Disclaimer: Austin and Ally belongs to Disney. Not me.

A/N: All I want in life is five minutes of non awkward, lovey-dovey Auslly. Is that too much to ask? Le sigh. I hope you guys enjoy this chapter!

It's a week later, and everything is not okay. The press release had come out the morning after their fight and Trish had found out about it before they could tell her anything. Needless to say, Ally had never seen her best friend more furious, and she had yelled at Austin for so long she had nearly lost her voice. Even Dez, who as far as she knew had never gotten angry at Austin before had quietly said, "Dude, you really messed up," before shaking his head and leaving the room.

Ally, too, had kept a bit of distance from him for a couple of days before she called them all together to go over to his place. He looked exhausted when they arrived, and they had all awkwardly stared at each other for a minute before she walked past him and declared that they were going to have a Team Austin and Ally meeting.

The news that Austin Moon's record label had dropped him had been huge and he had been fending off requests for interviews and appearances for days. They had spent six hours talking about their options before finally giving up and deciding to let all of the attention surrounding him die down before doing anything else.

Her own recording contract is still valid, but it was firmly suggested to her that she also take a break since she is so connected to Austin.

She thinks she's pretty much forgiven him, but they haven't been alone together in over a week. He's been giving her space, like she wanted, but she's getting bored of sitting at her piano, writing duets that she's not sure she'll ever be able to perform in between having mini panic attacks about her future.

Ally finally gets fed up when a record executive calls her to talk about her "options". She sets a meeting up with them and takes her lawyer and impulsively breaks her contract and doesn't tell anyone, not even Trish. She has a feeling it won't stay secret for long though and she loses thousands and thousands of dollars in the mess and chews on her hair for ten whole minutes when it's done but she knows she did the right thing. She goes home and doesn't talk to anyone for two days and barely sleeps and barely eats until all she can think about is seeing Austin.

So she does. She sits in his driveway for a minute before taking a breath and walking to the front door. He answers right away, like he had already been waiting there, and she steps inside, closing the door behind her.

"Hey, Ally," he says, looking at her, his hands in his pockets. "I didn't think I'd see you for a while."

She opens her mouth to say something, anything, but she doesn't know what to say. So instead she decides to do what she's wanted to do all week and steps forward to wrap her arms around him, resting her cheek on his chest. His arms are around her in an instant, squeezing her tightly against him as he rests his chin on top of her head. They stay like that for a minute before she pulls back slightly and looks up at him.

"I'm not mad at you anymore," she says. "I just…I miss you. And I'm bored. And going kind of insane."

He nods. "You have no idea how hard it was not to call you or text you or knock on your door. And I know it's my fault, and I don't know how many times I can say it without it losing its meaning but I'm so sorry, Ally."

"It's okay." She sighs. "Can we maybe not talk about it or think about it, just for today?"

He raises his eyebrows in surprise. "Really?"

She steps back from him and takes his hand. "Really," she says before leading him into his living room. She sits in the middle of the couch and pats the seat next to her. "I just want to sit here with you. And not think. Or talk."

He's surprised, she can tell, because she's definitely not to type to pretend a problem doesn't exist but she's just so tired. He joins her anyway, and as soon as he sits she scoots her body down and puts her head in his lap and then she finally feels some of the tension melting away, which she finds kind of ironic since he's the one who put it there in the first place. His fingers go into her hair and massage her scalp lightly, sending shivers down her spine, and she closes her eyes, finally relaxed, until he starts talking.

"I think we should try doing this like we started. Videos online, I mean. Only this time—"

She groans, cutting him off. "What did I just say? Not talking about this, remember?"

"Ally, we can't avoid it."

She turns her head into his stomach, effectively shielding her face from him. "I can," she says, her voice muffled. "Now leave me alone. But keep rubbing my head."

"Can you just hear me out?" he asks, his fingers still circling slowly.

She's silent for a long moment, trying to make him give up, but she can feel his eyes on her. "Fine," she groans, sitting up. "What's your big idea?"

He has a determined look on his face. "I think we should just make videos. And put them online. And see what happens. I mean, most people don't hate me, so it could work. They don't know the story yet but we could explain it and people usually don't side with the record company, you know? And then we could get picked up again."

She raises an eyebrow and decides to test how much he's thought this out. "That's it? That's your plan? What about the fact that I can't put anything out on my own while I'm under contract?"

He frowns and looks down, pausing for a second. "Then you have to decide whether we're going to move forward together or if you want to stay with your contract."

She opens her mouth to say something, but he continues, looking at her.

"And I know that's asking a lot. It's honestly probably asking too much of you, to give up what's a sure thing for yourself and gamble it on us. But I know you know we have something."

She doesn't say anything for a long minute and she can tell he's getting nervous because he starts fidgeting.

"Okay," she says finally.

He wrinkles his brow in confusion. "What's okay?"

She smiles. "I'm saying okay, let's start over. I don't want to do this without you. It's not even a decision."

"Are you serious?"

"Very." She hesitates. "I…kind of maybe already got out of my contract. Which is mainly why I didn't want to think about this whole thing."

His jaw drops and his eyes widen. "What? When?"

"Two days ago," she says. "It was impulsive and probably stupid and probably a result of you rubbing off on me, because you do things like this but I would never, right? And yeah, that's right, you already did!"

He frowns.

"Oh, Austin," she sighs, letting out a short, nervous laugh that she thinks is probably the result of exhaustion before she collapses forward, burying her head in her hands. "I'm just so tired. And hungry."

"Come here," he says, before wrapping his arm around her and tugging her closer to him. She lets him pull her so she's curled up against him and she looks up at his face to see that it's full of concern. "You need to eat. And then you need to sleep. We can talk about this later."

She leans back as he stands up. "I'm going to get you something. You stay here, okay?"

She nods and watches him walk into the kitchen before collapsing back into the couch, feeling some weight lifting off her shoulders as a result of having told him what had happened. She feels her eyelids getting heavy but then he comes back, carrying a bowl of cereal and a banana.

"Thanks," she says, accepting the food gratefully. He watches her for a minute before walking out of the room and when he comes back, he's changed out of his jeans into boxers and he's holding a T-shirt, presumably for her.

"I figured this would be long enough for you," he says, setting it down next to her as she finishes the last of the banana.

"Yeah," she says, standing up. They walk into the bedroom and it's awkward for a millisecond until she decides she's way too tired to care about any of this and takes her jeans and shirt off, putting his on over her head. She wiggles out of her bra and throws it on the floor with everything else and looks at him. He's staring at her with an expression on his face that makes her wish she wasn't so worn out but then he snaps out of it, the tips of his ears slightly pink.

He clears his throat and starts walking to the bed but then he pauses. "Can I kiss you?" he asks, and before she can say anything he's in front of her, cupping her face with both hands, bending his head towards hers. He stops two inches away from her mouth, waiting for an answer, and she rises up on her tiptoes, closing the distance between them. She wraps her arms loosely around his neck and he kisses her slowly, gently, until she can't focus on anything else. He pulls back unhurriedly, dropping his hands, and she opens her eyes slowly before rocking forward and kissing him again. She pours out every emotion she's felt in the last week into it, sinking into him, and he pulls her closer, his arms tight around her.

"Sleep," he says, his voice a little shaky, when they finally break apart. She nods, slightly out of breath, and he takes her wrist, leading her to the bed. They climb in on opposite sides and get under the blankets and she suddenly feels like she's about to pass out. She manages to use her last bit of energy to roll over and throw her arm across his chest, tangling her legs with his, and the last thing she feels is the press of his lips against her temple before her eyelids drift shut.

She sleeps for seven hours and the sun is setting when she wakes up. Austin isn't there but she can hear the faint sounds of a guitar coming from outside the room so she stretches and stands, feeling rested.

He's standing outside on the deck, playing the song they had sung together at her concert, the sound quickly getting lost in the wind. She shivers slightly and crosses her arms as she steps outside through the open door, walking until she's next to him and she looks up, swirls of red and orange from the setting sun reflecting off his hair, making him look like he's almost glowing. He smiles when he sees her and stops playing, slinging the guitar over his shoulder. "Do you feel better?" he asks.

"Much better," she says. "How long did you sleep?"

"Just a couple of hours." He pauses. "You um, definitely didn't want to let me go, though."

She blushes. "You, uh, make a good pillow."

"I knew you wanted me for something other than my sparkling personality," he teases.

"Oh, right, that reminds me, I forgot about the money," she says, laughing, and then walks over to the railing, leaning her arms against it. There's a slight chill in the air and she feels goose bumps on her bare legs but it's beautiful outside. She shivers slightly as a breeze blows past them and he moves to stand behind her, shielding her from the wind. She lets herself falls back so she's pressed against his chest and sighs, instantly warmer.

"You're too tall," she says after a minute.

He laughs. "I think you're just really small."

"I mean, look at this," he says, placing his palm flat on her stomach and splaying his fingers. "My hand spans the entire width of your body."

She looks down to see that he's actually not that far off but rolls her eyes. "I think you're exaggerating," she says, trying to ignore the shiver that runs through her as his thumb comes dangerously close to skimming the bottom of her breasts. She clears her throat. "We should um, go inside. It's getting cold. And dark."

He's silent for a few seconds but then he drops his hand and steps away, and she stumbles backwards, not expecting the loss of support. He catches her by her shoulders before anything happens and she turns around slowly to glare at him. He shrugs guiltily at her and she shakes her head at him.

"You should know by now not to make any sudden movements around me," she says as they walk back inside.

"Hey, I…yeah," he finishes lamely and she laughs as she sits on the couch, curling up in the corner.

He sets his guitar down and joins her and she shifts so she's pressed up against him and he lifts his arm so she can rest her head on his chest.

They quietly sit for a few minutes, both lost in their thoughts.

"So. Tell me more about how you pulled an Austin Moon and lost your record deal," he says, breaking the silence.

She sighs and leans back, her fingers playing with a loose thread on his shirt. "There's nothing else to tell, Austin. They didn't want to support us together, so I had to leave. This is what we've wanted since the start, and I'm finally in a place where I can do it. And after you lost your contract, it's not like there was anything in it for me to stay."

"But Ally," he argues. "You gave up what was a sure thing for a huge risk. You don't do that. Ally Dawson doesn't do that."

She shrugs. "It's like I said. You're rubbing off on me."

He frowns. "But now neither of us are doing what we want."

She looks down at her lap, avoiding his eyes. "I'd rather not do it at all than do it without you," she mumbles.

He doesn't say anything, which makes her worry for a minute but then his hand is on her cheek and he's lifting her head so she'll look at him. He just stares at her with an unreadable expression on his face before dropping his hand and she gives him a small smile. "I love you," he says suddenly, and really, she's known it all along, and she's pretty sure he knows that, too, but hearing it out loud means a lot more than she thought it would.

She can't take her eyes off his even if she tried and he's looking at her like she's the only thing in the entire universe that matters and the realization is a little staggering, to know that he loves her as much as he does. "I love you," she whispers, and then she's on his lap and his arms are tight around her waist and she feels like all she will ever need or want is in this moment, with him.

It's slow and soft when he kisses her and neither of them try to deepen it, her fingers finding their way into the hair at the base of his neck as his clutch the fabric of her shirt. He kisses her for what seems like forever, until she can't feel, can't comprehend anything but him and the way he fits around her.

Ally is good at a lot of things, but cooking is not one of them. She can make easy things, like pancakes and spaghetti, but throw in a word like julienne and she's totally lost. Austin's not much better, but she thinks that between the two of them, they should be able to make a simple dish like chicken parmesan.

They start cooking kind of late because she'd been sleeping all day and they had been wrapped up in each other for hours. They finally separated when her stomach started rumbling and she had realized that she hasn't eaten anything since that morning.

Now, she's standing in the kitchen, a shocked expression on her face, her entire bottom half covered in flour, while Austin starts laughing hysterically. "We're ordering food," she says when he finally stops, wordlessly handing her his phone while trying and failing miserably to keep the grin off his face.

"How did you even flip the container?" he asks after she orders a pizza (half veggie for her, half Hawaiian for him). "It wasn't even close to the edge of the counter."

She looks up from dusting off her bare legs. "Are you serious? Maybe if you hadn't snuck up from behind and scared the living daylights out of me, I wouldn't have flour all over my legs and the chicken wouldn't be in your dirty sink," she says, leveling a glare at him. "Which, by the way, is getting kind of gross."

Austin looks at her guiltily. "I was trying to be romantic, you know, come up behind you and whisper sweet nothings in your ear while you cook?"

"Oh, because creepily standing behind me and then grabbing my waist while I'm covering a piece of raw chicken in some flour is just so romantic," she says dryly.

He laughs. "Okay, so kitchen seduction is definitely off the table. Now that you say it, I do remember a 'no sudden movements' rule..."

She tucks a piece of hair behind her ear before she remembers that her hands are covered in flour and he laughs again at the streak of white it leaves across her cheek. She lets out an exasperated sigh and walks over to the sink to wash her hands as he moves to stand next to her. She picks up a towel to dry off and wipe away the flour but he grasps her wrist lightly before she can.

She frowns. "Hey, I—"

She stops talking when his hand cups her cheek gently, and he uses his thumb to brush off the flour, his eyes on hers the entire time.

Ally smiles at him and he gives her a half smile back before leaning down and kissing her, his other hand tugging her wrist to pull her closer. She slowly opens her eyes when they break apart, her heart beating a little faster. "So…some kitchen seduction might not be so bad," she says lightly, and he grins.

He takes a step back from her and scratches his head, looking around the kitchen. "So I'm assuming I'm going to be one to clean this up?"

She gives him a look that says 'duh, of course' before walking around to the bar counter, sitting on a chair and resting her head on her hand. He's just standing there, staring at the mess like he doesn't know where to begin. "Go get a broom, Austin," she says, stifling a laugh.

"Right," he says. "Broom."

Austin disappears into another room and returns a few minutes later holding a broom and a dustpan, both still in their original packaging.

She laughs and gives him pointed look. "Are you serious? You've never cleaned your own house, have you? Didn't you have to do chores at home?"

He shrugs sheepishly. "Well, yeah, but I was mostly on dish duty when I was growing up. My mom didn't trust me with a broom because I'd always end up using it as a microphone and then never actually clean anything."

She grins, picturing a miniature version of him dancing around the kitchen.

"And I've cleaned this house…maybe once?" he continues. "Don't give me that look—I'm a rock star! I can hire someone to clean my house. I don't have time for chores!"

She shakes her head and stands up to walk around the counter, taking the broom from him and unwrapping the plastic. "You're hopeless. Go sit down," she orders, starting to sweep. He hoists himself up on the island, watching her as she walks around the kitchen. She's suddenly very aware that she's still only wearing his shirt as she feels his eyes on her and tugs it down self consciously as she bends to sweep the flour into the dustpan.

"You have a nice ass," he says suddenly, and she shoots up, nearly hitting her head on the edge of the counter.

"Wh-huh?" she says, flustered. "Uh, thanks?"

"Just in case you didn't know." He pauses for a second. "I kind of love that I can say that to you now."

She blushes. "It's not still weird to you sometimes? I mean, I know it's been a while since we started dating, but we were just friends for so long."

He shrugs. "It's not like I wasn't thinking it before. I just couldn't say it out loud." He jumps down from the counter and takes her hand. "And now I can. And I can also do this," he adds, and bends his head, wrapping his arms around her waist and dipping her theatrically as he kisses her. She laughs into the kiss and he pulls her back up, grinning.

"It's still a little weird to me," she says, and he frowns a little. "But a good weird," she adds quickly. "An awesome weird. I mean, I get to you know, do that too," she says vaguely.

"Do what? Dip me?" he asks innocently and she narrows her eyes at him. "You know what I mean," she says, gesturing between them. "Stuff."

"Stuff," he repeats. "Huh. Do you think you could clarify?"

He's managing to keep a completely straight face and she wrings her hands together and huffs, avoiding his eyes. "You know what I mean," she says. "Like, kissing, or whatever," she mumbles, blushing.

"Hmm," he says. "Whatever? That's not much clearer, Ally. You're the one that's supposed to be good with words."

She reddens further and lets out an exasperated sigh. "Okay, fine, I like that I can kiss you and do other...stuff whenever I want! Can we stop talking about what we can…do to each other now?"

He grins. "I love it when you blush. You're such a dork," he says, laughing when she glares at him. She's about to say something but they're interrupted by the doorbell, signaling the arrival of their pizza. He winks at her and spins around, digging in his pocket for money. "You're just soooo charming, aren't you?" she calls as he walks away.

"Yup," he yells back, and she shakes her head, laughing.

"Holy shit, you're Austin Moon! Can I have your autograph? You're awesome!" she hears from outside the kitchen as he answers the door. "Ha, yeah, of course, thank you," he replies easily and it's quiet for a minute as he presumably signs something. "Um, keep the change," she hears him say, followed by the sound of the door closing softly.

"Do you ever get used to that?" she asks as he walks in.

"Used to what?" he asks, confused.

"You know, the autographs, the 'holy shit, you're Austin Moon!', you know, all that stuff."

He shrugs. "I don't know. Not really. It's still kind of mind blowing when I stop and think about it. I mean, yeah, when I'm signing a bunch of autographs at a meet and greet or something, and taking picture after picture, it feels kind of routine. But then I think about it afterwards and it seems crazy that people would wait hours to see me for just a few seconds." He smiles. "But when it's random like the pizza guy? That's still totally awesome."

She smiles, but it doesn't quite reach her eyes and he notices, frowning as he sets the pizza box down. "What's wrong?"

Hearing him talk about everything in his career that makes him happy triggers something in her that makes her stomach clench nervously. Ally worries by nature, and this is no exception. She's been worried ever since he lost his contract, but this makes her wonder, and not for the first time, if she did the right thing by telling him that she wanted to perform with him.

His words about what the record company had said, that she would ruin his career, are repeating themselves over and over in her head and she can't breathe for a moment, thinking about what she's done and the consequences it might have for him.

But she shakes her head. "Nothing. It's nothing," she says. "Can we eat now?"

"Ally…"

"I'm just hungry, okay?"

He looks at her for a long moment before nodding and turns around to grab some plates while she gets two beers from the fridge.

"But you don't like beer," he says, raising an eyebrow when he sees the bottles in her hand.

"I like it with pizza," she replies.

"Really? I didn't know that," he says, surprised.

"That's good," she says, smiling. "It means we still have things to learn about each other."

"I can think of other things to learn," he says, grinning lasciviously before tugging her closer and placing a wet, smacking kiss on her cheek.

"Austinnn!" she whines, wiping her face with her palm. "Gross!"

He laughs, his eyes mischievous. "See, I just learned you don't like it when I do that."

She tries to give him a stern look but fails, unable to keep the grin off her face. "I hate you."

"Man, that sucks," he says, looking at her in a way that makes her heart stop for just a second. "Because I kind of love you."

They sit across from each other at the table, the pizza between them, and talk about everything and nothing, memories of late night songwriting sessions in Miami, his first headlining concert, the first song she ever wrote that wasn't about butterflies, him trying to teach her how to dance so she could impress a boy named after a different city in Texas. She's grown up with him in every way possible, she realizes, and she can't even begin to imagine, doesn't even want to imagine, what her life would be like without him in it.

When they finally go to bed it's 2 am and she's exhausted, the lack of sleep from the past two days catching up with her again. She burrows under the covers while he finishes getting ready in the bathroom and nearly falls asleep before he comes back out. She stirs when she feels the bed shift and turns on her side to face him.

He's on his back and he's staring up at the ceiling and she feels her eyes beginning to drift shut when he suddenly speaks. "Why were you so weird after the pizza guy asked me for my autograph?" he asks.

She stiffens, thinking that he had forgotten about it. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Come on, Ally," he says, turning his head to look at her. "Tell me."

She's silent for a long minute. "I feel like it's partly my fault that you lost your contract," she confesses quietly. "And when you were talking about how amazing it all is, to have fans, and to have random encounters, and—"

She swallows. "I'm a little terrified that we, that I, really messed up. That us doing this together is actually going to cost you your career, like they said. And that you'll end up resenting me, or…something."

She suddenly can't look at him anymore and she turns over on her back, her turn to look at the ceiling. Her throat feels tight and her eyes are welling up with tears and she blinks rapidly, trying to will them away.

"What do I have to say to convince you?" he whispers, after a long moment of silence. "You're it for me, Ally. I don't understand why you're making it sound like you're forcing me to do this, like I don't want it just as much as you." He pauses, finding her hand under the covers. "I'd rather not do it at all than do it without you, too," he says, echoing her words from earlier, and she finally turns to face him.

She tries to smile at him but her face crumples and she presses her free hand to her eyes, trying not to cry. "I think I've cried more since we started dating than I had the entire time we were friends," she says, her voice wavering. She lets out a teary laugh.

"I feel like a stupid teenager," she wails before she loses it, turning her back to him, her body shaking as she sobs. She knows it's not just this one conversation that she's crying about, but it had been the tipping point, after the general insanity of the last week and the stress and the worry and the exhaustion and the insecurity that she's been dealing with alone.

He puts a tentative hand on her back, which just makes her cry harder, and he moves it away quickly and she thinks that he's probably freaking out right about now. He surprises her though, when she feels his arm around her waist, forcing her to roll over so she's facing him, and then he pulls her close, his other arm wrapping around her.

She buries her head in his chest and curls her fingers in his shirt and he rubs her back gently, letting her let it all out. His shirt is wet when she finally stops and she's sniffing loudly and she thinks he probably thinks she's lost her mind. She lets out a slightly crazed, nervous laugh and he leans back a little so he can see her. "Sorry about your shirt," she says weakly. "And about you know, going insane just then."

He frowns and cups her face with his hand, wiping the tears away. "You're not insane," he says. "A lot of stuff happened this week. A lot of really bad stuff. And you were dealing with it by yourself and you're not very good at keeping your emotions bottled up for long, so really, this was kind of inevitable."

She gapes at him. "Wha—how did you know all that?"

"I know you," he says. "And what else could have possibly happened?"

She sighs. "I guess everything just caught up to me all at once," she says, and he gives her a small smile, his thumb softly tracing her cheekbone.

"We're gonna be okay, Ally," he says quietly.

She looks at him for a moment before she's suddenly hit with a wave of exhaustion. He leans forward to press his lips to her forehead as her eyes shut and she knows, knows, that as long as he is by her side, she'll always be okay, they'll always be okay.

thank you for reading!

reviews are always appreciated!