Hey everyone, thanks for taking the time to read this story! Obviously, this is just how I've chosen to interpret the characters and they may not necessarily match up completely with those in the TV show.
This is a work in progress, so any feedback, comments and suggestions would be entirely welcome, as well as any suggestions for how you'd like to see the story progress. I will add chapters as often as I can, hopefully one every couple of days at least (although at the moment I seem to be able to put up 2 per day).
Also obviously, I do not own Austin & Ally in any way, shape or form.
So without further ado, here's the story! I hope you enjoy…
Chapter Four
A Song
Sonic Boom opened slightly earlier on Saturdays, so Ally went to bed immediately after Trish left on Friday night. Her alarm sounded at 7:00, so Ally leisurely got up, ate, showered, brushed her teeth and dressed. Today she had opted for black skinny jeans, a black belt, an electric blue vest top and a short black leather jacket (left open). At 8:00 she put on her cute black flats and coat, grabbed her phone and purse and walked out the door.
She was on time today, so she could walk comfortably to the mall without the fear of slipping over because she was going too quickly.
On the way she kept thinking back to her conversation with Austin the previous night, and got goose bumps just thinking about the way he put his hand over hers and she rubbed his arm. She was also secretly over the moon that he was single, but also sympathetic that the break up seemed to have hurt him quite a lot.
She got to the shop just before it opened at 8:30 and gave her Dad the usual greeting, throwing her stuff behind the counter as always.
The day started out pretty normal. It was fairly busy, as it was a Saturday so more people were out shopping, and Ally engrossed herself in helping customers and making sales.
At around 11:30, Ally was stunned when Austin walked through the door! 'Oh my God he's here, he's here, he's here!' Ally thought to herself, instantly getting super nervous and hoping she looked okay. When he saw Ally his face visibly brightened up and he shot her a huge smile. "Oh hey Ally!" He said excitedly.
"Good morning Austin!" She replied happily, returning his smile.
"I didn't know you worked here!" He said beaming as he walked over to her at the counter.
"Yeah, well I was just about to tell you last night, remember, but then Trish arrived."
"Oh, okay. So how'd you land this job? I didn't know you were into music!" He is really excited that she works here.
"My Dad owns the shop, so with my love of music it just seemed perfect really! Plus it can get really busy sometimes so it's nice to be able to help him out."
"Ah, this is so cool."
"So, how can I help you Mr…" She said professionally, halting when she realised she didn't know his last name.
"Moon." He said gently, still smiling at her.
"Well, Mr Moon, what can I do for you?"
"Oh, I just came in for some new guitar strings." Austin replied confidently.
Ally took him over to the guitar section whilst Lester took over at the till, and she helped him pick out the strings he needed. She took them back over to the counter, he paid her and she put them in a bag. "Here you go, sir." She said, jokingly.
"Thank you for your assistance, madam." He replied equally mockingly.
"Glad to help." Ally said smiling.
A small smirk emerged on Austin's face. "Say, Ally, I don't suppose you'd like to go and grab some coffee right now?" He asked with a hopeful shine in his eyes.
"Austin I'd love to, but I can't I have to keep working." Ally replied a little disappointed.
At this point Lester piped up "No, no, it's fine Ally. Go on a break for a while. I can handle things here for a while." He said smiling at her.
Ally turned to her Dad, smiling. "Are you sure Dad? It's been quite busy today…"
"Yes, I'm sure I'll be fine. Go and have some fun!" Lester was just happy to see Ally talking to a boy, let alone getting asked to go to get coffee – not that it was a date or anything.
"Okay, then, if you're absolutely sure Dad." Ally said. "Thanks."
She grabbed her purse and she and Austin walked out the door side by side. Austin wanted to hold Ally's hand, but resisted the urge as he didn't want to creep her out or annoy her if she got the wrong idea. I mean, technically this wasn't a date… he could only wish. "You look really pretty today, by the way." Austin said nervously, looking away from her so she might not notice him blushing.
She certainly blushed, she couldn't believe someone as handsome as Austin was complementing her. "Aww, thanks Austin, you look nice too." She smiled at him. He was wearing white converse, black skinny jeans, a blue long sleeve t-shirt and a white zip-up hoodie (which was unzipped at this point). Ally noticed particularly how the t-shirt tightly covered his muscly chest. She almost swooned there and then
"Thanks." Austin replied sheepishly, definitely getting red.
They walked to the same café that Ally had hidden from Austin in a few days before. "What would you like, Ally?" Austin asked sweetly as they walked in.
"I'll just get a black coffee." She said quietly, before starting to look in her purse for her money.
"No don't worry, I'll get these." Austin said smiling.
"Are you sure, Austin? It's fine, honestly." She replied, looking into his eyes.
"Please, I insist." He said. "You go and get us a table, I'll see you in a minute." He smiled gently at her.
"Okay." She agreed and smiled at him again before going and sitting at an empty table. She smiled to herself, really happy that Austin had decided to go to Sonic Boom that day and even happier to be getting coffee with him.
Austin got their drinks and looked around the café to find Ally. Seeing her in the far corner, he started to walk over to her. When he was about halfway, he saw a man slightly older than them approach her. 'Uh-oh.' He thought.
Ally looked up expecting to see Austin with their coffee and was shocked when it was some guy she'd never seen before. He looked around 26. Good-looking, but nothing compared to Austin. "Hey there." He said, obviously trying to be smooth. "You're real pretty, you know that?" He smirked at her.
"Umm… thanks I guess." Ally muttered nervously, feeling really uncomfortable and longing for Austin to get back to her quickly.
"Why don't I get you a coffee, and then I'll show you a real good time." He said seductively, winking and starting to stroke her arm. Ally felt like vomiting.
When Austin saw the guy start to stroke Ally's arm, a wave of rage flew over him and he sped towards the table. When he was about 3 steps away he called out "Hey, who the hell do you think you are hitting on my girlfriend!?" He said it without thinking, his only thought was of getting this guy out of here.
'What? Girlfriend?' Ally thought to herself but didn't say anything, knowing it would only cause harm.
"Oh, sorry man, didn't realise she wasn't single." He said calmly, but clearly caught off guard.
"Well of course she is, just look at her!" Austin replied back fiercely. Ally blushed at this comment. "Now, scram!" He finished, threateningly and the guy backed away and left the café. Austin put the drinks down on the table and sat down, adrenaline still surging round his system a bit.
"Wow, Austin, I've never seen that side of you…" Ally said in awe. "But thank you for stepping in. He was making me really uncomfortable." She continued, picking up her coffee to take a sip.
"No, no problem, it was nothing. I just hated seeing you like that." Only at this point did he start to think about everything he'd said. "And sorry for saying you were my girlfriend, it was the only way it would have stopped him bothering you." He was a little embarrassed and afraid how she would respond.
"Oh, it's fine, I don't mind. I'm just glad you got him to stop. You're my hero." She replied, smiling at him and putting a hand on top of his. They both started blushing at the contact and after a few seconds Ally removed her hand and took another sip of her coffee, never breaking the eye contact between them.
"So, Ally, I guess since you work in a music store you must play some instruments." Austin said intrigued.
"Um… I guess so. I play piano, guitar and I can do the basics on the flute." She said nervously. "I've never played in front of anyone before, though."
"Why not?"
"I'm just too shy, I guess. I don't think I'm really that good, anyway."
"Ally, I'm sure you're great." He replied gently, looking into her eyes.
She blushed again. "What about you? Since you came into Sonic Boom for guitar strings I'm guessing that means you play some instruments too."
"Well yeah, music's my life really! I've been playing as long as I can remember…" He went into nostalgia mode for a few seconds, smiling to himself as he looked up towards the ceiling.
"What instruments can you play?"
"I'm not a master at anything, but I'm passable on piano, guitar, bass, drums and violin. And singing, of course." He said, smiling at her.
"Wow." Ally said, impressed by his skill. "I wish I could do all that."
Austin smiled gently and stared at his coffee. "Do you ever sing?" He asked Ally.
"No no no no no no no" Laughed Ally. "I can't sing."
"I'm sure you can, your voice sounds so nice when you're talking." He complimented her. More blushing from her side of the table.
"I mean, I occasionally do the whole singing in the shower thing, but never in front of anyone."
"Well, let me tell you it is the best feeling in the world when you're on a stage singing."
"Well I'm sure it is, Moon, but I'll leave that bit to you." She said smiling.
There was a few seconds of comfortable silence whilst they sat sipping their drinks, looking at each other 'discreetly' – of course they weren't really discreet at all and it was blatantly obvious.
"Oh, Ally, I almost forgot. I never got your phone number. Wanna trade numbers now?" He asked hopefully.
"Sure." Ally said, containing her excitement at getting his number. "Just let me get my phone out of my purse." She picked her purse up off the floor and started looking through for her phone. Unfortunately, it was right at the bottom so she had to dig through everything to get it.
On top was her small songbook in which she scribbled down song ideas whenever she had something in her head. Of course, no one was ever going to see them and they'd never be made into a proper song or anything… or so she thought. It was in her way so she casually picked it out and put it on the table before looking back into her bag in search of her phone.
"Hey, what's this?" Austin asked casually, picking up the book and flicking it open.
"Austin, no!" Ally called out, not wanting him to see the awful songs inside it, but it was too late. He was already reading.
"You write songs?" Austin asked, enthralled. "Why didn't you tell me?" He continued to flip through them.
Ally was still embarrassed and had hoped to keep the songs a secret, but it was too late now. "They're not very good, I just write in it if I have something stuck in my head." She explained sheepishly.
"Ally, what are you talking about, these are great!" Austin enthused as he continued to look through them.
"Really?" Ally asked, amazed that a signed singer was complimenting her songs! "No one's ever seen them before; they were kind of my little secret." She spoke quietly, but in a way she was kind of relieved that someone was seeing them. Even better, it was Austin. Even better still, he liked them!
"Yes, really!" A sudden thought entered Austin's mind and his eyes lit up. He looked Ally directly in the eyes. "Will you write some songs for me?" He spoke barely above a whisper.
"What?" Ally couldn't believe what he'd just asked.
"You heard me!"
"Are you serious? You want me to write you songs?"
"Yes! These are great, and like I told you I haven't released anything yet. And there's a reason."
"This reason being…?" Ally prompted him, still in shock.
"I'm no good at writing songs. And all the songs that people have sent haven't been right for me. But I have a feeling you and me could write something incredible."
"I don't know Austin…" Ally stuttered, looking away from him.
"Please Ally, I need you to do this with me."
"Austin, I really don't think that…" She was interrupted by Austin putting his hands on hers and looking deep into her eyes.
"Please." He looked so anxious, so desperate, like he was putting his entire faith in her. "Look Ally, all I'm suggesting is we give it a try. We try and write one song together. If it works out well, great! We can talk about writing more. But if it doesn't…" He shrugged his shoulders. "Oh well. No harm no foul, right?"
Ally stared deep into his eyes. God he was cute. He was so trusting in her, so confident, and she guessed there was no harm in simply trying out one song. Although she was sceptical it would work. He started to rub her hands. "Okay." She said barely above a whisper, smiling at him. "I'll do it."
"YES!" Austin yelled out before he realised he was in public. "Thank you Ally, thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you!" He jumped up and ran round the table to give Ally a hug. 'Oh my God. I'm hugging Austin.' Ally thought, savouring every second of it. Austin was thinking the same. 'Wow. I'm hugging Ally. This feels great.'
After about 5 seconds they pulled out of the hug and sat back down. "Thank you so much Ally. This means the world to me." Austin said genuinely, smiling softly at her and looking her in the eye.
"You're welcome." Ally smiled back, returning the gaze.
"When and where do you want to start work?" Austin asked eager to get started as soon as possible.
"Umm… well Sonic Boom closes at 9. So if you met me there at about 8, business will be slowing down and my Dad can take over. There's this lovely piano in the back room where we can start writing. Plus, that way I'm still there if he needs any help." Ally suggested hopefully, liking her plan.
"That sounds perfect to me." Austin replied, smiling at her.
They sat there for about 5 more minutes, finishing their drinks sat in either pleasant silence staring at each other or making small talk.
When they were both finished, they got up and walked out of the café, side by side, back over to Sonic Boom. "Well, I guess I'll see you later then, Ally." Austin smiled at her outside the door.
"Yep, see you then." Ally smiled back at him and they once again got lost in each other's eyes. There was a few seconds of silence before Austin moved in and gave Ally a small hug. Only small because he wasn't sure how she would respond. As she hugged him, Ally felt herself melt in his arms and loved how strong and muscly he was. She rested her head on his chest for the duration.
When they pulled apart, Ally instantly missed the comfort and warmth of his hug. 'Snap out of it Ally,' she said to herself, 'you're not his girlfriend!' "Bye." She said sweetly, waving at him before going back into the shop.
"Hey honey, did you have a good time?" Lester called out to her as she entered.
"Yeah it was nice, we just went for coffee." Ally replied happily, putting her purse back behind the counter.
"So… he seems like a nice boy." Lester said, trying to seem casual.
"Dad, don't start this. Austin's just a friend."
"Okay, okay. But he does seem nice though."
"Dad!"
"Okay, okay, I get it. Sorry honey, I just… no, it doesn't matter." He said before turning back to the shelves he was busy putting guitar pics on.
Ally was glad that Lester had decided to drop the subject and got straight back into her work, and the time passed easily.
For Austin, meanwhile, it felt like the longest few hours of his life. He decided to go back to his apartment to freshen up and relax before he went back to meet Ally. He tried to walk back slowly, to kill off as much of the time as possible, but he was too giddy with excitement (and full of caffeine) and found himself positively racing back to Aqua Plaza.
He went up to his room and took a quick shower, eager to make a good impression on Ally. However, he didn't want it to be too obvious that he was making an effort, so he wore the same clothes he had that morning. 'This is ridiculous.' He thought to himself as he was drying his hair. 'We're only writing a song, not going on a bloody date! Besides, she probably doesn't even like me like that anyway. But I sure hope so.'
He sat down on his sofa and flicked on the TV, trying to relax, but he didn't want to watch anything so turned it back off and pulled out his phone. He checked the time practically every two seconds, hoping against hope that time had magically flown by.
He was just about to check again when there was a knock at the door. He got up to answer it, at least glad that it would kill some time. Opening the door, he was surprised to see a short Latina girl that he vaguely recognised from somewhere… "Hello…. Oh! I remember you! You're Ally's friend, umm… Trish right?"
"Yep, that's me!" Trish replied, smiling softly.
"How can I help you Trish? Would you like to come in for a drink?" To be honest the last thing Austin needed at that moment was more caffeine, but he was just wanting to be polite.
"Uh, yeah, sure, that would be great." Trish said, as she walked past Austin who had moved to the side to let her past.
Austin led her through to the kitchen and made her some coffee. "So, Trish, first things first: how do you know where I live?" He asked, confused as to how she got his address.
"Oh, this is gonna sound crazy stalker-ish, but I knew you lived on this floor after talking with Ally, so I just knocked on all the doors until I found you. Sorry, it sounds really creepy!"
"Ally talked about me?" Austin asked excitedly. He couldn't care less how Trish found him, he was just so ecstatic that Ally had mentioned him!
"Oh yeah, she's talked about you." Trish said, smiling. "So I just came by because I wanted to say: thank you."
"What?" Austin was confused by this.
"Thank you. It's been a long time since I've heard Ally this excited about meeting anybody. Even if she refuses to admit it."
"Really?" Austin asked, in shock.
"Yeah, really. Ally's always been a bit of a recluse, you know, very quiet, keeps herself to herself. I'm so glad you've managed to bring her out of her shell, even just a little bit."
"Oh, umm… wow. Thanks. That's very kind of you."
"Even if you two aren't ever even proper friends, or you are, or you go out with her or not, you've still helped her make so much progress."
"Well, I, err… no problem. Ally's really nice." Austin started to blush.
Trish quickly finished off her coffee. "Anyway, Austin, it was nice to properly meet you, but I'd better get going or else I'll be late back to work."
Austin escorted Trish to the door and opened it for her. "Well thank you so much for dropping by, Trish."
"No problem. Once again, thank you for helping Ally. See you around." And with that she walked off down the corridor.
Austin closed the door, turned around, and just smiled and did a silent fist-pump. He couldn't believe Ally had actually talked fondly about him! He didn't mind how long he had to wait now, he was just really excited to see Ally again. This was the moment he realised that he really liked her. Like, a lot.
7:30 eventually rolled around, so Austin gave himself a quick spray with his cologne and walked back to Sonic Boom. He felt butterflies in his stomach as he walked in and saw her standing behind the counter. "Good evening, Miss Dawson." He said in a suave voice as he walked over to her.
"Hi Austin! You excited to get to work?" Ally replied cheerily.
"You have no idea! I have been so excited all afternoon!" He decided not to mention Trish's visit, he had a feeling Ally wouldn't really like it.
"Great, me too!" She replied before turning to her Dad. "Hey, Dad, it's okay if Austin and I go into the back to work on a song, right?"
"Yes, yes, of course, it should be pretty slow in here from now on anyway." Lester replied, smiling at her.
"Nice to meet you properly, Mr Dawson." Austin said politely, holding out his hand.
"Oh please, call me Lester." He replied nicely, taking Austin's hand and shaking it warmly.
Austin smiled and turned back to Ally. "I just need to run to the bathroom before we begin, I'll be right back." He said. Ally nodded okay and he turned and briskly walked out of the shop.
"What a nice young man." Lester said, turning to Ally. "How did you meet him?"
Ally decided not to tell her Dad the Starbucks story because he'd just laugh, so she simply replied "Oh, he lives on my floor in Aqua Plaza. I just met him when I was getting out of the elevator one night."
"So you're writing a song together?"
"Umm yeah…" began Ally, nervously. "Austin's newly signed with Starr Records but he doesn't have a writer, and he saw some of the songs in my book by accident…" She explained.
"Ah, okay." Lester understood. "Well I am so proud of you, Ally. You're working with a signed singer!"
"Relax Dad, we're only trying to write one song at first, just to see if it works."
"Ally, I'm sure it'll be brilliant! You go write a great song." He beamed at her, just as Austin walked back in.
"Ready?" Ally asked.
"Yep, let's go." Austin replied, smiling. Ally led Austin to the back room and they went in and shut the door.
Ally wasn't kidding when she said there was a nice piano there. There really was! It was one of the nicest ones Austin had ever seen, and he felt like jumping up and down clapping his hands. He didn't, obviously. He was trying to keep up his macho look.
They both went and sat at the piano. They were very close together, their legs were practically touching, but somehow it didn't feel at all awkward.
"Okay, Moon, any ideas?" Ally asked, getting out stuff to write on and with.
"I was thinking maybe we could try a ballad for my first song? I really love getting into a song emotionally." Suggested Austin.
"Hmmm… yeah, okay. I think we can come up with something." Ally replied, and started humming to herself and playing a few notes on the piano.
Austin looked over and saw her scribble something down, and was very surprised when he heard her start to sing a line. Her voice sounded beautiful, like an angel's. When she stopped and looked back at the paper, he said: "Wow, Ally, your voice is beautiful." He looked her straight in the eyes as he spoke softly.
"You really think so?" Ally replied, returning his gaze.
"Yes, it's perfect!" Austin told her, smiling.
"Wow. Well, thank you. But that doesn't matter, this song is for you, so as long as you can sing it that's all that matters."
And so off they went, both equally suggesting ideas for melodies and lyrics. It was easy – the song seemed to just write itself! Before they knew it, they had written an entire song.
They played it through, Austin singing and playing a few notes of the piano, Ally listening and doing the main piano work. The song was slow, and flowed, and was just beautiful. They found themselves lost in their own little world as they played it start to finish, loving every second of it.
As he sang the last note, Austin turned to face Ally and at the same time she turned to face him. Their eyes met. They smiled. It just felt so right, there was a connection. Without realising what he was doing, Austin felt himself leaning in towards Ally, and she felt herself doing the same. Nothing else mattered at that moment, it was just Austin and Ally, both feeling like they never had before and leaning towards each other. Their foreheads met. Austin tilted his head and moved to close the gap between them.
Just as their lips were about to make contact, there was a loud knock on the door. Both of them opened their eyes wider immediately, and pulled away sharply, both in shock about what was just about to have happened and slightly embarrassed. They both blushed like crazy.
There was another knock, followed by Lester's voice calling in. "Ally?"
"Yeah Dad? Come in!" Ally yelled back.
The door opened and Lester popped his head round the door. "Sorry to interrupt, guys, but it's 9:00 now so I'm closing the store down for the night." He said smiling.
Neither of them could believe it was already 9:00, the time had gone so fast when they were writing the song. "Oh, it's okay, Dad. We'd just finished." Replied Ally, smiling. Then she turned to Austin. "Shall we walk home?"
"Sure." Austin smiled at her. They walked out of the back room, grabbing their new song and music and placing it all carefully in Ally's bag. Ally kissed Lester goodnight and Austin shook his hand and they left.
When they got outside Austin wanted to hold Ally's hand, but wasn't sure how she was feeling after what had happened at the end of the song. Ally felt exactly the same way, but neither of them knew what the other was thinking. So instead, as a sort of halfway, Austin instead offered Ally his arm, which she gratefully accepted.
They spent most of the walk home discussing the song and how much they both loved it, humming and singing different parts of it from time to time. Because of this, the walk back seemed to fly by, and they soon found themselves leaving the elevator and walking towards Ally's door.
"Thanks again for helping me write that song, Ally." Austin said sincerely, smiling down at her as they stood outside her door.
"No problem, Austin, it was a lot of fun. I really enjoyed working with you." Ally replied, returning the smile and trying to avoid getting transfixed by the eyes.
"Does this mean you'd like to do more songs with me?" Austin asked, hopefully.
"… Yeah. I don't see why not." Ally replied cheerfully.
"Oh my God Ally, thank you so much!" Gushed Austin, hugging her gently again.
"I'll text you with details in the morning." Ally smiled at him.
"Okay, I'll be waiting." Austin smirked.
"Goodnight, Austin." Ally said as she unlocked and opened her door.
"Sleep well, Ally." Austin said sweetly as she turned back round to face him.
There was nothing Austin wanted more in that moment than to kiss her, but he knew deep down that the timing wasn't right. So instead, he pulled her in for another hug. But this hug was… different. It wasn't so much a friendly hug as the rest had been, it felt… closer. Neither of them wanted the hug to end. Eventually, Ally pulled back. She gave a little wave and walked into her apartment, smiling softly at him as she shut the door and locked it.
As he walked down the corridor to his apartment, Austin gave another silent fist pump. He had a feeling this was only the beginning.
