A/N:
So I nearly died writing this chapter. And no, that is not an exaggeration.
I'm very sorry for the wait. At least the chapter is about 8000 words?
Props to ExtremeSaucicity as usual, for providing me with enough ideas and inspiration for this chapter to carry through, and not to mention editing it. I don't know how she puts up with my constant whining and moaning.
Disclaimer: I do not own Austin and Ally.
Agreeing to take on the role of Austin's pretend girlfriend had left Ally with one hope.
One tiny, easily manageable, microscopic hope. Surely that hadn't been too much to ask for.
It wasn't like she was expecting a gold star from Mrs. Suzy, her former Elementary School music teacher, or a seal of approval from the US Navy for her services—even though that would be nice.
She had wanted nothing more, but to make it through the week with a little bit of grace, some respect for herself and the assurance that her and Austin's friendship could truly withstand everything, even something as awkward as pretending to date.
She did not, however, expect to be scraping her dignity off the bottom of her dark grey flats, being too embarrassed to even look at her own reflection in the mirror.
She did not expect to be feeling increased levels of anxiety with each ticking second.
She did not expect to be biting down on her lip hard enough to cut her blood circulation for weeks, trying to numb the tingling sensation of being surprise-attack-kissed by Austin Moon.
Her first kiss, nonetheless, swiped clean in a matter of seconds.
She won't even begin to get into how disastrously she reacted to said kiss.
Was knocking over an entire display of shrunken heads an effective enough bang to go out with for a first kiss?
There were just so many things wrong with that kiss. She almost wants to travel back in time and apologize to the five year old version of herself who's innocently daydreaming about castles and true love.
In fact, she should time travel back to just a week ago when Austin Moon was her best friend and partner, nothing more—and apologize to that version of herself for having any expectations at all.
Of course she wasn't expecting fireworks or any type of indescribable sparks that instant. No. She had outgrown the clichés and stereotypical romance attributions as maturity took a toll on her perception, and her beliefs had ripened well with age.
That didn't mean she hadn't regarded her first kiss to be filled with a sort of beautiful compassion, empathic meaning, or something of the same effect.
She certainly never believed her first kiss would have meant absolutely nothing, though.
Certainly not one cruelly stolen from her in a moment of lowered defenses.
The upbeat singer on the other hand, didn't even appear the slightest bit sorry as he proceeded to steal her second kiss right after the first.
She didn't even get that necklace she was promised.
And while it's not like she had agreed to pretend to be his girlfriend and didn't expect kissing—they did have a kiss planned, after all—she just thought she'd be able to prepare herself for it right before it happened.
Prepare herself for the inevitable heartbreak that is giving up one of the most memorable moments in life to aid an unappreciative friend.
She really didn't think she'd find herself in a situation like this.
In fact, she's starting to believe she really wasn't thinking at all when she agreed to do this for him.
But the unfortunate thing? She would be lying if she said she hadn't felt fireworks.
"You're not speaking to me, are you?" Austin asks the fuming brunette. His legs are crossed on the bed closer to the bathroom, eyes focused with a blank stare ahead, already accepting his dreary fate.
Ally doesn't so much as turn in his direction as she flips herself over on the preferred bed.
Austin sighs, picking at the bed sheets in dejection.
"We can't have you being mad at me when we're supposed to be dating," he says airily, only half-heartedly trying to talk some sense in her. The other part of his mind is still drifting, being gloomily consumed by his own thoughts
"That's a shame," she mutters in deadpan, unsure why she's bothering to even answer him in the first place.
He grunts in displeasure at her response, his head dipping down. Silence consumes the room for a full half of a minute.
"Alllly," he whines suddenly, acting as if the silence had been hurting him physically. His tone sounded almost pleading. She gives a non audible sigh, feeling a little bad for the blond. She is pretty sure she heard a slight tinge of guilt in his voice.
All traces of sympathy however, are washed away by his next statement. "My parents will start to think something is up," he exclaims, leaning his head back in overdramatic despair.
Her eyebrow twitches in irritation. Her lips purse close again.
The sheer nerve this boy has.
Tugging on a strand of her brown locks, she flips over on the bed to glare at him heatedly.
"What?" he asks innocently, craning his neck to the side at her sudden fixated frown.
"Nothing," she snaps sharply, using the bed to push herself up as she sits up in anger.
He gives her a hesitating look. "Okaaay…" he trails off unsurely, swinging his legs over the ledge of the bed he occupied. "So can we talk?" he asks hopefully, lips beginning to quirk into an adorable grin.
She doesn't fall for it.
"Talk about how you so completely screwed up the plan I made you recite six times?" she deadpans in a low voice, resisting an eye roll.
He cringes at her tone. "You see, there's a good reason for that." He raises a slightly arched pointer finger in protest.
Her expression remains neutral. She presses her palm to her cheek in an awaiting fashion. "Enlighten me."
Austin gulps nervously, never expecting to make it far enough to a point of explanation with her. He twiddles his thumbs, closing his legs together as he works out a useable excuse in his mind.
"This was…" he begins slowly, eyes still darting vividly as he thinks, "this was all part of the breakup plan!" he exclaims loudly, having said the first plausible thing that popped into his mind. He grins suavely at her, spreading his arms out in form of explanation.
"What?" she drawls slowly, eyelids dropping and palm slipping off her cheek in unsatisfaction.
He nods his head determinedly, his mop of blond hair bobbing up and down with his movements. "Yeah, you see, my parents won't be convinced of our breakup unless the fight happens directly after the first kiss."
The excuse sounds pathetic even to his own ears and judging by her sardonic expression, it isn't working on her either.
Ally narrows her eyes at him, questioning his sanity. "Your parents saw you kiss me a second time," she states bluntly, leaving out the part that it was against her will, nonetheless.
"Oh." His head snaps down in shame.
"Oh," she mocks, ignoring his grimace.
She considers lapping the conversation into absolute silence again, but she quickly decides against it in favor of her brimming curiosity.
"So why did you do it?" she asks pointedly.
His head snaps up, taken off guard. He had probably expected the conversation to be over by now. "Huh?"
She licks her lips in aggravation, fixing a stand of her hair with a pointer finger and thumb before speaking. "The kiss, Austin," she asks, voice dry enough to put the Pacific Ocean to drought, "why'd you do it?"
He blinks, not once, but twice. "The kiss?" he repeats in a high and panicky voice.
She raises an eyebrow in a 'duh' fashion, willing him to hurry up and continue.
"The kiss," he says yet again in a lower tone. "Why'd I do it?" He scratches the back of his neck uncomfortably. "Well…" he starts, but quickly begins fumbling with his fingers, his gaze travelling down to his lap. He falls completely silent.
She waits for an answer for a full four seconds before realizing he isn't about to answer.
Finally deciding to put past all this hurt and nonsense, she doesn't bother resisting an eye roll this time. "Forget it."
An annoyed groan emits through Austin's throat; his head bobbing up and down as he trudges forward. His heavy footsteps are a sharp contrast to Ally's small, dainty ones.
"Stop walking so fast," he pleads in a low voice, trailing helplessly behind the brunette.
Ally sticks a posh nose in the air, not slowing down in the slightest as she hurries toward the end of the hallway. "Stop walking so fast," she mocks immaturely under her breath, not yet over her previous anger.
Another inhuman noise escapes Austin when he hears her remark; this time sounding more like a sigh than a groan.
"Look, Ally—" he starts defensively—ready to provide a lame apology, but Ally swiftly spins on her heels to face him, giving him an immediate, warning look of disinterest.
He sluggishly catches himself from stumbling at her sudden halt. The icy stare she accentuates upon him would usually prevent him from trying any further, but he knows he's been nothing but irrational these past few days. And irrationality certainly deserves some explanation.
Closing his eyes, he presses his fingertips to his eyelids lightly as he tries to find the best possible way to get his feelings across to her. To explain this strange shift in the way he's seeing things. To properly apologize for kissing her out of random and ruining her carefully crafted plan.
He parts his lips slowly. "Ally, what I'm trying to say is-"
A rouge voice cuts him off. "Hey, I thought you looked familiar!"
Austin's eyes snap wide open at the sound of the all too familiar, yet unwelcome, voice. He's almost too paralyzed in shock and disbelief to turn his head and confirm his suspicions.
He doesn't have to, of course, because Ally quickly addresses the presence of the unwanted male in a matter of seconds.
She tilts her head to the side leisurely. "Hello," she greets. "Gary, was it?" The pleasant tone in her voice made Austin want to cringe, but he knew her well enough to know she wasn't too pleased at the run in, herself.
The part-time waiter quickly jogs from the entrance of the lobby over to where they're standing in the hall. He looks disgustingly elated to have caught up with the cute brunette he once waited on.
Austin curses the heavens and debates pensively over what deadly sin he could have possibly committed in the past to land himself in such an unfortunate position.
"I was hoping to run into you!" the brunette male exclaims, his eyes lighting up in contrast to the pained expression Austin has adopted within the last few seconds.
His eyes dart over to Austin's annoyed form, a slight twitch appearing. "Was kind of hoping you'd be alone, though." His crisp comment was directed specifically to the singer, who's just as discontent as he is, in fact, maybe even more so.
Austin throws his head back in disdain, manners going right out the window. "Don't you have some dishes to scrub or something?" he grumbles, intentions easily translating into, 'Get the hell out of my face.'
Ally's hands travel to rest on her waist, a habit of hers when she's annoyed with him. She sends him a stern, knowing look, silently asking him to behave.
Gary, however, doesn't miss a beat. "I'm off-shift," he comments dryly, barely glancing over to the blond. "And dish-washing isn't in my job description," he adds tamely as an afterthought.
"Could've fooled me with the cart of dirty dishes you were wheeling around," Austin trails off, referring to their infamous meeting over dinner.
He gives a reproachful shake of his head, looking like he expected Austin to know better. "I only bring the dishes into the kitchen."
Austin's eyes narrow even further at the tone of coarseness in his voice.
Ally seems to have noticed the tense atmosphere and quickly stops the two from further engagement. "So, um, Gary, what brings you here?" she asks conversationally, moving so that she's standing right between the two males.
The Dallas look-alike smirks almost conceitedly. "You do." The smooth reply leaves his lips in a puckered fashion. His eyes automatically narrowing on her like predators before they feast upon their prey.
Austin resists the notion to gag at his ridiculous attempts at charm.
Who gave him permission to use a corny line like that?
Ally gives a polite, albeit awkward, laugh, waving a dismissive hand at his flirtatious comment. Gary grins at the action, marking down a pathetic victory in his pathetic record of pathetic advances.
He flips his hair a little, trying to play nonchalant, displeasing Austin more than he would like to admit. "So I never really got your name." The statement sounds innocent enough, but the suggestive eyebrow on his inquisitive features makes Austin believe otherwise.
"It's Ally," she responds in obligatory niceness, adorable dimples forming by her cheeks. His smile widens, crinkles forming by his eyes, looking absolutely chipper to have received this information
"Ally," he repeats fondly, "rolls off the tongue quite nicely." He sends another grin her way, as if thinking he would no doubt be repeating her name for several times after this.
Austin coughs impolitely, effectively killing the moment. "Yeah," he roughly cuts in, "anyway, Ally and I, we're in a bit of a hurry," he steps forward and moves to put an arm over Ally's shoulders. "We have dinner plans at a restaurant." His eyes take in Gary's dull gaze upon him and he holds up a sophisticated palm with the arm still resting on the song-writer's petite shoulders. "A different restaurant, with good service," he completes his statement with a cheeky nod.
"Austin—" Ally starts in a reprimanding tone—fearing her blond counterpart was about to take it too far—but she's cut off by a laugh stemming from Gary's tan throat.
His eyes fixate upon Austin's look of confusion, lips quirked cockily. "I get it," he says, confidence oozing with every slowly stressed syllable. "You feel threatened by me."
Austin splutters incoherently. "Of you?"
"That's right," he affirms, merriment present from the distinguished curve of his lips.
The anger the comment generates from the other male is deathly.
Austin looks torn between resorting to physical violence and wanting to just take the higher road to turn and walk away.
But mostly physical violence.
If that's not bad enough, Gary keeps talking, completely ignoring the murderous aura currently spreading like wild fire.
"You two clearly don't have any chemistry," he states in a knowing tone. "So much so, that I mistook you two for siblings when I first happened upon your table." He smirks. "Although I was pretty distracted by the hot brunette."
He sends a flirty wink to Ally yet again, but this time she's too horrified to even supply a properly embarrassed reaction as she stares at Austin's clenched jaw, waiting for the worst.
A beat passes and nothing happens.
"Au-Austin?" she asks tentatively, stepping out from under his arm to better survey his face, when he still makes no response.
The musician's eyes are still trained emotionlessly at the victorious grin swiping across the face of his competitor.
"Alright," he finally says, an air of defiance present in his tone. He turns his attention to Ally, the sudden action causing her to flinch and abruptly start to fidget with her fingers. His eyes are determined as he pulls her close to him again.
Ally uses her left hand to gently push on Austin's chest, stopping him from pulling her in any closer. "What are you doing?" she asks cautiously, noticing a trend in her partner's actions. This really all feels way too familiar for her liking.
He does a quick take to Gary, who's still unmoved, looking a little miffed at the sudden proximity between the two, then back to Ally, who's still glowering impatiently, waiting for an answer.
There's an unfamiliar edge to his voice. "I'm giving him a good taste of our chemistry." He says, speaking from the corner of his mouth, eyes focussed intently on the other male, burning deep with a sense of hatred and desire to destroy.
An inquisitive eyebrow settles itself on her polished features. "Do I get a say in this?"
He rolls his eyes a little. "You can say yes," he answers in agitation and attempts to pull her close again without waiting for her approval, but she pushes back sharper this time.
"Austin," she warns.
He looks her dead in the eyes, not a spark of humor or amusement present in his line of perception. "It's either I kiss you, or I sock him right in the eye," he deadpans.
Ally looks conflicted, purses her lips in thought. She shakes her head to decline. "Don't you have a better solution to this madness?"
A curt shake of his head answers her question. "No."
She sighs, quickly weighing her options, debating the likability of Austin actually punching Gary in the face. As passive and adorable as Austin usually is, it would not surprise her in the least if he did. The fire ignited in his glare further solidified her case.
Her thoughts are cut short by a quiet, but agitated, growl being released from Gary, who's most likely had enough of being cast aside.
Austin's grip on her tightens, almost protectively, and she mentally groans in dismay, already knowing what she needs to do.
Quickly, reverting to her tippy toes, she hesitantly wraps both her arms around Austin's sturdy neck in a loose fashion. She can see the other brunette frown disapprovingly out of the corner of her eye and conceives a quick mentally apology before swallowing thickly.
She breathes out of her mouth, locking eyes with the stubborn blond. He looks a bit surprised at this action, but not nearly as nervous as she feels, instead, a sense of curiosity overtaking his visage.
With her mind going crazy in a deranged frenzy, she leans up, slowly closing her eyes in the process and gently pecks his lips. Sooner than she expects, she's again greeted by the odd sparks of longing anticipation and the peculiar sensation that is kissing your best friend.
And strangely enough, she even feels a twisted, corrupt sense of bliss.
His eyes seal shut a second later; feeling the comforting graze that is her lips against his own. He's just about to relax into the kiss, when he feels her beginning to pull away.
Clearly, she's mistaken if she thought she could get away with a five second kiss.
With the hand that had been gently resting on the small of her back, he roughly pushes her even closer to him, both arms now wrapping securely around her waist. Her surprised intake of breath doesn't go unnoticed by him, and along with the conjoined hammering of hearts; both hers and his own, he impulsively decides it's a good time to part his lips.
She's left with very little choice but to follow suit.
She releases a small noise censure, sounding a bit uncomfortable and suddenly conscious at all this intimacy, but she doesn't try to pull away again. Taking this as a good sign, he allows his tongue to very carefully sweep across her lips before entering her mouth.
Her closed eyelids manage to flutter at the sensation as he tilts his head for better access. He deepens the kiss even further while he's able to forget all about stupid Gary and the fact that he's standing less than five feet away, a look of disgust probably displayed all over his dull exterior.
He's able to forget all about the fact that he's currently amidst a complicated fake relationship, the fact that they're probably already late for dinner, forget that he's not technically supposed to have feelings for his songwriter and slowly, he subsides into the guilty pleasure that is kissing Ally Dawson.
Their kiss lasts for a full minute. Their lips part too soon by obligation.
Finally pulling back, she stares up at him, mouth hanging open a little. A mixture of surprise and bewilderment splashed across her countenance.
He returns her sentiment with a nervous scratch of his head, desperately searching her face for any sign of approval or disgust. Finding no sense of either emotion present, he tries his luck by giving her an anxious smile.
They are interrupted by a scary chill and immediately feel the occupancy of sharp eyes digging into them like daggers. Gary finally makes his presence known again, looking both furious and embarrassed; a scowl in serious danger of spreading across his thin lips.
Austin's attention drifts away from Ally and his lips gradually upturn in triumph, drinking in the other male's dismay. Giving a quiet snicker, he steps away from her and takes a step closer to him. His own face is illuminated with glory and exuberance, his height advantage also further adding to his status.
An awful silence consumes the three as Ally waits expectantly for Gary to lose his temper, or for some awful showdown between the two males to take place.
Instead, the waiter's anger quickly washes away to be replaced by a look of pure grief and remorse.
He gives one more look at the pretend couple: Austin trying unsuccessfully to mask his smug smirk and Ally, who looks a mixture of sympathetic and cautionary, and turns to make his exit.
No sooner had he taken two steps in the other direction when he hears the blond threat's irritable voice.
"Awe, what, you're going?" Austin calls out insincerely, one hand already moving to rest on Ally's shoulders again. "So soon?"
Gary doesn't bother turning his head at the jeers.
"Austin…" Ally warns quietly, impatience seeping into her tone.
He completely ignores her, shouting merrily at his retracting foe. "Okay! Buh-bye now! Have a nice life!"
The flurry of his dark hair disappears as Gary makes a turn towards a path into the lobby. As soon as his figure is gone from their view, Ally roughly removes Austin's arm from her shoulders, turning so that her front is to him. She sends a heated glare in his direction.
Austin's too busy breaking down in hysterics to register her anger. "Di-did you see his face?" he asks in between bouts of laugher, a pointer finger coming up to wipe a tear from his eye.
She releases an agitated discharge of breath, closing her eyes. "That wasn't very nice," she bites out.
Austin's laugh turns dry at her accusatory tone. He snaps his head up to look at her, hair flipping slightly at the sudden action. He surveys her somber features before coming up with a cheeky reply. "It was pretty darn nice of me not to break his nose."
Ally furrows her eyebrows, not having anticipated his reply. She blows a strand of hair from her face. "I'm being serious. He didn't do anything wrong."
It was Austin's turn to furrow his eyebrows. "Didn't do anything wrong?" he repeats disbelievingly, gingerly smacking the palm of his hand to his forehead. "Ally, he was flirting with you," he explains as if she were some naive little girl, who didn't understand the definition of being harassed.
"He was not!" she lies defectively, voice cracking left and right.
He gives her an unconvinced look.
"Okay, maybe he was," she admits begrudgingly, not without a sarcastic roll of the eyes. She counters him with another question, "But was I responding?"
"Maybe you would have if I hadn't shoved my tongue down your throat!" he blundered, too obnoxious to see the fault behind his reasoning.
Ally draws back, pausing in shock, before looking disappointed in him. "You're disgusting."
Austin scoffs, left arm flailing in effort to make a statement. "He was being disgusting. I was just trying to keep my lunch from leaving my stomach."
"At least he had the courtesy act nicely," she snaps, increasingly annoying Austin for the fact that she's defending the enemy. She gestures rudely at him. "You, on the other hand, were just being immature, like you always are."
He feels something inside of him snap at her words, feels a rush of fury fly through his veins, and he's distraught.
"I'm immature?" he asks incredulously, as if not properly comprehending how cruel she sounded at the moment. He pauses and laughs bitterly, swiping an angry mob of bangs from his forehead.
She quickly catches the spark of indifference in his eyes and she knows that she has hurt his feelings. She opens her mouth, about to retract some damage, but he cuts her off.
"You know, I'm so sorry you have to put up with me all the time. I mean, some people only have to put up with someone they dislike during the daytime, but you?" He takes a breath, his eyes looking wild, before continuing, "You have to share a room with me, you spend practically every second of every day with me. You wake up, and I'm there. How do you breathe?"
"Austin— " she tries again, voice feeling insignificant and lost in translation, but Austin still doesn't allow her to continue any further.
"No, you know what? If you're so sick of pretending to be my girlfriend," he blinks slowly; appearing nothing similar to the Austin she's so used to. "Why don't we just end it now and make it easier for you?" he suggests haughtily, failing to comprehend his own words as they roll off his tongue impulsively.
"That's not even— "
"No, no, it makes perfect sense," he says, his gaze hardened. "How about I just be my immature self during dinner so you can dump me? Since I'm clearly too much of a child for boring, adult Ally."
She feels the sharp jab of his insult and promptly chokes on the words she's yet to get out.
Swallowing her disappointment, she looks away for a brief second to collect herself, just praying for her voice to remain strong as she manages her own weak response to his angry rant.
"Why don't we?"
Reaching the dinner table in a retro themed diner where the ceilings are high, but the lights hang purposely low; Austin and Ally take their respective seats next to each other, barely glancing in one another's directions in the process.
They order their meals in the same manner, not so much as a touch, or even a brush here nor there; looking nothing familiar to the old Austin and Ally who seemed to have no sense of the term personal space.
Even when their waitress mixed up the placing of their orders by mistake, they exchanged their meals wordlessly, a grunt uttered by Austin and a cough escaping from Ally.
The conversations at the table seemed to flow fairly casually without the two as well, no one really speaking up about their lack of interaction until Joseph managed to get a little suspicious.
"You two have been a little quiet tonight," he notes before sticking a spoonful of mashed potatoes into his mouth. He chews thoughtfully, surveying the two mute teenagers.
Austin stops eating, his jaws no longer chewing the food in his mouth, and Ally beside him nearly drops the fork she has in her hand.
Mimi takes furtive glances at the two's reaction before she sets her own cutlery down, eyes filling with worry. "Oh dear, did something happen?" she asks, before she then turns to Edna sitting on her left, giving her a look of concern.
The only chewing noises still heard from the table came from Austin's father, Mike Moon, who seems to be the only one still eating casually. "They're probably just acting all embarrassed 'cause we all saw them kiss earlier," he says, shrugging as if it were no big deal.
Austin skillfully ignores his father's wit and resumes eating his chicken nuggets and fries with a disgruntled glower and a slight clearing of his throat.
Ally, however, is quickly consumed with paranoia. "You guys saw that?" she squeaks. "You were in the hall?"
Eyebrows arise.
"We were talking about outside the small gift shop…" Edna trails off, mind falling in the gutters.
Mimi cuts in with excitement lighting up her features. "There was a kiss in the hall?"
Ally's panic grows, eyes now the size of saucers. "Pfft—no," she lies badly, her fingers making way to tug on a strand of her curly hair. "What kiss in the halls?"
Unfortunately for her, no one at the table seems the least convinced.
Austin rolls his eyes darkly at her comment, forgetting his hunger completely as he leans back into the chair. "Yes, I had to kiss her because certain dish washing boys like to make googley eyes at her as soon as they see an opening."
Ally exhales quietly in annoyance. "Please, that is not what happened."
He scoffs at her denial as he leans even further back in his chair, the front legs lifting up off the ground. "Really?" he quips. "Or are you just on his side because you like all the attention?"
An eye almost twitches. "Austin," she states in a warning tone, not liking what is going on.
"No, no, I get it," he replies in obviously forced nonchalance. He shrugs lightly and sets his chair back on the ground, making a notion to start eating again.
Ally glances in his direction hesitantly, hoping that is the last addition to his insane rant, but just as the food reaches his mouth, he can't stop one final sardonic comment from flying past his lips. "Bet you wish he was your boyfriend."
An exasperated noise of distress leaves her system as she seals her eyes in irritation. Hearing complete silence bestowed upon the table and completely unsure of how to respond to Austin's insane comment, Ally shifts uncomfortably, allowing her gaze to fall down to her skirt.
He turns to cock his head in her direction as an afterthought, insincerity flooding his intonation. "Sorry, was that too immature?"
She frowns at the unapologetic tone in his voice, then sighs as she takes this as her cue.
She pushes her seat back, her chair making an unpleasant noise as it scrapes across the black and white tiled floor of the diner. "Austin, may I speak to you for a second?"
Austin's chair joins hers shortly in the discordant symphony, as he too, gets up to leave. "Certainly, Ally," he utters in a flat tone, roughly shoving his seat back under the table as they both take their leave.
A beat of silence passes before Joseph awkwardly picks his fork back up in attempt to keep the Dinner conversation going without the duo. "Have we ever finished a complete meal without those two hooligans running off to do something of their own?" he asks in a joking tone, but his commentary falls upon deaf ears as everyone has their heads turned in the direction of the departed couple.
—
The two make their way a reasonable distance from their table by the window to just a few steps from the front counter where an unwired juke box stood there, placed for atmosphere.
Ally opens her mouth right away, about to call him out for the unnecessary mention a while ago, when he interrupts quickly.
"Make it look like we're fighting," he commands in a hushed fashion, making urgent movements with his hands.
Her mouth falls open. "What?" she questions in all her cluelessness.
His expression falls flat. "You're breaking up with me."
She splutters at his bluntness. "Right now?"
"Yes!" he answers in annoyance. "This is the most perfect time! We stand here and blow off steam at each other for a while and when we head back and you can apologize for not being able to do it anymore."
"Not being able to handle our relationship anymore?" she rephrases slowly.
"Exactly," he nods, his expression serious and solemn.
"Okay," she agrees with a hesitant nod. "How do we make it look like we're fighting?"
Austin shrugs quickly. "I don't know, put your hands to your hips or something, like you always do when you're yelling at me."
"I do not always do that!" she defends hotly, hands automatically flying to the area he just mentioned.
He gives her a look.
"Okay, next," she concedes a little exasperatedly.
"Just… act like we're having a discussion."
"But we are," she notes dryly.
"Then yelling, let's have some yelling!"
She flinches at his loudness, and steps to place a soft hand on his shoulder. "Okay, okay, don't overdo the yelling. I don't want us getting kicked out."
Upon the featherlike touch to his shoulder he dramatically jerks back his arm, forcing her to retract her hand. "Don't touch me!" he shouts, drawing away from her in the process. "It'll look like we're making up!"
Agitation fills her quickly as she moves her denied hand to cross her arms against her chest and she rolls her eyes for the up tenth time this evening.
Following his action, silence ensues as neither of them has actually faked a breakup before— which is only natural, because just the sentiment alone is purely ridiculous.
He certainly never thought he'd have to go through with something as stupid as a pretending to follow through with a breakup. Especially not with Ally.
He shifts a pupil to glance at her from the corner of his eye. Her uneasy stance and troubled eyes filled him to the brim with guilt. He can hear a version of his own ecstatic tone as he buzzed on and on about his foolproof plan that he came up with overnight of having Ally pretend to be his girlfriend.
Him, with that stupid grin stretched wide upon his face, thinking he was the craftiest, most cunning individual on the planet for his diabolical scheme, and Ally, with the slightly horrified, but knowing look in her eyes, already knowing she'd willingly be a part of his proposition. Because that's just what she does: she helps people.
He relives the hug of relief and merriment he envelopes her in when she agreed. The two of them intoxicated on nothing but strict proximity and joy.
What he wouldn't trade to go back to simpler times.
Back before his scumbag self and his idiocy ruined everything.
His only sense of remedy is the hope that things will start to come back together after the breakup. He can't just allow their relationship to sink any further into this mess off jealousy and drama.
He just needs her by his side as his song writer and best friend once again.
That's all he asks.
Austin gives it another beat or two of silence before Ally speaks up again. "Now what?" she wonders tastelessly.
He looks at her from his upturned head, lips separating themselves. "I…dunno…how long does it usually take to break up?"
She thinks for a second. "Should we maybe give it another minute?"
Instead of answering her question, he skillfully sneaks a peak at his family, who at this point are all looking sufficiently worried and understandably nosy. His eyebrows peak a little. "I think we're good."
They give each other a tiny nod of affirmation, and begin to head back to their seats.
An awful feeling of dread fills Ally as they near the table.
She hesitantly pulls her chair out and sits down again with Austin following suit, all eyes following them as they do so. The seat feels uncomfortable and unfamiliar, her weight looming over it in all her uncertainty.
Ally's breathing shallows a slight bit, her fingers weave together in attempt to calm herself.
Taking a deep breath, she decides to quickly get the inevitable over with.
"So listen…" she starts slowly, already about to be consumed by all the anticipated gazes that are eating her up, "I really don't mean to drop this on you guys, but…"
Pausing to give a sideways look to Austin's awaiting form; she notices his eyes looking hard and steady, his mouth curved, and ready to mouth the next words he expects to leave her mouth. Her gander then travels to Mike Moon, who's surprisingly also paying an incredible amount of attention to her, in that instant, he looks scarily similar to his son.
It then moves on to Joseph and Edna, who are both very obviously trying to hide their concern and curiosity.
What will they all think once she breaks up with Austin? He's their nephew; their cute blond heartthrob of a nephew. She's only just met them, too. Really, the circumstances all seem to be against her.
Gulping quietly, she gingerly wets her lips with her tongue and prepares to finally finish what she started. "I—I just think that—" The words refuse to leave her mouth, they absolutely refuse to. They were stuck against her tongue like glue.
Even word vomit would be more favorable at the moment.
Biting her lip helplessly, and looking up once again in desperation, she makes the mistake of looking into Mimi's hopeful eyes; an unbelievable amount of reliance and nervousness just gleams through the woman. The blond Moon appears to be only person at the table who seems to be expecting good news.
Realization dawns upon her. She can't do it. There's no possible way she can rip this woman's heart out like that. Austin's mother has been nothing but accepting ever since their first encounter.
Fake relationship or not, she'd want nothing but the best for the two of them, to work out their differences with as little confliction as possible, to carry on their alliance like they had done so well on the first days of the cruise, to hope that what the two of them have will last.
It takes her a while to understand that the female Moon's feelings mirrored her own.
She tucks an absent strand of hair away, finally unweaving her hands in perseverance. "I just think that…it was incredibly rude of us to leave dinner yet again to pursue another argument." She takes a breath, not believing what she's about to do or how things are going to turn out. "But, I—I want to tell you that whatever happens, I'm sure we'll be able to power through," she finishes lamely, reproachfully redirecting the entirety of her speech in a new direction with much difficulty.
A sigh of relief escapes Edna as she presses a hand over her heart, eyes fluttering in repose. Joseph also appears to have relaxed by a fair amount as his shoulders visibly sag downward with the exit of air out his mouth. And Mike only gives a curt nod, eyes promptly drifting away from the brunette once again.
The only upside stems from seeing Mimi beaming proudly at her, probably already handing her the title of daughter-in-law.
From right beside her, Austin sits still, looking beyond thrown off, a sense of confusion and frustration apparent upon his facial expression. He does a take around the table and then settles to Ally, who all but avoids his gaze. She jerks her hand to sharply touch the metal fork she had been eating with earlier, even though food is the least of her thoughts.
Realizing Ally isn't about to acknowledge his presence, or their ignored dispatch plan, he turns outward on his chair, knee brushing against Ally's thigh. She flinches not too noticeably at the contact.
He leans ever so slightly towards her. "Wait," he drawls. "I'm pretty sure you were going to tell me something else."
She stops eating again.
Hating him for keeping all this directed attention to her, Ally gives him what she hopes to be an assuring smile.
"I was just going to remind you to start packing up your things, since we've only got about a day and a half left on this cruise."
He shakes his head persistently, intent on drawing out what he wants from her. "I don't think that was it."
"I'm sure it was," she insists lightly.
An eyebrow arches in retaliation. "You sounded pretty serious about it," he counters once again, not yet backing down.
She holds her ground fairly well, careful not to sound snappy. "Well, I'm pretty serious about sanitation and people being punctual."
What she gathers to be an angry silence is his response, but a second later he recoils.
"Well then, my bad," Austin mutters in apology, sinking back silently in his seat. But his dark brown eyes seem to say something completely different.
The rest of dinner was eaten rather difficultly with no one knowing what to talk about, or what to think about for that matter, but a sense of relief was unknowingly released by all the adults at the table, knowing that the dynamic duo were still together.
Ally had been uncomfortable when she was finishing eating what was left of her dinner in the intentionally dim lights that provided a moody atmosphere for the diner.
She was uncomfortable when she and Austin departed from the rest of the group to go in separate directions.
She was uncomfortable knowing she'd have to walk back the rest of the way to their room with him in what would either be deafening silence or amidst a heated argument.
She was uncomfortable when she followed him out of the elevator, his back looking scary and intimating to her anxiously pounding heart, while her steps were heavy and was mind wondering if she had made the right choice the entire way.
But standing just at the entrance of their room, with their recently shut door?
She's no longer uncomfortable.
She's scared.
She's not actually scared of him; rather, she's scared for their possibly crumbling friendship.
Just as the thought crosses her mind, Austin's hardened gaze takes focus of her.
"I'm sorry, I thought you wanted the break up to happen," he asks coldly, right hand still clamped on the knob of the door. His knuckles are white from the vice-like grip he keeps as he holds back his frustration.
Ally chews on her bottom lip, finding it increasingly difficult to look him in the eye. "It's not that easy," she says finally with a persistent shake of her head. She really doesn't want to go into detail.
She hears him exhale as he loosens his grip on the knob to cross his arms in an awaiting fashion. His pupils dart to the corner of his eyes as if he's processing the information she's just thrown out.
"What's so hard about it?" he asks carefully, trying to sound tentative.
Fidgeting slightly, she takes a vigilant sigh. "I like your family," she manages weakly. "I really don't wanna break their hearts at our failed relationship."
That's partially true.
He scoffs in a pompous tone, unsure of where he's getting all this bitterness from all of a sudden. "I thought you said we didn't have a relationship," he quips, feigning confusion in a darkened manner.
Ally's eyes narrow at him in a disapproving manner. "You know what I mean," she replies snappily, leaning her weight to one foot as she realizes this fight is going to last for quite a while.
"I really don't," he shoots back, rolling his eyes. He uncrosses his arms to gesture wildly at her. "You say you want to break this relationship up, you call me immature, and when I act extra immature, setting up the perfect breakup for you; you back out last minute."
Coming out of his mouth, she really does sound vile.
"I just—" she begins, but she stops herself when she feels tears prick at the edges of her eyes at his words. She takes a deep breath, hating the fact that she's about to cry.
"So why don't you just break up with me?" she asks gently, blinking away all evidence of her sadness. Her eyes dart away from the scene in front of her, trying to keep her eyes occupied and useful.
He doesn't seem to notice her struggle as he runs a frustrated hand through his hair.
"Have you forgotten everything this plan has been about?" he asks with annoyance thick and apparent in his voice.
And to be honest, she really has forgotten what this entire thing has been about.
He shakes his head roughly, as if talking sense into her is a laborious chore. "This just brings us back to square one, how am supposed to act hung up over you if I'm the one breaking it off?"
An awful feeling settles into the bottom of her stomach. She looks up at him, unsuccessfully trying to mask the hurt on her face. It doesn't seem to matter anyway, because he's bristling too much to care.
Ally opens her mouth, voice sounding unusually calm and distant.
"Well, I, for one, am sick and tired of running around and trying to fix everything for you, Austin," she states, eyes boring into his, with a scary sense of confidence. Her gaze is challenging, and she has to bite down on her lip to stop it from quivering. Breathing in deeply again, she tries to ignore the crack in her voice as she speaks. "I didn't ask for any of this either."
Austin opens his mouth to interject, but she takes a step forward, effectively silencing him.
"No," she asserts. "I'm…I'm…" A pause again. "So, you…you just," Her broken fragments of sentences never finish, as she helplessly stifles the inevitable breakdown. She feels her fists shaking in suppressed sadness, feels the rush of devastation hit her, and this time she's sure he can see the tears streaming down her cheeks. He's the quietest he's ever been. She wants to tell him off, give him a piece of her mind, but her response is far weaker than she's hoped for. "From now on, you can do your own stupid damage control," she manages delicately.
Following her statement, the brief vibe of boldness disperses and her face crumples beneath the presence of unshed tears.
She hurriedly shoves past him, catching only the noise of surprise he makes when he's pushed away from the door.
She grips the knob of the door with trembling fingers and slams it loudly in an effort to drown out the choked sob that makes its way out of her throat as she makes her exit.
She comes to a halt outside the room, bowing her head down, her hair forming drapes to mask her weeping form. Sniffling a few times and wiping up the majority of wetness that occupied her cheeks, she quietly decides to take a little trip to the deck of the ship.
Taking one step forward, her eyebrows furrow in confusion at the sight of leather shoes.
Slowly lifting her head, the color drains little by little from her usual rosy complexion. Her feet have now lost the power to move forward and she's sure her blood's run cold.
There, right in front of her, is Mr. Moon with an unreadable expression present on his face. His eyes are wide and his lips are firmly together in a state of disorientation. Ignoring the surprise highlighted upon her face and her mouth agape, Mike arches an eyebrow at her tear-stained face while she remains in shocked silence.
Shoving his hands in his trouser pockets, he shifts his weight slightly, running his tongue over his lips before he opens his mouth to speak.
"That is not exactly the conversation you wanna hear when you go check up on your son."