So this is dedicated to Teresa, who wanted a Christmas fic. I don't know how this went from a planned one-shot of 9-12 pages to a SPRAWLING MESS of 80 plus pages, but I'm pretty happy with it overall, so hopefully you will be, too.
Anyway, you all should thank her for this. Whether you like it or not. But hopefully you guys like it.
And shout-out to the lovely Miss-Rainy-Skies for assuring me that this wasn't complete crap and helping me out whenever I got stuck.
Disclaimer: If I owned Austin and Ally, I'd make them solve crimes and catch bad guys in a hilarious new buddy cop show. Austin would play good cop and Ally would play bad cop and while they would have the lowest solved crime rate ever, they'd look so smokin' hot in aviators, it wouldn't even matter.
I'd call it Handcuffs and Handguns.
Ally sighs and continues her steady pace down the sidewalk, making a point to stare directly ahead. She makes sure not to look into any of the windows that pass by, all decorated with holiday cheer.
Yes, it's the Christmas season, but she doesn't need that constant reminder, alright? Besides, all those windows are starting to blur together, they look so similar. Blankets of white fluff to imitate pristine snow, flashes and pops of bright colors to represent a different array of presents, and, of course, the pièce de résistance—the decked out, evergreen Christmas tree.
Same thing, year in, year out.
She continues her ignorance of the holiday season, now about half a block away from her apartment building. She checks her watch and hurries her pace a little, wanting nothing more than to get back home and relax into her couch. Sadly, she's a bit too tired to finish reading her current book, but maybe some mindless TV won't be so bad.
At this point, she's reached the apartment lobby and turns down a hallway, toward the elevators. She prefers the stairs, but not tonight, not when she had been on her feet all day and had to listen to Christmas song after Christmas song at work. It doesn't help that she lives on the fifth floor, either. She's just glad that a Sunday meant shorter hours co-managing Sonic Boom with her father.
The weary brunette waits semi-impatiently for the elevator doors to open and has to hold back an annoyed Finally! when they do. She gets in, presses the appropriately numbered button and leans against the back of the enclosed space. She rests her head back with closed eyes, sighs tiredly, and tries to relax for the rest of the elevator ride.
"Hey, hey! Hold up!" a masculine voice shouts, ruining her peace of mind.
Her eyes snap open and she gives a startled gasp as two strong hands stop the doors from fully closing. A loud grunt sounds, and the hands grip the doors tightly, pushing them apart, before they automatically open the rest of the way.
A relieved sigh escapes and a blond, young man steps into the lift with her. He turns to the rows of buttons and his finger hovers over the already lit up five. He gives an amused hum and turns to her with a bright smile. "I see we're headed to the same floor," he laughs.
She blinks at him rapidly and shrugs mechanically. "Um, I guess," she mutters, sliding away from him, not keen on making small talk. She focuses on the doors as they close with a tiny ding!
She had seen him around a few times; after all, he only lives a few doors down from hers. She never caught a name, though. Dustin? Justin? Something along those lines, maybe. But they've exchanged pleasantries before and he seemed friendly enough. He'd moved in a few weeks back and the majority of the female residents still fluttered around him like harebrained school girls.
Ally wasn't blind, mind you. Oh no, she's clearly noticed his always carefully disheveled hair, his bright brown eyes that always seemed to gleam and spark with well intentioned mischief, and his very obviously toned—wait. Where is she going with this again?
Oh, right. Yes. He's very attractive.
But she's a twenty-three year old young woman, and she's not about to revert back and have a high schoolesque crush now, thank you very much.
That's what she tells herself, anyway, as the elevator continues the slow climb upward.
She starts to feel his gaze on her, but she stares resolutely ahead, still not interested in making any sort of small talk. He, however, seems to have other ideas in mind.
"So! You're 503, right?"
She's honestly surprised. She didn't think he knew her exact apartment number and she's not even sure if she knows his. "Yep, that's my given name," she replies quietly, keeping the surprise out of her voice. But then she shoots him a forced smile to know she's joking. For the most part.
"Aha! Thought I've seen you around," he chuckles. "Would've been awkward if I was wrong," he adds sheepishly.
She gives him a pained nod and turns back to the steel doors.
"You know, I don't think we've ever formally met. I'm Austin," he says, holding out a hand in a friendly manner.
She hesitates as she looks at him again, since she's never imagined herself becoming friendly or familiar with her hot neighbor. But he's looking at her with a boyish grin and bright eyes and she sighs resignedly, reaching over to shake his hand. "Ally," she finally says.
His grin widens and he releases his grip after an appropriate time. "So, Ally... um," and then he stops, suddenly struggling to find something to say. "Uh..."
Ally blinks at him bemusedly. She takes in his blank face for a second. "Are you... always this bad at small talk?"
He flinches and looks sheepish again. "Uh, I just realized I didn't know anything about you..." he chuckles nervously.
The elevator doors ding and open up. Ally steps out almost immediately. She turns to Austin and gives him a quick wave. "Well, uh, I guess I'll see you around?" she says, mostly to be polite.
He follows her and nods. "Yeah, sounds good," he agrees with a grin.
Yet, strangely enough, he falls into step beside her. She gives him a confused look as they walk more than a few paces together in silence.
He notices the strange look she gives him and he raises an eyebrow at her. "You're 503, all the way at the end of the hall, and I'm 508, which is... right here," he says, stopping and pointing at the bronze number on his door. A Christmas wreath decorates his door, just inches below the number. His eyebrow arches higher and he shakes his head at her. "You didn't know my apartment number, did you?" he asks in a mock-hurt tone.
Now it's her turn to adopt a sheepish look. "Um, can't say that I did," she admits.
He chuckles and tilts his head at her. "Well, aren't we the worst neighbors?"
A perfect eyebrow arches itself. "Oh?" she asks challengingly. "And like you know everyone on this floor?"
She's been living in the apartment complex for eight months and it took her a long, long time to meet everybody on her floor. Austin has been here, what, two months? Tops? And while she has no doubt that the female residents have probably all introduced themselves, most of the male residents aren't particularly keen on making friends.
He gives her a smug smirk and holds up a finger. "501, Mrs. Parkerson, very sweet elderly woman. 502, Jason Webber, quiet, likes to keep to himself. 503, Ally..." he trails off and raises an expectant eyebrow at her.
"Dawson," she supplies crisply.
He gives her a charming nod and continues counting on his fingers, "Right. 503, the lovely Miss Ally Dawson." His smirk widens as he notices the small blush coloring her cheeks from his compliment. "504, Mr. Acker, grumpy old man, constantly keeping up with volume control. 505, Mrs. Anders, rather... uh, handsy whenever we run into each other..." He pauses, shaking off a look of mild horror.
Ally can't help it and is too late in stifling her giggles at this new found fact.
He gives her a dry look. "You try fending off the sexual advances of a sixty-three year-old woman."
Her giggles are rapidly multiplying and she's nearly doubling over from the mental image of Mrs. Anders, with her crudely painted on makeup and strangely colored, flame-red hair, trying to seduce a thoroughly horrified-looking Austin.
"I don't appreciate you giggling over these very traumatic events, Miss Dawson." But his lips are quirking into a smile and he has to fight back a round of his own laughter.
"S—sorry!" she gasps, waving a hand at him. After her giggling subsides, she shakes her head at him. "It's just... I remember how she was before you moved in. And she was, uh... let's just say she regained some of her youth, when you came into the picture." She bites at her bottom lip and her eyes are glittering with mirth.
He winces. "How delightful," he mutters wryly. And then a look of concentration clouds his eyes. "Hm, where was I? Oh, yeah! 506—"
"Ah, ah! I get it!" she interrupts with a roll of her eyes. "You're a wonderful, friendly neighbor," she says sarcastically. She places a hand gently over his to stop his counting.
He stares at their conjoined hands for a second and it causes her to quickly snatch hers back, bringing it up to awkwardly fiddle with her hair. His stare turns into amusement as he silently regards her.
She clears her throat with a dainty cough. "Well, uh, I guess I'll just be on my way, then."
Austin gives her a soft smile. "Night, Miss Dawson," he murmurs, digging through his pockets for his keys.
Ally nods politely and continues further down the hall, digging through her purse for her own keys. She doesn't hear Austin open and close his door until she's about a step away from her door. She pauses mid-stride, a hand on the knob and throws one last look over her shoulder. She catches his Christmas wreath shaking slightly from the door opening and closing.
She smiles to herself as she unlocks her door.
"Sweetie, you look tired."
Ally covers up a yawn and blinks back some tired tears. She turns to her dad and forces an upbeat grin. "Nah, I'm fine!" Lester gives her a skeptical look and Ally's grin wavers. "Why are you looking at me like that?" she asks nervously.
"Ally, go home for the night," he says firmly. "I can close the store."
His daughter gives him an incredulous look. "Dad. Since when have you ever offered me a chance to go home early?" she scoffs.
He frowns at her. "Since now!"
Ally rolls her eyes and turns back to face the very nice flute display. She continues from where she left off counting all the instruments. "The year's almost over and we need to get the annual inventory done," she states promptly. "Besides, we only have about two hours left and—hey!" She glares at her father as he yanks the clipboard she'd been writing on right out of her hands. She makes cute, little grabby motions but he swiftly hides it behind his back.
Lester rolls his eyes at her. "Ally, you work harder than I do. You need a break! And it's the holidays! Haven't you got any plans or parties or... something?" There's a desperate and hopeful undercurrent to his tone. He walks back to the register and throws her clipboard underneath the counter.
The brunette sighs, blowing a strand of hair out of her face. "I prefer working over partying, Dad. And besides, Christmas isn't even for another couple of days."
He looks at her curiously. "What are your plans for this year, sweetie?"
Ally squirms uncomfortably under her father's worried gaze. Ally had always been rather quiet and mostly kept to herself growing up, therefore limiting her social circle. What little social life she had was pretty much killed by the time she hit her early twenties, choosing work and school over her friends constantly and consistently.
The only friend she still kept tabs on was Trish de la Rosa. And they had a Christmas tradition of baking sugar cookies—and by that, Ally meant that she did all the baking and Trish did most of the eating—an exchange of presents, and then a Home Alone rewatch while eating previously mentioned cookies and drinking eggnog. Sadly, this year, Trish would be spending the next three weeks with her boyfriend, Dez... somewhere that Trish said Dez refused to disclose.
Basically, in short, she doesn't really have a lot of options for Christmas this year. Her best friend is currently out of town and not to mention her father will be spending this year with his friends at some sort of History of Jazz convention down in Louisiana.
And while she'd come to terms with the fact that she'll be spending it alone this year, it's not like she can tell her dad that. He would just look at her with pity in his eyes and wonder where he went wrong, raising some sort of social pariah.
Her silence starts to unnerve Lester and he places a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Sweetie, you do have plans for Christmas... right?"
Her father's hand on her shoulder causes her to jump and it also effectively snaps her out of her thoughts. "Yeah!" she laughs assuredly, waving a dismissive hand in a semi-crazed manner. "Baking sugar cookies and watching Home Alone! Like I always do with Trish!" she lies, glad that she's yet to mention her friend's vacation to her father.
Minus Trish...
Lester gives an overwhelmingly relieved sigh. "So you won't be spending it alone?"
She gives him a painfully forced smile and shakes her head. "No, no! Of course not!" Her laugh comes out sounding like she's teeter-tottering between sanity and mental instability.
Lester somehow doesn't seem to notice and joins in on her laughter. "I was so worried about you, honey! I mean, you're young and beautiful, but I never hear you talk about friends or going out and having fun!"
Ally flinches, not able to tell her dad that she's become something of a hermit over the past few years. "Yeeep," she says, dragging the word out and popping the 'p'.
"So, tell me, Ally," Lester starts with a sly smile, clearly fishing for some information. "Has there been anybody new in—"
"The answer hasn't changed since the last time you've asked me, Dad," she deadpans, interrupting him before he can embarrassingly ask about her complete and total lack of a love life. "Which was how long ago? Oh, that's right, two days ago."
He deflates. "Oh."
"Yep, still rockin' the spinster lifestyle," she continues on in deadpan.
"But, Ally, honey, don't you want someone special to spend the holidays with? Trish is a great friend, but even she has a boyfriend she could be spending Christmas and then New Years with! It can all be very, very romantic, you know."
She just gives him a flat stare.
A look of conflict cross over his features and he frowns. "On one hand, I'm glad because you're my little girl and you clearly have standards. And I know you're a strong, independent woman... but on the other hand, I'm getting a bit worried..."
She splutters indignantly at Lester. "Dad! I am twenty-three, okay? It's totally alright for me to be single right now," she reminds him angrily.
He looks at her in thoughtfully. "You know, I think Mrs. Raz from You Need Stitches?, the embroidery store, mentioned something about wanting to set you up with her son just the other day..."
Ally's jaw slides open and she looks at him in offended horror. "I grew up with Randy Raz, okay, Dad?! He cut off a lock of my hair during nap time in pre-school and then showed it to me when we were graduating from high school as seniors! Seniors! He carried around a lock of my hair—" she pauses to grab a fistful of her brown hair, shaking it for extra emphasis "—My hair! For over ten years. But he didn't just stop there, Dad! No, he told me he was showing it to me because he was in love with me."
She ends her rant with one hand still fisted in her hair, shaking it vigorously and the other clutched to her chest in sheer, honest-to-God terror. A raggedy breath slowly exhales out of her as she wills herself to calm down.
Lester's eyes narrow in careful consideration. "... So I should tell Mrs. Raz that you're not interested in Randy?"
Her hands reach up and she rubs at her temples tiredly. "Okay, you know what? I'm going to take you up on that offer and leave early," she mumbles with a roll of her eyes.
Lester nods and watches her gather up her stuff from beneath the counter, just a light jacket and her purse. She strides over to him and plants a chaste kiss on his cheek. "Bye, Dad. I'll open the store tomorrow."
On her way out, she hears him calling after her, "Go out tonight! Just meet a good guy! Maybe you two could spend Christmas together! … New Years?"
Ally rolls her eyes again and lets out an irritated grunt as she waves a hand behind her head dismissively, practically stomping out of Sonic Boom at this point.
Ally taps her foot impatiently, practically willing the elevator doors to hurry up and open on her floor. She wants nothing more than to flop uselessly into her bed and bury herself under the covers until tomorrow morning when she has to be up for work. She sighs and runs an annoyed hand through her hair, doing her best to push all talk of Christmas—along with finding someone special to spend it with—out of her head.
Her father means well and she gets that, she does.
An image of Randy Raz holding up her hair at graduation flashes through her mind's eye and she palms her face with both hands, emitting a small whine.
He was going to set her up with him? Argh, she takes it back, he didn't mean well at all.
And that's how Austin finds her, face in her hands while making dying animal noises, when the elevator doors open on the fifth floor.
He blinks at the clearly distressed young woman. "Uh, rough day?" he asks wryly.
The whining comes to a sudden stop and she slowly lifts her head back up, hands flopping lifelessly down by her sides. She gives an aggravated sigh and gracefully steps out of the elevator. "You have no idea," she deadpans under her breath, continuing on her way.
Austin glances from the petite brunette walking away to the elevator doors and back. With a small smirk, he makes his final decision and abandons the elevator, hurrying to catch up to Ally.
Ally hears his thundering footsteps from behind her and frowns. She turns around just as the blond comes to a stop in front of her, both of them now standing in the middle of the long hallway. She raises an eyebrow bemusedly. "Can I help you?" she asks slowly, trying to keep her tone from sounding too curious.
His smirk stretches across his lips and he gives a nonchalant shrug. "You wanna talk about it?" he offers in a friendly manner. "Your rough day, I mean."
Her eyebrows jump up and she quickly becomes skeptical. Since when did guys just want to talk? Especially very attractive, flirty guys? Her eyes narrow at him and she crosses her arms. "Weren't you just stepping out?" she questions suspiciously, gesturing toward the elevators.
His confident smirk melts into a timid smile. "Uh, sorta. I just really needed to get away from Mrs. Anders. She's being particularly... needy today," he admits with a very visible wince. And then he rolls his eyes. "And on top of that, Stacy from 510's been hounding me all day, too."
"How tragic," she manages to choke out. It takes every ounce of will power she has to keep a straight face.
He gives her a pained look. "She's like a twenty-five year-old Mrs. Anders! I mean, I could totally outrun Mrs. Anders any day of the week but I don't think think I could ever outrun Stacy if she's desperate enough. Not even if she was wearing her six-inch heels," he says, shuddering slightly.
"Horrible," she agrees with a shaky nod.
"It's not funny!" he protests, his voice bordering on a whine.
Ally bites back an amused grin, but Austin can see the mirth glittering in her dark eyes, just like from the night before.
"No, no, you're right. Totally serious," Ally coughs out. She brings a small fist to her lips, trying madly to stifle her giggles.
He rolls his eyes, a wry smile on his lips. "Well? What do you say, neighbor? We can share our day's woes over some coffee?" His puppy-like eyes are shining brightly with hope and laughter as he starts to grin at her.
And then the giggling stops, a moment of quiet stills the air as Ally quickly becomes hesitant about the offer. "Look, Austin, it's getting kind of late, and I'm tired. So I'm just going to head home, okay?" she says softly.
The brightness is his eyes disappear and she shakes off the brief thought about how wrong it looks to see them so dull. He nods at her and forces a small smile. "Oh, right. Sorry, I, uh... I didn't mean to bother you," he mumbles, sounding a bit disappointed.
And then she feels like a jerk.
He waves at her and moves to turn back around to the elevators.
She watches him walk away, wincing at the sight. Her mouth opens and closes a few times and then she finally shouts out a hesitant, "W—wait! Austin? Austin!"
The blond stops a few feet away from the lift at the end of the hallway. He twists his head to look over his shoulder at her, curious.
All she can really do is gape at him soundlessly, alarmed and annoyed with herself.
He grins and an eyebrow raises. "Yes?" He sounds amused.
Her cheeks flush and her eyes are bouncing from wall to wall, unable to look him in the eye. "I... I don't know why I just called out your name like that," she admits, feeling a mix of horror and embarrassment. She turns around and hurries ahead, eyes trained on the bronze, familiar 503, a hand partially covering her face from his view. "I'm just gonna get to my apartment now, okay? Okay, bye!" she says, her words coming out and blending together in a nervous rush.
A merry laugh echoes through the hallway and Austin playfully slings an arm around her slim shoulders before she can make it much further than three or four steps, thanks to his long strides.
"Let's do coffee in your apartment," he suggests happily. "I'm tired of people knocking on my door all day," he then mutters with a roll of his eyes.
Ally wants very much to protest, and is seconds away from pleading momentary insanity. But the fight inside of her wilts away when she makes the mistake of focusing a second too long on his annoyingly handsome features.
"Fine," she gives in with a resigned sigh. "Fine."
He smirks down at her fondly, his eyes shining brightly once more, and she carefully ignores the small, nervous flop her stomach makes from the way he looks at her.
Ally watches Austin from the kitchen as she continues making their drinks. From her vantage point, she has a perfect view of his profile. He's sitting at her small dining table, absent-mindedly drumming his fingers across the top in a gentle rhythm. She notices his eyes scanning around the room, carefully studying everything in her modest apartment with a soft smile on his lips.
She remembers the look of surprise on his face when he noticed how sparsely decorated her living quarters are when he first stepped through the threshold. She sighs and tries not to let his curiosity bother her. Trish and her father are frequent guests, but she honestly can't remember the last time she's introduced her apartment to a new visitor.
Jeez, that's really quite sad, isn't it?
Her brown waves bounce as she shakes herself out of it. She focuses on the two mugs of steaming hot chocolate. She'd decided to forgo the coffee, since she has to be up early the next morning. Austin had whole-heartedly agreed to the change, also noting that the hot beverage was incredibly fitting, given the holiday season.
Ally rummages through a drawer and pulls out two candy canes. She pulls off the plastic, and sticks one in each drink, mindful not to splash any of the hot liquid over the rim.
"Ready!" she calls lightly as she picks up a mug in each hand and carefully walks over to the table. She meets his happy grin with a wry smile as she slowly slides into the seat across from him. "Here," she says softly, handing him a yellow mug before her fingers curl around her red one. She hums in content as the warmth of her drink spreads from the mug and through her hands.
"Ooh, how fancy!" he laughs as he swirls his drink around with the classic red and white striped candy cane. He brings the cup to his lips and blows gently before taking a small sip. He pulls away with a loud smack of his lips and sets down his drink on the table and continues messing with his candy stirrer in childish delight.
Ally can't help but think that all he's missing is a hot chocolate mustache to properly complete the look. She gives him a bemused grin and brings up her cup to hide her lips. "Jeez. You're just like a little kid," she murmurs teasingly with a gentle shake of her head.
Austin stops and raises an eyebrow at her. "I'll let that comment slide so I can thoroughly enjoy this fine cup of hot chocolate," he says smoothly, taking a longer drink.
Ally rolls her eyes and finally takes a sip of her own, eyes closing in near bliss.
"So, Ally," he starts after they spend a moment enjoying the silence and their hot chocolate.
She sets down her drink and raises an eyebrow at his inquisitive look. "Yes?"
"Tell me about your day," he says with an easy grin, opening his arms up in a welcoming sort of manner.
She groans and props an elbow onto the table and leans her cheek against her fist. "My dad's afraid of me dying alone with, like, a million cats or something," she explains in a hollow voice.
Austin nods slowly as he listens. "Uh-huh. Right," he says in an understanding, sympathetic manner. He purses his lips in thought. "So... can I have some back story here?" he asks with his eyebrows furrowed in confusion.
She rolls her eyes. "You make the occasion joke about being a spinster and your dad suddenly thinks you're going to die sad and alone," she snorts.
Austin blinks. "Well, are you sad and alone?"
She gives him a fierce look. "No, I'm not," she states stubbornly. "It's like he's confusing the words 'strong and independent' with 'sad and alone'." She sighs and takes a drink from her hot chocolate. "I know my dad's just looking out for me, but him hovering so closely over my love life just stresses me out!"
He chuckles and shakes his head. "It sounds like you're trying to tell me that you had a rough day because your dad was looking out for you," he says pointedly as he brings his mug to his lips.
Ally winces and shoots Austin a heartfelt look. "I know. I know it sounds bad, but I just wish he'd back off for a bit, you know? I work practically every day with him, so it's not like I can really escape all his questions about my social life." And then her eyes widen as a sudden memory jolts through her. "And! Oh my God, Austin, he almost set me up with Randy Raz today!"
His eyebrows jump up bemusedly and he shakes his head in mock fury. "Aw, man. I hate that guy," he says, managing to sound overly vehement and deadly serious.
Ally blinks, confused as to how her blond companion could possibly know about her childhood semi-stalker. It takes her a second, but she soon realizes that he's joking with her. She laughs and leans over to playfully swat at his arm. "Shut up!"
He snickers and gestures for her to continue. Ally relays the rant she had given previously to her father, but in a much more calm and understated manner.
"Argh, he's awful," Ally finishes with a dramatic shudder.
Austin looks thoroughly horrified. "Oh man," he breathes, turning sympathetic eyes on her. "And I thought I had it bad with Mrs. Anders and Stacy."
"No, you do," Ally agrees wryly. "I hardly ever see Randy. He almost never stops by my store, whereas Mrs. Anders and Stacy live right here," she points out.
He tilts his head side to side contemplatively. "Call it even?" he grins.
Her expression mirrors his and she nods lightly. "Sounds fair."
He thinks back to her previous words and shakes his head incredulously. "And your dad almost helped set you up with that freakshow?"
"Yeeep," Ally replies, popping the 'p'.
Austin snorts in disbelief. "C'mon, your love life cannot be that bad," he muses with a smirk.
Ally gives him a sheepish smile and takes an awkward, silent swig of her hot chocolate.
His eyebrows shoot up, nearly hidden behind his blond fringe. "... That bad?" He emits a low, drawn out whistle.
She gives him a pained look. "I... maybe, kinda, sorta, haven't been on a date with the same guy twice since, um, my last boyfriend?" she says, sounding so unsure that the whole disjointed sentence comes out as a more of a question than an actual coherent sentence.
Austin gives her a positively evil grin. "And when, pray tell, was that, Miss Dawson?"
She sinks pathetically into her seat, clutching her red mug to her chest and circling the rim with her middle finger. "Oh, you know..." she trails off. Her eyes are trained very steadily on the rapidly cooling liquid within.
"Ally!" he chuckles. "I promise I won't laugh at you!"
She sinks even lower into her seat. "Okay, okay! I was nineteen! I broke up with him because it wasn't working out during my freshman year of college."
He snorts and rolls his eyes. "And you're, like, what? Twenty-one now?"
She looks at him with furrowed brows. "Twenty-three," she corrects.
He genuinely looks surprised. His eyes roam up and down her frame. "Huh. Really?" He sounds intrigued.
Ally frowns, not sure whether she should be offended or flattered. "Well, how old are you?" she asks curiously.
"Twenty-four," he answers smoothly and he takes a long drink of his chocolate. He finishes it off and starts nibbling on the remainder of his candy cane.
She nods thoughtfully. "Yeah, I had you pegged at twenty-four or twenty-five." And then she crinkles her nose and raises an eyebrow at him. "You really thought that I was twenty-one?" She sounds mildly incredulous.
"So I'm bad at guessing ages! Don't judge me," he mutters. "C'mon, you probably get carded at bars all the time, right?"
Ally shrugs casually. "Wouldn't know. I don't go to bars," she says innocently as she takes a drink of her hot chocolate.
Austin raises an eyebrow, semi-impressed by her admission. "Wow. You don't date, you don't go to bars, so you obviously don't drink, either, and you work every day with your dad... Dude has, like, nothing to worry about," he muses.
The brunette gives a loud sigh of relief. "Thank you!" she scoffs with a roll of her eyes. "I don't know why he's pushing so hard for me to go find some guy in time for Christmas," she mumbles irritably with a small pout.
Austin gives her a look of confusion. "What, you got some important Christmas dinner to attend?" And then the confusion quickly switches to excitement. "Wait! Do you need to find a fake boyfriend to come to your big family dinner?"
Ally stares at him like he's gone mentally deficient. "God, no! My life isn't some romantic comedy, jeez!" she snorts incredulously.
"Oh," Austin mutters dejectedly with a slight shrug.
She raises an eyebrow at him. "Wait," she says, almost giggling. "Were you... disappointed or something?"
"It always looks like fun in the movies!" he says defensively. "And besides! I'm willing to bet that I could totally charm the pants off of anyone in your family!" he says cockily, complete with a smug grin.
Ally stares at him flatly. "Argh, as much as I'd hate to admit it, my family would love you. You're tall, funny, charming, and handsome." She rolls her eyes and makes an annoyed face as she takes another long drink.
He looks perplexed as he blinks owlishly at her. On one hand, she'd just complimented him, and on the other, she'd just made faces immediately after said compliments. "Uh, you make it sound like those are bad traits."
"They'll get attached," she explains simply. "If I brought someone like that home for the holidays, my family will stop at nothing until we're married. So even if I brought you over as a friend, they'd freak out and pester me until the end of time." She gives him a dry look. "Really, it'd just create more problems than anything else."
Austin chuckles whole-heartedly. "So, is that what you're doing for the holidays, then? Going to some giant family reunion?"
"Nope!" she answers lightly with a small smile.
He quirks an inquisitive eyebrow at her. "Then, what are your plans for Christmas?"
"A yearly tradition. But it's top secret," she replies haughtily.
Pfft, like she's going to tell him that she's spending it alone, eating cookies, drinking eggnog, and watching Home Alone. Alone. Oh, right, she's already mentioned that part.
He stares at her flatly, completely unconvinced. "You're spending it alone, aren't you?"
She groans, deflating instantly. "Am I that obvious?"
"Kinda," he admits with a small wrinkle of his nose.
She pouts and finishes off the rest of her hot chocolate. When she sets her cup down, she notices his delighted smirk and she casually asks, "What?" She moves to pop the candy cane into her mouth but then Austin suddenly starts snickering at her. "What?" she repeats, but it comes out impatiently this time around.
He smirks at her and gestures toward his own upper lip. "You've, uh, you've got a little something..." he laughs.
She gives a small, embarrassed gasp and drops the candy cane into her mug and quickly uses both hands to wipe off her chocolate mustache. "Is it gone?" she asks quietly.
Of course she's the one that ends up with a chocolate mustache, instead of the semi-immature guy sitting across from her. How typical.
Austin is clearly having too much fun with this as he shakes his head, cackling at her. "Hang on, hang on," he whispers with an amused smirk, reaching over the table with his hand outstretched. His fingers wrap around her small chin and he uses his thumb to wipe the remainder of the foamy chocolate off the corner of her upper lip.
Ally sits there, stock still from the feeling of his thumb brushing gently at her lip. She's only able to breathe again when he pulls his hand away from her chin. Sadly, half a second later, she forgets that ability yet again as she watches Austin casually suck the chocolate off his thumb.
"Th—thanks." The word comes out as more of a desperate wheeze than actual English.
His eyebrows furrow at her, the pad of his thumb still placed against his teeth. He gives her a funny look before lowering his hand. "You okay, Ally? You, uh, look kinda red."
"Hey, look! We're both finished with our hot chocolate!" she laughs crazily, shooting up from her chair. She grabs both mugs and prances like an awkward baby gazelle into her kitchen. "Oh, would you look at the time! It's getting pretty late, isn't it? Maybe you should be heading home, Austin," she suggests in a nearly-shrill panic. She places both dirty mugs carefully into the sink, impulsively grabbing the candy cane from her mug.
Austin stands up from the table and turns to look at her through the kitchen window, obviously baffled by her sudden onslaught of insanity. "Uh, alright?" He politely pushes in his chair and makes it out of her dining area and through her living room.
Ally meets him in the middle of her living room and she follows behind him nervously until they reach her door. She opens her door for him and he steps through, turning around to properly face her.
"Thanks for having me over," he says sincerely with a warm smile.
By this time, Ally's calmed down a bit, thank God. "Well, you pretty much invited yourself over," she points out dryly.
He chuckles. "See you tomorrow?" he asks with hopeful eyes.
An affirmative leaves her mouth before she really has time to stop it and she can't even be mad at herself. Not when Austin's standing there, looking down at her with that affectionate grin and those sparkling brown eyes.
"Have a good night, Ally," he says softly before making his way down the hall.
She swallows nervously, fiddling with the cane in her hands. "You, too!" she calls after him shakily.
Ally closes the door and locks it, before spinning around and sliding down her door pathetically. She throws her head back with a thud and crushes the candy cane between her teeth in frustration.
