Hi, there!

I wrote this one-shot for the Auslly advent calendar managed by AusllyFinchel, but I don't think she's doing it anymore, so since this was supposed to come out today, I decided to post it myself.

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

My Twitter: Mimi_R5Family

Enjoy! :)

Mistletoes: They. Are. Everywhere.

You know that time when Halloween ends, and immediately, everyone rushes into decorating for Christmas? That's what happened at Marino High. On October 31rst, the school was almost all black and orange. When the students got to school the next day... BAM! Red and green everywhere.

But do you know what's worst than seeing Christmas decorations everywhere for almost three months long? Mistletoes. This year, Marino High went all out, putting up mistletoes at almost every possible place. Well, that's a bit of an exagerration, but you get the point. They even decided to ignore the 'no public display of affection' rule for the occasion, which is why Ally decided to avoid going anywhere near a mistletoe. Her first kiss would not be because the guy was forced to, that's for sure. She doesn't care if it takes her twice as long to get to class. She. Will. Not. Walk. Under. A. Mistletoe.

... Except today. Because she has no other choice. Her math teacher decided to be a jerk and keep everyone an extra five minutes because her classmates couldn't keep their mouth shut. So, now, she's late for her next class, and she doesn't have time to take the safe-from-mistletoes path. Noticing that the hallway is almost empty and that her chances of walking under a mistletoe at the same time as a guy are very slim, she decides to take the small risk.

Unfortunately, the odds aren't in her favor today, since he also happens to be walking under the mistletoe at the exact same time. Austin. Her best friend.

Frozen in shock and fear, Ally stops dead in her track. Austin does the same, confused by Ally's sudden strange behavior. Noticing Austin's obvious confusion, Ally points at the green, devilish plant hanging above their heads. Austin slowly looks up, then back down at his best friend, confusion completely disappearing from his features.

"It's okay," Austin reassures Ally, knowing how she doesn't want her first kiss to be under the mistletoe. What? She told him countless times about how stupid she thought that tradition was.

"I-I don't—"

"It's okay," He repeats. "We don't have to kiss. I know you don't—"

"NO!" A voice cuts Austin off. Both teenagers turn toward the source of the voice to see Mrs. Bolsh, their principal, standing there, looking slightly panicked. "You have to kiss! It's tradition."

"It's a stupid tradition," Ally corrects her.

"Still a tradition!" Mrs. Bolsh crosses her arms.

"I'm already late for class," Austin tries.

"Exactly. You're already late. Missing five more minutes won't kill you. Go on. Kiss. Or I will give detention to you both for the next two weeks." Mrs. Bolsh crosses her arms and shoots them a smug look, knowing she made a point.

Mrs. Bolsh: 1
Austin & Ally: 0

"Mrs. Bolsh, school ends in a week and a half," Austin points out.

Mrs. Bolsh: 1
Austin & Ally: 1

Mrs. Bolsh narrows her eyes, scowling. "Don't play smart with me, Moon."

The blond boy sighs and turns to Ally, an apologizing look on his face. "I can't take a week of detention. My parents would kill me. Especially my mom, if she learned that the reason for my punishment was because I wouldn't kiss you."

Ally nods in understanding. "Yeah, I get it."

Their mothers can become quite weird when it comes to Austin and Ally's "soon-to-be relationship", as they call it. They can spend hours gushing about it whenever one comes over to the other's house, and sometimes they even call each other for one of their little fangirling sessions. According to them, their kids are meant to be together, much to the best friends' dispair.

"So..." Austin starts.

"Should we...?" Ally continues.

"Yeah," Austin nods, then slightly leans in. Ally does the same, standing on her tiptoes. Mrs. Bolsh watches as their lips collide, a satisfied smile on her face. Shipping students is her favorite activity. Especially when one half of the couple is her niece.

Mrs. Bolsh: 2
Austin & Ally: 1

It happens again a week later. They have been avoiding each other ever since their kiss under the mistletoe. It's halfway through second period when he's coming out of the bathroom and she's out of class to run an errand for her science teacher. She's deep in thought and doesn't focus on where she's going. He's just making his way back fro—

"Omph!"

This is just her luck. She just had to bump into him under—surprise, surprise—another mistletoe.

She lands on her butt with a tud and he looks up in alert, then down at her.

"Shit! Ally, I'm so sorry!" He exclaims, extanding a hand for her to take. She does and he helps her up.

"Austin, it's fine. I-It was my fault. I wasn't looking where I was going and I—" She stops talking when he sighs loudly. "What's wrong?"

He points at the green plant hanging above their heads once again. "We have really bad timing, don't we?"

Despite the awkward situation, she giggles. "Yeah..."

He smirks, amused, and glances behind him before setting his eyes back on hers. "Do you think Mrs. Bolsh will appear out of nowhere again?"

Ally giggles again. If only he knew that she and Mrs. Bolsh were related...

"I doubt it," She replies, hoping she's right. Her aunt had the time of her life, last weekend, teasing her infront of her entire family. If she caught them again, who knows what she could do?

Austin nods. "Okay, cool. So, I'll..." He bites the inside of his cheek and scratches the back of his neck, something Ally noticed he does a lot when he's nervous or feeling awkward. "See you around?" He finishes.

Ally nods, trying to hide the disappointment she suddenly feels. "Yeah."

'Calm yourself, Ally!' She tells herself. 'He's your best friend!' But even that argument doesn't sound so valid anymore. Why? No idea.

They don't have the chance to take two steps away from each other before a voice booms in the hallway. "Ally Dawson and Austin Moon! Where do you think you two are going?"

Great. The math teacher. They have him next period. Awesome (please take note of the large amount of sarcasm put into that one word).

"To class," Austin says, hoping Mr. Logans will let them go.

To the teenagers' disappointment, the teacher laughs. "Funny. You're not going back to class unless you kiss. You know that if you don't kiss under the mistletoe, you get bad luck, right?"

Ally rolls her eyes. "That's just a myth."

"Not true!" Mr. Logans exclaims. "I refused to kiss a girl under the mistletoe, back in the day. Look where I am, now."

Austin looks at him strangely. "But you chose to be a teacher."

Austin: 1
Mr. Logans: 0

The man stares at Austin for a few seconds, speechless, then narrows his eyes. "Good point, Austin Moon. Good point." Mr. Logans has a strange habit of calling everyone by their full name. You get used to it after a while.

"So... will you let us go?"

Before the teacher has a chance to answer Ally, someone else beats him to it.

"Oh, no! If you think you're getting away without kissing, you're dead wrong, my dear niece!"

Knowing that voice far too well, Ally shuts her eyes tightly and pinches herself, hoping this is all a nightmare she'll wake up from soon. But to her disappointment, when she opens her eyes, she has no choice but to accept the fact that her math teacher and her aunt are making her kiss her best friend. Again.

"Wait, niece?" Austin asks, suprised, turning to Ally. "Mrs. Bolsh is your aunt?"

Ally nods with a sigh. "Unfortunately."

"Hey, watch your mouth, young lady!" Ally's aunt scolds her. "I could tease you for the rest of your life about this if you say something wrong."

Mrs. Bolsh: 1
Ally: 0

"Oh, joy."

A beat passes.

"So...?" Mr. Logans raises an eyebrow. "We're waiting."

"Well, could you at least look away?" Austin asks, getting impatient. Don't they realize that they're just making his friendship with Ally more and more awkward each time? Today is the first time they've talked since their kiss, a week prior. What if he never talks to her again? With that in mind, he takes a decision: he's going to talk to her after this is all over. He has to. Or he could lose her forever.

Mrs. Blosh pouts. "Fine, fine." She and Mr. Logans turn around, relucantly giving the two teenagers some privacy.

"But no cheating! Don't think you can just pretend you kissed," Mr. Logans tells them. "We have security cameras all over the school."

"Yeah, whatever," Austin rolls his eyes before setting them on his best friend. Catching her eye, he realizes what he's been trying to figure out this entire week; he's in love with her. How could he have been so stupid? She was right infront of him this whole time, and he... Great, now there's no way he'll be able to talk to her normally after a second kiss. Especially since he's now aware of his true feelings toward her.

"Austin? Are you oka—" She doesn't have time to finish her sentence; his lips are already on hers. Right before she closes her eyes, she notices her aunt and Mr. Logans turn around to watch them, but she couldn't care less. This may seem cliché, and she doesn't know exactly why she feels that way about kissing her best friend, but when they kiss, it seems like nothing else in the world matters.

They don't get the chance to talk again until math class. Obviously, Mr. Logans did that on purpose, but they got paired up together to complete a work sheet. So, the moment dreaded by both Austin and Ally finally arrives: they have to talk.

"Hey," Austin greets Ally, sitting down at the desk next to hers with all his things.

"Hi," Ally greets him back, already feeling the awkwardness fill the air surrounding them.

"Listen can we talk about—"

To Austin's surprise, Ally cuts him off. "No," She says, avoiding his gaze. "I don't want to talk about it."

"But—"

"Can we just get to work?" Ally asks, finally locking eyes with him. "Please?"

Austin sighs, disappointed. "Fine."

Ally nods and turns back to her work. They don't talk again for a few minutes, both working by themselves, until Austin can't take the silence anymore.

"Ally, we need to talk about it," He tells her, hoping she'll end up agreeing to talk about the kiss... or kisses.

"What is there to talk about?" Ally asks, still not looking at him.

"Austin Moon and Ally Dawson," Mr. Logans speaks up. "Is there a problem?"

"No—"

Austin cuts Ally off. "Actually, there is. Could Ally and I go talk outside for a few minutes?"

Their teacher nods in understanding. After all, he has a part in why Ally won't talk to Austin. "Go right ahead."

"Thank you," Austin nods at him before grabbing Ally's hand and dragging her out of the classroom under the curious stares of their classmates.

"What is your problem?!" Ally exclaims once the door is shut behind them.

"My problem?! We haven't talked for a week, Ally! And now, it's really awkward and you won't even talk to me!"

"Because all you want to talk about is that stupid kiss!"

By now, they're already yelling. Thank goodness all the classrooms' doors are closed.

"Oh, so it was a stupid kiss, to you?" Austin asks, slightly hurt.

"No, but..." Ally runs a hand through her hair and lets out a frustrated sigh. "Why is it so important to you, anyway?"

"Because you're my best friend!" He exclaims like it's the most obvious thing in the world—which to him, it kind of is. "And... And I don't want to lose you, okay?"

Ally stares at him for a few seconds, calming down at his words and the honesty in his eyes. "So, that's what this is about?" She asks him, no longer screaming. "You're afraid of losing me?"

He takes a shaky breath and nods. "Yeah."

"Why?"

Austin groans, pacing infront of Ally. He scratches the back of his neck, bites the inside of his cheek, and pauses to look at Ally, who stares at him in confusion. He opens his mouth to say something, then decides against it and shakes his head as he starts pacing again.

"Austin? What is it?"

That's it. He can't take it anymore.

"I freaking love you okay?!" He shouts and Ally jaw drops slightly. "There, I said it."

Austin reaches out to open the door to their math class when Ally grabs his wrist and pulls him back before he has the chance to go any further.

"Wait..." Ally says, searching his eyes for a hint of a lie. She finds nothing but honesty. "You're not just saying that, are you?"

Austin shakes his head. "I'd never do that, you know that."

Hearing what she wanted to hear ever since their second kiss, Ally nods and quickly wraps her arms around his neck, pulls him down to her height, and crashes her lips against his.

But this time, there's no mistletoe hanging above their heads.

BAM! Done!

So, what do ya think? Tell me in a review! :)

Until next time,

R5AAFan :)