Hey guys! Long time no...read? I don't know. Anyway, sorry to anybody that got excited or whatever cause this definitely will not live up to expectations. It's just something that's been stuck in my head and it wouldn't go away until I tried to write it, but I started writing it at midnight so it's essentially a bunch of mindless babble. But I like having my fanfiction in one place that is not my computer, so I figured I'd upload it. It's my way of staying organized. Alrighty...um this also doesn't mean I'll be uploading more or anything. It really is just a random thing that wouldn't stop bugging my brain.

TO UNDERSTAND THE PLOT YOU SHOULD READ THIS: I was too lazy to do any sort of set-up for this so you're essentially thrown right in. So, before this starts you should know that Austin has been dating Ellie for a couple months. Ally knows this and has hung out with them together for short periods of time. You should also keep in mind that these are not really Disney's version of Austin and Ally.

Sorry it sucks and is awkward lol

Don't own anything.

I stepped out from behind my car door, deciding that if I walked fast enough, Ellie might not see me. I would never understand why people who didn't read chose to sit outside of bookstores with their coffees and their cell phones. Why not just stay at the coffee shop? Maybe it gets too crowded. Who knows?

Anyway, I tried to slink through the doors, but just as I reached for the handle, I heard her voice.

"Ally!" she exclaimed, all sweet, lingering tones. Her voice was low for a girl's, but beautiful and endearing. One of the many things Austin has spent hours explaining, sitting on the counter of Sonic Boom with his feet swinging and his hands gesturing to emphasize his points.

"How crazy is it that we're both here at the same time?" she asked as I turned from the door to face her. "Come sit with me! I'm waiting for Austin anyway. I like to be early for our dates. Though I don't know why he wanted me to meet him here."

I swear, every step I took towards her was like a jolt of electricity-not the good kind. And jesus, did she not see that almost every sentence was like a stab to my gut? I mean, SERIOUSLY. Ow.

Somehow, I made it over to the little circular table with the umbrella spinning in the center. I could see her sandled feet twisting the base in circles as she waited. I wondered if it was a nervous habit, but Ellie was never nervous. I decided it was a bored habit. Obviously. If she wasn't bored why else would she call me over?

"So," she started, a glint in her eyes that I only noticed now that I was close enough to study them, "how's life?"

"Pretty good," I answered, trying to decipher the meaning of the glint. My gut twisted around the knife already impaling it.

She laughed, low and lingering and alluring. "What have you been doing lately? It's been a while since we've talked!"

I kept to my vague answers. "Oh you know, school, writing songs with Austin, work, all that good stuff."

The glint in her eye sparked some sort of fire and her voice became more distant when she replied, "Oh...you've been working with Austin lately. I thought you guys had kind of stopped hanging out."

I remember thinking she was crazy. Austin and I hadn't stopped hanging out at all. Maybe our time together had decreased since he started dating Ellie four months ago, but we'd never stopped the time completely.

"Uh, no," I replied quietly, unsure if this was a problem, "Austin and I are still writing songs together."

Her face tightened, as did her voice, and suddenly I didn't really recognize her as the seemingly sweet girl Austin had been dating. "Interesting. I told him I wanted him to stop spending so much time with you."

I felt my eyes grow wider. She had to be kidding. We were best friends (granted, I was in love with him, but we were best friends) and even if we weren't, we were business partners. We worked together.

I stuttered out a "why".

"Because," she replied cruelly, "you're pathetic, Ally. You think I don't see the way you look at him? You think I don't notice that your eyes follow him wherever he goes and that you laugh twenty times louder when he's around? It's like you're desperately trying to get him to notice you. It's just sad. He's MY boyfriend."

My eyes tingled with the beginning of tears but I pushed them back, deciding to act tougher than I felt. "Are you jealous or something? There's nothing to be worried about," I told her.

She laughed again. "Of course I'm not jealous! I mean, Jesus Ally, I just feel bad for you. By preventing you two from hanging out I am preventing him from hurting you the way he inevitably would. Because, come on, he's Austin Moon. He could get any girl he wanted. He would never settle for someone like you. In fact, if he didn't need a songwriter so badly, you two wouldn't even be friends. You already know that though, don't you sweetheart? You're in love with him but he could never love you back."

At this point, my eyes were no longer tingling but burning, desperately needing to release the tears locked in my eye lashes.

"Oh my God," Ellie said, mock-sincerity in her voice, "are you going to cry?"

Shoving my chair back, I decided I didn't need my damn book anyway and turned in the direction of my car. I heard her say, "That's right, go home and cry your pathetic tears over a boy who will never love-" but she was cut off by her own sharp intake of breath. I glanced upwards, only to see the last face I wanted to see at that moment.

Austin Moon.

Before I could really process what I was doing, I brushed past him, speed-walked to my car, and drove off. I thanked god about a billion times that there was practically no traffic today.

About 10 miles away, I pulled over into the parking lot of an old playground. Nobody went there anymore because you had to walk about a mile from your car to the actual park, through a trail in some pretty dense bushes. I had gone when I was little, and now it seemed like the perfect place to get off the road before my brain fully processed what just happened and-HOLY SHIT go into panic mode.

I had no idea how much Austin had heard. Hopefully not much. Hopefully none of it.

I stumbled down the path to the park, sat myself down on one of the old swings and listened to the echoes of Ellie's voice whip through my head over and over. I cried. I laughed at myself for crying over something I'd already known. And then I cried again.

I don't know exactly how long I was crying, but suddenly my cell phone rang. I assumed it was my dad, calling to ask why I wasn't home yet. I glanced at the screen before answering, then froze. "Austin" was written across the top of my phone screen. I stared at it as it continued to ring...and ring...and ring. And then, it stopped. Before I could decide if

I was relieved or disappointed, the screen lit up with his name again. The whole process happened once more before I finally swallowed the glob of gunk in my throat and answered.

"Hey," I said, trying my best to sound normal. My effort payed off for one word, but I didn't really want to push my luck.

"Fuck, Als why didn't you answer!?" He sounded slightly frantic. Slightly. I winced at his more serious swearing, but before I could answer or criticize his language, he stumbled on. "Where are you? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," I answered. My voice was still okay. Slightly off, but only when you knew to look for it. And I don't think he did. "I'm at a park."

"Which one?"

"Tucker Park," and, realizing that he might be asking so he could meet me here, maybe to discuss a new song or something, I added quickly, "but I kind of want some time by myself at the moment so..." I trailed off as my voice got noticeably tighter. Shit.

"Als? Are you crying?" when I couldn't answer through the growing glob in my throat again he kept talking. "I'm coming. I don't care if you need time alone or whatever. You sound like you're crying."

I tried to protest but I couldn't get it past the tears that were somehow streaming down my face again. I gave up on the protests and decided to hang up. I had about ten minutes if he was coming from the bookstore. If I was lucky. If I wasn't lucky (which I'm usually not) he was using the bluetooth in his car and was already on his way. I scrubbed at the tears, took deep breaths, and fanned my face to clear it of its redness. I was just now realizing that the weather was chilly for Miami, so maybe I could pass off any lingering redness on the breeze.

Eight minutes after I hung up, a slightly-panting Austin appeared at the edge of the park. I could tell when he spotted me. Some of the tension left his shoulders. He was an incredibly contradictory person. He really shouln't have been this worried over a girl who was just supposed to be his songwriter.

He jogged over to me and sat on the swing beside me. Though there were no longer tears on it, my face had always liked to cling to the aftereffects of crying, so I kept my eyes trained on the gravel beneath my feet.

We sat in silence for a while before Austin spoke up. "Ally," he said. "Ally, look at me."

When I didn't, he added a please.

I finally lifted my eyes from the ground, trying to find a decent place to settle them that wouldn't shove the knife in my gut farther in. I settled on his chin. Chins aren't really attractive...apparently unless they are on Austin Moon. I moved my eyes down to a button on his shirt.

He sighed. We both knew this was the best he was going to get for now. Stubbornness. A very common Dawson trait.

"Look," he started. Hesitated. Ran his fingers through his blonde hair. It was a mess. A very attractive mess.

"Um, I broke up with Ellie today."

That got my attention. "What?" I choked out.

"Uh, yeah," he continued, "I asked her to meet me at the bookstore cause it's close to home and it was a place I knew she wouldn't want to stick around afterwards. It's been brewing for about two weeks now. I just didn't know how to do it."

I nodded my head, not sure I was processing what he was saying.

"Ally..." he was hesitating again. So strange. Austin Moon rarely gets nervous. "What she said to you...that wasn't okay."

My muscles locked. Shit. Had he heard? How much had he heard? I knew my luck was bad but I hoped and hoped that it wasn't much. Please. "What do you mean?" I asked him.

"What do I mean? What do you mean, what do I mean? She called you pathetic! You're the least pathetic, the least pitiable person I know. You are strong and brave and kind and everything good in the world! And Als, you can't possibly believe the other stuff she said. You can't."

My heart was absolutely racing. He'd heard everything. Absolutely everything. My eyes filled with tears again before I could stop them and I frantically returned my gaze to the gravel at our feet.

"Ally you can't believe that I'm only with you because you're my songwriter. You're my best friend, Als! Jesus, I don't know what I'd do without you!" A small sound escaped from my lips. His arms were suddenly at my shoulders, pulling me up from the swing, towards him, into a tight embrace.

I could feel his breath on the crown of my head as he continued. "Every time you walk in the room I'm caught up in how happy you make me, Ally. It feels like there's no air anymore and like there's too much air all at once. You are beautiful and incredible and captivating and you are everything to me and I can't stand to see you crying."

I laugh-sobbed into his chest, absorbing the warm and fuzzy feelings his words created. He laugh-sighed into my hair. "Als, what she said...about you being in love with me. Is it true?"

My muscles tensed again and he tightened his grip around me, like he was afraid I was going to run. I sighed. Then nodded into his chest. I waited for him to push me away. He didn't.

"I love you too."