Austin and Ally were both huddled up on opposite sides of their movie seats, too scared to get closer together. This horror movie was completely messing up Austin's plans. This was not the way it was supposed to happen, this wasn't how Austin had imagined it.
Ally was supposed to get scared so he could be all tough and brave for her. She was supposed to curl up next to him and he'd cradle her close to comfort and protect her from the terrifying images projected on the silver screen. He was not supposed to be more scared than her.
He glanced over at her for a split second, noticing she had reverted to chewing on her hair once more before having his eyes tear from her image and back to the screen from the sound of a blood-curdling scream and footsteps.
The popcorn that had been forgotten suddenly made its grand reappearance in the air, and all over their heads.
"Ally," he whispered, trying to get her attention without bothering the other moviegoers. "Ally!" he whispered again, a little louder this time. She stiffened, keeping her eyes on the screen and reaching a hand up to his mouth, placing a dainty, red-polished finger on his lips.
His eyes traveled downward and crossed as he tried to focus on her finger and not the uncontrollable urge he had to kiss it, and everything attached to it.
Austin's heart was pounding, he wasn't certain if it was the movie or the finger that was causing it. Regardless, he reached up and took Ally's small hand in his substantially larger one and brought it down on the armrest. If Ally noticed, she didn't care; she seemed too engrossed in the bloody scene unfolding before her eyes.
Satisfied for the moment, Austin turned his attention back to the movie, just in time for the worst jumpscare of the century. Popcorn soared once more and the grip Ally had on Austin's hand tightened as she turned her head quickly to bury her face in the seat back.
Muscles tense and left hand shaking, Austin moved the armrest between them to an upright position and pulled Ally close so her head rested on his chest. She tucked her feet beneath her and turned back to the screen, grateful for the small moment of comic relief that the writers had granted her and the comfort she was receiving from a clearly terrified popstar.
Suddenly the whole theater erupted in screams, the musical duo included. They clung to each other as if their lives depended on it, not letting go until the end of the dark credits and eerie music.
"S-so, what'd you think?" asked a still-shaken Austin.
Ally's eyes were still open wide as she turned to Austin and tried to sound as nonchalant as possible, "It was alright."
"Alright? Yeah, sure Ally. You were so scared the whole time, there's no way the movie was just 'alright,'" he said, unwrapping his arm from her and shifting in the seat to face her.
"Okay fine, I was terrified and this movie was just awful!" Ally said, standing up to stretch before grabbing her purse (and possibly Austin's hand) and heading off to Sonic Boom.
As she stretched, the hem of her skirt came up a little bit higher and the corner of her shirt rose the smallest bit. To anybody watching it looked like an ordinary girl after a movie, but to Austin it was the most riveting sight he'd seen all day. And yes, it surpassed the movie.
"D-don't lie Ally, I know you liked it," Austin said following suit to get his mind off of the beautiful girl that stood in front of him. She scoffed, starting to list the things she hated about the movie before the blond cut her off once more. "When I was trying to get your attention earlier, you shushed me and your eyes were glued to the screen. There's no way such a bad movie could capture your attention like that, usually when you hate a movie you just get up and leave."
"Okay, okay. So I liked the scary movie! You seemed pretty terrified over there, Austin Monica Moon, judging by the way you clung to me," Ally said as she reached over Austin for her purse, her shirt inching up again.
Austin shut his eyes and reached over to hand her the red purse, only to have his hand meet a thin, warm object. He opened his eyes again to see a blushing red Ally bending over him with her hand caught beneath his. Austin yanked his hand back and mumbled an apology, to which Ally responded with a quick and quiet, "It's okay."
"We should probably go Austin," Ally said as she tugged her shirt down and hiked up her socks, looking around the theater as a man with a broom and pail zigzagged up through the rows of seats.
Austin nodded in agreement as he followed Ally out to the lobby of the movie theater, chucking the container of cold popcorn in the nearest trashcan. He imagined a new headline in Tiger Beat: "Local Popstar Austin Moon Cares About the Planet, Bettering The World One Trashcan at a Time"
He smiled, if only.
"Hello? Earth to Austin?" Ally asked, waving her hand in front of his face.
"W-what?" he stammered, embarrassed that he had been caught in a daydream.
"I was saying that we could head to the ice cream parlor, I still have some time before I have to be at work," she said, clasping her hands in front of herself nervously. To tell the truth, she should have been at work an hour ago, but she was sure her father wouldn't mind covering for her just a little longer. Anything to have some more alone time with Austin. Wow, Trish was rubbing off on her.
"Sure, why not? I hear they have a new pancake flavor!" Austin said excitedly, grabbing her hand and pulling her lightly through the mall to Scoop There It Is. "What'll it be milady?" he asked as they stood in line to wait for their turn to order.
"Um… I don't know, surprise me," she said with a smile, noticing that he was still holding her hand. She hoped her hand didn't start sweating, or that she wouldn't have to sneeze anytime soon. Her heart skipped a beat, had she washed her hands recently? Ally shook her head; this was not the time to be worrying about the sanitation of her fingers.
"Alrighty then, it'll be two double-scoop cones please. One of them will be that new pancake flavor with the syrup shell and the other one Tropical Twist with a cherry on top. Thanks," he said to the man behind the counter as he fished around in his pockets for his wallet with his free hand. He noticed Ally rummaging in her bag for her wallet as well, and he let go of her hand to stop her.
"But Austin, you paid for the movie tickets and the popcorn, you don't have to buy me ice cream too," she said with a pout and her arms crossed. "Besides, it was my idea to-"
"Ahem," came the man behind the counter. He held their cones and gave them a look; not-so-kindly hinting that it was time to pay.
"Oh sorry, here you go," Austin said as he handed the guy a twenty and turned away from Ally to avoid seeing her face of displeasure.
Once seated and quietly eating their ice cream, Ally said, "Okay next time I'm buying, you're making me feel guilty."
"What kind of a date would it be if I didn't pay?" Austin mumbled into his ice cream.
"Come again?" Ally asked as she popped the cherry into her mouth.
"Oh uh, I was just asking what today's date was," he said quickly as he took a bite out of his cone. He silently congratulated himself for another excellent save; relieved the Ally hadn't heard him.
"It's the fourteenth, and Austin if you start eating your cone now you'll drop the actual ice cream part," Ally warned, seeing that he was already starting on his cone when he still had a mound of ice cream left on top.
Austin looked up and saw that Ally had a weird look on her face. Before he could even ask, she held her finger up and a few seconds later; she spit out the cherry stem into her hand. It was tied in a perfect little knot.
"You know if someone can do that they're a really good kisser?" Austin asked before he could stop himself.
"Oh, really? Can you do it?" she asked mischievously. "I mean, we've already established that I'm a great kisser, but are you?"
Austin's cheeks turned bright red as Ally walked up to the ice cream man and asked for another cherry. When she flashed a smile and batted her eyelashes, he plopped two on the top of her cone, free of charge.
"Wow Ally, using your feminine charms to seduce an ice cream guy. What has Trish been teaching you?" Austin asked once she had returned.
Now it was Ally's turn to blush, "I don't know what came over me, but Trish is definitely rubbing off on me." Austin chuckled as he plucked a cherry from her Tropical Twist and held it above his mouth. "Stop right there! Let's make this a competition," Ally said before Austin could drop the red fruit into his mouth.
"Okay, what are the stakes?" Austin questioned as he folded one leg over the other, one ankle resting on his knee.
Ally thought for a second, "If I win you have to clean up the practice room, and if you win…"
"We test who's the better kisser, for real," Austin blurted before he could psych himself out of it. Ally's eyes widened and her cheeks flushed for a moment before awkwardly agreeing.
"Okay, on three," Austin said, keeping his eyes on her. "One, two, three!" They both ripped the stem off of their cherries and stuck it on their tongue, battling it out with hilarious faces and small awkward noises. After a few seconds, Ally spit out her knotted stem and flashed Austin a smile. His face fell as he spit his own out, half-tied and almost coming apart.
"So when we get back, you get to clean the practice room!" Ally said with a grin as she performed her little jig, drawing the attention of all the people in the ice cream parlor.
"Quit it Ally, people are staring," Austin said in a hushed voice as he reached over and pulled her back down to her seat. "But congratulations, you're the better kisser! Although those aren't always very accurate…"
"Save it Moon, you're just a sore loser who also isn't a very good kisser!" Ally said with a smile and licked her ice cream happily.
"Oh yeah?" Austin challenged, scooting his chair closer to hers.
"Yeah!" Ally said, leaning in so they were face to face.
"Want to bet?" Austin asked before he leaned in a captured her red-stained lips.
"Su-" she started to say before she was silenced. Her eyes fluttered shut and she kissed back dropping her ice cream, not that she cared. Austin's lips warmed her own frosty ones, and they tasted like pancakes.
They pulled away from the kiss and broke into a fit of giggles as soon as they saw that the ice cream had fallen, still giddy and breathless, each a new flavor on their lips.
"Want some of mine?" Austin offered, holding out his own cone.
"Sure," Ally said as she lowered Austin's cone and pressed her lips against his once more, savoring the taste of his ice cream. "Mm, pancakes."
A/N: Hey everyone! This the first of hopefully many contributions of mine to this fandom! I hope you liked it and reviews are greatly appreciated!