A/N: Hi!

I'm glad for the positive response the last chapter's got. I'm happy some of you had stuck around and waited for me to update :)

Here's the new chapter, have a good reading!

(This starts with a flashback about what happened after the picnic.)

He escorted her to her door, like he'd been used to for the past days and it kind of felt like a daily routine now. He wondered if people had been started to wonder about this situation: the dorm wasn't exactly deserted and neither of the two had missed girls (or even boys) giving them occasional glances in the hallways. They had eyes on them everywhere and they were not even dating.

"Always a pleasure to spend a day with you, shrink," he teased, smirking, "but now we've got to the part where you give me my grade. What's today's?"

She looked taken aback, since she had briefly forgotten that wasn't a proper date and that at the end she was meant to grade him. He was looking at her, eager, with his hazel eyes shimmering under the low quality light of the hallway. "A," she said, not even pondering on it.

He threw his hands up in the air, emitting a cry in triumph. Of course her hand landed on his mouth in order not to bother people in their rooms (he still had a lot to learn). "Shhh! You received your first A, yeah, but I want you to get an A+, now. And if you're loud like this, I'll find myself obligated to lower your grades."

"Too bad, since I can be very loud," he winked, letting his dirty side taking the best of him again. Oops.

She glared at him, mouthing "B".

"Nope, I like my A better, I'll take that. Good night, Ally. See you tomorrow!" He wrapped her in a quick hug before she could said "see ya" back, feeling the warm of his body radiating off him surrounding her. Her own body stiffened instead and she didn't get the time to properly react and place her arms around him as he had already pulled off the embrace. It felt like she had burned his skin as their bodies came in contact. Still surprised, she managed to show him a sheepish smile, but he just walked away, not sparing her a second glance.

Austin had slept in.

A low string of curses was uttered as he strode across the hallway, in a rush, pushing students off as he had no intention to arrive late to his morning class (taught by the professor he hated the most). As he reached the large doors of the classroom, completely out of breath, his eyes met a huge sign hanging on them. Due to an "important reunion" his professor had cancelled his morning classes.

He had been running like an idiot for ten minutes for nothing.

On the bright side, he wouldn't have had the pleasure of seeing the austere old man's face for the whole day. And that was something he could cheer about.

He decided he could drink a coffee during the spare time he had just acquired, since he had no breakfast that morning and he was quite sleepy as well. Needless to say, he didn't get too much sleep on the night prior as his mind decided not to cooperate and fill itself with hunting thoughts. Of course they all concerned Miss I'm-going-to-find-you-a-girlfriend and he couldn't get her stupid face out of his head. He was acting like he had never had a crush before or had never been with girl until she came in his life.

What the hell was that? The tormenting feeling that messed him up so bad?

He had dwelled on it until Morpheus won the battle against his brain, taking him into his embrace and making him fall asleep.

He sprinted towards the nearest coffee vending machine, ignoring the presence of the tall and blonde young lady standing in front of it who was reading what the types of beverages available were. So he inserted the money in the machine and clicked on the espresso button without thinking.

"Did nobody tell you to wait for your turn?" She teased, raising an eyebrow at him.

Austin was brought back to reality at the sound of the feminine voice and returned her gaze, taking her appearance in. She had pretty brown eyes and long, luscious straight hair.

And she was impatiently waiting for him to answer.

He was tempted to reply with a rude comment, since he wasn't in his best mood, but suddenly an imagine of an angry Ally popped up in his head and she was yelling at him not to be a jerk.

So he listened to the little familiar voice in his head and flashed the blonde a polite smile. "Sorry, I didn't mean to. I was lost in my thoughts and I didn't notice you. Can I… offer you a coffee as an apology?" he asked, genuinely sorry.

He was getting good at this.

She was surprised at first, probably not expecting him to apologize, but then her features softened and a smile replaced her bewildered expression. "You don't have to do that, it's okay. I get it, college can be stressing at times."

He returned the smile and held out his hand, "I'm Austin, by the way."

"Piper."

After attending all her daily classes, Ally went back to her dorm and stripped off of her purple skinny jeans and white blouse, throwing on an old oversized shirt with The Beatles' logo on it and gathering her hair in a ponytail. She owned lots of band shirts, but this was her personal favorite as her dad had bought her that at 14 but never really fit until now.

Not that it still didn't look like she was wearing a sack of potatoes, but at least it stopped at her mid-thigh.

Trish wasn't there, since she had to meet some girl for a studying session (even though Ally was quite sure she would end up taking a nap on one the library's tables instead). So she was alone and free to take her laptop to watch the last episode of her favorite TV series.

But as she set the laptop on her bed and grabbed some snacks, a loud knock on the door echoed in the room and, emitting an aggravated sigh, she had to walk up to the door barefoot, silently complaining about how many times Trish had forgotten her keys. Surprisingly, Trish wasn't the one who had knocked on the door. In fact, she found herself face to face (or face to chest) with no other than her rebellious student Austin Moon. He didn't hide the fact he started checking her out as she opened the door, his eyes travelling up and down her body, paying extra attention to her bare legs.

Ally crossed her arms over her chest – as she felt his intense stare on her – and one of her eyebrows shot up, "Hello to you too, Austin."

"What's with your lack of clothing today? Don't tell me you've been going around the campus like this," he said, warily, motioning to her shirt.

"No, I haven't," she countered back immediately, "but why would you care? …Are you jealous?" she teased, looking at him amused.

He scoffed, turning a light shade of red. "No, of course no. But you know, guys would probably throw themselves at you with their bad manners and I don't feel like teaching them chivalry," he added a wink at the end, praising himself internally for the nice save.

She shook her head, laughing and shut the door closed behind him, "you're interrupting my TV series afternoon, care to tell me why you're here? I haven't planned any lesson for today."

"I know you haven't, but I have," he remarked, devilishly. There was something in his smirk that scared her for a second.

"And what have you planned?"

"A shopping day! A gentleman has to know how to dress, right?" he asked, rhetorically and then dipped down his head at her level, speaking close to her ear with a very deep tone of voice, "And what to wear underneath that."

She shuddered and scolded herself mentally for that, pushing him away, "You're not going to forgive me about my comment about your boxers, huh?"

"Nah, I just realized I need a fashion counselor, you know? And since you're helping me with the whole chivalry thing, I thought… why not include this as a part of the package? So, what do you say?"

She sighed, surrendering at the idea she was not going to watch any of her favorite TV series, "Okay, okay. I'll come."

He did a ridiculous victory dance in response, making her chuckle. "I'll wait you outside and please… wear actual pants."

She rolled her eyes at his request and rudely pushed him out of her room.

Boys!

One hour into the mall and he realized he had made a big mistake.

Expecting a girl to be quick at picking up the right outfit was like putting a hand in the fire and expect it not to burn.

Every time he would suggest a shirt or a pair of jeans, she would glare at him or shook her head disapprovingly. He felt like he had been dressing in the wrong way his whole life.

"You're not going to a date with a plain, sad, black t-shirt!" She cried, throwing him a long-sleeved light blue button down, "This will do better."

As he caught the shirt, she hurried him inside a dressing room, giving him no time to object. He came out a few moments later, finding Ally outside balancing other clothes on her arms. "So, how do I look?"

She walked up to him, throwing the clothes inside and stared at his shirt thoughtfully, "You look good but you buttoned it up to the last button and it gives you a nerdy look, let me-" she got closer to him and placed her small hands on his chest, working on unbuttoning the first three buttons; he observed her hands, mesmerized by the way her fingers moved – brushing his skin at times –, caught up in the intimacy her gesture unintentionally created.

Ally blushed too, but hid her embarrassment well, avoiding to look into his eyes; eyes that were currently poking holes on her skin. "Perfect," she exclaimed, as she finished.

He adverted her gaze from her, looking at his reflection on the mirror, realizing she had not lied when she said he looked good. "I like it," he agreed, turning around to look at his back.

In that exact moment a shop assistant approached them, observing the pair conversing on the shirt, "Good choice, your girlfriend has good taste."

The two jumped a bit, processing what the woman had said and blushed hard in unison, "S-she's not…" he stammered out, but she had already walked past them after throwing them a wink.

Not knowing how to properly react or how to push away the awkwardness, Ally took one of the shirts she had picked for Austin and flung it at him, making it land on his chest, "Try this one on, now. Go!"

He didn't need to be told twice.

At the end of the day, she had made him bought lots of clothes ("clothes a real gentleman would wear", as she would say) and he hoped the money he spent would not be a waste.

She was ready to walk back to the college now, but he had other ideas and pulled her by her wrist into another shop: as soon as the sign caught his attention, he decided he could not miss the opportunity to have a little fun. So, as they stepped inside and she looked around the merchandise, she only wanted to flee. After a few seconds of just gaping at the sight, she turned to him and sent him a deathly glare, "We're not buying your undergarments!"

Her reaction was exactly what he expected to be and what he so badly wanted to be. He couldn't help making her flushed because her reactions at this kind of stuff were priceless. Also, the red on her cheeks suited her.

"Why not?" He asked, pouting, "You promised."

"I didn't promise anything- Austin! Austin, come back here!" He had already walked further in the shop, leaving her talking to herself and she had to follow him begrudgingly, with her arms folded on her chest. The nerve of this guy! Why was so obsessed with the idea of embarrassing her?

"Ally, what do you think about this?" He said, holding a pair of yellow and green short boxers, barely containing his laughter. His lips were slightly turned upwards.

She forced herself to look at the piece of cloth, eyebrows knitted together, "Those are perfect… if you want to look like a highlighter."

He found himself laughing wholeheartedly, but he couldn't decide if it was more for her statement or for the cute frown on her face. "Too bad, that was I was going for," he sighed, hanging the boxers back on their place, "so, what's your advice?"

She wouldn't budge.

"Please?" He pleaded, with those puppy eyes she couldn't resist to.

So, she sighed deeply, giving up and reprising her role of fashion counselor, "Pick a less bright color, I don't know, blue? Black? Grey? Definitely not pink or with superheroes on them."

"Which basically sums up my underwear compartment in my wardrobe," he reminded.

"You know what, Austin? Buy what you like, I didn't sign up for this! I'll be standing here until you're done."

He put his hands up in surrender and then resumed scanning through the pile of boxers, stealing a glance of her from time to time, until he noticed her eyes setting on a wall filled with lady lingerie. He smirked and crept up to her, taking advantage of her current distract. "Are you sure you don't need anything?"

She hit his arm in response, "I'm not shopping for lingerie with a guy, let alone with you!"

"Ouch," he replied, feigning hurt and grabbing his shirt right where his heart laid beneath, "that stung."

"Well, you deserved that," she said and stuck her tongue out, in an unladylike manner.

"I was trying to help, you looked like you needed it."

"How would you even know that?"

"Actually I don't, should I verify myself?" He asked, winking. She felt the urge to slap him in the face but there were far too many people who would have witnessed that action.

"Weren't you supposed to act like a gentleman?"

"Loosen up a bit, Ally! You don't have to get all worked up over a joke. It's not even like we're on a date…" he regretted his choice of words in the exact moment they left his mouth. He sounded like he didn't care about respecting her if they weren't pretending to be a couple.

Her features hardened and she stormed out of the shop, Austin hot on her trail. He stopped behind her as soon as a group of people walked in front of her and she had to come to an alt. "Ally, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to offend you. I was messing with you cause it's fun to get you all flustered! I know it was stupid from me to make the same mistake twice but I didn't mean to sound disrespectful or to give the impression I only care about your feelings when we're on a fake date. And… I can't lie about one more thing: you look so cute when you're mad at me."

She had listened to his speech with her back turned to him, but after he stopped talking and stayed silent for a few seconds in order to wait for her reply, she turned to him. He was staring at her apologetically, truly and deeply sorry for his slips and his face was enough to let all her defenses crumble down. "You're forgiven. And that's mostly cause you called me cute," she smiled then, reassuring him it was all good between them.

"That's cause you are. So, wanna head back to the dorm?"

She nodded in agreement, "but I want an ice cream first."

They had walked in comfortable silence back to the dorm, Austin holding his bags and Ally eating her chocolate ice cream, humming cheerily. It was adorable the way her eyes twinkled the moment he bought her the ice cream, looking like a little kid in an amusing park.

And, really, he should stop mushing over her.

Austin knew that the only relationship Ally wanted to have with him was just friendship and nothing else, it was pretty clear in the way she insisted in finding him a girlfriend.

Unless it was all a plan to end up with him herself at the end.

Okay, now he was just overthinking.

In addition, he still had something to tell her but he was somewhat nervous about bringing up the matter for some reason. He felt like what he had experience a few hours prior happened just too soon.

"Ally," he said all of a sudden, with a shaking voice. Her attention shifted immediately on him, not removing her mouth from the almost-finished ice cream.

"I've met someone today," he was fidgeting nervously with his hands, looking at nothing in particular as he spoke.

She stopped eating, eyeing him carefully, bracing herself for what was about to come. "Someone as in… a girl?"

"Yes," he gulped, "I met her at the coffee vending machine and I was rude to her at first but then I remembered about what you keep saying to me about being a gentleman and… I offered her coffee. And then we talked, quite a lot, until it was time for her to go to class."

She processed everything he said, pondering on what was the right thing to say. She wasn't ready to have this conversation just yet, since she thought he had still a lot to learn. "And you think… you like her?"

"I guess?" He said, unsure, "Her name's Piper. She's pretty and nice, majoring in medicine, she's an animalist and a vegetarian… and she'd also been a model for some fashion shows."

A model.

There was no doubt she was extremely tall and gorgeous and some kind of goodness while she, on the other hand, was a dwarf. Oh, she couldn't wait to meet her.

"I say… go for it," Ally found herself saying, pretty proud of herself for sounding so convincing.

The blonde stopped mid-track, staring intently at her, "You think so?"

This was the proof she didn't actually care and he had only deluded himself.

"Yes and I'll be happy if you succeed."

Happy for him, indeed. Less happy for her own heart.

"Thanks, Ally. Means a lot."

Congrats, Ally, you just provided him a girlfriend.

The moment they had walked inside his apartment, the first thing they heard were Dez high-pitched screams, followed by the sound of water spilling fast. Austin ran hastily to bathroom, Ally trailing behind him and as he reached the source of the previous sounds, he spotted Dez dripping wet with a spurt of water coming out of the sink and onto the floor. Dez rubbed his eyes to remove the water inside and stared the two, who were currently looking at the water in shock. "Our sink broke," he simply said, showing them the wrench he was holding. "I tried to fix it but the water started flowing out even more."

Austin facepalmed and snatched the utensil off his best friend's hand, "That's probably cause you've been screwing in the wrong direction, Dez!"

Dez's mouth assumed a O form, as he realized what he had done wrong. Austin walked past him and dropped on his knees to fix the situation, only to be splashed with water on his face; before he knew it, Ally was kneeling down beside him, stopping the water with her hands so he could work on the sink (but of course her bold move had not prevented herself from getting wet). With Ally helping him, it was easier to get the job done and he skillfully shut down the cascade of water, until it was reduced to a mere dribble.

"Phew," Austin sighed out, dropping the wrench on the floor and raised his hand for Ally to high five it, "we're a good team," he stated, as she high fived, bursting in a lovely fit of giggles. He couldn't help staring at her with her wet hair and her wet clothes and wet lips. He was close enough to bend in and taste said lips but he regretted even thinking about it for he remembered she did not reciprocate his feelings.

Dez brought him back to reality as he wept a fake tear off his eyes and sighed dreamily, "This is so beautiful."

Austin shook his head at the red-head behavior, who had been obviously thinking his friend was about to get the girl. He had plenty of things to explain to him, but this wasn't the right time or place.

Suddenly, a loud knock on the door grabbed the attention of all of them and Austin asked Dez to see who it was, since they were currently all wet and on the floor, and he had no intention to get on his feet and risk to slip on the wet floor.

"It's Gavin," they heard Dez yelling.

Of course it was.

Austin rolled his eyes at the mention of the name he despised with all his being and helped Ally stand up – careful at not making her slip – and walked towards the front door to know what the hell that doctor-wannabe was there for.

He felt Ally dropping his hand as the came closer to the door, making him realize he was still holding it after helping her stand up.

Damn it, he did it again.

"What?" He spat when the jerkass came into view and met his gaze.

Gavin ignored his question and pointed at them inquisitively, "Why are you all wet?"

"The sink broke," Dez replied, scratching his head, "my bad!"

"…but we fixed it, so what did you-"

Gavin interrupted him and asked, "Wait, why is Ally doing here?"

"Geez, are you sure you want to become a doctor? You could be a good detective," Austin countered, his voice dripping with sarcasm. He had no rights to ask so many questions about Ally or himself, he wouldn't even consider him a friend.

"I'm his fashion counselor," Ally blurted out, receiving stares from the three guys and she cringed a bit, "there's a ceremony he has to attend and I'm a girl, who better than me could tell him out to get properly dressed?"

It was the truth. Well, part of it (and slightly modified), but the truth nonetheless.

Gavin laughed a bit (not noticing the glare Austin shot him) and shrugged it off, "I came here to invite you to my apartment tomorrow night, we just bought alcohol and food and we wanted to have some fun. Are you in?"

"I'm in!" Dez exclaimed, jumping up and down.

Austin nodded cause since it was apparently also Jace's idea and, unfortunately, he couldn't say no.

"What about you, Ally? Gavin asked the girl, grinning widely at her. "Trish will be there, too." Austin's body stiffened, his blood boiling at the way that idiot was looking at Ally and attempting to flirt with her.

"Well, yes, I'll come," she answered a bit upset by the hard look Austin had been giving her and his change of attitude.

"Cool, see you there," Gavin said, excitedly and with one last wink at Ally, he walked out of the door.

Austin clenched his fists in anger.

It's on.

So? What do you think? What's your favorite part of this chapter? I know it's long and there are a lot of scenes but I had to fit them all here for the story's purposes.

I introduced Piper and Gavin is giving Austin troubles... ugh!

Thank you again for the reviews, we're one step closer to find out Ally's secret! You all are right, she did something in high school that could totally upset him if he knew :/ also, someone talked about Ally getting nervous around the brown-haired guy in the last chapter: well, I probably explained it wrong, I said she could barely breathe or something but that's cause she was laughing too much, she doesn't know that guy (and no, it's not Dallas haha). Sorry if it confused you :)