It wasn't that Austin was a bad boy, and it wasn't that Ally was a good girl. He wasn't necessarily popular, girl crazy, or broody. She wasn't necessarily unpopular, nerdy, or shy. He was simply him, and she was simply her.

Of course, they were still polar opposites. He may not have been broody, but he definitely wasn't the peppy type. She was.

Yet for some reason she had a crush on him. And as much as she tried to hide it, he knew. Not that he cared much, of course. They weren't friends. Just…acquaintances. Her peppiness got on his nerves a bit, and although she liked him, she wasn't a fan of his tendency to be sarcastic about everything.

That is, until their psychology teacher paired them up for a project on feelings and they had to hang out every day.

"So, it says that we have to just hang out at least three times a week for a month and write journal entries about our feelings. Whether that's annoyance, friendship, romantic…" she trailed off, reading the assignment handout. He was slightly amused at her attempt at hinting. She had no idea he knew about her crush on him, and he intended to keep it that way.

"Shouldn't be too hard," he said. "As long as this doesn't turn into one of those clichés where we fall in love after getting to know each other better."

"Ha-ha," she deadpanned, though he didn't miss the pink tint her cheeks took on. He shrugged in response and she rolled her eyes.

He took the silence as a chance to look around her bedroom , which was where they were at the moment. It was a typical teenage girl's room, complete with magazine posters of actors and bands and a tattered stuffed bunny sitting on top of her floral duvet.

"So tell me about yourself," she finally said.

"What do you want to know?" he asked, looking at her. She looked a little surprised at the attention he was giving her, since usually when she tried to talk to him he'd give her one-word answers.

"Oh. Uh…What's your favorite color?" she asked. He raised an eyebrow.

"My…favorite color?" he asked.

"That's what I said," she replied.

"Hmm…" he said. "Probably yellow."

"Why?" she wondered.

"I dunno. It's just a cool color."

"Fair enough."

"What's yours?"

"Red," she replied. "But not, like, gross red. Like pretty red. You know, the kind of red that they use for Christmas stockings. Or those cherries with the-"

"You sure talk a lot, don't you?" he said. She blushed. "So, I'm assuming you have a reason as to why you like red?" She nodded.

"It's the color of love."

"That's your reason?"

"Yep. And I'm sticking with it."

"Alright, fair enough," he said. She smiled.

"If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go, who would you take, and why?" He tried to think of a lie, but for some reason her eyes wouldn't let him.

"I'd go to Verona, Italy, and I'd probably take a girl, once I found one I really liked."

"Why?" she prompted.

"Romeo and Juliet. I'm kind of obsessed with it." He swore he could see her falling harder for him, and he wondered why he told her that.

"So, what I'm getting is that you're a hopeless romantic?" she said. He chuckled.

"And I'm getting that you're asking lots of questions. Curiosity killed the cat, you know."

"So you are," she said with a smile. He shrugged.

"Guess you'll have to get to know me to find out, won't you?"

"Good thing we're paired up for this project, then, huh?" she said.

Oh, I'm sure, he thought to himself.

A week later, Austin was sitting on a park bench listening to Ally tell a long story about some crazy dream she had when she was little, but the story didn't even have to be that long. With her over-the-top descriptions and pauses for crazy hand gestures, the story was going on twenty minutes. Austin assumed she could've told it in five.

For some reason, he found something slightly endearing in her inability to shut up.

But also something quite annoying.

"Alright, I get it," he finally told her. "You were being chased by a giant banana with a monster's face on it!"

"Sorry," she said, blushing. "I kinda talk a lot." He chuckled.

"Yeah, I've noticed."

"Anyway…" she said, trailing off awkwardly. He raised an eyebrow.

"Yes?" he asked, a hint of a smile playing on his face.

"Why're you laughing at me?" she whined. He chuckled.

"You're just…I dunno, different," he told her. She frowned.

"Bad different?"

"Not necessarily." She smiled at his compliment, and he found it amusing that his opinion meant so much to her.

"Good different?" He shrugged and nodded.

"You could say that." Her smile widened and she leaned over to hug him. His heart fluttered and he found himself kind of missing her presence when she pulled away.

Wait, what? He didn't like her. Definitely not. She was nice and pretty enough, but even though he found her slightly adorable, she got on his nerves. He did not like her.

So why was she making him feel like this?

Ally laughed at some lame joke he had just told her. One thing he had discovered about her-she laughed at really dumb jokes. He found it cute.

He hated that he found it cute, but he did.

"So…We're turning in our projects tomorrow," she said when she had calmed down, suddenly getting serious. "And that means we don't have to hang out anymore…" She fiddled with her fingers.

Austin would've been lying if he had said this past month hanging out with Ally had been torture. Sure, she was slightly annoying in her peppy, happy attitude, but he kind of liked it. He definitely wasn't as peppy as her, and he decided they balanced each other out pretty well.

He wasn't really a person to really enjoy hanging out with people other than a close circle of friends he'd had since elementary school. But for some reason, he found himself wanting to keep hanging out with her.

"I like hanging out with you," he said. "You're…refreshing."

"Uh, thanks," she said with a blush. Then she looked at him hopefully. "So we're, like, friends now?" He found himself smiling and nodding.

"Yeah. Yeah, I guess we are."

And that was when he knew she was about to mess him up. Big time.

Austin debated doing his homework. He wasn't against homework, but he was exhausted from being at the gym all day. He was about to just not do it, when he heard a certain brunette's voice in his mind.

Austin, do your homework, it said. He heard it vividly, though she was nowhere in sight. He decided to ignore it. It was only his mind.

But her voice kept nagging at him, like she was watching him start getting ready for bed instead of doing his homework.

Eventually, he found himself writing at his desk.

When he finally did get to bed, he could've sworn she was right there next to him. Which was weird, since they weren't really the type for physical contact. Well, he wasn't, but she hugged him for everything. No surprise there, he could tell her crush on him was only growing.

Oddly, enough, he enjoyed it. So now, laying in his bed, feeling her there even though she wasn't, he was happy.

"Hey, Austin!" Ally said cheerily, catching up to him in the hallway.

"Hey," he replied, fighting the urge to tell her to go away.

"I was gonna go walk around the mall later…Wanna join?" she asked, looking up at him hopefully.

No. I don't wanna hang out with you at all.

"Sure," he said with a smile.

No, he told himself. You don't even want to see her. Why are you doing this?

She grinned.

"Cool. Meet at my dad's music store at 4:30?" He vaguely remembered her mentioning a music store her dad owned in the mall.

"Sonic Boom, right?" Austin asked. She nodded.

"That's the one."

"'Kay, see you then." She smiled at him and waved before walking away.

He honestly couldn't believe how little control he had over himself when she was around. He didn't even want to hang out with her, and yet for some reason those stupid big, brown eyes made him find himself saying yes before he could even think about it.

He wanted out of this situation. But for some reason, she kept drawing him back in. The constant circle he was going in of avoiding her and then getting sucked back into her life was starting to give him a headache. And he'd be lying if he said he wasn't kind of stressing over the fact that he seemed to find her more adorable each day.

He was just about done with her crushing on him.

"Hey, buddy," Austin's best friend Dez said, coming up to him in the hall. "You wanna go see that new zalien movie later?"

"Yeah, sure," Austin said. But then he remembered that he had promised Ally he'd take her to some chick flick later and he sighed. "Sorry, buddy," he said. "I, uh, just remembered that me and Ally are hanging out. Another time?"

"You've been saying 'another time' for the past month and a half," Dez said, rolling his eyes. "You like her, I get it. But you can make time for your other friends once in a while, too."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. I do not like her," Austin said sternly. "You think I want to hang out with her?"

"I assumed so, since that's all you've been doing lately," Dez said.

"Dude, I'm not making these decisions. She has me brainwashed or something, I swear. I can't say no to her, no matter how much I want to. Is it possible she has me under some type of-"

"No, you idiot," Dez said. "You like her. It's okay."

"I don't-"

"Yeah, tell me that when you can look her in the eyes and tell her you don't wanna hang out with her. Talk to you later," Dez said. And with that, he walked away.

Austin rolled his eyes. Dez was an idiot. He didn't like Ally.

Right?

He couldn't believe it. He literally could not believe it. Was he really that stupid?

He tugged the sleeve of his jacket farther over his hand.

He wasn't sure when during his sleepless night he decided to go get a new tattoo, but when he finally woke up from a very light slumber, he found a certain girl's name inked in red cursive on his wrist.

He realized that was beyond creepy.

He quickly went to his locker, hoping to all his wishing stars Ally wouldn't come near him until he figured out his current situation.

What he forgot was that his wishing stars hated him.

"Hey, Austin!" Ally said cheerily, walking up to him. He inwardly groaned.

"Hey."

"What's up?" she asked.

"Oh, y'know, just putting stuff in my locker. Like every day," he said, putting a binder on the top shelf. His sleeve slipped slightly, and apparently Ally noticed.

"What's that?" she asked.

"Nothing!" he exclaimed.

"It's something," Ally said. And before he could stop her, she had grabbed his arm and rolled up his sleeve.

"I know you like me!" he exclaimed before she could see the tattoo. She looked up at him in shock, forgetting everything else. He took his arm away and rolled down his sleeve.

"What?!"

"I know you like me," he repeated. "I've known for months."

"You-but-how?!" the brunette exclaimed.

"You're not subtle, and I'm not stupid," he said. "You like me."

"Yes, okay, whatever. I like you," she said, running a hand through her hair. "Go ahead, make fun."

"I'm not gonna make fun of you," he told her.

"You're not?"

"If I was, I would've started a long time ago, my friend."

"I can't believe you know." He raised an eyebrow.

"You really thought you were doing a good job of hiding it, didn't you?" he asked. She pouted and nodded. "Well," he said with a charming smile, "if you want, I could always pretend I don't know."

"No, the damage is done," she said, heat rising to her cheeks. He smiled wider. She rolled her eyes and shoved him lightly. "Shut up."

"I'm not laughing at you!" he promised. She raised an eyebrow at him. "You're just cute." She blushed more.

"You're doing that on purpose!" she whined. Then she stopped. "Wait, there was a thing we were talking about." She grabbed his arm again.

"Ally, that's a bad idea," he told her.

"So are you," she retorted. "But does that stop me from liking you?" Austin sighed and hung his head as she rolled up his sleeve.

"I have no recollection of getting it and I'm gonna go get it removed ASAP," he told her. "So don't get your hopes up. I don't like you."

She dropped his arm and looked up at him, smiling genuinely. That confused him.

"Okay. But when you do like me, let me know." She walked away.

That confused him even more.

Austin didn't see Ally for the rest of the day, but that didn't mean she wasn't there. He could hear her taunting him in his head, feel her hand slipping into his and her head on his shoulder and her tiny figure wrapped in his arms.

You like me, her voice whispered. You like me. You know you do. You're just scared and frustrated that I have so much power over you.

He tried to pay attention in class for once to get her to go away, but the voice was still there.

Austin, you don't have to be embarrassed. Just admit to yourself you like me. You'll feel better.

He clenched his jaw and balled up his fists. He did not like her. She did not have power over him. And he was not embarrassed.

Denial's not just a river in Egypt, you know.

"Just SHUT UP!" he finally shouted. In the middle of class. While the teacher was teaching.

He looked at the pink detention slip and wished he could go back to a simpler time.

Sitting in detention, he found himself missing her. He still heard her in his head, felt her there with him. She was laughing at him, that stupid, annoying sound that was music to his ears and made his heart flutter.

He debated checking into an insane asylum.

The voice in his mind was giving him a headache, the feelings he had were giving him a heartache, and the acceptance of what was happening to him left him breathless and terrified.

He wasn't just denying that he liked her anymore.

He was denying that he loved her.

She showed up at school to drive him home from detention, a smirk playing on her lips.

"Your friend Dez said he drove your car home." Austin nodded. "You're welcome."

"Thanks," he muttered.

"Hey, are you okay?" she asked, eyes on the road but face looking concerned. "You're not mad at me, are you? If it's about the tattoo thing, I'm sorry. I was just curious, and, well, you aren't embarrassed often."

"Yes, I'm fine," he told her.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Okay."

They rode to his house in silence, until she parked out front and turned to face him.

"I'm sorry," she said, looking him in the eyes. His heart pounded. "I know I annoy you and get on your nerves and you probably hate me by now but I've just liked you for so long and I was so happy we were actually friends that I forgot you have other friends and I'm just really sorry if you hate me."

He didn't say anything, afraid his racing heart would betray him as her eyes bore into him.

"A-and if you wanna stop hanging out with me, I'll understand."

He tore his eyes away, nodded curtly and got out of the car, leaving the poor brunette heartbroken and confused.

As he walked up the path to his house without so much as a glance back at the girl who had turned his life completely upside down, he tried to ignore the pain in his chest. But he knew.

His heart was breaking, too.

Two days. He lasted a full two days before he couldn't take it anymore.

He marched right up to her, grabbed her face in his hands, and crashed his lips onto hers.

His heart was pounding and his mind was reeling and his chest was aching and his head was hurting so bad he thought he might pass out but at the same time he had never felt so good.

He was exactly where he needed to be, and that was with his lips on hers and her arms around his neck and her nose bumping his every time he moved. It was with his thumbs tracing gentle circles on her cheeks and both of them starting to smile as their racing hearts thumped against their chests in perfect synch. It was with his head being crowded with thoughts of her and being clear at the same time. It was with her playing with his hair and him kissing her deeper because all of this felt so right he never wanted it to end.

It was with her pulling away from him just enough to mumble, "I am so, totally, a million percent, completely in love with you," against his lips.

It was with his heart beating faster as he mumbled, "I am so, totally, a million percent, completely in love with you, too."

He was exactly where he needed to be. And that wasn't running away or avoiding her or being sarcastic or annoyed or scared or confused.

It was being happy.

It was with her.

Roses are red, and violets are blue. I don't own Austin & Ally, and neither do you. I should be asleep, but my computer is cool. Thank you for reading. (Reviews kinda rule).

~Maddie :)