Hey All! So next chapter is here! Woohoo! It's a little shorter, but to make it up to you I'm going to be bringing out the next chapter this Sunday (so like two days time), so yasss.

I own nothing and all that jazz, have a read and a relax and hopefully you like it. :)


Their sort of first, sort of second full day in Texas is sunshine. It's exploring Austin's hometown with his family, it's joking with Jace and chatting with the cousins. It's flitting in and out of the farmer's market stalls. It's blushing and trying not to think too much into things when Austin pushes her hair behind her ear. It's happiness and nerves and butterflies and terror. It's learning more about Austin and learning to love his family. It's sweaty hand holding and quick pecks on the cheek in an effort to convince all of his family that they are, in fact, dating.

Ally loves every second of it. Actually, that's not entirely true. She loves every second of learning more about Austin. She loves the butterflies and the sunshine and the farmer's markets that put any others that she's been to to utter shame. She loves chatting and laughing and feeling wanted. She loves Jace and the cousins. She doesn't even mind Mimi leaning into her and asking her about Austin and she positively adores listening to Mimi dish about his most embarrassing stories as a child.

The seconds she doesn't love, are the terrifying ones where she thinks her heart might beat its way out of her chest and just flop onto the floor and kind of wither there for a while, still beating while Ally looks on for a second and then crumples to the floor in a mess of blood and cliches and bad 60s horror movies. Ally doesn't love the moments where she feels as if Austin has to be hearing the skipping of her heart, where she thinks he just has to notice the sweatiness of her palms, the deer-in-the-headlights look in her eyes every time he brushes past her, or looks meaningfully into her eyes, or leans in to brush her hair or kiss her sweetly. He's keeping things extremely PG rated today, something she's more than grateful for, but she's still absolutely freaking out.

Because all Ally's been able to think about since roughly 7 o'clock this morning have been the words that had tumbled no-so-gracefully out of Austin's mouth. She hasn't been able to let go of his 'I think I might be in love with Ally'. Because the thing is, Ally is positively petrified of Austin. Not in any scary or bad way, but she's terrified of the effect he has on her, the butterflies that have taken up residence in her stomach whenever he touches or even so much as brushes her (so they're there pretty fucking often, goddamnit) and that the butterflies are beginning to turn into fireworks.

Ally's come to terms with the fact that she definitely likes and maybe even a little bit loves Austin Monica Moon. She's not happy about it, and the butterflies that are slowly turning into something a little more distracting and a lot more painful are annoying and kind of hurting, but she's fine.

And she has been fine, whenever she's had tiny, fleeting crushes on Austin in the past, she's quenched them fiercely. She's given herself a stern talking to, or enlisted Trish for the job. She's never allowed them to get further than a glancing thought on his bright, laughing hazel eyes and his enchanting personality.

And now, it might be a little more intense and a little more out of her hands (not something she can push away with a quick word), but it's just her thing. It's her own feelings that she needs to get a grip on, because she's lucky to have Austin in her life in any way, and she doesn't even think she's wants to risk losing him for a chance at a relationship that probably neither of them are really ready for anyway.

And so Ally had been fine, keeping feelings tightly wrapped for the last day, and the last two years, and trying hard not to think about her unrequited whatever on Austin, because that's all it had ever been. Something small, something manageable, something categorised, something completely Ally, something controllable and okay.

And now, all of a sudden, Austin's come through and ransacked her mind's filing cabinets, the categories are fucking everywhere and nowhere, nothing is manageable and nothing is okay, in a display of the kind of havoc only Austin can wreak. Ally isn't really okay, because her and Austin is something she's never even really considered, yesterday and before that. There's always been someone else out there for Austin, someone better, and someone decidedly not Ally. And she's never questioned the way Austin felt about her (it'd been in a clearly labeled box in her brain which this morning Austin had thrown out the goddamn window). It's always been purely friendly and completely innocent.

But now… Now Ally has no idea what is going on in Austin brain.

Ally has no idea what's going on in her brain, for crying out loud. (She hasn't for the last 24 hours at least and she isn't remotely happy about it.)

Shit.


The day passes in a blur of chaste kisses and laughter and sunshine for Austin. He's basking in Ally's warmth and avoiding Jace's obtrusive and pointed gaze and chatting with the stall owners and his family. It's all more than good.

Only, every now and then, when he brushes Ally or leans toward her, or whispers in her ear (and okay, no, it's obviously not just because he wants to convince his parents anymore, but more because he wants to, so sue him), Ally gets this look in her eyes, like she wants to run away. Like, far, far away. Like Canada kind of far away. And then she blinks and the look is gone and she's no longer a deer in the headlights and she turns away quickly, entering into a conversation with Mimi or Jace, or anyone else who is lucky enough to get a second in her presence. Ally is warming the entire state with her personality without even realising it, and Austin can tell that his family adore her (something he's both pleased and kind of mad about, because they can love her, but they can't take his Ally away from him, he wants some time with her too, goddamnit).

Ally's enchanting everyone just by being her, and Austin is no exception - he's well and truly under her spell.


And there is was friends. Hopefully you liked it, I absolutely love the reviews you leave me, and to the Guest who asked me about the prompted one-shot, I'm working on it, but I'll probably not post it for a couple weeks until I kind of get a bit more through this, because it's going to turn into a bit of a crazy long multi-chap to be honest.

Anyway, please leave a review :)

All the love, have a fantastic weekend and day.