A/N: So here's the next chapter, takes place around Partners and Parachutes, one year later. I tried to really write from 16-year-old Ally's perspective, with the first kiss and obsessing and over thinking things like all girls do, but it's been awhile, so bear with me.

Disclaimer: I own nothing, not the show, not the book, not the characters, not the songs. This story is loosely based on the novel One Day, by David Nicholls. The title of the story is from David Gray's song, This Year's Love.

Rating: T for the potential for language in future chapters

this year's love

2: what we have is never ending

I think about you, every morning when I open my eyes
I think about you, every evening when I turn out the lights
I think about you, every moment every day of of my life
You're on my mind, all the time, it's true

-I think about you, "Austin Moon"

June 28, 2012

She walked into the practice room, immediately starting to pace back and forth. She sat down at the piano bench, but then she jumped up again. She just couldn't keep still, there was too much clouding her thoughts.

Even though she talked about it at length with her mother and Trish the other day, she still couldn't get Austin off her mind. Not matter what she told herself and told everyone else, she just wasn't over it. From the moment she woke up to the moment she hit the pillow again, he was always in her thoughts.

She and Austin kissed.

It was her first kiss. And it was with Austin.

This. Was. Huge.

The kiss was incredible, amazing, fantastic, better than anything she had ever imagined. And she had imagined it…a lot of times up to that point. That was a little embarrassing, the fact that she had thought about kissing her best friend on so many occasions, but she just wished and hoped her first would be from him.

And when her dream finally came true, it felt so right, so special. He was so gentle and he smelled so good, and his lips were so soft. He was just…everything. She saw fireworks and rainbows and ponies and it was the best thing that had ever happened to her. It was perfect…magical, even.

Well, almost perfect. What should have been the most magical moment of her life was abruptly interrupted when Kira had burst in and accepted Austin's offer to be his girlfriend.

It felt like a slap in the face. Kira Starr was the daughter of the owner of Austin's record label, and she was gorgeous! Ally couldn't compete with that. She hadn't even known that Austin had asked Kira to go out with him, which made it even worse! Ally was already not fond of surprises, but this one took the cake.

Maybe she should have had a clue when she overheard his conversation with Dez at school the other day, but still, she felt something between Austin and her that couldn't be ignored. She thought those feelings were going to supersede any that he may have had for Kira, but apparently she had read all the signals wrong, and he liked Kira way more than he liked her. How could she have even thought that she and Austin could be a thing?

She picked up the card that had come with flowers Austin had given her for writing him his latest hit. There's no way I could make it without you.

They were partners, so close and intertwined in each other's lives for the past year. That's how she had thought something could happen. It was heartbreaking to think that nothing ever would.

He had told her he wanted to be with her, even after the fact. She wanted to believe that his feelings for her were real, that he was laying his heart out there, but honestly, she was still hurt. She was getting all kinds of mixed signals from him and she didn't know what to do. No matter what he said, the fact was that he was still with Kira, and she wasn't going to be that girl to interfere with someone else's relationship. It was up to Austin now, if he really cared about her, he had to choose. Ally wasn't going to interfere. She really wanted to believe what she told him, that they should just stay friends and pretend it never happened. That it really was better that way, less messy. It would take time, but she would get to the point where that might be true.

For now she would play it off. So they kissed, big deal. It was in the heat of the moment, she was still flying high from her adrenaline rush from performing. She could get over it. Right?

She sighed. She was disappointed, but no one ever said love was easy. She didn't want things to change between them, and she could already feel the tide turn. They'd had that awkward conversation at mini's, and it was clear that he was confused. But so was she! She'd been on the raw end of the deal, having to watch Kira launch herself into his arms. And now she had seen the two twice in the mall, Kira fawning all over him each time. Ugh, it would just be better if she never saw him again. It would be hard to continue to be partners if that were the case though.

Darn her for being so understanding and practical. She would suppress her feelings because she didn't want to hurt Austin's career. They were on a roll with the music thing, and neither wanted to disrupt that. Even if Austin wanted to be with her, he couldn't break up with his boss's daughter. That would be a fatal career move.

At least she had the fact that she had just performed on stage the other night, furthering her career prospects. She was over her stage fright, which was a giant leap for her. So, she should focus on the positives. She should focus on herself for once. Everyone was right, she had a lot to celebrate.

Too bad, she had to do it alone.

For the past year, she had put Austin's career on the front burner, while taking a backseat. Maybe it was time to step out of his shadows. It was the perfect opportunity to separate herself from him now that there was this weirdness between them. She'd tell him tonight at the party her parents were throwing. It was going to be hard, but he would understand. He would be supportive of her career as she had been for him, she hoped.

She sat down at the piano and tapped at random keys. The random notes soon transformed into a basic melody and then a song took a life of its own. She closed her eyes, feeling the music emanate from her sad heart. Still all she could think about was Austin. She wondered if he was thinking of her.

She scribbled verses of the new song into her book, smiling at the organic nature of the process. Sometimes it was easy. Well, it was easy when she had inspiration, happy or sad. Today it was sad.

"Ally! Can you come down here and watch the front for a second?" her dad yelled up from the showroom.

She placed Austin's card as a placeholder in her book. She was proud of this song, and it would be all hers.

Austin really messed up things this time.

He was an idiot.

He just had to show Ally how much he cared about her. He should have done something simple, like write her an email or a note. That probably would have been as affective. But he had screwed things up so royally up to this point, that he believed his gaffe could only be solved with a huge gesture. Boy was he wrong.

But he wanted to be with her, not Kira, and he was desperate to show her that. He just could not believe the timing of things. He generally felt pretty lucky, but lately it seemed his good fortune had run out.

He only had himself to blame. He had been scared out of his mind when he realized his feelings for Ally, and that's when all the insecurities surfaced. How would this affect their song writing? Did she feel the same way? How would this affect their friendship? What if it didn't work? What if she was an alien from another dimension?

Instead of accepting his feelings, he had to try and suppress them, try to make himself feel something more for Kira. He liked Kira, no doubt, but not the way he liked Ally. Ally was his partner, he needed her. And in his defense, Kira had seemed hesitant to take him back, or else he wouldn't have kissed Ally.

He kissed Ally.

And it was incredible. It was everything he imagined it to be. She was warm and soft and cute, and the way her cheeks blushed and her eyes sparkled was something he wouldn't ever forget. There was something so sweet, so innocent about their kiss. There were no other intentions, there was no pressure to do more, it was just them and it was enough.

He also wouldn't forget the betrayed and hurt look on her face when Kira showed up and agreed to be his girlfriend. Again, terrible timing on the universe's part. He had acted hastily, asking Kira out. Hadn't thought about the aftermath, clearly. He didn't want to hurt either of them, but it looked like he wasn't going to be able to do that.

But, he had made up his mind this time. Ally was the girl for him.

He'd finally figured out a way to let Kira down gently, by being completely honest with her. This was a new concept for him. It had been brutal hearing her spew expletives at him as he broke up with her, but it was what had to be done. Hopefully she didn't hate him too much, and hopefully she meant what she said about trying to be friends since he still had to work with her dad. Kira was a good person, she wasn't vengeful, at least he prayed she wasn't.

Ally on the other hand still was not such a big Austin fan. She was barely speaking to him, upset that the latest issue of Cheetah Beat announced him and Kira as the hot couple of the moment. She had straight up turned him down when he asked her to work on music after school, and that utter feeling of rejection and despair was what led him to agree to enact Dez's crazy plan to catch her attention. Deep down, he knew better than to listen to Dez, but this was a last ditch effort.

And catch her attention it did. How could a piano falling from the sky and smashing into smithereens not catch anyone's attention? It just wasn't in the way he had planned. The second look on her face of disappointment and sadness was too much for him to bear. Now she probably hated him for ruining her piano and her party. This was not a well thought out plan. They never were. This was the last time he would ever go along with one of Dez's crazy schemes. He was sure this was the last time he would get a chance with Ally.

He wanted to curl up into a ball and die, but instead he hid in the practice room, his safe place. It was times like these he wished he could actually write songs instead of needing her to do that for him because he had so many emotions right now. He plucked at the keys of the piano, feeling glum and sorry for himself when he saw the open songbook.

"Don't touch my book." Her voice rang in his ears as Dez walked into the room. He still touched it anyway, and he was glad he did because that's where he found the card from the flowers he sent her. He ran his fingers over the slightly raised type on the card.

There's no way I could make it without you.

He peeked at the bookmarked page. There were hastily written words in Ally's messy scrawl all over the page and as he read the lyrics, he knew those verses were about him. Ally still cared about him! No matter what she said, she still cared about him and that thought alone launched a thousand ships of hope in his heart.

Even though he had a full conversation with Dez about this epiphany, he couldn't think of anything but what he was going to do now. What he needed to do for Ally.

She sat on the bench inside Sonic Boom, picking out pieces of piano from the slice of cake Trish had brought her. Her party had turned into a disaster. Austin, in his infinite wisdom, had tried to surprise her with a grand gesture, which resulted into her piano falling from the sky and smashing into a million pieces. So that was that. When she got the chance, she would pull him aside and tell him that she thought it would be best for them to go their separate ways.

She heard the strum of a guitar and turned to look up towards the practice room. Austin stood at the top of the stairs, playing that guitar and her heart stopped. It was her song. It was not lost upon her that he was stealing another one, but this time she didn't care. The lyrics didn't even register to her, all she could see was the sheer intensity on his face. He meant every word that was uttered from his lips, as she meant every word when she had written it on the page.

And in that moment, nothing existed but the two of them. She wished she could remember it forever, but things went so fast, and suddenly his arms were around her, his Austin scent enveloping her as she buried her face in his shoulder. She vaguely recalled flashes going off, her parents looking proud and Dez and Trish beaming. And the worst thing was pulling away from him, knowing that she couldn't have that moment for the first time again.

But the look in his eyes was enough.

She understood what it meant when people claimed that a look could make them weak. In a look, she understood everything he wanted to say, but didn't have the words to sum it up.

He would try anyway.

"Ally, I'm sorry for everything that happened. I've wanted to be with you this whole time, I just was afraid that you didn't feel the same way, and I didn't want to mess this up because you're more than a friend or a partner, I don't know how to explain it, but you're so important to me. We're so connected, I just couldn't imagine my life without you in it," he blurted out breathlessly.

She hugged him close to her again, knowing she would never forget this day as long as she lived.

A/N: So, I have about a thousand views on this story, but only 10 reviews? Does that mean most of you hated it? Do you think we could get to 25 with this chapter, please? Next chapter happens around Road Trips & Reunions...so review and I will update more quickly.