They broke up six years ago. Six years ago. She hasn't even thought about him since then. So imagine her surprise when it's him who spills red wine all over her lavender bridesmaid gown at her best friend's wedding.

She didn't even know he was invited.

She hears him curse – his voice is deeper now, at twenty-eight – and start apologizing. He even grabs a few napkins from the table next to them and tries wiping off the stain (though of course he only makes it worse).

Suddenly, he drops the napkins and stumbles back, cursing again with even more shock than before.

She shakes her head, coming out of her daze, and swallows.

"Well, you clearly haven't changed."

It's her first day at a new school. She's a junior, which means she's too old to just be able to walk up to someone and make new friends, and everyone else already has established cliques and friend groups that aren't very welcoming to newbies.

So she takes her tray of cafeteria food and starts making her way to the courtyard outside in search of an empty bench, or maybe a shady tree to sit under and eat her lunch all in her lonesome.

But her day gets better (coughsarcasmcough) when she suddenly feels a coldness running down her front, and she drops her food in surprise. She looks down immediately, finding a purplish-pink liquid dripping down her white shirt. Then she hears someone curse loud enough to impress a roaring lion and looks up to see a slightly cute and very distressed blond boy looking down at her in panic.

"I am so sorry!" he exclaims, reaching around her to grab a few napkins off the table as he desperately – and awkwardly – starts wiping them all over her shirt in an attempt to soak up the liquid. "I – I was so excited about my blueberry-strawberry-raspberry swirl smoothie that I didn't even see you, and – oh crap, I think it's staining!"

"It's okay," she mutters, taking the napkins from him and beginning to dab them on her shirt, but the damage is done.

"I'll buy you a new one," he promises. "Here." He quickly pulls off his University of Miami hoodie – accidentally pulling his shirt up with it to reveal a tantalizing amount of tanned, toned abdominal muscles – and shoves it in her hands, already kneeling on the ground to clean up her spilled food.

"Oh, um, thanks," she says, taking the hoodie and pulling it over her head.

"You can have my lunch," he continues, finishing his cleaning as best he can and depositing the contaminated food in the trash.

"Oh, you don't have to – "

"I do. I'm so sorry…"

"Ally."

"Ally. Right. I'm Austin."

"Well, nice to meet you, Austin."

"I can't imagine that's true. I just spilled blueberry-strawberry-raspberry swirl all over you."

She chuckles. "Well, you're the first person here who's talked to me, so I think I'll take what I can get. Even if I smell like a fruit salad now."

He smiles. "So you're new here?"

"Yep."

"Well, you can come sit with me and my friends, if you like."

She nods, smiling back at him. "I like."

So he leads her to his lunch table with his friends and she sits right next to him and shares his lunch and wow her day turned from awful to awesome after meeting him.

She hopes to see him a lot more often.

"Well…maybe my pink beverages just decide to leap out of my hands and fall on you."

She gives him a look, and he swallows.

"What're you doing here?" she asks him.

"Well, my friend Dez's girlfriend, Carrie, used to work with Trish, and Carrie wanted to bring Dez, but Dez is scared of Trish so he wouldn't come without me, and…yeah. What're you doing here?"

"Trish is my best friend."

"Oh. Well…I'm sorry for, y'know, spilling all over you."

"It's – it's fine," she says.

He gives her an awkward nod and she can tell he's about to walk away, but suddenly a redhead walks over to them and stops him.

"Hey, Austin! Who's this? Are you flirting already? You're not even drunk!" The stranger – who Ally assumes is Austin's friend Dez – looks at Ally, grinning. "I'm sorry for him. He's socially awkward and hasn't been able to keep a girlfriend longer than a month in six years. But – hey, what's all over your dress? It's very pretty, by the way."

Ally chuckles a bit. "Your friend Austin decided that his red wine would be a perfect complement to my bridesmaid dress."

"If it helps, it really brings out your eyes," Dez tries.

"Thanks."

"Hey, you look really familiar," Dez says.

Austin's already-wide eyes grow wider and he nudges Dez.

"Do I?" Ally asks.

"Yeah. Doesn't she, Austin?" he says, looking at the blond.

"Uhh…"

"Are you that hooker Austin brought home after having a few too many at our friend Gavin's bachelor party?"

Austin's eyes widen even more. "Dez!"

Ally raises an eyebrow at Austin, but either he doesn't see or he ignores her.

Dez snaps his fingers. "She looks like your crazy ex-girlfriend! Ally Dawson, right? The one you were hopelessly in love with and then blew up at you for no reason after six years of happiness?"

"Crazy?" Ally asks, putting her hands on her hips. "No reason?"

"Wait, you're her?" Dez looks at Austin. "She's her? She doesn't look crazy. If anything, she looks hot."

Austin slaps a hand to his forehead. "Dez, can we just go?"

"Why would we do that?! I wanna get to know your crazy ex! I mean, I have to hear about her all the time, I may as well get to know her!"

Austin, now looking just about ready to die on the spot, purses his lips. "I think I'm just gonna go, then. Uh…sorry again." He quickly makes his departure, leaving Ally alone with Dez.

"So, Austin called me a crazy ex-girlfriend?" she asks him.

"Yeah. He said you were insane. You'd drag him on all these random adventures and do the strangest things. He said it was one of his favorite qualities about you."

She bites her lip to contain her grin as she knocks on his window. He's most definitely asleep – it's two in the morning and he always goes to bed at eleven – but she knows he'll wake up.

Sure enough, he appears at the window in nothing but a pair of gray sweatpants hanging low on his hips, revealing a strip of his truck-themed boxers. He looks half-asleep and confused, and she actually does grin when he opens the window.

"Are you awake?" she asks him.

"No."

"Liar."

"Ally, what're you doing here?"

"Celebrating summer," she says with a nod. "We're going stargazing."

"We had school yesterday. I have to catch up on sleep before we do any of this summer stuff."

"Sleep when you're dead. We're seniors!"

"You're crazy."

"Thank you. Now put on a shirt and meet me at my car." She climbs down from the window and waits at her car.

He meets her a few minutes later and gets in the passenger side of her car. She gets in the driver's side and starts driving to their destination.

"Don't fall asleep on me," she tells him as he curls up and closes his eyes.

"Don't wake me up at two in the morning," he fires back grumpily.

She chuckles. "We'll be there in ten minutes. Stay awake."

"Fine."

Ten minutes later, she parks on top of a mountain with a perfect view of the stars. She shoves Austin gently to wake him up (he fell asleep despite her orders) and his eyelids flutter open.

"We're here. C'mon."

Together, they get out of the car and walk around to lie on the hood. For a while, they stare at the stars in silence, until she feels his gaze on her. She turns her head to look at him too.

"The stars are up there," she reminds him.

"And you're here."

"That's true."

"You realize that I would've just gone back to sleep if you were anyone else, right?"

"I know. But we're best friends."

"Mmhm."

"I think we're gonna rule the world, you and me."

"Oh, yeah?"

"Yeah. I've got plans, Austin. Big plans."

"Tell me more."

She's aware he's slowly moving his head closer to hers, but she just smiles.

"World peace."

"Mmhm."

"Free puppies for everyone who can prove they can take care of them."

"Of course."

"Happiness everywhere."

"Incredible."

"It rains skittles every third Monday."

"Does that count as a double rainbow?"

"Absolutely."

"Awesome."

"Concerts are free, and adventures are encouraged."

"Exciting."

"And – "

"Ally?"

"What?"

"I'm gonna kiss you."

"Finally."

"Get over here, Miss Universe."

She grins and kisses him, finally kisses him, after months of waiting. He smiles and kisses her back, turning on his side and reaching over to rest his hand on her waist.

He pulls away after a few seconds and kisses her nose, still smiling.

"Still mad at me for waking you up?" she asks him.

"Furious," he teases.

"I'm sorry."

"I think I can forgive you. On one condition."

"What's that?"

"You go on a date with me."

"I think I can do that," she replies with a grin.

He kisses her again. "So, tell me more about ruling the world."

"Oh. That kind of crazy." She wishes she didn't blush at hearing that.

"You don't look that crazy, though, if it helps," Dez says. "Anyway, he talks about you all the time, how he's pretty sure your breakup cursed his relationships for the rest of his life. He's terrible at keeping girlfriends now."

"Ah."

"He's told me a lot about you. He really misses you."

"Oh, does he?"

"Mmhm."

Just then, a blond girl walks up to them, smiling excitedly. "Hi, Dezzie!" she exclaims.

"Carrie!" Dez says excitedly, hugging the girl. "I missed you!"

"I was only talking to Trish for a few minutes," she giggles.

"Still! We should go dance!"

"Okay!" Carrie agrees.

And then they're gone, Ally completely forgotten. She chuckles and walks off.

"Hey," she hears Austin's voice from behind her. She turns around.

"Hey."

"I, uh, don't really know anyone except Dez and Carrie."

"That's unfortunate."

His nervous, sheepish expression turns into an annoyed one with narrowed eyes.

"What?" she says.

He sighs. "Would you mind if I hung out with you for a little bit?"

"You called me a crazy ex-girlfriend who blew up at you for no reason."

"The crazy part – "

"Dez told me. But still."

"So, is that a no…?"

"It's a hesitant fine."

He smiles a bit and follows her to the dance floor. His smile fades.

"What?" she says. "I wanna dance."

"But it's a slow song."

"Then ask me to dance. Or are you not mature enough to dance with your ex?"

"Oh, I'm plenty mature," he says, taking her hand and placing his other hand on her back.

They dance for a while in a slightly awkward silence.

"So, it's been a while…" he starts.

She snorts. "Yeah, has it?"

He rolls his eyes. "Yes, actually. It has. Six years, in fact. Excuse me for asking how it's been."

"Well, it's been great," she replies, adding a 'without you' in her head.

He can't know how much she misses him.

But slow dancing with him really isn't helping.

It's finally the night. The night she's been looking forward to for months; the night her boyfriend's been dreading for months; the night that she knows she's going to remember for the rest of her life.

Prom night.

She's at her friend Kimmy's house, getting ready. Her date is one of Austin's friends, and the four of them are getting a limo to the prom, along with two other couples.

"Ally, you look gorgeous," Kimmy squeals. "Austin is going to just die!"

"So do you!" Ally gushes back. "This is gonna be the best night ever!"

"Are you and Austin gonna…y'know…?" Kimmy asks.

Ally giggles and shoves her friend lightly. "I don't know, Kimmy. We'll have to see where the night takes us."

Kimmy giggles back and winks, and before Ally can come up with something else to say, the doorbell rings.

"That's them!" Ally says.

The two girls put on their shoes hurriedly and race down the stairs. They straighten their dresses, check each other's teeth for any remnants of lipstick, and once they're sure they're presentable for their dates, Kimmy opens the door.

Ally doesn't pay attention to Kimmy's date, but Austin definitely looks shocked. He looks her up and down, his jaw slackened and a slight smile on his face. He meets her eyes.

"You look absolutely beautiful."

"Thanks." She blushes.

"Well, if you're done with the eye sex, we can go," Kimmy's date jokes.

Austin shakes his head and chuckles, offering his arm to Ally. She smiles and takes it, and together the two couples walk to the limo.

After picking up their other friends, they arrive at prom and walk in. They're a bit late, so the dance floor is already full of people. Austin grins and drags Ally to the center of the crowd.

She giggles and jumps around with him for about a minute before a slow song comes on.

"Well, Miss Universe," he teases with his now-overused nickname, "may I have this dance?"

"Why, of course you may," Ally teases back in a horrible British accent, taking his hand and swaying with him to the music.

He smiles down at her, and just the look in his eyes is enough to make her blush.

"You're doing it again," she tells him.

"Doing what?"

"Looking at me all lovey."

"I'm not sorry."

She smiles and blushes a deeper red.

He leans down and presses a gentle kiss to her lips, squeezing her hand slightly. She shivers and he pulls away before she can kiss him back.

"I love you," he says.

"I love you, too."

He grins and pulls her closer, even though the slow song is ending and a faster one is starting.

The slow song ends, and Austin lets go of her, clearing his throat.

"I'm, uh, gonna go grab something to eat," she says.

He nods and trails her like a lost puppy, but she finds that she doesn't really mind.

"So, a hooker?" she asks, glancing back at him.

He blushes all the way up to the roots of his hair. "Our friend Gavin had a bachelor party at a club, I had too many drinks, and she was a hot brunette." Ally blinks at him. "You know I have a thing for brunettes."

"I do?"

"Yes, I've told you a million times."

"Yeah. Six years ago."

"You've got a thing for brunettes too, which was why you were so surprised when you fell for me. Must've been my hazel eyes, because you're a sucker for those."

"Wow, you got me," she says sarcastically. "Clearly you've moved on."

"Of course I have. Haven't you?"

"Mmhm. I've had three boyfriends since we broke up."

"Only three?" he laughs. "I've had more than I can count!"

"See, this is why I broke up with you in the first place!" she snaps at him, suddenly very annoyed. "Everything is a competition with you! Everything! It's so immature and annoying and obnoxious!"

"Oh, I'm obnoxious?" he says, now on the defensive. "I'm obnoxious. At least I don't wake people up at ungodly hours of the morning just to go do stupid stuff for no reason!"

"Stupid – okay, that was once – "

"Twice."

"Twice, whatever. And you told me that both of those were two of the best nights of your life!"

"Well, I was lying."

"Oh, you were lying," she says, crossing her arms.

"Yes."

"Okay, Austin. Whatever. Whatever. Thanks for the dance, and it was nice seeing you again, I guess." She gives him an annoyed wave and walks off.

"This better be good," the blond says, opening his window at one a.m.

"Oh, it is. Some kids in my dorm are having a bonfire on the beach. We're going."

He presses his lips together. "Alright."

He disappears inside his room and reappears at the window with a shirt, shoes, and shorts on. He climbs out the window and together the pair walks to the beach.

Ally greets her friends at the bonfire and introduces the ones she doesn't usually hang out with to Austin.

"Oh, so this is the sexy boyfriend you guys were talking about?" Jessie asks Ally's roommate.

"Yep," she says with a giggle.

"Hey, he's mine," Ally teases. Austin grins at the compliments.

"I like them," he decides.

After a while, they bring out the drinks and Ally has a couple before deciding she should probably not get completely wasted.

"Want another?" Austin asks her.

"Nah, I've already had two."

"Are you kidding? I've had three and I still feel great."

"Okay…?"

"Have another!"

"No. You know I'm a lightweight."

"Lame."

"I'm the one who brought you here!"

"And I'm the one taking more risks!"

Ally rolls her eyes.

"Whatever." She takes the bottle from him and opens it, pretending to take a few sips before setting it down next to her.

Luckily, there aren't any more arguments, only drunken singing and dancing, a kiss here and there, and ultimately a nonexistent trip back to her dorm from his apartment.

"Ally, wait," she hears him behind her. He grabs her shoulder to stop her.

"What, first you spill wine on me, then you try to have another petty little competition, and then you won't leave me alone?" she snaps.

"I'm – I'm sorry – "

"Mmhm, I'm sure you are. Why don't you go to some club to find some hooker since Dez clearly doesn't need you anymore and you don't know anyone else here. I, on the other hand, am here to celebrate my best friend's wedding, and I'd really appreciate it if you'd quit bothering me so I can enjoy her special day."

She walks off again to go find Trish, and this time he thankfully doesn't follow her.

"There's the beautiful bride!" Ally teases when she finds her best friend.

Trish grins, practically glowing with excitement, and hugs Ally. "I've been looking all over for you!" she exclaims.

"Well, here I am," Ally giggles, hugging her back. "Having fun?"

"Duh! Look at that pile of presents!" Trish points to the table that's spilling over with bags and boxes.

"You realize those are for you and Jace, right?" Ally asks.

"Eh, details," Trish says, batting her hand. "Are you having fun?"

"Duh!" Ally replies. "It's my best friend's wedding day!"

"What's wrong?" Trish asks, knowing her too well.

Ally sighs. "I ran into Austin."

"Austin Moon?! Your ex from six years ago?!"

Ally nods glumly. "He came with Carrie's boyfriend because Dez is scared of you."

"Dez must've told Carrie to ask not-me."

"Jace is nicer…"

"True," Trish agrees. "I'm sorry, Ally."

"It's okay. Things were actually…okay for a while. But then he got all competitive about moving on by saying how many girlfriends he's had since we broke up, but he still remembers just about everything I ever told him about me."

"Wow. He obviously misses you."

"You think so?"

"Uh, yeah. He's been trying to get over you by distracting himself with other girls – "

"One was a hooker."

"I bet more than one was a hooker. Anyway, he's been trying to distract himself so he stops missing you. Probably hasn't been working."

"Well, I miss him too and I didn't have to distract myself."

"You miss him?"

"Of course I do!" She sighs. "I loved him. I love him. What we had was good, y'know? It lasted six years. And I broke up with him for being all competitive or whatever, but maybe he can fix it."

"Ally…this is a bad idea."

"I've never been one for good ideas."

"You can't go back to him."

"I'm gonna go back to him."

"You're crazy!"

"Funny, that's exactly what he said."

She gives her friend one last hug and walks off to find Austin.

"Austin, where are we going?" she giggles, looking out the window.

"A place," he replies.

"What place? Are you kidnapping me?"

He thinks about it for a second. "Yes," he decides.

"That's terrifying."

"It's okay. Don't try to escape."

"I'm scared."

"Good."

He glances over at her, grinning from ear to ear, and she smiles and shoves him lightly.

"You're lucky I love you," she says.

"I know I am."

After a while, he parks on a dirt road next to a field.

"Oh my gosh, you're gonna murder me."

"No, dork. We're going camping!"

"Oh. That's more fun," she decides.

He chuckles. "Yeah. I figured we should get out of town."

"Oh, really?"

"Mmhm. I missed you. Two nights alone in the woods will surely fix that."

"You aren't doing this because of that movie we saw where they have tent sex, are you?"

"That would be a bonus."

She rolls her eyes and chuckles. "C'mon."

They get out of the car and start setting up camp.

"You brought food, right?" she asks him.

"Well, what're we gonna do, catch it? I'm not a woodsman."

"Good. You couldn't catch it even if you tried."

"I bet I could catch more than you."

She rolls her eyes. "Okay, Austin."

"Still love you, though."

"Yeah, yeah, love you too. Let's get these tents set up before it gets dark."

She finds him alone outside, sitting on the stairs leading up to the entrance of the ballroom the wedding reception is being held at.

"Hey," she says quietly, sitting down next to him.

"You're gonna ruin your dress," he tells her.

"Eh, it's already got a wine stain."

"Sorry. Again."

"It's okay. Last time this happened I got a best friend out of it."

He glances over at her. "You never gave me back my hoodie."

"It's very comfortable."

"Looked better on you than me. You kept it?"

"Yeah, well, free hoodies that are guaranteed to fit for life aren't something you just throw away."

"Still as tiny as ever."

She smiles a bit. "Still as strong as ever."

"Still gonna rule the world?"

"Working on it."

Austin chuckles and leans back, resting his elbows on the stairs behind him.

"Man, we had it pretty good, didn't we?"

Ally turns her head to look at him. "Yeah, we did."

"I lied about moving on."

"I know."

"I've been trying, but…" He shakes his head.

"I know what you mean," she says, leaning back next to him.

"Don't tell me Miss Universe hasn't moved on either."

"What can I say? What we had was…one in a million."

"Yeah…yeah, it really was."

She looks at him, and he looks at her.

"I wish we could go back," she admits. "Back to where it all began, do it over, stay together."

"Me, too. It's all my fault."

"I should've fought for us more."

"I shouldn't have been so competitive."

"Well…what do we do?"

"We can't just let something so brilliant go like we did."

"So…you think we should try again?"

"We had it right the first time, Ally."

"I know."

"So, what do you say?"

She feels herself smile and she grabs the back of his head and pulls him into her, pressing her lips to his. He wraps an arm around her waist and kisses her back, smiling and exhaling in relief.

"Is that a yes?"

She giggles. "That's a yes."

"I love you."

"I love you, too."

"Austin, c'mon, they're cutting the – whoa."

The new (old) couple jumps in surprise at Dez's voice and they turn around to look at him.

"What's…uh, what's going on out here?"

"We're together again," Austin tells the redhead with a smile.

Dez grins. "That's great!"

"Yeah, it is," the blonde says, looking at Ally with a smile.

"Anyway, we should probably go inside before Trish freaks," Ally says.

The boys nod and Austin and Ally stand up, following Dez inside.

"So, Miss Universe, got any new plans I haven't heard about?"

"More than I can count."

"I've got time."

She grins and presses another kiss to his lips. She knows they've got time. Hopefully an infinity's worth.

me and lexy are both weeping messes on the floor (not bc of this fic but yeah) so we really hope you like this :)