A/N: Yeah…chapter 8 didn't quite turn out the way I'd hoped it would. Never again will I attempt to write in Austin's perspective. I hope this chapter makes up for the disappointment.

To "kk": I responded to your review to chapter 8 by adding a footnote, but then I figured you probably wouldn't go back and see if I made any changes, so here it is again: Just wanted to let you know that I really don't care much for Gavin either, and I loved that you called him "ye haw," so I went back and edited the ending of chapter 8 a little. It's still a craptacular cliffy, so I hope this chapter makes up for it. (I added a little throwback in this one, too.)

***I promise this chapter will be pretty much (if not completely) angst-free. I hope it's fluffy enough to make up for the anguish I've put you guys through. This will be the last real chapter of this story, but I do have an epilogue in the works.***

There aren't any real spoilers in here unless anyone really wants to look for things to be mad about. Then you can probably make a case that there are spoilers. And then lose because there aren't.

After writing this chapter, I realized there are quite a few similarities between this fic and book 12 of the Princess Diaries series. That's probably not a coincidence. Gavin reminds me a lot of JP, and I despise them both, so yeah…

Disclaimer: I do not and never will own Austin & Ally.


"Gavin?"

And there he was. The perfect boyfriend. The long-lost love finally making his reappearance. Her literal knight in shining armor riding in on a white stallion to sweep her off her feet and carry her away into the sunset…

Wait a sec. He didn't go to Marino. And as far as Ally was aware, he hadn't filled out any of the guest paperwork. Forget the horse—how did he even get into the building? And what was he doing here instead of in Alabama or wherever he'd said he was going to be, promoting his album?

None of that mattered the next instant because he'd taken off his helmet so she could see his electric blue eyes, and then he proclaimed in front of the whole school, "Ally Dawson, will you be my date to the prom?"

Up close now, she could see that the suit of armor seemed to be made of some kind of cheap aluminum that squeaked whenever he moved. And the horse was brown, but he'd painted it white.

But then Gavin was dismounting and taking both her hands into his, and she remembered that this was actually a dream come true, to be wooed by a handsome knight in shining armor. It was probably the most romantic thing anyone had ever done for her, and just the fact that he'd probably spent the entire past week avoiding her for the sole purpose of setting aside his career to come surprise her tonight…wow. He'd probably also spent the entire past week searching through various ranches in the area for the perfect white horse before resorting to painting a brown one because he felt none of the white ones were good enough. How could she not forgive him?

Ever the gentleman, Gavin pressed a soft, sweet kiss to the back of her hand as she blinked back tears, and all the onlookers cheered. And either Dez had brought a gramophone to prom in his backpack, or the deejay had decided to play some soft romantic music in the background, but Ally really couldn't be bothered to care at the moment because she was just so, so happy.

Gavin heroically brushed away her tears and whispered in her ear, "That's not all though. I told you I'd make it up to you, and I haven't quite done that yet."

Then, arm around her waist, he guided her over to the side of the room, saw that he still had everyone's attention, and declared more loudly, "I just wanted to let everyone here know that Ally Dawson is the love of my life, my soul mate, my other half, and the absolute best thing that has ever happened to me. And I wanted to know if…"

With a flourish, he pulled aside one of the tulle curtains to reveal the window overlooking the students' parking lot. What…?

And she saw it.

A freaking fireworks display.

Everyone let out a collective gasp as the display formed the words "MARRY ME, ALLY?" and she turned around and found Gavin suddenly down on one knee and holding out a small black velvet box…

A knight in shining armor riding in on a white horse? A public declaration of undying love? A fireworks display of a proposal by said knight in shining armor? Her dream proposal (minus the in-public part)?

It didn't get much more perfect than this.

As the senior class of Marino High held its breath in anticipation, Ally opened her mouth to say her fateful yes…

…And then the romantic background music came to a screeching halt as she spotted the individual faces in the crowd that mattered most.

Trish and Piper: face-palming. Dez: chewing his fingernails over a bowl of popcorn he was sharing with Carrie. Carrie: confusedly turning to Dez and whispering something while discreetly jerking a thumb in Austin's direction.

Austin.

Looking like someone just drove a fist into his stomach.

The next instant, she couldn't see Austin's face anymore because she was staring at the back of his head. He'd turned around and was disappearing into the throng of prom-goers.

Moments later, the echo from the slamming doors brought Ally fully back to reality. The reminder hit her like a lightning bolt, that 1) she was only seventeen; 2) she didn't approve of animal cruelty, no matter how romantic the intention; 3) Gavin had just turned something extremely personal to her into a public spectacle; 4) they'd only been dating for three months (two, if she wanted to get technical); and 5) she'd been planning to break up with him because he'd been getting on her nerves for weeks now.

So, ignoring the gasps and whispers, she took the little box, snapped the lid shut, and dragged Gavin out into the hall by the wrist.

"Gavin, what was that?"

He seemed startled by the question. "Well, I know I told you I'd be out of town this weekend, but then I realized that you're more important to me than my album. So here I am." And then he grinned widely and held out his arms, as if to say, "Surprise!"

"I meant the horse. And this suit of armor. And the fireworks."

He cocked his head to one side like a clueless puppy. "Did I do something wrong? I just thought it would be a romantic way of apologizing for not being around so much lately. If it's too much, we could do something simpler. How about a midnight picnic with pickles and heart-shaped salami? I could serenade you with a love song I wrote last week."

What was this? Another attempt to bait her into falling for his shenanigans? To mess with her mind and make her vacillate between him and Austin like she was perpetually on her period?

Not this time.

"Gavin. You spray painted a brown horse white. That's animal cruelty! And the fireworks? Is that even legal on school property? Not to mention I'm only seventeen! I'm too young to get engaged! My dad would kill me! And was it really necessary to make a public spectacle out of something that you know I find really personal? For you to do that was incredibly embarrassing and distasteful, not to mention presumptuous!"

Okay, maybe that last part was pushing it a bit. She probably sounded like a Veruca Salt-caliber spoiled brat whose diamond shoes were too tight. After all, the poor guy was just trying to make up for missing a majority of her prom night, and she was tearing apart everything he did like nothing would ever be good enough…

So she cringed and waited for him to yell right back at her. Accuse her of being a bratty ingrate. Something.

It would be their first actual fight as a couple. Then at least she'd know he wasn't some kind of emotionless robot who just smiled and nodded until she calmed down. Then at least she'd know that he cared enough to argue with her instead of ignoring her until she transformed back into sweet, chipper Ally.

But Gavin just smiled sheepishly, scratched the back of his neck, and said, "I'm sorry, Ally. You're right, it was a bit too much. Let me make it up to you. How about—"

Was this guy for real?

"No, Gavin. And don't think I said no because of the way you asked. Don't think I haven't seen you throwing away the pickles in your sandwiches when you think I'm not looking. Do you even like pickles, or were you lying to me? And the cloud watching and movie nights, too. Did you really think I didn't notice you sneaking out your phone every time? If you don't like pickles and cloud watching, then why didn't you just tell me, instead of letting me think you were the perfect guy?"

Nope, she definitely wasn't feeling guilty anymore. Because it wasn't just her imagination. He was actually treating her like a petulant child who could be cured with a trip to the candy store.

She'd always thought Gavin was the "perfect guy" because she was blinded by her weakness for cheesy romanticism. Now she realized that her gut feeling had been right—that something had always felt "off" about her perfect relationship, not just because she still had feelings for Austin but also because she and Gavin seemed just a little too compatible. They'd never even had a real argument because Gavin immediately agreed with whatever she said.

She sifted through her recent memories for one thing they didn't allegedly have in common.

Favorite ice cream flavor? Fruity mint swirl.
Favorite song? "Me and You."
Favorite restaurant? A La Mour.
Favorite work by Shakespeare? Romeo and Juliet.
Favorite food? Well, he claimed it was pickles…but then why would he sneak them out of his burgers and hide them in a napkin? To save them for later because he loved them so much? Please.
Favorite movie? Well, to be fair, he had asked her first. She'd replied, "Letters from a Lover Long Lost," prompting him to exclaim, "Me too!"

(She then laughed and informed him that she was just testing him because no such movie existed, and he laughed, too, and promised her that if he ever went on tour without her, he would write her "a bazillion love letters, and they'll make a summer romance blockbuster so big, it'll make Titanic and The Notebook quake in their shoes." And then she admitted that her favorite movie was actually Roman Holiday, and he immediately replied, "Me too! It's like we're connected on a deeper level or something…" and they spent the rest of that afternoon cuddling on her couch because she'd been too much of an idiot to see what he was really doing.)

On the other hand, she barely had anything in common with Austin, and he was always encouraging (dragging) her on adventures to experience new things. Sure, they fought occasionally, and fighting with Austin really, really sucked, but they always talked things out in the end. And while Austin was certainly less clingy than Gavin, he was always there for her when it really mattered.

Apart from that brief interval when they were trying too hard to be the perfect couple, too scared to hurt each other's feelings, Austin never had qualms about expressing his opinions, especially when they disagreed with hers. And Ally would never admit it out loud, but she may or may not have deliberately picked a few fights just to get a rise out of him. (What? An angry Austin was a hot Austin, with his eyes blazing and his hair perfectly messed up from his fingers running through it in frustration… Could anyone blame her?) The fact that she could talk to him about pretty much anything was just one more thing she loved about him.

Well, you know what they say about hindsight and 20/20 vision…

So Gavin had lied about his favorite food and maybe about his favorite movie. Was it too much of a stretch to believe he'd lied about all those other things, too? It had to be too much of a coincidence.

Was it even true that she was his first girlfriend? Or was that just another thing he'd made up—some sort of rags-to-riches story of a poor nameless nobody who'd invested all the blood, sweat, and tears to rise to stardom and become worthy enough to woo the princess he'd fallen hopelessly in love with—to appeal to her silly romanticism? Why would he lie to her about all those things anyway? Did he have some kind of ulterior motive in dating her?

How well did she truly know Gavin Young if their entire relationship subsisted on lies and distractions?

Obviously, one way to find out for sure would be to go through MyTweb for all those interviews he'd done before they met. But was this guy really worth firing any more neurons over?

At the moment, Gavin was looking rather confused. She realized she'd stopped yelling at him midsentence.

"Uh…Where was I?"

"You thought I was the perfect guy," he supplied helpfully, still smiling dimwittedly.

"I thought you were the perfect guy," Ally echoed slowly.

Oh, right, she was in the middle of yelling at him for lying to her when she got interrupted by her epiphany.

Pity it didn't hit her two months earlier.

"I thought you were the perfect guy," she repeated. "But now I know I was just a colossal idiot."

And then he looked guilty as charged. "I'm sorry I lied to you, Ally. I just wanted so badly for this, us, to work out. I-I'll do anything—just give me another chance!" He gestured at the ring box she was still clutching in her hands. "You don't even have to agree to marry me yet. I promise I'll be honest with you from now on."

And there it was again. The M word. Could she honestly say she wanted to settle for an infuriatingly cheerful husband who would smile and take her out for ice cream, even after she broke his banjo into a million pieces because she'd finally snapped and burst into tears, screaming that she much preferred pop-rock to country, and why couldn't he be a popstar instead, and did she mention she hated, hated, HATED country music?

Did she really want to wake up one day with five kids, a sixth one on the way, a smiling idiot who agreed to everything she said like a bobblehead, and no idea how she'd gotten there?

Being uncertain about her future was scary, but she knew she could deal with whatever curveballs fate threw her way as long as she had Austin. They could go to college together, or they could get married and settle down one day, or they could stay "just friends" and keep making music and doing what they did best. They could both lose their record deals and become dirt-poor, but she had no doubt she'd still follow him to the ends of the earth. Because they were Austin&Ally, and it was probably written in the cosmos that they would always be Austin&Ally, no matter who came into the picture. He wasn't perfect, but she was pretty damn sure that, at least to her, he came as close to perfection as they got in this universe.

Yes, uncertainty about her future was terrifying. But even more terrifying was the absolute lack of uncertainty that would be her life, should she spend the rest of it with Gavin.

So she pressed the little black velvet box back into his hand and closed his fingers around it.

"Maybe you will," she replied, "but I'm breaking up with you."

For a moment, her softer side faltered at the absolutely crushed expression on his face. How could it not? Here was a guy who loved—loved—her, with probably not a single malicious bone in his body. But for whatever reason, he had gotten it into his head that he had to pretend to be everything he wasn't in order to be with her. People made mistakes, and Gavin's only mistake was to try too hard to be the perfect guy for her…

…and then that moment ended. Because the image of her true perfect guy's face reacting to the proposal, forever burned into her retinas, flashed across her mind. And she remembered all the pain Austin had gone through, having to watch her with Gavin—all the pain she had caused him when she'd allowed herself to be misled. Nothing could justify that.

"I'm sorry, Gavin. This isn't going to work, no matter how hard you try."

And then she let go of his hand.

She knew what she had to do.


"Trish!"

As Ally approached the table, her curly-haired best friend's eyes narrowed and darted to her left hand. She tried not to let it offend her that Trish would actually think she'd said yes to Gavin. After all, it was only Austin's departure that had finally knocked some sense back into her.

Even so, Ally was a little hurt that Trish just gave her a curt nod in greeting. "I see you're not wearing his rock."

"I said no."

"Yeah? Was the armor not shiny enough for you?"

"Trish, I don't have time for this. I need to find Austin. Has he been here?"

"Haven't seen him in the cafeteria since the good Sir Yee-Haw of Cornyville got here. Why are you looking for him anyway? So you can ditch him again two minutes later when Gavin serenades you with an entire marching band?"

Dez cut in then. "Aw, come on, Trish, be nice!" he scolded. "Maybe Ally's looking for Austin so she can tell him that she finally broke up with Gavin. And then she'll jump into his arms, and they'll live happily ever after!"

"Right," she scoffed. "And maybe I'm the Queen of England."

"No, really!" the redhead insisted. "I saw this in a movie once: It was 1862, and there was this colonel from a really wealthy family, and…"

Deciding that her friends weren't going to be much help, Ally left them to their bickering and wandered away to resume her search.

She tried calling Austin, but he didn't pick up. She was a little hurt that he would ignore her calls, but then she remembered seeing his phone lying on the table when she was in the cafeteria earlier, before Kimmy had announced the prom court. He must not have gotten a chance to get his phone back, since he'd been shoved onto the stage, and then he had led her onto the dance floor and run off when Gavin showed up…

A quick trip down the hall told her that, besides the cafeteria and the hallway directly outside it, all the doors in the school had been locked up for the weekend. So Austin couldn't have wandered off anywhere in the rest of the building. That instantly ruled out the library, auditorium, music rooms, gymnasium, swimming pool, classrooms, and locker areas.

Where else could he possibly be?

She tried her best to imagine what she would do if their roles were reversed. Where would she run if Austin suddenly interrupted the slow dance they'd been sharing by turning around and proposing to Piper?

Probably somewhere private, where no one could see her sob her heart out.

That ruled out the bathroom, as there was a constant stream of people going in and out.

Oh god, I really hope he's not crying under a table right now.

Alternatively, he could have gone outside to escape the cafeteria, which by now had gotten unbearably stuffy and kind of smelled like tired, sweaty teenagers who had been dancing for the past three hours straight.

Yeah, that was probably more reasonable.

She hurried outside and scanned the rows of limos parked in the student parking lot.

Almost immediately, she spotted a lone figure standing on the far end. It was too dark out to make out who it was, though she was fairly certain the person was male and quite tall. But he was making his way toward the lot exit, and this could be her only chance. So she bunched her dress in her hands and started running down the sidewalk toward the designated crossing area.

What? She may have been desperate to find Austin, but she wasn't about to let herself get run over by a stray school bus or limousine. Besides, the rules clearly stated that pedestrians on school grounds must adhere to designated crosswalks, and rules were rules—

Confound it all, she just lost one of her shoes.

"Oh, for crying out loud! What next? Is one of the limos going to turn into a pumpkin and explode all over me? Raspberry plastic tickle-bear twat-waffles!"

Cursing her asinine decision to wear high-heels to prom (but mostly Catherine de' Medici and the Italian shoemaker who had invented them in the first place), Ally wasted several precious seconds debating whether or not to keep hobbling after the mystery guy or to return for the stupid thing.

She was only about a third of the way across the parking lot, and the guy was nearly at the exit. Should she yell for his attention, or would it be unnecessarily weird if it turned out not to be Austin? If she ditched the other shoe, could she make it to him in time? Or should she not risk having Gavin come across them and—heaven forbid—try to win her back by spinning a story about how he was clearly the right guy for her because he found her "glass slipper"?

In the end, feeling a little bit like Cinderella and a big bit incredibly ticked off, Ally decided to double back and retrieve it.

She'd had just about enough of romantic clichés.


The mystery guy turned out to be none other than Gavin.

Awkward

As soon as she'd gotten close enough to discern his identity, Ally turned and marched back toward the school. She was going to have to make a trip around the outside of the building, as there really couldn't be anywhere else for Austin to be. Unless he was no longer on school grounds, and she really didn't want to think about that…

To: Ally
From: Trish
11:36 p.m.
If you're looking for Austin, can you hurry it up? We need to get the group together to leave soon.

Looked like prom was nearly over. Dang it, she'd better find him soon.

Of course, she could always wait until tomorrow to see him, seeing as she'd known where he lived ever since two days after they first met. But the same gut feeling that had told her something was wrong with her relationship with Gavin was now telling her that if she didn't find Austin this very night, she was going to wind up living alone with either twenty cats or newlyweds Trish&Dez. Either way, it was a pretty nauseating thought. Or maybe that was just the chicken they'd served at dinner earlier. She knew she should have gone with the vegan option like Piper had—no, no, no, Ally, stay focused!

She was about to type a reply asking Trish and Dez to check under the tables when she rounded what she'd thought was a corner and smacked right into the wall.

So that's why they tell you to watch where you're going when you text…smooth going.

Wait a minute. Brick walls didn't usually go, "Oof!" when you ran into them.

They also didn't gasp your name upon recognizing you.

And they definitely didn't leap forward upon colliding with you and catch you around the waist to steady your footing, saving you from landing on your rear end and possibly injuring yourself.

So whatever she'd crashed into must be either a very talented brick wall or…

"Austin!"

…And then, in true Ally Dawson fashion, she tripped on the hem of her dress and nearly fell again. And in true Austin Moon fashion, he laughed and saved her from falling a second time, this time keeping his arms around her waist and pulling her in closer.

And in true Austin&Ally fashion, they realized their current position and froze, staring at each other, laughter ceasing as legs turned to jelly, and insides erupted in butterflies and sparks and flowers and rainbows and fireworks and every other cliché imaginable.

Maybe clichés weren't so bad after all…

"I broke up with Gavin," she heard herself saying. Whoa…were your eyes always this gorgeous?

"I figured," he responded. "I saw him leaving just now."

"Where have you been? I've been looking for you everywhere." Were your lips always so…kissable-looking?

"Looking for you."

"Oh." Were your arms always so…solid?

Silence.

Forget the niceties! Can I kiss you already?

"What…" Her voice faltered, and she almost chickened out. No, no, no, don't think about chicken, or you might actually throw up on him! "What were you going to tell me earlier? Before Gav—he—interrupted?"

He hesitated. "I'd tell you, but I have a feeling we'll just get interrupted again. It wouldn't be the first, or second, or third time."

Her heart sank.

She had a pretty good idea what he'd been trying to communicate to her possibly for weeks now—her mind flashed back to the moment when she'd first told him she was dating Gavin, then to the time they'd been interrupted at the beach, then to the time in the practice room last week—but had he changed his mind now? Had he decided that maybe all the interruptions were the universe's way of telling them it wasn't meant to be?

No, he couldn't have. His arms were still holding her flush against him, and his eyes were still fixed intensely on hers, lips slightly parted, heart racing, breathing growing increasingly unsteady… He looked the way she felt.

In love.

And terrified.

He needed reassurance that she was on the exact same page as he was. That she would catch him and break his fall this time. That she wanted this as badly as he did.

She leaned a little closer, not missing the way his breath caught or the way his eyelids flitted shut for a split second.

"Then don't tell me," she whispered. "Show me."

And maybe all the stars were aligning or something, because he seemed to have understood exactly what she was saying. His Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed once, and then his eyes drifted shut, and he leaned in…

He was taking too long. Their faces had already been dangerously close, but at the rate he was approaching, she was going to die of old age before it could happen. Heck, Catherine de' Medici herself could rise from the dead and take a plane from wherever her grave was in Europe to Miami, and she could still make it in time to interrupt Austin and then get her revenge on Ally for cursing her earlier. Was he waiting for someone to interrupt, as if daring fate to be the witch she usually was, whenever their relationship was concerned?

Ally was having none of that. Before she could think twice, she'd pounced on him, grabbing the collar of his suit jacket and sealing her lips over his.

Their first-ever kiss had been hesitant and sweet. The second had started out angry but had escalated into an almost make-out session during which both participants forgot all time and place and the fact that they were on camera and were being asked to "stop kissin' now" by the rockumentary director himself.

This kiss was something from another world entirely.

He staggered a little when she grabbed his collar, but then the instant, electric connection between them shorted out every synapse in her brain and shut down every sense but taste and touch.

His lips were so, so, so soft and warm, and though a foggy corner of her brain registered that he tasted exactly the way she'd remembered, the flood of emotions they were triggering in her was so intense, so scalding, that she could almost believe she was kissing him for the very first time again, when the feel of his lips pressed firmly against her own felt so foreign yet exactly like home.

Her legs gave out as his tongue brushed hers, and he stumbled forward with her, their fall only broken when her back hit the brick wall behind her, provoking groans of complaint from both when they were briefly separated. And then his hand found her hip and somehow managed to pull her even closer, and her hands were fisting in his hair as he pressed her into the wall, possessive and determined and unhurried and tender all at the same time.

Eventually, Ally's consciousness managed to resurface long enough to register that they were no longer kissing but just standing—leaning—there, Austin's arms wrapped tightly around her, surrounding her with his warmth and his scent and his heartbeat and the lingering taste of his lips.

She knew that they should probably get back to the prom. They had a King and Queen's dance to finish, and their friends were probably looking for them and could interrupt at any minute…

But then Austin pressed a lingering kiss to her forehead before burying his face in her neck, and she figured maybe they could stay here just a little while longer…


The returning limo ride was a little crowded, as now it was Austin, Ally, Trish, Jace, Dez, Carrie, Piper, and Chuck.

The others had seemed entirely unsurprised when, a whole half hour after Trish texted Ally to hurry up and find Austin, the two of them returned to the group table with their cheeks flushed, lips swollen, hair disheveled, and fingers interlocked.

He hadn't let go of her hand since, even when climbing into the limo one-handed and maneuvering over the friends who were already seated inside got a little tricky.

Currently, Austin was holding Ally in his lap, arms protectively around her waist. She would have expressed mortification at being in such a position so soon after getting back together with him (especially since all they'd done was a ton of making out and absolutely no talking about the current status of their relationship), but Austin had insisted on her safety after the driver took a few too many sharp turns and sudden brakes.

They dropped off Piper, Carrie, and Chuck at home before stopping by at Dez's and Austin's houses to pick up their overnight bags. By then, it was nearly 1 a.m., and they were reluctant to inconvenience their limo driver by asking him to stop at Ally's house, which was just a little too out of the way. So it was determined that Austin would bring an extra set of clothes for Ally, and then they finally rolled to a stop at the de la Rosas' for their Zaliens marathon/after party/slumber party.

When they arrived, Team Austin-and-Ally (plus Jace, his crutches, and his luggage), walked into the kitchen to find that all their parents (even Dr. Penny Dawson, dialing in on Skype from Uganda) had gathered around the table and waited up to surprise them. So then Trish parents met (and loved) Jace, and then Lester, Penny, Mike, and Mimi got out their cameras, and they had a do-over prom photo shoot to make up for the one Ally and Jace had missed earlier that evening.

And then Mrs. De la Rosa went out to the garden to pluck a red rose to match Ally's dress and replace the pink one, and Austin and Ally got to have their cute little clichéd boutonniere-pinning fail moment, and Mrs. De la Rosa came to the rescue, and Austin wrapped his arms around Ally's waist and rested his chin on top of her head for their couple photo, and Lester and the Moons cried, and JJ de la Rosa woke up from all the commotion and complained that no one was paying attention to him.

Eventually, all the parents either went home or went to tuck JJ back into bed before preparing to call it a night themselves, and Team Austin-and-Ally (plus Jace, his crutches, and his luggage) set out their sleeping bags down in the den and prepared themselves for the night to come.

As the opening credits rolled across the screen for the first movie, Ally sensed Austin's presence behind her and shivered as he whispered in her ear, "Have I told you that you look absolutely adorable in my shirt?"

She willed her blush away and replied, "Only about five times already."

"Oh, get a room!" Trish shouted suddenly from her spot on the armchair.

Ally felt Austin's smirk against her neck, so she swatted his hand away from her thigh.

A few moments later, he whispered, "I'm going to Sonic Boom. Meet me there in five minutes."

When she arrived, she found him waiting in the practice room, a slow, romantic song playing on the stereo. He kissed her cheek, then bowed and held out his hand for a dance, even though they were both clad in sweatpants and oversized T-shirts.

Nevertheless, Ally laughed and let him scoop her into a hug, and then they stayed there, swaying in place…

When the song drew to a close, she pulled away and inquired, "Austin, what is this ridiculousness?"

"Well…I figured you wouldn't really care to sit through a Zaliens marathon, and we never actually got to finish that slow dance, so…"

She was too stunned, too touched, to speak.

When she didn't reply, Austin suddenly looked a little uneasy. "I know it's not exactly how you probably pictured tonight, and I'm not as creative or romantic as Gavin was, and I probably should have done this when we were still wearing our prom clothes because we look ridiculous right now…but I really wanted to make up for running off when Gavin showed up tonight, and now I've ruined everything because I mentioned him, and (oh dear) this was probably a really, really dumb idea, and way too cheesy, and I probably shouldn't have done this after all—"

She cut him off with a quick peck on the lips and then snuggled against his chest as the next song started.

"It's perfect."


A/N: …So this was probably the first kissing scene as well as the first bit of fluff I've ever written in my life, be it for fan fiction or for any kind of creative writing. How did I do?

(Just FYI: The epilogue is going to be shorter than a regular chapter, so given that it's currently early Saturday morning as I post this, "chapter" 10 should be up by Monday or Tuesday night. Should. I promise nothing.)