Austin's P.O.V.
"No way in-"
"Language!" Ally cut him off, gesturing to the young ears around them. Austin bit his tongue, but stood his ground though.
"I am not going in there! I could get an infectious disease, or suffocate, or drown! You can't make me go in there. I'm to young to die!" Austin didn't budge from his spot on the sidewalk as Ally yanked on his arm again. She finally let his limb go, put her hands on her hips, and cocked an eyebrow at Austin.
"It's a library for crying out loud. Not a Nuclear Plant!"
"Same difference!" The blond shouted as he eyed the large building with terrified eyes. Ally sighed.
"Well, I guess you can roast out here in the sun while I take the kids to the surprise."
Austin raised his eyebrows. "Surprise?"
"Oh, nothing big of course. Just a private Rick Riordan signing that my mom was able to set up for me."
"You're lying."
"Am I?" She put on her most innocent face. "I guess you're going to have to decide that for yourself," She gave him a dangerous smile before walking towards the building. Austin watched as she gathered the kids and walked closer and closer to that door of no return.
Now, Austin was a book lover, but that didn't mean that he had ever been to a library. It wasn't even because of his reputation, but rather just the fact that there was used, dog-eared books in a building repulsed him. But as Ally walked closer and closer to the door, his palms started to sweat.
He wasn't going in there. But what if Uncle Rick really was there? How could he pass up that opportunity? But what if she was just saying that. She could be lying. Oh, what was he thinking. This was Ally for crying out loud.
"Wait!" He looked both ways, before running to Ally who was just opening the library's doors. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. "You better not be lying."
She smirked. "C'mon Moon boy. Live a little. It's not like the building is filled with toxic waste."
"FYI, dog-eared books are just as bad as toxic waste in my opinion."
She laughed, and lead them inside. He held his breath as he walked in, but he only made it past the register before he had to breath. He closed his eyes as he inhaled, and when he was sure that he hadn't mutated of died, he opened his eyes slowly. Ally rolled her eyes and the kids smiled. He was still wary though. You never now when you can walk straight into a booby trap.
"This was kiddos,". Ally led the children up a set of stairs. They passed rows of books, but Austin didn't even glance at them. He picked up a dawdling Thomas, and out him on his shoulders, before holding Thalia's hand. Ally was carrying Peter herself in one arm, and holding Elise's hand with the other. The triplets ran ahead of them.
He watched Ally at in front of a door that said DAWSON PARTY. She took out a key in her bag, and slid it through the lock. After a hiss, the door opened.
Austin stepped inside carefully, looking both ways. It was a quaint little room, with large floor to ceiling windows on one side, and children's book shelves on the other. The floor was carpet, with a bean bag in a corner. It was occupied.
No. Freaking. Way.
"Hi kids," The middle aged man greeted the,. The children all said hello, but Austin stood there gaping. Ally smirked.
"Austin, may I introduce you to Mr-"
"RICK RIORDAN!" Austin shouted, putting the kids down.
Ûncle Rick smiled. "Yes. And I do believe your Austin right?"
Austin felt his eyes go the size of dinner plates. "How did you know that?"
The middle aged man chuckled. "You kind of tend to remember when someone asks you to sign three books at four different meetings, as well as buys half a dozen collectors shirts and trinkets. And you also sent me a very memorable letter, in October."
Austin blushed a crimson red. "Sorry, I was kind of emotional after Mark of Athena."
Rick chuckled again. "Don't worry. Penny told me that her daughter was in quite the rampage as well."
"I wasn't on rampage!" Ally tried to defend herself, but her cheeks were a fiery red color.
Austin chuckled. "Don't deny it. Percabeth fell into Tartarus. And Nico is-"
"SO BROKEN!" Ally sobbed. Austin hugged her, rubbing her back. "He didn't deserve it!"
Austin chuckled and met Rick Riordan's eyes. He smiled. "Well, I'll let you guys in on a secret. Grover and Calypso shall be making an appearance in this series."
"Really?" Ally stopped sobbing and perked up right away. Uncle Rick nodded. Austin through his hands in the air.
"YES! Long live enchiladas!"
At the sound of enchiladas the children perked up. Peter finally sighed. "Can the old man read us Percy Jackson now?"
Austin and Ally gasped simultaneously. "Peter! How rude! Do you know who this 'old man' even is?"
"Mr. Ree-or-dah-en?" He squinted to read the name badge. Austin rolled his eyes.
"Riordan. As in THE Riordan. You know, the one who wrote Percy Jackson in the first place?"
The children looked blankly at Austin. He sighed, but gave up, fishing out his signed copy of the Lightening Thief. He handed it to uncle Rick. "What chapter are you guys on?" He smiled at Austin.
"Seven," He said, cozy-ing down beside Ally as he opened the book. As Rick looked for the page, he talked to the children.
"Did you know I wrote this book for my son when he was about you age?" He told Thalia. She looked shy, but shook her head. rock smiled at her. "He struggled with history, so I originally made the story up to help him make sense of it all. What are all of your names, by the way?"
The triplets went first, followed by Elise and Peter. Ally introduced Thomas.
"And this is the latest member of our family, Thalia. But unfortunately she can't control lightening," Austin introduced the shy young girl. Rick smiled at her.
"Don't you bear a striking resemblance to how I picture Thalia Grace.". Thalia blushed at the compliment.
"Mr. Riordan," Ally piped up before she started reading, "Would it be possible to get the name of the Nico you based Nico Di Angelo off us possibly?"
Rick chuckled. "I don't think he would appreciate it if I gave his full name to a crazy fan girl. Your mother informed me about your crush."
Ally blushed deep crimson, and Austin turned to her, his eyebrows raised. "Wait, you love Nico Di Angelo? He's such a creep!"
"TAKE IT BACK!" She suddenly swatted his arm. Austin's eyes widened to the size of unusually large dinner plates as he grabbed Ally's arm. "He's simply misunderstood! He is the hottest, downright sexiest boy ever!"
"Yeah," Austin smirked. "Ten year old kid."
"He's almost fourteen!" She defended. "And if you want to be technical he's actually almost ninety four."
"Oh yes," Austin held up his hands in a surrender position. "You're crushing on an old man. Not a little boy. My bad."
Ally rolled her eyes, and Rick laughed before he started to read. The kids immediately were entranced, and Ally stopped hitting Austin's arm. He had read that series probably a dozen times. Could quote the books line for line. But hearing it read by the author just had something different to it. The words seemed more alive, Percy's facial expressions were slightly more lively. It was amazing.
After he read three chapters (After much begging on his and Ally's part) he answered the children's questions, which mostly consisted of a lot of, "When is Percy going to man up and kiss Annabeth?". At which Austin and Ally bit their lips because they both knew exactly when Percy manned up.
After a tearful goodbye (The tears coming from Austin) and a good many threats (Coming from Ally). They finally said goodbye to the famous author. It was six o clock already, so they hurried the kids home. They dropped them off, as Austin drove them to the mall.
"Oopsy Daisy!" Ally muttered as she dropped her wallet. His eyes veered from the road momentarily to see several library cards, a debit card, and several dollar bills scatter. She bent over to pick them up, while he reached for the card nearest him.
"You have your liscence?" His voice conveyed his surprise. He had never seen her drive, and didn't know that she actually had her full licence.
She snatched the card out of his hand. "Yes," She mumbled. He raised his eyebrows.
"Can you even drive?"
Silence.
He scrunched up his eyebrows as he focused on the road. "How did you pass the driving test then?"
She didn't say anything for a moment. "My Aunt works for the drivers licensing place. I can drive, I just have panic attacks when I do. She pulled some strings, and got me my licence anyways."
Austin whistled. "You have a full licence and you can't drive."
"No," She snapped irratably. "I just can't park, and I get nervous around people. Driving on a straightaway in the country is no problem."
"Oh yeah, because you totally get those in the middle of Miami."
She said nothing, so Austin pulled into an empty Costco parking lot. He turned off the vehicle. Ally looked at him strangely as he got out of the car. He walked around to the passenger side, and opened her door. She still had her seat belt on, and looked at him cautiously. He held the keys out to her.
"C'mon. Driving lesson 101 with Austin Moon," He smirked. Her eyes widened.
"No. No! No ways. Uh-uh. Absolutely not."
He raised his eyebrows at her.
"Ugh, fine." She moaned and took off her seat belt. She grabbed the keys from his outstretched hand, and scooched over to the drivers seat. Austin climbed in the passenger side as Ally adjusted the seat. She put both hands on the steering wheel, her knuckles already white.
"OK, why don't we just start out with a nice slow loop around the parking lot?" He asked her. She nodded, but didn't move. Austin sighed and reached over, pulling the joystick so the car was in drive. Ally watched his hand like it was going to explode. He gestured to the empty lot in front of them. "Shall we?"
Ally nodded. She looked straight ahead. She looked at the steering wheel. She looked down at the pedals. Then she looked back at the road. And the next thing Austin knew, was that his head flew back and hit the head rest.
"SLOW! I said SLOW!". Austin screamed. Ally slammed on the break with her foot, and Austin's entire body jerked forward. He was thanking anyone who was listening that he had put his seat belt on. He rubbed his whip lashed neck, then looked at Ally who was still staring straight ahead, her knuckles completely white. She looked at Austin.
"Like that?"
He took a deep breath. He swallowed once. Twice. Then he looked at Ally again. "Perhaps we should start out a bit slower."
She nodded and looked back at the road. Right before she was about to push the pedal, Austin grabbed her hand. She looked at their conjoined hands, as though they were extraterrestrial or something. Austin rubbed her knuckles until the color came back to them. He placed the hand gently back on the steering wheel, then did the same with the others.
He turned and looked at Ally, who was staring at her hands intently, a slight blush on her cheeks.
"Maybe this was a bad idea."
Austin shook his head, and leaned closer to her. He hoped it was her heart beating so loudly and not his. "Look, relax Als. It's just you and me. Nothing to worry about. The two of us. Nothing bad is going to happen."
"On the contrary I believe that-"
He pressed his lips to her right cheek. Her eyes went wide as saucers, and her breathing hitched. Even though he only kissed her cheek, he felt the sparks fly in his mouth, and his toes tingle. Without looking he knew that his ears were bright red.
"You and me." He whispered against her ear. "If you're ever lost in the dark and you can't see, I'll be the light to guide you," He quoted their song. He noticed that she took a deep breath, and visually relaxed. "Find out what we're made of, when we are called to help our friends in need."
Slowly, Ally pressed the gas pedal, but Austin continued to whisper in her ear. She sung the chorus along with him.
"You can count on me like 1, 2, 3, I'll be there, and I know when I need It I can count on you like 4, 3, 2, and you'll be there. Cause thatA's what friends are supposed to do oh yeah."
Austin watched as Ally successfully completed a flawless lap and stopped the car. She turned and grinned at him. "I did it!" She laughed. "That wasn't so bad!"
He smiled back at her. "That was great Als. I knew you had it in you."
"Nope." She popped the p. He turned to look at her. She smiled at him. "You had it in you. I couldn't have done it without you Austin."
He blushed. "Not really," He tried to deny it. But she enveloped him in a hug.
"Just like the song. We found out what you were made of when I needed your help."
Austin gulped. "And what was that?" He found himself lost in her eyes. She smiled another dazzling smile.
"Someone I can count on."
Hello!
Another update because the next chapter is a big one!
Q. Do you ship Percabeth?
A. OF COURSE! I'm absolutely STOKED for HoH, but also TERRIFIED because after that there is only one more book. What if Uncle Rick doesn't do another series? I'll be mortified!
Only one question? Sad face. Wait, I guess I can just use the emoticon. :-( Haha. Still a bit sick. Thanks everyone for your get wells, it's so nice to know people care. My next chapter might be a while before I update, because it's going to be a big chapter... I'll leave you with the suspense.
Please review!
Also, review challenge... I need a good song for the very end of this fan fiction that Austin can sing to Ally. I was personally thinking Truly Madly Deeply by 1D, but I'm open to suggestions. Either the song that's most requested, or the song I feel is most appropriate, I will use. Please give me some ideas guys!
Au revoir!
And please check out my new Austin and Ally fic! Austin is a spy and has to go to high school! But he ends up meeting a certain brunette along the way... It's called Oh Yeah Totally Normal, and I promise that you guys will love it! See ya!