"Ally, c'mon! We said we would meet Trish and Dez at the beach at four, and that's in ten minutes. I thought you said you were ready five minutes ago," Austin called, waiting with one hand on the front door. The blond was decked out in swim trunks and a blue tee shirt, sunglasses resting on his nose.

Suddenly, Ally came around the corner, a frown on her pouty lips. "My toes look terrible," Ally groaned, grabbing the red nail polish off the kitchen table and sitting down, right there on the floor.

"So?" Austin asked, walking away from the door and past her into the living room, which opened out into the kitchen. He sat himself on top of the back of the couch, and removed the sunglasses.

"So, I can't wear flip flops to the beach if my toes are ugly," Ally said, shaping her toenails precisely with a nail file. Austin laughed and she looked up at him. "What?" she asked, moving to her next foot.

"Al, I've watched you leave the house to go to the supermarket with me in sweatpants and your hair in a bun on the top of your head. You told me you don't care what people thought about the way you looked then. What's changed about now?" he asked, looking down at his girlfriend worriedly. Ally wasn't one to live up to society's expectations. She did the things she felt in her heart were right to do, and he loved her for that.

"Yeah, but this is different!" Ally said, uncapping the red polish and avoiding his gaze. He noticed a faint blush touch her cheeks, and his frown turned into a smile. Now he was just curious.

"Ally?" he sing-songed out, coming to sit next to her on the floor. But she just kept avoiding his eyes. "C'mon Al, tell me!" At that, she sighed deeply, and looked up at him. She rolled her eyes, her blush deepening.

"Okay, but it's really dumb."

"No judgements, I swear!" Austin said, scooting closer. Ally looked back down, starting to paint the toes on her second foot. The colour was a deep shade of red, Austin's favourite on the brunette.

"I don't really care about designer labels, or if my hair is looking particularly good at any given time. But I care about my toes. They are small and delicate, and I like them to look nice. I don't know why," Ally mumbled, stretching her legs out to admire her work. As she turned to Austin, ready for ridicule and laughter, she was surprised to see just an amused smile on his face. "What?" she asked, twisting the cap closed.

Austin got up and walked back over to the couch, but when he turned around, the same smile was on his face. "What?" Ally asked again, standing up and walking over to him. When she was standing in front of him, he grabbed her gently by the waist and pulled her closer.

"You, Ally, you are weird. But you are adorable. And that weirdness is why I love you," Austin said before kissing her. His hands came up to cup her face, and the kiss quickly turned from chaste to passionate.

"Wait, wait!" Ally giggled, backing up out of Austin's reach. "You love me because you find me weird?" She was smiling, but her eyes were quizzical.

"Of course!" Austin said, reaching out for her again, but she took another step out of his reach. He sighed, rubbing a hand down his face. "There's these things you do- chewing your hair, your inability to dance, your disgust at yogurt-"

"Gag. It's so gross!" she cut in, but he shook his head, laughing, and continued.

"-your complete ignorance of any of the Lord of the Rings movies, and now your dedication to your toenails. These things are strange, but they make you, you. And I love you because you are you. Does that make any sense?" Austin looked over at her, at little abashed.

Ally just looked at him and smiled. She knew exactly what he was talking about, because she felt the same way about him. She didn't love him despite his differences, but because of them. They made him Austin Moon, her boyfriend of two years and her partner in the music industry.

Moving back towards him, she stood on her tiptoes and her lips met with his, gently. "I love you too," she whispered, placing her hands on his chest and pressing her lips a little harder against his. It didn't take long for his hands to meet her face again, and when they did, he kissed her back.

They'd been saying those three words for well over a year now, but this time felt different. It was almost as if admitting those things to Ally brought them even closer together, and Austin inwardly thanked his big mouth.

Suddenly, a small whimper came out of Ally, and Austin groaned. He knew what that whimper meant. And sure enough, Ally's small fingers found the bottom of Austin's shirt and yanked up. There was no way in the world he would stop her.

He lifted his arms over his head, discarding the garment to the side. Her brown eyes met his, and she smirked at him. "What else do you love about me, babe?" she asked, tracing the muscles in his shoulders. Her featherlike touch made a shiver run down his spine, and he bit his lip.

"You know what I love about you, Al" he whispered, trying to gain back some of the control that was slipping fast. He just went with his feeling, fingering the skinny straps on her shirt, and letting them fall down her arms. She smiled up at him through her lashes, completely unaware of the effect that had on him. But he breathed deep to keep composure.

"Tell me, please" and the last word came out as a whispered beg. Austin could feel his knees weakening, but he leant his body against the back of the couch to steady himself. He ignored her request, and grabbed the hem at the bottom of her shirt, grinning broadly at her before pulling it up and over her head.

"Why don't you tell me what you love about me, huh?" he asked, and he kissed her deeply before she even had time to think of a response. It didn't take long for their kissing to turn heated- the temperature between them was already at a high at the removal of the shirts. Austin didn't stop Ally from unbuttoning his swim trunks, or letting them fall to the ground. In fact, she got impatient and removed her own jean shorts too. He broke the kiss suddenly, "This is not fair, you know that right? I'm stark naked, and you're still in your bikini." He pouted, hands on hips and Ally dissolved into a fit of giggles. "What?" he asked.

"It's just- it's just, this is why I love you," she said, between breaths. She looked at him seriously though. When she got her laughing to stop, she finished. "You go with it. You get caught up in moments and don't realize things until halfway through or even until after, what is going on." She reached behind her neck, and untied her halter top. Then she reached behind her back and untied the tie there and let the flimsy material fall at her feet. "Better?" she purred, loving the look in his eyes as they roamed her small frame.

Austin couldn't form words, so he just nodded, reaching for her. But she backed up again. Sliding her thumbs into the top of her bikini, she paused. "You want to know what else I love about you?" she asked, tilting her head to the side.

"No, it's alright. I'll wait!" Austin said, not taking his eyes off the placement of her thumbs. She could tell he wanted her to just take the bottoms off already, but she wasn't going to give him what he wanted so easily.

"You begged me to tell you earlier. So I will," and at that, she removed her thumbs. He groaned, closing his eyes. She had to stifle a laugh. His eyes opened up to stare at her chest and she quickly crossed her arms in front of herself, blocking his view of her perky breasts and rose coloured nipples. "I love your voice gravelly, like in the song you wrote to get me to fall in love with you. And I love how much you hate olives. But mostly, I love how much you love me. I love how that makes me feel- and you don't even know." Her voice got high pitched, and he lifted his gaze to meet her own.

He started to move forward, ready to hug her, but she dropped her arms and lifted them to his neck, kissing him with such force that he completely forgot about those bottoms or the look in her eyes when she admitted how much she loved him for loving her. All he cared about right in this moment was showing her his love and appreciation of her body, even her adorable little toes. He'd make them curl.

Lifting Ally, Austin moved them both to the couch, but they didn't make it that far, laying down on the living room floor. With each flick of her tongue against his, he grinded his body into hers. There was only one piece of clothing keeping them apart, and Austin ripped it down to break the barrier.

He sat up on his knees, and took a moment to look down at the girl he was so desperately in love with. She was flushed, basked in the glow that comes with ecstasy, and she was blushing, knowing exactly the position she was in. Austin wiggled his eyebrows before kissing down her stomach, placing lingering, wet kisses on the insides of her thighs and moving to her sweet spot, the place of heat that was beckoning him.

"Austin! No- oh!" Ally said, unwilling to allow him to halt in the movements of his tongue. She laced her fingers in the strands of his blond hair and rode the waves of pleasure all the way to climax. She was still shivering and breathing heavy when Austin came up to meet her eye level.

"What was that you were saying, Al?" he asked, smirking down at her glossy eyes, a little out of breath himself. He kissed her, and plunged into her in one motion. Bracing himself on either side of her head, Austin thrust in the rhythm of his heartbeat, using Ally's whimpers and moans as a measure of his success. When it seemed like she was going to come again, he allowed himself release, hitting the brink at the same time she did and falling over the edge in each others arms.

…

An hour and a half later, showered and redressed, Ally and Austin strolled onto the beach, giddy and smiling at each other in that knowing way.

"Where were you guys? I thought I told you to be here at four? It's after six!" Trish exclaimed, looking at her two friends in anger.

Austin looked at the sun that was beginning to set and said, "I guess you're right. We're late." But he didn't look apologetic; he just smiled at the sun. Ally squeezed his hand and he looked over to her. He leant down and kissed her chastely on the lips and she smiled up at him.

"Sorry, Trish," Ally said, not taking her eyes off her boyfriend.

"Unbelievable," Trish said, grabbing a beer out of the cooler and walking over to the bonfire she and Dez had built earlier.

Austin looked up in enough time to catch his ginger friend's eye and see him smirk and shake his head knowingly. And Austin chuckled to him.

"What's funny?" Ally asked sweetly, looking up at him through her lashes again. Austin could feel something familiar stir within him, but ignored it- for now.

"Just admiring your toes, Al," he said simply. Looking down at her toes, he noticed where the red polish was obviously smudged from their actions earlier, and he smiled.