(A/N): Thank you for all the reviews! And now, this is the second chapter. As a warning, I will go back and tweak some stuff in the first chapter. Nothing major with the plot, but just some editing. It's not as great as I thought, but I promise, this chapter has more thought in it. ;) This chapter starts out with Austin- Well, it's right there. Go Read On! :D
Disclaimer: I do not own Austin & Ally.
Ringing the doorbell was a sneaky way to make Austin even more jumpy.
Here he was, on Ally's doorstep on New Year's Eve. He was picking her up for the party at Miami Mall. He was wearing semi-casual clothes, and a hat that said, "Happy New Year, Austin!"
W-wait, did his hat just talk?!
"Austin?" Ally held the door open for him.
"I- I think my hat just talked...!" Ally giggled.
"That was me, Austin. I just have to get my stuff. You can wait inside." Ally turned around and ran up the stairs.
When she came back, he swears his whole world becomes jelly.
Ally seemed to walk down the stairs in slow motion, smiling, almost grinning. She wore- Whoa, she just looks amazing..., he thought.
The words, "I'm ready," Poured water over his jelly like world.
"Wow...You look awesome, Ally!"
Ally blushed. "Thanks, you too."
"Um, so, is it okay if we're going with Trish and Dez-"
A car honked outside.
"LET'S GO SLOWPOKES!" Yelled a voice, obviously Trish's.
"We better go." Austin smiled and held out his arm. "Shall we?"
Ally looped her arm around his and giggled. "We shall! Let's get this par-tay star-tayed!" She pumped her fist in the air.
Austin laughed at her dorkiness.
"Trish, have you seen Ally?" Austin pushed through people, desperately trying to find Ally.
He was bored at the party; that's why he was looking for her. Okay, that's not the WHOLE reason, but he shakes the thought off.
"No, why?"
"Well, I..." Austin stopped for a moment.
He wanted to find Ally, mainly because this was his only chance to make it up to Ally. To make up not getting Ally on Christmas.
"I just want to talk to her! Yeah..."
"Oh. Maybe she's in Sonic Boom. You know she doesn't like parties." Austin mentally slapped himself. Why hadn't he thought of that before?
"I'll look there, thanks Trish!"
And then Austin sprinted towards Sonic Boom.
"Ally?" Austin yelled. He turned the lock in the Sonic Boom door to make sure he and Ally wouldn't be locked out.
Silence answered him.
"Ally...?" Darkness covered the store. Only the faint glow of the mall lights crept through.
"A-A-Allyyy...?!"
Just when he was about to give up and look somewhere else, he saw a thin yellow line peeking from the practice room doorway.
Austin smiled and quietly climbed the stairs.
He knocked on the door.
"Ally? It's me," he said, almost whispering. It just felt right to whisper.
When no one answered, he opened the door as quietly as he could.
The practice room was lit up by a lamp, so the room was still a little dim. But at the far corner, under the window, he saw Ally curled up on a blanket, songbook in hand. But she wasn't writing. Her lips were curled up ever so slightly, and she gazed out the moonlit window. The light seemed to shine on her like a spotlight.
"This is where you've been? Especially on New Year's Eve," Austin softly joked as he sat down next to Ally. She jerked in surprise.
"Yeah, I'm sorry. Parties still aren't my thing. Besides, I think I like this better than a party." She glances at him and scoots closer to him.
"This? You mean looking at a starless night?" Since Austin lived near the city, he never really saw that many stars. And since the mall lights were still on, the stars were obscured from view.
"Well, kinda. It's beautiful though, Austin, if you look at it." She sighed and gazed contentedly out the window.
Okay, maybe Austin didn't see it the way Ally did, but he tried. Maybe the night sky looked... Good. And the mall lights too! It looked like a safe sancturary compared to the dark stillness outside.
"Why were you looking for me?" Ally asked.
"At the party, I was getting bored, and so I looked for you. I don't always like parties." Austin shrugged. "But why do you like looking out the window on New Year's Eve? Aren't you supposed to be counting down the clock?"
"I don't know. But I like spending the Eve by reflecting what happened over this year. And a lot happened." The two shared a knowing smile. They did share some good memories.
"This year was pretty great, wasn't it?" Austin smiled. But it could be greater...
"Yeah, it was." Ally turned away. But he saw a faint blush on her cheeks.
"You went on your first tour this year! I'm proud of you, Austin."
"But I would've never done that if you never wrote my songs! Or if Trish didn't manage the concerts. Or if Dez directed the music videos. I'm glad I'm famous, and I'm really glad that I have you guys by my side." Austin grinned.
"Me too. I would've never gotten over my stage fright if you never had my back out there."
Austin stays silent for a while. He remembers that day for...Other reasons too.
"Do you think... We- that we could be- ready, next year?" Austin stuttered.
Ally didn't need for Austin to explain further. She knew what he was talking about.
Were they ready to upgrade their friendship?
"I don't know," was all she said.
When she didn't say anymore, Austin spoke up, but Ally started talking again.
"Do you still have feelings for me? It's been almost a year; I thought you would be over me by then." She chuckles lightly.
"Well... Nooo..." She quirked an eyebrow. "Okay, I still like you. I never wanted to break up with you, but I don't want to jeopardize our friendship. It's the best thing that's ever happened to me."
Ally smiled, and she looked down.
"I like..." Ally started to say. "I like...The start of every new year."
Austin's heart tears a little. "Me too."
"I love how I can start the year all over again, a brand new one."
"So do I. Each year, I think I look way more Austimous!" He winked playfully at Ally.
"I like how some things never change either," Ally giggled.
"But I like change, sometimes." Austin's heart pounded like really loud music in a car.
"What do you mean?"
"Well... Umm... What I meant, was-" Buzz.
Of course, a phone rings at the perfect time.
"It's Trish," Austin said as he read the text. "She wants us to come over so we can countdown to midnight together." Austin showed the text to Ally.
"It's 11:57! Come on, let's hurry!"
"I thought parties weren't your thing?" Austin asked as he stood up.
"I know, but I love counting down! Come on!"
Austin laughed as Ally dragged him to the door downstairs.
"Let me just lock the- Why are the doors locked?" Ally jiggled the door handles.
"Here, I'll try." He tugged on the handle. He pushed it. It didn't open.
"Austin, did you mess with the lock when you came here...?" Ally slowly turned to him.
"I only unlocked it so we wouldn't be locked in! I'm pretty sure I didn't lock it... I turned that thing outside before I came in," Austin said as he pointed to the little switch outside. "Don't you have any keys?
"I do, but I left them at home. Dad's coming here later to clear up some stuff, and since the mall's closed, he left the doors unlocked."
"That's how you got in, and then I accidentally locked it." Austin looked regretful. "Sorry, Ally. I didn't know I was locking it!"
"It's fine, Austin. It was an accident," Ally reassured him.
"Do you have a key to the back door?"
"No, I don't. Looks like we can't do the countdown this year..." Ally leaned against the door.
"Yeah..." Austin checked his watch. "Hey, it's only a minute to midnight!"
"59, 58, 57, 56..." Ally whispered. Austin smiled at her enthusiasm.
"Ally, when I said change... I meant something else too." Austin said.
Ally said it was a brand new year. And this year, he was going to start it with no regrets.
He was going to start the New Year with Ally Dawson by his side, his partner, best friend, and (hopefully) girlfriend.
"You did?" The tips of Ally's lips curved into a smile.
"Yeah, I did."
Austin closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When he opened them, staring in her eyes just made him feel hypnotized. He mentally shook him out of it. 40, 39, 38, 37...
"You know how you said that you loved starting every new year? And how I said that I liked some change?"
Ally turned her gaze out the door. In the distance, he could hear the countdown of the mall workers.
When she didn't answer, he started to panic.
BOOM BOOM, his heart pounded.
This was a bad idea.
BOOM BOOM.
Why was he so dumb? Of course Ally wouldn't like him anymore!
BOOM BOOM.
Maybe he should take it back... Only three hundred something more days 'til Christmas...!
BOOM B-
"And...?" His heart rate hurdles down the imaginary mountain.
"Well... I kinda... What I really meant, was..." 15, 14, 13, 12...
Ally gave him an encouraging look. She almost looked like she was pleading him to answer.
10, 9, 8...
"If we could start the year...Together."
"Y- you mean..." Austin nodded. Ally needed no more explaination. She lit up like a firefly.(1) Together... 'Cause we're better together...
"We are Better Together." Austin grinned at her song reference. "I would love that. Plus, I'd hate to break the rules..." He followed Ally's upward gaze.
The mistletoe. The sneaky mistletoe; he almost forgot about it! It was worth convincing Ally to not take it down! It was still hanging in the doorway. Right above them.
4, 3, 2...
Austin grinned, and leaned down.
One.
BOOMBOOMBOOMDEBOOMBOOMBAMBAMDEBOOMBOOMBOOM. His heart did energetic tap-dance. He was so elated; he could eat a pancake stack ten feet high! (2)
Were two teenagers kissing in the moonlight doorway considered romantic?
It depends. It depends on your definition of romantic.
But Austin's pretty sure he got 2014 to a great start.
(1) It's A Wonderful Life, anyone...? :P I watched the 1946 version (is that the only one? :P) of it two days ago, and when I heard this description about a firefly, I loved it. :) Loved the movie, by the way. ;)
(2) I don't know about you, but it laughed so hard while I wrote that. You might think it's weird, but... I like it. XDEE Strangely... :P
(A/N): Yeah... Now that I look back at it, the first chapter was... GAHH! I'll probably tweak it after I post this, but I won't make a big change. Try checking back on this fanfic in about a week or two; and if you'd like, PM me and let me me know what you think. :)
This chapter is better, I think. :D Just the style I love, a balance between not too much, and not too vague! Okay, I'm still working on what kind of writing style I got, so yeah. :P
But, I hope you like 2014! Man... I'm growing up too fast. EEDX (That's just XDEE backwards. LOL!) But seriously, 2013 was awesome.
One, I got my fanfiction account this year. And with all the amazing support on my fanfics, I've come a long way since I first joined. :)
And this year, is the year I got more into the fandom, and it's an amazing place. Well, besides... The icky stuff. *shudders* But seriously people, This year has been awesome!
But overall, I thought 2013 would be bad because of the 13. Now that I think of it, I love this year. Take some time and think about this past year!
So, this is the last chapter I'm publishing in 2013. :D
Until Next Year! ;D