A/N: um, well, just... don't kill me, please? This is more than overdue and its quite slacking and I'm selfish and please, please, please read and review even though I don't deserve it.
Dedication: This little babe goes out to Citylights at Midnight because her last review immediately made me smile and want to get right back to writing. Thank you for being gosh darn amazing.
Disclaimer: I do not own the song that is used in this (Heartbreak Girl by 5sos) or Austin and Ally the show. Sorry, I know, it sucks.
He pulls right up to the curb outside of her house, the sun bleaching her face paler than possible as she peered her head out of her window. He's wearing the same shades he wore when they first met and her long sleeve is askew off her shoulder as she walks lazily to his car. Her hair is fluffy and untamed and her pajama pants could stand to be hemmed a few inches, but he smiles because he can't even think of the last time he saw her like this.
She flings open the passenger side door and grabs his coffee from his hands, stealing a very long sip. "And why are you bothering me during prime sleep time?"
He smirks as he takes his foam cup back from her, setting it down in the center counsel. "Sunday morning drives used to be your favorite when you were younger, remember? You told me your mom and dad used to take you out every weekend before things got bad." He puts the car into gear and begins to drive, rolling down the windows just enough so the wind licks through their scalps.
"So?" She asks unpleasantly, pulling her flying hair into a bun.
He clears his throat and stays silent for a moment, awkwardly adjusting his position in his seat. Finally he slides his glasses down to the tip of his nose and peers over the tips at her earnestly. "I haven't exactly been getting much sleep lately, I guess, and last night I couldn't stop thinking about what you mean when you say 'things got bad'.
"Forgive me for my rant, but I think so little about things that actually matter and I talk about them even less, so. I know that you mean before your parents split and before your mom jetted off to Timbuktu or wherever, and before your dad went through that minor drinking phase and before you suddenly had to work every day to make sure your family had an income.
"And I know that all sucked, like, a lot. And I was thinking of how much that all sucked but how you still made time for yourself and how you never really complain or get upset easily. And then I started to think about how even though you're never sad, you've never really talked about the 'things being bad' part of your life ending."
She rolls her shoulders uncomfortable and stares at him flatly. "Yeah, so?"
He glances back at her with a small smile, proud of himself. "Well, I wondered if you ever really thought that part of your life ended or if you even knew if it did or not, but I like to think that you're pretty happy."
Crossing her arms, she grunted in response and turned her attention back up the window, admiring the houses whizzing by.
Austin coughed awkwardly, speaking more hesitantly this time. "And, um, if you don't mind my ego, I like to think that you're moderately happy with me."
She turns abruptly and glares, but he begins to laugh and her expression loosens into laughter, too.
"Moderately happy some of the time, at least," he amends and continues, "but I thought you still probably missed things from the before times, and I thought that maybe this drive would prove to you that once and for all, your bad times can actually be over."
She smiles gingerly and places her hand over the one he had resting on the gear shift. He looks back over to her, and although his eyes are hidden, she can feel the softness in them.
"But," he adds in sharply, "this doesn't mean I'm not mad at you."
She scoffs unbelievingly, retracting her hand. "So that whole speech wasn't your apology? God, I've really taught you how to ramble."
He chuckles before stoning his face once more. He takes off his glasses and points the ends directly at her as he speaks. "No, no, me saying all that was important. If anything, you've taught me how to use my words. But you've been really unfair to me lately and some of the things you've said have been totally uncalled for."
"Like what?" She bursts incredulously.
"Like saying I'm only interested in you for, you know," his face fades into a deep crimson, "your lady parts."
She laughs a lot harder than she should, but as she takes in his uncomfortable and slightly pouting face, she can tell he's being serious. Face palming, she remembers the conversation she had with Trish yesterday, and thinks that she needs to be trying harder at letting him talk and being a good listener. He was holding up his half of the deal brilliantly, but her reactions still hadn't been very cooperative.
Austin sighs, sounding deeply troubled by what he began to say. "Look, Ally, I'm sorry if I've been too hard on Dallas, alright? I should've been nicer about it all, and I'm totally cool about you guys," his knuckles whitened against the steering wheel, and as much as he prayed she wouldn't notice, she did. "But that doesn't mean that it was cool of you to say all those things and blow me off."
Her eyes avert to her lap, guilt swimming in her stomach. "Alright, alright, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to offend you."
Austin raised his eyebrows and looked at her skeptically. "'Didn't mean to offend me'? You called me an ass and said that I was just after your panties."
Her face flames in a light rose color. "Yes, and I'm apologizing for that and saying I was out of line, alright? Don't make this harder than it is."
Pursing his lips, Austin stared at her thoughtfully. Her heart began to race under his gaze, and her cheeks flushed even more.
"Okay." He said after a moment, nodding his head.
"Okay?" She asks.
"Okay, I forgive you. If—"
Ally groaned and leaned her head back. "If? I said I'm sorry, isn't that enough?"
"If," he talks over her, "you agree to follow through with all our summer plans."
She tosses her head to the side and lets a huff of relief leave her. "That's all? I wouldn't miss our summer for the world."
"I'm being serious though, Ally," he continues on, his voice strict. She gives glib laughter in response. "No more false accusations or insults or avoiding me. Avoiding this." He places his hand over the top of hers and squeezes her fingers together.
She simpers softly. "This is pretty great, isn't it?" She squeezes back in response and his pulse races.
He laughs and makes a u-turn, curving back around to her house. "Best friends forever," he says in a high pitched voice with a girly twinge, and she lays a hard punch on the side of his arm in response.
His eyes flit back over to her to steal another glance, her cheeks aglow with a faint rose and her nose slanting over her smile. He feels certain that yes, this is pretty great.
She wakes up to a soft buzzing noise. Cursing under her breath, she rolls over and is prepared to throw her phone to the other side of the room, but the caller ID stops her at the last second.
Hesitating, she slides the answer button and presses it next to her ear. "Are you unaware of what time it is, Austin? Most people are asleep by now."
His voice is lively, and she's positive he hasn't slept a wink yet. "I'm outside your house. Look outside your window."
Startled, she jumps up and peers out, seeing his halo of hair leaning out of his car window, a hand waving up to her cheekily. "What are you doing?" She whispered harshly into the microphone. "You know, those rom coms shouldn't be guidelines for you; this isn't romantic, this is creepy."
He laughed brightly and she saw his teeth flash in a smile. "Just put some clothes on and get your sassy butt down here." She sighs and a moment of silence passes between the two. "Please," he said quietly, in a tone brand new to her. He sounded fragile, only not in an angry way; in a desperate way.
Sliding into a pair of denim shorts and Chuck Taylor's, she slipped soundlessly down the stairs and out her front door.
Slowly approaching his car, she sent him a disbelieving look. "What in the world do you think you're doing?"
He threw open the door and hopped back over into the driver's seat. "Go out with me tonight," he said as easily as he would have told her about his new shoes.
Ally's face becomes fully consumed in a blush, her mouth falling agape. "Go—go out? With you?" She stuttered disbelievingly.
He laughed, amused at her awkwardness while containing his internal nerves. "Relax, only as a friend date. I think you owe me one since I picked you up from a real date on Friday."
She looked skeptical, tentatively stepping another foot forward. "Austin, I don't know, it's late..." She tugged at the frayed edge of her shorts.
He lunged towards her and clasped her hand in his. Her head snapped downward, entranced by his sudden movement. "Ally, please. I really need this. I really need a night out with you."
Breathing out a sigh, Ally gave a tight lipped smile. "Alright."
She recognizes the slope of the road he takes and her lips curve slightly, but she turns to keep it secretive from him. She's afraid to let him know that she remembers the last time they were driving here, before Dallas was even a name in her mind.
The waves were licked with silver, slipping over one another like grey satin sheets. He had turned to her, throwing an arm behind her seat. He had given her the kind of looks she craved these days, with an easy smile and laughing and eyes and no guilt whatsoever for staring maybe a second or two too long.
He's right. They needed to do this.
"I don't think I've ever snuck out to go to the beach before," she muses, twirling a strand of hair between two fingers.
Sheepishly, he glances over at her with a forming smile. "That obvious?"
She giggles brightly and brings her legs up into her seat, snuggling in. "This is the way that leads to your favorite spot. Not that hard to figure you out."
He scoffed and turned into the vacant parking lot, taking the slot closes to the edge and once he flicked the engine off, the only thing that broke the silence was the crashing of the water.
Speaking with a lump in her throat, she began, "Did you bring me out here to talk about, um, what's been going on with us?"
He turns to her startled and gives a few wide eyed blinks, obviously unsure of how to respond. His motives to bring her out here had been rather unclear, and perhaps that's exactly why he wanted to in the first place.
He unlatches his seat belt and begins to exit as he speaks. "Nah. I brought you out here cause I wanted to just be us, ya know? That's all." Shutting his door, he walks around to the truck bed and pulls out his guitar case along with a ratty blanket with plaid print.
Her eyes trace over his form as it walks closer to the shore, and then she squeezes them shut to brand the image into her memories. It's been a rare occurrence for her to feel truly like Ally without Austin lately, and if tonight is intended to mend that gap, she better thank those lucky stars shining above them. Taking a deep breath, she steps out of the car and follows him.
It takes awhile before she's able to get a gage on her feelings again. The night rushes on with the ocean, him chasing her down the coastline and scoping her up into his arms once he catches her, them laying just above the tide line so it tickles their feet as they laugh about all the constellations they can't name—"That one is Orion's Belt." "Oh please, that's the most generic one ever. It's just three stars, try again."—and when they had started to dance in the wade, he honestly hadn't meant to drop her in the water when they went in for the dip. But she was cloaked in the sterling moonlight, thousands of stars reflecting from her eyes like crushed diamonds. If he hadn't drop her he most likely would have kissed her.
Now sprawled out blanket, she was laying flat on her back while he sat up and started tuning his guitar. The night was drawing in, she could feel it, and for the first time since the car ride he was silent. His brows furrowed in concentration, but she pretended not to notice.
He sighs after an overly excessive amount of time and then he turns away from her. "I'm not really tuning my guitar. I mean, I was, but now I'm just trying to get the nerve."
Something in her chest flutters. Wait; was that something in her stomach? It's not going away. "Get the nerve?"
He culls in and out a few more exaggerated breaths and turns directly into her eyes.
The music begins to flood her ears and she quickly understands.
"And when the phone call finally ends, you say, 'thanks for being a friend', and we're going in circles again and again." His eye contact never breaks. "I dedicate this song to you, the one who never sees the truth, that I can take away your hurt, heartbreak girl. Hold you tight straight through the day light, I'm right here. When you gonna realize that I'm your cure, heartbreak girl?"
He sings the words you could be with me now in a much hoarser tone and her heart catches mid flutter along with any other thoughts she was having.
The song concludes and he doesn't have to ask if she knows. He knows she knows.
She just hopes he doesn't know that if he were to kiss her now, this just might be the one time she would kiss back.
A/N: thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou for reading, I can't express that enough, I love you all so dearly. If i can be mean enough to ask, would any of you mind to drop me a lovely little review? :)
xoxo