So I had this AU one shot idea and accidentally made it +7600 words long, so I'm splitting it into two chapters. Here's the first part, enjoy!

I do not own Austin & Ally.

i.

Ally Dawson used to be the one who believed in love at first sight. The one who daydreamed about the perfect guy, who fantasized about the big house with the white picket fence, kids chasing the dog in the yard, a grand piano in the living room and an old telescope in the attic. Her best friend Trish was much more rational and down-to-earth, and usually the one to pull her out of her fantasies and into real life.

That day though, for some reason, the roles seemed to have switched.

"I'm telling you, we're perfect for each other! Yeah, maybe he has red hair and is a little goofy, but we have so much in common!"

"Like what?"

"Same favorite movie, same favorite number, same favorite show..."

Ally looked at her skeptically.

"What? Those kind of things are important!" objected Trish.

"Sure they are," Ally shook her head.

"Hey, that's not all! He's also from Miami, which means we won't have to fight about sport teams, and he wants to be a film director!" Trish continued, excited.

Ally frowned. "So? You don't even like recording things on your phone!" she pointed out.

"Yeah, but think about all the celebrities I'll get to meet once he becomes famous!"

She rolled her eyes. Typical Trish, putting her materialistic nature above everything else. "He is your soulmate," she joked, then went back to reading her magazine, hoping that her comment would finally end the conversation.

"Why are you being so condescending? I thought you loved love," said Trish however, sitting on her bed.

"I do, usually... just not today."

"Why not today?"

"It's April 15th, I'll never love love on April 15th ever again."

"What, because of Elliot? Come on, Ally, you've been broken up for almost four months!"

Ally felt a little gush of pain hit her chest at the sound of his name. She'd spent all day trying—and failing—not to think about him.

"It would've been our third year anniversary! It's not like it's no big deal!" she insisted.

"So what? It's not like you were actually together for three years. You spent the past six months of the relationship breaking up every other week!" Trish remarked, ending the sentence with a groan.

"He was still my first love!" Ally protested, now visibly annoyed.

"Okay, you're right," surrendered Trish, "you have every reason to be cranky."

"Thank you."

Ally sighed, then picked up the magazine once again, quickly flipping through what she'd already read.

"So I guess you're not gonna like what I'm about to ask you right now."

Ally lowered her magazine slowly, sending Trish her deathliest gaze. Unfortunately, her best friend was used to her mood swings, and she hardly flinched at her discontent.

"Dez has this friend, and he was supposed to hang out with him tonight, but he invited me to come along."

Ally put a lot of effort into sounding menacing as she invited Trish to continue. "And...?"

"And we both don't want anyone to be a third wheel, so I said I would bring a friend as well."

"Let me get this clear, you want me to go on a double date on the day of my anniversary?"

"Well, technically it's not your anniversary if you're not together anymore..."

Ally covered her face with both hands, and for a second Trish feared that she'd gone too far. She knew better than anybody how important Elliot was for her best friend, how intense and marvelous and complicated their relationship had been. She had little experience with actual love, but she remembered how painful it had been breaking up with Trent. How heartbroken she felt when she'd ended things with Jace. Ally must've felt ten times worse, considering that Elliot had not only been her boyfriend for three years, but one of her oldest friends. It had taken her months to finally give up, and now she was putting her life back together, piece by piece. She could understand how hard it was.

But then again, she wasn't going out anymore. She'd stopped seeing most of her friends, and she'd stopped writing songs. She was enclosing herself in a bubble, far away from everyone and everything, not enjoying anymore the fact that she was in New York City and enrolled with a scholarship in her dream college. She needed to move on.

"Ally, look at me," Trish called her, pulling her hands off her face. "You need this."

"I need to help you get a new boyfriend?" her voice was broken and worried, but she didn't sound mad anymore.

"No, you need to go out and meet some new people."

"You mean get a new boyfriend?"

"Life is not just about boyfriends, sweetie! Life is about friends, having fun, hook ups! It's about moving on from painful things to enjoy new, wonderful ones."

The corners of Ally's lips curled upwards, but her eyes turned skeptic. Trish still decided to see it as a good sign.

"So, this guy is so important to you that you've improvised yourself a motivational speaker?" she asked, tilting her eyebrows.

"What gave me away?"

"I know Trish De La Rosa, and she'd never say anything that cheesy without an agenda."

Trish laughed, and Ally joined short afterwards. Then they hugged, without the need to say anything else. They both knew Trish was right, and they also knew she had her friend's interest in mind.

"Fine, I'll come," sighed Ally eventually, just before pulling out of the hug.

"Really? Thankyouthankyouthankyou!" Trish was so excited she hugged her again, harder.

"You're welcome," smiled Ally. "But I'm not gonna hook up with this guy," she quickly added, remembering part of Trish's previous speech.

"Oh, wait till you see him. He's H-O-T."

ii.

"So, this Ally girl. Is she cute?"

"Never saw her in my life."

Austin groaned. With his recent luck, the evening was not gonna be anything but boring. Dez flirting with his dream girl while he unsuccessfully tried to make small talk with her boring, probably annoyed friend. He should've just gone over to Brooke's apartment, like she'd asked him. Sure, she could be a little creepy, but she could also be sexy as hell, and he could've used a bit of fooling around. He doubted this girl would even flirt with him.

"Don't look so hopeless. Girls fall in love with you before you even open your mouth!" Dez reminded him.

"Yeah, well, I'm sick of that," blurted out Austin.

"Seriously?"

"Yes! I don't want girls to fall in love with the idea of me, I want them to want to get to know me. To like me for my personality, my quirks, my taste in music and stuff like that!"

"Is this about Kira?" asked Dez, suspiciously.

"Of course it's about Kira!" shouted back Austin.

"Okay, buddy. No need to get aggressive."

"Sorry," he sighed, "it's just—I really thought she'd be different."

"You mean, you really thought she'd be like Cassidy."

Austin looked at him, stunned, but found nothing but a knowing look on his best friend's face. Sometimes it surprised him how well they knew each other.

"No, I didn't-" he tried to deny it, but it was obvious even to him.

"I get it man, okay? First loves are hard to forget, and she was a great girl."

Austin sinked both hands into the pockets of his leather jacket, nodding slightly. He missed her. He missed everything about her. They hadn't seen nor talked to each other in over a year, currently living on opposite sides of the country. She in LA with her band, getting more famous by the minute; he in NYC, seriously considering breaking his parents' hearts and drop out of college to pursue his musical career full time. He wasn't unhappy, he just wished he had something else to be excited about other than music. Someone else, to be more precise. Someone who wasn't just a casual screw, but who he could actually care about.

The problem was that he was too lazy to look for her. That was why he hooked up with Brooke once in a while, why he flirted with random girls with no intention of things ever getting serious. He kinda wished she would find him, because he was horrible at searching for things, and also because so he could continue to be lazy.

"Here they come," Dez nudged his shoulder, awaking him from his brooding.

The girls had just emerged from the corner of the block and were now approaching them, laughing amongst themselves about something one of them had just said. As soon as they noticed them standing in front of the bar, the one he assumed was Trish raised her hand in greeting. Dez smiled and walked a few steps towards them. He and Trish hugged, both grinning, and Austin and Ally glanced at each other for the first time.

It was nothing movie like, as maybe he had hoped. She was very pretty and she looked like a nice girl, but it wasn't love at first sight, he didn't feel his heart skip a beat or anything like that. Maybe those things only really happened in fiction.

"Hi, I'm Ally Dawson," she said, stepping forward and extending her hand.

He took it, smiling. "Austin Moon, nice to meet you."

"You too," she glanced at Trish and Dez, still hugging, and loudly cleared her throat.

"Sorry," said the first, visibly blushing. "So, is this the famous bar?" she asked right after, pointing at the bright red sign above the window they where standing next to.

"Yep, best onion rings in New York City," winked Dez.

"And live music on Fridays," added Austin, excited.

"Sounds great," said Ally, and Trish nodded, beaming.

They awkwardly stood in front of the bar for a couple more seconds, none of them knowing whether to make the first step towards the entrance. It was Dez who eventually gestured the ladies to go first, and Austin rushed to open the door for them.

iii.

The place was nice, the band actually kinda good, and their booth not too close to the stage, so they didn't have to shout to make conversation. They ordered four beers and two portions of onion rings, with Trish asking for nachos because she "wasn't a fan of deep fried food."

They spent the first twenty minutes talking about the city and their favorite places, occasionally comparing it to Miami. It started with everyone contributing with stories and comments, but it eventually became a conversation between Trish and Dez alone, while Austin and Ally listened, munching on onion rings and sipping beer, both taking mental notes on their best friend's date and getting more skeptical by the minute about the future of the relationship. Dez seemed a bit too goofy and all over the place for Trish, who, on the contrary, was bossy and had very little patience. The two didn't seem to notice, though, and instead kept focusing on all the things they had in common.

When the conversation topic switched to "zaliens", Ally groaned.

"You don't like horror movies?" asked Austin, the only one who seemed to have noticed her displeasure.

"Not really. They're all about special effects, there's never any plot whatsoever, and the splatter kinda grosses me out," she explained, wincing, but actually kinda glad that she and Austin were actually starting a conversation of their own.

"Huh. I like them," he shrugged.

"Really?" she asked, tilting her eyebrows.

"Yeah! I mean, they have a bit of everything: action, suspense, mystery, romance-"

"Excuse me—romance?" she repeated, skeptically.

"Well, yeah. The main character always has a love interest of some sort," Austin pointed out.

"And by 'love interest' you mean some gorgeous, half naked actress, who has maybe ten lines in the whole movie?"

He stared at her half in shock, half absolutely terrified, having no idea about anything to say that wouldn't anger her or irritate her even more.

"What—what kind of movies do you like?" he decided to ask, nervously.

"Well, I'm a sucker for old movies," she admitted, "and I enjoy the occasional RomCom. I really like reading better, though."

Austin bit the inside of his cheek. So she was that kind of girl. Smart, bookish, idealistic, maybe a bit naïve. The kind of girl who you're always scared to disappoint, around whom you can never say the first thing that pops into your mind. He didn't have anything against that kind of girls, but they weren't usually his type. He liked fun, adventurous, and easy-going girls.

He started to suspect that the date wouldn't end well.

"Cool," he smiled awkwardly.

"So, are you in movie school like Dez?" Ally asked, before taking a sip of her beer.

"No, I go to NYU. Junior year."

"I'm a junior too!"

"What's your major? English?" he guessed.

"No, I go to MUNY, actually."

He almost choked on his onion ring. He didn't expect her to be into music at all, for some reason.

"You're a musician?" he asked, a bit of amazement still on his face.

"I've played piano for as long as I can remember, and I know my way around a bunch of other instruments as well. My dad owns a music store," she explained.

"Really?"

"Yes, back in Miami. It's called Sonic Boom."

"Hey, I think I know it! In the Mall of Miami, right? I love that place!" Austin exclaimed.

Ally smiled. "You're into music as well?"

"It's only my life," he answered, and she felt her cheeks heating up for no apparent reason.

"Do you play any instruments?" she asked, eagerly.

"Guitar, piano, drums, bass... I can even play a trumpet through another trumpet," he proudly declared. "I sing too. I'm actually about to sign a deal with Starr Records."

"No way! So you're almost a celebrity," she observed enthusiastically.

"If I can record a successful demo with original songs I will. The label has tried to pair me up with a couple of songwriters, but so far I haven't found a fit," he explained, now a little less excited.

Ally nodded, understanding. She knew how hard songwriting could be. She herself hadn't been able to write anything since her breakup.

"Guys, we're hitting the dance floor," announced Trish, getting up from the table and taking the hand Dez was extending.

"Sounds fun!" laughed Austin. "Wanna join them?" he asked Ally hopefully, a second later.

She awkwardly pursed her lips. "I'd rather not, actually. I'm not a great dancer."

"Oh," he looked disappointed, and she mentally cursed her uncoordinated self. They'd actually started to have a good time together, and now they were back to uncomfortable silence.

They both stayed quiet for a couple of minutes, struggling to find something to say, until Austin downed what was left of his beer in desperation and stood up.

"I'm gonna go get another one. Do you want one too?" he asked.

Ally looked at her still half full bottle. "I'm good, thanks," she smiled.

Austin nodded, then headed for the bar, shuffling through the crowd.

Ally sighed. He seemed like a really nice guy, and he was really cute as well, but she suspected that music was the only thing they had in common. She took the last onion ring from the plastic basket and lazily dipped it in the ketchup, feeling a bit hazy for no real reason. She scanned the room as she chewed the fried vegetable, not looking for anything in particular until a girl on the dance floor caught her attention. She was wearing a tight pink dress that showed her gorgeously tanned legs and had blond hair that went on for miles. She looked nice enough, Ally wasn't really the type to judge a girl just from her outfit or level of sobriety. She could've been a waitress or a Columbia grad student or both, for all she knew. It wasn't the length of her dress that upset her, nor her model-like features.

It was the fact that she was making out with Elliot. Her ex boyfriend, the love of her life.

She felt suddenly sick to her stomach, dropped the ketchup smeared onion ring back in its basket, and made a bee line to the door, tears already blurring her vision.

iv.

Austin came back to find the booth empty, but Ally's purse still on her seat. Figuring she'd gone to the bathroom or something like that, he sat down and started sipping his beer.

He wasn't really having the worst time. Ally was pretty cool, he just wished they'd found more things they had in common than just music. Or maybe they just needed to talk some more, hang out and get used to each other's differences. That, though, sounded like it would take time he wasn't really sure he had. He was kinda hoping for a perfect fit, and kinda wanted it to happen as soon as possible.

He groaned, once he realized how utopian his thoughts sounded. How lazy he was for wishing for the fastest way to the happy ending. He was willing to work when it came to his music, why wasn't he like that with girls as well? Why didn't he feel excited about the idea of getting to know someone slowly, falling in love little by little? For the past months, all he'd wanted was to fall in love again, to get what he'd had with Cassidy, what he'd come close to with Kira. For the past months, he'd surrendered before even trying, opting for one night stands and occasional hookups instead. It probably wasn't really healthy.

"Hey, where's Ally?" asked Trish, sitting back down followed by a very out-of-breath Dez. They both had red cheeks and sweaty foreheads.

"No idea," Austin shrugged, "I went to get another beer and she was gone when I came back. She's probably in the bathroom," he suggested.

"The line's pretty long from what I've seen, that's probably what's taking her so long," added Dez, nodding.

Trish seemed to agree with the hypothesis, but she looked around anyway. The bar was getting more crowded by the minute, but she didn't catch any glimpse of the red dress Ally was wearing. She did however catch a glimpse of someone else who looked way too familiar.

"Shit," she cursed, grabbing her own purse from her seat.

"What's wrong?" asked Dez, frowning.

"You see that guy over there, dancing with the tall blonde?" asked Trish, pointing at Elliot on the dance floor.

"Yeah. Who is he?"
"Ally's ex boyfriend of two and a half years."

"Oh," said Dez, his face paling.

Austin shifted uncomfortably, sending another glance at the guy, who seemed completely oblivious to the attention he was receiving from the end of the dance floor. He seemed like an okay dude, more or less their age, though it was difficult to tell from so far away, when the lights were dimmed and the room crowded. Good looking, not very tall. That was all he was able to gather, not enough to decide anything about him nor understand why Ally had been his girlfriend for over two years.

"We need to find her," Trish was saying in the meantime.

"She left her purse here, so she must still be around," suggested Austin.

They gathered their stuff and started walking towards the exit. Once outside, they didn't have to look very far to find her. She was standing with her back against the building wall, hugging herself with both arms, though it was impossible to say if it was for warmth or an attempt to stop her body from shaking. She was crying and not even trying to hide it. Loud sobs broke from her chest and escaped from her lips, while tears streamed down her cheeks and dribbled from her chin.

Trish hurried by her side while Austin and Dez stayed back, looking at each other awkwardly.

"Pretty interesting night, huh?" said Dez, showing the hint of a smirk.

"You can say that again," sighed Austin.

"At least my date is not crying."

"Give her a couple more hours."

Dez elbowed Austin in the ribs while he chuckled, then they both turned back to the girls. Trish had an arm around Ally's waist and was combing strands of hair off her face. Ally had stopped sobbing, but her arms were still pressed tightly around her torso. Austin stepped forward sheepishly.

"Here, you should put this back on," he said sweetly, handing her the black jean jacket she'd left inside. Ally took it with a weak smile.

"Thanks."

Dez approached as well. "Do you guys want us to walk you home?" he asked.

Trish bit her lip and looked at Ally, who was shaking her head as she pulled the first sleeve over her arm.

"No, it's fine. I'm sorry about this, I'm such a mess," she laughed and started drying her cheeks with her hands.

"Don't worry, we get it," smiled Austin. Dez nodded.

"I'm fine with going wherever," assure Ally. "Just maybe not back in there?"

The other three laughed, and Trish squeezed her arm reassuringly.

"How about we go hang out at our apartment? We have an awesome TV and we can order a pizza."

"Sounds great!" Trish nodded enthusiastically.

Austin agreed as well, and Ally seemed okay with following the group, so they started walking towards the subway station. Austin kept close to his date, sending her occasional worried looks. She felt her cheeks warm every time.