Austin sets the phone down on the counter and runs a hand through his hair. Wasn't it just yesterday that he was bragging to his mother about how well-behaved and angelic his son was? Didn't he boast to his chuckling father about how he, as a single parent, managed to raise a better kid than his father?

Apparently, he was wrong.

"Hey, Xander?" he calls from the bottom of the stairs. "Will you come down here?"

No answer.

Austin rolls his eyes and walks up the stairs and into his son's room, which appears to be empty. He places his hands on his hips and scans the room once again, and he glimpses a tiny pair of feet sticking out from under the bed. He chuckles quietly and walks over, lying on his stomach and pulling up the bed skirt.

"If you're ever hiding from zombies, make sure they can't see your feet sticking out," he says with a smile.

The four-year-old pouts at him with his big hazel eyes, and Austin gently pulls him out from under the bed, sits him down on top of the comforter, and kneels in front of him.

"We could do this the easy way or the hard way. Your choice, bud."

Xander crosses his arms and continues his pout, and Austin sighs exaggeratedly and stands up.

"Hard way it is," he says. "I guess I'll just have to have Grandma watch you tonight instead of bringing you to the concert and letting Dez watch you."

"But-"

"And I should probably just feed the huge stack of pancakes in the fridge to Waffles."

Austin knows he should've fed Xander before letting him name their newborn pug a year ago, but it kind of grew on him. Plus, the irony of the name versus their favorite food still secretly makes him laugh.

"Waffles doesn't even like pancakes!" Xander argues.

At the mention of his name a second time, the puppy comes waddling into the room. After pawing the bed a few times in an attempt to climb on top of it, he decides to settle with snuggling up to Austin instead of Xander.

"I'm sure he won't mind," Austin says, giving the pug's ear a few scratches.

Xander sighs. "I didn't do anything, I promise!"

"Oh yeah? Then why'd I get a call from your preschool saying that your teacher would like to have a meeting with me on Monday?"

"I…"

Austin stares at his son expectantly.

"It's not my fault! Miss Dawson said that we had to tell her who was coming for career day and so I said you and she said that singing isn't a real job and then I said it was and then she said it wasn't and then I said it was and then she said it wasn't and then – "

"And then she wrote you a note to take home to me, which you never gave me?"

Xander looks down at his lap, silent.

"Listen, buddy, I'm not mad at you, okay? I'm glad you were defending me. Just don't argue with Miss Dawson anymore, and don't hide things from me, yeah?"

"Okay," Xander says quietly.

Austin ruffles Xander's hair (which definitely needs to be trimmed, he notes), kisses his head, and walks out of the room, Waffles on his heels.

He sits on the couch in the living room and kicks his feet up on the coffee table, running a hand through his hair. Waffles manages to use one of Xander's larger toy trucks to clamber onto the couch as well, and he plops down in Austin's lap. The blonde rests a hand on the puppy's back and pets him absentmindedly.

"What am I gonna do about this?" he asks himself aloud. (Although if anyone asks, he was obviously talking to the oh-so-wise Waffles the Great.) "I know my career is real, and his teacher shouldn't just not let me come in. All the other kids surely have their parents coming in. And besides, I bet they'll enjoy a famous rock star more than boring accountants and businesspeople and whatever."

He scratches Waffles' head and ears before continuing to pet his back, losing himself in his thoughts all the while.

"Guess I'll just have to prove myself to this boring old lady."

Upon walking into Xander's classroom on Monday afternoon, Austin finds that his teacher is not an old lady at all.

Miss Dawson looks to be around his age, maybe a year or two older, around her mid-twenties. She has long, curly, light brown hair and big, dark brown eyes. Her face looks smooth as porcelain, and her glasses sit perfectly on the bridge of her nose. She looks to be wearing a dress – a white one, with red rose patterns on it – and a red cardigan over it. She's wearing light pink lipstick and blush, and maybe a little mascara, but she seems to be going for the most natural look she can get away with.

"Knock, knock," Austin says awkwardly.

Miss Dawson looks up from her computer and smiles politely.

"Mr. Moon, please come in and have a seat."

Austin nods and walks over to her desk, sitting down in the chair in front of it.

"I must say, I'm a bit surprised to see you here and not Xander's nanny."

"Well, you asked for me, Miss," he replies.

"Yes, well, I guess since you've never once picked Xander up, I just figured that you wouldn't bother with this meeting."

"Guess I'm just full of surprises," Austin says, his smile forced.

"Anyway, I called you in here to discuss your son's behavior."

"Yeah, he said something about arguing with you."

"He did. We were speaking about career day, and when I said he could not bring you in, he argued very disrespectfully, and – "

"He's been well-behaved the rest of the time though. I'm not quite sure why I was called in here."

"He yelled at me in front of the entire class, and then he tried walking out. He must not have told you the whole story."

"Guess not. I apologize for his disrespect. I'll definitely be punishing him for it."

"Right, well, as you said, he is normally well-behaved, so we won't take any further disciplinary action." The brunette pushes her glasses up on the bridge of her nose.

"Thank you. But just wondering, why am I not allowed to come in for career day?"

"Because quite frankly, Mr. Moon, your career isn't real."

"Excuse me?"

"Your whole 'rock star' thing… It's not a real career. It's a hobby, yes, and it's one that you're lucky enough to make a living off of, but the point of career day is to try to inspire kids to think about what they want to do when they're older."

"They're four."

"Never too early."

"Maybe some kids will be inspired to be rock stars. I was."

"That's the thing, Mr. Moon. That kind of thinking is just a dream, a wish. It's not real. Your career isn't real."

"So, what, you don't want kids to have dreams and follow them?"

"That's not what I'm saying. I'm saying that the point of this is to bring in intelligent, hard-working people to inspire the kids. And you are not that."

"You don't think I'm intelligent or hard-working?"

"No. I don't."

Austin purses his lips. "I think my fans would say otherwise."

"Your fans."

"Yes, my fans. I don't mean to be disrespectful, Miss Dawson, but I worked extremely hard to get where I am, and I think that I should be allowed to come in and talk about what I do for a living without you trying to convince me that my job isn't actually a real job."

"I can't let you. I'm sorry."

"What if I prove to you that I'm legit?"

"How do you propose to do that?" the woman asks.

"Come to my show on Friday. I'll show you all the work I do, you can come backstage, see me working my butt off both on and off stage. I can show you that I work just as hard as those other people."

"I would be very hard to convince."

"If I can't convince you, then fine. Xander will bring someone else. But I think you should at least give me a chance before making a snap judgement about me. Have you even heard my music?"

"I tend to stay away from autotune."

"Autotune?" Austin says, standing up because he's that offended. "I can prove to you right now that at least my voice is real."

"That won't be necessary," Miss Dawson says, holding up a hand. "You may leave now."

Austin clenches his jaw in frustration. "I'll have Xander bring you your ticket for Friday. I'm gonna prove you wrong. And just so you know, I graduated high school with honors, and not going to college does not mean I am not intelligent."

"Then what does it mean?" she asks challengingly.

Austin stands up straighter. "It means I care more about my son and my career than going to college when I don't need it right now. If it makes you feel any better, I do plan on getting my degree later, when Xander's a little older."

Miss Dawson says nothing else, and Austin leaves the room.

Austin paces backstage, biting his thumb nail. (It's a horrible habit, he knows, but he only does it when he's nervous.)

"Are you sure she said she's coming?" he asks Xander for the seventh time in the past five minutes.

"Yes," his son replies. "Look, she just walked in."

Austin turns to look where Xander is pointing behind him, and sure enough the short brunette is looking around with her big brown eyes at all the chaos backstage. Austin sighs in relief and walks over to her, Xander following close behind him.

"Miss Dawson."

"Mr. Moon. Hi, Xander," she says.

"Hi, Miss Dawson," Xander replies. Then, more bashfully, "Sorry for arguing with you."

Miss Dawson chuckles. "It's okay."

"Alright, we have thirty minutes till I have to be on stage, so let's go," Austin says.

"Isn't someone gonna watch Xander?" she asks.

"Usually it's Kenzie," Xander pipes up.

"Your nanny," Miss Dawson says with a nod.

"Well, Kenzie's sick." Austin shrugs.

"You must have a Plan B," Miss Dawson says doubtfully, raising an eyebrow.

"Plan B, nice to meet you," a redhead says, clapping Austin on the back and holding his hand out to Miss Dawson.

Austin grins. "Dez Wade. My best friend, music video director, publicist, and, most importantly, the current holder of the Guinness World Record for Most Live Worms Eaten in under Five Minutes."

Miss Dawson nods and shakes Dez's hand, then frowns and lets go. "Wait…what was that last part?"

"Current holder of the Guinness World Record for Most Live Worms Eaten in under Five Minutes?" Austin repeats, tilting his head.

"One hundred thirty-seven," Dez says proudly.

"Ew," the woman says with a shudder. "There can't actually be any competition for that."

Dez pulls a large blue book out of his backpack, and with completely serious faces both he and Austin open to a bookmarked page. Sure enough, Dez's grinning face is in the center of the page with a worm balanced on his nose.

"Unbelievable," Miss Dawson mutters.

"Anyway, about that tour…?" Austin says.

"Right, yes," Miss Dawson replies.

Austin leaves Xander with Dez and leads Miss Dawson down the hall, explaining all the equipment and making sure to include how much work he does personally.

"I also write my own music, of course," he explains at the end of the tour. "But I do that at home. And I record in the studio. Not to mention I come up with and put together all my concerts, everything from the lighting to the stage setup to all the choreography."

Miss Dawson purses her lips.

"And I work with Dez on the concepts and basics of my music videos, however he does most of the detailed work on those."

"I get it. You do a lot of your own work," Miss Dawson says. "But that doesn't mean I think your job is real. It's still just a childish fantasy that you were lucky enough to actually live out. I don't want my kids to get their hopes up."

Austin clenches his jaw. "I hope you enjoy the show," he says through gritted teeth. Then, he walks off.

"Good luck, daddy!" Xander exclaims as Austin walks past him and Dez to get to the stage.

"Thanks, buddy," Austin says, stopping and kneeling down to kiss his son's forehead. "Be good. And try to convince Miss Dawson I'm real."

"You got it," Xander replies, giving him a thumbs up.

Austin smiles, ruffles Xander's hair, and runs onstage.

"Thank you, Miami!" Austin exclaims at the end of his concert. He waves to the crowd and runs backstage, only to be tackled in a hug by Xander.

"That was the best concert ever!" he says excitedly.

Austin chuckles and kneels down to Xander's level, kissing his cheek. "Guess we'll have to go out to ice cream to celebrate."

Xander grins, and Austin stands up. He looks over at Miss Dawson, who's standing next to Dez.

"Well?" he asks.

"You are very talented," she says. "And I suppose you did have to work hard to get to where you are. But – " she continues quickly when he starts to smile, "that doesn't mean you can come in."

"Why not?" he asks. "I proved you wrong."

"Yeah!" Xander exclaims.

"I just…I don't think it'd be right."

"You just don't like me. Is that what this is about? I'm sorry if I've somehow offended you, but – "

"I don't dislike you. In fact, you do have good music and you're a nice enough person, but I just don't think it would benefit the kids."

Austin grabs the woman's wrist and pulls her off to the side.

"What's so wrong with me that you don't want me talking about my interesting job?"

She purses her lips. "There isn't anything wrong with you."

Austin leans his face close to hers, speaking quietly. "Then let me come in for career day so my son isn't humiliated because his teacher won't let him bring his own father in to talk about his career."

"Clearly you don't know personal space," Miss Dawson says, leaning away from him.

Austin sighs. "Please. You were right when you said I'm not around enough. I – I want to do this for him. Surely there's some type of motherly love in that black hole you call a heart that could understand where I'm coming from."

"Black hole, huh?"

"It's the best I could come up with. I'm desperate."

The teacher is silent for a while, then she exhales. "Fine, you can come in for career day. But I am not happy about it."

Austin grins. "Thank you!" He wraps his arms around her small figure and hugs her tightly. She hesitantly hugs him back.

"You're welcome."

"So…how'd my presentation go?" Austin asks after all the other parents and children leave on career day. He knits his eyebrows together. "Huh. Never thought I'd say that again after high school."

"I'm sorry I doubted you," Miss Dawson says.

"It's okay," Austin says with a shrug. "The first five labels I met with doubted me too."

She chuckles. "Clearly they were wrong."

"Dad, can we go home now?" Xander whines.

"Oh, right," he replies. He looks at Miss Dawson again. "Thanks again."

"Well, it certainly made Xander happy. And I've grown quite fond of him," she says, smiling.

Austin smiles back at her. "Sorry for saying your heart was a black hole."

She chuckles. "It's okay."

"Bye, Miss Dawson."

"Call me Ally," she says.

He smiles more and nods. "Alright, Ally. Only if you call me Austin."

"It's a deal, Austin," she replies, smiling more as well.

He waves and walks out with Xander.

"Dad, you can stop smiling now," his son says when they get in the car.

Austin glances at Xander in the rearview mirror. "I don't think I can."

"So even Austin Moon can't resist a warm stack of pancakes after a concert, hmm?" Ally says as she leans back against the booth across from him in his favorite restaurant.

"Haven't you read the blogs? Pancakes are my favorite food," he replies, stuffing a huge bite in his mouth.

"No, I haven't read the blogs. I'm not a fan, remember?"

Xander frowns at her and looks at Austin. He swallows his food.

"You're a fan. If you weren't, you wouldn't have come to another concert and cheered so loud I could hear you onstage," he retorts.

Ally clears her throat. "I did no such thing. And even if I was a fan, I already know you in real life. So I don't need to stalk some fan blogs to know that your favorite food is pancakes and your middle name is Monica."

Austin knits his eyebrows together. "I never told you that," he says.

"Yes you did. You just don't remember because you were…under the influence of a rare drug that affects your memory. Some hater was trying to embarrass you at a concert."

Austin leans back in his seat, chuckling a bit. "You looked me up."

"I wanted to see what the hype was about." She pushes her glasses up on the bridge of her nose. "Overall, unimpressive."

"Oh, I'm sure," Austin says, quite amused with the brunette in front of him.

"And most of the pictures were photoshopped, I'm sure."

Austin crosses his arms and shrugs, giving her a small smile. "Maybe. Is that why you're so embarrassed? You find me attractive, don't you?"

"Oh, please. Get over yourself," Ally replies immediately, rolling her eyes. But Austin doesn't miss the pink tint on her cheeks.

"My ego is part of my charm. It's okay if you've got a little crush on me. I mean, I am a world famous pop star who was voted number one on the Hottest Guys under Twenty-Five list eighteen monthsin a row and counting."

"I don't find your ego charming, and I don't find you attractive."

"Okay, Ally. Whatever you say."

Ally crosses her arms and steals a strawberry off his plate, popping it in her mouth and glaring at him. He chuckles.

She's cute, he thinks to himself.

He and Xander finish their food and the three of them leave the restaurant.

"Admit you're a fan," Austin says, nudging Ally lightly with his shoulder as they walk to the car.

"I like your music."

"And me."

"I'm your friend, not your fan."

"You're both."

"Fine."

After dropping Ally off at her house, Austin carries a sleeping Xander up to bed. But before he can leave, an apparently not sleeping Xander stops him.

"Dad?"

"Yeah, buddy?" Austin says.

"Are you and Miss Dawson gonna go on a date soon?"

Austin chuckles. "We'll see. Goodnight, Xander."

"Night."

Austin kisses his son's forehead and walks out of the room, turning off the light.

"What do you think, Waffles?" Austin asks the pug, picking him up and carrying him into the living room. "Because I think Ally has a crush on me." He sits on the couch and holds Waffles in his lap, staring into the puppy's dark brown eyes as though they hold the answers to all of life's burning questions. "O, Wise Waffles, please give me answers."

O, Wise Waffles doesn't seem to want to give him answers.

"Oh, who am I kidding? You're only a year old. You don't know anything about girls yet."

Austin turns on the TV and lays down on the couch. Waffles makes himself comfortable on his stomach and falls asleep, and soon Austin finds himself drifting off as well.

"So, this is how you spend your Saturday afternoons? At a dog park? How fitting."

"Cute," Austin says, taking a sip of his hot chocolate.

"I try," Ally replies, sipping hers as well. "So tell me. Does Waffles like pancakes like you and Xander?"

"No, Waffles hates pancakes."

"Oh."

The pair sits in silence for a while.

"So," Ally begins again, "tell me something about you that I wouldn't find on a blog. I mean, I may have done my research, but that was mostly things I already knew."

"Like?"

"Your music, relationships, how hot you are…" she trails off, then looks at him with wide eyes. "Not that I think you're hot! That's just what the blog said. I hope you know that me finding you attractive would be absolutely absurd and practically impossible-"

"Ally," he interrupts with a laugh. He notices her face relax a bit. "I've known you for six months now; I think we're past the point of it being weird if you find me a little attractive. Pretty much the entire female population agrees with you."

"I still don't find your ego charming."

"Everyone finds my ego charming."

"There it is again."

Austin opens his mouth to say more, but just then Waffles runs up to them with a tennis ball in his mouth.

"Hey, pup!" Ally exclaims, lighting up at the sight of the little pug. She gently pries the tennis ball from his mouth. "You want it? Go get it!" She throws the ball as hard as she can, and it lands a few yards away before rolling down a hill. Waffles darts off after it.

"I'm starting to think you love my dog more than me."

"What can I say? Everyone loves pugs."

He chuckles and rolls his eyes. "Hey, speaking of dogs, I'm going to this benefit for the animal shelter, and I was wondering if you'd like to be my plus one?"

"Me?"

"Yeah. Xander's too young, and Dez isn't really into all that formal stuff."

"So I'm your third choice."

"That is correct."

"Okay, I'll go. But I don't really have anything to wear."

"I may or may not have already bought you a dress. No need to thank me."

"Thank you."

"I just said – "

"I'm thanking you anyway. Deal with it."

Ally looks stunning at the party. The red dress Austin bought her hugs all her curves, and she opted to straighten her hair for the event. Her makeup is a bit bolder than usual and her (borrowed) diamond earrings make her look sophisticated and businesslike.

But she seems to have had a few too many drinks.

"You know, your nose is very cute," she slurs, tapping Austin's nose with her index finger.

He chuckles, a hand on her elbow to keep her steady.

"So is yours."

"You're just a cute person in general."

"You are, too," he says with a gentle smile.
She smiles back at him. "I like your voice."

"Oh, yeah?" he replies, raising his eyebrows in amusement.

"Mmhm. It's…sexy."

He chuckles. "I get that a lot."

"I know I say I'm not your fan, but I kind of am," the girl continues, giggling drunkenly.

"I know you are, Ally."

"There's your ego again."

"But let me guess…you secretly like it."

Ally shakes her head. "Nope. It's obnoxious and annoying. But you always get this cute smirk with those tiny little dimples." She pokes his cheeks and he smiles. "Like those!" she exclaims. She pokes his right cheek again where his dimple is. "Boop."

Austin laughs a bit and gently takes both her hands and holds them at her sides.

"You're really drunk, aren'tcha?"

"I think a little bit, maybe, yeah," she says, swaying slightly to the soft violin music in the background.

"Let's get you home."

"But we've only been here for two seconds!" she argues.

"Try two hours. Come on."

She sighs and follows him to his car, stopping halfway to take off her heels.

"Carry me," she says with a pout, holding up her arms.

Austin chuckles and sighs. "Alright, c'mon, cutie." He lifts her up bridal style and carries her the rest of the way to his car.

"You're a good friend," she says after he buckles her seatbelt and gets in the driver's side.

"Thanks."

"Sometimes I wish we weren't just friends, you know."

"Oh, yeah?" he says, raising his eyebrows and looking over at her.

"Yeah." Ally yawns. "You're too cute and hot to be just friends with."

Austin smiles and shakes his head, starting the car and pulling out of the parking lot.

"See, this is why you don't get drunk around attractive singers you have a crush on. I didn't ask for this information. You brought this upon yourself."

Ally rolls her eyes. "I don't have time for your ego."

"But you do have time for my cute smirk and tiny dimples."

Austin sits across from her and takes a sip of his coffee.

"You're annoying."

"Thank you. But if it helps, I think almost every girl on earth has a crush on me."

Ally glances up at him, clearly unamused.

"Man, if looks could kill…" the blonde mutters.

"My lunch break's almost over. I have to go," Ally says, standing up.

"Me, too," Austin says quickly. "But, uh, we should hang out again soon."

"Why? So you can irritate me more?"

"I was thinking more along the lines of a date…?"

"A date. With me," she says dubiously. "You realize that you're Austin Moon and I'm a preschool teacher, right?"

"Hey," he says, putting his hands up in surrender, "if a not fan who doesn't like me or find me attractive can develop a crush on me, I think it's possible for me to like a cute preschool teacher."

Ally blushes slightly. He smiles at her.

"I'll call you, yeah?"

She nods, smiling a bit too. "But I'm only going if you leave your ego at home."

"Without my ego, I'm just a shell of a man. I'd have nothing but my angelic voice, chiseled abs, charming personality, and loads of money."

Ally rolls her eyes. "Yeah, yeah. I'll see you soon."

He grins and watches her leave the coffee shop.

"Austin, we've been dating for two months now. Don't you think you should tell Xander?"

"His father dating his teacher. Isn't that, like, some childhood horror story?"

"My dad dated my school nurse once. That was weird," the brunette replies.

"See?"

Ally rolls her eyes. "If you don't tell him, I will."

"No, I'll tell him. Maybe we should both tell him. I don't know. Where's Waffles?"

"Calm down, ya big baby," Ally says.

Waffles waddles into the room and Austin picks him up. "Do you think it's a good idea to tell Xander me and Ally are dating?" he asks.

Waffles stares at him.

"I know, but I'm just worried that he'll freak out."

Waffles keeps staring at him.

"You think so?"

Waffles blinks, a string of drool hanging from his mouth.

"You're right," Austin sighs. "Thanks, Waffles." He hugs the puppy to his chest before setting him back down on the ground.

"I still can't believe that's a normal thing for you."

"You talk to him, too. I know you do."

"Yeah, but that's something normal for me."

Austin rolls his eyes and kisses her cheek. "You know, Waffles has helped me plan at least half of our dates, including our first one, and the first time you spent the night, both of which were very important occasions that were crucial to our relationship."

"Alright, you win," Ally says, putting her hands up in surrender. "Waffles is very wise."

"Yes he is."

Just then, Xander walks in the room.

"Hey, Waffles, why'd you – oh, hi Miss Dawson."

She smiles a bit. "Hey, Xander."

He looks at Austin. "What's she doing here?"

Austin chuckles a bit, then sighs. "We, uh, we have to tell you something. Come here."

Xander walks over to the couple hesitantly and crawls in Austin's lap, looking nervous.

"Am I in trouble?"

"No, not at all," Ally says quickly, smiling gently.

"Then what is it?"

"Xander, me and Miss Dawson…we're…" Austin trails off and looks at Ally helplessly. She gives him a stern look. "We're dating," he finishes.

Xander's face goes pale.

"Isn't this what you wanted? You asked me a few months ago, remember?" Austin says nervously.

Xander nods. "Does this mean I have to go to school at home, too?" he asks, sounding utterly horrified at the mere thought.

Both Austin and Ally start laughing.

"No, buddy. You don't have to go to school at home."

Xander's face returns to normal and he looks relieved. Then, he smiles. "I'm happy, then."

Austin sighs in relief and hugs his son, looking over at Ally and smiling. "I am, too."

"We've been dating for a year and a half and I still don't understand why you find it necessary to torture the poor child by being all mushy in front of his friends. He's in kindergarten. Cooties exist now. Do you really want him to think that we have cooties?" Austin asks.

Ally rolls her eyes. "You're so ridiculous. C'mon, there are still three more boxes."

Austin follows her back out to the car. "You know, for such a small apartment, you sure found space for a lot of stuff."

"I'm organized."

"I'm not."

"I've noticed."

"So you're sure you wanna live with me? Because I don't wanna make you feel like you have to – "

"Austin," Ally interrupts him, laughing, "you've asked me that thirty times in the past three weeks. Yes, I want to live with you."

"I'm just making sure. This is a big step, and – "

"Don't tell me you're scared," Ally teases.

"Of the commitment? No. Of you getting pissed off at how lazy and sloppy I am? I'm terrified."

"Aw, you're not that lazy and sloppy."

"Thanks."

"So, how's Xander feel about all this?"

"Excited," Austin tells her. "Mainly because he thinks that all teachers know each other so you can tell his kindergarten teacher to give him good grades." Ally laughs. "And because he loves you, of course."

The two of them carry the remaining boxes into the house. Ally accidentally bumps into a wall while she walks, and one of Austin's guitars would've fallen off its rack if he wasn't standing there to keep it in place.

"I am so sorry!" Ally exclaims.

"You almost killed Jess."

Ally narrows her eyes. "You still name your guitars?"

"Always. This is why we can't have nice things."

Despite her best efforts, Ally lets out a giggle.

"You're cute," she says, leaning up to press a light kiss to his lips.

He smiles and they continue up the stairs, Waffles at their heels.

They start unpacking the boxes, and by the time they're finished organizing everything, Xander is yawning and asking Austin to tuck him in. Except tonight, both he and Ally tuck him in, and Austin must admit that it feels good to have Ally under his arm as he kisses his son goodnight. It feels right.

After tucking Xander in, the couple walks into their bedroom. Austin grins and pulls Ally down on the bed next to him. She giggles.

"This is an every night thing now, you know," he says.

"Mmhm," Ally agrees. "If you're lucky, maybe a late night conversation or two will inspire your next album."

"I'm sure they will."

Austin pulls Ally close and buries his nose in her hair, rubbing her bare back under her t-shirt. She tucks her head under his chin and he feels her smile, her lips against his neck. He kisses the top of her head and closes his eyes.

"I love you," she whispers in the darkness, her warm breath against his neck making goosebumps rise on his skin.

They've only said it once or twice before, but this time feels so real it's almost overwhelming, because here they are, sharing his bed – their bed – in their house, pressed so close together they may as well be one entity with one pounding heart. It catches him off guard, really. He never realized that whispered words in pitch darkness could be anywhere near as meaningful and the bold lyrics of a song, but here he is, somehow rendered speechless by the impact of his girlfriend's statement.

She doesn't say anything else, and soon he hears her quiet snoring (as a result of her left nostril being slightly bigger than her right, she told him). And with Waffles at the foot of the bed, Xander in the next room, and his adorable, snoring, abnormally-nostriled girlfriend in his arms, he feels like he's accomplished something even better than the six Grammys in his award case. He's accomplished something that's irreplaceable, priceless, something that he swears to himself then and there that he will never let go of.

"I love you, too."

idk how i feel about this but it feels like i haven't posted in a while