"And I have the usual for my favorite customer." She watches as the bartender places her drink in front of her. "You know, it's been a while. I was worried you might've found the one."

"Please," she says, lifting the glass to her lips and taking a swig of the beverage. "With my track record?"

"You never know," the blonde says, resuming his task of cleaning the counter with a red dishrag. "I just hope that you'll remember to invite me to the wedding when it happens."

"Well, why wouldn't I?" she jokes. "I mean, it's the least I could do for my favorite post-breakup bartender. Maybe you can work the minibar at the reception or something."

"I was thinking something more along the lines of your best man."

"That isn't how it works."

"You'd make an exception for me. I buy you drinks."

"Mmhm." She empties the glass in her hand and he gives her another one.

"So, you gonna tell me how this train wreck went down or do I have to beg you for it?" he asks, quirking an eyebrow and smiling good-naturedly, returning his dishrag to his shoulder and leaning on the counter.

"Things started off so well," she says, looking down at her drink. "And like you said he lasted longer than usual. But two hours ago I walked in on him having sex with another girl."

Her companion makes a pained face and cringes, exhaling sharply. "Ah, that's a rough one."

"And the worst part is that she wasn't, like, a second girlfriend or anything. No, she was some hooker he picked up at a club! He didn't even know her!"

"That sucks, Ally. I'm sorry."

She sighs and sips her drink, shrugging in response.

"What about you?" she asks after a while.

"Well, my latest heartbreak isn't nearly as bad as yours, but…" he pauses, taking a deep breath. "She, uh, realized she wasn't really into me."

"That's not that bad."

"I thought so, too. But Ally," he continues, leaning forward, "she wasn't into guys at all."

Ally snorts and covers her mouth to stifle her laughter. "I'm sorry, it's not funny," she says in between giggles.

"No, no, it's okay. Laugh." The now-pouty blonde grabs her glass and takes a swig of her drink.

"Some customer service."

"I'll show you customer service," he mumbles half-heartedly.

"Sex joke or threat?"

"At this point, I don't know anymore."

"So, what now?"

"I dunno, e-Harmony?"

She cracks a smile. "Good luck with that. I'm sure there are girls searching day and night for an online match who works at a grimy bar and lives with his parents and sleeps with a nightlight and a teddy bear."

"Hey, I don't live with my parents," he says sternly, pointing a finger at her.

"But you're not gonna deny the rest?"

"Unfortunately no."

"Do you think we'll ever have long-lasting relationships?"

"Honey, we'll be lucky if we date someone longer than a month," he replies, taking another sip from her drink.

"It's just so frustrating," she groans. "You and me, we're good people. We don't cheat, we don't lie, we don't use people…why is it so hard for us to have stable relationships?!"

"People don't like good people anymore," he reasons.

"That's stupid," she pouts. He chuckles and watches her finish her drink.

"Another?" he asks her.

"May as well."

He nods and refills her glass before going to attend to a group of people sitting at the other end of the bar.

When he returns a few minutes later, her glass is empty and her mind is a little fuzzy.

"Anyway, I'm sure things'll turn around eventually. Even if that means you realize you're perfectly content not being with anyone and turning into a cat lady."

"Gee, that makes me feel so much better," she drawls.

He smiles and winks, mopping up a few drops of liquid from the counter with his handy dandy dishrag.

About an hour later, after she's had a few more drinks and he's closed up the bar, he drives her home, as is custom for them. She's usually at least a little drunk when she leaves, and he's told her a million times drunk driving is one of his biggest fears. He never lets her drive home from the bar. Which is really a good thing, because now she's always got a D.D. that she can call up whenever she needs him.

"Thanks," she slurs, unbuckling her seatbelt.

"Welcome," he replies. "See you soon."

"What, no goodnight kiss?"

"Sober you told me not to give goodnight kisses to drunk you."

"But it's tradition."

"Next time." He smiles, and her drunken mind considers the fact that he has a very pretty smile. "Goodnight, Ally."

She pouts and gets out of the car before walking up to the door of her apartment. Once she's safely inside, she hears the faint sound of him driving away.

She really is upset that she didn't get her goodnight kiss. Usually when he drops her off at home, he'll kiss her goodnight. It isn't really anything big, just a soft little peck on the lips as a reminder to them both that it's not their fault they have relationship problems, that they aren't undesirable or anything, that they just have a bad habit of picking the bad ones.

Sighing, she stumbles around her apartment, getting ready for bed, and then collapses on her mattress. She thinks about how well she thought things were going with her boyfriend, but then how things crashed and burned when she least expected it. Just like always.

When she finally stops crying, she finds herself thinking of blonde hair, hazel eyes and an encouraging smile.

"It's been a week."

"He was a perv."

"When are you gonna learn to stop giving guys who flirt with you at random clubs your number?"

"We were in a coffee shop."

"Same difference."

She sighs and takes a few sips of her drink. "I just…I want a relationship so badly. A good one."

"You don't need a guy to be happy."

"Austin, don't you dare try to pull that on me. You know that if you could keep a stable relationship with a girl, you'd be a lot happier than you are now. We're in the same boat."

"Alright, fair enough."

She swirls her drink in her glass, looking down at it.

"I got rejected when I asked this girl out a couple days ago. We're friends and stuff, but she got, like, super offended when I asked," he says.

"Yeah? Do you know why?" she asks, looking up at him.

"Apparently her grandmother died recently and how dare I think she'd care about dating in such a rough time for her?!" he exclaims sarcastically. "I didn't even know!"

"How'd she expect you to, then?"

"I asked her that question, too. She said she posted some big eulogy on Facebook, and then she got even more offended when I said I didn't see it. Like, I'm sorry I haven't touched my Facebook account in five years."

"Tough break," Ally says, finishing her drink. Austin raises his eyebrows, silently asking if she wants another, and she shakes her head. He nods and wipes the countertop.

"I just wonder what we're gonna do if one of us does find someone good. I mean, we're going on two years of this beautiful friendship/support group," he says.

"That's true. Who knows?"

"I don't know how you'd ever live without me."

"Oh, please. I'm the highlight of your week."

"Well, it is nice having a regular who acknowledges how all-around attractive I am when apparently no one else will."

It's in that moment that she realizes he's a lot more insecure than she thought he was. He's always struck her as pretty cocky, but that many heartbreaks would make anyone pretty insecure. She knows that from experience. Still, the way he stops meeting her eyes and how that easy smile on his face looks a little too forced now makes her feel a little uncomfortable and out-of-place.

"Maybe I secretly want you for myself so I tell everyone else to break up with you," she teases, trying to lighten the mood.

"Oh, yeah?" he asks, raising an eyebrow with an amused smile. She sighs quietly in relief.

"Yeah," she replies, smiling as well. "You're just so sexy, I can't help it. The way your arm flexes when you clean the counter…that little glint in your eyes whenever you say something suggestive…your hair that I just wanna run my fingers through all the time…you know, it's a shock that I have any self-control at all around you."

"I know you're joking but this is really turning me on right now," he says, searching her eyes with that amused smile still on his lips. But his eyes are a shade darker than usual, and she can see that while he's speaking with a joking tone, he's dead serious.

"Knowing that I'm turning you on is turning me on."

"Funny how that works."

They stare at each other for a few moments, and she doesn't know about him but a few things flash through her mind that she isn't particularly proud of, but that she wouldn't necessarily mind turning into reality.

He narrows his eyes at her, and she narrows her eyes at him, and he nods slowly, as though sizing her up.

"Alright, Dawson," he says, more to himself than her. "Alright."

With that, he goes to help a few more customers, and she's left alone with her thoughts.

She'd be lying if she hadn't thought about dating him before. It would make sense, considering neither of them has had any luck with anyone else, and as far as she's concerned they seem like they'd be each other's 'types.' That's not even including how comfortable they already are with each other and their underlying sexual tension.

When he comes back, she looks up at him with wide eyes. He quirks an eyebrow at her.

"You okay?"

"Uh…yeah," she says. Then she decides she has nothing to lose and blurts, "Do you think there's any particular reason why we haven't tried dating yet?"

Austin snorts, pulling his rag off his shoulder and wiping the counter again (even though it's just as clean as when he left it).

"I can think of at least five."

She frowns, but quickly hides it. "Yeah?"

"Yeah. One, the chances of it working out are slim to none with our luck. Two, we respect each other too much to date just because we're desperate for a relationship. Three, we've never really even hung out. Four, if we broke up we'd have no one to vent to. And five, we're both freaking terrified."

"Well, the third one doesn't count," she says.

"Fine. Focus on the other four."

"We're terrified of dating each other?"

He shrugs. "I am, at least."

"Why?"

"Because I know it won't work out."

"How is that terrifying? I mean, it would be worth a shot."

"Because I also know deep down that it could work out, that you and me…we could-we could make it, Ally. And I don't know why that's freaks me out so much, but it does."

"But you admit you've thought about dating me."

"No, I'm just friends with a beautiful girl who complains to me about all these jerks who're breaking her heart, knowing full well that I would never do the things they did. I have never thought about dating you, even though I know for a fact that I could make you happier than anyone else ever did and that you'd make me happier than anyone else ever did," he says sarcastically, rubbing the towel against the counter so hard she's worried he'll break it.

She rests her hand on his gently to stop him, and he looks at her.

"There are so many things that could go wrong, and normally I'd just say 'what've I got to lose,' y'know? I mean, I've already gotten my heart broken so many times it's a surprise it still works, but if it was you then I'd have you to lose and you're too important to me to just-just throw away everything we have on a relationship that was-was doomed from the beginning."

She purses her lips and thinks for a bit before speaking. "Our past luck with relationships has nothing to do with it. It isn't some destiny that we have."

He searches her eyes and swallows. "Every part of my brain is screaming that we'd end in disaster."

"Yeah? What's your heart saying?"

"Austin Moon, quit being such a baby and ask the poor girl out."

She grins, and he cracks a small smile, and within a few seconds they're both laughing and things are okay and all the tension is gone.

At some point, he turns his hand over under hers and intertwines their fingers. She squeezes his hand and leans her other elbow on the counter, resting her chin in her palm.

"Well? The poor girl doesn't have all night."

He takes a deep breath. "I must warn you, I don't have the best luck with girls."

"I don't have the best luck with boys."

"This could end really badly."

"Or not end at all."

"You're making it really hard to back out of this."

"You don't want to back out of this."

They stare each other down for a while, and subconsciously they've both leaned so far over the counter their noses are almost touching.

"You could just ask me out and things would be easier."

"It's fun watching you squirm."

"That sounded wrong."

"Are you gonna quit being a baby or what?"

"Just kiss me."

She smiles and presses her lips to his, only mildly considering that he might get in trouble if his boss sees him making out with a customer on the job, but she doesn't particularly care. He sighs through his nose and kisses her back, moving his free hand to the back of her head, entangling his fingers in her hair.

She runs her fingers through his blonde locks (she wasn't lying when she said she wanted to) and feels a sense of pride at the quiet whimpering sound he makes because of it.

He pulls away just enough to whisper against her lips, "Go out with me?"

"Took you long enough."

"So, still with the same guy you were with last week? And the week before? And the week before?"

"Actually, yeah."

"Wow, look at you. That's a whole month. He must be a good one. Lucky girl." He grins at her.

She rolls her eyes and looks up at him, smiling nonetheless. "Cheeky, cheeky."

He winks and hands her her drink. "I get off early tonight for once."

"Oh, yeah?"

"Mmhm. I'm thinking about taking my girlfriend out."

"Oh, the one you've been with for a month?"

"That's the one."

"What d'you know," she says. "Guess our luck isn't that crappy after all."

"Guess not. Any ideas of where I should take her?"

"Hmm…that twenty-four hour pancake place and then your apartment for video games?"

"I just might be in love with you." He smiles and kisses her nose. "No but seriously, I'm off in like half an hour."

"I'm in the mood for pancakes," she says. "And what better way to celebrate a whole month than breakfast at midnight and video games?"

"I can think of one thing."

"Only if you beat me at Mario Kart."

He smiles, and she smiles too, and suddenly she realizes why none of those other relationships worked out. She was never truly fighting for them. At least, not in the past few years. Because she's always secretly looked forward to ranting to the cute blonde bartender and letting him make her feel better. It's always been him.

"You know, I think that we're gonna make it, Austin."

He grins. "I think so, too."

I really enjoy this for some reason and I hope you did too. :)