Author's Note: I know I should be working on One Weekend In Vegas but this just popped into my head and I couldn't move on. So here is the first part. I am hoping the second part will be up soon.
Disclaimer: I do not own Austin and Ally, although if I did, this is how Critics and Confidence should have ended.
Austin opened the front door of his house and walked through into the cool entryway. He sighed with relief when he heard no sounds emanating from the rest of the house. His parents must have already gone to bed. He shut the door behind him and climbed the stairs to his room.
He felt good, great even, as he bounced up the stairs. No, he felt better than good, he felt great. No... amazing, no... wonderful, no... extraordinary. Yeah, extraordinary! He had gotten his swag back and he really did feel extraordinary. He had finally realized that the only person, well only people really, whose opinions mattered to him were his own and his friends.
It didn't matter what anyone else thought. He knew he rocked. His friends knew he rocked. Ally knew he rocked and he really could do anything with her by his side. Well, anything but tell he how he really felt about her.
He pushed open the door to his room and set his guitar down on it's holder and shrugged out of his jacket, hanging it up in his closet. He stretched his arms above his head in an attempt to release some of the tension this day had created. His red t-shirt crept up as he did so revealing well-defined ab muscles.
A light tap at his door caused him to jump slightly as he turned around. "Hey, sweetie," his mom said from his doorway. "How did your show go tonight?"
Austin smiled at his mom who was wrapped up in her robe and leaning against his door frame. "Hey, Mom. It wasn't actually a show, really. More a chance for me to prove to a critic that I do have what it takes, but then I realized that it didn't matter what he thought, all that matters is what I think."
"Well, I'm glad you got your confidence back, honey. You were starting to worry me. I'm very grateful to have my happy, self-assured young man back." She smiled at him again before lifting a hand to her mouth to stifle a yawn. "Just one more question...," she drawled.
Austin raised an eyebrow at her and grinned. "Just one more?" he asked.
Mimi smiled at her son and nodded. "Yes, just one more question. Have you told Ally how you feel about her yet?"
Austin's mouth fell open and he looked at his mother in shock. "What?"
Mimi pursed her lips and looked away from her son for a moment before leveling her gaze at Austin again. "Did. You. Tell. Ally. How. You. Feel?" she spoke slowly and distinctly to make her point.
Austin shook his head as if to clear it and tried to get his jumbled thoughts to line up in his head. How did she know? Did he tell her? He just looked at his mother with confusion on his face.
"I'm your mother, sweetie. Did you really think I didn't know that Ally is the only girl you're interested in right now?" she queried softly.
He opened his mouth to answer her before shutting it again. He thought a moment more before answering her. "I guess I never really thought about it. But, to answer your question, no. I didn't tell her. I don't have to tell her, she already knows how I feel."
"I know how she feels, too," he continued. "We like each other. That's how we feel. But, we already tried to date and it didn't work."
Austin looked so sad that Mimi's heart broke a little bit. Her son was growing up and sometimes the growing pains hurt, especially when it affected the heart. She took a deep breath before speaking again. "So, that's it? You're just going to give up? Give up the girl who makes you happy? Give her up without a fight? That doesn't sound like you."
Austin shook his head and walked closer to his mom. "What else can I do?" he asked shrugging his shoulders. "This is what she wants."
Mimi looked up at her son. "Are you sure? Have you discussed this with her or are you just assuming that this is what she wants? Wouldn't you rather know for sure?"
Austin thought for a moment. Well, they had just talked about how they would have to move on and find other people to date if they weren't going to try it themselves. That thought made him nauseous, sick to his stomach. The thought of Ally dating someone else just made him angry and sad and confused and jealous.
To be honest, even the thought of him going out and finding someone else to date was uncomfortable. He just wanted Ally. Maybe his mom was right. Maybe he should tell Ally what he was thinking, what he was feeling.
Mimi watched the emotions flow across her son's face; confusion, anger, surprise, determination. She smiled to herself as she watched him come to his decision.
"Mom, is it okay if I leave again? I need to go talk to Ally," Austin spoke hurriedly as he began digging in his pocket for his keys.
"Of course, sweetie," Mimi answered as she moved out of his way. "Just don't be gone too long."
Austin didn't answer as he moved past her to rush down the stairs and out of to the house. Mimi chuckled as she went downstairs to lock the door as Austin hadn't bothered to do it. She wandered back to the room she shared with her husband who was sitting up in bed reading.
"What was that?" Mike asked. "I thought I heard Austin come in and then go back out again. Doesn't he know how late it is?"
"Mike," Mimi stated as she removed her robe and slid into bed. "It's only eleven and it's Saturday night. Besides, he's on his way to Ally's."
Mike lifted both eyebrows as he looked at his wife in surprise. "No, he's not," he almost shouted.
Mimi flinched and shushed her husband. "Don't yell, I'm sitting right here. Yes, he is on his way to her house. Tomorrow our son may have himself a girlfriend."
"Well, I'll have to talk to him tomorrow about appropriate times to visit a girl. This is too late and Lester is going to be irritated."
Mimi laughed. "Well, Austin will just have to deal with that on his own."
…
Austin slid into the drivers seat of his yellow Charger and pulled his phone out of his pocket to send a quick text to Ally. He knew he had just dropped her off and she might have gone to bed already. He turned the key and his car roared to life. His phone beeped and he checked it before he pulled out of the driveway.
Of course you can come over. What's going on? - Ally
He sent off a text responding and threw the car in reverse, pulling out of the driveway and heading to Ally's house.
…
Ally was sitting cross-legged on her bed waiting to hear back from Austin. She wondered what was going on with him. She had just seen him like half an hour ago when he dropped her off. She jumped slightly when her phone buzzed in her hand.
Just need to talk. See you soon. - Austin
He just needs to talk? About what? She was going to let her thoughts run away from her, but he had said he was on his way. She needed to check and see if her dad was still up. And is he was still up, would he be upset about Austin coming over so late,even though it was Saturday.
She hopped off her bed and was just about to leave her room in search of her father when she caught sight of herself in the mirror over her dresser. She was wearing her pajamas already which consisted of tight, black yoga pants and a hot pink camisole, neither of which leaving much to the imagination.
She wondered if he would be able to tell she wasn't wearing anything under her pajamas. She frantically looked around he room for something to throw on over her pajamas. Ally saw her school sweatshirt laying over her desk chair so she tossed it on not bothering to zip it up.
She glanced at her phone and gasped, he would be here soon and she hadn't talked to her dad yet. She ran out of her room and almost ran into her father.
"Ally, honey, what's the rush? I thought you were going to bed," Lester said as he caught her before she tripped over him.
"Hey, Dad, thanks," Ally breathed. "Um, Austin texted me and he is on his way over here to talk to me about something. I just wanted to make sure that was okay."
Lester frowned down at his daughter. This was late for someone to becoming over and she had said Austin, did that mean just Austin? "Just Austin, no one else?" he asked.
Ally bit her lip and thought for a second before answering. "I'm not sure. I think it will just be him, but we'll stay downstairs and he won't be over for very long, I don't think."
Lester nodded and tilted his head to look at his daughter. He trusted her implicitly and Austin was a good kid, a good young man. He didn't have to worry too much, but he wasn't stupid and he had seen the looks between Austin and Ally recently, so he would be keeping both his ears open while Austin was over.
"It's fine, honey. I'm sure it's important or else he wouldn't becoming over so late, but I trust you and I trust Austin. It will be fine."
"Thanks, Dad," Ally beamed as she scurried around him and headed down the stairs.
Lester laughed to himself as he continued down the hall to his room.
Ally rushed down the stairs and skidded into the living room. She glanced around the room and caught sight of herself in the mirror beside the front door. She shook her head at her reflection. She pulled the hair tie out of her hair, fluffed her curls back up and wondered if she had time to run upstairs to put her makeup back on before Austin arrived.
She was debating with herself when she heard the roar of an engine outside. Ally peeked out the window and saw Austin pulling in her driveway.
Ally took a couple of deep breaths to steady herself. He was here. The butterflies that lived in her stomach leaped up and began to flutter madly as she checked herself in the mirror once more. Too late to run back upstairs for make up, but she bit her lips and pinched her cheeks to bring up some color. She was so happy that she had already brushed her teeth.
A light tap came at the door and Ally took one more deep breath before walking to the door and twisting the knob. She pulled open the door and revealed Austin.
"Hey, Austin, that was fast," she breathed as she looked up at him. Wow, he was tall when she wasn't wearing shoes.
Austin was staring down at her and his breath caught in his throat when her gaze locked with his. Wow, she was short when she wasn't wearing shoes. "Hey," he answered as he smiled down at her. "Are you going to let me come in or are we going to stand here all night?"
Ally shook herself and stepped back to let him into her house. She shut the door and turned the lock. She turned slowly and followed Austin to the couch and sat beside him, not as close as she usually did.
"So, Austin, what's up?" she asked glancing over at her tall,blonde friend.
Austin looked flustered and weird, she decided. He was flushed and he had to take a deep breath before he finally turned his head and faced her.
"Ally, I want to try again," he said with determination.