hey guys! i hope y'all are doing well!

sooo... it's been months sjfsksd i really thought i was gonna update this regularly lmao. but i'm updating now so ! i hope you guys enjoy!

disclaimer: don't own austin and ally, because if i did then dougie the dolphin would've been in more than 1 episode

Baby, we're the sun and stars,

the moon and comets,

but everyone's blind to our secrets.

"ALLY!"

The piercing sound startles her awake. She lets out a short yelp and then winces, the sunlight in hitting her eyes.

"What the heck, Dez? I was sleeping."

Dez straightens up, fixing his tie. "Um, I know. Hence why I was waking you up."

"You didn't have to yell in my ear," Ally says, throwing him a glare. Her hand goes to the back of her neck, trying to massage away the crick in her neck. Sleeping at a desk is quite possibly the most uncomfortable thing ever, but sadly Ally was more than used to it by now.

"Here." Dez takes over and Ally lets out a sigh of relief. One of the great things about Dez were his magical hands. "And in my defense, I've been shaking you and calling your name for the past five minutes," he says. "What were you doing up so late anyways?"

She sighs, looking at the mess of parchments and books on her desk. "Researching on how to solve the water crisis. I need a proposal ready by the end of the week. So far all I have is this." She picks up the parchment covered in ink, and her face contorts in disgust when she feels the wetness.

"Ugh, gross. I drooled all over it." She wipes her cheek with her sleeve, which is just as disgusting and unladylike, she knows, but what the heck. A princess is allowed to be a little disgusting in private. After all, princesses are humans, as well.

"Don't be ashamed, Austin has a drooling problem, too."

"Austin has too many problems. And I care about absolutely none of them."

"Would it kill you to be a little nicer to him? Just a little bit, not a lot."

Ally tilts her head to the side, pretending to consider this. "Yes. It would destroy my soul," she says.

Dez rolls his eyes. "He's really not that bad."

"That's because he has you under his spell." She shrugs off Dez's hands and gets up from her chair. "Thanks for the massage. I feel much better." Gathering up the pieces of parchment on her desk, she asks, "Where's Victoria? I need to get ready."

"She wasn't feeling well, so I let her have the day off."

Ally looks up, concerned. Victoria never neglected her lady-in-waiting duties. "Is she okay?"

"Yeah. She was just feeling a little rundown. Nothing alarming, but I figured she could use the rest regardless."

"Yeah, that's good. But now who's gonna help me get ready?"

"You're a big girl. I'm sure you dress yourself. Just throw on one of your dresses and call it a day."

"Yeah, I can't just 'throw on a dress and call it a day.' Today's important; I need to look good."

"The party isn't until tonight."

"It's not about the party. It's about the Moons - "

Dez raises an eyebrow. "I thought you didn't care about Austin."

"I don't. Please," she scoffs, "I'm not dressing for him. But the Moons are coming early, in like what? Three hours? I won't have time to change again, so." She places the last of her books in its respective place and leans back to admire her tidy desk. There. Turning to Dez, she says, "Believe me, I'd love nothing more than to wear one of my more comfier dresses, but Mother would have a sword to my throat if I didn't at least look like the Queen of Fembre."

He exhales, eyes wide. "This whole needing to prove you're at their level thing is so demeaning and childish."

"You don't get to say that when all of this is your fault in the first place." She walks past him to her wardrobe and begins rummaging through her dresses.

"My fault? How is any of this pettiness my fault?" Dez inquires, taken aback by her absurd accusation.

"Our kingdoms have hated each other for years and everyone was fine with it. But then you just had to become all buddy-buddy with Austin and now we've been thrust into this annoying silent war of fake smiles and artificial politeness." She takes out a dress and her eyes widen in horror. This is atrocious. Why do I even own this? Hanging the dress back, she continues, "We're stuck pretending we tolerate each other, when in reality the hatred still stands. If it wasn't for you, we could openly hate each other."

"And that would be better?" He asks. "Hating each other?"

"Anything would be better than living a lie," she replies, her eyes evaluating another dress. Yes, this will do.

"The best thing," Dez says, "would be to just learn to love each other."

"I admire your faith in miracles. Really."

Dez purses his lips, giving her a dry look. She responds with a shrug.

"Wait. You have ink on your face." He licks his thumb and reaches out to wipe her cheek.

She squeals and shoves his hand away, turning her face away from him. "Ew! Dez, stop." She scrunches her nose, wiping Dez's saliva from her cheek.

"You do realize we share DNA, right?"

"Do we, though?"

"Not this again," he grumbles, falling into her chair. "For the last time, Ally, I'm not adopted!"

"Do you know how rare it is for non-redheads to have a redhead child?"

"I was a miracle," he replies simply.

"Maybe that was just a euphemism for Mother and Father finding you in a basket on the front steps of the castle."

"There's literally a family portrait of us three days after I was born."

"Paintings prove nothing. I could paint a centaur with a rainbow coming out his butt. Doesn't mean it exists," she retorts.

"Actually - "

"No. They don't exist."

"Well, I still wasn't adopted."

"Then explain why our parents were so okay with you giving up the crown, hmm?" She asks, an eyebrow raised. "Adopted children aren't a part of the royal bloodline, so they can't inherit the throne, so when you announced that you didn't want to be king, Mother and Father were secretly relieved because then they didn't have to be at risk for a scandal."

Dez opens his mouth to reply, but Ally gasps with a realization.

"Oh! And they gave me the middle name of Edgar, not you. Explain that."

The tradition is for the heir to carry on the name of the current monarch's predecessor's name. Since Dez was born as the heir of Vendeva, he would've had had to been christened Desmond Edgar Dawson. But he wasn't.

"Okay, one, Papa Hatfield passed away the day before I was born so that's why I got his name instead. To honor him."

"Sure, okay."

"And second, Mother and Father knew I wasn't fit to ascend to the throne. They agreed I wasn't built to be a leader, which is why they were fine with me stepping down."

Sensing the disappointment in his voice, Ally turns around from her vanity, facing him. He's fiddling with his tie and she frowns. "Hey, you know that's not true. You'd be an amazing leader."

"You've led a pretty honest and virtuous life. No need to ruin that now."

"I'm not lying," Ally says. "You would be an incredible leader. You're skillful, resourceful, innovative, so creative, compassionate, kind - "

"Anxious, impulsive, forgetful, borderline obnoxious," Dez continues for her, giving her a look. He sighs and says, "I'm not denying that I don't have good qualities. I just don't have the traits needed to be an effective leader. Our people deserve the best."

"And that's me? Please, I'm the furthest thing from being the best. You should've just kept the crown, and then after you got married Trish could've been the reigning queen and you could work from the sidelines or something."

Dez chuckles. "Yeah, Trish would've made a great queen, except she wouldn't have been able to exercise any political power. I mean, you see Mother. She's only allowed to engage in ceremonial affairs."

"You could've changed the law."

"The king doesn't have absolute power. The law would have to be voted into effect by the Parliament, and we all know that'd never happen."

"But - "

Dez stands up and tugs down his blazer. "I'm done fighting about this. My decision can't be changed, so we just have to live with it."

"Okay, but be honest - did you really not want to be king?" Ally asks.

"Did I want to be king? I mean, yeah, of course I did. It would be awesome to have power and be able to make this kingdom a better place on a larger level. But it's not about what I want. It doesn't matter what any of us want, really, because our top priority has to be our people. We can't let our desires and passions overshadow our responsibilities. So, as much as I wanted to be king, the best thing I could do for Vendeva and the people is to allow you to become their leader." He smiles, placing his hands on Ally's shoulders. "Because I know you're going to be a great queen."

Ally smiles. "Thanks, Dez. Anyway, I really should go get ready now."

"Yeah, you really should."

Ally gathers her dress and other necessities and makes her way to the bathroom.

"What's this? 'To, My Love.' Oooh, does Ally have a secret admirer?"

She stops dead in her tracks, her eyes wide. Spinning on her heel, she rushes to Dez and rips the letter from his hands. "No!" She clears her throat and more calmly says, "No, it's not a secret admirer."

Dez raises an eyebrow. "Then who is it?"

"It's... It's Trish. We write letters to each other sometimes."

Dez narrows his eyes suspiciously. "But Trish never writes me any letters."

"When will you realize that she loves me more than she loves you?"

He rolls his eyes. "Did she write anything about me?"

"Yeah. She said your feet smell like cheese - "

"They do not!"

"And that she can't wait to spend the rest her life with you," Ally says with a smile.

"Aww. I can't wait to marry her."

"Just one more day! Now stop snooping and let me get ready." Dez puts his hands up in surrender. Ally inserts the letter between the pages of one of her books and then (finally) goes to the bathroom.

When she comes out, no longer a drooling mess, Dez is sprawled on top of Ally's bed.

"Why the heck are you still here? Don't you have wedding things to take care of?"

"I'm going," he says. "I was just looking over your draft for the water crisis solution."

"Oh. Well?"

"So far, it looks pretty good. Lowering the amount of usage of pesticides would definitely help reduce water pollution, but I don't think putting a tax on pesticides would be liked."

Ally sighs. "I know, but I don't know how to encourage people not to use pesticides and chemicals. They're not going to stop just because I say so."

"Maybe some kind of incentive or something?"

"Maybe."

"You'll figure it out."

It's silent for a moment, as Ally struggles to make her earring go through her ear.

"Okay, question."

"Answer."

"Where's Dougie?" Dez asks from her bed. "I haven't seen him in a while."

"Hmm?"

"Sir Douglas Bradford Williamsworth Dawson or whatever."

"Oh, I gave him away."

"You gave him away? Seriously?"

"I'm a little old for stuffed animals now, Dez."

"Okay, but I never thought you'd give Dougie the Dolphin away," he says. "He was your favorite thing ever."

"Yeah, but things change."

"Well, I guess you made some little kid really happy."

Ally smiles a little. "I like to think I did."

Dez gets off of Ally's bed and smooths down his clothes. "Well, it was nice hanging out with you, sis, but I have things to do. Thanks for wasting my time."

She gives him a look. "You were the one who was annoying me. Don't get it twisted."

"Please. My company is anything but annoying," he says, walking out the door. "See you at the party."

Two and a half hours later, Ally's standing with her parents in the foyer of the castle, greeting the Moons. Dez had to take care of wedding errands so he was able to escape.

Lucky idiot.

"We're so delighted you were able to make it," Penelope says, a tight smile on her face.

Miriam's smile is just as fake. "Well, of course. We would never miss such an event!" she says.

Lester and Michael acknowledge each other with a short nod of their heads.

Then there's those two.

Ally falls into a curtsy, following protocol. Austin bows, one arm folded behind his back, the other in front of him. He raises his head slightly, locking eyes with Ally and winks. She feels her cheeks heat up and immediately cringes. Austin smirks, pleased with her reaction. Not breaking eye contact, he takes her hand and brings it to his lips, pressing a soft kiss on it.

"It's always a pleasure to see you, Allison."

"As it should," she replies curtly.

Penelope nudges her. "Be polite!" she reprimands in a whisper.

Ally fights the urge to roll her eyes. Looking at the boy in front of her, she exaggerates her smile and says, "Likewise, Austin." The corners of his mouth twitch upward, clearly enjoying her misery. With an inaudible huff, she pulls her hand back and stands up straight and Austin follows suit.

"Where's Dez?" Austin asks.

"He's busy," Ally replies. "As am I. I should go; I have a lot of work to do. It was great to see you, Mike, Mimi." She smiles at Austin's parents, deliberately overlooking Austin. He lets out a low chuckle.

"There's no reason to be shy. You can say it was great to see me too."

Ally looks at Austin's smug pathetic face and scoffs in disgust. "I'd be lying, and I have more self-respect than that."

He raises an eyebrow. "Do you, though?"

She narrows her eyes at him. "I'm leaving."

As she prepares to walk op the stairs, her father says, "Why don't you keep Austin company?"

Ally turns back. "I have a lot of research and drafting to do. I really don't have the time to babysit Austin." She looks at him. "I'm sure he's more than capable of finding ways to entertain himself."

And there's the famous smirk. Keeping his eyes locked with Ally's, Austin says, "Don't worry, Lester. I'll hang out in the library. I've been meaning to do some leisure reading."

Ally breaks the eye contact and heads up the stairs. Below her, Penelope says, "We got The Anglican Letters imported a while ago. Ally had high praises."

"I'll be sure to check it out then. Ally does have the best taste in things."

She smiles to herself.

I do.

"You'd think they'd put in a little more effort," Mimi comments, sipping her champagne. She glances around the Gold Hall, one of the smaller halls that was used for small banquets, observing the bronze chandeliers and the lack of classy decorations. She presses her lips together in distaste. The Dawsons, with their modest amount of wealth, weren't big on fancy celebrations, but she expected that they'd at least go all out for their only son's wedding. At the very least, the chandeliers could've been replaced. Their palace had gold chandeliers. Bronze was for the common folk.

Beside her, Mike nods in agreement. "It is a very cheap event," he agrees. "There isn't even any caviar."

Mimi clicks her tongue and shakes her head disapprovingly. "I'm astonished, really."

"Caviar tastes disgusting," Austin pipes up from behind them. He merges in front from between them and swipes a flute of champagne from the butler that was passing by. With a pointed look, he warns, "Be nice. It's my best friend's wedding." and then walks off to find Dez.

On the other side of the hall, Ally is conversing with some nobles. She's so engrossed in the conversation, discussing the latest fashions and debating war tactics - just your average girl talk, y'know - she's unaware of how the rest of the event is going.

Suddenly, she feels warm breath on her neck.

"Looking gorgeous, love."

And just as quick, he's gone. She turns around, watching him trail Dez to a group of Dez's friends. He makes his greetings and then listens attentively to one of the guy's stories. Sensing Ally's gaze on him, the corner of his mouth curves into a slight smirk. He turns to look at her and raises his eyebrows, the rim of the champagne flute between his lips.

She bites her lip and takes a quick glance around. She turns back and gives him a subtle shake of her head. He shrugs, then turns his attention back to the group. Ally does the same, although now she can't seem to focus on whatever her friends are talking about.

Does time always go this slow?

Austin's at the dessert buffet, observing his options. His eyes dart back and forth between the variety of pastries and plated desserts.

Tiramisu shot or raspberry macaroon? Or, hmm... Cream puffs?

Ally comes up next to him, reaching for a cream puff.

"Hallway. East Wing. 10 minutes," she whispers out of the corner of her mouth. In her normal voice she says, "And don't eat the tiramisu. You'll be drunk in a matter of seconds; it's literally 20% coffee and cream, and 80% rum."

He quirks an eyebrow, intrigued. "All the more reason to, then."

She shakes her head and pops the cream puff in her mouth. "10 minutes."

"10 minutes," he echoes with a little grin.

She shoots him a finger-gun in approval, grabs another cream puff off the platter, and then disappears back into the crowd of nobles and socialites.

Ally leans against the wall, tapping her foot impatiently on the marble floor. It's been 12 minutes, and he's still not here. She rolls her eyes. Boys. One more minute, she decides, and if he's still not here she'll leave. She closes her eyes and tips her head back, humming as she waits. She hears someone panting and quickly opens her eyes, standing up straight. She relaxes when she sees it's the one and only, high and mighty Prince Austin Moon and lets out a sigh of relief.

"I'm here, I'm here!" he gasps, out of breath from the all the running he had to do. He reaches her, and then takes a moment to catch his breath, hunched over, his hands on his knees. Looking at her with puppy-dog eyes, he holds out his hand to her. "Cream puff? I got one for you."

She takes the offering, but then swats him with her other hand.

"Ow! What was that for?"

"You're three minutes late!" she exclaims in a hushed tone, her mouth full with the cream puff. If her mom were here, she'd have to endure an awfully lengthy lecture about etiquettes. Good thing she wasn't!

"Dez was telling me a story and then I had to get you the cream puff and the table was swarmed with people, so I had to wait, and then I got lost - "

"You got lost?" she asks in disbelief. "You're a prince. You live in a castle. How do you get lost in one?"

"Our castle isn't nearly as confusing as yours!" he says defensively.

"Our castle is confusing? Yours has like five different wings! Why do you need so many?"

"Because necessities!" he says as an explanation, as if it's so obvious. "At least we didn't misname them!"

In the Palace of Vendeva, the East Wing is on the west side of the building and the West Wing is on the east side. No, it does not make sense.

"At least they don't look the same! Your hallways are exactly the same color; I never know where I am!"

Austin rolls his eyes. "Yeah, burgundy and maroon are so different."

She groans and throws her hands up in frustration. "Can you just shut up and kiss me?"

"I would, but you won't stop talking!"

She doesn't reply. Instead, she grabs the lapels of his coat and pulls him to her, crashing her lips onto his.

Yeah, it's safe to say, Austin and Ally tolerated each other really well.

ahhh i hope you guys liked it, tell me what you think!

see y'all in two months for the next update ! lmao no, hopefully i'll write and update very soon!

stay safe and healthy! i love you guys! :)