"No no no! You're doing it all wrong!"
"What am I-"
"You need to pare the potatoes!"
"I-"
"Not chop them, pare them!"
"WHAT. DOES. PARE. MEAN!?"
"I-er-give me the knife."
Ally clinched her teeth together in frustration. She was already stressed out and Elliot teaching Piper how to cook wasn't helping because from the voices in the kitchen she could tell it both her brother and friend were getting just as frustrated as she was.
It was a good thing that Carrie was with here too to help her catch up on the homework and subjects she had missed. Carrie didn't seem as frustrated as Ally, she just tried to tune them out and continue telling Ally about the math she had missed. But Ally was the kind of person that needed complete silence to focus.
"You wanna go in my room?" she asked.
"Sure."
They picked up their stuff and walked to her room in silence and sat down on the bed. It was already almost 6, and she knew by now she wasn't going to see Austin any time soon so he could explain how he found her. So, she texted him, telling him she couldn't go anywhere today, being so busy catching up with what she missed. Maybe it isn't that important, she thought as she reopened her math book from where they had left off. That doesn't make me any less curious though.
"Are you okay?" asked Carrie, eyes concerned. "You're pulling some weird faces," she joked, not being able to handle the fact of being so serious. It hard sometimes with your best friend.
Ally smiled, despite her churned stomach when she thought of every question that had floated in her mind, making her space out every time and often took a long time for people to snap her out of her trance that she had been in, just in her own thoughts and over thinking.
"I'm fine." She really was fine, but at the same time she wasn't when she thought about these questions that was slowly eating up all of her time, and making her feel the exact opposite of fine. Maybe I should just let them go. But she couldn't do that, not when she felt as if she were on the verge of getting answers. Or maybe I'm not even close at all.
"Well...if you say so, Ally."
Happy her friend didn't question anything, Ally turned the page. She was glad that Carrie never really questioned her when it came to things she was uncertain about, and she was one of the only people that didn't treat her like she was some little girl that fell off her bicycle like Vanessa and Elliot had been treating her; and even some of her friends.
But doubt filled her mind when she saw that Carrie still looked uncertain when she flipped the page of the math book. She knew her friend must've had questions too, but she just was too scared to say them.
It was about 6:30 when dinner was done, and the whole time Piper was smiling, proud of herself. Before Elliot could even take a bite, she was already staring at him as if she wanted his approval. When he took a bite into his potatoes, she asked, "What do you think? Are they good? Did I pare them well? Did I-"
"Excited much?" murmured Carrie, who looked close to laughing.
Ally laughed herself, looking up from her food that she was picking at.
Elliot didn't say anything as he chewed and swallowed, but Ally saw that he had that look in his eye that wasn't lust, like the way he looked at other girls. It wasn't amused, it was more affectionate. He then nodded, telling her that she did well making the potatoes.
"Yay!" She did a dance in her seat.
Ally had never seen someone get so excited over potatoes. Her antics made everyone laugh, even Elliot, who was looking at her with admiration.
She looked red with embarrassment when they laughed. Slumping down in her seat, she sheepishly said, "I got excited."
"It's fine," Elliot assured. "It's adorable." This made her go even more red.
"Well, er, you're adorable too," she said.
"Really?" Elliot stammered, face reddening. "Thanks."
"Why look at you, you've gone all red," Ally mocked him.
"Shut up."
"It's still cute," Vanessa piped in in a teasing voice.
Elliot didn't respond; he appeared now not to be enjoying his food so he took his plate and rinsed it. While he was gone, the girls immediately started talking.
"Dude, he totally likes you!" Vanessa said excitedly, tapping Piper's shoulder.
"Yeah, he's got that look in his eyes," Ally agreed, unsure if her friend would get it and it was probably only something Vanessa would understand because they talked about it. She never told them about Elliot's look of lust he'd give a girl that he never gave to Piper, which Ally found extremely important and fascinating. It was different for Elliot.
Ally realized Carrie was being quiet, not seeming to enjoy her food either.
"I don't know guys," Piper said nervously. "It'd be weird, don't you think? Going out with your brother?"
"Nah, it's fine," Ally dismissed. "I think you guys would be perfect. And he's a really good guy." She remembered that her and Elliot still had that deal that they'd help each other out with their relationships. She hadn't really done anything to help, really, but neither had he. Ally hadn't needed any help with Austin anymore. Now it was time for her to do her part, maybe with the help of Vanessa, who seemed open to matchmaking even though she knew nothing about her and Elliot's deal about being each other's wingmans.
"Now all he has to do is make a move," Vanessa added.
"Or...vice versa," Ally smirked. "You can-" she broke the rest of her sentence when Elliot came back to the table. "Can you take my plate, please?" she asked, trying to buy some time.
Elliot groaned over dramatically. "Fine. What about you Vaness? Are you done?"
"Er...yeah," she said, handing him her plate, but when he took it Vanessa wanted it back. But she knew her sister was trying to get Elliot to leave so they could talk more and Ally could tell Piper her plan of how to asked Elliot out.
"What about you two?" he asked Piper and Carrie.
"Yeah, I'm done," Carrie said quietly asked and handed the plate to him without looking up.
"Me too," Piper said, handing him the plate, but her hand slipped and it almost fell. Elliot took action immediately and caught the plate. "Good save, heh," she laughed nervously.
Elliot smiled and nodded, going back into the kitchen.
Piper looked back at Ally and Vanessa, who were smiling widely. "What?" she asked more harsh than meant to.
"That's cute," Ally gushed, knowing why the plate was dropped. "You felt your fingers rub against yours and you felt sparks, didn't you?" she asked excitedly.
Vanessa furrowed her eyebrows, giving Ally a what the heck goes on in your head? look and turned back to Piper. "Don't listen to her, she's out of her mind."
"Hey!" Ally said, somewhat offended.
"No," Piper argued, shaking her head. "S-She actually got it, spot on."
"Ha! Told ya!" Ally punched her sister's arm, pleased with herself that she finally knew what someone was thinking. I ought to be a mind reader, she thought. Okay, maybe not.
Clearing her throat, Ally grew serious. "So, as I was saying, sometimes boys don't always make the first move. In that case, you need to used some of your charm-"
Piper snorted a laugh, interrupting her plan. "Me? Charm? Have you meet me? I don't think those sentences fit very well together, Ally."
"C'mon," Ally said, trying her best not to be irritable. She hated when people interrupted her when she was trying to say or explain something. "I can help you. So, anyway, tell him to call you sometime and give him your number. You can do that, right?"
"I...I think, piece of cake," Piper said quickly. "What about we go on a double date?" she suggested after thinking over.
"That's not a bad idea," agreed Vanessa. "You and Elliot and Ally and Austin."
Ally wasn't sure how to feel about that. She was planning that if they were to ever go on a date, she'd want to be alone with him. But alarm hit her when she realized Piper wasn't talking about her and Austin at all.
"Actually...I was thinking me and Elliot and you and Gavin," she corrected her.
Vanessa almost choked on her drink. "Oh," she said, seeming to grew extremely uncomfortable. And Ally knew why.
"That's okay," Piper said, seeming to realize how uncomfortable Vanessa had gotten in the mention of a double date with her brother. "If you have a boyfriend-"
"No, I don't have a boyfriend," she said more harsh than meant to, but her voice was quiet. It was even more soft as she added, "Not anymore." Ally saw sadness in her sister's eyes as she slumped down in her seat.
She's thinking about Sean, she thought. She couldn't help but feel bad for Vanessa. Distance was always tough, especially if it meant that you had to be away from someone you love. She has to move on eventually. But it's not always that easy. Gavin was only about a year older than Vanessa, and Ally felt hope that it might work out between them. It'd be strange, though, seeing Vanessa with someone else if the date went smoothly.
"So, what do ya say Vanessa, are you in?" Piper asked.
It seemed to take a few moments for Vanessa to get her thoughts together. She then nodded and smiled.
"Good," Ally spoke up, "now all we have to do is convince the boys."
It didn't take much effort for Piper to ask Elliot out. He was more excited than Ally had seen him in a long time. He even hugged her, repeating and repeating "yes" and he kissed her cheek. Ally noticed Carrie looked...she looked, well, she couldn't quite explain it.
Ally nudged her friend to come outside. Carrie looked hesitant, but finally gave in and they sat down at the backyard.
"Is everything okay?" Ally asked once they were settled. "You got real quiet when we started talking."
Carrie nodded quickly, almost as quickly as her words. "Of course, of course. I-Iā¦" she budded her knees and looked away. "Never mind. You-You wouldn't understand."
"C'mon," Ally put her hand on her shoulder. "What's up? And don't say I won't understand if you won't give me a chance."
Carrie looked back at her and her expression looked close to a laugh. But not quite. "When you guys started talking about Elliot and Piper dating...it brought up things in my head that I hadn't thought about in a long time," she explained.
Ally looked down at the grass. "Oh," she replied softly although she wasn't sure what kind of things were going through her friends head right now when she thought of her sister dating her best friends brother. Needless to say it was a little weird in general, but there was something else- something Ally couldn't identify- that was bothering Carrie when the subject was brought up.
Before Ally could ask anything, Carrie spoke up. "It's not just dating guys, it's all guys that she doesn't trust."
Pursing her lips, Ally desperately tried to understand what she meant by that. "I don't understand," she finally admitted aloud.
Carrie sighed. "I don't expect you to, your d-..." she stopped herself, and restarted her sentence. "Look, Piper's has had her heart broken millions of times. By numerous of people. Men, in particular."
Beginning to understand, she nodded. "And you don't want the same thing to happen if she went out with Elliot," she stated.
"Yeah," Carrie said. "It takes her a long time to warm up to people, especially guys. Hell, it took her over two months to see that Dez was a good guy, and it only took me about a few seconds."
Dez was a sweet guy that wouldn't do anything to hurt anybody.
"And," she continued, "she suggested a double date with Vanessa and Gavin because she knew that if Elliot did or said anything Gavin would be there."
"Listen, I know how it feels to get your heart broken. It's part of life. But if you don't let it go, then you can't move on." Yeah, take your own advice, a voice hissed in her head. "And you don't have to worry about your sister getting her heart broken. Sure, he's a jerk sometimes but he means well, and Elliot would never do anything to hurt her."
"I know. And I'd be a bad sister to stop her from feeling the way she does about Elliot."
"You'd never be a bad sister."
"I feel like I am sometimes. I'm just so focused on keeping everyone happy that sometimes I forget about my happiness. I don't know Ally, I feel like I just love everyone too much that I can't bare to see or even think of them being hurt."
"You can never love too much. You just like keeping everyone happy, and there's nothing wrong with that. But you need to take care of yourself as well. You're just like Vaness. You're too focused on everyone else's problems that people forget that you have them too."
Carrie nodded. "I know. That's what sucks about having a big heart. You just always want to help everyone and do the right thing."
"You can't always do the right thing."
"I know," she sighed, "but I always try."
Honesty I actually like this chapter, even if it doesn't have any Auslly in it but I did like how I make Carrie and Piper protective of each other and I put Elliot and Piper together because there's just something about the both of them that just makes sense to me XD I feel like I annoy you guys with them because I out them together in ALL of my stories but I can't help who I am even if it's a person that obsesses over ships that aren't even real.
Don't judge š
I'm sorry it took so long. I just couldn't think of any ideas. I was going to explain the story of how Austin found Ally but if you wanna know so badly PM me because I'm moving on from that to more important things that come up in the story are my main focus right now and the important thing is that they found her, right?
Right.
Anywho, that was the chapter, sorry for those who are disappointed there was no Auslly.
Please tell me what you think!
Byeeee!
