It took Ally an hour before she deemed it safe to come out of the safety of her bedroom. Of course, Austin was there waiting for her but Ally refused to meet him in the eye. "Ally?" was the confused call as she walked past him without a second glance.

Don't blush. Don't blush. Don't blush. Ally had spent the precious hour in her bedroom desperately trying to control the redness of her face after the incident happened. She was not going to blush.

Austin tagged behind her as she made her way into the kitchen. "Ally?" the bastard attempted once again. She opened the refrigerator. "Hey! Hey, Ally!"

Ally pulled out a jar of pickles before slamming the fridge door closed.

Austin might not be the next junior Einstein, but he could tell when he was clearly being ignored. "Okay," he reasoned as Ally angrily sat down at the kitchen table. "I understand that you're angry but c'mon, loosen up."

With his point made, he nudged her and her stiff composition so hard that Ally nearly dropped her jar of pickles. She just about opened her mouth to scream at him until she remembered. She wasn't supposed to be talking to him.

Austin's smile melted off his face.

For a moment it was just the three of them: Ally with her pickles, Austin towering over her like a clumsy giant, and Owen who was happily chirping in the background.

"You can't really blame me for walking in on you," Austin finally broke the silence, not realizing how his words were only worsening the situation. "How was I supposed to know that you were- agh! How could you eat that stuff?"

Ally's glare diminished slightly as she stopped, mid-chew of one of her pickles. In her surprise, she forgot that she was giving him the silent treatment. "Excuse me?" she blinked, her mouth still full. It was soon followed by a, "Stop it!" as Austin continued to twist his mouth in his many interpretations of disgust.

"The pickles," he clarified once he was done with his over exaggerated- and almost comical- reaction, "The cucumbers' ugly step sister."

"Hey!" Ally shielded her jar of pickles away from him. "They're delicious."

Austin made another gag before dodging one of Ally's precious snacks.

For a moment, they were both silent as the pickle crashed against the tiled floors. "You're cleaning that up," Ally glared at Austin, who actually- finally- dared to glare right back.

"You're the one who threw it," was the smug response, and Ally glowered.

A pregnant pause. And Ally was beginning to learn to cherish these rare moments of silence before Austin, who could never keep his mouth shut no matter what the circumstances, ruined it. As if to prove her point, his voice rang out once again, "You know, I was thinking-"

"That's never a good thing," Ally cut in before she could stop herself.

Maybe Austin should have been offended, but his ego the size of Russia was enough to keep the grin on his face. "Since we are going to be living with each other for a few years," Austin continued without a second thought. "I figured that we should get to know each other. As roommates."

Ally blinked.

"I can go first if you want since I had a longer chance to think about my list," Austin offered, hardly giving Ally a chance to consider his words before continuing on, "I like pancakes which, unlike your processed pickles, taste like actual food."

Ally scoffed.

"I hate birds too, by the way. Sorry Owen."

"Austin Moon, I swear-"

"Austin Monica Moon," he corrected, almost proudly as he showed no signs of being embarrassed by his feminine middle name. "Don't be mean, Ally. I learned to stop being ashamed of my middle name. So stop laughing."

"Monica?" Ally burst out into a massive fit of giggles.

"Monica's a great name," Austin said defensively.

"For a girl," Ally reminded him before going into another round of laughter.

Austin pouted. "At least the name has a cool meaning," he said as if that would change everything, and Ally had to give him credit for trying. "Advisor."

"Okay," Ally said, more to calm herself down from her laughing fit. "And oh Great Advisor, why are you telling me all this?"

Austin raised a brow before repeating, "I already told you. We should, or more like you should, stop glaring-" this statement, of course, only made Ally's killer glare return "-and actually try being friends with some small benefits-"

"Excuse me?"

"Friends with benefits. Of course, that's only the first stage but-."

"Friends with-" Ally cut herself off in disbelief.

Austin had the actual guts to wink.

If anything, the brunette's scowl deepened. Whatever trace of bonding that happened during their discussion of Austin's middle name disappeared. "My god, Austin," she snapped in annoyance before getting to her feet. "If it wasn't for the damn rent that needs to be paid, I would have kicked you out hours ago."

"Wha- where are you going?"

"Out," was the terse response.

Austin sat there, dumbfounded as he heard the front door slam shut. "How do you live with her?" he asked Owen, who was peering at him with his black pin eyes. Austin stared right back at the bird, waiting patiently for a response.

When Owen failed to do so, Austin grinned before getting up from his seat, grabbing two jackets from the coat rack before slipping outside. And like the good roommate he was, he remembered to lock the door behind him.

"Hey, Ally! Wait up!"

"Go away."

Ally huffed as she sped up her pace, her arms wrapped stubbornly across her chest in a pathetic attempt to warm herself up. She forgot how cold it was starting to get.

"Okay," Austin said, already catching up to her. "I'm sorry."

How many times had he apologized since he moved in? Too many to count.

"Are you really?" Ally spat out. "Are you really sorry?"

"Yes," Austin's voice drifted away as a taxi flashed past them. Thinking Ally didn't hear his response, he repeated, "Yes. I really am sorry about it. I was kidding, you know."

Ally doubted he was actually joking around, but she didn't say so otherwise.

"But I really was serious about getting to know each other," Austin said. "We are going to be living together for a long time."

Ally shivered at the thought. Austin, of course, mistook her chills as a result from the cold weather. He perked up, as if just remembering, and waved a jacket around in the air. "For you, ma'am," he said mockingly.

When Ally hesitated for a moment, Austin rolled his eyes. "Can you momentarily put away your immediate hate for me and just accept the jacket? I'm trying to be a gentleman."

Ally gave him a sideways glance before allowing him to tentatively slip it over her shoulders. "Thank you," she said grudgingly.

Austin's face immediately brightened and Ally softened. Just a little bit.

"So," Austin prompted, proud that he was able to slightly loosen the tension. "It's your turn."

"What?"

Austin had to laugh at Ally's confusion. "Tell me about yourself. All I know about you so far is that you like pickles and ugly birds," he said.

Ally punched him in the arm. Hard.

"Ow!"

"Stop making fun of Owen," she said.

"He's hideous."

"He's beautiful," Ally corrected as Austin tenderly observed the bruise that was beginning to grow on his arm. "And he's old so don't make his last years miserable for him."

Austin cracked a smile.

There was a momentary silence as they crossed the streets, waving a thanks to the driver that stopped for them. "I work part time at a coffee shop," Ally said at last, as if that was the only thing Austin needed to know about her.

"Starbucks?" Austin was the mere replication of a kid on Christmas. He was a coffee drunk. Having a roommate who worked at Starbucks, in his mind, would guarantee a free Frappuccino for every day of the year.

"No," Ally looked offended. "This coffee shop is different from every one of the millions of Starbucks in New York City."

Austin didn't seem impressed but he managed an, "Oh."

Somehow, Ally was pleased with his pathetic response so she continued, "I work there five days a week, right after my classes at MUNY."

"So it's just going to be me and Owen a majority of the time," Austin concluded, surprising himself at how disappointed he sounded.

Ally looked surprised too, but for a different reason. "I thought you would be hanging out with your…" her tongue twisted for the words "…friends."

Austin Moon was popular enough around MUNY for her to know who his friends are. None of them were entirely known for their good reputation.

"They're not drug addicts," Austin said as if he too heard the rumors that were going around about his gang of friends. "Or alcoholics. They're not abusive or violent or- or- where do people even get these ideas from?"

"I don't know," Ally said meekly.

"They're good guys," Austin did a slight double take. Then, "Or at least most of them are."

"Okay," Ally said, just a little too harshly. "I never said they weren't."

Austin ignored her comment. "Anyways, I'm trying to take a break from my MUNY life, thus why I moved in with you."

Ally's curiosity sparked. "A break? Why?"

For the first time since she met him, Austin seemed at a loss for words. "Are you hungry?" he blurted out suddenly.

Ally didn't know whether or not to laugh at his (not so) subtle subject change. But for his sake, she nodded because a) she was hungry and b) Austin didn't seem willing to take 'no' for an answer.

Austin, almost relieved, grabbed her hand and started dragging her back to the way they came. "I'm a great cook," he said, though Ally feared it was mostly his ego talking. "We could go back to your- I mean, our- apartment. I was searching through the fridge- don't yell at me because like I said, it's our fridge now- and I was thinking that we could make-"

"You're rambling," Ally mumbled, struggling to pry her frozen hand away from Austin's warm one as she continued to have herself dragged down the sidewalk. "And we're not cooking. You're going to burn the kitchen down."

"I am not!" was the offended response.

"We're ordering pizza."

"No, we're not."

"Yes we are."

Austin squeezed her hand- which was slowly escaping his- tight, smirking as he felt Ally stiffen. "Ally," he said, forcing his smile off before it was noticed. "I'm going to show you what an amazing cook your new roommate is."

In the end of all of this?

They ordered pizza.

A/N: Whoa you guys are amazing, you know that right? :) thank you all so much for all your reviews/favorites/follows on this story. They literally made my day every time I would get a notification in my email and it just puts a massive smile on my face. I love you guys so so much and I really hope you enjoyed this chapter!

I've seen a few of my FF friends do this so I thought I'll join in.
Question of the Day: if you have to eat one food for the rest of your life, what would it be?
[respond in the comments] :)

I know I should pick something healthy ^^^ but I love ice cream too much to think about health risks xD

xoxo Alexia