Chapter 2
Day one: Picnic in the Dark
"Ally! Psst! Ally," Austin calls from outside the girl's bedroom window. Within minutes, the young songwriter is at her window, looking down at the blonde singer.
"Hold on. I'll be done in a second," Ally says quietly before she disappears into her room.
Austin waits below her second story window with a blanket and a basket. Most likely, it is supplying food for their midnight picnic.
While Ally highly disagreed with sneaking out of the house for a silly picnic, Austin persuaded her. Pickles and fruity mint swirl ice cream is something a girl like Ally simply cannot turn down. Well, that and Austin being there.
Ally comes back to her window. Unlike last time, she is dressed in normal clothes rather than hello kitty pajamas.
"How in the world am I supposed to get down?" Ally asks bewildered. Austin holds up one finger, a signal to wait, and walks around the corner.
When the boy comes back, he drags a 15-foot ladder behind him. Austin picks up one end carefully. As he pushes it against the wall, it makes a rather noisy thump. Ally scrambles to her bed and dives under the covers.
With a breathy chuckle, Austin climbs the ladder to the girl's room. He shakes Ally gently, questioning, "Alls?"
Thinking it is her father, she jumps up.
"I didn't do it!" The girl says. The blonde boy laughs quietly.
"Ally, it's just me. Come on, the ice creams gonna melt," Austin states as he tugs her hand. Ally hurriedly follows at the idea of her beloved ice cream melting into a puddle.
They silently climb down the ladder, Austin going ahead of the nervous girl. The two reach the ground and Austin picks up the basket. Ally insists she carry the blanket because Austin forbids her from carrying the heavy picnic basket.
"Austin, are you sure about this? Maybe we should go back and forget everything," Ally says. Austin turns to her with a smile. Ally has always been a bit of a goody two shoes. Not in a stuck up way, just a shy girl.
"Relax, I've done this hundreds of times," Austin tells the brunette. Ally gazes at him with a playful look.
"Oh, so you've snuck out with a girl to go to a midnight picnic before?" Ally asks teasingly. Austin's smile drops as he tries to fix his mistake.
"I didn't mean that! I meant, uh…I snuck out of the house before for… perfectly good reasons," Austin says whilst he rubs the back of his neck with his free hand. Ally giggles lightly at him.
"I was only teasing," Ally admits. The young rock star smiles brightly. Never could he be mad at such an 'adorkable' girl.
They reach the park soon enough. The moon highlights the couple's figures as the two set up the picnic. With a slight fumbling motion, Ally spreads the blanket on the damp ground. As they take their seats, the songwriter cannot help but notice how the stars reflect almost perfectly on the surface of the glassy clear lake.
"That's not all," Austin says slyly. He reaches into the basket and reveals three candles. The blonde spreads them out on the grass around the two teens. Ally volunteers to light the candles because, frankly, Austin could set himself on fire. The boy admits to this, saying, "It's been done before."
"Thank you for convincing me to come out here, Austin," Ally whispers. Austin nods curtly and wraps his arm around her waist. The songwriter responds by leaning her head on the other's shoulder. It's silent for a while; just the teen's breathing can be heard.
"Ice cream now?" Austin suggests. Ally nods eagerly. With a smile, Austin retrieves the cold substance from the picnic basket. He pops open the ice cream and looks inside.
"Uh-oh, It's all melt-y. We'll have to throw it out," Austin states. Ally leans over his shoulder to peek in the container. She swipes it out of the boy's hands.
"Nonsense! No one in their right mind would throw out partly melted ice cream goodness," Ally declares. Austin laughs and hands her a spoon as he takes out a plastic bag of pancakes. They both dig in.
"Mmmm….Pancakes…" Austin mumbles happily. Ally laughs but understood his obvious obsession with the fluffy cakes. After all, she is just the same with pickles.
"Wanna go swimming?" Austin says as he finishes his pancakes. The brunette shakes her head as if the idea was utterly ridiculous.
"First, we don't have swimsuits. Second, you have to wait thirty minutes after you eat before you go swimming," Ally reasons. Austin looks towards the clear lake mischievously.
"Well, I can fix that first problem and the second one, too," The singer says. Ally eyes him suspiciously. Before she has time to question him, Austin jumps up. In one fluid motion, his shirt is off and he is half way to the lake. Ally's jaw drops at the sight of Austin bounding towards the water without a shirt. At the very edge he stops.
"Has it been thirty minutes yet?" The rock star calls to his girlfriend. The brunette stumbles over her words. When the boy hears no answer, he jumps in the water with a loud splash.
"Austin Monica Moon!" Ally shouts at him. His head bobs at the surface.
"Ally Dawson!" Austin yells back joyfully. The girl shakes her head and stands up. Ally reaches the dock as Austin swims over to her.
"What's up?" the blonde asks innocently. Ally sits on the edge of the dock and peers down at him.
"Well, you're not going to have dry pants," the brunette says. Austin laughs and hoists himself up on the dock.
"Your turn," the boy declares. Without another word, he picks her up. Ally senses what he is up to.
"No, no, no! Put me down!" the girl yells. Austin chuckles as he shakes his head.
"I just want to say, I apologize for what I'm about to do. You'll thank me later," Austin declares. Ally's eyes widen. Austin drops her into the lake with a slight wince as she hits the water. Ally comes up sputtering as the blonde dives in.
"Thank you for getting my clothes soaked. Now, if you will excuse me, I'm getting out," the brunette says once Austin surfaces. He swims over to her swiftly, grabbing Ally around the waist.
"Please stay, Alls. I'm sorry," Austin pleads with his signature pout. Ally sighs, "Fine."
The next hour is spent splashing each other and playing Marco Polo. Soon, it is getting time to head home. Despite Austin's protests that they could stay a little longer, Ally drags him away from the lake.
"We have to get home before our parents realize we're gone," Ally tells the boy. Austin nods reluctantly and helps clean up the picnic. The brunette shivers in the cold, her wet clothes hindering rather than helping.
"Are you cold?" the blonde asks. Ally nods silently, still shivering from the cold. Austin takes his forgotten shirt from the ground and hands it to his partner. Ally stares at the clothing in his hand.
"You want m-me to wear your shirt? W-what about you?" The songwriter asks timidly. Austin shakes his head. Stepping towards her, he slips the shirt over Ally in spite of her protests.
"It's fine. We'll be home soon enough. And what fun will the rest of the week be if you catch a cold?" the singer says. Ally sighs, seeing the point he clearly made. Austin smiles as he takes the basket and blanket in his arms. Ally follows the boy down the path leading to the teen's houses.
"So, what are we doing tomorrow?" Ally asks. Austin shrugs.
"I left the list in my room," the blonde rocker replies. Ally nods silently.
They arrive at Ally's house as about two thirty in the morning rolls around. Ally scales the ladder to her room. Just as Austin removes the ladder, the brunette sticks her head out the window.
"Austin, I still have your shirt," Ally calls quietly. The blonde looks up and shakes his head.
"Keep it. It's not that cold anyway," Austin says back. With that said, he's gone.
Ally stands in her room, thinking about the night. Finally, she sighs and walks to her bed. Without bothering to change, the tired girl falls back onto her comfy sheets, instantly falling asleep.
The door creaks open. Lester Dawson sticks his head in his daughter's room. He smiles slyly at the sight of Ally wrapped up in wet clothes, the young Moon's shirt, and the maroon sheets. The man sighs softly, remembering when he himself was just as crazy as Austin. Lester slips into his own room, closing the door softly as not to awake his sleeping daughter.
A/N Leaaving for a few days. No updates for a while. Sorry. Remember: DON'T BE A CREEPY STALKER! MAKE YOURSELF KNOWN BY REVIEWING! Just drop a note to say hello!