This is a million years late and I'm sorry.

Karen, this one goes out to you because of reasons. (Mostly because I love you and you're seventeen now, you adorable little terror, you.) And Teresa, because you inadvertently started this whole thing way back in Christmas Things.

As always, feedback is a thing of beauty that reminds me to write.

Also, does anyone remember Jerry Springer? No? Goddamn it, how badly did I just age myself?

And sorry if I kind of got carried away with Morgan, she probably won't be making a lot of repeat appearances in the future anyway, so don't worry. Or if you guys like her, tell me! I'll bring her around every so often.


"Austin Moon! It is just four flights of stairs! For a guy with so many muscles, how on earth are you so out of shape?!" Ally's incredulous, booming voice bounces around the stair case as she frowns down at her boyfriend huffing and puffing his way up the last set of stairs, his heavy, thundering footsteps echoing around the stair well.

Ally had somehow managed to convince Austin to take the stairs to get to Morgan's apartment, on the ninth floor. The four flights of stairs were nothing for Ally, but they were proving to be quite the trek for Austin.

"Shut it, Dawson!" he pants.

"Austin, are you sweating?"

"Why the need for your judgey voice?"

"You are so sad right now."

And finally, he trudges up the last three steps, still panting. "Oh God," he grunts painfully, doubling over. "Ow. I think I'm cramping. Ow. I think I'm cramping. Ow."

She stares at his hunched over form, an unreadable expression on her face. "I stand corrected. You, right here, right now, are so sad."

"How do your short midget legs walk up and down five flight of stairs every day?" he grouses as he straightens up with a wince, his hand coming up to angrily swipe the sweat and bangs off his forehead. His eyes glance down to her legs—looking long and slender in her clingy dress—and linger appreciatively. "Damn... but you always manage to make them look like they go on for miles and miles," he says, accompanied by a low whistle.

She flushes and swats at his arm. "Austin!" she squeaks. She tugs at the hem a little self-consciously. "It's not too short, is it?" she asks worriedly. It really isn't, as it fell past her fingertips if her arms were at her side.

He shakes his head. "Nah, you look good," he compliments with a wide, appraising smile. "Really good."

Ally smiles softly. "Thank you." She straightens his skinny tie and brushes imaginary dust off his shoulders and the lapels of his blazer. "And you look very handsome tonight, Mr. Moon," she murmurs with a sultry smirk.

"Thank you, m'lady," Austin chuckles and leans down to peck her perfectly glossy lips before turning to the door that opened to the eighth floor. They can already hear music pulsing through the walls and occasional shouting or screaming. With a small sigh, he mutters, "Well, let's get this party over with."

She laughs a little. "I'm sure it won't be too bad," she says optimistically.

The blond rolls his eyes but offers her his arm. She happily loops hers through it and they start for the door, him opening it for the both of them. The music hits them full in the face and they wince from the assault on their eardrums. They share a look and a thought—why hadn't they thought to bring ear plugs?—before stepping tentatively into the hallway of the ninth floor.

There are snack tables lined up against the walls, small crowds of people milling near the free food and offered booze, and a constant stream of people moving and waltzing in and out of all the rooms with their doors propped open.

Austin and Ally wave and smile cordially to every familiar face they've seen around within the apartment building. So far, no one from their own floor just yet, but the night is still young. They continue wading carefully through the crowd, doing their best not to bump or run into anyone.

"If any of my crazy groupies are here, do not leave me," he orders, his voice low and quiet in her ear. "Do not, I repeat, do not leave me." And then he flashes a near manic smile at a young, drunk woman that winks and blows him a kiss. He politely brushes off the imaginary kiss from his shoulder and tries not to gag. "Seriously. Don't leave my side."

"Run away while they paw at you and tear your clothes off, got it!" Ally says brightly with a mock salute.

He gives her a withering glare. "You are usually adorable. Now, however, you are not."

She rolls her eyes. "Okay, fine. I promise not to leave your side," she swears with a small smile. "But let's be honest, if they come at you, it's not like I'd be able to do much," she snickers.

"What, you're not willing to throw down for me?"

Ally gives him a look. "That'd be highly juvenile, immature, and catty," she points out.

"My own girlfriend, refusing to throw down in my honor." Austin shakes his head in mock disappointed as Ally snickers louder at him.

Before she can make a quip, a cheerful shout pierces through the air and the crowd quickly parts for a charging blonde.

"You guys made it!" a voice squeals excitedly right before the couple finds themselves smashed up against a pair of sizable breasts and a mouthful of blonde hair.

"Morgan!" they wheeze pathetically due to the air quickly whooshing out of their lungs. "So good to see you," they choke out.

She lets them go and beams at them, eying Ally's dress with surprise and approval. "Lookin' hot, Bets!"

"Yeah, Bets," Austin snickers at her, before an elbow to his gut immediately cuts off the snickering.

"Thanks, Morgan," Ally says with a blush. She takes a look at Morgan's short and gold-sequined dress with a pair of matching satin gold heels. "Wow, you look great," Ally marvels, sounding awed.

"Thanks," the blonde preens. "Wanted to ring in the New Year with some sparkle," she laughs as she does a little shake and the lights reflect off all the sequins.

"Mission accomplished," Ally says with a smile.

"Oh!" Morgan suddenly exclaims, as if she's just remembered something. She grabs a Coke can off one of the nearby snack tables lined up against the wall. Handing it to Ally, she brightly says, "Before I forget, here's your Jack and Coke without the Jack."

"Stiiill just a Coke," Austin mutters under his breath as he fights the urge to roll his eyes.

Ally takes it quietly, flashes one of the hosts of the party a quick smile. "Uh, thanks, Morgan."

"You want it on the rocks?" she asks, pointing to a metal container of ice and some empty red solo cups.

The brunette quickly shakes her head and pops the tab open to take a quick sip. "It's fine."

"What can I get the boyfriend?" she asks, jerking a thumb towards the blond.

Austin shakes his head and politely stops her with a hand. "I'm fine. Not drinking."

She pouts. "Ugh! You're so lame! It's not like either of you are DD," she complains with a roll of her eyes. But then she loosens up and shoots them a small smile. "But it's still totally cool that you guys came," she says. "I mean, I know I kept hitting on you, Austin—and for some crazy reason, you completely refused to tap my totally fine ass, and I seriously thought you were going all, like, George Michael—"

"Totally straight, definitely not Wham-ing it up, I'm afraid," Austin deadpans.

"—and as much as it weirds me out that you're so hot and Bets is in desperate need of a make-over—no offense, hon—"

"None taken," Ally says lightly, with an amused air.

"—you two do make an annoyingly adorable couple. Plus, the height difference is super hot," she says with a wicked smirk and waggle of her eyebrows.

Ally flames red-hot and Austin shoots her his own devilish smirk, clearly agreeing with Morgan.

"So anyway, can we start over? I want us to be friends and stuff." And then she gasps, her jaw dropping open and her eyes widen to show the whites. "Oh my God, Bets, you should totally let me give you a make-over!"

"As lovely as that sounds, Morgan, uh, how about one step at a time?" Ally suggests with a wince.

"So friends?" the blonde asks hopefully.

Ally laughs and nods. "Friends," she says with promise.

After another bone-crushing hug and a quick good bye, Morgan weaves through the crowd and says she's gotta go play Martha Stewart.

"Scariest Martha Stewart I've ever seen," Austin mutters in Ally's ear. He raises an eyebrow at her. "Your conversation with her this morning half as terrifying?"

"Even more so; thought she was gonna kill me at first."

He gives her an odd look. "You think everyone's going to kill you at first," he jokes, recalling back to the time they chopped down her Christmas tree.

She bristles at the comment. "Hey, you were a near-complete stranger holding an ax, leading me to a deserted park, alright? I was well within the bounds to fear for my general safety!"

Austin gives her a calculating look. "It was the dead hooker joke, wasn't it?"

"They're not exactly tasteful, nor are they comforting."

Austin rolls his eyes. "Gotcha, no more dead hooker jokes," he promises. "Scout's honor," he says solemnly, holding up a hand.

She snorts, leading him through the crowd again. "Please. Like you were ever a boy scout," she says, looking up him knowingly.

"Okay," he sighs guiltily. "You caught me."


"I feel gross."

"Why? Because that's the fourth person that's winked at you all night?"

"He was the sixth," Austin mutters darkly.

Ally turns to look at him thoughtfully. "Wait, who were the two that I missed?"

He looks offended. "Why are you keeping a tally?" he demands. His eyes narrow and he growls, "You think this is funny, don't you?"

She giggles a little. "Kind of, yeah."

Austin rolls his eyes and starts ticking off on his fingers. "Stacy, Val from the sixth floor, Thomas from the lobby—flattered, but we both know I don't swing that way, that random redhead—"

"I didn't count her," Ally interrupts. "I thought it was a nerve thing."

His brow furrows. "Really?" he sounds skeptically.

Ally gives him a look. "I mean, she's been trying awfully hard to seduce that snack table, then."

From their spot at the quieter end of the hall—where they had taken refuge and were leaning against the wall with plates of food in hand—Austin stands on his toes and searches through the crowd for said redhead. After some squinting and searching, he finds her. Sure enough, her right eye blinks and opens in the general direction of a snack table, her face blank and expressionless.

"Huh. Okay, fair enough," Austin says with a shrug before resuming count. "So, then there was that guy that lives down the hall that kept trying to get us to come into his apartment. Again, flattered, but I don't swing that way. And the fifth person was that blonde woman in the hot pink dress." Ally nibbles on her bottom lip but he can still clearly see the grin threatening to break free. After another moment, he rolls his eyes at her poorly suppressed giggle-snort. "I'm glad you're so thoroughly amused by your boyfriend getting flirtatious winks all night," he comments dryly.

"Hey. They can look—and even send the occasional wink—but they can't touch," she says smartly.

He raises an eyebrow. "Glad to know there's a line somewhere," he mumbles sullenly.

The corners of her lips turn upward. "Well, it's not like I'm worried that you'll run off with any of them," she admits with a shrug.

Austin sniffs disdainfully. "You don't know that," he pouts.

"Oh, but I do," she says knowingly. "You get this look on your face, like this—" and she breaks off to contort her features into what he thinks is supposed to be an imitation of him.

"Horrified because someone secretly poured sand into my pancakes?"

"Well, kind of," she says as she relaxes her face. "Mostly, you look like you don't know whether to be confused or annoyed."

"It's both," he states flatly. "I'm confused because why me? And I'm annoyed because I'm clearly with my girlfriend and that's just rude," he mutters irritably. "The horror factors in because some of these people are usually crazy."

Ally sends him a sympathetic look. "Okay. I'm sorry," she murmurs as she reaches out and pats his arm soothingly. "I won't make fun of you anymore," she promises.

He narrows an eye at her in a calculating manner. "How sorry are you?" he asks slowly.

She eyes his empty plate and sighs resignedly. "Oh, alright. I'll get you another plate of those little smokies you like," she says with a roll of her eyes as she holds out her hand impatiently.

He frowns at her. "Don't do it with an attitude. You'll ruin the taste of the smokies."

Ally gives him an odd look. "Austin, that doesn't even make sense." At his pout, she stops mid-eyeroll and plasters on a cheery grin. "Hey, honey, would you like some more smokies? I know they're your favorite!" she cries with fake, enthused glee.

He snickers at her but hands over the plate. "Oh! Can you also get some of those little cucumber sandwiches?" he asks excitedly, practically bouncing on the balls of his feet.

This time, Ally's smile is genuine as she nods, finding her boyfriend's fascination with the little finger sandwiches oddly adorable. "Yeah, yeah. Just give me a moment," she laughs over her shoulder as she makes her way through the crowd.

There's a different spread on each snack table, with the sandwiches on the second table she walks by and the smokies being all the way at the opposite end. She's guiltily scooping up the last of the smokies when she suddenly hears a commotion toward Austin's end of the hall. She frowns and places the tongs back on the table, straining her neck in an attempt to see what's going on.

"What the…?"

Then there's shouting and screaming, someone yelling out, "CAT FIGHT," and all hell breaks loose.

Ally's eyes widen and she practically throws the plate on the table in her haste to join the crowd rapidly running in the direction of the cat fight. These people might be interested in a fight, but she just wants to find Austin and get the hell out of there.

She tries to keep up with the boisterous crowd, but there's chaos everywhere and she keeps getting pushed and shoved in different directions. She flinches as someone jostles her shoulder pretty roughly but continues to move through the crowd, gritting her teeth in frustration. Her small stature is of some help though, and she's about to dart in between the masses a lot faster than some of her bigger peers.

She's more than halfway down the hall—having just ducked under another the arm of a burly guy—when suddenly, a hand latches onto her forearm and she yelps in fright.

"Ally? Ally, relax! It's just me!" Austin says, practically shouting so she can hear him over the yelling and thundering footsteps of the crowd.

"Oh, thank God." She relaxes and clings to him as people continue rushing around them. "Austin, what happened?" she asks, brow furrowing with worry. She winces when someone running by clips her on the same shoulder again. "Ow," she hisses as she reaches up to rub the injured area.

Austin frowns and quickly maneuvers their bodies so that her back is against the wall. He moves closer to box her in and better protect her from the crowd. "Is that better?" he asks.

She looks up gratefully and nods. "Yeah, thanks."

He's about to reply when another hit and run occurs and his body lurches forward. He quickly catches himself with a forearm braced against the wall and a hand grabbing Ally's hip. "Dammit," he mutters irritably, throwing a belated glare over his shoulder. He sighs and turns back to Ally. "Sorry." Their bodies are flush against each other and he can't help but send her a smirk after he glances down to see where their bodies meet. "But, uh, can't say I'm complaining," he says with a throaty chuckle.

She blushes but rolls her eyes and although she wants to smack him half-heartedly in the chest, she realizes that there's not enough room. He's just lucky he's her boyfriend, especially when his fingers flex deftly around her hip, nearly making her shiver from the contact. But she shakes her head to clear her thoughts. "Austin, focus. Is there really a cat fight?" When he gives an affirmative nod, she frowns and asks, "What on earth could have caused it?"

And with a sheepish wince, Austin lets loose a nervous laugh. "Uh, ha ha, about that…" he trails off, clearing his throat.

Her jaw drops. "Oh my God. Did you start this?" she sputters.

He gives her a pained expression. "I didn't mean to!" he cries defensively.

"Austin! I leave you alone for one minute to get you some smokies and those little cucumber sandwiches and—"

"Where are those, by the way?"

"—you end up starting a cat fight?" she shouts in disbelief. "What did you do?" She's not even sure if she's pissed or upset, she just can't believe that her boyfriend has started an honest-to-God cat fight.

Austin looks at her with pleading eyes. "Ally, c'mon, I didn't—"

But it doesn't matter because he's suddenly knocked away from her, a shout of surprise escaping from his mouth.

"Austin!" Ally shrieks, reaching out and grabbing hold of his arm.

"Whoa!" He's off-balance and comes dangerously close to falling over but with one harsh tug from Ally, he finds himself coming toward her and the wall, so he reaches out catch his weight before he can crush her. "Thanks," he rasps. He looks behind him to see what had nearly ran him over and his jaw drops to see that the two girls in the fight had migrated behind them.

"Oh my God," he whispers, eyes widening and he quickly jumps out of the way, pulling Ally with him.

Ally gasps, and her hands fly to her mouth as she takes in the scene in front of her. Austin immediately holds out an arm protectively, shielding her from the chaos with most of his body.

"Do you think we should stop them?" she asks meekly as she worries her bottom lip.

Austin turns to give her a dry look. "You wanna jump in? Because I'm kind of afraid they'll just rip off my clothes and try to initiate the scariest threesome ever."

She wrinkles her nose at his crude comment. "Ew."

"Yes, Ally. 'Ew.' Incredibly 'ew'," he mutters as he watches the two girls continue wrestling. There's a lot of grunting and hair-pulling, he notes.

But then Morgan is on the scene, teetering down in her sky high heels, all gold sequins and indignant fury as she yells at the girls to cut it out. "Goddammit, girls! This isn't Jerry fucking Springer, you classless bitches! Will you two cut it out already?"

They ignore her and continue grunting and shoving and wrestling with each other, shouts of He's mine!, Back off, bitch!, and Those extensions were expensive!ringing though the air, punctuated with cheers and taunts from the crowd.

She whirls around to face Austin, murder in her eyes. "You did this! Stop it!"

His jaw drops and he gapes at her. "I didn't do anything!" he protests defensively.

Morgan gestures at him wildly. "Control your face!"

Now he just looks offended. "Excuse me?"

Morgan throws her arms up into the air. "Stop sending out pheromones! Put a bag over your face! Black out some teeth with a marker! I don't fucking care! But for the love of my New Year's Party and those designer dresses on these dumb bitches, would you stop being so hot and learn how to control your goddamn face?"

He stares at her, bewildered.

Morgan turns to Ally and shakes her head. "Curse your beautiful boyfriend." And then she lets out an aggravated groan and grabs the nearest Coke off the table. "Hope you ladies have club soda at home," she mutters as she douses them with the drink, aiming for their clothes and hair as much as she can.

The two girls rolling around on the ground scream and sputter profusely.

Morgan empties the can and reaches for another, opening the tab when one of the girls holds out an arm and shouts, "No! Okay, okay, we'll stop!"

She crosses her arms, the weaponized can of Coke still in hand. She narrows her eyes threateningly and turns to the silently fuming and drenched blonde. "Well? Your friend seems to have given up, how about you?" she asks condescendingly as she taps an impatient foot.

She silently runs her tongue over her teeth and flips her wet hair over a shoulder. "Fine," she grumbles. "Whatever."

Morgan rolls her eyes and sets the can back on the table, before turning back to the crowd. "Either go back to the party or go home, you sick fucks! This isn't entertainment!" she bellows.

Wide-eyed, the suddenly shushed audiences turn and shuffle off to the snack tables and open apartments.

With that settled, she turns back to the two petulant girls sitting in a heap on the ground. "Do you harpies even realize that the dude is taken?! And that his girlfriend is, like, way adorable? Unlike you two pathetic, disillusioned, horny-ass idiots that embarrassed yourselves and ruined my party!"

The girls gasp and turn to Austin with accusatory glares. "You're seeing someone?" one of them gasps as the other overlaps her with, "I didn't think it was serious!"

Ally eeps! and shrinks even further behind Austin.

"See?" Morgan yells, pointing at Ally. "Freakin' adorable."

Austin runs a hand over his face in aggravation. "Yes! I'm seeing someone! Her name is Ally and if you so much as touch her, I'll—oh shit," he deflates, realizing that he can't do much since, well, they're girls. And he may believe in equality and shit but hitting girls is fucked up. Plus, his mom totally raised him better than that.

"Send me after your asses," Morgan hisses, stepping forth.

The two girls immediately pale and swallow nervously. "Morgan, that's—"

"We stopped being friends when you two were dumb enough to go after another girl's man," she growls. "That shit is low, and you two know better." She points at the exit. "Now get the hell out of my party."

The three of them watch as the two girls get up, falling over each other and themselves, as they scramble for the exit.

After the door shuts closed behind them, Morgan turns to the couple and rubs her forehead tiredly. "Every year. Every fucking year, there's a fight," she grumbles with an annoyed shrug. And then she pulls Ally out from under Austin's arm and looks at her. "Are you okay?"

Ally nods and sends her a shaky smile. "Thanks, Morgan."

She sends her a wry smile. "See? Told you there would be desperate hos and crazy bitches," she sighs, sounding resigned, not smug.

Ally gives a small, dry chuckle and shakes her head. "I was sort of hoping I'd have more time to prepare myself for them, I guess."

Morgan gives her a sympathetic look and then turns to Austin, gesturing out the door. "Why don't you take her home and the both of you can ring in the New Year quietly? I think you've both had enough excitement for one night."

Austin blinks rapidly, surprised by her thoughtfulness. "Really? You sure? The party seems like it's getting back to normal," he says as he jerks a thumb over his shoulder.

Morgan rolls her eyes. "Please. You think I didn't notice the two of you hiding out in a corner all night?" she scoffs as she sizes them up with a pointed look.

Their gazes skitter away in embarrassed guilt.

She laughs and with a dirty smirk, points out, "Hey, at least I didn't catch you two in a closet or anything; caught my third couple about ten minutes before the fight. You two are annoyingly scandal-free." She wrinkles her nose. "Well, except for Austin's face starting a fight."

"It is a curse," he deadpans.

Morgan sighs and pats his cheek patronizingly. "Oh, baby, I'm sure it is." Ally giggles and she shoots the shorter brunette a grin before her hand falls away. "Now go home and do gross coupley stuff like play checkers or eat pudding or whatever," she orders with a dismissive wave of her hand.

Austin gives an amused snort and shakes his head. "Okay. We'll go home and eat some pudding, then," he says drolly.

She pulls Ally into a big hug, rocking their bodies side to side. "Well, thanks for making it even if you two were totally lame and hid out in a corner all night," she sighs. But when they pull apart, she grins at the couple.

"We, uh, we had fun," Ally attempts politely.

Morgan snorts. "Liar. This so isn't your scene, is it?"

Ally shakes her head in a pained and relieved expression. "It really isn't."

"Well, you came anyway and that's the important part," the blonde laughs and shrugs. "Anyway, I'm gonna go talk some poor loser into getting out that Coke stain in the carpet," she sighs as she gestures to the area where she previously doused the girls. "Bye, guys!" she says with a wave as she sashays away.

As they watch her retreating back, Austin sighs. "She still thinks your name is Bets, doesn't she?"

"Totally."


"Okay," Ally starts, whirling around the second she's closed the door to his apartment. "What the heck happened?"

Austin groans and slouches off to the couch to sit down. "I don't even know," he says as he rubs a hand over his eyes. But he waits until she has joined him on the couch before retelling the events. "You were gone, I'm waiting for my delicious smokies—which I never got, by the way—and then one of them came up and asked if I wanted a drink. I said no and then the other girl came up to me and asked the same question but I also said no."

"And then?" she presses.

He shrugs. "Then the first one starts acting all smug, like, 'Oh, he's not interested in you, either!' and I tried to calm them down but the other girl was kind of drunk and she just sort of… lunged."

Ally wrinkles her nose. "That's it?"

"I told you I didn't do anything," he scoffs, sounding a little hurt.

"I'm sorry. I honestly didn't think you did anything to initiate the fight, though," she sighs. "I just wanted to know what happened."

"I was just afraid you thought I was leading them on or something."

She frowns, feeling guilty. "I wasn't trying to imply that I thought that," she says, sending him an apologetic glance.

Austin pulls her close and kisses the top of her hair. "It's alright," he whispers as she settles her head against his shoulder.

"I still feel bad," she says, looking up at him.

He looks down at her, perplexed. "I started a cat fight today. I think I'm feeling worse than you."

She chuckles. "What? It didn't do wonders for your ego?" she jokes.

"Doesn't mean anything if I've got a lady to call my own," he says with a shrug.

She smacks a hand to her forehead, giggling at his words. "I'm telling you, Austin, I'm not getting into any fights over you," she laughs.

"Shh," he murmurs in her ear, his breath tickling her. "Let a guy dream." He stares at her with the most tender look he can muster and in the most loving voice he says, "I'd beat the shit out of some guy for you."

"Romantic," Ally says dryly as she stares at him, unimpressed.

"Baby, I know," he whispers with waggling eyebrows before nuzzling her nose with his, making her erupt in bright laughter after he pulls away with a grin.

She hums in contentment and glances at the clock. "So we have less than an hour before the New Year, what do you want to do?"

He shrugs. "Go-Gurt and YouTube videos of cute baby animals?"

Ally lights up at the prospect of making Austin watch her favorite otter video for the umpteenth time. "It's like you read my mind," she sighs happily.

He groans. "But my laptop is in my room." He makes feeble grabby motions toward the hallway. "Argh," he grunts pathetically, "so… far… away."

She frowns. "Well, one of us has to get up and grab it."

"Why can't that someone be you? You gotta take initiative sometimes, Ally," he says arrogantly.

Her eyes narrow and she holds out a fist. "Rock, paper, scissors," she orders, sitting up and squaring her shoulders.

Austin follows suit, his spine shooting straight up in challenge. "Oh, you're on."

Moments later, Austin finds himself shuffling off in the direction of his room in dejection.

"Pull up the otter video!" she calls after him.

He waves her off dismissively, but hides a grin to himself; he's had that page bookmarked for her ages ago.


"So, you got any New Year's resolutions?" Austin asks as he stares down at her curiously. There's a half-smile on his face as he waits for her answer.

They'd gotten bored after the YouTube videos a while ago and were pretty much spending their time cuddling on the couch and talking. With only a few minutes left of the current year, Austin felt like the question was appropriate.

Ally shrugs. "Oh, I don't know," she admits in a low hum. "I'm pretty happy with where I'm at in my life right now so I didn't really think about it this year."

"Really?" He sounds surprised. "No offense, but you totally seem like the goal-setting, resolution-making type of girl," he says as he looks at her thoughtfully.

Ally shoots him a sheepish look. "Well, I used to come up with them all the time and I'd even set monthly and quarterly goals to achieve," she confesses. At the triumphant 'Aha!' on his face, she rolls her eyes before continuing. "But then I finished college and now I co-own Sonic Boom with my dad and I live in a nice, but affordable, apartment, so... I'm pretty happy," she explains.

"And now you've got a man, too," he adds with a waggle of his eyebrows.

She laughs and nudges him playfully. "I'm basically set for the new year," she says with a short nod. "A career, a good job, even a boyfriend!" He smiles cockily at her and she adds with a heavy sigh, "Too bad he's just alright."

"Ouch."

She giggles and bumps his shoulder with her own. "What about you?" she murmurs. "Have you got a New Year's resolution, hm?"

Austin snorts derisively. "Why would somebody as awesome as me make a New Year's resolution? I don't need to improve on anything."

"You're absolutely right," Ally deadpans. "There's nothing that you should consider working on, especially not your ego. It's already at the right amount of 'massive'."

He chuckles and tugs on a lock of her hair. "Oh, c'mon, I'm just kidding," he says with a lopsided grin, now winding that same lock of hair around a finger. "My New Year's resolution is to save more orphan puppies, obviously."

Ally bats her eyelashes and sighs dreamily. "My, that's oh so noble of you," she coos. And then she pokes him in the arm. "But really. You don't have one?"

He shrugs noncommittally. "I've never really made them," he confesses. "Sometimes, I try to cut back on pancakes but it just never works." Ally giggles at that and he turns to her. "But you should make one," he says with a small bump to her shoulder. "Since, you know, you used to make them all the time."

She tilts her head to the side and gives him a considering look. "Well, you got any ideas for me?" she asks. "Any comments or suggestions?"

Austin purses his lips in thought before answering. "Yeah, a few."

She eyes the clock on the wall and turns to him. "You've got about ten seconds. Lay them on me," she says quickly with a curious grin.

"Okay, you ready? You think you can take some constructive criticism?"

"Nine." Her eyebrows knit together worriedly. "Of course," she says softly.

"Well," he starts in a slow, careful voice, "you never yell."

"Eight."

"You never start fights."

"Seven."

"And you're way too pretty. Like, all the time. It's beyond ridiculous."

"Six." She quirks an eyebrow at him. "Really? That's it?" She's fighting a losing battle to keep the smile off her face.

He nods somberly. "They're all serious problems, Ally."

"Five. Are they?"

"Oh yeah. You should definitely work on them."

"Four." She grins at him. "I'll definitely make an effort to," she says quietly.

Austin smirks and brushes some hair away from her face, tucking it behind her ear gently. "Good." His hands come up to cup her face and he stares at her with a mock-serious look. "So you got your New Year's resolution, then?"

"Three." She nods. "I think so."

Austin stares the clock and resumes the countdown for them. "Go ahead."

"Two. Must yell more, must start fights, mustn't be too pretty all the time because it's beyond ridiculous," she murmurs jokingly with a slow, warm smile.

"Sounds perfect," he whispers, leaning in towards her as their eyes start to slide closed.

"One," she whispers, her breath hitting Austin's lips right before he closes the distance between them, his lips slanting over hers in a slow, tantalizing kiss that makes her knees go weak.