Ally just laid there, looking at the tiled, boring, practice room ceiling. She tried to ignore Trish's loud snores in her ear, and Dez's sleep rambling about his Popsicle stick family.
Sleepovers always ended like this. When the first started having their sleepovers, Ally's dad was a bit worried that Austin and Dez were with them, because they are in fact the opposite gender. But when he got to know them better, he dismissed his worries quickly.
Ally was always the first one to fall asleep. They all had usual routines. They would first tell stories, childhood stories, recent stories, and any stories. They would also snack and play some games. Then they would have their jam session, lasting about five songs. And last, they had a movie marathon. Ally would make it through half of the first movie before she would fall right asleep. She couldn't help it; it would be three hours past her self-made bedtime. She sat next to Austin on the couch, while Trish sat in the chair next to them and Dez sat on the floor in a beanbag. She couldn't help but notice all the space on the couch, but Austin sat extremely close to her. It was different while songwriting; the piano bench only fit the two of them. But she wondered why he wanted to sit so close to her, why didn't he find her disgusting like everyone else. She was a nerd. Who would want her?
It had been the middle of Footloose when she fell asleep. She could almost swear she heard the end credits and a mumble saying, "Ally's out." She felt bad she always crashed on movie night, but she had been stressed with work, school, and bookclub. Being the pretty much only employee at a store, while your mom is halfway across the world, and maintaining a high GPA wasn't as easy as it sounded. And people wondered why she had no social life. She also was Austin's songwriter, so she was constantly exhausted. But it was their dream, and you need to sacrifice and work hard for that dream to come true. She fell asleep on Austin's shoulder. At first it was just to rest her head, and her eyes. Then she couldn't help herself and she fell asleep. Austin was aware her heading was resting on her shoulder, but he had heard her deep breathing and looked down to see her sleeping soundly. He smiled a bit and looped an arm around her to keep her close and more comfortable, being careful not to wake her up. He sighed in content and felt her arms wrap around his waist on instinct. His lips curled up in a smile. He looked over at Trish who had the biggest smirk on her face.
He knitted his eyebrows together and replied with a blunt, "What?"
She chuckled and looked over to Ally. "Oh you know what …" She replied back in an obvious tone.
Dez cleared his throat. "And once again, I'm the third tire," He huffed and flipped his hair.
"It's third wheel you dimwit!" She snapped loudly, and Austin covered Ally's ears and shushed her.
"Uh no, it's third tire, because wheels are wooden like a horse carriage. And tires are rubber. And I bare more resemblance to a awesome monster truck than a horse carriage." He ended his rant in an expressive voice, enunciating every word.
Trish snorted in reply. "Who said you were the carriage? I thought you were the horses a-,"
She didn't get a chance to finish her crude comment when Austin shouted. "For the love of pancakes! Would you please stop fighting?" He was glad he was still covering Ally's ears. That would've definitely woken her up.
Trish just rolled her eyes and paid attention to the movie. Dez stuck up his nose like an extremely snobby person and turned his body to the wall.
Yep. This is what Team Austin's sleepovers are like …
x.x
Ally just kept staring at the wall above her, bored out of her mind. Her phone said it was 12:17, which means her friends had gone to sleep an hour ago. She had no idea why she was so wide-awake now. She had always had sleep disorders when she was a kid. She would wake up with anxiety, or have constant nightmares. She couldn't remember having any, so she didn't know why she was so awake. Maybe it was the anxiety.
She all of a sudden felt massive shivers go up her left arm. It felt somewhat like a shock of electricity, but it didn't hurt. It just tingled. She looked down to see what caused her to jolt. She saw Austin's hand was rested on top of hers. She didn't feel it before, so he must've shifted and accidentally hit her hand. She felt his fingers move slightly so they were halfway intertwined with hers. She smiled. She loved having a best friend like him.
Ally sighed to herself. But they weren't best friends. Well, they were, but they have gotten much closer than that over the past two years. She can still remember when they were partners and they hardly knew each other. He knew her better than anyone now. She didn't know if he felt the same about her, but she was pretty sure.
She turned to her side to see Austin on her left. He was huddled on the floor, under a thin blanket. He held Dougie the Dolphin, whom he'd brought in secret, and smiled to himself. She looked at him with concentration. What could he possibly be thinking about that made him so happy?
Trish's snores continued on her other side, and she rolled over by Austin's side to try to escape them. But as she rolled to his side, she rolled face to face with him. Literally face to face, and he was staring back at her and smiling, holding Dougie even closer. She's glad he can be himself around her.
"Austin!" She whispered, shocked. "I thought you were sleeping …"
He smirked back. "I could say the same to you."
She rolled her eyes at his witty reply than looked down at the plaid blanket she was bundled under. "I couldn't sleep …"
His face morphed into a look of curiosity. "Why?"
She sighed. "It's complicated. I've had sleep anxiety fears since I was a kid so … I tend to wake up in the middle of the night."
He nodded in understanding, she just continued speaking. "It's just kind of weird, you know? I have these vivid dreams or nightmares constantly, and I try to figure out why I have them but I just don't know." She never met the gaze he was giving her, she was just too embarrassed. "I guess I am a weirdo …"
He squeezed her hand, and she momentarily forgot it was in his.
"Ally, you are not a weirdo." Austin enunciated. She sniffled, and he knew she was on the verge of crying.
"Yeah I am Austin! You can't deny it. You, Trish, and Dez … you're embarrassed to be seen with me. You guys call me a nerd, you guys say the stuff I like is lame, and you guys even think I'm a loser! I know you do! I've heard you guys behind my back, so how do you think I feel? Why do you have the nerve to say I'm not weird just because you feel sorry for me!" Her voice started cracking and ripped her hand from Austin's and buried her face in her pillow, her body shaking with sobs.
Austin felt his heart cracking too. He never knew she felt this way. And he also felt guilty; they did say that stuff about her calling her invisible and lame. He said it all as a joke; he never knew she took it all so personally. He rubbed her back, trying to soothe her.
"Ally?" His voice was cracking too, but he wasn't sure if it was from tiredness, the situation, or dehydration. Probably a mixture of the three. "I'm so sorry. I never meant any of it, and neither did Trish or Dez. Your our best friend, you're my best friend."
She looked up to Austin, feeling like she was making a big deal out of nothing. She must've just have been tired. She cracked a small smile. "Thanks Austin."
He smiled back. "No problem."
She tried to reach out to hug him but there was still a bit of distance, and they were lying down. So they sat up and leaned closer to each other. Ally wrapped her arms around his neck and he wrapped his around her waist, pulling her closer. He could feel the stray tears damping his shirt, and he buried his head within her bony shoulder. This moment was special. It was just them.
Even though Trish was a foot away from them and Dez was out cold on the couch.
Austin pulled back and she looked down and blushed. He mumbled a comment about how awesome she was. He leaned in to kiss her cheek, and looked up at the last second, because he was so close. His lips brushed hers, and his eyes snapped open, realizing he wasn't in contact with her lips. But she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him closer, making the small brush a real kiss. His eyes fluttered closed again and he dragged her waist closer to him, till she was almost sitting on her lap. They pulled away slightly, but their foreheads still touched. She sniffled again and he looked down at her delicate hands, stroking her thumb with his finger. "I'm so sorry Ally, I would never ever hurt you purposely." He let out a breathy and almost nervous laugh. "I really really care about you."
Ally smiled and nodded. "Me too, but can we talk about this in the morning? I'm kind of tired."
Austin raised his eyebrows. "It is morning …"
She looked over at clock. Seeing it was 1:30. "Oh, well then can we talk about this later?"
Austin smiled. "Of course."
Ally bit her lip. "But before we go back to bed, there is something I want to do first."
x.x
"Ah! Why do I have a whipped cream mustache on me?" Trish woke up angry. She looked over to Dez, who was still asleep, and who had a whipped cream can in his hand. Trish started hitting him with her pillow. Which led Dez to wake up screaming.
So they were arguing about whipped cream and screaming at each other, and Austin and Ally just lay under the covers giggling at their scheme and holding hands.
It was quite brilliant.
It was a crappy ending, I know. But I still think it was a cute little oneshot. I'm not sure when YFMDYLM will be updated, but I'm working on it! Thanks guys:)
-Evelyn