A/N: I just got a really hateful and disgusting message on tumblr with too many curse words and words with negative connotations to count. I figured, why be miserable, when I can put it into an Auslly fic? So I did. If you don't wanna read this, you're smart. I don't even know what this is. Hurt/Comfort? Oh well. Review and I accept requests. (:
Ally was never one of the girls to care about her appearance. Sure, she had her doubts about her outfit, or the way she parted her hair, but she never considered herself ugly. She'd also never been known at school. She tended to keep to herself, and Trish. Until Austin showed up, she really only talked to one person.
Austin on the other hand, was different. He was never really popular, but he was considered "cool", and as far as Ally knew, every girl's heartthrob.
Leah Prescott, leader of the populars, was always the kind of girl to get what she wanted. Even if it meant crunching some people, she'd come out victor. Ruthless. Leah had her eye on Austin since "Double Take" - and after his recent split with Kira, she took it as an opportune moment to make her his.
"Hey Aus, what's up?" she said, practically pushing Ally out of the picture, propping herself against the locker. Austin hunched an eyebrow.
"Nothing, Leah?" he replied, though it was almost a question. He pushed his books into the locker and shut it.
"Would you like to hang out at Mini's today? It's the perfect day for a lover's outing," she cooed, flipping her hair back. Ally almost scoffed at how pathetic she looked. Austin glanced back at her, with pleading eyes. She took the hint.
"Actually, we have practice today. Soooorry. Well, gotta go, bye!" Ally said, and she quickly dragged Austin away. When Leah was out of earshot, Austin breathed a sigh of relief.
"Thank you, Als. I can't stand that girl," he said.
"Clearly she can stand you," Ally said, folding her arms.
"You think she's into me?" Austin commented.
"She was all over you. Of course."
"She is kind of cute."
Ally gave him a sullen look, followed by a raised eyebrow and a grimace.
"Kidding!" Austin said, holding his hands up in defense. "She's too prestigious."
Ally's mouth dropped open in awe. "Prestigious?"
"Yeah, you know, too glamour or-"
"I know what prestigious is! I'm just surprised you do," Ally said.
"I guess you're rubbing off on me. See you later, Als," he said, winking and dashing down the hallway.
Ally smiled contently, walking into the washroom. She sat her bag down on the support rack. Upon walking to the mirror to check her make-up, she noticed Leah and four other populars standing in the back of the bathroom. The awkwardness almost cut like a knife, and she decided against re-applying mascara.
Before she could leave, Leah stopped her, putting an arm right in front of the door.
"Dawson," she spat out.
"H-hey Leah," Ally muttered, reaching for her bag.
"What's in the bag?"
"Oh, nothing," she said, but before she could grab it, Leah knocked the bag and its contents to the floor.
"Hmm. You sure have a lot of make-up in here," Leah replied, examining the strewn objects. "You need it."
Ally rolled her eyes. "Half of it is Trish's, she's too lazy to put it in her own purse."
"You might wanna try using it sometime. Just looking at you hurts my face," one of the populars in the background commented, followed by giggles from the other three.
Ally tried to push her way out of the washroom again, but Leah stopped her.
"Austin Moon? Mine."
"He's all yours. We're just friends," Ally said.
"No wonder. Why would he want a girl like you anyway?" Leah said, chuckles emitting from the other girls.
"What's wrong with me?" Ally retorted defensively.
"Please. You dress like you find your clothes in a dumpster, your hair looks like someone at a camp did it, and your face so obviously screams geek. You're nothing to him, just a ticket to getting famous. Why would anyone want you?"
"That's not true! Austin and I are part-" Ally started, but before she could continue, Leah cut her off.
"Why would he be interested in a nerd like you? He's Austin Moon, and once he gets a label, you're gone, honey."
"That's..that's not true. You're lying..you're all lying!"
This time, Ally didn't care about her bag, or Leah. She pushed her way through the exit, trying desperately to ignore the chorus of laughter coming from the washroom's direction.
It was weird when Austin didn't see Ally at her locker after 4th period. It was strange when she didn't sit with him, Dez, and Trish at lunch. It was plain crazy that she didn't come to their shared 6th period. She couldn't have been sick, he had seen her right after 3rd. Plus, ditching school? Not really her thing. She was too good for that. Austin cut school mid 6th period, running straight to Sonic Boom. The store's sign was flipped to the closed side, but the door wasn't locked. That confirmed his thoughts about something being up. Ally always locked the door.
He cut up stairs to the practice room, realizing the door was wide open. He could hear short sniffles. Was she…crying? Tilting his head into the doorway, he saw her.
Austin cringed at the sight of his best friend crying. It was enough to break his heart. She couldn't see him, and he almost felt like a stalker, just watching her from the door frame. Those thoughts cleared out as her sobs turned lighter, to almost whimpers, bringing him back into reality. He took a wary step forward, careful to make his footsteps just loud enough to be audible, so not to scare her. She was crumpled in a ball, knees pressed to her chest, disheveled strands of hair limply strung across her face. It looked almost like somebody had beaten her and planted her here. He kneeled in front of her, pushing a clump of hair back so he could see her eyes. Her once beautiful chocolate eyes that danced with energy were replaced with bloodshot misty ones, tears trailing down, leaving slight mascara paths. He had never seen Ally look so…vulnerable.
"Hey," he said, voice soft and slurred. "What's wrong?"
For the first few seconds, she barely acknowledged the question. It hung in midair, lurking. She pushed herself back up. She gradually lifed her head up, as well, their eyes meeting briefly. Her eyes flickered away, and she sunk back against the wall of the practice room, adverting his gaze. She almost told him to go away. Almost. Ally has never been one to be rude or to push people away, it just wasn't her, and especially not to Austin. She ran a hand through her tangled hair, tugging at the ends of it. Austin raised an eyebrow and she realized she had yet to answer his question. She sighed.
"It's nothing, Austin," she muttered, tugging at the sleeves of her long cardigan.
"Ally," he said, resting his hand on top of hers.
"Really, it's nothing."
"Ally," he repeated, voice growing more concerned and darkened. She took a deep breath and pushed her knees further into her chest. They both knew Austin wasn't leaving until he got some answers.
She sighed and sat up. "Are we always going to be partners?"
"Of course," he said, confused. "But what does that have to do-"
"So you're never going to fire me?"
"Ally, no. You're my best friend, we're in this together," Austin said, placing a hand on her knee. She pushed it off.
"You're lying," she said under her breath. He didn't quite hear her.
"What?"
"I said, you're lying! You're going to become big and famous, and have this record deal and you're going to forget all about me! You're Austin Moon, and I'm just plain old Ally Dawson!" she screamed, pushing her face back into her knees.
He was dumbfounded by what she had said. He was ready to scream at her back, but in her current state, decided against it. Austin pulled her into him, running his hand in circles down her back.
"No," he said breathlessly. "You're going to get accepted into Harvard or Yale or something, and I'm going to be left behind. You're going to go onto great things, because you're a genius. You're the smartest person I know."
She looked up at him and he thought he saw a hint of a smile. "Really?"
"Yes," he said. "What even brought that thought on?"
"Leah. She said I was ugly, and a geek, and that nobody wanted me, let alone Austin Moon," Ally said, pressing her head into Austin's shoulder.
"Seriously? Ugh. Ally, you're not ugly, you're one of the most beautiful girls I've ever seen. Plus, who cared if nobody wanted you? I want you," Austin said, resting his head on top of hers. She stopped crying and wrapped her arms around him.
"Why were you crying so hard? Usually what people say doesn't matter to you," Austin said.
Ally lifted her head up, exposing her face. There was a lot more mascara and eyeshadow than he'd ever seen on her before.
"They said I needed make-up…I ran home. I tried to put on make-up, but the more I put on, the uglier I seemed to get, and I just realized I'd never be as pretty as any of them.."
"Wrong. They could never be as pretty as you. And you don't need make-up, Ally. You're perfect just the way you are," Austin said.
"Thanks, Austin," she said, wrapping her arms around his neck in a hug. He wrapped his arms around her back. When she pulled back, Austin wiped the mascara off her face.
"You okay?" he asked.
"Yeah," she replied, a small smile on her face. She bit at her lips nervously, realizing she must not have been 2 inches away from his face.
Austin noticed, too. His heart was going a thousand miles a minute. He couldn't think straight. How could she ever think she was ugly?
"Austin…" Ally said. She wasn't really sure what she was going to say, but she didn't have to think of anything. Before she could even open her mouth to get syllables out, he closed the barely existing space.
At first she was shocked, but she didn't waste much time in kissing back. Every kind of rush went through her, and she was so blissfully happy she didn't even realize when he pulled apart.
"Did I just..?"
"Did we..?"
"Oh my.."
"..gosh.."
Austin looked at her blankly. She pulled at her hair.
"Austin? I have a confession.."
He raised an eyebrow as a signal for her to start talking.
"I've had this huge crush on you for a while. But you were dating Kira, so I kinda let things fizzle out..but they didn't. Even with Elliot here, I still liked you. I always liked you. That's why what Leah said hurt me so much. But then I realized, you turned yourself orange and sweaty one time, and I'm just your best friend, and I know I totally just ruined everything but I-"
"Ally?" he said, scooting closer.
"Yeah?"
"Stop talking."
He held her face with his hands, and connected their lips again. It gave her the same rush as the first one, if not more. He liked her. He liked her back.
When they pulled away, Austin sighed happily.
"Promise me you won't listen to anything Leah says," he said.
"I promise."
"You're beautiful, you're funny, you're adorkable... and you're a great kisser," Austin said, licking his lips.
She chuckled. "Thanks, Austin. And you know what?"
"What?" he asked, cockily grinning.
"You're funny, too."
She hopped up from the practice room, running out as quickly as she could. He followed.
"What do you mean funny?!"
fin