Chapter 29
"Ally!"
She spun on her heels to see Austin running out of Lighthouse Book Café. She stood with her tracks in the snow to face him. "Um, yeah?"
Austin ran to catch up with her. "Uh, hey-hi, um..." He was getting flustered! Just to ask her out again! He looked back at the café to see Elliot, Dez, Cassidy, Trish, and Dallas laughing over coffee. He took several deep breathes, watching his breath freeze in the air.
"Austin?" Ally asked looking at him.
He shook his head. "Um... yeah. Ally. Would... Do... Are... " He sighed, running his left hand through his hair. "Is tomorrow night open? I mean, are you free tomorrow?"
"I'd love to," Ally replied with a smile.
"I didn't even ask you to a date yet!"
Ally chuckled. "I knew you were going to ask anyways. Plus you seemed nervous enough, so I just cut the chase."
Austin pouted. "Awe fine. Pick you up at seven."
"Sure." Ally nodded, not before Austin caught her arm again and pulled her back into his arms. "This is so cliché," Ally commented. Austin shrugged and placed his lips on hers gently.
"I know it is," he softly mummered, pulling away. "But I've always wanted to." A few distances away, Dallas wolf-whistled as the rest cheered seeing the two.
"Why are you so nervous?" Trish asked her best friend, who was pacing the floor for thirty minutes now.
Ally wrung out her fingers, and clenched them into a fist, again and again; biting her lip. "I don't know. I literally don't know why I'm like this! I mean, it has been a while since Austin and I have gone out on a date not to mention the fact that he..." she paused with her rant.
Trish took the time to interrupt. "If you're nervous, it's okay to admit it."
"I'm not nervous!"
Trish held her arms up in defense. "Okay. You know what? Maybe I'll just..." She started to slink away as the doorbell rang, causing Ally to go into a frenzy.
"Oh my gosh. Ohhhh myyyy gosh," she kept repeating over and over, soothing out the non-existent wrinkles on her dress. She pulled the door open to Austin who looked as handsome as ever. "Hey Austin!" she managed, keeping her voice steady.
His mouth dropped in response. "You're beautiful," he softly said, his eyes trailing her body. She was in a yellow knee-length box-pleated dress with a black mini belt at her waist. And black flats to match the whole out-fit.
"Awe thanks Austin. You look great too."
He was wearing grey tweed blazer with his leather collars popped up over a navy blue colored plaid button up. Dark skinny dress pants and matching grey skate shoes tied the whole out-fit together. He wore a winter coat over it, but like being Austin, it always matched.
"Grab your coat and we'll head out."
She ran back in to grab her clutch and her long winter coat. She closed the door behind her without hearing Trish yell, "Tell me everything when you get back!" from inside her room. Ally shook her head and took Austin's arm.
"So where are we going today?"
Austin pulled out a yellow rose, that perfectly matched her dress. Ally gasped. "How did you know? It perfectly matched!"
Austin smiled, and tucked the flower (without it's thorny stem) into her hair. "Perfect," he said. "Oh, and I have people."
"Trish," Ally said, jumping straight to conclusions.
Austin laughed. "Of course. She loves being in on everything. She can't help it. Plus seeing to your surprise, it seems she managed to keep her mouth shut."
Ally chuckled. "Wow, I'm surprised. But seriously, where are we going?"
Since it was dark, icy, and not too far from the apartment complex, Austin decided to walk with Ally to their destination. Plus, he couldn't bring a car with the plans that he had. "There's two parts to tonight. First, of course, is a dinner. After, is a surprise."
Ally tugged on his arm. "Austin!" she whined. "You know I don't like surprises."
"Yeah, well. If you're with me, you need to live with them," he said with a sly smile.
"Okay, we're here." Ally looked up to see a French restaurant.
"The L'Aigre Doux," Austin announced, pulling the doors open. "Means 'The Bitter Sweet' in French. I know it sounds weird, but I think it's a lovely name. Bitter Sweet can be taken in many ways. The bitter sweet ways of life. The bitter that can be sweet in the end. Etcetera."
Ally nodded. "It is nice."
"Reservations?" the lady asked, right when they entered, in a thick French accent.
Austin nodded. "Uh, yes. For Moon."
The lady looked at the tablet set up. "Ah, oui. A table for two?" Austin nodded again. "Well, please follow me." Austin and Ally took their seats (Austin pulling out Ally's chair like a gentleman) as they were handed their menus. "A waiter will be with you shortly," she curtly replied and went on her way.
Ally stared wide-eye at the menu. A majority of them, she didn't even know how to pronounce. And most of them, she didn't even knew what they are! She knew nothing of French cuisine and the little descriptions weren't helping. Take for example, Tripes à la mode de Caen whose description was 'tripe cooked in cider and calvados.' What the heck were 'calvados'? And tripe?! You've got to be kidding. She looked over at Austin who was looking at the menu as if he actually knew what they were.
But he actually didn't.
Austin stared at the menus. What the heck were all these?! Okay, Quenelle didn't sound that bad. The description was 'creamed meat with breadcrumbs, light egg binding, poached'. Not bad. But still... his imagination couldn't help but wonder with all the various choices. But he knew to stay away from Escargot, having tasted one before and it wasn't a walk in the park.
"Are you ready to order?" A guy with a heavy accent asked, scaring both Austin and Ally who had been pouring over the menus.
Ally jumped in her seat. "Oh, um. Austin?" she asked because she had no clue of what to order. "What would you like to order?"
He bit his lip. He had been hoping for Ally to order first and second the notion, but he had to order. Ugh! He looked down at his menu and ordered the one thing he had been staring at. "I'll have Quenelle."
"And the lady?"
Ally nodded, taking her cue. "I'll have the same thing." She sorta trusted Austin's word on French cuisine, having no clue on what else to order.
"Would you like some wine to accompany that?" the waiter -Jacques- asked.
Austin nodded. "Um, sure." He looked down at the menu again, flipping to the back where a long list of wines were listed. "Um... what would you uh, recommend?"
"Well," the waiter looked at the menu, "With Quenelle, maybe a 1982 bottle of Roussanne white wine."
Austin nodded, faking that he knew what the guy was saying. "Sure, sure. That'll do."
The waiter nodded. "Your order will be right out. For now, maybe some baked camembert with balsamic caramelized onions for a starter and the wine will be out in a second."
The starter didn't look that bad, so Austin took a chance with it. It was pretty good. It was soft and cheesy. Pretty soon the plate of baked camembert was gone and now they waited for their dinner.
"So, Austin," Ally started, folding her napkin, "Can I ask again what that surprise is?"
He smiled. "Not a chance I'll answer that."
"Then answer this," Ally challenged. "I've always wondered, even ten years back, when did you first fall for me?"
Austin thought back on his memories of Ally. Back to the very first one. "When I first saw you."
"When was that?" Ally asked, taking a small sip of the wine.
-Flashback-
"Mommy!" ten-year old Austin Moon called. "Look!"
Mimi Moon laughed. "Wow Austin! You're captain!" Austin screamed as he saw his father chase after him on the play area.
They were at Disney World at Florida at the Caribbean Beach Resort. And now Austin was on the Children's Water Play Area or the Pirate Ship. He was at the bow of the ship, pretending to be the captain.
"Arrr," Mike Moon called, reaching for his son. Austin screamed and ran. Suddenly the barrel at the top, filled to the brim with water, tipped, raining water on everyone who was around. Austin screamed in delight.
"Austin?" he father called. "Where are you?"
Austin looked around the pole he was hiding behind. "I'm here!" he called. Then realized his mistake. Right when he was about to turn and run, he was hoisted up by his father.
"Gotcah!" he said, carrying Austin.
Austin laughed. "Daddy!" he screamed. "Put me down. Me have to run!"
"From who?" Mike Moon asked, charging through the shallow water into the pool that was only several yards away from the Pirate Ship.
"You!" Austin replied laughing. His dad set him gently in the water and waved to his mother who was following them with their belongings into another set of chairs. Austin splashed some water and started to wade deeper into the pool.
"I'm gonna getcha Austin! I'm gonna catch ya!" Mike Moon called.
Austin laughed and stuck out his tongue at his father. "Nuh-uh!" He raced through the shallow water, turning every few seconds to check on his father who was chasing him. Suddenly he tripped.
"Oomph."
And crashed into another person. His momentum carried on, bring both of them down. He sputtered water out of his mouth and pushed his hair out of the way. There she was. Long, wavy dark brown hair, now wet, that stuck on her face and shoulders.
"Watch where you're going," she scolded and walked back to her parents, unsticking her hair from her.
Austin sat in the water, looking at her. "Sorry!" he called but she didn't hear him.
Finally his father caught up with him. "Are you okay Austin?" he asked, seeing the episode that just happened. "And who was she?"
"I'm fine," he replied, then shrugged, still looking at her. Even from afar, she was beautiful.
Mike smiled. "Oh, does lwittle Austin have a crushy-wushy?"
"No!" he refuted, defensively.
-End of Flashback-
"It wasn't the best first impression, but still you had a great first impression to me. Just minus the scolding part."
Ally laughed. "I can't believe you remember that!"
He shrugged. "I remember everything about you Ally. So anyway, it was one of those moments where you see someone and you want to really meet them. Not just in passing as strangers, but get to be their friend. For all I knew, you could have been vacationing to Florida when you lived someplace else. But lucky me, lucky us, you lived in Miami too! But there are some things I regret not having spoken to you sooner. I'm sorry."
"It's okay. But I'd like to know, how come you didn't recognize me when we first met, again?"
"I don't know. Maybe I was blinded after we had broken up."
She nodded. "Understandable. But I-"
"Your order's ready," a voice interrupted. They looked to see their waiter holding two trays of food. They looked at it, as it was placed before them. "Enjoy. And feel free to call me over if you need anything." They nodded and looked at the food again.
"Is this even edible?" Ally whispered, looking worriedly at the food.
Austin snorted and shrugged. "You want to take the first bite?"
"No. You can. Guys are braver," she said. Ally knew that was going to inflate his ego, but she didn't want to take the first bite. Some things are worth doing just to prevent the ball from rolling into your court.
Austin cast a look at the plate. "Um, no. Ladies first."
He just had to play that line! Ally picked up her fork and prodded the dumpling shaped Quenelle. Just what were the French thinking when they prepared dishes? She broke a bit off and placed it in her mouth. Cautiously chewing, it wasn't that bad. It was actually pretty good! Austin stared at Ally, then down to his plate. Turns out it was pretty good.
"Ally," Austin said, as he casually ate another bite, "When did you first fell for me?"
"Do you remember middle school?"
Austin laughed. "Then? You feel for me then? During that moment?"
"I know. But yes, I did."
-Flashback-
One requirement in P.E. was dancing. So every semester as a new group of students had P.E., it'd be two weeks of torture, dancing with another person. Ally had never been fond of dancing, so this wasn't helping.
"Okay! This time the girls will ask a guy. And remember, you can't decline! Ready?" Everyone nodded as their P.E. teachers Mr. Bryce and Ms. Mel started up the music.
Ally looked at the row of boys that stood waiting. Earlier, for her first dance, she had been asked by Kurt. She was wondering if she wanted to dance with him again. Then her eyes landed to a blond who stood at the end, watching her. He had ran up to her right after Kurt had asked her, so he had missed his chance.
"Um, would you like to dance?" she asked the blond.
He smiled and nodded. "I'd love to."
She placed her hands on his shoulders as he held her waist, just like they had been taught. It was a bit uncomfortable, both daring the other to look at each other straight in the eyes. When she finally did, she was mesmerized by his eyes. Brown speckled with green.
"I'm Austin," he introduced.
"Ally," she replied. "So um... hi."
He chuckled. "Hi. I've seen you around school and... and you're pretty," he suddenly blurted.
"Thank you," she blushed.
They stayed silent for the next minute or two, swaying to the music. This had been the most relaxed Ally had felt in a long while. She sighed in contentment and leaned in to Austin, humming the tune of the song. He wrapped his arms tighter around her, making her feel secure.
Suddenly the music stopped as everyone around them, jumped away in disgust from their partners. Ally sighed and pulled away from Austin. And so they made it that they'd asked each other to dance before anyone else had a chance.
During one of their dances, Ally remembered faintly hearing Austin say softly, "I'd rather dance with you than any other girl in the world." Having someone say that to her, her heart filled with happiness. She was a lonely, shy girl and for someone to say that, really made her day. And her heart.
-End of Flashback-
"I do remember saying that," Austin recalled. "And I did mean it."
Once a plate or two of Éclairs was gone, they stood up to leave. They left a hefty tip for Jacques and went on their way.
"So part two of my surprise?" Ally asked. "What is it?"
Austin slyly smiled. "Just wait a minute." He checked his watch. Just a few minutes more; just in time.
Suddenly the clip clop sound of clattering hooves reach their ears. At first it was faint, only to come stronger and stronger, like a heartbeat. Sudden a horse-drawn carriage turned the corner to stop in front of them. It was a chestnut brown harnessed to a while carriage with red trimmings.
Ally's mouth dropped in shock. "Really? A... Austin! It's amazing!"
He smiled. "I though you'd love it." He climbed into the carriage and pulled her in next to him. He nodded to the diver and the clatter of the hooves started up again. It was a clear night, perfect for a night drive around town. He top was pulled back so the view of the stars seated in heaven were shinning down upon them. He pulled the blanket closer around him and Ally to keep warm.
"This night has been phenomenal," Ally softly said.
"Just one more thing," Austin said. He reached into his coat and pulled out a slim box and handed it to Ally. "I hope you love it."
She couldn't believe he had gone this far for a date. She wasn't complaining, she loved it all, but he didn't need to go that far to impress her. She smiled at him and opened the box. She gasped softly. It was a silver necklace and its pendent! Two hearts, intertwined with each other. And each heart, their names had been engraved on it. Two hearts as one.
"I love it," she replied. "You're the best."
"Here let me help." He pulled the necklace from its place and clasped it around Ally's neck. "Beautiful, just as you are."
She smiled at his cheesy lines.
"Does that make us into a relationship?" he asked.
"What do you think?" she said, tracing the necklace. Ally hugged him tight and kissed him full on. Just like with their first dance in middle school, or when he had ran her over at the resort, they were falling hard for each other. Again.
But who said history couldn't repeat itself?
A/N: Hey! I know it's not Saturday but got distracted yesterday. So I cut off the world for a few hours to get this done and I'm proud of the outcome. I really love how this turned out. Anyway, Merry Christmas!
And the last chapter should be on Christmas Eve or on Christmas or next Saturday or Sunday. Depends on my distraction levels. :P
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