A/N: I do not own ANT Farm or Austin & Ally. They belong to Disney.

Chapter 7: The Way Things Were

After the events on the terrace everyone returned to the music room to celebrate and have a good laugh. Chyna kept trying to get a picture of Fletcher and Olive "smooching", much like she had done before, when they had pretended to date, but they were having no part of it. Eventually Chyna pretended to give up, but the second Fletcher gave Olive another kiss they heard the distinct sound of a cell phone camera taking a picture.

"Sorry, you guys are still my favorite sweethearts," Chyna said with a smile.

"It's okay Chyna. I know the camera loves me," Olive replied playfully.

"I don't know about the camera, but I know I love you," Fletcher then said and Olive gave him a loving smile in return.

"I love you too," Olive replied.

"Aww, I LOVE love," Ally said with a sigh.

"I LOVE love too," Chyna replied.

"Well I love that you love love," Ally then responded.

"Well I love that you love that I love…okay we should probably stop that," Chyna said with a laugh.

"Yes!" everyone, but Ally and Chyna, then said at once.

"Okay guys, Chyna and I should really get started on that song for her audition," Ally said as politely as she could.

"Alright, we'll leave you guys alone for a while. We'll all meet back up for dinner," Austin said as he led everyone out of the music room.

Once everyone had left Ally and Chyna sat down at the piano to begin writing the song.

"So what do you usually do for inspiration when writing songs?" Ally asked her.

"I usually like to write about what is happening around me. I tend to get a lot of inspiration from my personal life," Chyna answered.

"Me too! I absolutely love songs that are personal to the songwriter."

"Well we've had plenty going on, over the last couple of days, to inspire us; that's for sure," Chyna replied with a grin.

"There you go! I'm sure you could write an amazing song about everything that's happened," Ally said.

"Well I'm not the only person writing this song, so I would love to include some things that are personal to you in it as well."

"Like what?" Ally asked.

"Well, to start with, how about your feelings for Austin?" Chyna replied with a grin.

"What? My feelings for Austin? What do you mean?"

"Come on Ally, it's so obvious that the two of you are in love with each other," Chyna answered.

"Well…we're really good friends, but I don't know about being in love with each other," Ally replied timidly.

"You're not fooling me Ally. There is definitely something going on there."

"There was something going on, but not anymore," Ally then said sadly.

"What happened?"

"We dated for a few days and then things got awkward and we were worried that it was going to interfere with our careers, so we broke up," Ally replied, but she sounded like it hurt to talk about it.

"I'm so sorry Ally, but it sounds like you kind of regret making that decision to me."

"I do…but I also don't. Does that make any sense?" Ally asked.

"Yes it does, but it also sounds like you guys barely gave it a chance before just giving up," Chyna replied.

"Maybe, but I just don't know. Things are so complicated," Ally said in frustration.

"Ally, be honest with me. How do you really feel about Austin?"

"I…he's…I'm in love with him. You were right I'm totally in love with him, but I'm scared," Ally finally said.

"It's okay to be scared, but you can't let that hold you back from being with the one you love," Chyna said as she gently rubbed Ally's back to console her.

"The way things were when we were dating…I'm so worried that we'll never be able to get past that and that it will ruin our friendship," Ally cried.

"Maybe you guys were trying too hard to change things when you started dating. Instead of just doing what you always do, but as a couple, you tried to make everything different."

"Yeah…I guess so."

"Things don't seem awkward at all between the two of you now, but you still clearly have feelings for each other. Nothing really has to change, it just becomes a little more intimate," Chyna suggested.

"You're right. I just have to get over this fear the same way I got over my stage fright," Ally replied with a weak smile. "Thanks Chyna, you really seem to know what you're talking about."

"That's because I spend a lot of time around Olive and she has read a lot of books on dating," Chyna said with a laugh.

"Well then she certainly knows what she's talking about," Ally replied with a laugh of her own.

"So you promise you won't give up on the idea of dating Austin?" Chyna asked.

"I promise," Ally answered with a smile and a hug. "So, let's get started on that song."

"Okay, but just let me make a quick phone call," Chyna said as she stood up and left the room for a moment.

While Chyna was gone Ally started to play a tune on the piano as she contemplated what Chyna had said. She began to realize that Chyna was right about how she had not even given her relationship with Austin a chance before giving up on it. She also began to wonder if Austin was in love with her as well, but she wasn't sure. She knew that Austin still had feelings for her, because he had admitted that, but how strong were those feelings? Before Ally could come up with an answer Chyna returned.

"Okay, let's get started," Chyna said as she sat down.

For the next few hours the two of them batted around ideas and came up with melodies. They began to find that between the two of them writing a song wasn't hard at all. Soon a beautiful song started to come together and Chyna's confidence in her audition began to rise. They were so focused on writing that they barely even noticed how much time had passed. If Chyna had not gotten a text they might not have even glanced at the clock.

"Oh wow, it's later than I thought. We were supposed to meet everyone for dinner," Ally said when she noticed the time.

"That's what this text was about. They said to meet out on the terrace, so why don't you go on out there and I'll meet you in a few minutes," Chyna replied.

"Okay," Ally said as she left the room and headed for the terrace.

When Ally arrived she was greeted by a strange scene. She found that the lights had been turned off around the terrace and one of the tables had been draped with a fancy white table cloth. On the table were two candles and two covered dishes. If Ally didn't know better she would have thought someone was planning a romantic dinner. It took a second for Ally to realize that she was alone on the terrace, which she found odd as Chyna had said everyone was waiting. After a minute or so the doors opened again and Austin walked out.

"Hey Ally, how's the song…whoa! What's going on out here?" Austin asked as he noticed the table.

"I don't know. Where is everyone else?" Ally asked.

"They told me I should head on out here and that they would be up in a second."

"Wait a second…I think I know what is happening here," Ally said with a look of comprehension.

"What?"

"They just set us up on a romantic dinner date," Ally answered with a smile.

"Really?" Austin asked nervously. "Well…do you want to…I mean we don't have to…?"

"I think it would be nice," Ally replied as she reached out and took Austin's hand.

"Do you think it's a good idea?"

"I'm willing to take that risk if you are," Ally replied.

"Okay, let's do this," Austin said with more confidence and then led Ally over to the table.

Austin pulled Ally's chair out for her, like a true gentleman, and then he took his own seat. The two of them then spent a moment just glancing around at how beautiful the scene was. The sky was full of stars and between the moonlight and the candlelight they had no trouble seeing at all. After they got comfortable they lifted the covers on their dishes and then both let out a laugh. On Austin's plate was a stack of pancakes and on Ally's plate was heart shaped salami and pickles.

"That is awesome!" Austin said.

"This has to be Dez's handy work," Ally replied with a smile.

"Wow, they really went to a lot of work," Austin then said.

"I think it's sweet. You know they all want to see us back together," Ally replied.

"I know, but things are complicated."

"Only because we made them complicated," Ally countered.

"What do you mean?" Austin asked in confusion.

"I mean, we thought we had to make everything different because we were dating, but why change what brought us together in the first place? We have an amazing relationship."

"Yeah, we do, but things got awkward when we were dating," Austin pointed out.

"Yeah, but did we really give it a chance? I feel like we just gave up so easily," Ally said sadly.

"I've felt the same way, but I'm also scared," Austin admitted.

"Remember what my Mom told me to help get me over my stage fright? She told me not to over think things, and that's exactly what we did."

"So…are you saying you want to get back together?" Austin asked.

"Only if you want to as well," Ally replied timidly.

"I do want to. I have for a while, but I didn't think it was what you wanted," Austin finally admitted with a smile.

"Well then let's make it official. Will you be my boyfriend again Austin Moon?" Ally asked.

"I would love to Ally Dawson," Austin answered as he reached across the table and took Ally's hand.

They then ate the meals that were prepared for them with a feeling like a weight had been lifted from their shoulders after so much time. They were both relieved to find that there was no longer any awkwardness. As they finally finished their meals they were surprised to hear beautiful violin music playing.

"Where is that music coming from?" Austin asked in confusion.

"It's me Chyna! I'm playing this music over the speakers. Angus helped me tap into the system, so what are you waiting for? Get up and dance," Chyna said over the speakers.

They both just laughed as Austin stood up and offered Ally his hand.

"May I have this dance?" Austin asked.

"Of course," Ally replied as she took his hand and stood from her chair.

Austin then pulled Ally close and began to slowly dance with her. As they danced they couldn't help but smile at each other.

"Remember when we danced together at Trish's Quinceanera?" Austin asked.

"Yeah, that was fun," Ally said with a smile.

"Well I never told you this, but there was something I really wanted to do that night, but I didn't have the courage."

"What was it?" Ally asked curiously.

"This," Austin said and then leaned forward and kissed Ally.

The two of them stopped dancing for a moment and just enjoyed the kiss. It wasn't a deep kiss; it was more gentle and loving. Austin gently cupped Ally's cheek with his hand as he placed slow kisses on her lips and Ally returned each one as she ran a hand through his hair. When they finally stopped Austin was surprised to find Ally crying softly.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"I've never been better. I love you Austin," Ally replied.

"I love you too Ally," Austin said and then kissed her again.

A/N: One more chapter to go, and don't worry, I haven't forgotten about Trez. It's coming in the next chapter.