Hey All. I'm sorry I've been such a poo not updating for ages. Here's the next chapter though, hopefully you all like it!

Obviously I own nothing. Love you all :) Enjoy!

The majority of the night passed in a bit of a blur for Ally. She was tugged around by Austin to meet various neighbours and family friends and tried her best to stifle her laughter as he had his hair tugged and cheeks pinched and wonderments were repeated all round at how quickly he'd grown up, and into such a handsome young man!

And if Austin kept her a little closer than was strictly necessary, if his eyes were a little darker than usual, then Ally told herself it was because of the buzz of the champagne and had nothing to do with her appearance and their kiss earlier.

Or at least she did for as long as she could, because Ally was nothing if not a pragmatist, and there was no way she was letting herself get her hopes up only to be shot down. But then, it was almost as if - and Ally was reluctant to say this, or to assume anything - but it was almost as if Austin had been… jealous?

It had all been fairly innocent, she'd been laughing with one of Austin's family friends - a Dallas-look-a-like who was about Ally's own age, in one of the few moments she wasn't gluing herself and letting herself be glued to Austin's side. Dallas 2.0 had been charming and sweet and she was buzzing on champagne and when he asked her to dance she hadn't hesitated to say yes, letting him pull her to the dance floor. It was all innocent (okay, maybe he was flirting, but Ally's heart was taken, and it was always nice to be wanted, especially without all the worry and complication that had been haunting the last couple of days with Austin), but she hadn't missed the way Austin's eyes had searched around before settling on the two of them.

She also hadn't missed the way his eyes had narrowed and his stance had gotten a little more tense, his hands closing into loose fists, looking- well, looking a bit ready to attack, really.

But she shook even that off - Ally wasn't prone to thinking of herself as particularly desirable and she found it hard to imagine that Austin was reacting this way because of her.

But when Dallas 2.0's (Tom's) hand drifted a little farther down her waist, settling closer to the curve of her bum, she couldn't deny, couldn't reason her way out of Austin's hands tightening into proper fists and the way he stalked (like actually, full out stalked) over to them.

"Can I cut in?" his voice was a little less than pleasant - a light veneer of charming over the top of thinly veiled anger. Ally attempted to extricate herself from Tom's grasp - she knew that tone and Austin wasn't kidding around.

"I think we're good actually." Dallas 2.0 smirked at Austin, refusing to let Ally disentangle herself. And Ally was a little worried, to say the least - Austin didn't get like this very often, but when he did, the worst possible thing to do was to rile him up further.

"Maybe you should reconsider given that's my girlfriend you're dancing with," all charm gone, Austin essentially snarled at him, stepping a little closer, just inside Dallas 2.0's personal space.

"Really? Isn't she a bit… out of your league mate? You're punching alright."

"I'm gonna be punching something else pretty soon if you don't get your hands the fuck off my girlfriend."

"Okay guys. Cool off alright. Tom, this is my boyfriend Austin. Austin, this is Tom, a friend who I was having a friendly dance with in a purely platonic manner. Need me to put friend in there a couple more times, just so we're all clear? Or have we got the message? Tom, I think our dance is over, thanks." Ally said, perhaps a little perfunctorily, but really what was with boys and their testosterone? She was perfectly in control of herself and she didn't need anyone coming around to be her knight in shining armour. The damsel in distress act was not her thing.

Then again, she sincerely doubted Austin had been joking about punching something else pretty soon.

"Alright, alright. Maybe another time. See you later, Ally-gator." A smooth smile found it's way onto Dallas 2.0's face as he let Ally go. Ally immediately put a soothing arm onto Austin's as he bristled at the nickname, stepping closer and putting her arms around his shoulders. She began to sway to the music, leaving him no choice but to follow her movements.

"Fuck. Now I'm gonna have to find something else to call you."

"You barely ever called me Ally-gator anyway." They swayed in silence for a little, Ally resting her head on Austin's chest and she felt the tension begin to slip from his body. She waited until it was almost all gone before she pulled her head off his chest, raising her perfect eyebrows at him, with a rather unimpressed look on her face.

Austin, to his credit, lasted longer than most would under her stare, but eventually gave in. He knew exactly what she was annoyed about and he couldn't really defend himself. He knew Ally didn't need his protection, and he knew that barging in was rude of him. He knew all that. He'd even known before hand that he'd have an angry Ally afterwards. But that still hadn't stopped him. He let out a small sigh (a marked difference from the put-upon one he'd wanted to go for, but he had a feeling if he had have then Ally might have stomped on his toes, his heart, and walked away without looking back).

"Sorry."

Ally softened immediately. "I know. And I know you didn't mean anything by it. But I'm not some damsel in distress you need to protect you know. I'm never going to do anything I'm uncomfortable with and I'm in control of the situation, even if you don't immediately realise it.:

"I know. It's just you look so great tonight, like really great, and I'm just… Will you believe me if I tell you I really couldn't help it, and that I'm incredibly sorry for underestimating you and being rude?" he asked, turning his best puppy eyes onto her.

Ally nestled her head back into his chest, chuckling a little. "Yeah. If it was anyone else but you, I would have ripped their head off you know. Feminism and all that."

"I know."

They swayed a little longer until Austin pulled away slightly, looking down at Ally.

"You know I think this is one of the first dances we've had together."

Ally snorted. "Except for the disaster around Trish's quinceañera."

"Yeah, except for that. Ally Dawson, may I have this dance?" he asked, bowing to the ground with his hand in front of him.

Ally giggled and curtsied (actually giggled and curtsied, ugh what was she doing?), placing her hand into Austin's where he couldn't help but marvel at the size difference.

Austin placed his hand respectfully onto Ally's waist, and pulled her close once again, this time into a proper waltz position. She looked at him doubtfully.

"I'm afraid to say I still do kind of have two left feet."

"Good point."

She wound her arms around his neck and he let his drop a little further to rest on her hips, and that's how they passed the rest of the night. Pressed tightly against one another, like puzzle pieces fitting together, and swaying gently together to the soft, whispering backing track of love songs.

There it is, darlings. I adore each and every one of your reviews, you always make me smile.

All the love, have a fantastic rest of the week!

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