Ben
"Thank you, have a nice day!" Ally handed a paper bag to a woman, calling out the farewell as the woman left the store. Sonic Boom's specialized guitar picks were so popular, people started buying them in bulk to give them as gifts. Some people, like the woman Ally had just hepled, only had a need for one pick.
"Hey, Ally? Think I could get a discount on these specialized guitar picks 'cause I'm your best friend?" Austin grinned at her hopefully.
Ally rolled her eyes. "Get back to me when you have $20."
Austin only grinned sheepishly and shrugged. "Well, it was worth a shot. And no, I don't gave $20 on me. How about I bring it in later and you can give me a discount? And I'll use the money I get from the discount to buy you something nice," he added.
Ally raised her eyebrows. "You sure?"
Austin nodded.
Sighing, Ally agreed. "Fine. But only because you're getting me a present." Not because I think you're being endearingly sincere, or anything. Um, no. Definitely not that.
"YES!" Unexpectedly, he pulled her into a hug. "If you knew what the picks were really for, you'd be giving me a heck of a lot easier time," he muttered.
"What?" she said, not quite having heard him.
"Nothing," he replied nonchalantly, releasing her from his arms.
"Austin! There you are. You promised you'd help me bake my grandmother a cake!" said Dez insistently. "Now get out there and buy her a cake! Here's twenty bucks." Dez ushered Austin out of the store, returning a few minutes later.
Ally gave him a strange look, but then returned to her work.
Five minutes later, a guy wandered into the store, obviously lost.
"Um, this isn't the art supply store, is it?" He laughed embarrassedly. (1)
Ally looked up, opening her mouth to answer. However, as soon as her eyes landed on his face, she froze. "U-Uh... no! I mean, no, this isn't the art supply store." Ally pasted on her best employee smile, while, in her brain, OMG HE'S CUTE was all that she thought of. (2)
The guy laughed. "Hey, knock it off. The generically helpful employee look has lost all of it's effect on me, so you can help me when you're being yourself. I'm Ben. Ben Timson." He offered a hand for her to shake.
Ally shook his hand, smiling. "Ally Dawson. Nice to meet you. Um, if you're looking for the art supply store, I can take you."
"Cool."
"TRISH! I'm going out; take care of the store!" Ally called over her shoulder as she and Ben left.
"Where's Mr. Dawson? Isn't he supposed to be managing the store?" complained Trish. "I mean, it's not even that hard. All you do is ring up people's purchases and count change."
Dez appeared at her side suddenly. "Not nessecarily," he interjected. "Have you ever tried managing a store? It's hard."
"Oh, and I suppose you have." Disbelief was clearly stamped across her face.
"Actually, I have. You seem to forget, I'm the filmaker. I have to manage sets, budgets, extras, hair, makeup, wardrobe, and graphics— all at once!" exclaimed Dez.
Trish deadpanned. "Your set is wherever you think would look good; you don't actually build any sets because of my next point: your budget as of now consists of the money Austin earns from performances, how much you're willing to spend yourself, and how much we're willing to spend on you, we don't have any extras, hair and makeup is all done by me, and graphics are just the little things you mess aroud with on the computer. So, actually, the answer is no, you've never tried managing anything. I, on the other hand, have been managing Austin's career since we all met." Trish looked triumphant as she finished her long rant.
"Oh, yeah? Well, I bet I could beat you in landing and keeping a job for two weeks!" retorted Dez, not having anything else to say.
"Yeah? Sylvie's Sunglasses has a spot open for two new employees. It's on!" challenged Trish.
They both sprinted outside the store to the sunglass cart. "SYLVIE, WE WANT THOSE JOBS!" they exclaimed in unison.
Sylvie, an old woman in her nineties, could only blink owlishly at the two panting teenagers. "You can have the jobs," she croaked, returning promptly to her laptop afterward.
"Let the games," started Trish, putting on the uniform that consisted of a pink apron with a pair of yellow sunglasses on it.
"begin!" finished Dez, putting three pairs of sunglassses on his face.
"Crazy teenagers," muttered Sylvie.
"So, you're an artist?" asked Ally.
Ben grinned. "Yeah. I've always been an artist. Ever since I was born. You know, when I was two, I finger-painted my mom's favorite white cashmere scarf. Boy, she was mad," he chuckled.
Ally giggled. "Wow. You know, when I was two, my dad bought me a toy piano. The batteries went out because I wouldn't stop playing."
"So you're a musician?" he asked, intrigued.
Ally shrugged. "Songwriter/musician. Have you heard of Austin Moon?"
"Yeah, he was on South Beach Sound. Oh, wait a second. No way. You're his songwriter! Man, I remember you from the Helen Show!"
Ally groaned. "You watched that?" (3)
Ben grinned. "Yup. Hey, don't worry, I thought it was kinda cute how you got so nervous."
Ally smiled sheepishly. "You're the first person to say that about me."
Ben smirked. "Guess I'm just special."
Ally shoved him playfully. "You're so full of it. Oh, wait! Oh, no! We passed the art supply store five minutes ago!"
"S'okay. It closes at five, and right now it's only... crap, it's 4:55! Let's go!" He grabbed her hand and they sprinted to the art supply store.
"YES! We made it!" Ally hugged Ben, then seemed to realize what she was doing and pulled away awkwardly.
He laughed, pulling her back into his arms. "Hey, we got here in one minute. I think that's a good cause for celebration. But, the manager's staring us down, so let's hurry and get my supplies so we can go!"
"Oh! Oh, yeah. Go!" Ally shoved him off into one aisle. "I'll wait in line!"
"Okay!"
Four minutes later, the store was being locked up for the night, and Ally and Ben had bought the needed supplies.
"So, with all that we've been through to get your art supplies, shouldn't I see some artwork of yours? To see if this was all worth it?" Ally nudged him playfully.
He laughed, taking her hand. "You bet. C'mon, I'll take you to my apartment. Then we'll see how worth it it was."
"Don't be so sure, artist!"
"Let's go, musician!"
Breathless and laughing, Ben and Ally made it to his apartment in ten minutes.
"Alright, my studio's upstairs. You want anything to drink?" offered Ben.
"I'm good. Let's go see this mysterious art studio of yours." Ally waggled her eyebrows jokingly.
Ben laughed, reaching out with one hand. "Let's go, oh great eyebrow-waggler!" (4)
"Wow," Ally breathed out, fingertips skimming the burnished gold frames of oil paintings. "You did this?" She was in awe of the many landscapes Ben had painted, along with the abstract collaging that was strewn all across the corkboard walls, tacked on by paint-splattered thumbtacks.
Ben sat, sketching something on a pad of paper. "Yeah. What do you think?"
"I think it's amazing," replied Ally truthfully. "I don't know what to say!"
"Speechless," said Ben suddenly.
"What?" Ally turned to him, curious.
Ben held up his sketch of Ally in the studio. In the sketch, Ally's back was facing the viewer, her legs crossed in standing position, fingertips skimming lightly over his artwork. "Speechless," he repeated. "That's what I'm going to call it."
"Oh," Ally breathed out, her tone that of a child recieving an incredibly delicate object. She took the painting carefully from his hands, staring at it. "Wow."
"You can keep it," decided Ben.
"Oh, wow..." Ally hesitated. "Are you sure?"
Ben nodded. "Definitely. And if you want, we can hang out more. That sketch of you hopefully won't be the last I make." He winked, and Ally realized that he wanted to be friends.
"Come by the music store tomorrow. Since you've shown me your artwork, I think it's only fair for me to show you some of my music," decided Ally.
Ben grinned. "Great! Here, I'll walk you home."
"Thanks." Ally smiled up at him (damn her being so short) and took his proffered hand.
This would be the start of a beautiful friendship. More or less.
The next morning, Austin burst into the practice room at Sonic Boom, a giant grin on his face, a small bag in one hand, and a small box in the other. "Ally, I got you something- oh." He stopped short. "Ally?" The brunette was in the middle of a song, and a guy Austin didn't know was sitting right next to her on the piano bench. Briefly, he felt uncomfortable. That spot next to her on the piano bench? Yeah, that was his spot, not a spot that some random guy could just take and holy shit why was she sharing her music— her music that she rarely shared with anyone except for him (and, occasionally, Trish or Dez)— with that guy?
"Oh, hey, Austin!" Ally stopped in the middle of a song to greet Austin.
"Hi, Ally. You'll never guess what I brought!"
"Uh... corndogs?"
"Nope! Ta-da!" Austin whipped out a box from the bag and handed it to Ally.
"What is this?" Ally asked curiously.
"Open it," Austin urged her, bouncing slightly on the tip of his toes in excitement.
Ally did as she was told and gasped. Inside the box was a glittery, baby-pink guitar pick emblazoned with an "A" in white flowy handwriting that looked exactly like Ally's. The pick was hanging on a bracelet chain threaded through a small hole at the top. "Austin, this is... amazing! Is this why you wanted that discount on the pick?"
Austin nodded. "Yup. Here, I told you I'd get you something from the money I got from the discount." He handed her a cupcake.
"Cupcake! But look at this guitar pick!" Ally was flustered to the point of babbling.
Austin laughed, pulling Ally in close for a hug. Briefly, he wondered what kind of shampoo she used. Whatever it was, it smelled really good— like strawberries, and something unidentifiable, but so undeniably Ally that it made his head spin. "I picked the pick up last night while you were gone, and I was working on it for a while. You know, I actually imprinted one of your capital "A"'s onto the pick so it would look like your handwriting. I used one of the notes you wrote to me," he explained. (5)
Ally untangled herself from his arms, taking the bracelet out of the box gently. Carefully, she put it on. "Wow, Austin, that was really nice of you! Well, did you at least get Trish and Dez something?"
Austin nodded smugly. "I got Trish a job at the post office, and I got Dez a gift card to Subway. Sandwiches are his thing."
"Oooh, good gift choice." Ally nodded approvingly.
"So, who's this?" Austin motioned to Ben, unconsiously pulling Ally to his side.
"Oh! Ben, Austin. Austin, Ben."
Ben grinned amiably, sticking out a hand to greet Austin, who shook it enthusiastically. "Hey, man, nice to meet you." Ben nodded.
"So!" Ally broke the silence. "You boys up for some baking?"
Two groans came from the males in the room, who were currently rolling their eyes at each other.
Ally grinned. "Snickerdoodles it is, then! Trish is gonna need them for when she gets fired, which should happen sometime in the next... forty-five minutes, so let's start baking!"
"And I just don't get it! The stamps were ugly, so what did the post office expect me to do, not draw on them to make them prettier? It's still not a good reason to fire me! Oooh, these are really good snickerdoodles. You boys made these?" Trish gestured at Ben and Austin, her expression one that of disbelief.
"Well, technically Ally made them," started Austin.
"We were just there for moral support," finished Ben.
Trish snorted. "Knew it. You boys couldn't make anything close to this delicious."
Ally smiled good-naturedly. "Thanks, Trish."
"Hey, Ally? Can I talk to you for a second?" Trish glanced pointedly at Austin and Ben, who pretended that they weren't listening on the conversation.
"Oh, sure," agreed Ally. She was dragged out the door by a determined Trish the following second.
"So who's that other guy?" asked Trish. She had never been one for beating around the bush.
"Ben," said Ally simply, then smiled. "He came into Sonic Boom thinking it was the art supply store. And I showed him to the actual store, which we almost didn't make it to in time. It's a long story, but it ends with us being friends."
Trish rolled her eyes. "Why does everyone come into Sonic Boom thinking that it's some other store?"
Ally shrugged. "Hey, weren't you supposed to be working at Sylvie's Sunglasses?"
Trish nodded. "Sylvie's such a kind old lady. I kinda tricked her into giving me two-hour long breaks, so I took on the post office job."
Ally just smiled good-naturedly. "You're gonna have to work hard to win this bet, you know."
"Oh, I know. Next up is a contest between Dez and I to see how many customers we can attract. Sylvie will be so happy." Trish sighed happily, already imagining the cash bonus she would get.
"ALLY!" Dez ran up to them. "I think Ben tried to bake something, because the oven is making strange sounds. There's smoke coming out of it. That's bad, right?"
Ally gave him an incredulous look, then started sprinting to the kitchen. "Of course it's bad!" she cried over her shoulder.
"Stupid," said Trish pointedly.
"Oh, yeah? Let's see how many more customers I can bring in than you!" challenged Dez.
"You asked for it, Freckles."
Half an hour later, Trish dragged her feet to Sonic Boom.
"We both got fired," was all she said. Upon seeing Ally's look that said, yeah, and...? she elaborated. "I started singing to try and bring more customers in, but then Dez saw me and decided to start dancing to bring more customers in. In the end, nobody liked our performance— we almost got arrested by a mall cop, and Sylvie fired us."
"Oh. Sounded like an interesting way to spend the day," commented Ally, trying to conceal her giggles. Trish caught on quickly, though, and soon enough, they were both in hysterics.
A curious Austin walking by could only shake his head and mutter something that sounded suspiciously like "Girls are crazy."
A few weeks later, Austin found himself moping around Sonic Boom, looking at the empty space beside him on the piano bench forlornly. Ever since Ally had met Ben, they had been spending more and more time together, leaving Austin to himself for sometimes days at a time. To be honest, Austin missed Ally. It was like missing a piece of yourself— a piece that could be annoying sometimes, but was essential to your survival. Of course, he only felt this way because he and Ally were best friends, and partners. Right? Right. Um... Austin wracked his brain for something to do. I could go xylo-grill, he thought. But Dez isn't here. I could watch a horror movie. But there's no one to watch it with me... unless I'm on a date! Finally, he thought of it. I'm gonna go ask a girl out!
But then Ally's face showed up in his head, and he couldn't get it out of his head. Sighing, he slid his phone out of his pocket and did the inevitable.
"Hello?" Ally's voice came through the phone.
Austin breathed out a sigh of relief. He had thought she wouldn't pick up. "Hey, Ally, it's me," he said.
"Oh, hey, Austin. " Ally's voice sounded preoccupied.
"So I was thinking, we haven't seen each other for a while. Wanna hang out?" asked Austin.
Ally's voice was apologetic as she replied, "Any other week, Austin, and I would've said yes. But I'm devoting this week to Ben. I'm so sorry."
Like you've been devoting every week to Ben? Austin wanted to ask, but restrained himself. "Oh, that's okay," he managed to say. "Maybe some other time. Bye."
"Bye."
After she hung up, Austin felt the wave of abandonment crash onto him. Stupid Ben, he thought. Ally, why'd you have to meet him?
"Hey, man." Dez entered the store, flopping down on a couch. "Whew, working is hard!"
"Ally's spending too much time with Ben," said Austin forlornly.
"And Trish is definitely a hard competitor!"
"So is Ben. He's all artistic and stuff. Do girls like that in a guy, or something?"
"Did I tell you about the time when Trish and I almost got arrested by a mall cop for singing and dancing?"
"I'm artistic, too! I sing and dance! Oh wait, that's it! I'll draw Ally an amazing picture! She'll never be able to ignore me after that!" Austin leaped to his feat, racing up the stairs to the practice room. "Thanks for the advice, Dez!" he called over his shoulder.
Down in the store, Dez shook his head, confused. "Advice? I thought we were just complaining to each other."
Somehow, even though Dez and Austin had held completely different conversations with each other (when the other wasn't even listening), they had managed to solve their own problems.
Straaaaange people, that's what they were.
The next morning, Austin burst into the practice room to find Ally, for once, all by herself.
"Ally!" he cried. "I drew you a picture of a fish!" He held up his sheet of paper proudly.
Ally appraised it for a moment, then said, "Oh, that's a lovely— sorry, what is it, again?"
"It's a fish," he replied in a duh tone of voice, handing it to her. "Anyway, you wanna hang out?"
"Can't." Ally's apologetic face was up again. "I've gotta go meet Ben at the airport."
Austin groaned. She was going to spend more time with Ben? He almost didn't catch her last words, but when his brain registered them, his head snapped up. "Wait, the airport?"
She nodded. "Yeah, you didn't know? Ben got accepted into that really famous art school; Rhode Island School of Design."
Austin's jaw hung open. "Seriously?"
Ally mistaked his words as disbelief that Ben could make it into the Rhode Island School of Design. "Yeah, he's really good!"
"No, that's not what I mean! I thought he was a sophomore, like us!"
Ally rolled her eyes. "Ben is 19 already. He took a year off between high school and college. He just looks young for his age."
"So you're not in love with him?"
Ally looked taken aback. "In love with him? Ew, that's gross! He's, like, 3 years older than me! He's like my older brother or something, definitely not my love."
Austin couldn't believe his ears. "Are you serious?"
Ally nodded, then reached up to push Austin's jaw closed. "Your mouth is hanging wide open," she informed him. "I just shut it for you. You're welcome."
"Hey, can I come with you to the airport and see Ben off?" asked Austin. Somehow, after realizing that Ally was not in love with him, the guy didn't seem so bad. Of course, he was only watching out for Ally. She shouldn't be dating older guys— or any guys at all, really. Ally needed someone special. Someone who could sing, had blonde hair and brown eyes, and the same first name initial. Whoa. Austin shook his head, clearing it.
"Well, of course! The more the merrier," declared Ally. "C'mon! Trish and Dez are waiting."
"Hey, man." Austin greeted Ben amiably, shaking hands with him. "Congrats on making it into the Rhode Island School of Design!" They were standing in front of Starbucks, at the airport. Trish, Dez, and Ally were buying coffee, leaving Austin and Ben alone.
"Thanks," Ben returned just as amiably. His eyes flickered to something over Austin's shoulder.
Austin glanced back and saw Ally. He waved at her and grinned, watching her wave back and smile.
"Hey, Austin?" Ben's face turned serious. "Ally's like my little sister, so if you hurt her, you'll have to go through me."
Austin looked confused. "I would never do anything to hurt Ally," he vowed.
Ben smiled, satisfied. "Good. And, Austin?"
"Yeah?"
"Please, I'm begging you, get the girl before it's too late." And with those parting words, Ben left to exchange hugs and handshakes with the rest of their group.
Get the girl before it's too late(6). The words echoed in Austin's head long after Ben had boarded the plane. Torrey's boyfriend had told him the same exact thing. What did they all mean?
"Hey, Austin?" Ally's voice interrupted his thoughts.
"Yeah?"
"Why would you think that I was in love with Ben?"
"Because girls like older guys, right?"
"Where did you get the idea? Not all girls like older guys, you know."
"Uh..." Austin stalled as he remembered the time he spent looking up the question, "Do girls like older guys?" on the Internet. "Dez told me so," he fibbed.
Ally raised her eyebrows. "So now you're listening to Dez?"
Austin shrugged. It was a questionable practice, sure, but he was just glad he had Ally back. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders casually as they walked back to the parking lot, talking along the way. Yeah, he thought, he really was just glad he had Ally back.
A/N: Not the best ending, but oh, well. By the way, I wrote this all on the plane flight to Miami. I went on a cruise last week (Miami was the place the cruise left from), so I had no Internet connection, but while I had my iPod with me, I could still type stuff and email it to myself to upload. Anyways, I fucking LOVE you guys! I came home from school one day (and this was the day after I posted the first chapter of This One's For Keeps), and do you know what I found? FORTY-SEVEN emails from my email account that I use only for FanFiction! Most of it was subscribes and alerts, one or two were questions, and some were reviews. I'd just like to put it out there: I'm a total review-whore. Reviews make me happy and motivate like nothing else. Please, if you have enough time to put me on your alerts and subscribe; drop a review. Please. It's the only way I can know how to and whether or not to improve my writing. Thanks to all that did; kisses! Anyways, if you want updates on the progress of This One's For Keeps or any of my other stories, please visit my WordPress— the link is on my profile. I normally give updates on the progress of my stories on there much faster than on my profile. Previous readers and supporters, you know I have the bad habit of going AWOL for periods of time without giving any warning. BUT if you check my WordPress, it'll tell you what's going on with my stories. ALSO, I have decided the change the status of this story— it will no longer contain one-shots and long-story arcs, but rather one-shots that are all on the same storyline, with the occasional long-story arc thrown in here and there. Annotations! (1) So, this is kind of like when Torrey first met Austin; it's also a reference to episode 2 of Austin & Ally: Kangaroos and Chaos. (2) Hey, let's pretend Dallas moved away, m'kay? (3) A reference to 1. Torrey of This One's For Keeps! (4) That's just some childish humor for you guys. (5) Reference to 3. Sticky Notes of Out Of the Ordinary. (6) Reference to 1. Torrey of This One's For Keeps!
~Sabrina
