Summary: The night before his wedding, Austin escapes his bachelor party for one last pre-marital encounter with his soon-to-be-wife.
Disclaimer: Austin and Ally don't belong to me.
Warnings: A little bit AU; Ally doesn't get over her stage fright until a few years later and Austin never got a record deal.
A/N: I am really not super happy with what I wrote here and was this close to deleting the entire thing but what the hell. Thanks for reading if you end up sticking through it!
He leaves when the strippers arrive. They're dressed like cheerleaders but he doesn't really have the heart to tell his very excited friends that they're just not his thing anymore.
His thing is a short, brown haired, slightly neurotic, piano-playing, songwriting genius and all he wants right now is to see her. He's had maybe two drinks at the start of the night but he's completely sober now as he climbs in behind the wheel.
"Austin! Dude, where the hell are you going?"
He hears his name being yelled and he cringes as he quickly closes the door and starts the car, peeling out of the lot before anyone can do anything to stop him and then he finally relaxes when he's a few minutes away.
He has an hour-long drive ahead of him and he thinks it's kind of appropriate because they've had a very long road to get up to this point.
They're both twenty-seven now and they're probably what you could call the music industry's hottest couple, although neither of them ever would.
Austin & Ally, as they're known to the world, have four multi-platinum albums and five sold-out national and international tours to their names along with more awards than either of them can count.
Ally had overcome her stage fright a little over three years after they had graduated high school and both of their lives had turned upside down as a result. They quickly realized that their best performances were the ones they did together and it didn't take long for them to get a record deal after their first three songs went viral. They were both in college at that point and had decided to take time off to pursue their dreams full time and then they had never looked back (except of course, Ally, being Ally, had completed her degree later on).
The first couple of years in Los Angeles had been hard because both of them were young and kind of naive and alone (together) in a huge city on the other side of the country. Their record deal had fallen through two months after they moved because the company went under and they had scrambled for jobs to make money so they could keep trying to do what they had been striving toward their entire lives. Somehow, someway, though, they had caught the eye of one of the biggest record executives in LA who had given them a chance and believed in their music.
Fast forward a little more than a year and they were pretty much at the top, even winning a Grammy for Best New Artist. He can't really pinpoint the exact moment when they went from being friends to more than friends because they were always kind of on that path but the first time he kissed her was the morning after the awards show because she was sleepy-eyed and smiling and looking at him in a way that made him realize that she was all he would ever need to be happy.
They had been together together ever since and he would have honestly been okay with proposing to her on their first date but he knew Ally would have never gone for that. So he waited, with a ring burning a hole in his wallet for three years before he finally asked her to marry him.
And in true Austin Moon fashion, the proposal was a disaster. He'd had what he thought was an amazing idea to surprise her with a candlelit picnic in the park and he was going to sing her a song that he actually wrote and he had arranged it so it would be just the two of them. What he didn't take into consideration was that candles don't easily stand up on uneven ground and not even a minute after he started singing, their blanket was on fire and he was pouring a veryveryveryexpensive bottle of champagne on it to put it out. What he also didn't take into consideration was that alcohol doesn't do a very good job of putting out flames and he just stared in shock as Ally came to the rescue by ripping off her coat and beating the fire out herself.
She turned to look at him and started laughing uncontrollably at the expression on his face, a mixture of shock and awe and fear, until he came to his senses and the next thing he knew he was down on one knee, holding a ring out to her.
Her eyes widened as she stopped laughing and he quietly asked, "Ally, will you marry me?" and that's all he had to say because their relationship isn't the kind that's ever needed a lot of words even though she's really, really good at writing them.
"Yes," she whispered and then she sank down to her knees in the grass and kissed him and both of their hands were trembling just a little bit as he slid the ring on her finger.
And now, eight months later, the wedding was planned and they had somehow managed to keep the location a secret from the press and tomorrow was the day that Ally Dawson would become…well, actually, she would stay Ally Dawson because she's "a strong, independent woman" but he's going to call her Mrs. Moon in his head. Or maybe out loud, if she lets him.
He's less than five minutes away from their house now and he knows she's home because Trish had smartly decided to throw Ally's bachelorette party last night. Apparently she hadn't passed on this advice to Dez, which is why he's still awake at 2:30 am the morning before he's supposed to get married. He knows he's going to be waking her up and he feels bad about it for a second as he pulls into the garage but he also knows she'll forgive him.
He opens the door quietly and takes off his shoes on the way to the bedroom and then he strips down to his boxers and joins his bride-to-be in bed.
"Ally," he whispers. "Ally, wake up."
She's sleeping on her side, facing away from him and she stirs a little when he calls her name but doesn't wake up. He places a hand on her shoulder and shakes her just a little bit and then she rolls over on to her back and blinks sleepily up at him.
"Austin? You're not supposed to be here," she says, her voice groggy. "I thought you were staying at the hotel. You know, so you don't see me on the day of and all that."
He rolls his eyes. "You know I don't care about that."
She smiles. "But your mom does."
"Screw it," he says, and then he kisses her. It takes her a few seconds to respond but then he feels her arms wrap around his neck as she pulls him closer. He kisses her for a minute and then he settles down next to her, turning on his side to face her. She does the same and scoots closer to him, definitely more awake now.
"How come you're here?" she asks, then pauses. "Not that I'm complaining."
He grimaces. "There were strippers. I got out of there before the lap dances started."
She frowns. "Dez got you strippers?"
He shakes his head. "No, it was some idiot from the record label. I'm pretty sure Dez only planned the first half because we played Zailiens laser tag and it was awesome."
He shudders. "They were dressed like cheerleaders, Ally."
She purses her lips, trying not to laugh at his obvious distaste. "But you love cheerleaders," she says teasingly. "They're one of your top three favorite things."
"I have new list," he says. "Two out of the three are still the same, though."
"So what replaced cheerleaders?"
"Groupies," he says without skipping a beat, and he watches her, trying not to laugh as her eyes widen.
"What?" she hisses, her jaw dropping. "Groupies? As in the girls that surround our tour bus trying to get you to go home with them even though I'm obviously there?"
"Yup," he says. "Those are the ones. They're just such dedicated fans, you know?"
She scowls and he laughs, taking her hand under the covers. "You're the worst," she says. "Remind me why I'm marrying you again?"
He leans forward and kisses her lightly on the cheek. "Because I'm your favorite," he says.
"Are you sure about that?" she says, her eyes challenging. "I don't think I've ever told you my top three, now that I think about it."
He rolls his eyes. "Me, pickles, clouds," he says boredly. "You're so easy."
She sputters a little and he grins. "I am not easy," she protests, and then blushes as she realizes the double meaning. "You know what I mean."
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah," she says. "I have a new top three."
"Let's hear it," he says.
"Okay, pickles and clouds are still on there. So that just leaves your replacement," she says, not giving anything away.
He narrows his eyes. "And what might that be?"
"Oh, I don't know," she says innocently. "Maybe...artists?"
He scowls. "Artists? Please, Ally, I'm an artist."
She shakes her head. "No, as in art...art. Like...arts and crafts?" she says, biting her lip to keep from smiling.
"Arts and crafts?" he grounds out, the jealously evident in his tone.
"You know, Balsa wood. And glue guns," she whispers, her mouth by his ear. "I just can't resist glue guns."
"I hate you," he says, and she laughs, burying her face in his shoulder as he wraps an arm around her waist.
"I can't believe we're getting married in what, eight hours?" he says, when she finally stops laughing.
He feels her nod into his chest. "I know. Are you nervous?"
"No," he answers immediately. "Are you?"
"Not about marrying you," she says. "I'm a little bit worried about all the wedding stuff."
"I would be worried if you weren't worried," he says. "But it'll be fine. And if it's not, we can elope like I suggested and then we can go on our honeymoon where I'm not letting you out of bed for two weeks."
"We're not eloping, Austin," she says, and he can practically feel her rolling her eyes. "And we're going to Paris. Do you realize how many museums there are to see? And historical sites to visit?"
He groans. "Tell me again why I'm marrying you?"
He feels her shifting as she tilts her head up to softly press her lips to his jaw and really, that's all he needs to remember.
She breathes a laugh into his neck and he shivers a little at the sensation as he pulls her a bit closer. "When did we get here, Ally? It feels like yesterday that I was trying to get you to sing in front of Dougie the Dolphin. And now look at us. There are literally billboards with our faces on them. And we're getting married."
"Are you having a midlife crisis or something? You know you're only twenty seven, right?"
"You know what I mean, Ally," he says, sighing. "I feel like it all went by so fast."
She's silent for a minute, and then, "Then maybe we should slow down," she says hesitantly, and he frowns.
"What do you mean?"
She exhales. "I don't really know how to tell you this."
"Tell me what?" he asks, moving back slightly so he can see her face, suddenly feeling very nervous.
"I'm um...we're uh, we're going to have a baby," she says quietly, and he swears his heart stops.
He can't talk, can't breathe, can't think for a minute while he tries to process what she just said and then he's suddenly overcome with this feeling of pure, unadulterated happiness that spreads through his entire body.
"A baby," he repeats, and he can't help but laugh a little as he kisses her deeply, bringing his hand up to cup her cheek.
He carefully puts his hand on her stomach when they separate and she laughs. "You won't feel anything yet, Austin. And I'm not about to break in half so you don't have to be so cautious. I haven't even started to show."
He smiles sheepishly and lets his hand relax. "How far along are you?"
"Almost two months. I've only known for a week, though."
"A week?" he asks, surprised. "Why didn't you tell me right away?"
She shrugs and looks away. "I was kind of nervous. I mean, this is going to change everything. A lot. And…I don't know, we haven't seriously talked about having kids."
"Hey," he says softly, and she looks at him with worried eyes as he gently strokes his thumb back and forth over her ribs. "Hey, there's nothing to be nervous about. It's us. And a baby. Our baby, Ally. And I didn't think anything would beat marrying you."
He feels her relax a little. "Your mom's going to flip out, you know," she says, and his eyes widen.
He slaps his hand to his forehead and groans. "She's going to freak. Getting you pregnant before we're actually married, oh man, Ally, let's just leave now," he pleads.
She just laughs. "I think your mom might actually be okay," she says. "I talked to her for a while yesterday and she kind of apologized for being kind of distant. I think she'll be surprised and she'll freak out but she kind of hinted at the whole wanting grandkids thing."
"Really?" he asks, because his mom had never really warmed up all that much to Ally. She had always blamed her for making Austin drop out of college, despite all of their successes, not to mention the fact that he had decided not to go back to school when Ally had. His mom had never been anything less than polite to her but their relationship was always a little strained, at best.
Ally nods, and then he thinks over what she had just said.
"My mom was at your bachelorette party?"
"Yeah, for the beginning. She left before the uh, exotic dancers arrived."
His eyes widen. "Wait, you had strippers? And you stayed?"
She blushes. "It was Trish's idea! They were all dressed like famous historical figures—well, I don't really know if dressed is the right word, but—"
He covers his ears with his hands and shuts his eyes. "If I don't hear it, it's not true, if I don't hear it, it's not true, if I don't hear it, it's not true," he chants loudly, trying to get the images out of his head.
He cautiously opens one eye when he feels her fingers wrap around his hands to gently pull them away from his ears.
She shakes her head. "You're such a child. I had to hear about your cheerleaders."
He gapes at her. "That I left. To be with you. My fiancée."
"But there was a Charles Lindbergh one," she protests, grinning as he shakes his head.
"I so don't want to hear that," he says, making a face.
She laughs and then they fall into a comfortable silence as she puts her head on his shoulder and slips her fingers under his shirt and lazily draws circles or letters or maybe a song into his stomach as he lightly rubs her hip and he thinks he might fall asleep.
"There's a person inside me, Austin. A person. And we're going to be parents," she says suddenly and the thought is terrifying and exciting and mind blowing and wonderful and maybe a little panic inducing. "We don't know the first thing about being parents. I mean, how do you change a diaper? What do babies eat? How do you teach a kid how to read? What if it hates me? What if it doesn't like music? What if it resents the fact that we're famous? What if—"
"Ally, give me one more day before you start panicking," he interrupts. "Just one more, okay? Just let me marry you and then we can spend the entire honeymoon reading books and looking at websites and freaking out if you want."
He pauses. "And we probably shouldn't be calling it 'it'."
She nods reluctantly. "Okay," she says. "I'll wait until tomorrow night."
"Uh, maybe wait until the morning after tomorrow night," he says, giving her a pointed look.
She blushes. "Right. The um, wedding night."
He laughs. "Why are you blushing? You're pregnant. Do you not remember how that happened?"
She swats his arm and reddens further. "Shut up. That doesn't mean I can't blush. And you're definitely out of my top three," she mutters, but the effect of her words are diminished because she burrows closer to him despite herself.
"I have a new top three," he declares.
She yawns. "Hmm?"
"You. Our kid. And you and our kid."
"That was only two," she says sleepily.
"That's all I want," he says and he feels her smile against his neck.
She doesn't say anything but instead wraps herself a little tighter around him, tangling her legs with his under the covers and her feet are freezing but he's used to it by now. He hears her breathing slowly evening out after a minute and then closes his eyes too, realizing that he should probably get at least a couple of hours of rest before tomorrow.
"You're all I need," she whispers, just as he's about to fall asleep. "And I'm happy. Really, really happy, even if I'm scared."
And his heart clenches just a little bit because he didn't think it was possible to love someone as much as he loves her at this moment and he turns his head to press his lips to her temple. "Me too," he says because he's happier than he's ever been in his entire life but also scared out of his mind at the idea of being dad.
"But it's you and me," he mumbles, and that's all she needs to hear because they're Austin and Ally and that's enough.
Thank you so much for reading! Reviews are awesome!