Epilogue

The Miami weather had always been a little too hot for Ally's liking.

It's not that she's never noticed her contradictory attitude whilst living in possibly the sunniest city on the face of the planet. She's just always been a little more introverted, picking the option of staying home and writing music over taking advantage of this sunny paradise. She finds solace in wearing combat boots over flip flops, she's never found the need to visit the beach for a fun time—up until before she met her blond counterpart that is—and her pale skin is a disgrace to all residents of Miami with anything remotely similar to a tan.

These facts are all screamingly apparent as she finds herself back at the place she calls home.

The sweat trickles down her neck, wet and uncomfortable. She almost squirms under the violent waves of the sun's heat, and she's pretty much regretting her choice in wearing a longer dress this day, for every extra inch the dress covered, is every extra inch of her skin fighting for relief against this ridiculously hot weather.

But, something stops her from booking it straight into her Dad's music store where the air conditioning, though minimal—in hopes of conserving electric fees (much to her chagrin)—is almost always on to attract hot, sweaty people such as herself into the store.

And that something stopping her happens to be holding her hand.

A happy smile graces Austin's visage as he gives Ally's hand a tiny squeeze. She manages a blush at the action, not the kind you usually get from too much sun exposure.

"Are you ready?" he asks, his eyes glazed over with contentment.

She laughs a little, attempting to dissolve some of her insecurities slowly building up. "Sure," she nods, "we've done it once. We can do it again." Her tone is casual, but she wonders if he can read the hidden intimation hidden in her words.

Instead of a reply she feels the rough pad of his thumb gently rub over her knuckles in a circular motion. She turns to look at him on instinct to see his gaze still firmly set on Sonic Boom, his almost hyperactive smile from earlier having receded to an easygoing one.

She breathes out slowly, secretly attempting to calm her nerves and his rubbing soon slowly comes to a stop. She rubs her forehead tiredly with the hand not holding his, her features battling between feelings of excitement and nervousness.

"Who do we tell first?" she wonders, "my dad, or Trish and Dez?"

"Trish and Dez," he replies immediately, but he doesn't sound entirely sure. Surely, he misses telling his red-headed best friend everything going on his life. The poor ginger could still be waiting impatiently for Austin's hourly Tweeter updates currently on hiatus. Besides, she sure knows she could have done with a long girl to girl talk with Trish during the time on the cruise. She catches Austin mull over his words again, before giving a more determined nod. "Trish and Dez," he repeats.

She palms her face in horror. "I can't imagine how Trish and Dez are gonna take it."

"I hope they get a heart attack or something." He snorts with a humorous roll of his eyes. "They sure deserve it after almost ruining this entire thing with that disastrous phone call before."

Ally laughs a little, the memory seeming a tad far away. She nudges him carefully with her elbow. "Hey, the cute girl from the bathing suit shop might be still available for you to win over, you know?"

He turns to give her an affectionate glare, but she doesn't fail to notice the way his hand tightened around hers at those words. He raises an impatient eyebrow at her as she loses herself in a fit of giggles upon his reaction.

She laughs for another minute before she stops and returns his firm grip, squeezing tightly. "I was joking," she murmurs softly.

"I know," he says, swinging their arms back and forth daftly.

"I know," she repeats even quieter.

Their intertwined hands swing back and forth for a few minutes, mushy, lovesick expressions present on both their faces as they're lost in thought. Who would've thought that all it took to convert a friendship/partnership into an actual god honest relationship was a vacation? This just proves vacations are the key element to happiness.

Ally starts laughing again, causing their hand swinging to come to an abrupt halt. Austin looks over at her, waiting for her to speak.

"I'm just really looking forward to my Dad hearing about how I've been secretly dating you the past months or so from your Mother." She shakes her head helplessly, her curls bouncing. "He'll most likely kill me."

He flashes a charming smile. "He can't kill you, because I need both you and your dad at my house at 7 PM sharp for dinner tonight." He tucks a strand of her curly hair behind her ear, the action triggers brief nostalgia and she smiles too. He steps back. "Ooh, that reminds me; what was the day we told my folks we got together? We gotta remember to celebrate our anniversary every year on that date."

"Which one? The day we actually started dating, or the day when you realized you liked me?" she teases with an affectionate smile.

He grins back, rolling his eyes. "Very funny, but I totally saved our butts back during that conversation."

"Mmhmm," she agrees, hand at her lips; about to erupt in another fit of laughter.

He licks his lips in exasperation, sarcasm at the ready. "You know I would've thought your sense of humor would have evolved into something more stable by now."

She steps back also to send him a pointed look. Her eyebrows lower coming off as mildly uninterested in his comment. "Austin, you are the very proof that evolution can go backwards."

"I love you, too," he deadpans.

She just beams at him and connects their hands again as a way of apology. And it's exhilarating, really. The feeling of her slightly clammy hands coming together with his, he briefly thinks he's able to feel her pulse, but all of that gets pushed out of his mind because she is smiling so radiantly up at him that he cannot think straight.

"Think we'll be able to handle this, boyfriend?" she asks with a sultry smile, probably getting a kick out of what she's able to do to him. He returns the smile, chuckles erupting from his system.

Then, in one swift motion he pulls her close, his arms encircling her waist and her hands flying to his shoulders in surprise. He pecks her lips quickly before leaning back to give her a suave grin; his eyes practically dancing with mischief.

"I think we'll be able to balance it."

A/N:

This is long. I have a lot of emotions. Bear with me.

There will be no sequel. A future one shot is most unlikely—not entirely out of the question—but extremely unlikely. It is done. This is the bittersweet end.

I don't know if I should be, but I am honestly very proud to have finished this. The marks the very first multi-chapter I ever finished. Finishing this story, I truly feel like a chapter of my life has just ended.

A part of me is super ecstatic that I won't have to worry about updating this story anymore, or have to open this file, all the while moaning overdramatically in exaggerated despair.

The other part of me is ready to tear up at the thought of never seeing this story pop up in the recently updated filter—not that this story was particularly well known for being updated regularly.

I hereby officially apologize for all the waiting I made you guys do. I had some really memorable moments laughing over death threats I received to update. This has been amazing. I want to tell you all how much it means to me that you guys care so much about this story.

Thank you all for following along with these two crazy lovebirds and this overused plot.

I still cannot believe the amazing response I received for this story.

This story has introduced me to this wonderful fandom, and I'm sure you're used to seeing this name by now but Caroline, I dedicate this story to you. Thank you for all your editing, suggestions and hard work you put into this. No one was more patient than you.

You people are all super sweet and I cannot wait to write for this fandom again.

On a final note: You guys were expecting a longer epilogue, weren't you? Trolololololololololololol.

(Happy Canada Day!)