You're My Wildcard

When Austin and Ally try to participate in a community service project, they wind up playing card games with a man living on the streets. Through a series of similar encounters with Miami's hidden musicians, they learn to appreciate what they have—and also what they have between them. / AustinAlly. Multichap.

Here's a little something to tease my fluff-inappreciative friends. I'm looking at you, Sarah – and I know you're rolling your eyes right now, but bear with me, okay? You gave me the idea originally, anyway. Also, here's a shout-out to Isabelle and Noah, because they're absolutely great. Many sincere thanks to both of you.

Oh, and another to a cold day in december (Sophie), because I will never tire of thanking her.

Enjoy! Please let me know what you think – I know it's a little unconventional, but if I want to improve, I'll have to take risks, right? Hopefully, this multi-chapter will continue for a while…I have quite a few scenarios planned for our favorite duo. ;-)

Some of the vagrant street musicians jamming in downtown Miami are actually pretty good.

In fact, if you look closely enough, you might be able to discern a faraway look or a lopsided grin – telltale signs that the performer is thoroughly relishing even in less-than-perfect plucks of an untuned guitar. But what people don't understand is that some of these vagabonds once had huge artistic potential, and that there's a real passion in many of them.

But Austin thinks he understands. He finds Miami street life unexplainably alluring, and though he's not ready to be completely independent, he's eager to get as close as he can to the core of the music scene. Simplistic as it may seem, music – even badly made music – can bring people together, as long as it has depth and soul.

Naturally, he jumps at the downtown community service opportunity. Ally, on the other hand, would much rather spend her time tutoring or teaching, so it takes a considerable amount of convincing until she finally agrees – reluctantly, of course – to join him.

They're poring over the guidebook for the organization's volunteers when she sighs in frustration and throws up her arms.

"Why did I sign up for this, again?"

It's definitely not the first time he's had to hear her complain about the so-called "pointless, useless labor-based service," so he decides to have some fun with responding. After all, when a friend keeps asking you the same thing over and over again, you find ways to tell yourself that it's actually a different question.

"Maybe it's because you lo-o-o-ve me," he teases lightly, because he's a teenager. When you're a teenager, everything's love and love and love. It's either that or hate.

She doesn't blush, because frankly, she's immune to his advances. Some would call that playing hard-to-get, but she's just been vaccinated for Austin-mania way too many times.

"Or maybe," she retorts, "Maybe you just love me. You're the one who whined for hours about giving back to the community and it's only for one day and you'll get all your community service hours and… actually, wait—"

"That sounds more like you," he interjects, and they both laugh because it's completely true. He grins widely at her from across the table, and she thinks she may need to get another round of Austin vaccinations.

"Okay," she finally says, "I guess it won't be that bad."

They're being baked alive in the relentless Miami heat, and she's definitely not enjoying the feel of dirt trickling through her work gloves. She plants her spade firmly into the ground and twists it tiredly before pulling it up again, and she watches the clumps of soil dance along the rims as they are tossed to the side.

"Austin," she groans, "I don't want to do this."

"Fine," he says calmly, because there's no point in getting frustrated with her. "We'll take a break, okay? Just let me talk to the supervisor."

She's feeling somewhat guilty now, but she watches with a half-smile as he jogs over to the project supervisor. It's quite a sight – a burly, bearded middle-aged man speaking composedly to a skinny, overeager teenage boy – but she doesn't even have time to laugh before he's back again. He's positively glowing, so she takes that as a good sign.

"Mr. Lancaster says we can go downtown, as long as we pass out socks."

"What? Austin, I didn't sign up for this!"

"Oh, come on, it's not that far! All we have to do is cross the street over there, and we're in the center of the city." City rolls off his tongue and lingers in the air, but his trance is interrupted by a concerned Ally placing her hand gently on his forehead.

"Austin, honey," she murmurs, and he temporarily wonders if he's actually dreaming. "Austin, are you feeling all right?"

He scoffs indignantly before turning away to hide his dazed expression. He's not as lucky – he hasn't been vaccinated for Ally-mania yet.

Somehow, she relents and goes with him to give socks to the needy.

They hand two pairs to a man by the theater. The poor soul blows a stream of smoke and looks warily at them before nodding enthusiastically and gratefully accepting his gift. "Thanks, thanks," he mumbles around his cigarette. "Thanks."

They jog down to Eleventh Avenue and pass by a street band, but Austin backtracks almost immediately to compliment the guitarist. "Hey, man," he yells out over the noise, "Nice tune." Ally takes his hand and tries to make him continue walking, because they should be giving out socks, but he refuses to move. The band stops playing, and the guitarist laughs appreciatively. "Thanks, dude."

Austin shrugs and opens his mouth to say something else, but Ally yanks at his arm and hisses, "Come on! We've got fifty pairs of socks to give out!" He's obviously annoyed, but he listens to her anyway.

"Bye, guys," grumbles Austin, and he fails to notice that the band members are giving him knowing smirks. "We have to go – sorry."

That's a start! In the next chapter, you'll see the card game and a little more Auslly action, eh? Future chapters will essentially be different situations in downtown leading up to the finale (which involves romance and self-discovery), all with the premise of Austin and Ally giving out socks – and the whole story happens over the course of one day, haha.

I'll try to update as frequently as I can, but I'll need motivation, hehe. But seriously, if you did enjoy this chapter or have any ideas for what situations I might use for future chapters, maybe leave me a review. :-)

Thank you so much for all your support!