Disclaimer: I don't own Austin & Ally or any characters I didn't make up.

Austin was deep in thought as he drove through the streets towards the studio for their writing session. His head swarmed over to Wednesday morning when Scott opened the door for him. His breath tightened and his hands clenched on the steering wheel at the thought of another guy at her house. He felt confused. They're just starting to be friends and his mind and heart tell him he wants to be more. "She has a boyfriend, don't interfere," he muttered to himself. But something about that guy didn't make him feel good. He knew Scott will hurt her one way or another. Austin sighed, "Find a distraction and forget these feelings." He wasn't supposed to be the one chasing the girl. Girls chase him, but this specific girl is different. She's not like the rest. He shook his head and decided to let go of these thoughts. They're only meant to be friends and co-worker. Nothing more. Right?

He parked his car outside the studio and went in. "Good morning," he smiled at the receptionist who smiled back at him. He found their studio room and entered. "Good morning. I hope you practiced the songs I gave you," he smiled again. He wasn't typically a morning person, but he just felt energetic being around a person as perky as Ally. He stopped when he noticed her glare. "You mean the songs that you promised you would drop off but never did?" she sneered. "What?" he furrowed his eyebrows. "I trusted you to do one small thing and you never do it! It's not even that hard! Just drop the papers off at my house. But no, you completely forget about m-the songs!" Ally exclaimed, saving herself from saying 'me' right on time. "Ally, I did come over to your house Wednesday morning!" Austin defended himself. "I was home all morning that day and you never came!" Ally snaps. "You were home with your beloved Scott," he sneers. Ally looked down as she mumbled, "I wasn't with him." That topic was a little sensitive for her. It was a 2-year relationship with the man she thought she would end up with that ended. She hasn't even been able to vent her feelings out to Trish. Ally bottled these feelings up and pushed them to the back of her mind. Though she knew there will be a time where she breaks down if she continues to do so.

"Yes, you were. Don't lie," Austin snapped, "and you say I'm the liar." Ally's head snapped up, "How would you know if he was there? Were you the one at my house? Why do you even care if he was there?" Austin's mouth shut as he took a deep breath to not let any unnecessary information fly out of his mouth. "He was the one I gave the songs to." Ally shook her head, "Scott was at my house for 15 minutes and only once did the bell ring and it was a paparazzi, not you." Austin narrowed his eyes, "Do you trust his words?" She looked down mouthing 'no.' Austin looked at her like she was crazy, "Then how are you dating him?" Ally sighed, "This is not what we're talking about here." Sensing there was something wrong, Austin decided to not talk about her messed up relationship, "I know what happened to the songs. She looked at him in speculation. "When I came over to your house to drop the songs off, Scott answered the door, he said you were in the shower or something," Austin explained, "anyway, I told him to give the songs to you, but apparently he never did." Ally was red in rage. "I'm so sick of that son of a bitch!" she shouted. Austin's eyes widened, "Then why are you dating him?!"

Ally turned her back to him, "I'm not!" Austin noticed her voice cracking and cleared his throat, "Maybe we shouldn't any of the work today." She turned to face him once again, "What do you mean?" He shrugged, "We're both tired and angry, that wouldn't make any good songs. How about we just hang out later?" Ally smiled and nodded, "That would be great." He smiled at her, "Would you like to have dinner with me tonight?" Her eyes widened before he interjected, "As friends!" She responded, "See you then, Moon." She gathered her laptop and phone into her laptop bag and turned to him, "Walk me out?" He smiled and nodded picking his laptop bag and opening the door for her. They walked in comfortable silence as they exited the building. He walked her to her car and stood with her. She caught him off guard when she suddenly wrapped her arms around his neck in a tight hug. He relaxed and hugged her back burying his head in her neck. 'This is what heaven must feel like' they each thought to themselves. Heaven soon ended when Ally broke the hug after hearing a noise. They turned towards the direction of it and saw several paparazzi with their cameras focused on the two. "Oh dear," she muttered. "Prepare for the rumors," he laughed gently. She giggled and turned to face him, "Pick me up at 7." He raised his eyebrows and pointed at himself, "Now I'm picking you up?" She nodded, "Yes, you are. What are you? Afraid that I will find out what a terrible driver you are?" He smirked, "I'm picking you up tonight, but only to show you how awesome of a driver I am." She got into her car and teased, "We'll see about that." She closed the door and drove off. Austin walked to his own car and got in. He lightly banged his head on the steering wheel. Was he happy that Ally said that she wasn't dating Scott? Yes, he was. Was he going to take his chance and try to get her? Yes, he was. His smile only widened as he drove off thinking about his friendly date with her tonight.

Later that night…

Ally checked her makeup once again before taking a seat at her couch waiting for Austin to come pick her up. She was so excited that she feels like she forgot all about her bottled up feelings from her recent break up. 'Take it slow, Ally, you just got out of a relationship' she thought. Austin being late to their chosen time was expected. He was late every morning to their writing sessions anyway. The clock read 7:01 when her doorbell rang. Ally jumped up in excitement. She calmed herself down and took a deep breath. 'This isn't a date' she reminded herself as she opened the door to a handsome looking Austin. She looked at his black jeans and grey button up with the sleeves rolled up. 'Classy and simple' she thought. He matched with her black skirt and grey top. "One minute late, Mr. Moon," she tapped on her small silver watch bracelet. "I got here at 6:59, but I was looking if there were any reporters around," he explained. He escorted her to his car and opened the door for her. "What a gentleman," she chimed as she got in. Austin bit his tongue as he closed her door and walked over to his side in an effort to not mention Scott. "Where are we going?" she turned towards him. "There is a new restaurant on the beach that I thought we could try, and then maybe a late night walk on the beach. Is that okay?" he gave her a quick glance. She smiled at him, "Sounds perfect." It's been a while since she's been to the beach. Scott didn't like it and never took her there for dates.

'This isn't a date' he reminded himself for the 50th time that night. They had a nice comfortable talk until they reached the restaurant. They were shown to their table, which luckily faced the beach, and sat across from each other. "So, tell a little about yourself," Ally said as she took a sip from her drink. "What do you want to know?" he asked. She shrugged, "Your history." Austin laughed, "My history, wow. I suppose you mean my life story." She laughed along and nodded. "I grew up in Miami, I lived my whole life there actually. You always find my family doing something crazy and outgoing-" Ally interrupted, "Like what?" He smiled as he remembered the good times he had with his family, "Like setting up a family bungee jumping day." She had a soft smile on her face, "Do you still do that when you visit them?" Austin's face went blank as he swallowed, "Not really. My family was never the same after…" Ally sensed his discomfort and put her hand on top of his, "It's okay, you can tell me." He sighed, "After my dad walked out on us when I was 12." She gasped at that, "Oh my God, Austin, I'm so sorry." He shrugged, "It's not your fault. I don't really think about it much anymore." Ally bit her lip, "What happened after that?" Austin chuckled a little before replying, "What do you expect? My mom didn't have a job so I had to help her with money by working at a local supermarket. She is an amazing woman. She did everything she could to give me and my sister the best life." Ally nodded, "I can only imagine how incredible she is. What about your sister?" He said, "She was too young to understand what happened." Ally couldn't help herself from asking, "Do you want to meet your father?" He thought for a moment, "I hate that man so much that I don't consider him as my dad."

Austin shook his head, "Enough with the sadness. What about you?" Ally smiled, "I grew up in Miami as well. We lived in the countryside with a stable for our horses." Austin was surprised, "You rode horses?" Ally laughed and nodded, "I even had my own horse, Melody." He smiled at her dreamy look, "That sounds amazing." They continued their conversation and learned more about each other as they ate. They were in the middle of their walk on the beach when Austin asked, "How did you get into the music business?" Ally laughed, "I should have expected that conversation to come up since I'm with another musician. I loved singing back home so much that I decided to move to LA and make it my life. What about you?" Austin looked out at the dark ocean under the bright moon, "I used to sing my thoughts out after he left, my mom and sister enjoyed it because it relaxed them. I find great comfort in music so I moved to LA as well and chased after my dream." They stopped walking and turned to face each other, "I agree. Music takes me to another world and helps me solve my problems."

"I didn't want to say anything, but why did you dump that guy?" he asked about Scott. "He was selfish and self-centered. He also told his parents that I cheated on him and that we were getting married," she responded. Austin burst out laughing, "What?! Cheating?! Marriage?! If he's gonna lie at least make it a good one!" Ally laughed along with him, "You know, I never thought we'd actually be able to get along." He calmed down and agreed, "I know right, but as it turns out, you can be tolerated." Ally rolled her eyes at him and look at the ocean next to them. "Ally…" she heard Austin whisper. "Yeah?" she mumbled as she turned to face him. She was met by sparkling brown eyes that stared deeply into hers. Their gaze intensified as they started getting closer and closer. Their foreheads touched and breath quickened and they felt paradise approaching when…

To be continued…