shirts wasn't exactly the smart thing to do." Ally explained as she made her way up the practice room. Austin smiled as he watched her walk away.
He was shocked when he felt a hand thump against shoulder and turned to see his best friend with a dreamy smile on his face. "Austin, I think I'm in love."
Austin's eyes grew like saucers, "In love with cloud watching?" he asked tentatively.
"No, in love with Ally!"
"What?!" Austin squeaked out in his high pitched voice but Dez seemed not to notice as he removed his hand from his best friend's shoulder.
"I know, me and Ally have never really clicked but getting to know her today has really opened up my eyes! She is one amazing, Ally-cat!" Dez enunciated his last phrase, making it clear just how much he liked-scratch that-loved her.
"But, you've only really hung out with her today! How do you really know that you love her?" Austin reasoned with him, insisting on getting this ridiculous idea out of his best friend's head.
"Austin, the heart knows what it wants even if the mind is too slow on the uptake. Besides, I'm the love whisperer. Of course I know." He responded cockily, putting his hands on his hips. Austin stared speechlessly at him, trying to absorb what had just happened.
"Well, me and Ally are gonna go eat dinner at Champy's and I'm popping the question then!"
"What?!"
"Yeah, I'm going to get a ring and everything! Well, see ya!" Dez bid farewell to Austin and skipped happily out the store. Austin could only stare after him in distress.
"Austin, are you okay?" Ally pondered as she walked down the stairs.
"No, I'm most definitely not…okay" Austin droned on and his jaw dropped as he took in the sight of Ally descending down the stairs in a simple red dress.
"Are you sure? You look kinda thirsty." Ally pointed out as he swallowed deeply.
"Um, no, I'm fine. Wow, Ally, you look…wow!" Austin complimented and Ally blushed as she neared to where he stood.
"Thanks, I've had this for a while and I've been looking for a good occasion to wear it."
"Oh, you mean you and Dez going out to dinner?" Austin pondered, running his fingers nervously through his hair.
Ally grabbed the long necklace she had around her neck in her hand, "Yeah… he's really great. I wish we would've hung out together sooner than we did."
Another awkward silence emerged among them so Ally quickly bid Austin goodbye. Austin gave her a weak wave as he watched her leave. He wondered why he felt like his heart had decided to drop itself from a high building.
looking-for-a-line-break-tonight (there I see you)
"Man, pool is so much fun! I love getting the different color balls to go in all directions!" Dez belt out happily, grabbing the balls to put them back in place so he could hit them again. Ally let out a tiny smile at his childishness.
"Hey, are you okay?" Dez asked as he put the balls back into formation, with his own hands.
"What do you mean? Of course I'm okay!" Ally gave out a fake smile and Dez shook his head as he spared a glance at her.
"Are you sure? Cause your arms are crossed, your shoulders are sagged and that's the only smile I've seen on your face since we got here."
"Oh, Dez, I'm sorry! I just-"
"Wish you could be with Austin right now?" Dez replied as he finished arranging the balls.
Ally opened her mouth, "Wha-what! No, Dez! I love hanging out with you!"
"I know. But you don't love me. Not like you love Austin." Dez corrected and Ally pursed her lips.
"I-I'm sorry."
"Hey, it's okay! It's not like I was gonna ask you to be my girlfriend or anything."
"Really? Cause I could've sworn I heard you tell Austin that you were."
"Oh, that? See, the thing about Austin is that he needs a push in the right direction to realize the important things in life. For example: realizing who his soul mate is." Dez replied, hitting the balls and grinning as they went into different holes.
"Dez, I am not Austin's soul mate."
"Hey, I never said it was you."
"Oh."
"But, you're right. It is you." Ally rolled her eyes and pushed him.
"I don't think so."
"Think what you what but the truth is the truth."
"How can you be so sure about this? Austin has a girlfriend, remember? He called her perfect and went through a heck of a lot of trouble to go out with her."
"Ally, I'm his best friend. I know everything about him, including that he'll probably come running into the restaurant if five, four, three, two…"
"Hey guys, how's it going?" Austin ran into the restaurant, a not-so-happy Kira grasping his hand.
"Oh, you know, just teaching Ally some pool! What are you guys doing here?" Dez told them in a cheery manner as he squeezed Ally to him by the shoulder.
"I don't know why don't you ask Austin? We were supposed to be on our way to see Katy Perry in concert." Kira gritted out angrily between her teeth.
"Perry, Shmerry! There's nothing like spending time with good, close friends while we still have time. I mean, we never know what's gonna happen tomorrow so it's important to savor these moments with friends." Austin explained happily, walking over to stand between Dez and Ally so he could hug both their shoulders.
"Austin, if we don't leave soon, you won't have a girlfriend to savor. Now let's go!" Kira shouted angrily at him.
Austin sighed and walked over to Kira. As they argued in hush whispers, Dez turned to Ally and thumped her shoulder with his elbow. Ally rolled her eyes at him, "it doesn't mean anything. All couples have lovers' spats that end up in a nice, romantic reconciliation smooch."
"Really? Well this spat isn't going to end up so lovely. Just wait…"
"You know what all I wanted was to go see Katy Perry with my boyfriend but obviously he doesn't care about me as much as he does for his friends. We are through!" Kira pushed past Austin and stormed out of Champy's.
"Oh, AND I WANT MY PANDA BACK TOO!" Kira yelled from outside and Austin rolled his eyes after her. He turned around with a smile towards a shocked Ally and smiling Dez.
"So, you said you were teaching Ally how to pool?"
"Yeah, but she's absolutely horrible at it!" Dez mocked and Ally narrowed her eyes at him.
"Like you've been helping! All you've been doing is hitting the balls while I stand here and do nothing!"
"Well, now whose fault is that?" Dez asked out sassily and Ally almost wanted to whack him over the head with her stick for being so difficult.
Austin laughed, "Okay, Dez set up the balls. Ally, I'll teach you." Ally smiled gratefully and Austin grinned at her as he stepped behind her and put his hands on her waist.
Dez smiled as Austin leaned both himself and Ally over the pool table so that they could hit the balls. He could see Ally's face grow as red as her dress and Austin had a smile as wide as Antarctica on his own as he placed her in the correct position.
Ally shot up and clapped happily to herself as she hit the balls perfectly. Austin and Ally exchanged a high five and Austin leaned her over the table once more, pressing a kiss to her cheek to jokingly diffuse her concentration.
Dez looked away as Ally turned her face and gently returned Austin's kiss.
'My work here is done.'
So there it is! It's a bit shorter but I am quite pleased with it. Kero, I hope you're pleased with it too!
Please review, favorite I don't know whatever you'd like!
Mucho Love,
Bookworm3 :)