give a little time to me

Disclaimer: I definitely do not own the characters, I don't even own one of the quotes, my friend said it. But I own the plot. (Even if it's a relatively used plot.) Random, but I also didn't capitalize this one...I feel very Sophie haha. :) I don't know, just sometimes I feel like it puts...emphasis? Oh well. Title comes directly from the lyrics of Ed Sheeran's Give Me Love. I highly reccomend listening to the song as you read. Actually I reccomend listening to anything by Ed Sheeran in any situation because he is brilliant and his music is always appropriate.

Warnings: Um...hm. Nothing graphic. There's mentions of sex, and alcohol, but...nothing more than I usually write.

Notes: Ooooh big one. So normally I'm not an overly enthusiastic fan of "one of them is mute" Fics, to be honest. I feel like they end up cliched. (If you wrote one I'm really sorry, and I'm not trying to pick you out this is just my opinion. Some are really well done.) But I wrote THIS because one of my good friends is mute, and she's FINALLY found someone who loves her for her, who doesn't run out because she can't talk or get upset when she momentarily gets nervous around hugs and such. Or someone who isn't using her, she found...someone amazing. The other day I heard them talking (well, him.) and he told her:"I like your words more than mine. Mine come from my mouth, and people can hear them. But your words...people can see. They see it in your eyes and on your face, and they know your words come from your heart." And I died a little bit. So basically I just needed to get it all out because I'm a sucker for people FINALLY getting a happy ending. Been working on this for weeks! This is for you two, for those of you who have trouble communicating, and for anyone who just really deserves a happy ending.

/ /

They meet when Ally is six and Austin is seven. Penny and Mimi, Ally and Austin's mothers, respectively, chatted for what seemed like ages one summer afternoon.

The Dawsons ran the local music store and Mimi had dropped by to pick up new strings for Mr. Moon's guitar.

Penny had brought Ally to work with her that day; Lester was on a business trip (yet again) and she didn't have the time, money, or heart to hire an all-day babysitter. Instead, Ally sat quietly on a stool behind the counter, swinging her legs back and forth and eating green grapes while reading a child's version of "Jane Eyre."

Austin, however, was not being quiet. He was complaining as loudly as he could without actually interrupting his mother, and wandered off constantly, poking at instruments.

"Austin Monica Moon, get back here!" A shriek from his mother pulls him out of his daydreams of pushing over a drum, and he guiltily walks back to the counter. "Sorry," he mumbles, and Mimi sighs, shaking her head.

"I don't know what I'm going to do with you," She says, turning back to Penny. "And Ally there, she's being so sweet and well-mannered."

"She doesn't like to get too crazy," Penny agrees, smiling over at her daughter.

Ally finally looks up from her book, her name pulling her out of the novel. Austin notices that she's kind of pretty, when she's not frowning down at a boring book.

"What're you reading?" Austin asks curiously, because Austin being Austin, he finds the need to butt into everyone's business. "Is it good?"

"Jane Eyre," his mother muses, her conversation with Penny lingering as the store is relatively slow today. "I read that in school."

"Can I come look?" He asks Ally, and for a minute he thinks she won't respond. She looks to her mother, who nods encouragingly, and Ally gives him one quick, nervous nod. He rushes over and looks at her book and thinks it looks really hard to read.

"What's it about?" He asks, wanting to get words out of her, but she just flips it so he can read the summary. "Sounds boring and sad."

"It is," Penny laughs. "But Ally likes the classics, don't you dear?" Ally nods up at her mom again and Austin can't help but notice that she seems to talk with her face and not her voice.

"You should read my comic books," Austin suggests, and both their mothers giggle. "They're really good. You can come borrow them anytime you want!"

"Would you like that Ally?" Penny asks, and Ally flashes the quickest of grins at her new friend before turning back to her book, face red.

When they get home, Mimi asks if he likes Ally.

"Well," he says, considering. "She wasn't mean. But she didn't talk a lot. She didn't say anything!"

"She doesn't talk, dear," Mimi says sympathetically. "She can't."

"She can't talk?" Austin cries, shocked. "But everyone can talk!"

"Not everyone bug," Mimi says, smiling gently and smoothing his messy hair. "And Ally is one of those people."

"Did she run out of her words?" Austin asks, and Mimi laughs softly.

"No bud, she just can't talk." Austin ponders this situation, trying to figure out how to fix his new friend.

"She like Ariel?" He asks. "Ariel can't talk."

"No, this is a bit different," Mimi replies, pulling her son to sit on the couch with her. "It's not that she didn't try, or that she ran out of words or traded her voice. She just...can't."

"Oh."

"You okay bug?" She asks, and Austin chews his lip thoughtfully, a bad habit he has.

"Can we still be friends?" He asks, and Mimi laughs in relief.

"I'm sure she'd really appreciate it if you were her friend. She has a hard time making friends."

"Well why's that?" Austin asked, scandalized. "She was nice!"

"If only everyone was open minded like that," Mimi says softly to her son. "Just try to be her friend and I think you two will have lots of fun."

/ /

They draw pictures. Well, Ally does. Austin isn't very good at drawing. (Even though he is an eight year old, and eight year olds should be much better at drawing than a seven-almost-eight year old should be.) Ally draws, flowers and trees and sometimes the occasional bird. She'll draw families, his and hers and theirs combined. (He likes when she draws just the two of them, but he'd never admit that!)

/ /

Ally is nine and Austin is ten. They've been inseparable since the day in the music shop, two kids against a very big world. At first Ally had a hard time letting Austin into her world, but over time she grew to realize that he took up so much of that world, so why should she shut him out?

At first they go to different schools, Austin to the one he's attended since age five, and Ally to a special private school. Her parents had thought it would help with her condition, but it just made things worse, without having Austin there. She had been homeschooled for most of her life, and her first school experience was awful. She had come home crying and nothing Penny or Lester did helped. Frantic, they phoned the Moons and Austin was dropped off, a little blonde superman to the family.

He had raced up the stairs and into Ally's room, not hearing her sniffles (of course) but he knew she was crying, could feel she was crying.

"Ally?" He called, but she just faced her wall, curling deeper into bed. "Oh Ally. Come on out, it's me!"

She continued to ignore him, and Austin heaved a big sigh, plopping into her desk chair. "I missed you today," he says, toying with the stuffed penguin on her desk. "I'm going to ask my mom if we can go to the same school. And then maybe you won't cry." He checks to gauge her reaction and she slowly turns to him.

He notices the nametag on her shirt, the ALLY DAWSON written in purple ink, and he rips it off. "Hey, don't need that! I know exactly who you are!" She gives an almost-smile and he continues.

"Want to tell me what happened?" He asks gently, mature for a ten year old. He's not saying "tell me what happened" but he's genuinely asking, giving her a choice in the matter.

She sits up and grabs the pen and paper by her bed, motioning for him to sit with her.

People were mean today. Really mean. I missed you so much, you weren't there to tell people to stop.

Rationally, Austin knows it isn't his fault that they were separated today, he didn't have a say, but he feels guilty nonetheless.

Grabbing the pen, he scrawls back. Normally he just speaks his answer, but sometimes, just sometimes, he writes, as if trying to feel like Ally for a little bit.

I'm sorry. I missed you all day, and I thought about you, and I wanted to be there to keep you safe. I'm going to ask my mom if we can go to school together.

Now, Austin is in no way a spoiled child. In fact, he rarely asks for much at all. But when it comes to protecting and caring for Ally...Austin usually gets his way.

And that is how Austin and Ally end up going to school together.

/ /

Ally is still nine and Austin is still ten, and Austin has never felt more protective in his life. Not over his Gameboy or XBox or soccer ball signed by the USA Olympic Soccer Team but he's sure as hell protective over one Ally Dawson.

At first he's wary of letting Dez play with them. He likes Dez, really he does. Dez is his best friend, but Dez gets a little wild and Austin doesn't know how Ally will react. But Dez doesn't let Austin down; he's gentle with Ally, but doesn't treat her very differently than he does the other girls in the class. He's just a little nicer because Ally is Austin's special friend, and he doesn't want to ruin anything.

But Ally gets along with Dez well enough. She's still shy, and hides behind Austin once in a while, but she makes an effort to be friends with Dez, and Austin is proud of her.

/ /

Sometimes Austin sings to Ally, and she says it's her favorite sound in the world. He sings everything and anything and nothing at all. His favorites and hers; silly songs from kid movies and more serious songs he hears on the radio. Ally listens intently to them all, a serene smile on her face as he sings softly in her ear, like secrets only the two of them can share.

/ /

He watches, observes as she plays the piano, her fingers fly over the keys like dragonflies in the heat of summer. She plays every day for him, at first because he asked to hear, and then because it became a habit. They're around twelve when it first starts, the playing every day. Of course he knew she could play. (How could the daughter of two music store owners not play?) But he never gets any less amazed shen she plucks up a new song.

She plays everything for him, from Brahm to Beethoven to Chopin. From ditties she made up to pieces by renowned players. She'll play pop songs, to which she'll ask him to sing along to, and he'll comply.

Sometimes he'll play his guitar for her; she says it's one of her favorite things. He'll try to impersonate Elvis, but she'll just giggle, a silent laugh stifled by her eyes will light up like his favorite movie theater screen, bright like the sunshine. He knows it kills her to not be able to hear her own laugh, to make a sound come out of her throat, but he'll smile and reassure her that it's okay. He doesn't need a sound to know she's happy and laughing. He can see it on her face.

/ /

Austin is fifteen when he first realizes how dangerous it can be sometimes, for Ally to be mute.

It had first come to his attention when he was younger, and overheard a conversation between their mothers. Words like voice box and unselective mutism were used, big scary words to describe Ally; someone who didn't need complex labels for Austin to understand her. Mrs. Dawson mentioned that when Ally was a child, it was hard. If she fell or was in pain...they couldn't hear.

So Austin understood that it wasn't easy for his best friend to be unable to speak, but it never...worried him as much as it did now.

They'd gone to the mall for the day, into a vintage record shop upon Austin's request. He'd asked Ally to stay close to him; it was one of the rules when they went out, so they didn't get separated. It was his rule for going out with anyone, but Ally especially.

But Ally got bored of waiting around, and saw some old albums by The Beatles and wandered away.

Austin looked up from the albums to excitedly tell Ally all about them, but she wasn't there. Worried, he looked around, but there was no sign of the brunette.

Frantic, he began searching through the store, walking at breakneck speed. "Ally? Ally? Ally!" He cried, pushing aside more people than he would on his regular polite basis. "Ally?"

He found her in the back of the store, a Beatles record in one hand and the other held against the wall by a guy from school. Trent? Austin wasn't sure, but he knew that already he hated this guy. He could see the fear in Ally's eyes as she squirmed ever so slightly.

"Ally," he said, deadly quiet. "Get on over here, I've been looking for you." Quickly, she scurried over, after Trent relaxed his hold on her, scooting behind him and clinging to his left arm.

"You okay?" He whispered, running a hand over her shoulder, and she nodded.

"Listen, man, I didn't mean anything by it, just wanted to talk about the record," Trent started, backing away. "Wasn't gonna do anything..."

"Just get out," Austin said, shaking his head. "Just get out."

He did get out, running faster than seemed humanly possible, and Austin would have laughed if it were under different circumstances.

"Hey," he said, turning around to Ally. "You alright? Did he hurt you?"

She shook her head, not looking as shaken up as she had when he first arrived.

"This is why I ask you to stay with me, kiddo," He chided, adding the last part jokingly, knowing she hated it.

She nuzzles her head into his chest for a response, full of apologies and hold me's.

He can't bring himself to stay mad at her for very long after that.

/ /

For three months every year, Austin and Ally are the same age. She loves this; it means he can't really call her a baby or kiddo or whatever until his birthday.

Austin, however, does not.

He explains to her, exasperated, that he just likes their age difference.

But why?

"I just do, Ally."

But why, Austin?

"Ally! I just like that you're younger than me, okay?"

For what reason?

He gives up and answers. "Because I feel like I can...take care of you. I like that you're smaller than me and younger than me, because...it makes me feel like I can take care of you. Alright?

Thats cute, in a semi almost sexist way

"I didn't mean it like-"

I know. I know. Shut up. It was cute.

/ /

People wonder, sometimes, why Austin wastes his time, or better yet, his words, on someone who won't talk back. They just don't get it, he tells Ally. How beautiful and amazing you are.

People don't like me, Austin. They like you. You could have more friends, a pretty girlfriend...if you weren't always with "the mute girl."

"I don't need any more friends. I have you and Dez, and your friend Trish! And I don't need a pretty girlfriend. I have the most beautiful girl in the world sitting here with me."

He sees her blush as she scribbles her reply, too tired to attempt using sign language to respond, he assumes. She's been learning for a few years now, her parents thought it would be a good idea, but she's not a particularly big fan of the idea. She can still hear, she just can't speak.

I sometimes just feel like I'm holding you back or something.

She turns away from him as he reads, and his heart breaks a little.

"Ally," He whispers. "Oh Ally."

He reaches out for her but she jerks her arm away, and he can tell she's in one of her sensitive moods. It's times like these that worry Austin the most; she gets moody and hates to be touched. Sometimes she'll have miniature freak-outs or go hours without even writing down answers for him.

"Hey. Look at me, won't you?" He tips her chin up but she doesn't respond like he wishes she would. "Hey, where's my little miss sunshine? Where'd she go?"

She doesn't feel like coming out today. Too cloudy.

"It's only cloudy out if you let it," He singsongs, aware of how stupid he sounds. "Hey. Why do you think I stick around. Huh?"

What do you mean?

"You were saying all this stupid shit about how you hold me back- which is a lie - why do you think I stick around?"

Because you're not being smart?

He glares at her and she blushes a little, crossing out her answer.

Because you're Austin. Because that's what you do, that's what you always do.

"Well I guess...but maybe because you're my best friend and I happen to like having you around?"

There you go again.

He looked down at the pained look on her face, confused.

"What did I do?"

You're doing the 'best friend' thing again.

"Because you are..." He said slowly. "You are my best friend."

She didn't write anymore, just ripped the paper in half and threw her pillow at his head, turning back to the wall. Nothing he said or did could get her to respond, and eventually Penny came up, an apologetic look on her face, and told him it would be a good idea for him to leave.

/ /

She tells him how much she wants to be able to sing, to hear her voice. How unfair it is that there are people out there who have selective mutism and she was stuck with the (he looked it up) kind that comes only 0.8 times out of 1000 people.

He looked up a lot about her condition actually, wanting to find out anything he could. What he did find, mostly, was dissapointment. He found that sometimes, people with selective mutism could recover, but people born with it...not so much.

She gets upset, tells him it's not fair, and he agrees with her, but tells her that they just have to live with it, that it's something they'll just have to deal with. They have the rest of their lives, he says, to figure out the best ways to manage it, but being upset and complaining isn't one of them.

/ /

They fell together, and nobody was surprised. Not their parents, not their classmates, not even themselves. It was a natural progression, really.

But Lester was afraid; Austin could understand, but at the same time, he was hurt. He'd known Ally for...going on ten years, now, so why didn't Lester trust him?

"When Ally...gets close to someone, Austin, she gets really close, really attached," Mr. Dawson started, sitting him down for a talk.

"I know, I've known her for most of my life...but to be fair, I'm really attached to her, too." Austin replied, trying not to get impatient. "I mean it's not like this is some random fling or whatever...this friendship has consumed like ninety percent of my life, I'm not just some random guy here."

"Being a friend is different than being in a relationship," Lester sighed. "It's a big difference."

"Depends what kind of friendship you're talking about," Austin said, shrugging. "There's a big difference between being casual friends and dating, or being best friends. Knowing every single thing about someone, spending every minute of every day with them, and then dating. See?"

"I'm just telling you you better be careful with my daughter, okay? She's different, she's special."

"I know that, though. I know that better than anyone...I'm not going to hurt her, alright? I don't let anyone hurt her, so why would I suddenly decide to turn around and do that?" Austin knew he was coming off with a bad attitude, but he'd known Lester for years, Lester knew him, it was going to be alright.

"I'm just making sure. Because if anything happened , like if you two broke up...well she'd lose you as her boyfriend, and as her best friend. I just don't think any of us could handle that."

"I don't plan on leaving her unless she asks me to."

/ /

They're just as good, if not better, than any normal couple out there. And really, Austin maintains that they are normal, really.

So maybe he can't hear her words. But he can hear them, can see them on her face. Sometimes she'll sign them with her hands, or write them in her beautiful handwriting. But he can still hear them, and he just wishes other people could, too.

/ /

Their friends talk; about sex and parties and getting drunk like some kind of teenaged cliche. Austin thinks that sometimes maybe he could be one of those cliches, like maybe he almost wants to. But then he takes a look at Ally and knows, just knows, that he doesn't want to be like that, doesn't need to be like that.

Ally is sixteen now, sixteen and a half. They sit in her room, listening to her latest Beatles record she was so proud of finding. Austin hums along quietly; he knows how much she loves the sound of his voice. He never mentions, however, that sometimes he wishes that he could hear hers. He knows it's selfish, and in some ways, cruel, because it can't happen. But he wishes, secretly, he wishes.

He grabs her hand on random, during the chorus of "Get Back" when he sees her eyes squinting, as if she's concentrating extremely hard on something. Every few seconds, her torso will jolt forward, and he cocks an eyebrow, but doesn't want to mention anything.

A loud puff of breath excapes her lips and her face gets angry. Oh.

"Hey, hey, Ally," He says, pulling her close to him. "Don't get upset."

She pounds her fists once into the mattress, her mouth open in a silent scream of frustration.

"Hey, shh, it's alright," He coos in her ear, but she shakes her head.

NO IT'S NOT.

"Hey, hey, yes it is, it's alright, it's going to be okay!" He says, faster than before, holding her tight.

No it's not, she signs angrily. Because I can't do much. Anything. I can't sing, and I love music so much. I can't laugh, not a real laugh, and I can't talk to you! I want you to hear my voice, I want...

He grabs her hands and closes his lips over hers.

"So maybe people can't hear your voice when you sing. I do, I see it in your smile when you mouth the words, in your eyes when you bob your head to the music. You can love music, it doesn't matter. You can still play the piano better than anyone on this planet. You can still sing, you mouth the words and dance along and I think it's beautiful. You appreciate good music, I think it's cute how you like the old stuff as well as the new.

"You do laugh. Sometimes, when you giggle, and you let out the cute puffs of air and clap your hands, everyone around you can tell your laughing, and not a single person can deny how happy you are. And don't say you can't talk to me, because you are the person I have the best conversations with, you understand me? What I like about you, is that we have all kinds of ways to talk."

"We can write," He says, jotting the words down on a paper.

"We can sign," He signs, letting go of her hands briefly to motion the words.

"We don't have to say anything at all, sometimes I just look at your eyes and your face and I know exactly what you're saying without any words at all."

It's one of those times, he decides, looking up into those beautiful eyes he loves so much. And she knows, he knows, exactly what the other is saying. Mostly mixtures of it's going to be okay, baby, I'm here, on his part, and I'm so lost, it hurts, I don't like this, on hers. But he knows, and she knows, that it really is going to be okay.

"I like your words more than mine. Mine come from my mouth, and people can hear them. But your words...people can see. They see it in your eyes and on your face, and they know your words come from your heart."

And this is when she really knows that she loves him. Not loves, like halfway teenage romance, but loves him.

/ /

Austin?

"Yeah Ally?" He asked, folding the paper into an airplane and flying it back to her.

You understand me

It's quite possibly the most blatantly obvious thing she's ever said to him, and he almost wants to laugh. But he swallows his chuckle and nods stiffly. "Yes, Ally, I do."

And you know why I do the things I do.

"Yes..." He says, drawing things out. "Ally, what's going on?"

She turns away from him again, and he can't help but notice how much she's been doing that in the past few weeks, maybe two months.

"Ally, talk to me, come one," He demands. "Talk to me, tell me..."

I can't, she signs angrily, choppy and short. You hear all these great stories, about people with selective mutism being cured. But I can't. I was born mute, I'll never be cured. I'll never talk, or sing, or laugh, or be able to lecture anyone. Not without writing it down and making them read, because hardly anyone really knows sign language, Austin. I'm tired of not being able to have a voice, I'm tired of being the 0.08 percent.

"You've been trying to talk, haven't you," He asks gently, voice nearly cracking at the soft tone. "That's what you've been doing..."

She nods, and his heart breaks.

Don't lecture me, please. I know I'm setting myself up for loss and dissapointment and it's not going to work. But I want to try. I want to be able to say your name. But I can't.

"You know it doesn't matter to me!" He cries, grabbing her hands, but she pulls them away. "I didn't fall in love with you because you could talk, did I? No! I fell in love with you because...you're you! You're...the most perfect...and I..." And suddenly, Austin feels like he's run out of his words, like he thought as a child. He can't speak, doesn't know how to find the words.

I won't ever love you any more or less if you can speak or not. That makes no difference to me. It never has, He signs, his voice not working.

It makes a difference to me, she signs. I always feel like...like I'm not good enough for you.

"God damnit Ally, I'm in love with you! Why is that so hard for you to understand? You're too good for me!" He exclaims, regaining his voice. "Please stop pulling away from me, please. I get it, if...if you don't want to...be together anymore, but if that's...if it's over something as stupid as..." He breaks off, almost ready to cry.

I don't want to break up! Okay? I just, I just...she starts to cry a little and he blinks, arms already stretching out to hold her.

"We're not going to break up sweetie, shh," He says softly. "Don't cry, don't cry, everything's going to be alright. You're beautiful and intelligent and I'm so in love with you, you know that?"

She nods, tears slowing ever so slightly. He captures her lips again, both of them with tears on their faces. "Ally, Ally," He whispers into her mouth, wishing she could take the sound and borrow it for herself for a day or two. He softly asks if she remembers their first kiss and she squeezes his shoulder in a silent yes that he can feel.

He remembers. It was the summer, but it came during the summer rain. A thunderstorm, if you might. Hot outside but rain pouring down outside her house. Ally had been upset, hated the storm and how it scared her. He'd quieted her, held her when she shook for a minute or two. It had just sort of happened, just seemed like a natural step for them. After that it all seemed to go so smoothly. Nothing really changed much, just that their hugs lasted longer and now they kissed.

/ /

"Do you love me?" Austin asks one day. It's pointless, they both know the answer. They've said it plenty of times, but for some reason this time feels different.

She nods and squeezes his arm, once, twice, three times.

That's the night they first make love. He hadn't thought it would happen so quickly; it took Ally a long time to even let him hug her as a child. But she, for some reason, trusts him so inexplicably. He kisses her through the initial pain, but after that it's all okay, just kisses and touches and whispered I love you's.

/ /

She still tries her hardest to talk. It pains Austin to see how much she hurts when it ends in yet another failed attempt, time after time. She thinks she can almost manage a whisper, like the air that puffs out of her lungs can take the form of words. Austin's not so sure, but sometimes he can almost hear it.

They both know he can't.

/ /

College will be difficult, they agree. Their parents advise them to not purposely go to the same school, but it's not like they can imagine being apart, either.

They agree to apply to schools together, but also to ones they want on their own and decide when the time comes.

/ /

They do end up at the same school, and it's more of a coincidence really. Ally hadn't told Austin she applied to NYU and he hadn't told her, either. When they both got in, it was a pleasant surprise neither of them had expected.

They don't share a dorm room (for obvious reasons) but in their third year they're allowed to move out of the dorms and into an apartment together.

Ally likes New York; there's so many different kinds of people. Even if there's not really anyone exactly like her there, no one with her condition, she's in a city with every kind of person and she doesn't feel so different.

After all, she's seen men painted silver and homeless men reciting Shakespeare.

/ /

Ally is very good at mouthing words so you can read them. She tries to let breath through at each word but it just doesn't work out, not the way she wants them to.

The one time it almost works, it's with his name.

Austin, she tries. Austin.

Puffs of air come out of her mouth and Austin smiles, rubbing her back and telling her she did a good job. She knows it's a futile effort but it does make her feel slightly accomplished in a way, and he likes the smile she gives him when she tries; he feels rewarded in some type of way.

I love you, she breathes out, and this time he really does think he can hear it, if he's quiet enough. She tries again. Austin. I love you.

It's not the first time she's said it but it's the first time she's said it, in a way both of them can almost hear.

And he locks it away deep in his heart, like secrets just for them to keep.

/ /

AN: So guys, how was this? I really, really, really liked this, I do kind of feel it's one of my better works...I'm quite proud of it, really. I really hope you all like it, and it would mean a lot to me if you'd review :)

Please review, stay safe, and be happy!

xx