Ally is so concerned about getting to the gig on time that she ends up at the venue two hours early. Not wanting to look like an over eager groupie, she hides out at a diner across the road, scrounging together enough loose change to purchase a coffee which she nurses for at least forty-five minutes.
She tried to convince Trish to come with her, but Trish apparently has better things to do than chaperone her socially awkward friend on her not-date with the hot record store guy. Dallas just sniffed at her and to be honest Ally was a bit relieved he didn't want to come because no matter how passable Trish thinks Dallas might be, Ally doesn't really want to see her brother in a dress.
She glances across the street to the venue, and the doors aren't even open yet. How did she manage to get here so early? Luckily she brought her song book with her. She digs it out and opens it, doodling across the page whatever shapes her hand feels like forming. She does not sketch Austin's face, or his hands, or any part of him really, because that would be creepy.
She glances up from her smiley faces and music notes from time to time to check on the venue. Eventually the doors open, but Ally doesn't even consider getting up to leave until she sees a steady flow of people crossing the threshold.
When she does get inside the venue, it's dark and loud and stinks of stale beer. She hands over her last ten dollars in exchange for a stamp on her wrist. She's flat broke now, not even enough money for a soft drink, so she finds a dark corner to loiter in and waits for the gig to start.
Tonight Alive are up first, playing support, so they barely get a lukewarm reaction when they take the stage. It doesn't seem to phase the band, though, and they deliver an enthusiastic, if slightly loose set. The best part is that Ally can stare at Austin all she likes and not have to worry about looking weird. Austin looks damn hot on stage too, belting out lyrics into the mic and handling his guitar with a slightly pinched look of concentration.
Ally claps and even hollers a bit when they wind up their set. Hot guy or no hot guy, they were actually pretty good. The venue packed out a little fatter as they were playing so the response is warmer now and Austin's smiling down at the crowd as he thanks them. He's shiny with sweat and flushed from standing under the hot lights and Ally is a little bit in love.
When Austin leaves the stage, carrying his own gear, Ally's private peep-fest is over and her throat's feeling scratchy from all the yelling, so she heads for the bar. The bartender openly glares when she asks for a glass of water, but what does Ally care? It's not like she's a regular who needs to make friends with the bar staff.
She's wondering if maybe it's time for her to slip away, since there won't be anymore Austin action on stage, when she feels a tap on her shoulder. She turns, wondering if maybe she's being asked to leave since she has no intention of spending any money over the bar. It's not a bouncer, it's Austin, and he's smiling that heart-stopping smile at Ally. Words are out of reach at this point.
"So you made it?" Austin is asking.
"Ah... yeah. Well. Yeah." Ally tries to smile but it feels more like a baring of teeth. She feels warm, flushed and a bit jittery. "Good, um... performance up there."
"Thanks." Austin smiles again and signals the bartender with a wave of his hand, asking for a beer. The bartender hands one to Austin and then recommences glaring at Ally.
"Another water?" He scowls. Ally just smiles meekly and waves her hand over her empty glass.
"No thanks, I'm good."
"You're drinking water?" Austin makes it sound like an abomination of the highest degree. Ally winces internally but fights out an answer.
"I uh... forgot my money. Starving student, you know?" Somehow she winds up doing jazz hands as she says this. It's certainly not intentional.
Austin chuckles and rolls his eyes. He then calls the bartender (who's turned the scowl level up to eleven by this point) back over, and orders another beer which he hands to Ally.
"Thanks." Ally takes the beer reverently, knowing she's grinning too hard. She reminds herself it's an alcoholic beverage not a bouquet of flowers, but she's pretty pleased just the same.
Austin chinks his bottle to Ally's and takes a swig. Ally follows suit, taking a long swallow as she rapidly chases thoughts around her head trying to think of something to say to Austin. She needs to keep some conversation going because she's not ready to lose Austin's presence just yet.
Her half-baked conversation topics turn out to be entirely unnecessary. Before she has a chance to get a word out, two heavily pierced and tattooed guys appear out of the darkness and start talking at Austin. Ally appears to be invisible to them, possibly due to her lack of needle-induced body art. She hovers nearby for a little while, but when it becomes obvious they're not leaving anytime soon she drifts further down the bar and away from their cosy little group.
Ally slumps back against the bar and sighs, taking another swallow of her beer. Well, it was fun while it lasted. She'll finish her drink and call Dallas to come and get her. It was pretty naive of her to expect much more than a quick "thanks for coming" conversation from Austin anyway. He really is out of Ally's league.
She's swirling the last of her beer in the bottle, watching the bubbles rise when she feels someone slide in beside her, leaning against the bar.
"Sorry dude, rabid fans, you know?" Ally looks up at Austin and very nearly spits her beer. She forces herself to swallow what's left in her mouth and coughs a little before saying,
"No, that's fine. Bet that happens all the time, yeah?" Ally is very proud of herself for getting the words out without dying. Internally she's got a pretty intense mix of excitement/panic going on because holy shit, Austin came back. Austin is still talking to her. She's not quite sure how to handle this yet.
Austin's smothering a chuckle into his shirtsleeve. "Oh yeah, I'm such a rockstar. I can barely sleep for the screaming. We must have oh... seven fans now?" He glances up at Ally with a quirked eyebrow and it's the first time Ally notices he's not all confidence. His mouth is twisted at the side in a self deprecating smirk and his eyes are unsure.
"Well make it eight now." Ally smiles shyly. "You guys were pretty good."
"Thanks." The thousand-watt smile Ally gets from Austin is so worth it.
Austin still doesn't leave. This is simply amazing to Ally. She keeps waiting for it to happen, steeling herself for it, but it doesn't. They talk about music and Austin buys another round but most importantly he doesn't politely end the conversation and walk off.
When R5 takes the stage Austin wraps his fingers around Ally's wrist and drags her into the mosh pit and even though every part of Ally's brain is screaming get out, she doesn't even panic. Austin doesn't stop until they're right down in front and Ally is smushed up against Austin's back, and somehow this is okay. Ally can handle being packed in with the strange bodies, because she's pushed up against Austin, with Austin's belt-studs pressing into her hips and her nose full of Austin's hair that smells like a fresh summer breeze and sweat.
It's even better than okay. Especially the times when Austin turns around and grabs Ally's head to yell something into her ear over the gig roar. Most of the time Ally can't even understand what he's saying, but it doesn't matter. Austin's head is so close it's brushing her and the feel of Austin's fingers pressing into Ally's skin is sending heat zings down her back and it's all good. It's all so freaking good.
As far as Ally is concerned, the gig could go on for hours, days.
Sadly it has to finish sometime, so after screaming for an encore and getting two more songs, the lights go up and Ally has to peel her body from Austin's and try to be at peace with the knowledge that this is going to end now. Austin's going to say goodnight or "see you around" and then Ally will have to find some more CD's to buy if she wants to see him again. Maybe she could sell some of her own and then replace them with new copies.
Except Austin's not saying goodnight, he's handing her another beer and introducing her to a couple of the guys from R5. They all chat for a while and Ally even manages to make a few contributions to the conversation and it's strangely not weird that Ally is there, with these band guys. Ally, the strange music student who's not good with people is actually drinking and talking and laughing with these guys and holy shit she seems to even be enjoying herself. It has to be Austin, she figures. Something about Austin is making this work, though she's not sure what and she's not sure if she wants to think about it too much because it just makes her want Austin around on a permanent basis and that's entirely out of the question.
When the R5 guys need to make tracks, Austin and Ally help them lug their gear out. Then it's just the two of them again and Ally is amazed that they haven't run out of things to talk about yet. When Austin orders another round and the bartender openly glares at them, Ally glances around, finally noticing the venue is nearly empty. It must be late. She glances at her watch.
"Jesus, it's 2am!"
"You gotta be somewhere?" Austin's asking as he hands Ally a final beer. That unsure look is back, crinkling Austin's brow as he chews his lip.
"No, no." Ally's words come out in a rush. "It's just... late, you know?" Then Ally remembers, muttering under her breath. "Fuck, Dallas's going to kill me."
"Dallas?" Austin's asking, brow now double creased and he actually looks concerned.
"My brother." The words are out before Ally has a chance to think of the consequences. She winces internally and hopes like hell that Austin doesn't notice and think it's weird that she supposedly has a brother named Dallas and a sister named Darcy. It doesn't seem to click immediately though, Austin's only response is a visible loosening of his limbs, and his brow unfurrows.
"I hope he's still up, he's my ride home." Ally starts scrabbling in her various pockets and bag for her phone. "It's weird he hasn't called..." Finally she finds it, pulling it out to see the screen displaying three missed calls. "Oh. He did." There are also two text messages, the second one stating categorically and with the use of several colorful words that Ally can find her own way home tonight, thank you very much, and something about the importance of sleep.
Ally starts running through her options, since she is now broke and stranded. Calling Trish is top of the list and hitchhiking is also a possibility, but before she gets to option three Austin cuts in.
"Do you need a ride home?"
Ally snaps out of her internal debate and looks at Austin. Gorgeous, hot, plays-in-a-band, works-in-a-record-store Austin, who is offering Ally a ride home. Maybe it's the beer but it feels like the world just slowed down a little and somehow in the last three seconds Ally wound up in the wrong life. Somehow she ended up with the life where a hot guy is offering her a lift home and that is so incredibly far from her personal normal she can barely comprehend it.
"Um. Yeah?" She's so unsure her answer comes out as a question.
"Come on then."
Then she's trailing Austin backstage, Austin's throwing cables around his neck and handing her a guitar to carry while he lugs an amp out to the parking lot. They load up Austin's ancient silver-black station wagon with gear before climbing in themselves, then they're on the road and Ally is directing Austin to her place.
The street is quiet and deserted when they pull up outside the Dawson household. The windows are all dim. Ally looks back from the house to Austin in the driver's seat.
"Thanks for the ride." For some reason being in the close proximity of the car with Austin has brought all of Ally's nerves rushing back.
"No problem. Thanks for coming out." Austin got his killer smile on and Ally's heart is racing. She's far from drunk but the alcohol in her bloodstream is making her brain click over with thoughts of things she'd like to say.
She struggles with the door release but it wont budge.
"Sorry, you're trapped. The catch is broken." Austin's giving her a sly smile. Ally's thinking maybe being trapped in a car with Austin isn't such a bad thing if he's going to keep looking at her like that, when Austin reaches for his own door handle saying, "I'll let you out."
Ally holds very still and watches Austin open the driver door and get out. He rounds the front of the car to stand outside Ally's door and gives it a solid thump with his hip before reaching for the handle and cracking the door open. It gives with a groan and Ally starts to get out but is caught tight across her chest with the seatbelt she's still wearing. Damn it. Hoping Austin didn't notice, she quickly releases the catch, disentangles herself and climbs out.
Austin's holding the car door open like some kind of valet, the streetlight painting a halo around his head. Ally's breath catches a little because he looks so damned good. She's not sure what to say but she feels like she should say something so she tries,
"Thanks for letting me know about the gig. I had a good night." She's having trouble meeting Austin's eyes and the whole thing is feeling a little bit like a date all of a sudden and Ally reminds herself very solidly that it is not. She's lucky Austin took pity on her and gave her a ride and she really needs to stop behaving like a teenager. This is most certainly not a date.
"And thanks for the ride." she adds, peering out from behind her hair at Austin and maybe she's imagining it but Austin is looking almost as nervous as she is which makes no sense at all to Ally, because what does Austin have to be nervous about?
Except Austin is looking nervous, and he's sidling closer to Ally and Ally is barely able to breathe because Austin's not stopping when he hits Ally's personal space. He's leaning in closer, until Ally can feel his body heat and see every detail of his eyelashes which are falling closed as he tilts his head down and presses his lips to Ally's.
A/N: Cliffhanger! Woo! Please review :D
