Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in this story. They are simply a reimagining/fantasy of mine in the form of this story.

The beautiful breeze blowing, smell of the wet earth coupled with the fragrance of blossoms….and two people wrapped wholly into each other, lying in the grass.

Austin stared at the radiant brunette lying beside him with a look of tenderness in his normally cold and rigid eyes. The only time the humane side of him came out, was when she was around. He traced the crinkles under her eyes with his own, and the dimples on her cheeks as she laughed, carefree, at something he'd said. He couldn't for the life of him remember what it was. All that mattered to him now was this moment, this vision.

A smug, bitter boy from the wrong side of the tracks, Austin didn't have what one would call a steady past. He'd been sent to endless foster homes after Child Services had extracted him from the home of his alcoholic, unemployed father. His mother had escaped long before, leaving him to fend for himself as a little boy. He'd been bullied at school by all those who were in the same condition as he was, yet they put up a front and acted like they were all that. He'd had no courage or desire to fight back.

Eventually, he ran away from the home of a family that had taken him, tired of being subjected to mockery and false pretense. Frankly, he didn't even remember the family. It had been a downward journey since then. Austin Moon had turned into a drug-dealing, alcoholic teenager who picked fights with people regardless of whether they were bothering him or not. It helped to distract himself from all the pain and suffering. However, whatever else Austin was, he was no thief. No matter what he did with his money-buy booze, drugs and prostitutes- it was his hard-earned money. That was one thing his beloved Papa had taught him while he was alive.

Which is exactly how he had managed to score this, and other such blessed moments in his life because of one person that had managed to become his axis, his compass in life. Granted, Austin wasn't 'employee of the month' material, and had more often than not disrespected the clients and customers, and even gotten physical with several. But hey, he was honest in his dealings. So what might the outcome be when a particularly nasty customer of a man once went on to pick at Austin's sore spot in his life- his childhood.

His eyes flashed red. Sliding the goods of the counter, Austin leaped over it and pushed the man, hard.

"So what the fuck is your problem going on to talk about shit that isn't any of your godddamned business?!", screamed Austin.

At that point of time a circle of people had amassed around the arguing pair.

"You're a bastard and need to show me some fucking respect", shot the man back forcefully.

"Respect, my ass…the only thing you're going to get from me is-"

"What's going on here?", a small but strong voice chimed in from the crowd.

People started murmuring and cleared the way for a beautiful, petite woman, whose features were marred by a small frown and lines between her eyes.

"Stay back, sweetheart. This young man here is bent on giving daddy a hard time", scowled the man.

Austin didn't budge from the ugly stare he was shooting at the man.

"Why don't you and your slut of a daughter get the fuck out of my-"

"Well, excuse you….Austin Moon", she addressed him sneeringly with a slight crinkle in her face as she squinted to read his crookedly pinned nametag, "but you have absolutely no bloody right to call me that foul name without having the slightest idea of who, or what the hell I am." For reasons Austin could not comprehend, his anger cooled down almost shockingly fast the moment he got a look at the girl. She was short and curvy, with long chestnut hair that fell to her ribs, and large doe eyes, the colour of chocolate and honey. Normally he wouldn't so much as give a second glance to girls, no matter how makeup caked or skimpily clad they were. But this one, dressed in a simple pair of white jeans and off shoulder denim top, perfectly modest, appealed to his senses like nothing else. Was she yelling at me? Oh, damn that crinkle is CUTE.

A shove from his left side caused him to break out of his delirious musings.

"…and shut your damn mouth next time", he heard the voice of his employer. Wait, I didn't get fired? "And leave your nametag and employee t-shirt in the back and get out!" Spoke too soon. He looked around, but by then the girl and her father had left.

All the way back to his friend Dez's trailer, Austin could not get his reaction out of his head. What in the world is wrong with me. She's just another bitch in the crowd of bitches. He immediately felt guilty for thinking that. But…why?

Great, now I'll have to look for another fucking job. Damn this moral character of mine, he rolled his eyes. Just then Dez walked into the trailer with a girl attached to his hip.

"Austin, my man. Meet my new flavour of the wee-I mean, my girlfriend, Trish."

The girl was a chubby Latina with wild hair, who looked unimpressedly at Austin and continued popping her gum.

After an awkward beat of silence, Dez cooed at the girl, "Sweetheart, why don't you go have a seat…make yourself at home", while simultaneously kicking a box of pizza under the sofa and throwing clothes off its back. The girl, Trish, looked disgustedly around the trailer and sat down daintily. She threw Dez an ugly look. "Call me that again, carrot top, and I'll make sure that there won't be a top."

Dez swallowed and stumbled over a few words, practically running to Austin. "Man she is scary."

"Why are you putting up with her? Women ain't worth it if they're gonna make you pay", replied Austin, looking around cautiously to see if the Latina had heard.

Dez gave a sheepish look and said, "Well…her fire fuels...um…other fires, and besides," he continued hurriedly, "I kinda like her."

Austin looked exasperatedly at his friend. Dez was the closest thing he'd ever had to a best friend, almost a brother, but he'd never admit that to himself. He liked to think that he was independent and didn't need anybody. Except for pleasurable needs. And that department needed no help at all, owing to his Adonis-type looks and built. At least my bastard father had something to give me. Austin believed in a use-and-throw mentality, never sticking to one. He was cruel and unforgiving in his words, and extremely rough in bed. Girls went wild over him, but he never spared a second thought. They would leave his abode whimpering and crying, while he threw their clothes out behind them. He knew from experience that relationships meant heartbreak, and nothing good came from that.

Austin merely gave an exasperated sigh and went off to his room, if one could even call it that, but he was grateful for the space anyway. He plopped down onto the thin mattress and let his eyes drift shut. Uninhibited, the image of the girl with the asshole father popped into his head. Jesus Christ, I do not need this right now. He felt a sudden softness in his heart, an urge to know more about this girl. It was something completely foreign to him and he couldn't stand the feeling, knowing he had to do something to stop it from bothering him. I'm just going to sleep off this shitty day.

The next morning, as Austin roamed the streets of Miami, he came across the sign for a coffee shop that was hiring. Might as well get this over with. At least I don't have to whip up Starbucks shit. After a wait of half an hour, which was surprisingly a lot for the job of a barista, Austin was losing his patience and was about to let it all go to hell when he heard a familiar voice call his name.

He got up wearily, and unconsciously brushed off his pants and jacket, and dragged his feet over to the cramped office at the back of the shop.

"Austin Moon. Please sit down", said his in-charge. He was still looking down at his shoes when he'd entered and took a seat before he finally looked up. It was the face that had been haunting him with its…its goodness all day and all night. However, he amusedly noticed that she had a certain look of distaste on her face as she looked him up and down.

After a minute of silence, Austin got up and said, "Look, I can make decent coffee, but if you don't want to hire me after that shit with your dad the other day, just tell me so that we can both move on with our lives."

The girl gave him a surprised look before schooling her features into a professional expression. "Believe it or not, Mr. Moon, I believe that everyone deserves a second chance. I'd like to give you that chance, because you wouldn't be here if you didn't show even the slightest interest in earning your money honestly and this is probably going to be the worst decision I have ever made but god help me, I feel like I need to help you", she wheezed out in one breath.

"Um", Austin stuttered. He couldn't believe that he was going to get hired even after the stunt he'd pulled in the grocery store. The girl looked at him coldly. "I am going to be personally supervising your work, that is to say, you will be working under me, and I warn you now, none of your smart mouth crap is going to work on me because you can get packing if that happens."

Austin was tempted to give this beautiful girl one hell of a piece of his mind, but the words died on his lips. He was not only getting a job, but was getting an opportunity to deal with his emotional dilemma regarding this female. He wouldn't back down that easily, of course. Except, he'd put on a good boy front for a while before the colours truly came out.

"Deal?"

A beat. A smirk. "Deal."

"I'm Ally Dawson."

"Moon. Austin Moon, he replied cheekily. This is so not me. Since when am I cheeky?! I am tha m-fuckin bawse.

The girl-Ally Dawson-looked at him with distaste but he smugly detected the hint of a smile in her eyes.

"Yes, I believe we've had the greatest of first meetings, honey. You start tomorrow. Get a damn haircut and be here by 9. A.M, not P.M. Now get out."

He gave a tiny salute and walked out the front door, for the first time in his life turning to give a girl a glance. Ally Dawson. I like that.

AN: So that's that! I have written after ages and it feels so good to be back! However, I'm a little rusty after a year of not writing anything, so please, bear with me. Please write nice lil' things in the reviews (even if it's true or not ) to make my author-tummy happy

Plus, this is a multi-chapter fic so I think about 2 or three more chapters to it. Yeah. That's bouhh it

********************** I LOVE RIVERDALE WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO**********************