A/N:.So this is the first Austin and Ally one shot that I wrote, but I didn't type it until after the second one. I heard the song "Watching You Watch Him" by Eric Hutchinson on the radio awhile ago and I thought it would make a perfect song for Austin and Ally with her liking Dallas, so I gave the song to Austin. Anyway, enjoy. R&R! Thanks! –Mac
Disclaimer: I don't own Austin and Ally. Obviously, the song and lyrics belongs to Eric Hutchinson.
Watching You Watch Him
Austin Moon always tried to play it cool. When he thought Ally had a crush on him, though, he kind of dropped the ball in that account. It wasn't entirely his fault. Her diary had been very misleading. So he should never have read it and his attempts to turn her off were a bit extreme, but he couldn't help his mild freak out at the idea that one of his closest friends could feel like that about him. In the end, it had all worked out. Ally had never really liked him. Ally liked Dallas. Dallas didn't exactly pay much attention to Ally, but at least it wasn't Mrs. Ally Moon that Ally was doodling in her notebook margins.
They all recovered from the incident. Austin went back to being not orange and not sweaty. Ally went back to writing personal things in her secret book about her not so much hidden anymore crush. And Dallas, he went on working at the cell phone accessory cart. Eventually, as time went by, it began to seem like Dallas might actually be interested in Ally. If he was a girl he might have been scribbling sweet nothings in a secret diary about a certain music store employee that had hired and fired him. Either way, if he did like Ally, he still kept a fair enough distance and he hadn't blurted out any declarations of love, yet, as far as Austin knew—Trish would not have been able to keep that quiet if he had. Austin figured he should be happy that his friend and musical partner was on the path toward a relationship with the guy she truly liked. Yet…he kind of, just wasn't.
Austin couldn't really explain it, not to anyone else and least of all to himself. It felt kind of like jealousy, but it just didn't make sense. There wasn't anything to be jealous of. It wasn't that he was jealous because Ally was likely to be in a relationship before him. If Austin really wanted a relationship, he could have one. He had offers, many of them. Most of them were from awestruck fans that really didn't appeal to him, but, still, they were legitimate offers. He wasn't jealous of anything Dallas had going for him. Austin would take his situation over the one time cell phone accessory seller, turned horrible Sonic Boom employee, that now works at the library guy's any day. And Austin certainly wasn't jealous that Ally liked someone that wasn't him. Of that he was certainly certain. That was the one thing he had known all along.
But what did he really know, really?
All he knew was that it was hard when he spent almost every day watching Ally watch Dallas. Austin now knew, intimately, all the little quirks that Ally had around a guy she was crushing on. In hindsight, he never should have confused himself with the guy she liked despite the specifically vague descriptions in the book. He had now seen all the nervous smiles, heard all the giggles and stammered sentences, and witnessed all the clumsy awkwardness. He didn't want to have to see it anymore. It wasn't because he was jealous. It couldn't be because he was jealous. He would know if he was jealous.
True, he'd like to have a goofy Ally smile that belonged only to him. And it wouldn't kill him if she maybe hugged him a little longer than a friend would. It also wouldn't be the end of the world if one of the many, numerous times Austin was watching Ally, she was watching him back. He wouldn't complain if that happened. He wouldn't go all orange and sweaty this time, at the very least. If he was really honest with himself, his previous freak out might not have been because he was afraid of what would happen if she liked him and he didn't like her back, but because he was afraid of what might have happened if she liked him and he did like her back.
It was possible that Austin was a smidge jealous, but seriously, only just a little tiny bit jealous. It wasn't like he was actually going to do anything about it. He knew where he stood with Ally already. It wasn't going to change any time soon. The only thing he could really do was what he always did when he had a personal problem: put it in a song.
Austin found Ally at her piano in the practice room. He plopped down on the bench next to her, "Hey Alley-cat."
"Hello, Austin," Ally said back, without taking her hands off the piano keys. She played out a few note. "I'm working on the music for your new song. I haven't quite worked out the lyrics or what the song will be about yet, but it's coming along."
"I need you to write me a love song," Austin said quickly. "You see there's this girl, I kinda, sorta—"
Ally turned to him with a wide grin on her face. She poked him in the arm with the index finger of one hand and then the other, over and over, "You like someone! Ah-ha! Who is she? Do I know her? Is she your girlfriend?" Ally drew out the last word in sing song. "Come on, come on, tell me, tell me, tell me. Start dishing or I'll be forced to get Trish in here to make you spill."
Austin playfully swatted her hands away. "No, no, look, it's like this—" Austin took a deep breath and continued, "—this girl doesn't know how I feel about her, hence the song, and she kind of likes a different guy already."
"Oh," Ally frowned and Austin feared, for a moment, that he had been too obvious. Then she finished, "That sucks, Austin. You deserve a girl who can see how awesome you are. How do you know she likes someone else?"
Austin sighed, "When I'm watching her, she's watching him."
Ally nodded and started to play again. She sang softly, "Where do I fit in, when I am watching you, watch him."
"That's perfect," Austin nodded along. He added his voice to the lyrics Ally began to scribble down on loose paper. "I'm not feeling brave, chances are slim, when I am watching you, watch him."
Ally spent the rest of the day finishing the song with Austin's help. When they were done, Austin had Trish arrange for him to play a gig at the mall again. He told himself that it was business as usual. The concert was just meant to present his newest music. There was no ulterior motive. He had no plans to reveal the true inspiration for the song, because really, what good would it do? It wouldn't do him any kind of good to do any of that. At the end of the day, Ally would still like Dallas and until that whole thing ran its course, there was no place for Austin except as her friend and partner. So that's what he would be—and he would hide away those pesky jealous feelings. As for the new song, Austin would put everything he had into making it a good performance, just like any other, ordinary, not so vitally important song.
When the time came for him to sing, he took a deep breath and stepped onto stage to cheers. He walked up to the microphone with his guitar. Immediately, he sought out Ally in the crowd. When he finally spotted her, he introduced himself and the song.
"Hey everyone, I'm Austin Moon and this is my new song, 'Watching You Watch Him.' I hope you like it."
The music began and he played along. He sang the opening verse with his eyes at the back of the crowd. He kept his eyes on Ally there the whole time he sang. At first, he thought it might give him away, but he didn't need to worry because as his eyes never left her, hers never left Dallas, who was sitting across the crowd from her. Given the premise of the song, Austin was far from surprised. Maybe one day, when he was over Ally, and she was living happily ever after with her Prince Charming of Cell Phone Accessories, Austin would tell her the song she wrote him was all about herself. They would have a laugh, nostalgic like old friends, and then he would go home to his rock star mansion. Until then, there was only the last verse.
Austin closed his eyes as he finished the song, "And I love you, like a broken record plays, but I'm a windowpane, a phantom limb, when I'm watching you watch him."
When Austin opened his eyes, as the music faded out, Ally was watching him with a smile on her face. Austin locked his gaze on hers and smiled back. And there was this small inkling of hope, because for a moment they were watching each other. Maybe he wouldn't have to tell Ally the song was about her, maybe she would figure it out herself when she figured out her feelings for Austin, and maybe that day in the future when he went home to his rock star mansion, Ally would be coming with him. Who could really tell what the future would bring? What would happen, would happen when it was meant to.
Until then, Austin Moon would play it cool—or at the very least try really hard to.
