Disclaimer: I don't own Austin & Ally. (I can't seem to stop writing about these two, maybe a new OTP? haha)

Beautiful

"Hey Ally."

Ally looked up to see Austin entering the store. She gave him a smile and closed her book. Strangely enough, she had been writing about him, her best friend, who she may or may not have a crush on.

"Hey Austin," she replied, leaning back against the counter as he hopped onto the edge. The store wasn't very busy that day, and having Austin there to distract her from the emptiness was nice.

"Want to work on the song?" he asked, then flipped his hair. She laughed at him then glanced at her phone, which was on the counter beside the cash register. 5:37.

"Austin, I can't close up 'til six thirty," she said, sighing.

He rolled his eyes. "Ally, there is no one in here, and there probably won't be for the next hour. Why don't you just close now?"

After a five minute debate, Ally gave in and flipped the open sign to 'closed', then locked the doors. Austin gave a little cheer and ran up the stairs to the practice room. He was already sitting at the piano playing notes when she arrived.

"You're eager," she laughed, sitting down beside him.

He smiled. "I haven't really spent a lot of time with you, and I missed you Alls."

Ally flipped her book to the correct page. "Why? You've got Lexi." Lexi, Austin's girlfriend, was nice enough to everyone else, but seemed to detest Ally. Otherwise, Ally thought she was perfect for Austin, she was gorgeous, funny, smart, and played bass like no one she'd ever met.

"Alls, you're my best friend, how could I not miss hanging out with you?" Austin asked.

Ally shrugged. "Well, you've got a beautiful girlfriend, and then plain old 'best friend' me."

Austin tutted. "Ally, Lexi's pretty, but you're beautiful, and I love hanging out with you." He smiled, and though Ally was a little confused, they said nothing more about it that night, and continued to work on the song.

"Hey Austin, hey Jessica." Ally waved to her friends as she approached them. Jessica waved back, and Austin shot her a smile.

"What's up, Ally?" Jessica asked.

She smiled. "Not much, just came by to say hi. How about you guys?"

"Just asking Austin about his new album, I heard that the preview was given awesome reviews," Jess said.

"It was," Ally said, smiling at her partner.

Jess smiled. "I'm so excited for it to come out, it's crazy that one of my friends is so famous now! You guys are an awesome pair."

"Thanks, Jess."

Austin looked between his two friends. "Hey, Jess, Ally and I were gonna go hang out now, but we'll catch you later?"

Jess smiled. "Sure, see you."

Austin grabbed Ally's wrist and the two walked away. "We were going to go hang out?" Ally asked him, glancing back at Jessica, who was now talking with some other boys from school. Ally had to admit, Jess was beautiful and nice, but a bit of a flirt.

"I just decided, want some ice cream?" Austin asked as they approached a store.

Ally stopped him. "Austin, she was obviously flirting with you, what's going on?"

Austin pulled her into the ice cream store and told her he wouldn't answer her question until they'd gotten ice cream. Once armed with one single scoop of vanilla (for Ally, of course) and a double scoop of triple chocolate with sprinkles (Austin's), they began to walk towards the beach.

"So, answer my question."

Austin gave his ice cream a lick before speaking. "Ally, Jess is hot, but I'm not looking for that after Lexi and I called it off. Besides, I'd rather spend time with the most beautiful girl I know, my best friend."

"Oh, okay." Ally glanced up at Austin, who was happily eating his ice cream and jamming to a song in his head.

"I don't want to go to this party." Austin was currently dragging Ally towards Dez's car, where he and Trish were waiting.

"Ally, you've got to get more... fun!" Austin exclaimed as he pulled Ally into the back seat of the car, then shut the door.

Ally scoffed. "More fun?"

Trish laughed from the passenger seat. "More fun, nice Austin."

Dez pulled away from the curb and they made their way to Jessica's house, where she was hosting an end of year party before they all parted ways for the summer.

"I still don't want to go."

"Suck it up, Ally, you're going to go to that party and you'll enjoy it," Trish put in. Ally glanced at Austin, giving him a why did you get me into this? look. He shrugged and smiled.

Three hours later, the party was in full swing, and Ally wasn't enjoying herself. Trish and Dez had finally discovered their love for each other and were currently kissing in a corner somewhere, and Austin was being hit on by several girls in very little clothing. Ally could see him from where she sat, where she was being ignored.

Austin looked around and met her eyes. His face fell, and he excused himself from the girls around him. He walked right up to her and crouched in front of her.

"Ally, what's wrong?" he asked.

She sighed. "I don't want to be here." He took her hand and stood, pulling her with along with him. "Austin, I don't want to ruin your fun." She looked over to where the girls were watching them, most frowning.

He followed her gaze, and sighed. "Ally, come with me."

Once they were outside, where it was quieter, Ally once again tried to get him to go back inside. "I'm no fun, Austin, and you should be having fun. I mean, you almost had four potential girlfriends there!"

Austin sat her down, and then sat beside her. "Ally, I don't see girlfriends in those girls." He held up a hand as she tried to speak. "Yeah, they're sexy, but I'd rather spend time with a beautiful girl like you."

"I'm not beautiful..." Ally muttered.

Austin turned her face towards him, looking her in the eye. "You are, Ally, you really are. In more ways than one."

And then, he kissed her.

"Austin?"

"Mmm?"

They were currently sprawled on his couch, watching a movie, his arm around her.

"Why do you only call me beautiful?"

He sat up a little straighter, then paused the movie. "I call you beautiful because you are."

Ally ran her fingers through her hair. "I mean, before, when we weren't together yet, you would call other girls pretty, hot, sexy even, but you've only ever called me beautiful."

"Ally, while you are all of those things, pretty, hot and sexy, beautiful suits you the most." When she said nothing, he continued. "I'm going to let you in on a little guy secret, Alls. Pretty means your face, hot means your body, sexy means your body language, and beautiful is looking past all of that to who you truly are and what your heart is made of."

Ally looked up at him, smiled, then pressed a kiss to his lips.

A/N: Thoughts? Also, I didn't make up the whole "guy secret" thing, a friend of mine told me one day when we were together, and I still think it's super sweet after we've parted ways.

~nerdy