Disclaimer: I finished my first story! Hm? Oh, right! I still don't own Austin & Ally.


Chapter 9- Couples & Confrontations

The fog of panic that had filled Ally's head while she was in Sonic Boom gradually cleared as she put more distance between herself and the mall. Her pace gradually slowed until she finally collapsed onto a bench in a nearby park. She blankly stared across the field of green as she replayed what had happened in the music store.

The more she thought about it, though, the angrier at herself she became. She shouldn't have run off like that! Austin had taken a big risk putting his feelings on the line, and by running away, she basically said that she didn't care about how he felt. And that, of course, was as far from the truth as you could get.

She took a deep breath and twisted her fingers in her lap. She felt horrible for what she did to Austin, but she still didn't want to go back and confront him. Confessing her feelings scared her, even though she knew they were mutual. Ally was scared about what would happen if she confessed. Would she and Austin become a couple? She couldn't say she didn't want that, but what if they broke up? If one of them hurt the other, Team Austin would be forever changed.

Buck up, a voice in her head that sounded suspiciously similar to Trish said. What if it goes great? You two could end up getting married and having a family and growing old together, and never go through heartbreak. If you want that, you have to go talk to him.

Ally shook herself. She wasn't sure where the Trish voice came from, but she knew it was right. As much as she didn't want to, she knew she had to go talk to Austin. She steeled her nerves and shakily stood up from the bench. With butterflies in her stomach that were worse than stage fright, Ally headed back to Sonic Boom.


Austin lay on his bed, staring up at the ceiling. He counted the small irregularities in the plaster, trying to distract himself from the earlier events of the day. Judging by the steady stream of tears pouring from his eyes, though, it wasn't working.

He turned with a groan, giving up. Why on earth would he think even for a second that playing his song for Ally was a good idea? He knew she didn't like him like that! How could he be so stupid as to let Trish and Dez convince him that she did? The thing that hurt the most, though, was not the fact that Ally didn't like him. Deep down, he had been fearing that, so, with time, he would be able to accept that and get over it.

The thing that was bothering him the most was that, when Ally had realized Austin's message with Heart Beat, she ran away, instead of just telling him that she didn't like him. That stung especially badly because the brutality of her method told Austin that she didn't even care enough to tell him the truth kindly. He felt like she had betrayed him in the worst possible way.

And, after all that, I still like her, he thought. How much of an idiot am I?

"You're not an idiot, Austin."

At the sudden sound, Austin jumped, letting out his rather girly high-pitched scream. His eyes flew towards the window, where Dez's head was in the middle of the frame. His arms were crossed casually, like he wasn't balancing on a windowsill, but he looked at Austin with a serious expression on his face. Austin was so startled by his appearance that, for a moment, he forgot that he was sad.

"Dez!? What are you doing here!? I-I said that out loud?" he exclaimed, eyeing his friend.

The redhead, however, looked confused. "You didn't say anything out loud," he said. "I just knew what you were thinking."

Austin nodded, both appreciative of and scared by the fact that his friend knew him so well.

Dez pulled himself up further and hopped through the window. He walked over and sat down on Austin's bed. Reluctantly, Austin forced himself into a sitting position.

"Look Austin," Dez said, and Austin prepared himself for Dez's few (very few) but deep lectures. "About what happened in Sonic Boom. I know that… what Ally did completely sucked, and I'm sorry. Really, I can't imagine how much that would have hurt. I understand why you just want to stay here forever, but you can't."

Austin knew Dez was right, but he wasn't in the mood to do anything but lay there and feel sorry for himself, so he challenged with "Why not?"

Dez gave him a stern look but answered his question. "Because Ally does like you. You may deny it, but it's true. I don't know how you guys don't see it! It's like the two of you walk around with giant light-up signs over your heads that say I LIKE YOU!"

Once Dez was done, Austin suspiciously cocked an eyebrow, although he enjoyed the warm feeling that he got in his gut when he thought that Dez's words might be true.

"Then why did she run away when she realized that I wrote the song for her?" he volleyed back, trying to keep the tears pooling in his eyes out of his voice.

Dez heard, though, and gave him a look of sympathy. This time, Austin tried to ignore the angry feeling that flared up as a result.

"You overwhelmed her," Dez said in response to his question. "I'm positive that she likes you, but think about it from her side. It would be scary if the guy you liked told you how he felt in a song in front of a huge crowd." Austin opened his mouth to argue, but Dez sensed it and quickly spoke over him. "Not as scary as it was for you, but still scary. She just needs some time to gather her thoughts. She'll come talk to you. You'll see."

Austin looked away from Dez, who was staring intently at him. He sat still for a few moments before saying quietly, "I hope so."

The redhead sighed and placed a hand on Austin's shoulder comfortingly. "It'll be okay, buddy. I promise." He sighed and nodded slightly. The two of them sat in silence for a few minutes, until a small chime emitted from Dez's pocket. Both boys turned to look, and Dez removed his phone from his pocket and looked at it. He put it back into his pocket without typing anything and turned to Austin sympathetically.

"I have to go. But seriously, relax. It'll be fine," he said, then walked over towards the window.

Austin looked at him questioningly. "Wait, Dez. Don't you want to use the door?"

Dez gave him a confused look from his perch with one leg out the window. "Why would I want to do that?"

Austin looked at him strangely for a few seconds before deciding to let it go. "Never mind," he said. "Just go."

Dez smiled brightly then leapt down from the window, yelling "bye!" back up to him. Austin rolled his eyes fondly at his best friend's antics.

Once everything was quiet, he leaned back down on the bed and resumed his examination of the ceiling. He again started to think about the events at Sonic Boom, but was able to do so this time without immediately bursting into tears. He sat there for a few minutes, thinking, until commotion from downstairs startled him. He sat up and listened closer.

Austin could hear his mom talking to someone downstairs, but he couldn't make out a second voice or person. He wasn't curious enough to get up and look, though, so he simply laid back down.

A few minutes later, he heard a soft knock on the door. Assuming that it was his mom, Austin dried his face of tears and said "Come in."

The door opened, and he was surprised to see Ally there instead of Mimi. Her face was red, and Austin thought he saw tears in her eyes as well. He felt both happy and upset when he saw that.

The two of them stared at each other in silence for a few minutes. Austin was occupied with fighting back a sudden wave of tears that had sprung to his eyes upon seeing Ally.

Ally ended up breaking the silence. "Hey, Austin," she said, a timid and somewhat sympathetic look on her face.

Austin assumed that, by that look, she expected him to be mad at her. He couldn't bring himself to do so, though. It went against his nature to be mad at Ally. He snorted. Maybe Dez was on to something…

Ally apparently had gotten tired of waiting for him to reply or didn't expect for him to, because she continued talking.

"Listen," she said. "I want to apologize for what happened at the store. It must've been hard for you to put your feelings out there, and regardless of what I felt, it was very rude of me to run away like that. So I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you.

Once she finished talking, Austin slowly nodded, closing his eyes as he did so.

"It's okay," he said after a moment. "But… can I ask you something?"

He opened his eyes to see Ally nod. She seemed happier to know that he wasn't mad at her. "Of course," she said.

Austin took a deep breath and paused for a moment before speaking. He was terrified to ask his question, but he had to. He had to know.

"Do you… do you like me?"


She knew it was coming. Ally knew Austin was going to ask her that eventually. She had spent some time preparing an answer, but now, all her thoughts vanished and she felt completely uncertain. She could think of so many ways their relationship could go wrong.

Her endless stream of worries led her to suspect something, though. If she was so worried about their relationship being awful, then that meant that she did like Austin, right?

For a moment, she considered not telling him; lying and saying no. That way, there was no chance something could go wrong with her relationship with her best friend. Sure, it would hurt for a while, but everything would turn out better in the end.

A moment later, though, she steeled her nerves and silenced the voices trying to convince her to back down. After all, she was afraid of a relationship with Austin, but, she realized, not enough to shy away from entering one. She was willing to risk possible future sadness for a chance to be happier than she had ever been in her life.

She twisted her hands, then took a deep breath and looked at Austin. He was still spread out on the bed, but she could see how tense he was as he stared at her. His gorgeous chocolate brown eyes were opened widely, a nervous look in them.

She stared at him for what felt like forever before opening her mouth and saying, "Yes."


"Yes."

The word echoed inside his mind, but Austin didn't immediately comprehend it. Deep down, he felt a flare of happiness, but mostly, he felt numb.

He stared in shock at Ally, who was looking back at him. She had the ghost of a smile on her face, but it was stronger in her eyes.

"R-really?" he asked shakily.

Ally's smile grew slightly and she answered "Really."

This shook off the numbness slightly, but Austin could still feel it as he said, "T-that's great! I can't believe that song actually worked."

Ally smiled a full smile at that, and moved away from her position by the door and sat down on the edge of his bed. He scrambled up and moved to sit next to her. They sat in silence for a few minutes, before Austin broke it.

"How long?" he asked quietly.

His companion shot him a confused look and asked "Hmm?"

"How long have you liked me?" he clarified.

Ally smiled and settled into a more comfortable position on the bed before answering.

"I guess I always have," she said. "I just didn't realize it until I went on my date with Dallas and compared everything he did to the way you would do it."

Austin grinned a bit cheekily at this, and Ally rolled her eyes and smacked him with a pillow in response. The grin faded after a moment, though, when he realized something.

"Wait," he said slowly. "If you already knew you liked me, then why did you run away when I played my song for you?"

Ally's smile faltered as well, and Austin felt an ache in his chest for being the one who caused it, but he pushed the feeling aside. He needed for his brain to be in charge at the moment, not his heart.

Ally took a deep breath and paused for a while before answering. Austin assumed that she was gathering her thoughts and didn't rush her.

"I'm still not completely sure about that," she said eventually. "I think it's because you did it in front of the entire store and I didn't know what to do around all those people." Austin mentally cursed himself for forgetting about Ally's stage fright, but she wasn't done yet. "Since I panicked, I wasn't thinking clearly. I didn't stop to consider how my racing out would've affected you, and I'm so sorry for that. My only thought was to get away from there so I could think clearly."

Austin nodded slowly once she finished. She smiled at him once again, and they fell into silence for a few minutes. Austin mulled over his next words in his mind, and after a few moments he spoke them.

"If you like me, then I only have one more question to ask."

A smile twisted on to Ally's face. Being as smart as she was, Austin knew that she knew what he was going to say next.

"And what's that?" she asked playfully.

Austin grinned the biggest grin he ever had in his life as he said, "Ally Marie Dawson, will you be my girlfriend?"

She smiled and leaned into him. Their foreheads were practically touching as she whispered, "Yes."


From their perch low in the tree outside Austin's window, Trish and Dez screamed "Yes!" when they heard Austin's question and Ally's answer. They high-fived each other, then dropped from the tree and broke into their happy dances.

After a few minutes, Dez once again turned to Trish, a huge smile on his face. "We did it!" he shouted. "Our plan worked!"

Instead of making a sarcastic remark like normal, Trish simply grinned back, screaming "I know! It's about time!"

Dez grinned cockily. "Thanks to us!" He moved towards Trish. She assumed he was going to high-five her again, so was shocked when he put her arms around her for a hug. She stood still for a moment, before uncertainly embracing him back.

"Aww!" came the sudden exclamation from above. Trish and Dez jumped apart, blushing, and looked up to see Austin and Ally smiling down at them from Austin's window.

Trish recovered first. "Shut up!" she yelled, but the blush on her face ruined the effect. Ally gave her a knowing grin, and Trish blushed harder, glaring back.

In the meantime, Dez spoke up. "How did you guys even know we were here?"

Austin and Ally glanced at each other then turned back to them. "You weren't exactly being quiet," he answered.

For some reason, Dez looked offended. "Yes we were! We were so quiet! Like ninjas!"

Austin looked weirdly at his best friend for a minute, but then said, "Sure, Dez. Like ninjas."

Dez grinned triumphantly and Trish took the opportunity to speak up. "So you guys are together now?"

The couple grinned at each other. Austin put his arm around Ally's shoulders and said, "Yep. And I guess we have the two of you to thank for that. So thanks."

They both grinned and answered "Our pleasure" at the same time. They then both turned and glared at the other.

"Stop doing that!" Trish yelled.

Dez, being rather poor at coming up with comebacks, said "You stop doing that!"

Ally interrupted before the argument could continue. "But, thanks guys," she said. "We really appreciate you helping us."

Trish and Dez nodded. The four fell into a comfortable silence for a minute until it was interrupted by a chiming from Dez's pocket. Trish turned to the left and watched him read the message on his phone. When he was done, he put it away and turned back towards them.

"I have to go home," he said. "My mom needs me to finish cleaning up the stuff I used to make the Team Auslly t-shirts."

Austin and Ally looked confused, but after a moment decided that they didn't want to know and just waved to Dez as he ran away.

The remaining three stood there for a few more minutes before a noise came from inside the house and Austin left to go address it.

Once he was gone, Trish checked her watch then turned back to Ally. "I should probably go, too," she called up to her friend.

Ally nodded in response. "Bye, Trish," she said. "Thanks for everything."

Trish nodded. "Hey, no problem," she said. "It was actually kind of fun."

Ally smiled at that. Trish waved and turned to run away, but before she got very far, Ally's voice stopped her.

"Oh, and Trish?" her friend said, turning away from the window. Trish turned back and said, "Yeah?"

Ally shot her one final smile as she said, "Dez told me that you hid a voice recorder in the bag I brought on my date with Dallas."

She disappeared into Austin's house, leaving Trish standing there speechless. Her eyes widened comically and she glared off in the direction Dez had gone.

Despite her scream of "DEZ!" that was loud enough to be heard in China, Trish de la Rosa couldn't keep a smile off her face as she jogged home.


If you didn't see the disclaimer from above, then I'll repeat it. Woo-hoo! I finished my first story! *happy dance* Thanks so much to everybody who has stuck with this story all the way and put up with my infrequent updates and such. Speaking of which, I'm sorry for not updating in forever, but at least you won't have to wait anymore, right? Unless you also like some of my other stories as well, in which case I'm so sorry.

Feel free to review and tell me what you thought of the story! :) *hint hint wink wink*

Thanks to everyone who reviewed Chapter 8!

vampirejoyce16

destinyr5ausllyraurashipper (also for Chapter 5)

Marshylover143 (Guest)

NicoFan-of-Apollo

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