Like a Playboy

Chapter Ten – Her Sort of First Date with Him part two

-x-

Summary: He's always been some sort of a playboy & she's always been some sort of a goody-two-shoes. But it's okay 'coz it's her & it's him & somehow, they still fit to be the perfect two. Austin&Ally. Auslly. AU.

Rating: Rated T for strong language & drunk scenes :)

Inspiration: Well, it's a cliché idea but, I've wanted to put Austin into that playboy kind of character for awhile now but, I just really hadn't conjured up a good plot for a fic so, I didn't. But after a little incident down town with my friends, I finally got it! & well, here's what came out of it :P

A/N: Hello! Welcome to Austin & Ally's date part deux of trois. & if you don't speak French, it means this is the second part of three parts & it's a pretty weird chapter to be quite honest with you all. Erm, I'll explain most of the end bit later on but for now I just wanna say this is inspired by the songs 'Superhero' by Cher Lloyd, 'Baby Blue Eyes' by Rocket to the Moon & some other things... Anyway, I really don't have anything else to say so, enjoy? & I'm sorry for any f-bombs I drop 'coz there might slightly be a lot in this one. Okay. Don't forget to review ^^ & erm, I slightly renewed another technique near the start & I don't know if it worked so, tell me what you think? :) Oh, & warning, not beta-read properly so if you hate mistakes that much, just wait 'til Monday, 'kay? :) & btw, I used this chapter as a practice for the next one so erm...yeah. Just thought I'd let you guys know.

Disclaimer: Don't own Austin&Ally & I never will but one of these days, I'll meet Ross Lynch & Laura Marano in person :)

-x-

Austin had a kind of effect on Ally that no other person has. To her, he was the drug that takes her way high on cloud nine — standing right at the very top of the mountains — giving her sweaty palms, blushing cheeks, a butterfly-filled stomach and an incredibly fast-beating heart. He was the boy that made her smile (a lot a lot) for no special reason and the one boy that made her feel so damn nervous yet safe and secure all at the same time.

She sees his smile and she just feels like melting on the spot and when he gives her that playfully flirty wink of his, she feels herself almost fainting. His eyes are so beautiful to look at and it makes her wonder how she got to be so lucky to be able to see the sparkling brown that they really are. And she knows it's been through her mind a million and one times how his bleached-blonde hair is so perfectly messy but, she just can't help but not get over it.

(Mostly because she thinks no person who bleaches their hair that much could ever have hair still so perfectly soft and perfectly fluffy and perfectly perfect.)

She loves his voice most of all. The angelic cliché that she calls it doesn't even scratch the surface of how amazing that boy's talent really is. And whenever she hears him sing — like that time they wrote that song or when she hears him silently hum some unfamiliar tune to himself when he thinks she's daydreaming and not paying attention — she can't help but just feel so contented because his voice was just that calming and just that amazing.

But she knows he's not all that perfect. She knows that beneath the rainbow and pot of gold — don't even ask — front he has, he's a right mess.

She knows he's a crazy-ass drunk — she has yet to find out exactly why — and she also knows that he's the type of guy who likes to run away when the problems come crashing at him. She knows he's incredibly violent and wreckless and stubborn and that he worries her way too much.

She knows all the fucking mess that he can be and she doesn't care — she doesn't mind one bit at all — because to her, he was one beautiful disaster.

(Of course she'd never tell him that 'coz she knows he'll just laugh and think she's crazy.)

So as they both sat together on the swings at the park — with the breezy wind gently blowing pass them, carrying that contented and comfortable silence wrapped up within it's air — she just couldn't help but stare up at him and think to herself all the wonderful things he was that he probably didn't see within him.

My God, he's beautiful.

He turns his head a little to look back at her and for a few seconds — maybe even minutes — their brown eyes were staring off at each others; both minds set on deep thinking and musings. The temperature rose a little bit and Ally could feel her cheeks go red while Austin felt his palms start to sweat. Little by little, their heads were leaning into each other, their lips sparking up in high voltage — impatiently waiting for that hype of a touch to happen with all the cliché of sparks and fireworks — whilst both of them shut their eyes close in the heat of the moment.

And just when they both thought their thin line of friendship had been crossed — with their lips exactly three centimeters apart — a small droplet of the beginning of a light showering rain fell onto Ally's nose, making her snap her eyes open.

"Austin." She called out to him, making him raise his eyebrow up in confusion as he kept his eyes closed.

Ally sighed while getting up the swing, more droplets of rain falling as she lightly patted his cheek with her warm hand. He slowly opened his eyes to stare at her in question but she just smiled at him — her small genuine smile — before pointing up towards the sky. He looked up and felt water drop down onto his eyes, causing him to wince yet smile at the same time as she just laughed and grabbed his hand, pulling him out of the swing and dragging him away.

"You wouldn't want to get sick now." She tells him blissfully with her hair dripping wet as the light shower of rain turned slightly heavy.

"Nope." He mutters, holding tight her soaking wet hand that still felt warm under the mask of the freezing cold water.

She pulled him with her, silently watching him from the corner of her eye as he took off his letterman jacket — making it obvious his well-toned muscles as his red shirt stuck to his skin — before he draped it over her head and hugged her from behind, wrapping one arm around her neck.

"Are you cold?" He asked her in a whisper, burying his nose down to the crook of her neck.

"A little bit." She says, halting her walk as the feel of Austin's warm body radiated off onto her. "You?"

"I'm fine." He says and she could feel him smirk against her sensitive bare neck. "You keep me warm."

"Don't you need your jacket?" She asks, holding tight his hand as her throat went a little dry along with her heart beating a little bit faster than usual.

"Nope." He said curtly, dropping his hold on her down to her waist and tightening it.

"Austin..." She trails off, feeling herself breathless and at lost for words.

"I know the perfect place we can crash to while it's still raining." He whispers as he gave her one very tight squeeze before letting her go.

"Where?" She asks him, tilting her head in that adorable and confused way that never fails to make Austin blush.

"You'll see." He said, grinning at her as well as trying to keep his cool when he felt his cheeks go almost completely red.

Unexpectedly, he pulled Ally towards him before dragging her off to God-knows-where; the grin on his lips still perfectly intact as Ally smiled brightly with her brown eyes gleaming in excitement.

'Coz even though she hated (hated) surprises, this one she thinks will be worth it.

(Mostly 'coz it's Austin Moon and to her, Austin Moon will always be worth it.)

:::

Ally never expected this. Of all places Austin could have taken her to, she would've actually never ever expected it to be here. She knew he was childish but, there really is a thin line between that and actually being insane.

(And it seems like Austin Moon has yet again crossed another one of those ever-so-famous lines.)

So she stood there with her mouth agape, staring off at those four years old children running amok all over the place with their ice cream covered faces and shoe-less little feet. She could smell that delicious and tempting scent of the greasy food being cooked down there at the corner where adults had their small little talks and she could hear the sounds of plastic hitting plastic as them little devil kids dived into the pool of plastic balls.

Her eyebrow shot way up in question and she really did start to wonder about Austin's sanity. Her eyes were wide in amazement, amusement and comical disbelief as the boy beside her grinned proudly whilst he excitedly looked over the vast indoor play pent.

"Isn't this so cool?" He asked, the eager giddiness he felt clearly evident in the tone of his voice.

"Why?" Was all Ally could let out in such a speechless state. She turned to look at him, the same look still plastered all over her face as she grabbed him by the shoulders and vigorously shook him while she continued to speak on, saying, "Of all places you could actually take me to, why here?"

"'Coz it's awesome here!" He said, playfully rolling his eyes as his mouth continued to form that excited grin. He gently brushed Ally's hands off his shoulder as he spoke and said, "It's awesome here Ally! I mean, you've got delicious food right at the corner, the ice cream's amazing tasting and we can run around crazy wild like these kids and no one would care 'coz the adults' opinions don't matter and no teenager in their right set of mind would ever come here."

"Exactly Austin. No teenager in their right set of mind would ever come here!" Ally blurted out, waving her hands up in frustration.

"Ally, Ally, Ally." Austin said, smirking as he chanted Ally's name out in such a taunting manner that caused a vein to pop up her head. "This is exactly why we're here!"

"Why?" She challenged him, standing up on her tippy-toes — God, the effect the place has on her is already immediate; she said 'tippy-toes'! — to properly glare at his mischievous little eyes.

"'Coz you're so uptight! You don't know how to let lose and have fun!" Austin exclaimed as he waved his hands all over the place, over-exaggerating his exact point. "These kids can definitely teach you how to loosen up and just be for once free! Free of stress from your little morals and whatever the hell rules you've put up for yourself! It's time for you to actually have some fun."

"I am fun!" Ally huffed, standing back flat on her feet — or heels but, it doesn't really matter — as she folded her arms in an irate manner while puffing her cheeks. "I'm super fun!"

"Sure you are." Austin nodded mockingly at her as he rolled his eyes.

Ally was about to open her mouth to protest at him but he just unexpectedly grabbed her by the arm and pushed her down onto the top of the counter. Too in shock of what he did to say anything else, all Ally could do was just sit and stare with her mouth wide open as Austin took her boots off her before he took his own shoes off.

"You'll have fun Ally. I promise." He whispers at her with a soft and longing voice that makes her totally give in. He looked up at her, his eyes pleading at her in all seriousness as a small pout graced his lips. "Embrace your inner childhood. Please? For me?"

She couldn't help it. She had to say 'Yes'. She just had to. Because the begging look in his eyes was too hard to resist and she couldn't turn him down because right from the very moment she met him, she already knew she'd give into anything he wanted. 'Coz like she said before, he's Austin Moon and Austin Moon will (definitely) always be worth whatever risk she takes.

(Not that completely losing her mature sanity by playing in a kids' play pent was any risk or anything — sarcasm highly intended.)

"Yes." She tells him, nodding her head slightly as she bent down to kiss his cheek. "Yes."

"YES!" Austin beamed as he jumped up, accidentally hitting his head off the small counter's roof as Ally laughed a little while the receptionist behind it just rolled her eyes. He brought his hand up to rub the sore spot while wincing and saying, "Ow..."

"Are you okay?" Ally asked giggling, gently putting her hand over his own.

"Yeah." He smiles at her, his whole body frozen on the spot as he felt his cheeks heat up staring at her.

"That's good." She nodded at him, her little giggles softening up a bit.

"Boy and girl; are you gonna go in or are you just gonna stay out here flirting?" The receptionist asked, blowing up pink bubble gum as she checked her manicured little nails in one hand whilst using the other one to lean down on the counter for support.

"Didn't you hear her? She said 'Yes' which means: yes, we're going in!" He shouts out loud, gaining stares from the adults and children but he didn't care 'coz Ally said 'Yes' and to him, that's the only thing that matters right now.

It's the obvious difference between Cassidy and Ally.

Grabbing Ally by the waist, he lifted her up from the countertop and carried her all the way into the play pent while she screamed and shouted at him to let her go as well as trying to suppress her little giggling fit. He smirked before throwing her down into the pool of plastic balls before he himself dived in.

The two teenager's laughter rang contagious through the air as Ally started to throw plastic balls at Austin who effortlessly caught them. He was trying to make his way to Ally in the midst of the laughing and screaming children with the sea of plastic balls while the brunette girl did her best to try and get away from him.

"Catch me if you can Mr. Moon!" She calls out to him, reaching the exit as she jumped out of the pool.

"Will do, Miss Dawson!" He grinned as he grabbed some plastic balls before he threw them at her, causing her to let out a surprised shriek.

"Mean!" Playfully sticking her tongue out at him, Ally ran out of the pool back towards the entrance of the play pent.

She crawled out to the other side and tried to make it through the sea of excited children wrestling each other for those thrown out plastic balls as she made her way over to the slide, looking back every now and then to see if that blonde-haired boy had caught up to her.

After checking that he was nowhere in sight, she nodded to herself before climbing up the rope ladder that lead to the free-fall slide, following a small brunette kid with butterfly wings and a pink frilly skirt. Reaching the top, she rashly sat down at the corner as she sighed to herself in relief, closing her eyes in contentment.

This is actually quite nice.

"Pretty girl?" She heard someone call out as she felt someone tug at the hem of her pink floral dress. Poking one eye open, she saw the little brunette she was following looking at her with pleading puppy-eyes and a small pout on her lips.

"Yes?" She says, sweetly smiling at her as she found herself blush at the compliment that was the name the child had just called her.

"Will you slide the free-fall slide with me?" The little girl asked as she scooted closer over to Ally. She looked down at Ally's floral-patterned dress while mumbling, "I'm too small to go at it alone."

Ally smiled a little, gently bringing a hand up to brush some fallen strands of brown hair off the girl's small cute little face and tucking them behind her little ear.

"Okay." She says, softness laced through her voice as the girl looked up at her and grinned wide, showing her cute little pearly-white teeth.

"Thank you pretty girl!" She exclaimed, wrapping her small little arms around Ally's thin waist and hugging her tightly — as tight as she possibly could anyway — while nuzzling her head to the side of Ally stomach, softly chanting, "You're so nice!"

"Hahaha!" Letting out a soft laugh, the older brunette nodded as she lifted the little girl up before going over towards the edge of slide. "The slide shouldn't be too—"

Ally cut herself off the second she saw the height and state of the slide. Her eyes widened and she almost felt herself let go of the girl as her knees went weak with her whole legs collapsing under her nervous wrecking weight.

The slide was high — really high. And it wasn't just because it was high; it was damn straight as well. As if going down on it would actually mean falling.

Ally couldn't do it. She couldn't go through it. Her cowardice personality was taking over her and her fear of heights surfaced as scarring memories of her childhood replayed back on her mind. Her whole body shook as she held the little girl tighter against her chest, hugging the life out of the girl while sweat dripped down her forehead. Her throat went dry and she can feel her legs go numb with the lack of blood flow as she sat down at the edge of the slide.

Her head was spinning and pounding and her heart hammered hard against her rib cage as she felt herself lose air, making it harder to breathe. She suffocated and choked under her own fear while tears unconsciously formed at the corner of her eyes and she almost felt herself blackout — if not for the warm arms that had suddenly snaked around her whole body, enveloping her in a very secure and protective warmth that sent all the horrible thoughts flying out the window.

"It's okay." Austin whispered to her ear with his voice husky and calming as he held Ally tight. "I'm here so don't be scared."

Her whole body relaxed as her arms went limp, letting go of the confused little girl who had turned to look up at her with a concerned gleam in her eyes.

"Is the pretty girl okay?" She asks in a small little voice as Ally's eyes widened, tears threatening to fall out as Austin smiled a little at the girl.

"Yeah. She is." He says, hugging Ally tighter with one arm as his other hand gently played with her hair. "She's fine."

"But she looks like a ghost." The girl frowned, crossing her arms as she backed a bit, sitting down indian style right across Austin and Ally.

Austin laughed as he rested his chin on Ally's shoulder, rubbing her arm with his calloused finger as Ally sniffed a bit, trying to stop the tears from falling as she gave the cute little girl a small smile.

"I'm sorry sweetie. I can't go down that like I said." Ally smiled apologetically at the girl who just grinned at her.

"It's okay as long as the pretty girl is okay!" She exclaimed, making the two teenagers laugh at her cuteness.

Austin let Ally go as he stood up, sitting right at the edge of the slide beside the older brunette as he let his feet dangle down it. He patted his lap and gestured for the girl to come over which she eagerly did, sitting herself hastily down on his lap.

"The pretty girl can't do it but the cute, handsome and charming boy can." He grinned a cocky little grin as he let his conceit show off a bit while Ally giggled and rolled her eyes playfully at him.

"Okay!" The girl exclaimed as she jumped up and down sitting on his lap. "Thank you!"

"I know." He smiled a little, turning back to look at Ally who scooted close over to him, her lips forming a small little smile. "I'm a nice guy."

"You are." She tells him leaning down to kiss him slightly on the cheek before scrambling up to her feet and crawling back over to her own little corner.

Austin grinned wide before turning his focus back to the slide as he hugged the little girl tightly, whispering 'Careful and don't let go' into her ear before hopping off the slide as they both went down the flat and straight wall of it. The girl screamed out in both terror and happiness as Austin shouted out loud in glee while Ally watched them, laughing to herself there at the corner.

Austin's bum graced a little against the wall of the slide right before they reached the bottom as they slid down pass the last quarter, their screams dispersing all over the play pent. Once they finally stopped sliding against the floor, the girl excitedly stood up as she ran around and jumped all over the place screaming 'I did it'. Austin just stayed sitting down, watching the girl run around in a hyper state as he laughed to himself, his eyes sparking up in amusement.

"Thank you pretty boy!" She shouted, running over to him and hugging him unexpectedly.

The action — and the name — took him by surprise but he settled into it after, hugging her back with a small smile playing on his lips. The girl leaned into his ear and whispered something.

"Take care of the pretty girl 'coz you two are perfect together." She says so softly that Austin barely heard it.

(But he did and it made him happy; extremely incredibly happy.)

"I promise." He tells her as he pulled back, winking at her as she grinned wide.

"Pinky-swear?" She says, holding out her pinky as he just laughed and held his out, wrapping his own pinky around hers.

"I swear." He smiled and with that she let go of his pinky and ran off to God-knows-where, a small little smile adorning her pink lips as Austin sighed in relief and contentment.

He looked up a bit to see Ally waving at him and he smiled, seeing that excited little gleam in her eyes light up her whole entire face. She had a proud and very contented smile gracing her lips as she yelled out a 'Great job Austin' and a thumbs up before leaving to take the long way down.

He brought his head back down to stare at the ground, the smile on his lips slowly dissipating. His hand slowly and unconsciously traced the side of his left leg and he winced slightly, feeling it sting a little. Sighing, he laid back down on the floor of the slide, closing his eyes as he let the pain slowly slip away once again.

Maybe I shouldn't have done that.

He was musing a little to himself before he felt someone else's presence beside him five or so minutes later. Without having to open his eyes, he already knew who it was as the person gently laced their slim and fragile little hand with his.

But it's for Ally so I don't care.

"You did great Austin." The person says as he just smirked a little with his eyes still closed.

"Don't I always?" He said in a swaggering voice as he gently squeezed her hand.

"I guess so." She said, laying down beside him on the slide floor.

They didn't say anything after 'coz no words were needed to be spoken. Their interlock hands were actions loud enough as Ally too herself closed her eyes. Their breathing came out louder than the screams of those wild children as silence drowned out all other noise.

He smiles to himself as he poked one eye open, staring at her from the corner of that eye as she went down into dream world with her heavy breathing and silent smile. He closed his eye once again before letting himself drift off for a little bit, his mind swirling with thoughts of Ally and her bright glowing smile.

It's for Ally and I'd do anything for Ally. That's a fact.

:::

The rain had stopped and the tips of each blade of grass sparkled with the crystal water dews. There's a glow off the pavement and the streets were glossy and shining as the sky up above them turned from the dark and dull gray to the warm mix of purple and orange. They walked down the street with one hand interlaced with the other's.

Ally's floral dress danced with the slight breeze as her other hand held a cone of fruity-mint swirl ice cream. Austin walked in a painfully slow pace, being just a few steps behind her as he busily texted away on his phone. They were wrapped up in an unfathomable silence that was accompanied by the click of Ally's heels against the tarmac ground.

"Where should we go now?" Ally asked, halting her tracks as she turned around to face Austin. She frowned a little as she raised an eyebrow, seeing Austin's eyes glued down staring at his phone. She bit at her bottom lip before deciding to speak again — Austin's silence an answer that she did not welcome — this time asking, "Who are you texting?"

"Just Dez." He hesitantly mumbled, snapping his attention back to her as he hid his phone away back in his pocket. "And we're going to the mall now."

"Just Dez?" She asked him, a scornful little frown daring to dawn on her lips as her eyes flashed at him a dangerous warning.

"Yeah. Just Dez." He casually shrugged, pulling her with him as he continued to walk on.

"It can't be just Dez..." She growled at him, jerking her hand off him as she stomped her foot hard onto the ground. Why she did that, she did not know.

He turned back a bit, quite surprised at her sudden outburst as he stared at her glaring brown eyes, his lips pursed into a tight line. He breathed out a little before turning back to walk on.

"It's none of your business who I text." He muttered, not meaning for her to hear but, she heard anyway and it suddenly struck her speechless and a little bit (a lot) hurt.

"Okay." She whispers lowly, starting to walk away with her head down and her heart aching. Three steps after, she halted before bolting away in full force.

Realization dawned down on Austin as his eyes widened in shock and fear as he watched Ally's back run pass him. He cursed at himself before running after her with his feet making loud thuds against the tarmac ground.

Fuck sake Austin.

"No Ally! I didn't mean it like that!" He shouted after her as he finally nearly caught up with her before she turned back around to look at him with her eyes red and watery.

"Why don't you just tell me if you're texting Cassidy?" She shouted over to him with her lips quivering as he stopped dead on his tracks, his eyes wide in shock. "I don't mind Austin. Just be honest with me."

"Ally I—" He tried to explain but she cut him off with her voice an amplitude higher.

"And I'm not suppose to care anyway if you text her! We're just..." She stopped, looking straight down at the ground while she bit hard at her bottom lip — so hard it started to bleed. She looked up a little, her eyes glistening with unshed tears as she spoke and said, "...friends."

She turned back around to continue running away as Austin stared surprise at her retreating back. His mouth was left hanging open as a million and one thoughts ran over his mind. He didn't even know how or when the conversation turned for the worst.

"What the fuck?" He shouted out before sighing in desperation while he ran a frustrated hand through his messy bleached-blonde hair.

What the hell did I just do?

:::

Confused, alone and completely broken, Ally walked down the glossy streets of the unfamiliar mall with her head down and her nose stuffed. Her eyes were red from all them cried out tears and her hair was still a little damp from the previous shower.

She felt like shit. She felt like utter and complete shit. Why she acted like that, she did not even know and God, she was such a child just running off on Austin like that. She shouldn't have been such a priss about it.

He's right. It wasn't any of my business.

But she couldn't help herself. The sudden clench in her heart when he said that was too much to bare that it just made her take off. It felt like she needed to get away from him and anything she tried to say to fix the matter at hand came out like vomit — word vomit — and she couldn't stop all the poisonous truth she's tried so hard to hide.

(And it didn't help the fact that the first person she could blame it all on was Cassidy — a girl she's never even properly met before.)

She was such a child and she felt so ashamed of herself that she doesn't even want to look at Austin right now. She's too scared of the fact that maybe what she's done has driven him away and that he might say something that would send her completely over the edge.

What if he thinks I like him and doesn't want to be friends anymore 'coz I'm just like all those other girls that flock and fawn over him?

All the negatives thoughts swirled around Ally's little head and she couldn't help but feel herself tear up as all those unwanted possibilities crashed down on her. She sniffed out louder while shutting tight her eyes close as the tears forced their way out of her.

Taking one unconscious step forward, she didn't realize that there was another absent-minded fellow walking her way, causing her to bump into him and his rock-hard chest.

"Oh my god." She mutters to herself, inwardly cursing her clumsiness. "I'm so sor—"

She stopped talking right there as she looked up, only to see a boy with eyes so damn familiar to her. He had on a confused and slightly pained look as he rubbed his temple but his lovely features stood out with his pink and luscious lips complimenting his perfectly shaped nose. She'd know those features anywhere and as she reached a hand up to touch his cheek, she winced 'coz he took a startled step back.

"Austin?" She asked him in a very unsure tone as he just stood there and raised a confused eyebrow at her.

"Who's Austin?" He asked, his lips forming the slightest frown ever.

"What do you mean who's Austin?" Ally asked, frowning a bit as she took one step closer to him. "Are you that mad at me?"

"Sorry m'am but, I'm not Austin." The boy said, scratching the back of his neck as he looked down on her with an apologetic smile.

She was about to protest and tell him off for joking around with her while she tried her best to be serious but, something caught her eye and cut her off. His hair.

Now that she thinks about it, this boy — with the face as handsome as Austin's — actually was a little bit different. His hair was unruly and curly, colored with a light shade of brown and mixed with streaks of blonde and auburn. The shirt he wore wasn't like Austin's plain red t-shirt and he did not have a letterman jacket on him as well. This boy was definitely not Austin.

"Oh." Ally sighed, mentally kicking herself as she brought her head down in shame. "Of course."

"I'm Ralphy Hayes." The boy said, shyly offering her a small smile as she looked up to nod at him.

"Ally Dawson." She simply says before turning around to walk away, trying to save herself from anymore embarrassment.

But, before she could even fully bolt out, he grabbed her wrist and turned her around as she gasped in surprise before she looked up at him wide-eyed. He could only grin down at her in response.

"Are you okay?" He politely asks, his eyes staring at her beautiful brown ones with such amazement.

"Ye—yeah." She stuttered out, feeling herself blush as she turned to look down at the ground. "I—I'm fine."

"Are you lost?" He asked her, tilting his head a bit to the side so that his face was leveled with hers.

"Kind of." She not-so-proudly admitted as she looked down shamefully at the ground.

"I figured as much." He grinned before pulling her towards him.

She gasped once again as she nearly fell — if not for the fact that he had tugged at her to keep her balanced. He chuckled slightly at her clumsy antics while he dragged her off to wherever, the grin on his lips playful as his cheeks tinted itself pink.

"You looked a little dazed." He tells her, still happily walking down pass the closing stores of the mall, unaware of Ally nervously chewing at her hair behind him. He looked back a bit to see if she's okay only to raise an eyebrow the second he came face-to-face with Ally with a mouthful of hair. He smirked before asking, "Are you okay?"

"No." She mumbled, spitting out the hair as she stared hard at the ground. "I'm not okay."

"Do you want to tell me about it?" He asked her, his grin gentleman-like that it would make most girls swoon — had they not been Ally.

"You're a stranger so, no." Ally said curtly, rolling her eyes as she jerked her wrist out of his grasp. "And I got to go."

Ally began her walk away from him but the boy was pretty stubborn and followed after her with his hands in his pocket. He had on a crooked grin and as Ally glanced at him for a split second, she could almost swear she saw a little flash of Austin.

Austin with that smile and Austin with that hair and Austin with that drunk state and Austin with the hero-complex on her and Austin with the everything!

She couldn't help it 'coz even with the fact that she's only known him for two weeks, it doesn't change how she felt for him. It doesn't change the way she feels like melting when he smiles and it doesn't change the sudden fast pace of her heartbeat when they touch. It doesn't change just how much she wants to get to know him and it absolutely does not change the fact that she knows — she knows it so fucking well — that she's in love with him.

I'm in love with Austin Moon.

"I'm sorry, what?" She heard someone call out and she looked up to see Ralphy staring at her with his concerned and confused brown eyes.

"Did I just say that out loud?" Ally asked him, her face seeming passive.

"Yeah." He shrugged as she nodded.

"You know what Ralphy? I'm not okay." She blurts out, finally having had enough of bottling every single thing up inside her. "You wanna know why?"

"Why?" Ralphy asked, his face fear-stricken as his eyes went wide in surprise.

"Because I'm jealous." She simply says. She grabbed his collar unexpectedly and looks him dead in the eye before starting off one of her very infamous rambles. "I'm jealous of a girl named Cassidy who's so fucking flawless and perfect with her pretty hair and gorgeous blue eyes and her cocky smile and the fact that she and Austin may or may not have had a history! I'm jealous of the way he stared at her last Wednesday night and I'm jealous 'coz she probably knows a million and one more things about him than me!"

"Right." He nods, listening intently but not daring to say another word.

"And you know why else I'm so not fucking fine? 'Coz I'm jealous and I'm not suppose to be jealous 'coz Austin and I are friends and only friends but I'm jealous 'coz I have feelings for him that he probably will never ever fucking return!" She shouts loud, now finally letting go of her hold on Ralphy's collar as she started to pace back and forth around the mall.

"Okay..." He trails off with his arms folded, raising up a very amused eyebrow at her as she went on again in another set of rambles.

"And I hate him for making me feel this way! I hate how when I think of him I just wanna curse and curse even when I know rightly well that cursing is wrong 'coz it's improper and it's not nice and it is a sin and it can hurt feelings and it—"

She was cut off in the most unexpected of ways and she couldn't believe just what had happened. Her mouth hung open against Ralphy's soft lips while her whole body stood frozen as he wrapped his strong — and surprisingly muscular — arms around her little waist, pulling her closer to him. Her eyes shut close in contentment as she felt herself give in to the kiss, feeling no cliché or sparks flying at all.

It's his lust to comfort and my lust for comfort.

The kiss was getting rough and Ally was slowly losing her sane state of mind. And no matter how much she wants to stop she couldn't because she has already long let go of her own control over her actions.

But before Ally could let her tongue slip out to Ralphy's mouth, he pulled away, panting as his eyes sparked in contentment. He breathe in deeply as much air as he possibly could before letting her waist go and turning away.

"Go." He mutters, taking his gaze to stare down at the ground.

"Excuse me?" She asked in slight confusion as she tilted her head a bit to look at him and his contemplating face.

"Go find your Austin." He says, lifting his head up a bit to stare down at her, his eyes locking with hers for a short second.

"But I—" She tried to protest but he cut her off.

"I'd feel bad if he lost someone as special as you." He says before turning around and starting to walk away from her.

"But we're not together!" Ally shouts after him, making him stop to turn and look at her with his whiskey-colored eyes.

They're not the same soft brown eyes Austin owns...

"You kissed me and you want me to kiss you again but the truth is, you just want him to kiss you." He said, the tone of his voice lazy and dazed as he turned around again to walk off, away from her. "You're pissed at him and you want someone to comfort you in this one bad time and because he's not here, you used me as a replacement."

I know you'll deny it but, it's the truth and you know it yourself.

"That's not true!" Ally shouted out over to him as his back started to slowly leave her sight.

But it is.

-x-

IMPORTANT!

I know what you're thinking. 'WHAT THE FUDGE IS RALPHY HAYES DOING HERE?' or if you're that naïve, 'WHO THE FUDGE IS RALPHY HAYES?' Well, here's a short and sweet answer, he's the dog food guy from 'Kangaroos & Chaos' episode & I'm sorry, I just wanted to write about him. LOL. He's actually my obsession right now & don't even ask why. My lack of sleep may have caused this... On another note, I like what happened here, just not how I wrote it so, please excuse this crappy chapter. & my God, I couldn't beta-read it properly 'coz I was halfway falling asleep as I read on so, I'll try to beta-read it properly by Monday. 'Til then, just enjoy this update & of course, review. That is all. I'm away to sleep now... & oh, sorry for not updating on Monday. I'm trying to get back on my 'update every Friday' track so...yeah.