Disclaimer: I do not own Austin & Ally.


It was a sleepless night for Austin. Part of the reason was because of his breakup with Kira. He definitely hadn't been expecting that, but he wondered why he wasn't more upset over it than he actually was. The bigger reason why he couldn't sleep was because of what Kira had told him.

She broke up with him because she thought he had feelings for someone else. Not just any someone else, but Ally. His dorky, brainy, awkward songwriter/best friend Ally. But hadn't he made it clear that he didn't like her? Why in the world would he have been dating Kira if he had feelings for Ally? Clearly, they were just friends. The measures Ally took to help him go on a date with Kira in the first place proved that.

She had also claimed that he was acting jealous. Jealous of Elliot of all people! Why in the world would he be jealous of him? He was just upset that Ally hadn't had time for songwriting with Elliot around all the time. Then why was he still upset after they had started working on their new song? And why had he gotten into that fight with her when she told him Elliot had asked her out on a date?

His questions remained unanswered and continued to swirl around his head as he tossed and turned on his mattress. It couldn't be because he had feelings for Ally. Austin could clearly remember how he had reacted when he read Ally's songbook and mistakenly thought she had had a crush on him. He was utterly shocked. Not that Ally wasn't a great girl, but he didn't want to ruin what was between them. After all, things had been working out great since they had become partners. Why ruin something that already worked so well?

That still didn't explain why he hadn't wanted Ally to go on that date with Elliot. He had told her he was just trying to protect her. Ally deserved better than some guy that asked her out on a date only to skip town the next day. She had told him that she could make her own decisions. But why couldn't she see that Elliot was clearly the wrong choice for her? He was... he was- Austin took a moment to think, but he struggled to come up with a reason why they shouldn't date.

Elliot was nice. He was an old friend of hers. He knew Ally really well, maybe even better than Austin did. He had a lot in common with her. They were both terrible dancers. They both loved crafting. They both hated the beach. They both liked school. Hadn't this been the kind of guy Ally had been waiting for? She had even told him how she'd had a lot of experience with one-sided crushes. This was her chance to break out of that and finally be with a guy that made her happy.

But he wouldn't make her happy, a voice said in the back of his mind. It was the same voice that he heard during his fight with Ally. He just had this feeling that she shouldn't be with him. He couldn't explain it. He isn't right for her, the voice called again.

"But you are." It was Kira's voice this time, saying what she had said right before she broke up with him. "A lot of guys aren't right for Ally, but you are."

The voice in his head didn't speak up again to object. But that couldn't have been right. He-he couldn't have been the one for Ally, could he? He pushed the thought away. He was beginning to feel a massive headache coming on.

What he needed right now was sleep. If he kept thinking he was afraid his head would explode. Burying his head back into his pillow, Austin forced his eyes shut. Whatever he was thinking about, it wasn't going to get him anywhere, so he willed himself to fall asleep. Soon, he found himself drifting off, vaguely making out the image of a familiar pair of sweet brown eyes beaming at him as he fell asleep.


Ally started her day at work with mixed feelings. She was still upset over her fight with Austin from the night before. That was the last time she had spoken to him too. She hadn't seen him that upset in a really long time. It worried her. The night before, she had considered calling him and apologizing for the fight, but there was a part of her that would stop herself each time. She needed this. Moving on from Austin would be good for her. She could totally do this. At least that's what she tried to convince her.

There was also her date with Elliot to think about. After calling him, he had excitedly told her that he'd meet her that night and Ally couldn't help feeling slightly guilty when she heard the enthusiasm is his voice. She wished she could feel the same way, but she told herself that she'd be excited when she met him that night. At least, she hoped she did. There was still a small part of her that was telling her she should've gone with her original plan and said no, but she didn't have the heart to cancel on Elliot. He still deserved a chance.

Lost in her thoughts, Ally hadn't even noticed Trish walking into the store.

"Ally? Ally!"

Trish's sharp voice cut into Ally's internal deliberating, making her jump.

"Trish!" she exclaimed, blinking hard a few times to clear her head. "When did you get here? Why are you yelling at me?"

"I walked in a few minutes ago and you were totally spaced out. I had to call your name like five times."

Ally sighed. "Sorry. I've just got a lot on my mind. Especially after last night."

"Really? What happened last night?" Trish asked, leaning against the counter.

"It's kind of a long story."

Trish shrugged her shoulders in response. "I've got time."

"Are you sure?" Ally asked. "Don't you have to get to work?" Instead of replying to Ally's question, Trish just gave her a look, one of her eyebrows arched and raised high. "Right," Ally said, understanding.

"So," Trish continued, "what happened?"

Remaining silent for a moment, Ally gathered her thoughts before deciding how to explain everything to Trish. "Remember how during lunch a few days ago you asked me what I'd do if Elliot asked me out?"

"Yeah."

"Well, Elliot asked me out."

Ally winced when Trish let a small shriek escape her lips. She proceeded to do a little jig out of giddiness for her friend.

"I knew it! I told you so! I. Told. You. So!" she yelled happily, enunciated each word. "So, when's the date?"

"Trish, I haven't even told you how I answered yet."

Trish froze in the middle of her victory dance. "Wait, you said no?" she asked, not bothering to disguise her disappointment.

Ally bit her lip. "Well not exactly-"

"So you did say yes!"

Hesitantly, Ally nodded her head and Trish proceeded with her dance. "Could you hold still? I really wanted to talk to you about this."

"What's there to talk about?" she asked excitedly. "You're going on a date! I'm so happy for you!"

"It's actually a lot more complicated than that."

Hearing Ally's worried tone, she Trish stopped her dancing and calmed down. "What do you mean it's complicated?"

"I kind of got into a fight with Austin."

"What does that have to do with you going on a date with Elliot?"

"He was acting really weird. And when I told him Elliot asked me out he wanted me to turn Elliot down."

Just thinking back on the argument made Ally upset. To be honest, the two of them hadn't really fought like that before. Sure sometimes they'd get mad or annoyed, but they'd usually forgive each other within the hour and things would go back to normal. But it was different this time and it left Ally with an uneasy feeling.

"Austin didn't want you to go on a date with Elliot?"

She turned her attention back to Trish, nodding her head as she answered. "That's what he told me."

"Did he seem jealous?"

Trish's question caught Ally off guard a bit. "Why in the world would he be jealous?"

"Oh, I don't know," Trish drawled sarcastically. "Maybe because the girl of his dreams is going on a date with a really cute guy?"

Ally gave her friend a pointed look. "How many time have we been over this, Trish? Austin doesn't like me! He's dating Kira."

"Then why would he tell you not to go out with Elliot? Doesn't that seem kind of suspicious?"

Ally shrugged her shoulders. "Austin doesn't always think things through. Maybe he was just acting on some strange impulse."

A skeptical expression crept onto Trish's face. "Something tells me it was more than just some impulse."

"I don't know, Trish. I'm not even sure if I should go on this date! I feel like I'm leading Elliot on. I was actually planning on saying no, but he said he just wanted a chance. And I said yes because I thought he deserved it."

"Are you sure you didn't say yes for any other reasons?"

That guilty feeling she got when she was on the phone with Elliot was back. "Well…" She found she couldn't really answer.

"Ally, calm down. You're going to have a great time! Just focus on Elliot and forget about Austin. You deserve this date too."

She didn't completely believe in Trish, but Ally figured there wasn't much she could do about it now.

"Maybe."

"You're going on a date, Ally?" a third voice interrupted them.

Turning to face the entrance of Sonic Boom, Ally and Trish saw Dez standing by the doors, sipping a smoothie through a straw.

"Actually, she is," Trish replied for her.

"Dez," Ally asked, her brows furrowing, "how long have you been standing there?"

"Huh," Dez started, looking around where he was standing. "I don't know. I swear I was just standing outside of Fruity Smoothie." Suddenly his eyes widened comically. "You don't think the aliens transported me here, do you?"

They girls stared at him strangely for a moment before Trish decided to ignore him and turned back to speak to Ally.

"So what are you and Elliot doing tonight?"

"He said he'd meet me here at six. We're going out for dinner at Grant's Grill."

"I'm so excited for you! You have to tell me everything when it's over!"

"Me too!" Dez piped up again. "I love Grant's Grill! Try the new appetizer and let me know what you think! I want to try it, but I don't want to order it if it isn't any good."

The confused looks came back, but Ally didn't really want to dampen his mood. So she simply replied, "Sure thing, Dez."

Ally still wasn't convinced this date was a good idea, but she at least needed to give it a shot, right? She needed to forget about Austin tonight. This would be good for her. Well, she really hoped it would be.


For the first time in a while, Austin had stayed home on a Saturday. Usually he was out with his friends, or playing a concert, and recently he'd been going out with Kira. But today, he had no plans. And he didn't really want to go to Sonic Boom and meet his friends. When he woke up that morning, he found that he was still as confused as ever and he didn't think going to see Ally would make things any clearer. Instead he had stayed home, trying to keep his mind off of Ally. He played his guitar. He played video games. He tried to make something to eat. And when what he made turned out to be burnt mess, he heated up leftovers from dinner the night before and ate that instead.

Now, he was lying in bed, staring at the blank ceiling. He willed his mind to go blank too, but it wasn't working. The whole entire day, even though he had tried so hard, all he could think about was Ally. So he had resorted to staring at the ceiling in silence. He couldn't even listen to music because it reminded him of her. How could one girl completely turn his life upside down? And when did that one girl turn out to be Ally Dawson? Austin scrubbed at his face with his hands exasperatedly. He couldn't remember the last time his thoughts were this jumbled. Maybe that time he played Scrabble with Ally and all of her words turned out to be at least three syllables long. It gave him a massive headache trying to read all the words on the board.

There he went again, thinking about her! He needed a distraction. Any kind of distraction. He was going to drive himself crazy with his constant internal dialogue.

"Hey, Austin."

Speaking of distractions. Austin got up from his bed and saw Dez sitting on his windowsill.

"Dez! What's up?"

His redheaded friend shrugged before swinging his legs through the window and entering Austin's room. "Nothing really. I think I was abducted by aliens today. They transported me from Fruity Smoothie to Sonic Boom!"

"Great! That sounds awesome," he said a bit too enthusiastically.

Dez caught on, finding his best friend's behavior strange. "Are you okay? I haven't seen you at all today and you're acting kind of weird."

"What?" he asked in a high-pitched voice. "I'm fine! Couldn't be better."

Dez eyed him skeptically, and Austin let out a sigh, not able to keep up the act.

"Alright, so maybe things could be a lot better." Austin sat back down on his bed heavily and sighed.

"What's up?"

"Kira broke up with me."

"Seriously?" Dez asked. "That's rough, buddy."

"Yeah, but you'd never guess why she broke up with me. She thinks that I have feelings for Ally! Isn't that crazy?"

"No."

Austin was taken aback by his reply and took a moment to collect his thoughts before asking a question. "You don't think that Kira thinking I like Ally is crazy?"

"Nope," Dez replied again calmly.

"Why not?"

"Because you like Ally."

Austin let out a groan and fell back onto his bed, covering his face with his hands. "Why does everyone keep saying that?" His voice came out muffled from underneath his hands.

"Because you do."

"But what if I don't!"

"Seriously, Austin?" Dez asked, giving him a doubtful look. "Don't you think it's about time you admit it? Denial is only going to come back to bite you in the butt."

"But I don't like Ally!"

"Are you sure? Have you really thought about it?"

"Yes! We're just friends! There's nothing else too it!" he cried desperately.

"No, like really, really thought about it. Why do you think everyone keeps saying you like Ally?"

Austin contemplated the idea. Why did everyone think that? He thought back to his conversation with Kira from the night before.

"I think you like Ally," she had said. "As more than just a friend."

As more than just a friend? But that's all that they were to each other! Ever since the beginning! Okay, well maybe not since the beginning. At first they were just partners. Ally had agreed to help him write songs and make his dream of being a famous singer come true. But along the way, they had started hanging out all the time and helping each other. And then he thought about how whenever Ally was happy so was he, especially when he was the one that put that smile on her face. And whenever she was sad, he could feel it too, like a million daggers piercing him. When had they made the jump from partners to best friends? Thinking back, he couldn't really say.

Actually, thinking back, he didn't know how he had ever gotten along without her. Had there really been a time in his life when he hadn't known her at all? Had he really once thought that he could make it without her? And suddenly he realized that he couldn't make it without her. Just like their song. She wasn't just his songwriter. She was there whenever he needed someone to talk to. She always supported him, front row at all of his concerts. She knew how to keep him grounded. She was always there for him no matter how stupid or reckless he was. And he needed her by his side.

The way she made his stomach flip. The way she'd make him feel like he was flying when they were singing together. The way she made him forget about everything and everyone else except her. Some of these things he just couldn't explain. She was Ally. That was the best explanation he could offer. But maybe he didn't need an explanation. He needed her. It was a fact. It didn't really matter why, just that he did. He needed her and-

A thought dawned on him, paralyzing him. "I like Ally." The realization struck him like a bolt of lightning. It was quick and he didn't completely register it at first, but then he could feel the shock. But it wasn't painful. Quite the opposite actually.

Dez snorted from his seat at Austin's desk. "Well that took you long enough."

"I like Ally," he repeated, letting his words sink in. Saying the words out loud sent a strange sensation though him. He imagined this must be what floating felt like. And then he was falling again. "Oh, my God! How could I have been so stupid?"

"You said it, dude, not me."

Austin quickly hopped out of his bed, beginning to pull on his sneakers and trying to find his jacket. " I need to find her!" But Dez remained in his seat, lounging leisurely in Austin's chair.

"Do you really think telling her in the middle of her date is such a good idea?"

Austin froze in the middle of his frantic dressing. "What?"

Dez glanced at his wristwatch. "Yup, it's already six fifteen. Ally said she and Elliot were going on their date at six. They should be at Grant's Grill by now."

"Why didn't you tell me that before?" he asked exasperatedly.

"Hey, don't blame me! You're the one that took forever to realize you were in love with your best friend!"

"I didn't even know she'd agreed to go out with him. We got into a fight over it last night, but she said she didn't know whether or not she was going to say yes yet."

"Well did your really think she was going to wait for you forever?"

"No, I just-She said she didn't even know if she liked him."

"You were going out with Kira this whole time. If Ally had feelings for you, I don't think she would've wanted to tell you while you were dating someone else. Maybe she thought it was time to meet someone else."

"But he's not right for her!"

"Then you need to tell her that! Go before it's too late!"

"I will! I'm going to find her and tell her," he said resolutely. He turned his attention back to his friend. "Thanks a lot, Dez. Really."

"Get out of here! Your girl is probably sharing an appetizer with some other guy right now!"

Austin grinned at him one last time and ran out of his bedroom. He finally knew how he felt about Ally. Now she needed to know. It was time to finally make things right.


Austin made a mad dash all the way to the mall from his house and finally found himself in the parking lot of Grant's Grill. He took a moment to catch his breath. He was sure he probably looked like a maniac running down the street, but he couldn't care less. He was only a few steps away from the entrance. Only a few steps away from finally letting Ally know how he felt. He couldn't tell if he was more excited or nervous. Probably a bit of both, but he felt like he was going to faint. It didn't help that his breathing still hadn't returned to normal yet.

Finally, he walked determinedly to the front doors of the restaurant. Nothing could stop him now. Nothing was going to get in his way. Nothing-

He stopped dead in his tracks. There, sitting on a bench by the doors was the last person he thought he'd see out here.

"Elliot?"

Elliot looked up from where he had been staring at the sidewalk. "Oh. Hey, Austin." He didn't look all that surprised to see him.

"What are you doing out here? Where's Ally?"

He gave Austin a knowing look, but it looked like there was a smile underneath it. A sad smile, but still a smile. "You just missed her. She left."


AN: Hello! I realize I'm just a tad bit late updating this, but I hope you guys don't hold it against me. I was flipping out over Campers & Complications! Give me a break!

Anyways, about the chapter: Man, I really wish I could've done this better... It felt so repetitive, but I was just trying to reinforce Austin and Ally's thoughts and try to show their feelings... But it wasn't as good as I wanted it to be. On the bright side, Austin finally realized his feelings! Hallelujah! About time, right? And I left a cliffhanger for you guys at the end. Where did Ally go? Will Austin find her in time and tell her his feelings? Find out next week on Impossible! (Insert cheesy theme song here.)

Thanks to everyone who's reading!

I hope you liked this chapter! Reviews are welcome and appreciated!

xoxo Cherie