Sorry for the long author's note but I feel like I've got to explain this story a bit. I had this idea a while ago, not long after Folklore was released. I loved Taylor Swift's choice to tell a love triangle from all three perspectives, and I realized that Austin and Ally actually had a built-in love triangle between Austin, Ally, and Kira that I could use. I wanted to explore in more detail the story that she had given us snippets of. So, I dove into the lyrics and pulled out lots of details and it was honestly pretty hard to make the details line up, but this is the best I could do. I've also, of course, included some classic Austin and Ally details.

I've pre-written the whole story so I could go back and make sure all the details made sense and I was being consistent. I wanted to take my time with it and really do a good job so I only wrote when I felt ready to (it didn't help that I've been weekly updating a different story about Julie and the Phantoms, and that took a lot of my creative energy). That meant it took a lot longer than expected (Taylor has released two whole other albums since then, lol). For anyone who has read my previous stories, this one definitely has some more mature themes than any of the others, as you can probably guess based on the three songs, but I've done my best to keep it T rated.

There are eight chapters total and this is the first one. The chapters are told from different perspectives, just like the songs. I'll be updating once a week until the whole thing is up. Let me know what you think!

Ally: "Playing Hide and Seek"

This story starts at a point in my life that honestly feels like an eternity ago now. It's only been about two years, but it feels like forever.

It was the end of junior year and school had just let out for the summer. Basically all my friends went to the same performing arts school as me, which was just outside of New York, in New Jersey. A bunch of us lived close to the school so it was easy to hang out during the summer, and I knew it was going to be a long summer of being the boring one at all the parties. I always was, but my friends mostly didn't give me crap about it which is why I was friends with them.

The first party of the summer was at my friend Trish's house. They had a pretty epic mansion with a swimming pool, and Trish's parents were pretty low-key so we could do whatever we wanted. Trish invited our whole friend group over, plus a bunch of her theater friends that I barely knew. Her parents were out of town for the weekend so everybody was planning to stay over.

I got there, wearing my usual sundress, wedges, and sunglasses, but it was one of those summer days in New Jersey that feels like about 105 degrees because of the humidity, so I found everyone already in the pool and in swimsuits. I had been hoping we could all stay clothed, but there didn't seem like there was a way to stay in my dress without looking totally out of place so after I said hi to Trish I quickly slipped inside to the bathroom and put on my bathing suit.

I couldn't look at myself in the mirror. I hated bathing suits. Hated exposing that much of my skin and putting my body on display. I didn't really have, uh, the assets most girls develop during puberty and when you're at a performing arts school people remind you pretty constantly about your physical flaws. Surrounding myself with stunning people did nothing to help my insecurities.

I did have to admit it felt better to have only a bathing suit on in the heat, though. I promptly jumped in the pool, covering my body with the protection that the water afforded me, and swam to the shallow end to lounge on the steps. Trish was busy showing people where to drop their stuff and greeting everyone who was still showing up, so I took the opportunity to people watch for a moment.

Most of the people at the party were familiar to me. There was the core friend group of Cassidy, Trish, Piper, Kimmie, and Carrie. A few other kids from the music program, like Austin, who I mostly just knew from home room and music classes. Some randos, like Dez, and a few people from other schools who had been brought by other people.

One of the girls who I couldn't remember seeing at school swam over to me and said, "Hey, mind if I join you? You look like you've got the perfect spot picked out for getting a lay of the land here."

"Sure, of course. I'm Ally."

"I'm Kira! I go to public school unlike all you talented lunatics, but Brooke brought me. She and I are neighbors and we go way back."

I looked at her skeptically. Brooke was… let's just say I could see why she thought she should bring a friend along. Not that many other people would probably be talking to her today. Trish didn't like her either, but Brooke had basically invited herself.

Kira caught my glance and laughed. "Don't worry, I know she's psychotic. But she's always sweet to me since we never like the same boys."

I shrugged. Just then Trish came over to me and asked if I would help her get some more snacks out for people, so I reluctantly got out of the pool. I looked back at Kira and saw she was already chatting with Austin, so she didn't seem like she had any problem making new friends.

A few hours later the sun had gone down and the party crowd had shrunk in size. Mostly it was our core group of friends and the friend group that overlapped most with ours, including Austin, Dez, and Dallas. The boys were still in the pool, but Cassidy and several of the other girls had gone inside and started making drinks. I didn't like either option, but I definitely wasn't about to get in a pool with nothing but cute boys, so I opted for the lesser of two evils.

Normally I don't drink. It's not a peer pressure filled friend group so everyone was chill with that, but maybe because of feeling insecure in a bathing suit or for some other reason, that night I accepted the vodka watered down with a lot of orange juice that Cassidy handed me. The boys came in soon and Dallas crowed "Yeesssss let's get this party started!" before grabbing a beer. Trish's parents had enough alcohol around that they kept for their own parties, they didn't notice when a little went missing.

Austin sat down next to me and said, "Hey Dawson, haven't seen you since that chemistry final. How's your summer so far?"

I smiled at him half-heartedly. "Oh you know, spending all day sitting in my room writing songs about being bored."

He laughed and said, "But that's sick, that you write songs outside of class. I just mess around on the guitar all the time, I don't actually write anything."

"Trust me, the songs aren't going anywhere, it's just easier to get thoughts out of my brain when I put them on paper."

"Nah, I've heard the stuff you've written for class, I bet they're awesome."

I smiled at his compliment, but didn't know what to say next. When he realized I wasn't about to say anything he bumped my shoulder and leaned in to whisper, "So, any bets on who's hooking up with who tonight?"

I blushed, uncertain about him invading my personal space but at the same time not minding. It was nice to have one of the boys notice me for once, instead of just being the confidant for all the girls. "Well…" I said slowly, "Dez and Carrie have been ridiculously flirty for months. I don't know if tonight's the night, though. What about you, got any guesses?"

"Wellll Trish and Jace have made out before. I feel like with a little alcohol in their systems that could totally happen again."

We spent a little while gossiping like that, until I was on my second (watery) drink and he was on his third (regular strength) drink. I don't think I had ever spent this much time talking to Austin at one time, and I definitely saw Trish wink at me and give me a little thumbs up of approval while Austin was getting his most recent drink. I rolled my eyes at her, but he was spending literally the whole night talking to me so maybe she was on to something. And then he leaned in, all conspiratorially, and said, "I think I know how we can help these horny teenagers out," and then winked at me.

I played along, not sure where he was going with this, and said, "Oh yeah? You're thinking some seven minutes in heaven or spin the bottle?"

"Nah, hide and seek, outside in the dark. Give people a little privacy…" he trailed off, and I knew what he was implying.

I laughed and said, "Sure, I'll back you up on that. It's at least a unique idea for letting hormones run wild."

And somehow he got everyone on board. Although Austin was like that. He was always very charismatic and persuasive. Everyone changed out of their bathing suits since it was cold outside and then the game started. He made Trish the seeker and she closed her eyes while the rest of us ran off to hide.

Except Austin grabbed my hand instead of heading off on his own. "Come on, I know the perfect way to not get caught," he whispered, before we took off running down the street.

"Oh come on, this is cheating. No way people think the whole neighborhood is part of the game," I said, panting as we came to a halt about a block away. He just laughed at me, standing under the street light he was leaning against to catch his breath.

"I mean that's the whole point right? Not to get found? Any rule that isn't explicit can be ignored in my mind."

I rolled my eyes and then he said, "You know that song that Mrs. James always played to warm us up for class? The Pina Colada song?" I nodded and he started singing it. He did have a beautiful voice, I could never deny that.

He started dancing around, clearly tipsy, as he sang "If you like pina coladas and getting caught in the rain…" He looked so goofy but also so… relaxed and unaware of his surroundings. It looked natural on him, and very attractive. I noticed his Levis as he jokingly wiggled his butt at me, making me giggle.

Then he pulled me towards him, so I was also under the halo of light created by the street light. "Come on Ally, sing with meeee!" he cried, and I had no choice but to sing with him. Even if the song has a stupid message, we all loved it from class.

He took my hand and spun me in a circle, and then pulled me in close to him to sway with me. His voice was softer now, singing just to me instead of the raucous solo dance party of just a minute ago. Being that close to him reminded me of how cute he was, and I had to admit that it didn't feel half bad to be wrapped in his arms.

When he finished the song, he was still breathing a little heavily. He was unafraid of eye contact, and gazed at me intensely for a minute of silence that seemed like an eternity. "How have I not noticed how beautiful your eyes are before?" he whispered, which made me blush. I looked away, but his hand curved around my face and drew my gaze back to him. All of a sudden, he looked as sober as he had before he started drinking and he said, incredibly seriously, "You are so beautiful Ally Dawson."

I didn't know what to say, nobody had ever said anything like that to me before. Not once. And here was this cute boy looking at me so seriously. My heart started beating fast enough I was sure he could hear it.

And then he leaned in, closing the space between us and pressing his lips to mine. I responded instinctively, wrapping an arm around his neck and kissing him back. Soon, he deepened the kiss and our tongues connected in a way that made us both groan quietly.

All of a sudden he pulled back, and I was instantly worried I had somehow screwed this up. But he just grinned at me and said, "Come on, my car's just around the corner." And without thinking I followed him to the back seat of his old beat up Honda. We kept making out, and things got progressively heated. Eventually he slipped his hand under the sweatshirt I had thrown on to stay warm, and I let him because it felt so good to be wanted like that. But thankfully he didn't push it any farther.

We only broke apart when our phones pinged with a couple of texts. Everyone had given up on hide and seek (although the wink at the end of Trish's message implied the game had gone exactly as Austin had predicted) and had decided it was time to pass out in front of a movie. So, we headed back to Trish's house and only got suspicious looks from Dez and Trish. I had expected Austin to ditch me immediately for the boys, but he laid down on the floor next to me to watch the movie, and we fell asleep that way, with his hand wrapped around mine.