Ally woke up the next morning worried that she had slept late. NO! NO! NO! she thought and reached for her alarm clock. Finding out it was only a few minutes past seven she breathed a sigh of relief. Austin isn't even awake yet, she told herself and she crawled out of bed to get ready for her day.

She showered quickly and dried her hair and did her makeup before going to her closet in search of the perfect outfit. She wanted something cute but not too cute. Something that said, "Awesome girl to hang out with but more than just a friend."

"Ugh!" Ally said aloud, "How am I going to pick the perfect thing?" Then her phone rang. She grabbed it, "Hello?"

"Hey."

"Oh, hey Trish," Ally replied, "What's up?"

"Oh nothing, just called in sick to work today and I was wondering if you wanted to hang out."

"Oh I'd love to Trish, but I already promised Austin we would work more on his song today."

"Alright, how's it coming?"

"Great!" Ally said a bit too enthusiastically, "We've got some really good ideas."

"Cool, can't wait to hear it."

"Yeah it will be awesome."

"Ok, well maybe we can all catch a movie later."

"Great idea Trish."

"See you later Ally."

"Bye Trish."

Ally set her phone back down and turned to her closet again. She pulled out a dark purple top and a black pair of skinny jeans. She grabbed a pair of wedge sandals to complete her look and headed downstairs. She went to the kitchen to grab a quick breakfast of toast and eggs before putting her song book and phone in a bag. Ally wrote a quick note for her dad so he would know where she was and headed out of the house.

On the front porch she locked the door and turned toward the steps. "Oh," she gasped slightly, startled.

"I'm sorry!" Austin rushed to say. "I didn't mean to scare you!"

"No, I'm ok," Ally assured him with a smile, "Why are you here? I thought we were working at your house?"

"We are, I just thought I'd meet you here so you wouldn't have to walk by yourself."

"Really? All was surprised. That's so sweet, she thought.

"Yeah," Austin said sheepishly, and gestured for her to start walking.

It wasn't a long walk to Austin's house. They walked quietly for a while. Ally had a million things running through her mind. Austin was thinking hard about how he was going to tell her how he felt about her.

They were about half way to Austin's house when he stopped, "Ally wait."

Ally stopped and looked at him.

Austin continued, "Yesterday, at your house, did you mean what you said?"

"Ally smiled, "I did. Did you mean it when you said you really do think of me all the time?"

Austin reached for her hand, "I really do Ally, all the time."

"Austin," Ally started, "We really should pace ourselves. I think we are mature enough to be able to be together like we want and still be partners in music."

"Really?" Austin asked, hope filling his heart. "Yeah, we are seniors and next year we are going to go to college and continue our music. I think we can do it."

"So do I." Austin said with a smile as he laced his fingers with hers.

"We can prove it to ourselves by actually working on this song today." Ally laughed.

"Good idea." Austin agreed and the continued to his house.

At Austin's house, the pair claimed the den as their work area. Austin retrieved his guitar and keyboard from his bedroom while Ally made herself comfortable on the overstuffed couch with her song book and a pencil. As the two brainstormed Ally doodled in her book and Austin plucked quietly on the guitar strings.

"Ally," Austin started after a while of no inspiration, "I can't think of any ideas. I keep thinking about you." He blushed slightly.

"Me too," Ally quietly admitted, then added, "Wait, maybe can use that!"

"Use What?"

"Stuck," Ally said simply.

"I'm so confused," Austin said, then his phone rang, "Hang on," and he stepped out of the room to answer the phone.

Ally sat quietly and started coming up with ideas that would work with Austin's "stuck" idea.

"Mom want you to stay for dinner." Austin said a few minutes later.

"What?" Ally asked.

"I told mom about you," he explained, "She wants you to stay for dinner."

"Um, okay, what exactly did you tell her?"

"Just that you were here." He said innocently.

Ally smiled at him, his statement giving her an idea, "okay, so the song, what if we did something like, I'm hoping you feel what I do, 'cause I told mom about you, what can I do, I'm stuck on you."

Austin grinned, "Perfect," he sat down next to her and reached for his guitar.

The pair spent the afternoon working on the lyrics and a melody. Austin played with a few chords while ally sang the words they had. When they took a break Ally sent Trish a text, Hey we are making great progress on the song can we do a movie tomorrow?

Sure, Trish answered, Can't wait to hear it.

Ally checked the date of the concert, just to be sure. It was scheduled for Friday, which left three full days and most of Friday to prepare for it. They needed to finish the new song, come up with a list of songs for Austin to preform, and Auction still needed to figure out what dance moves he was going to use with the new song.

It was about 5:30 when Austin's mother got home. She immediately went to the kitchen to get dinner ready before Austin's father got home.

"Mom, what's for dinner?" Austin asked, as he walked into the kitchen.

"Baked ziti," she replied, then turning and seeing Ally she added, "You like Italian don't you Ally?"

"I love Italian food." Ally answered.

"Great! Austin, hunny, could you set the table please?"

"Sure mom," Austin answered, "Come on Ally."

Austin took Ally to the dining room and the pair set the table for dinner. Once the places were set they began bring in thing from the kitchen. Ally carried in a large bowl on Italian bread slices. She placed it on the table and Austin put a plate of butter next to it. Finally the table was ready and Austin's dad was home. They all sat down to eat.

"So Ally," Austin's dad started, "Austin tells me he had concert coming up?"

"Um, yeah," Ally answered, "It's on the beach."

"Oh, alright."

Austin's parents spent the rest of dinner asking Ally all sorts of questions about the music that she writes for Austin. When Ally said she had to get home, Austin's parents said goodnight and thanked her for coming. Austin offered to walk her home.

On the way back to Ally's house Austin said, "Sorry about Mom and Dad."

"It's okay," Ally replied, "They're curious, that a good thing."

"Yeah true, you got the easy part though."

"What do you mean?"

"When I get home they'll ask me if you're my girlfriend and stuff."

"Oh," Ally breathed, "What are you going to say?"

They had reached Ally's house, she stepped up onto the first step and turned to look at Austin.

"I want to say yes." He admitted, then added "But not yet."

"What?" Ally said, surprised.

Austin stepped closer to her, wrapped his arms around her waist, "Let's get the concert over first."

Ally smiled. For once she was eye level with him, "Sounds good truthfully."

Austin leaned in and kissed her. He pulled back after a moment. "I really want to say yes though."

"I want you to say yes, "she admitted, "But I think we should get the concert over because you know that everyone will just want to talk about our relationship."

"Agreed then." Austin said. He kissed her again, then whispered, "Goodnight Ms. Dawson." He bowed to her as he stepped back.

Ally laughed, "You're something else Austin."

"Wouldn't have it any other way."