Hello, readers of TCLS. Welcome to the fourth instalment of the rewritten version of That Cliché Love Story. I didn't get to update last week because I was very unmotivated, but I managed to pick myself up and write the rest of the chapter. Yay, me, right?

So, without further ado, please read and enjoy Chapter Four!

That Cliché Love Story

Chapter Four

Previously on That Cliché Love Story:

Just as she was about to ask if he was okay, Austin leaned forward and tucked his head into his folded arms. His shoulders began to shake, as soft whimpers filled the quiet living room, forcing Ally to rethink what she was going to do.

Should she hug him? Comfort him from the distance? Cry with him? Tell him to toughen up and get over it? But all of the scenarios she thought of ended with them being awkward and one of them feeling embarrassed or shy. After a few more seconds of awkward silence from Ally's end and muffled crying from Austin's, she said fuck it in her mind and stepped toward Austin, telling herself she can just regret it later.

Right now, Austin needed a shoulder to cry on.

Austin head was aching, which was an odd thing to wake up to considering he hasn't drunken alcohol since a few months ago if he remembered correctly. For a few minutes, as he laid still and tried to drift back to sleep, he tried to recall what happened the night before that would result in such a feeling. Sure, it wasn't as bad as the hangovers he used to wake up to, but for some reason, this headache felt...worse. Maybe the fact that his eyes stung and the fact that his body felt drained of all fluids factored into it, too. But the things he wanted to know was, why did his eyes sting? Why did he feel so...tired? Both emotionally and physically?

All he could remember from last night was the fact that he'd tried to get Ally's attention by throwing pebbles at her window and then proceeded to tease her about it afterwards, and then when she slammed her window close, he walked to the front of her house to ring her doorbell but froze at the sound of… at the sound of Gabrielle's voice. Then he went off at his ex-girlfriend, hurt by her actions and the way she tried to reason with him, and afterwards, he went inside with Ally and then… Shit.

Did I really cry in front Ally? And then allowed her to hug me? Austin huffed, slapping a hand to his forehead as everything came back to him bit by bit. What the fuck is wrong with me?

"I see you're awake."

Austin's napped his eyes open so fast that the ceiling blurred before coming into focus again. Blinking his grogginess away, he gently sat up, the bed creaking lightly underneath him. That's unusual, he thought, my bed never squeaks. It's the perks of having parents who own a mattress store. Upon glancing around the room, and taking note of the messy pile of books on the table across from him and the pink and blue wallpaper, it appeared to him that he hadn't gone home last night.

Dammit, Austin, he cursed himself. You know better than to stay the night at a girl's place. What were you thinking?

While he took his time to look around Ally's room and scold himself in his head, Austin could feel her eyes burning into the side of his face. She was impatient, but was at a loss of words, just as he was.

"Look, Austin," she finally spoke, her voice soft and gentle as if he was a small animal that would get spooked if she spoke any louder. "We can pretend last night didn't happen, if you want."

It was oddly touching that she would do that for him, and he was thankful that she offered to forget about last night's drama with Gabrielle, but that wouldn't be possible. There was no doubt that Gabrielle has talked about it with her pack of hyenas, and even if he wanted to forget about it, it was something that Ally witnessed. She'd defended him when he was so close to lashing out himself, and comforted him when he broke down, and a part of him wishes he hadn't dragged her into this because she deserved better. But it's too late now; now, things weren't only in his hands anymore.

"No, it's okay." He murmured finally, finding the courage to look at her, but becoming speechless again. Not because he didn't know what to do or say, but because he was distracted by the way Ally was leaning against the doorway, her hair wet and beginning to curl as the water dripped down her neck and onto the arms clutching at the towel wrapped around her body.

Her naked body? Austin shut his eyes, feeling like the biggest sinner for even thinking of that.

"So, you don't want to pretend like yesterday never happened?" She clarified, shuffling into the room and across the carpeted floor, completely oblivious to the fact that Austin was panicking. "Are you sure?"

Was I sure? Am I sure? Austin stared up at the ceiling, at the large poster of David Bowie. He briefly wondered if David Bowie was looking down at him in amusement right now, but pushed the ridiculous thought away. "Yeah… yeah, I'm sure. I mean, Gabrielle's probably already told her friends what had happened anyway, so I don't think there's really any point in pretending it never happened."

The silence that followed was long and awkward, save for the sound of the drawer opening and clothes being moved around.

Austin tried to keep up the conversation anyway, because he couldn't bear hearing the sound of the towel being dropped as Ally went to put clothes on. Why was he even embarrassed? He wasn't the one in a towel and nothing else… And why wasn't she embarrassed? Did she get a kick out of making him feel awkward? Knowing her, she probably did thrive off of seeing him a non-confident state. "And with me crying last night, well, I don't think we should just ignore that it happened either… it-it would just make things more tense between us, don't you think?" He waited for an answer, but Ally merely hummed in response. "Anyway, thank you, for... Uh, for comforting me afterwards."

"You're welcome," Ally spoke, sounding a lot closer than he thought she would. When he stopped looking up at the ceiling and faced forward, he didn't expect Ally to only be a few feet away from him, dressed in a pair of ripped denim jeans and a top that exposed all her shoulders and neckline.

And, wow, did she have a really good neckline, perfect for kissing and marking with hick- shit. No, Austin, stop this train of thoughts before it gets to far. He berated himself, eyes flickering to her face determinedly as her lips moved.

"-so you should go take a shower and get changed."

Austin's eyes widened at her words, realising he got distracted and was zoning out while she was speaking to him. "Um… what?"

Ally frowned at him, crossing her arms over her chest. "Well, you don't want to be in the same clothes you were in from yesterday, do you? Plus, we have school in a few hours and if Gabrielle notices that you're dressed the same as last night, she'll start off some awful rumour about us sleeping together." Ally returned to the bathroom, the sound of a hair dryer turning on following afterwards. "You should probably get going now, or else my parents will wake up and see you trying to sneak out." He heard her mumble something, but couldn't make out the words over the hair dryer.

"Okay," he said, hoping she could hear him. "I'll pick you up at 7:30 then?"

She peaked over the doorway, her purple blow dryer pointed at him like it was a weapon. He put his hands up, playing along. "No motorcycles, though." She declared before turning on the hair dryer again, "it'll ruin my hair, and I actually want it to look decent today."

Austin quirked a brow at her, ignoring the complimentary words that threatened to escape about how she looked good regardless. Instead, he smirked and gave her a nod. "Okay, no motorcycle. You need to look your best to defeat Gabrielle, after all."

He left her room immediately, chuckling under his breath as she called out indecent names at him.

It was rare for Ally to zone out in class because she prided herself in being a good student who paid attention all the time (unlike some people she could list in her mind), but Austin Moon was becoming a huge distraction for her- and he wasn't even in her damn class!

She kept recalling his reaction this morning at seeing her in a towel, the way his eyes raked over her body and the way he proceeded to avoid looking in her direction afterwards. Sure, she didn't have an hourglass figure or particularly big breasts or butt, but she was overall confident in her body. The way Austin reacted to seeing her like that was, stupidly enough, a boost to her self-esteem. Even if the reason he lingered on her neckline was because he hadn't had a bang in a while.

Thinking of Austin sleeping around put a damper on her mood, which forced Ally to pay attention to what the teacher was saying to the class rather than wonder about Austin's sex life, something she hoped she would never know about.

As she listened to Mr Campbell rant about the importance of trigonometry and triangles, she could see people turning to glance at her and others watching from her peripheral vision. At that point though, she had already gotten used to it and was only slightly uncomfortable. She had to remind herself multiple times to remain unbothered because this would be happening for a very long time, and after a few hours of enduring stares, she'd stopped trying to pay attention to the students.

Finally, just as Mr Campbell finished lecturing some of the students about homework, the bell rang, signalling lunch break. Ally had already packed up her things and had stood up immediately at the ringing. Some people had faced her way prior to the bell sounding, getting ready to pounce on her with questions (despite the fact that she barely knew any of them, let alone spoke to some), until they saw the sight of Austin Moon leaning against the lockers opposite the classroom, patiently waiting for his girlfriend.

"Austin!" Ally sounded surprised, even in her ears, but Austin remained unfazed, even beaming at her. She ignored the flutter in her stomach at seeing him smile, stepping closer to him to invade his personal space (an acceptable thing to do if you were a couple, but Ally wasn't sure if she would ever get used to it). "Were you waiting for me?"

It was a ridiculous question but Austin nodded anyway, stepping forward and playing the part of a boyfriend by tucking one of her loose brown tendrils behind her ear and looking down at her like she was his whole world. "Are you hungry? Because I made a picnic for you near the football field, and I don't want the ice cream to melt while we're standing here."

Ally gasped excitedly, unable to remember the last time she had ice cream. "Are you serious?" She asked loudly, hoping people could hear them. "You made a picnic for me? With ice cream and everything? Well, what're we waiting for? Let's go." She pulled his hand into hers, dragging him to the football field instead of the cafeteria, where most of the students were heading. She saw Gabrielle and her friends heading out of the girl's bathroom as she and Austin passed by from the other side of the hallway, and as soon as Gabrielle turned their way, Ally sent a smile toward her.

She received a glare in return, but all that did was lift her mood up.

When they arrived at the picnic on the football field, Ally plopped down immediately on the stereotypical white and red picnic rug, thankful that Austin had strategically placed the rug underneath a large tree. "So," her voice perked up at the sight of grapes, quickly tugging a few into the palm of her hand, "what's with the picnic, Moon?"

Austin rolled his eyes at her, glancing around the field and taking note of the figures nearby. "Keep your voice down. What if somebody hears you referring to me as 'Moon' instead of something like 'babe'?"

"Oh please, the closest person nearby is across the field from us, making out with someone else." Ally snorted, before throwing a grape up into the air and attempting to catch it in her mouth. She failed, obviously, because she wasn't particularly skilled in anything athletic, but refused to be embarrassed by it. "Anyway, you didn't answer my question. What's with the picnic?"

Austin stared at her for a long moment, contemplating whether or not he should reveal the real reason behind the picnic date. He had done it because he wanted people to notice and to see the romantic gestures that he was doing for Ally, and he wanted Gabrielle to realise that he'd never done such things for her when they were dating. But, truthfully, that wasn't all to it; Austin owed Ally for all that she was giving up and for everything that she was going to have endure because of this fake-dating. Plus, he knew how much she hated being stared at and now that Gabrielle's back, he doubted Ally could have a peaceful lunch in the cafeteria today.

He wanted to do something for her today, as just Ally Dawson rather than Austin Moon's girlfriend, because he wasn't sure if he'd be able to later on.

"I…" His voice trailed off, as he grew hesitant to reveal his reason to her. He glanced up at her, watching her as she patiently waited for him to continue his sentence. "I know how uncomfortable you get when you're in the spotlight, and figured that sitting in the cafeteria at my table with my friends might make you even more uncomfortable since everyone would be staring. Especially now that Gabrielle's back." Ally's dark eyes dropped from his, staring at the checkered rug instead as she twiddled with the corner of it. Austin chuckled awkwardly before continuing, "I think, for today, you should at least be comfortable while you're eating lunch. But afterwards… well, I can't guarantee that I'll be able to make a picnic for you everyday."

Ally snorted, finally raising her head and making eye contact with him. "I know. And, thanks for doing this even though you didn't have to." Only when Austin gave her a nod in response did she turn to the basket and flipped the lid open. When she grinned, he knew she found the caramel ice cream he'd bought. "Wow, Austin, how did you know this was my favourite?"

He shrugged, "it was just a guess."

Ally grinned at him nonetheless, touched by the fact that he'd bought her (current) favourite ice cream for her. She pulled the small tub out of the container of ice, prying the lid off and using her fingers to scoop a bit of the ice cream. "Mm.." She moaned, tilting her head back. It was a little gross that she used her fingers, but at that moment, she didn't care. "This is soo good.. Makes me wish they still sold fruity mint swirl."

"Oh yeah… you went through a phase in elementary school, didn't you?"

Ally gently prodded him with her foot, glaring. "That wasn't a phase. I just liked the flavour a lot."

Austin stared at her for a long moment, before stating the truth that made Ally blush hard at the memory. "You wrote a poem about how you would marry fruity mint swirl if it was a person and insisted that your father would let you because he loved it more than you." He smiled again when she kicked his thigh harder, "it was definitely a phase."

Ally groaned, now recalling everything he was saying.

As a child, she didn't enjoy many sweets because she knew they were bad for her, but fruity mint swirl ice cream was her absolute favourite and something she thought she couldn't live without. Obviously, she was wrong, because the company that made the flavour went out of business and stopped producing the ice cream flavour, yet she's still alive. But still, thinking back on those memories made her wish she could try a bit now; it made her remember her childhood, the good memories she shared between her and her father and good memories of walks on the beach with her parents, the waves lapping at their feet.

Unfortunately, now they were too busy to take walks on the beach with her and eat ice cream, but they weren't the only ones to blame. She's been busy with school work and studying to go to university, too.

She perked up suddenly, a memory of a 10-year-old Austin Moon hitting her randomly as she remembered her childhood. "Yeah, well, remember when you were afraid of umbrellas because of that one trip to the beach?" She smirked when Austin's scowled at her, proud that she was able to bite him back.

"It was a very traumatic experience, Dawson, and it isn't something to laugh about." He replied, pulling out containers from the picnic basket. "Now, eat before the bell goes. You can't deal with stares and questions on an empty stomach, can you?"

Although Ally wanted to argue and tease Austin a little bit more, he had a point; if she went back in with no food in her stomach, she didn't know what she would do.

For the rest of the day, Ally sat in her classes, content and relaxed despite the constant glances she received from both the teachers and the students. It seemed as if the teachers couldn't understand why Ally would date Austin and vice versa, but, well, neither could she. It was a sudden relationship, which nobody would be able to understand, considering the last time they were in school, Austin was dating Gabrielle and Ally was… Well, just Ally. A nobody in the social status at Marino High, a good student in the teacher's books, and an easy victim to the popular crowd.

But now? Now she was more than that. Now, Ally Dawson was Austin Moon's girlfriend, now she was one of the most talked about people in the school, now people are wondering who she is (despite the fact that she's been at this school for years, but whatever). Should she be worried about whether or not this fake-dating will dramatically change her life? Yes, definitely. But can she really do anything about it now that it's started? She doubted it, because, in the end, Austin and her made a deal to date for seven months.

This 'relationship' of theirs was going to last for another seven months, and everyone in Marino High, including Ally herself, would have to get used to her and Austin being boyfriend and girlfriend.

She suddenly felt panicked, her heart beat picking up at the thought of this lasting for another seven months. Could she even do this? What even was the point? To drag Gabrielle's popularity down and ruin her life? Ally wasn't like that and she doubted she'd even be able to get up to her cousin's level social-wise, so why did she agree to this in the first place? God, was she a horrible person for doing this? She probably was, wasn't she?

Ally shook her head, getting rid of the thoughts before they could criticise her actions. The loud chatter of students became apparent to her that another day at school had ended and that she was standing in the hallway, staring at her locker like a weirdo.

Quickly, she pulled her locker open, stuffing her homework into her already full bag. Last night, she'd only gotten a bit of her homework done because she was so distracted by Austin sleeping a few feet away on her bed, and now, she had some topics to study for an upcoming test in Physics. God, when could she catch a break?

"Ally!" A familiar voice called out, forcing Ally to stop what she was doing and search for a face to match the voice. Upon seeing a mop of dirty blonde hair with side-swept bangs and a pair long legs, Ally's face lit up with a smile.

"Hey, Cassidy." She said as she finished stuffing her bag with text books. "What's up?"

Cassidy smiled at her, gracefully leaning her shoulder against the locker. She always did manage to look so graceful and effortless, no matter what she did. Ally was a little envious, but more than that, she admired that trait of her friend's. "I heard you and Austin were dating. I'd only heard about it this morning, but is it true?" She lightly nudged Ally's shoulder with her finger, eyebrows raised in curiosity.

Ally's smile dropped slightly, not expecting that to be the question on Cassidy's mind. She's known Cassidy since late junior high, and although they hung out in different crowds (well, Ally didn't hang out with a crowd, but that's not the point here), Cassidy managed to become a kind of friend to Ally. They'd started out as partners in a science experiment, and from then on, if they had classes together, they'd sit next to each other and choose each other as partners. Cassidy was an intelligent girl, but Ally wished more than ever that she wouldn't become doubtful of hers and Austin's sudden relationship.

"Yep," she answered, blushing at the fact that Cassidy had been patiently waiting for her response for a few seconds now. "We only became official, like, this week though. So… yeah."

Oh god, she sounded so awkward. What was wrong with her?

Cassidy shrugged off her behaviour instantly though, "I just returned back from a trip to Australia, so I didn't hear about anything until, like, the second period. And then I saw you and Austin head to the football field, and that basically confirmed everything that I'd heard." She pouted at Ally, standing upright with her arms crossed over her chest. "Why didn't you say anything about you talking to Austin over the break? I thought I'd be one of the first people to know, but now I'm one of the last."

Ally felt like a shitty friend, because she was absolutely right. If Austin and Ally had really been talking to each other for a while, she would have mentioned it to Cassidy, but the fact is that she and Austin never talked over the school break! They'd only, technically, had a real conversation yesterday regarding their relationship, but he couldn't exactly tell her that, could she?

Just as she tried to make an excuse, a heavy arm slung over her shoulders and a kiss was planted on her cheek. It was sudden and she would've freaked out if she hadn't recognised the light musky scent of Austin's cologne.

She froze, wondering when she began to recognise Austin's familiar smell.

"Cassidy, hey, haven't seen you in a while," Austin spoke as he pulled Ally closer to his side. When they made eye contact, he gave her a wink, and Ally realised that he was saving her from answering questions that she didn't know the answer to. She was grateful, if not a little embarrassed that he had to save her from a simple situation as this.

Yikes, was she becoming a damsel in distress? Someone that needed saving all the time? She hoped not.

As Austin and Cassidy conversed about their holidays, Ally let herself relax in Austin's arms, tilting her head onto his shoulders casually. He squeezed her shoulder assuringly, which allowed her to zone back into their conversation.

"-so anyway, you guys wanna come?" Cassidy asked, pulling her phone out of her pocket. She perked an eyebrow at Ally, but Ally had no idea what she was talking about because she was too busy zoning out in Austin Moon's arms. She cursed Austin for being such a comfortable person to lean on and for distracting her easily with his cologne. Cassidy continued, a sheepish smile on her lips. "It's kind of sudden, I know, but I haven't celebrated it such a long time."

Despite Ally not knowing what was going on, thankfully, Austin did, so he answered for them. Once again, saving her from a situation. God, I really needed to step up my game. "We'll definitely come! It's your 18th birthday, after all." He let his arm drop to his side, grabbing Ally's hand gently as she began to stand upright. "Can you text us the deets?"

Cassidy nodded rapidly, "of course. I'll send it to both of your numbers." She quickly typed something on her phone, before slipping it back into her pocket. Ally realised that they were discussing Cassidy's birthday and a party that she was having to celebrate her coming-of-age, but she swore Cassidy's birthday wasn't until a few days. "I gotta go now, but I'll see you guys tonight?" At both Austin and Ally's nods and smiles of reassurance, she waved goodbye and jogged past them, leaving the school along with a bunch of other students.

Although Ally wanted to let go of Austin's hand, she knew there were still students loitering around, so she continued holding onto it as they walked towards the school entrance. She thought about the conversation the three had, wondering if she missed the fact that Cassidy was having a birthday party early. Just as the two were walking down the path that led towards the parking lot, Ally paused mid-step, pulling her boyfriend back by his hand as a grin crossed her face.

"What's wrong?" He asked, eyebrows furrowed in confusion and concern, but that merely made Ally's smile grow.

"Did… did you say 'can you text us the deets'?" She snickered, her hand coming up to her mouth as a result of her uncontained laughter. "I can't believe you said 'deets'... Austin Moon said 'deets'!" The last part she said particularly loudly, prompting her boyfriend to let go over her hand to cover her mouth as she continued to yell loudly to the almost empty parking lot that the Austin Moon, the most popular guy in Marino High, playboy extraordinaire, and her boyfriend, said 'deets'.

She was so amused by it that she hadn't even realised she'd been referring to Austin as her boyfriend in her head.

Oof. Wow, guys, look at the progress their relationship had made that has Ally calling Austin her boyfriend in her head. I wonder how she'll react once she fully realises and digests it all herself?

Anyway, can you believe this chapter is over 4, 400 words? That's the longest chapter I've written so far in the rewritten version, so I'm quite proud of myself. Now, I'll hopefully be able to get another chapter out next week, but I can't make promises. I'll definitely have a chapter out in two weeks, though, even if that chapter is kind of a mess.

So! Thank you for reading and I hope you can take the time to write me a review. They always help to make my day, you know? Love from FashionLovah.