Let Your Heart Hold Fast

Disclaimer: I don't own Austin and Ally.

Ally Dawson has never thought of herself as a fighter.

But sitting here in her long awaited first year Biology course at a semi-prestigious school she had been waiting to hear from, she realizes that damn she has been through a lot to get here.

First, she had not been expecting acceptance—not because her grades were inadequate or anything, but because her application had been late. She had previously never even entertained the possibility that she'd ever want to leave Miami and go to school anywhere else. However, it seems she is just chock full of surprises lately.

A streak of independence and several impulsive decisions later, she found herself on a plane flying far away from everything she had ever known.

It is good for her to get away from Miami. She can learn how to make new friends, explore who she is in a different landscape. That's why she wanted to do this. Also the fact that she can get away from an ex, who turned out to be one of the biggest assholes on the face of the earth is just an added bonus.

That didn't mean there were no consequences. With little to no time for school preparations and living arrangements, she could only manage to track down a distant aunt who promised to help her find an apartment with cheap rates.

It didn't help that her aunt's house was a two hour transit away to the campus. Having no chance to even set foot on campus before her first day due to the rushed moving process, she also severely underestimated the size of the place.

So went her early morning mayhem of scrambling desperately for maps and directions. Really, the fact that she had still made it on time for her eight AM class is astounding

Boy is she tired.

The sound of a pop can hissing open pulls her from her thoughts. Turning her head to the side, she sees a blond one seat down from her open up a can of Red Bull. Instead of taking a sip directly from the can, he takes the cap off another coffee cup and proceeds to dump the whole thing in there.

Baffled, Ally blinks at him.

He catches her gaze, looks back at the clock hanging close to the professor—they were still only about 12 minutes into the insanely long lecture—then turns to her again, this time mouthing very clearly, 'I'm gonna die.'

Then this gentleman don in wrinkled plaid and jeans proceeds to down the entirety of the questionable beverage down his throat in mere seconds.

Her mouth drops in awe. While her brain isn't sure if it's the most hilarious or horrifying thing she's ever seen, a snort escapes her anyways. She turns away, trying to bury her face in her laptop as she attempts to stifle her giggles.

When she turns back to face him, he's looking at her with an easy grin.

Very casually, he slides his backpack over the floor with his feet so that it is closer to her, then the rest of him follows as he's now occupying the previously empty seat beside her. They both stay in their seats dutifully typing notes for a full two minutes before his arms nudges against hers gently.

"I'm Austin," he tells her.

"Ally," she says, giving him a small smile.

And just like that the rest of the lecture seems to go by a little easier.

They leave the lecture hall together—because, why not?

She should probably thank him for seemingly speeding up time by sitting next to her. All the innocent little brushes of the arm, the coy smiles, the furtive glances he had stolen at her, they definitely did the trick.

"So are you a Science student?" he asks, adjusting the straps on his backpack as they walk out the main building. She shakes her head.

"Nah, business. You a Science student?" He shakes his head back at her, a teasing glint in his eyes.

"Arts."

She winces. Everyone knows about the bad blood between the two faculties. He nods in understanding, smirking a little.

"We're enemies."

"You're in Arts and your first class is a Science course?"

"Gotta get those Science credits somehow, right?" Chuckling, he gives her his best fake chipper attitude, complete with a sarcastic swing of the arm. "Actually, not three minutes into Mr. Monotone's lecture—sorry, Dr. Monotone—I thought for sure I was gonna end up dropping it. But now…" He looks at her suggestively. "I may have to reconsider."

She blushes at his bluntness, looking at anywhere but him.

"If you're gonna get used to such an early class, you may wanna try sleeping earlier instead of poisoning yourself every morning."

"You're talking about the Red Bull?"

"Dumped in the coffee."

He chuckles. "It gives you wings."

She scrunches her nose in disgust, launching into a rant of her own. "Do you know how bad energy drinks are for you? How much sugar is in that thing? Together with the coffee you're just begging for a crash! And don't get me started on the addictive pro-"She stops herself when she notices his raised eyebrow and smirk. Sighing, she concludes her little speech short. "I can't even imagine what all that caffeine is doing in your system."

He nods without defending his own actions. "I can hear colors."

She giggles, lightly swatting his arm as they arrive at diverging paths.

"What's your next class?" he asks, turning to look at her.

The brunette glances down at her palm where her day plan had been scrawled hastily. "I have Econ by the old annex."

He holds his smile though his lip slightly quirks downward. "I guess this is where we part ways."

She gives him a professional nod of the head, brushing some bangs behind her ear. "It was very nice meeting you Austin."

He mirrors her nod, suddenly looking thoughtful. "Or I can walk you."

Tilting her head, she thinks this over. First day of class in a new city and already this tall blond, admittedly cute stranger is willing to go out of his way to walk her. His notion makes it very clear that the choice is entirely up to her. But taking a closer inspection at this boy with puppy dog eyes all hyped up on sunshine and caffeine, she realizes the danger behind boys with tan skin and kind smiles. They have the potential to leave skid marks. And her heart is still a little sore from her last misadventure.

Whatever he is, it is not what she needs right now. So she decides to let him go.

"Nah, you should go to your class." Looking down she nudges at his feet with her shoes in a semi-affectionate, but not too affectionate manner. He pauses and she can feel his gaze on her for a few brief seconds before he ruffles her hair.

"Well I will see you later then Ally." She looks up in time to see him give her a salute and a flirty grin before turning the other direction.

So maybe he isn't the best thing for her by a long shot. Still, she resigns herself to admitting that she may have a little crush on her new Biology buddy.

After an entire day navigating around the huge campus, it's safe to say Ally feels fully qualified to be a maze runner now.

Running from course to course trying not to be late can be quite draining on a person. The last thing she wants to do is hop onto the crowded bus for two hours. Sighing, she pulls her phone from her pocket to take it off silent. Her screen flashes with two missed calls.

Squinting her eyes in confusion, she redials her aunt.

"Ally! Good!"

"Hey Au—"

"I just found the perfect place for you."

Her heart rate picks up. The first real excitement she's felt in ages. "Really?"

"Yeah, yeah! It's about a twenty five minute walking distance from campus, or if you get a bike, it's only ten minutes. The rent is cheap since you'll be splitting it, and—"

Relief courses through her and finally, everything seems to be falling into place. "That sounds so great! Thank you Aunt Cath!"

"No problem, dear! He's happy to let you move in right away. I was thinking—since you don't have that much luggage to begin with, you can just meet me there and I can drop off your bags so tomorrow, you won't even have to take the awful transit. The place is on—"

"Wait, he?" Her smile falters.

"Oh yes, your roommate is a guy, but I've already talked to him, and he's a perfectly pleasant fellow. I'm sure you two will get along just fine."

She stares off into the distance, contemplating this information. All the Dateline specials she's watched should warn her from doing something like this, but then she thinks back to the long crowded wait line at the bus stop, the hours of standing squished with hundreds of other students. Backpacks in her face, her own backpack like lead sinking her into an abyss of nothingness.

Try new thing, try new things, she chants to herself.

She forces a smile through gritted teeth. "That sounds great, Aunt Cath. Just text me the address and I'll see you there."

When she hangs up, she is lightheaded.

The trudge up the twelve flights of stairs had really kicked the wind out of her. She tries to convince herself it's because she's carrying the extra weight of her suitcase, though she knows she could stand to work out more. Stupid elevator.

Wiping the sweat from her forehead with her sleeve, she looks down the hall for a quick inspection. The floors were marble instead of carpet, which she likes. There also didn't seem to be anything too spotty or suspicious in sight. All the doors were neat, clean, and give off the vibe that everybody minds their own business. The outside of the building also seems pretty well maintained.

Nodding her head, she gives this place a mental thumbs up. She moves back to grip her suitcase when the sound of doors opening distracts her enough so that she ends up knocking her suitcase over.

"Ally?" Two male voices echo. Her hands still for a moment as she wonders if she's gone delusional. Because she could have sworn there were two voices calling her name. When she swivels her head to the left her eyes bulge when she sees Austin with a hand on the knob of a door—a door which happens to display the numbers of the apartment room she is currently looking for.

Next, turning her head to the right, across the hall from Austin, she can actually feel her soul leaving her mortal body as her gaze settles in on familiar dark brown hair and deeps eyes, all the notable features of a certain ex boyfriend she's not ready to see again.

And right there in the middle of a marble hallway, clutching at her pathetic suitcase of belongings, is how Ally found herself in the worst three-way standoff in history.

A/N: It's been a while, but I am back with a multi chapter story!

Almost everything aside from the romance will be taken from my own first year university experience. I feel like I need to document my semi-tame adventures before the summer ends and I have find myself back in that admittedly awesome hellhole.