La Serenissima

Defining The Relationship

His voice kept singing the words he had written down in the microphone, headphones over his ears as he listened to the chords. The clock's turning around, and you're still playing these games. It's such a waste to bring me down, down, down, don't being me down cause...hey girl, I wanna catch your wave.

Austin let his worries drift away with the upbeat tempo. He didn't see Ally enter the studio until he was on the last chord and he waved at her while she greeted Santo. The university wasn't far from the conservatory and he had assumed that they would meet later at Santoli's, but he wasn't against seeing her now. He'd never be against that, especially when she was looking hot as hell despite the cool weather outside. Austin hurried the last lines of the song, pulling the headphones off as soon as he could and swept her up in a kiss as soon as he opened the door of the booth. They had only been apart for, well, most of the day, and he was amazed how fast he could miss her beside him. It wasn't long before Santo left them for a date of his own and Austin was leading her up that grand staircase she had been admiring since her first visit and up to the rooftop.

"How was your day?" he asked her, looping his arms around her middle as she leaned lightly on the railing that lined the perimeter of the building, supporting the stone.

Ally leaned back into him, his mouth lightly brushing her temple. "Tiring. I don't think I thought it through when I took the position. I don't like being a T.A. at all."

Austin laughed at her. "Why not?"

"Mostly because the professor I'm working with has me doing his dirty work. I got to tell three people today that they're masters degrees wouldn't be coming because they failed to get the proper grade on their final papers," she told him as he came to stand beside her. "Worst job ever."

Austin took her hand in his, trying to keep them warm at the same time as just wanting to have it in his palm. "Doesn't sound fun at all."

"It wasn't. Crushing dreams is not what I signed up for, and remember when I told you that arguing in Italian was better than in English? Not so much anymore," Ally let her fingers crawl over his hand. "What about your day? I pray it was better than mine."

"Not to brag, but it was," he smiled up at her. "Recorded five songs today, including some demos of the songs I'm not going to use." He watched as her face lit up at him, like his news wiped all her bad ones away in a minute.

"Austin, that's fantastic. I can't wait to hear all these songs again."

"Soon," he promised her as the drifting sunlight that was peaking out of the gray sky hit him in the eyes. Before he met Ally, the rooftop was a place he loved to come, just for the sunsets alone. Now that she was with him, it made the place that much better. He knew that they would need to talk about what would happen when he was leaving and when she was leaving and if they even had a future outside of Venice...but this place, with the sunset, and with Ally...there was nothing topping that feeling right now.

Austin had thought he knew what love felt like before, but apparently, he didn't. They had only really been dating, if you could call it that at all, for a week. But within that week, every single time he saw her, touched her, kissed her, talked with her, even just being around her was a rush. A complete rush that he liked having. It gave him something to look forward to every day on top of making music and he would be lying if he said that she didn't inspire new lyrics or a new melody that he would wake up in the middle of the night with. He'd be lying even more if you asked him if any of the songs on his new album were about her. They were.