Stronger Than Fear

By Scopsowl

Ally was sitting at the old piano in the practice room in her father's store, Sonic Boom. Her fingers effortless moved across the keys which produced comforting music that filled the room. Ally's brown eye were mesmerized by the music, and felt as though she were one with it. It was the best song she had written so far and has been keeping it to herself. The song itself made her feel as free as a bird, soaring in a clear blue sky, with no fear of falling.

Her song had ended and Ally put her hands on her lap and sighed quietly to herself. She did like her song a lot, and was proud of it, but she was just down in the dumps right now.

The sound of a pair of clapping hands was behind her, causing Ally to jump up from where she sat. She whirled around, and saw Austin briefly before she tripped over the bench for the piano.

"Owwwwwwwieessss...AUSTIN!" she angrily shouted, from the awkward position she had landed in on the floor. Ally managed to straigten her body out before Austin hurries over.

"Ally, are you ok? That song you played was awesome by the way!" Austin said offering Ally a helping hand. Ally glares at him before taking his hands and being pulled to her feet.

"Austin, you can't keep doing this to me! I nearly had a heart attack! ... And thank you." Ally said immediately slipping her hands from his, still fighting down the anger from the intruder.

"Why not? It was just me." Austin said with his special smile he only did for Ally. That smile of his immediately made Ally calm down.

"All right, all right. You just took me by surprise." Ally said putting her hands on her hips, and was now smiling herself.

Ally eyes became narrowed as she looked away, and her smile went as quickly as it had came. Austin knew that look.

"Alls..." he said softly, her name didn't quite sound as inquiring as he would have liked.

"I can't stop thinking about Dallas..." Ally quietly murmmered, her soft doe eyes glazed with tears.

Austin took a few steps towards Ally, closing the space between them, enveloping her into a ginger hug. Ally buried her face into Austin's chest while her arms just limply hung at her sides.

"I know, Alls... Not everyone can see just how wonderful you are. He doesn't matter anyway." Austin said softly into her hair, rocking her gently in his arms.

Dallas had found a girlfriend after Trish's Quinceanera, leaving Ally with a broken heart, considering how long she had been crushing on him. It was no secret either, Dallas would be a complete idiot not to know that Ally was trying to express her feelings to him, no matter how awkward she could get around him.

Austin hated seeing his best friend breaking apart like this. It broke his heart as well. Austin was alarmed when Ally began quietly sniffling, and she began to let shaky braethes. Austin soothingly rubbed Ally's back as she cried all over his shirt.

Ally broke the hug, but Austin's gentle hands cupped her shoulders, giving her no choice but to look at him. Ally wish she had chosen to look at the ground, because Austin's pained expression wasn't making her feel any better. Austin gave Ally a reassuring smile.

"Let's go get icecream or something, okay Alls?" Austin suggested, his brown eyes looking into Ally's warmly. Ally couldn't bring herself to say no. Knowing Ausitn just wanted to be the good friend that would make her feel better, she finally answered him.

"That'd be nice." she lied. Austin didn't seem to noticed as he excitedly grabbed Ally's hand and guided her down the stairs and to the front door. Ally locked up the store doors and the two were on their way to get some icecream.

"I can't believe Dallas has a girlfriend after all we went through! I thought he might actually be into me. It just makes me mad, really. I have liked him for so long, and was so close to having something with him... What is wrong with me? How could I ever believe a guy like Dallas would want to be with a girl like me?" Ally began viciously fuming on their walk to the icecream stand.

A few people stared at her causing Ally to nibble on her hair out of embarassment. Austin raised his eye brows and his eyes became wide. Ally was talking to him as if he was Trish! Austin let everything Ally had just said register in his mind. Ally looked over at her friend and felt totally embarassed.

"Oh no, I've said too much!" Ally remarked looking as pale as a ghost.

"Alls, I was just thinking, that's all. You know you can talk to me about anything." Austin said sincerely.

"And who woudln't want to be with a girl like you? You are fun to be around, write amazing songs, you're extremely talented, pretty... You don't need a guy like Dallas when you have m-" Austin trailed off feeling his face redden.

Ally laughed for the first time since Austin saw her this morning.

"Hey, I got you to laugh!" Austin cheerfully noted, letting what he said slide from his boyish mind.

"I guess I can try to stop thinking so much about Dallas." Ally said. Ally noticed that Austin was beaming like the kids who got all the gold stars did.

"Hey, there's the icecream stand!" Austin said with his Ally-smile on his lips. He grabbed Ally's hand and hurried over to the icecream stand, while Ally was clumsily trying to keep up with him dragging her. Ally finally concluded he was just happy they were getting icecream, as Austin excitedly joined line. Ally looked down at her hand in his, quickly pulled hers away from his earning herself an embarassed glance from Austin.

After they got their icecream they walked around the park talking about Dez's antics.

"Trish ate his gingerbread family, again?" Ally asked, amused.

"Yeah, he almost cried about it this time. You won't believe what Trish did for him! She made him a gingerbread house for when he makes a new ginerbread family!" Austin laughed.

"Wow, Trish, doing something nice for a change?" Ally commented then licked her fruity mint swirle icecream.

"Crazy, right?" Austin says smiling eating the last of his cone already.

"How did you eat that so fast?" Ally asks in disbelief. Austin shrugs, flipping his hair so that his bangs fell across his forhead neatly. Ally would have asked how he flipped his hair just the right way, but her eyes catch the sky, noticing how incredibly cloudy and sunny it was. Austin doesn't take his eyes off of Ally.

"What's up?" he said laughing at himself a little for the bad joke.

"We have to watch clouds, Austin!" Ally exclaimed dropping her icecream cone on the ground.

"Whoa, Ally. Austin Moon doesn't do clouds, remember?" Austin said remembering the time they watched clouds together the first time.

"Oh come on big shot, and watch clouds with me! Just give it another chance. You might like it this time!" Ally said, her excitment growing only while Austin looks even less impressed. Ally's big doe eyes got wider and she pouted her bottom lip.

"Pleassseeeee?" Ally begs just like a little kid would.

"All right, I'll watch clouds with you." Austin sighed his shoulders dropping. Then a light bulb went off in his head, that brigthened his situation. This time it'd be just Ally and himself, laying in the grass together. Austin stopped himself realizing how ridiculous the thought sounded, even in his head.

Ally picks out a spot in the grass, and the two settle down there, lying side by side so that their shoulders are just touching.

"Oh look, look, a pickle!" Ally says in delight, pointing at, well a cloud. Austin squinted at the cloud as if it would change it into a pickle.

"Where do you see a pickle, Alls?" he asked, confused.

"Austin, how can you not? Just focus and you'll see something. How about we take turns? Now what do you see?" Ally says a little sternly.

Ally's mind keeps shouting all the pictures she sees in the clouds as Austin takes his prolonged turn. What is taking Austin so long anyways? Ally looks over and catches Austin staring at her. Austin quickly looks away, blushing fiercely.

"Sorry..." he says with a sheepish laugh. Ally looked away as soon as Austin did feeling a tickle in her stomach. What was that? And why was he just staring at me like that? I hope he hurries up and takes his turn! Ally's mind is racing and misses what Austin says.

"What did you say, Austin?" she asks quickly, taken by surprise.

"I see a dolphin." Austin said again, nodding up to the sky. Ally looks at the cloud that is passing, her head following the dolphin shaped cloud, until she felt something warm against her face. Ally's eyes roll over to catch a glimpse of what her cheek was touching, and nearly jumped out of her own skin when she noticed it was Austin's cheek. Abashedly, they both inch away from each other, putting much needed space between them.

"Wow Austin! I thought you'd never get the hang of this!" Ally said sheepishly.

Austin had no idea how much time has gone by, but he was actually enjoying cloud watching with Ally now. Everytime he stated what he saw, and Ally also saw that, her reactions were priceless. Sometimes she'd tug on the sleeve of his shirt, sometimes she would ruffle his hair in approval. She's adorable... Wait, stop it! She's just my friend... My friend who is very special to me, and I never want to lose her. Austin reminded himself for what seemed to be the hundrenth time today.

For a moment the sky was completely clear now, revealing a blue canvassed sky. Austin looked over at Ally, and she returned his gaze. Their faces were only inches away...

Austin wanted to reach over and take her hand in his, but mentally he scolded his hand for wanting Ally's.

"Don't tell anyone I enjoyed this, please!" Austin said playfully to break the awkwardness between them.

"Oh... I guess it'll be our secret..." Ally said with a friendly smile on her lips. Austin rolled over onto his side and gave Ally a mischevious look. Today was fun and all, but he needed to hear her laugh her butt off before the day was over.

"Austin... Austin? Did I say something wrong?" Ally said nervously as his intimidating grin grows wider. Austin swings himself over Ally in one fluid movement, startling her the second before his fingers moved quickly over her ribs, tickling her.

Ally begins to laugh madly as his tickling progresses, attempting to say his name through fits of giggles, failing miserably.

Austin fingers stop moving and just lie on top of Ally's stomach, as his lips break into a huge toothy smile. Ally attempts to look annoyed but all the laughing must have softened her right up, so she just smiled at him.

"Don't-Do that!" she manages to say before wiping her tears of laughter away. Austin is still above Ally and her face turns a little pink and she feels jolts of eletric butterflies moving through her body.

Ally playfully pushes Austin to side, and he lets himself roll next to Ally, the grass cushioning him. They both look at each other and let little laughs escape their throats.

Today was a lot of fun, wasn't it Alls?" Austin said breathelessly.

"Yeah, I had a lot of fun. I don't want it to end..." Ally said dissapointment raw in her voice.

"It doesn't have to end! Let's go back to Sonic Boom and hang out there for a while." Austin says getting up. He offers his hands to Ally, which she takes and is lifted up by his strong arms.

"What are we going to do back at Sonic Boom?" Ally asks wondering what Austin had in mind.

"You'll see!" Austin smiled at Ally.

In the practice room the two drank from juice boxes and munched on dill pickles. Ally was surprised to see Austin eat pickles, and something with fiber in it at that.

"Are you ready?" Austin asks.

Ally stood up from the opposite side of the couch they were chilling on and put her hands on her hips.

"At least I told you what we were going to do, Austin. Please tell me!" Ally pleaded, watching Austin stand up from his end of the couch. Austin's fingers turn the dial on the stereo, a slow song began to softly play from the speakers.

Ally has no time to feel surprised as Austin walked up to her, stopping only inches in front of her.

"You want to dance with me?" Ally asked, baffled.

"Only if you wanna." Austin said.

"But I am horrible, don't you remember the la-" Austin put a finger on Ally's lips, stopping her in mid sentence, since he knew where she was going with this.

"Ally, dancing with you is super fun. And you're not that bad." Austin comments, removing his finger from her lips when he is finished speaking.

"Austin, you sprained your ankle because I was so bad!" Ally quickly explained, worry and embarassement etched across her entire face. Austin shrugged, making Ally even more flustered. How could someone be so nonchalant about everything?

"I have an idea Ally, you just have to trust me on this one." Austin says remembering the last time he told her she could trust him he accidentally dropped her on the ground during their dance. Ally frowns, as if the memory crossed her mind simontaenously as Austin remembered it. Austin looks exaggeratedly looks around the room, then his eyes land on her puzzled ones.

"No blow horns here! So you can totally trust me." Austin told her. Ally looked up at him with with a softened expression and a shy smile.

"Ok, I trust you." Ally cooed with that same sweet expression.

When Austin was closer to Ally, he noticed how much more relaxed Ally was. He looks into her eyes, and sees that a blush creeps up on Ally's face. At their new closeness, Ally became timid, her eyes becoming interested with their shoes. When Ally is not looking Austin puts his hands on her waist, gently picking up a surprised Ally and placing her feet on his. Ally gawks at Austin, her expression settled on puzzled as they stood like that for a few moments longer as Austin let Ally take in what was happening.

Their eyes are still locked as Austin takes one of his hands off her waist, takes one of her hands, and puts it on the nape of his neck. His hand gently returns to her waist. Ally gets the picture and wraps her other arm around his neck.

Austin begins to move his legs so that he was dancing with Ally on his feet, all while Ally clung to his neck for dear life.

"Since you wanna play safe, missy..." Austin says a little huskily. As much as Ally wanted to take her eyes away from Austin's, she couldn't stop herself from gazing into his eyes. Austin's eyes are so innocent and gentle right now.

Austin moves them around the whole room in slow circles, making sure not to lose his grip on Ally's waist. Ally rests her chin on his shoulder enjoying this new way of "dancing." The security in his arms was like no other.

The last song comes to an end to the playlist Austin had made prior to this moment. Ally wondered why Austin had gone through so much trouble for her. At some point during the dance, Austin had moved his arms so they towered Ally's back in a bear hug Ally lifts her head and looks into Austin's eyes. He looks like he was lost in thought.

"Austin?" Ally said his name to recieve his attention. Austin looked at Ally and gave her that special smile for the third time today.

"See, you aren't a bad dancer." Austin says with a goofy look on his face. Ally smiles.

"You did all of the work, Austin." Ally points out. Austin simply laughs at this.

"I love days like this." Austin said helping Ally off of his feet. Ally's heart pounded at the world love coming from his mouth. Austin is my friend! He wouldn't say those words to me. And why would I want to hear that from Austin when... nevermind... Ally dismissed her thoughts, nearly thinking of a certain someone she would rather forget even exsisted.

"Me too! Thanks for giving me the best day in weeks." Ally sincerely told Austin, throwing her arms around his neck bringing him into a hug. Austin enthusiastically returned Ally's hug, enjoying the warmth of her body against his. Austin felt disapointed when he felt that warmth leave him.

"It's getting late out. I don't want you walking home in the dark alone!" Ally fretted.

"Ok mommy! I won't forget to brush my teeth before I go to bed tonight either!" Austin grinned good naturedly. Ally playfully swatted Austin in the arm, with a smile.

"Well, I'll see you tomorrow then?" Ally asked.

"Of course, Ally-cat!" Austin said grinning.

"But don't you need to walk home too?" Austin asked, concerned.

Ally shook her head, though she appreciated how much Austin cared about her. It would take some time getting used to, since she often felt not many people did care for her. Even Trish, Ally's best friend, could be utterly unsupportive.

"No, I was gonna stay the night here. I might play more piano before I go to bed." Ally replied.

"Ok! Well, night Ally!" The blonde-headed boy made a peace sigh with his right hand before leaving the room.

Ally sat at the piano and thought about todays events. Austin was such a good friend to her. With that final thought, Ally played her piano once more before she went to sleep on the couch with some peace of mind that night.

What did you think? Do you think Ally still likes Dallas?