Hey, guys!

So, it's 11:00PM and I'm really tired but I wanted to upload this before I started procrastinating again.

I started writing this story months ago in a notebook (which I never do) while I was waiting for my mom to finish her groceries, and I never actually got the time nor the motivation to finish it. I finally did just now, so... Yay!

Disclaimer: I do not own Austin & Ally, or anything else you may recognize in this story.

Enjoy! :)

-/~\-

Ally had never thought this would happen.

She'd always made sure she had plenty; they were (or used to be) placed in perfect rows in her pantry. Yet, here she was.

It was 11:23PM when Ally Dawson parked her car in the parking lot of the local grocery store. And why was she at the grocery store, you may ask? In Ally's mind, the answer was simple; she was out of pickles.

It was the only thought in her head as she headed to a place she knew like the palm of her hand; the pickle aisle.

Although, that night, when Ally stopped at her favorite part of the store, her breath hitched and her expression turned horrified at the sight infront of her.

"Oh, why does the world hate me so much?" Ally muttered to herself, looking up at the very top shelf where her favorite kind of pickles sat. Normally, they were placed on the third shelf; a perfect height for Ally to be able to easily grab them and go on with her shopping. But no, they had to move them the same day she ran out. Just her luck.

'Alright,' she thought to herself. 'Let's do this.'

After looking around to make sure no one could see her, Ally grabbed on to the highest shelf she could reach, then placed her right foot on the second shelf nearest to the floor. Before she could place her left foot by her right, a low chuckle made her freeze in place.

"Need help?" a manly voice asked.

Horrified and completely embarrassed, Ally slowly turned her head to the right only to find a young man who seemed to be around her age, twenty-four, looking up at her with an amused expression on his handsome face. He was a tall blond with dark brown eyes. At her lack of response, the blond man raised an eyebrow, his smirk growing.

Realizing a little bit too late that she was staring, Ally quickly looked away and awkwardly stepped down from the shelves. She hesitantly watched him as he easily retreived the jar she'd set her mind on getting and handed it to her.

"Thank you," she said quietly, feeling her cheeks burn in embarrassement as she took the jar from his outstretched hand.

Again, his smirk only grew. "You must've really wanted those pickles, huh?" he teased her as he began to walk away. She followed him.

Ally smiled slightly, certain now that she was red all over her face. "How'd you know?"

The blond chuckled. "It's almost midnight and you were climbing on shelves. Gave me a pretty good idea how much you wanted them."

"I ran out," she protested weakly.

He nodded, laughing. "Yeah, that changes everything," he said sarcastically.

Ally rolled her eyes. "Hey, don't judge me! What about you, huh? What are you doing here so late?"

"Buying a pancake mix, of course!" he smiled cheekily, waving said mix infront of her face.

"Because that's so much better than pickles," Ally retorted sarcastically.

"At least I didn't climb a shelf to get it," the blond man pointed out.

Ally glared at him, but she couldn't help the small smile fighting its way to her lip. "Ha. Ha," she deadpanned.

Amused, the blond smirked down at her. "So, what's your name, Pickles Girl?"

"Pickles Girl? Really?"

The blond shrugged. "Well, I don't really know your name, and you seemed quite determined to get that jar, so..."

Ally huffed, slightly annoyed. "Will you ever let that go?"

"Nope!" The blond's cheeky smile made a comeback as he set his pancake mix on the only cash register of the store. The cashier ran up the blond's only item silently, leaving them to continue their conversation.

"Ally. My name is Ally."

"And she has a name!" the blond man announced, pumping both fists (and the pancake mix) in the air. He then lowered them, grinning. "Cool. I'm Austin."

"Nice to meet you, Austin," Ally told him, determined to stay patient with her savior, as she set her jar of pickles on the cash register. Austin, of course, wasn't leaving. When she'd come to the grocery store, she hadn't signed up to become a laughing stock. Especially not to be laughed at by a pancake lover.

"So, what are you going to do with those pickles?" Austin asked, scribbling on a small piece of paper.

Ally rolled her eyes, handing her money to the tired-looking cashier. "Eat them, of course!"

"Ah," Austin smirked yet again, following her to the exit of the store. "Of course."

"How are you so cheery at midnight?" Ally asked him, slightly exasperated.

"It's a natural talent," Austin winked at her.

"Are all your natural talents this annoying?"

He shot her a sarcastic smile. "Funny."

She sent him a failed attempt at a wink. "It's a natural talent."

"Like your shelf-climbing skills?"

Ally rolled her eyes yet again. "Exactly like my shelf-climbing skills."

"Well," Austin said, stopping infront of a red car Ally assumed was his. He handed her the piece of paper she'd seen him scribble on when she was paying for her pickles. "If you ever need a shelf-climbing partner again, call me," he winked at her, then got into his car and drove off after a nonchalant wave, leaving Ally in shock. Had he just hit on her?

Walking to her own car, Ally had a hard time believing the past twenty minutes had actually happened.

This was not how she had thought her night would turn out.

-/~\-

BAM! Done (finally)!

Alright, so this is really not my best work, but, friendly reminder, I wrote most of this story, like, almost a year ago, and finished it while I was very tired, so... Yeah.

BY THE WAY! I'm now on Wattpad, guys! My username is ProfessionalDork. I'm currentlt working on a story that I'm going to post on that account. You can also follow me on Twitter at Mimi_R5Family.

Until next time,

R5AAFan :)