A/N: I don't own anything
Austin waited. He had been waiting for a full hour. For half of that hour, she had been late. He wondered how long he should wait for her. After all, if she wasn't here in a certain amount of time, then that would mean she wasn't coming. It was stupid to wait if she wasn't coming.
He checked his watch once more. Yet another minute had passed as he stood in the circle that was the center of the park. Children laughed from a few yards away at the playground. A crowd of people- many of them being happy, giggling couples- walked this way and that. Behind him, a tall fountain flowed melodiously and the clear water shone of the sun's reflected light. But he didn't notice. Heck, he barely paid any attention at all even to the ice cream and hotdog venders near by- one of the few times in his life that he could honestly claim to be uninterested in food. All he noticed was the time and the way it slowly became less and less.
They'd made a promise, the two of them. If it could work, if they truly believed it could work, they would meet here on this date and at this time. No words would be necessary, for simply arriving would signify that they still believed there was even the smallest chance. If they didn't come... He had come, but would she? Did she believe like he did?
With all that had happened to them in their short lives in this world, all which had seen, it was hard to think of anything that they wouldn't find themselves believing. Was this one of those ever so rare things? She had always seemed to believe above any of the others. Had she stopped?
He checked his watch once more. She was now three quarters of an hour late. She wouldn't keep anyone waiting for something important for that long- not if she was coming. Hopefully, he pushed a button on his watch that made the date show up. His heart fell once more when he saw that he had not messed up, this was, indeed, the proper date.
With a heavy heart he turned to leave. His eyes stung as his "allergies" began acting up. He quickly wiped the moisture away and made a mental note to see a doctor about some sort of treatment. With a final sigh he began to shuffle away. Suddenly, he heard something that made his feet, as well as his heart, stop. His head shot in the direction of the sound when it repeated itself.
"Austin!" The call was clear and tinged with desperation. It was accompanied by the heel clicks from her shoes. Several heads turned to the source of the noise, the beautiful Ally running towards him, with her skirt swishing every time she took a step.
"Ally?" he chocked out in a whisper that couldn't be heard from a distance of more than two inches. He stood, frozen, and watched with an ever-lightening heart, as she grew closer.
"Austin!" she called again, apology in her voice- though he couldn't think at the moment as to why, "Please wait! Don't go! I'm here!"
People excitedly moved from her path as she closed the distance between them. One girl literally dragged her boyfriend out of the way and shouted an encouragement as Ally passed by her. On woman, looking to be in about her mid-thirties, had whipped out a camera and had been busily snapping pictures of the scene since almost the first instant Ally had called out to Austin.
Suddenly returning to the world around him, Austin smiled widely in pure glee and extended his arms to greet her. From several feet away, Ally launched herself into the waiting arms. Unfortunately, the legs that were part of the body that those arms were attached to had grown weak with the excitement. Austin's lack of balance and the sudden impact resulting in both of them sailing into the fountain that Austin had been standing in front of.
But neither member of the couple seemed to care as, even in the cool water, they embraced and their lips met. They kneeled in the shallow water, the result of what had started as an attempt at getting out of the water. But there were more important things to worry about: each other. The sweet kiss was cut short, however, when sudden applause broke into their world.
Still holding each other, they looked in surprise at the crowd that, previously, been going about its own business. Claps and cheers and whistles and shouts of encouragement rang out over the center of the park. How so many people had managed to witness them was a mystery to them both. The thirty-something woman was still taking photos. The smiling, but blushing couple removed themselves from the fountain and gave shy waves to their audience.
Hand in hand they moved toward the exit of the park after giving a few mock bows. The kindly looking older men that ran the ice cream and hotdog venders rewarded the couple with two free, well, ice cream and hotdogs.
Ally laid her head on Austin's wet shoulder as they left the park that was still full of applause. He wrapped his arm around her waist to draw her closer. Both smiled contently. Now all there was left to do was to tell the others, who had been waiting impatiently for the two to make themselves official or not. It had seemed to them like the "not" was most likely when they were forced to go their separate ways due to Austin's career. But now they could reassure their friends that everything was going to work out. They just had to think of a creative way to do it while the others were all back in the same city for a while.
The task was taken care of for them by the next day's paper, sporting pictures of "a happy couple reunited in the park (fountain)."