Disclaimer: How long is it going to be before you accept that I own nothing?
Chpater Eight
When Ally woke up she was warm. She felt strong protective arms wrapped around her. She inhaled.
Austin.
Ally was on her side, facing Austin; her face tucked into his neck, her nose brushing against his skin. Austin was also on his side, facing Ally; both arms securely wrapped around her. Their legs were tangled and Ally's hands were gripping the shirt on his chest. His face was buried in her hair. Ally kept her eyes closed and smiled. She snuggled deeper into his embrace and waited for sleep to return. Austin's grip tightened around her.
Austin was already awake. He'd been awake for a while. He was surprised when he found himself wrapped around Ally and Ally happily snuggled into his neck. Pleasantly surprised. So, he kept his eyes closed and allowed himself this rare opportunity to hold Ally. He felt her snuggle deeper and he instinctively held her tighter. He didn't want to go back to sleep, to him reality was better than his dreams... He chuckled, that sounded like something out of a cheesy movie. Wasn't that a quote from somewhere too?
You know you're in love when reality is finally better than your dreams.
What? Austin pulled slightly away from Ally hoping to get a good look at her face. He rolled over onto his back, Ally shifted so she was lying with her head on his chest. He studied her face, hair, and body. He thought about the weight of that 'possibility'.
Could I be in love with Ally?
Austin looked down at her again. She rested comfortably against him as if this was how she slept every night. His arms were wrapped tight around her, unwilling to let her go.
I wouldn't mind waking up like this every morning...
He realized suddenly that he'd been running his fingers through her hair. He loved her hair. The way is smelled, the way it moved as she walked, and how it looked fanned across his chest. He loved her eyes, brown with gold flecks and on a sunny day a hint of green to them. Her lips, her lips were perfect, rosy pink, and downright kissable. He couldn't help but let his mind wander back to the previous night when she had kissed his cheek. Oh how he had wished she'd move those two extra inches to his lips...
When Ally awoke again, she was lying across Austin's chest and she could feel his hand in her hair, moving soothingly. She shifted and the hand stopped. Ally snuggled into him futher, "You're like my own personal heater."
Austin chuckled, "Oh, I get it. Your just using me for my warmth and singing talents."
"Why do you think I keep you around?"
You can use me anytime you want, He thought, thankful he'd said it in his head and not outloud. Imagine how embarassing that would have been...
Austin looked down at her and was met by her bright eyes.
"Morning," She smiled. "How'd you sleep?"
"Best sleep of my life," Austin said truthfully, though Ally missed the truth behind it. "So, I'm sorry I fell asleep in your bed. I can't believe I fell asleep while we were talking."
Ally laughed, "You weren't the only one. But next time you're so on the couch again?"
Austin feigned hurt, "Oh? And why's that?"
"Because I don't need another night filled with you rolling over and kicking me again," She joked as she shoved him out of the bed and onto the floor.
"Hurtful! Literally!" He said from down on the ground.
"So was you kicking me!"
"I was a asleep what did you expect?" Austin asked as he climbed back on to the girl's bed.
Ally shrugged, "For you to not kick me?" She snuggled further into her bed missing the heat Austin had been giving her. The boy in question was now sat leaning against her head rest.
He opened his mouth to speak but was cut off by Lester bursting in through the door, "Mornign Ally, do you wan - Austin?"
Austin sprang up off of the bed and smiled nervously at Lester, "Uh... good morning Mr Dawson."
Ally too climbed out of bed quickly and hurried towards her dad, "Morning Dad."
Lester frowned, "Allison Dawson, please tell me what Austin is doing in your room at 6:30 in the morning."
Ally scrambled for words and Austin jumped in to help the struggling girl, "I kinda came here last night to apologise to Ally, Mr Dawson."
Lester looked at the tall blonde with confusion, "Why? I wasn't aware you and Ally had a fight."
Austin scratched the back of his neck, "That's because the argument didn't happen until just before the end of Ally's date last night."
"How could you have a fight with Ally during her date with Dallas?"
Licking his dry lips Austin continued, "Because..." What do I say? Do I spill my guts and hope he doesn't kill me? Or... "Because I was worried about Ally. I don't like that Dallas guy so I followed them to make sure nothing bad happened. But instead I kinda ruined it for her." Okay, so a half-truth wasn't all that bad.
"Is this true?" Lester asked his daughter, who was starring at Austin with awe.
"Uh... yes. And then Austin fell asleep on the couch and I didn't have the heart to wake him up especially after all he had done to look after me."
Lester nodded, taking the information in, "Austin," The man walked over to the blonde and clapped a hand on his shoulder. "Young man, I am happy Ally has a friend like you. Someone who can look out for her. I'd do it myself but apparently I'm 'uncool'."
Austin smiled, trying to keep a look of relief off his features.
Lester released Austin and turned back to Ally, "But, regardless, you still broke one of my rules, No sleepovers with boys. So Ally as a punishment you're grounded for a week."
"But dad -"
"No buts Ally. You're welcome to stay for breakfast Austin," Lester smiled as he left the room.
Ally was frozen a frown on her face, Austin however was finding this quite amusing, "Just look on the bright side, he could have found out I didn't actually sleep on the couch."
Ally reached out to smack him with her hand but missed as he slipped out of the door to go eat Ally and her father out of house and home.
Ally, Austin and her dad were all sat around the kitchen table chowing down on breakfast.
"So what're the plans for today?" Ally asked her dad, since she was grounded she figured she'd be left in the music store all day.
"Well, I'm in the store all day. And you're grounded. So... your plans are limited."
Ally sighed.
"Actually, Mr Dawson," Austin said through a moutful of toast. "I was hoping you could hold back on that whole grounded thing for today? I kinda wanted to make it up to Ally for ruining her date."
"Well -"
"Please dad?" Ally begged, not wanting to stay in the house all day by herself.
Lester sighed in defeat, "Fine. But just for today, after that you're grounded for a week. Do I make myself clear?"
"Yes! Thank you Dad!" Ally beamed and leant over, pulling her dad into a bone crushing hug.
Austin finshed his toast and placed his plate in the sink alongside Lester's. "Awesome. I'm gonna go home and change, I'll be back in an hour."
Ally nodded and walked him to the door, "Don't be late. I might just go crazy if I spend too long inside."
Austin chuckled, "See ya later Ally-gator."
"Nice one," She giggled, rolling her eyes.
An hour and ten minutes later Austin and Ally were walking down the street, both freshly showered and dressed, both feeling like there was too much space between them. Austin wished he could just take a leap of faith and hold her hand in his, whereas Ally was wishing for the same thing.
The pair came to a crossing and Austin saw this as his chance to take her hand, "Uh... safety."
"Right..." Although she found it weird, on the insde she was grinning like a mad woman. "So where are we going?"
"I figured that since you didn't wanna be inside we'd spend the day outside."
Ally opened her mouth to speak but was cut off by Austin, "And no we're not going to the beach. I know how much you hate sand."
"So where are we going then?"
"Firstly to Mal-Mart, and then I was thinking we could go on a picnic... you know, if you want?" Austin blushed.
Ally gave him a toothy grin, "That sounds great. Come on! Let's go!"
"What did you get?" Ally asked as she met up with Austin back at the front of the store.
He held up the plastic bag in his arms, "Two bags of chips and two cans of peppy cola. You?"
"A pickle and peanut butter sandwich for me and a meatball sub for you."
"Cool," Austin held out his free hand to Ally and she took it. The pair began walking again, the park wasn't too far away now.
They entered the park and Ally took the lead while Austin followed behind. There was a children's play area over to the right, it had a swing set, an amazing jungle gym, a see-saw and plenty of other stuff. There were about eight different children playing there, all ranging from ages four to nine, which was good for Austin because that meant there was little chance of them mauling him for an autograph or something, and an even less chance for Ally. Unless they recognised her as the girl who destroyed 'The Helen Show' but even if they did maul her, Austin decided he'd protect her. There were flowers everywhere and a park cafe, though more than anything there were trees, if you listened carefully, they sounded like they were whispering to each other.
"We could go sit near the lake?" Austin suggested.
"There's a lake here?"
"Yeah, it has paddle boats and everything! Didn't you know?"
Ally shifted on her feet awkwardly, "Austin, I don't exactly get out much... I've never actually been to this side of the neighbourhood before. Most of my time is spent in Sonic Boom or other places in the mall. And during the school year, school and the library can be added to that list."
Austin smiled at her kindly, "Well, that was before you got to know me. Now I'm gonna open you up to a wonderful world of excitment and adventure!"
Ally giggled at his dramatic stance and ruffled his hair. "Come on, we can sit of there," She led him by the hand to a group of trees. "It's shaddy but close to the lake, so it's got a nice view."
"Sounds good," Austin took a seat on the grass and Ally sat down beside him.
"This is nice," Ally chirped. "I haven't been on a picnic since... since... since my mom..."
Austin's face fell at the sight of Ally's ashen face, "What? What about your mom?"
"Since my mom passed away," She whispered.
Austin's heart broke for her then, he wondered how hard it must have been on both her and her dad to loose someone so special. He couldn't imagine life without his mom. "Oh Ally."
Ally sniffed and wiped away the tears that were threatening to fall from her eyes, "No. It's okay. I'm fine. Honestly."
The pair were quiet for a while, until Austin spoke up in an attempt to cheer his friend up, "I've got some change, you know, if you want some ice-cream after..."
Ally smiled brightly, her eyes glistening because of her tears, "Yeah. That sounds great."
Austin hated himself at that moment, he had made her cry, for the second time in less than twenty four hours without meaning to. What kind of person does that?
The picnic had a sad start and became awkward when Austin had difficulty speaking through fear of making the girl cry again, but after some pushing from Ally the conversation sprang to life and they talked about everything from their newest song to Zac Efron's new movie.
When they were done Austin asked, "Do you wanna go get some ice-cream now, and then we could walk around the park or something?"
"Uh... sure, but first..."
"What?"
"Nothing, you're gonna think it's dumb."
"Ally just tell me."
"No..."
"Ally," Austin put his hand under her chin and lifted slightly so she would look at him. "I promise you, I don't think anything you say is dumb. Except for that thing about Zac Efron being a better actor than Chad Dylan Cooper, I mean, seriously?"
Ally giggled, "Fine... I was just gonna ask... could we go on the paddle boats? Please?"
Austin laughed and sprang up on to his feet, "I was gonna suggest that after our ice-cream but sure."
Ally grinned and collected their things, "Race ya!" And with that she took off like a shot.
"Those boats are obviously disfunctional or something."
"Austin, for the last time, there was nothing wrong with our boat."
"Then how do you explain that everyone else managed to get out of the dock and we didn't? We spent ten minutes going around in circles!"
Ally laughed, "But we got out, eventually."
Austin nodded, "That we did..."
"We just didn't last very long..."
"See there was something wrong with our boat! We were the only people who some how ended up in the water ourselves with the boat tipped over."
Ally laughed and pulled her dripping wet hair into a high ponytail, "You're lucky you have short hair."
Austin grinned impishly and shook his head in a manner similar to that of a wet puppy.
"So, now we are both soaking wet, what do you want to do?" She asked him.
"See that tree at the top of the hill?" He points behind Ally and she nods, "Race you!" He yelled before sprinting up the hill side.
"Not fair!" Ally shouted but she ran after him at top speed all the same. She knows she's not going to catch up with him, despite her seemingly long legs she's never been a particularly fast runner. He slowed down slightly so she can catch up, in fact Austin slowed down just enough for her to pull in front of him.
Ally was almost there, just a few feet away from touching the tree when his arms wrapped around her waist and they both stumbled to the ground, Austin on top of Ally. He held himself up with his arms so that he wasn't completely crushing the brunette and they both burst out laughing. "I guess we'll have to call that a tie." He whispered before rolling off of her and onto his back.
"I guess so." She giggled. "So what now?"
"How about we just stay up here forever, where no one can find us?" He said, looking up at the sky.
She copied his actions and stared up at the perfect blue sky also. "Why would you want to do that? Wouldn't you get bored?"
Austin yawned, "Not today I wouldn't. That one looks like a corn dog."
Ally looked at the cloud he was pointing to and smirked, "I guess I'm finally rubbing off on you, huh? And just to let you know, that does not look like a corn dog, more like an oboe."
"Pfft! And I suppose you're gonna tell me that, that one looks more like a hairbrush than a microphone?"
Ally peered carefully at the cloud in question and replied, "Nah, I actually agree with you on that one."
"So what's that one then? I think it looks like a kangaroo..."
The rest of the day continued this way. They remained lying on the ground talking and cloud watching, neither admiting that it was probably the best day they'd had in a while. As Austin watched Ally from the corner of his eye, he had an inner debate with himself, did he tell her about Dallas or not...?
Hey guys! :D
Did you like that chapter? I hope you did, while I'm here I wanna apolgise if the characters seem too OOC at times, but I've only seen the first three episodes once each, so it's kinda difficult for me to really pin point how they would actually react, but I hope I'm doing them justice. Also, I'd like to apologise for my really brief and rushed author's not last night, but my Mom was yelling at me to get my butt off my laptop and in to bed, and I kinda had no choice in the matter, because if i had defied her, it would be bye bye laptop until february.
By the way, before I start I just wanna say to you all, that I am so thankful and grateful for all your kind reviews, I am seriously touched. This is the best response I've had to any of my fanfics and to be honest I think the Austin & Ally fans have some of the nicest people around supporting them :) You guys are just, awesome :D
So... I shall continue from yesterdays reviews, yes?
This is just a general reply to the reviews from the previous chapter, okay?
* I love that you're all enjoying the story, I especially love that some of you are saying you can imagine this as an actualy episode because that really makes me smile. Because, how coolwould it be to tell people you wrote and episode for Austin & Ally, though my friends would probably ask me what the chizz I was going on about. Then laugh because they enjoy bullying me for my love of Disney Channel and Nickelodeon -.-
*I'm glad you all liked Austin's interuption of Ally's and Dallas' attempted kiss, originally it went differently but i rewrote it because I thought the fries and shoe thing would work better and I could see it happening in my head.
* I had one question off a reviewer (Josephine) asking me how I come up with my ideas, to be completely honest, I usually come up with the start of them between when I posted the previous chapter and before I start writing the next one because it gets the ball rolling and then from there the chapter sort of writes itself, it practically flows from my fingertips. How corny am I? ;D
* And I'm trying to update quickly guys! Really I am :L It's winter break so in my spare time between cleaning my room and chores (Obviously I have no life), I'm spending most of my time writing for this fanfic or reading other peoples fanfics, which by the way, I just started reading 'One in A Billionth Chance' by simranm and it is amazing! Check it out. As I was saying, I'm trying to update quickly because I know how impatient I get when people don't update and i'm practically jumping on the balls of my feet for the next chapter, but then I look at my other fanfics which I've started then gone through insane writers block or haven't had the time to update and when I do I put it off, and realise I'm a hypocrite for wishing other people would update already! And oh my gosh, I'm rambling, sorry! ^_^
Chapter 7, thank you's and review replies:
4everyoung - The sleepover actually wasn't planned, I originally didn't know how to finish the chapter and then I had an idea for the start of this chapter and I ended up making them have a sleepover :L
katagurl27 - I'm glad you like it ^_^
summer mosabbeh - The song is Rocketship by Shane Harper, it is an amazing song, which I now love and have been listening to for most of today ;D
1seddiefan - His freak out over the spider was actually inspired by a freak out my sister had when she was cleaning out the rabbit hutch earlier. There was this pretty big spider, like a min tarantula, I guess, only not poisonous and incapable of harming her. Well, she freaked and cried, screamed, and wailed until me and my brother had to sort it out. We were outside for an hour until everntually my brother had to finish cleaning out the hutch and I had to scare the spider away so he could do it. Though I guess I'm a hypocrite in that departmenet since I wouldn't go near the spider either, but I didn't freak out like she did either...
Taylorcutie - I don't like Dallas either, though that might just be my (and other people's) interpretation of him. He seems too... I don't know, it's hard to explain, but I just didn't like him from the moment I saw him. Plus, I don't understand how Ally can think of him as cute when she spends all that time around Austin, I mean come on! I know who I'd pick if given the choice :P
Penelope - I'm going to check out that song now ^_^ Bare with me and I'll reply next chapter.
Bubbleina15 - I thought it's be good, especially after I saw the promo where Ally gave him the stuffed dolphin and he got all cute with it, so I just had to throw that in ;D
AnimeRoxx - I guess you're just gonna have to wait and see... ^_^
GabbyDJesus - Thank you :D And Merry Christmas to you too!
AA - Thanks for saying I have a gift or something :) I'm actually writing, or attempting to anyway, to write a actually book. But I doubt anyone would read a book written by a 15 year old, so we'll have to wait and see how this 'gift' plays out for me ;D
i love lewis - Don't worry, I'm a dork too! 8) - Those were supposed to be my dork glasses :P
0LikeABoss0 - That's a good thing ^_^ and I love your name, '0LikeABoss0' it reminds me of my form tutor in school. She's hilarious, she's says 'Like a boss' all the time. And that's the most nomral thing she does. The rest of the time she acts like a cat, shows us videos of cats on youtube and talks about cats. She also played charades with us the other day... :D
SnowXPrincessXOfXWonderland - That's what I was thinking of when I wrote it. And boy, oh boy, have Zack and Cody gotten better looking over the years ^_^
Emmy - I fangirl all the time ;D Especially the other night when I heard about the 'Sonny's Big Return' thing. I hope you enjoy this chapter :D And I am so flattered and touched that you think this is the best Austin & Ally fic on here :) This is actually the best story I've written on fanfic if I'm being totally honest, and the people who are reviewing are so nice :D
babygirl669 - Thanks, and I think 'adorkable' is my new word ;D
LilRockerStar - Currently, I have a vague idea of where I'm taking this though I can't be sure, because I might change my mind and do something completely different... :P
Anywhoodle Caboodle, keep reading and reviewing guys, and I meant what I said, you guys are really awesome :D And I woudln't have continued on with this fic if it wasn't for your support :) And I realise I'm being completely cheesy right now so I'm gonna shut up.
Peace Out Suckahs!
Evie xxx
PS. You wouldn't believe how tired I am right now, so I'm sorry if there are some mispellings. But it's 11:56pm here as I'm writing this and I've been up unitl gone 1am every morning since my winter break started, so cut me some slack? Maybe I should just start going to bed earlier actually ;D :L
PPS. More than 4000 words, longest chapter yet, I'm feeling pretty proud ^_^ It may have something to do with the extremely long author's note though... But I'm not gonna ruin the moment :D
