It was the night of the St. Valentine's Day Ball; and it had been so much fun he wanted to go back and do it all again. Bringing his little notebook just in case, Austin hadn't reached for it all night to write anything down and part of him was kind of glad about it. Talking with Santo just hours before he left to meet the Nicoletti's, Austin got the notion that he would be bored out of his mind - and that was hardly the case. If he wasn't dancing with Ally, he was dancing with one of the other daughters, or even just with the guys.
On top of the dancing, there was a dinner and it was making him salivate just thinking about it now. There were drinks that he was afraid to try at first, but after the first sip, wanted more and there were more Italian conversations going on than he was used to. There was a costume contest, where the family came in third place, and many single girls trying to pry him and the other 'thorns' away from the 'roses', but he didn't and was glad Ally was by him to tell him to stay and translate everything. He was even glad she was there when he wanted to tear off his Bauta mask because no one actually tells you that it itches.
The whole night? He remembered asking her midway through a slow dance if there was a chance to take it off. There wasn't. All she did was nod and apparently, that was all he needed to go on. Austin kept his mask on throughout the entire evening; throughout every slow, fast and group dance there was. The only time he was allowed to take it off was for dinner and drinks. Ally had warned him about Gianna being sort of a dictator when it came to the balls. The night had to be a certain way and in return, the family had to act a certain way too.
It comes from Silvana, Ally told him, explaining that she got it from her mother too. The Nicoletti's supposedly thought of themselves as almost royalty...and to some extent they were. Ally knew better and now, so did Austin. They still did as Gianna asked though, because on this night, it was fun to think that they were royal. He had a feeling they'd be acting like that at the next event too.
Now, five hours later from when he arrived at the old palace, he was leaving, but not without the girl who invited him. It was two in the morning and they both had to actually work the next day, but he didn't care. So, after promising her dessert and warm coffee from Santoli's, Austin had buried her hand in his and placed it inside his cape's hidden pocket to keep it warm. They warmed up a bit inside the small cafe, before Ally followed him back to his place instead of hers. He hadn't expected her to accept the invitation of coming back to his apartment, as hers was closer to the cafe, but he wasn't actually against it either.
"I hope you're okay with a bit of a mess," he confessed, making sure she was getting up the four flights of stairs behind him okay. The dress she was in took up most of the stairwell and he was thankful no one else was even attempting to exit. Not that they would - it was past three in the morning now.
"I'm sure it's not messier than my actual room is."
"I haven't seen your room, but I'm a guy," Austin reached for her hand, getting her safe on the landing he was waiting for her at. "One more flight."
She looked back at him, grabbing the layers of her dress again. "That's what you said two flights ago. I'm starting to think you're just leading me to the roof and making me jump off the top."
"You jump, I jump," he called back to her, reaching his door faster than she did. Austin pulled out his keys, unlocking each bolt that the door had just as she reached the top step. "Remember, I warned you."
Ally let out a little laugh, the soft white wrap around her shoulders moving slightly over them. "Just open the door."
Austin did as she asked, and let her go ahead, not going to even bother to try and clear a path. He had warned her and he was also pretty sure her dress would clear one for her as she entered. It honestly wasn't as bad as he made it out to be. Sure, there were piles of songbooks and crumpled up balls of paper in every corner of the living area, stacks of records from Guisto he still had in his possession by the portable record player he borrowed from Santo and newspapers that were making a nice little home all over his dining room table that he never used; but other than that, the place was still looking good. He was just thankful he actually did his laundry the other day, because if she had come over then, it would've been a whole other story.
He passed by Ally, tossing his keys into the convenient bowl on the little table by the door and slipped off his cape, taking the bag in his hands straight to the kitchen. Suzetta had put a few different pasties inside and he was anxious to see which ones. Lighting up, Austin stole the key lime one from the lot before Ally spotted it at all and stuck it in his mouth.
"Save me the blueberry one," Ally told him, looking around his place before coming into the kitchen space. "I saw her put one in there and if it's in your mouth, we're going to have issues."
Austin smiled up at her and pulled out the tart she mentioned.
"Your apartment is nice."
"Thanks," Austin swallowed his bite, brushing away the crumble around his lips. "When I first got here, I didn't expect it to be like this."
"Like an apartment?" she raised an eyebrow at him.
"Don't judge me, but I had this vision of it being more...Italian. I thought it would all be separated rooms and smaller..."
"You were expecting a view of the Grand Canal?"
Austin smiled at her, as she tried to take a seat on one of the stools at the breakfast bar. "No, not expecting that. Not all of us are Nicoletti's."
Ally gave up trying to take a seat on the stool and looked around more. It was a good apartment. There was a big open living space as soon as you walked into the door, filled with an older sofa, coffee table and a television. It led into a little dining room with the wall lined with windows, which opened onto a thin balcony that overlooked a smaller canal and a bridge. To the right was the kitchen they were currently occupying, open to everything. It was more modern than the rest of the apartment, with stainless appliances and state of the art cabinetry. In truth, she liked it better than the Nicoletti's kitchen. Their's was huge, but then again, with eight children, it had to be.
Looking over his shoulder, Ally saw the door to the bathroom, which wasn't as tiny as she expected it to be. She also didn't expect him to disappear for a few moments and come back with spare clothes for her to change into. "Thanks."
"They'll be huge on you, but just in case you want to get out of that dress," he set the shirt and pants on the sink, backing out of the room to let her do whatever. Austin took a deep breath, shaking thoughts away about him wanting to help her out of that dress himself. Not tonight. Not when they were tired beyond belief and were tipsy from the drinks at the ball. What the hell were those anyway?
Ally shut the door on him, just as he saw her pull out one of the many pins from her hair, letting it fall down her back. Austin tore back into the bag from Santoli's, grabbing another tart to shut his urges up. Yes, he was the one who invited her back here. Yes, he wanted to turn whatever they had into more. Yes, he was a chicken. He was the biggest chicken he knew. Ever since his big break and split with Jamie, Austin had thrown himself into music. Putting himself back out there, even if he was Austin Moon, was something he'd been terrified of. But he liked Ally. He liked her a hell of a lot.
Turning about, he pulled out the white wine he had in his fridge. Might as well pair the delicious tarts with even more delicious wine. He started to busy himself about the kitchen, getting a second wind, even though it was insanely late, before the bathroom door opened again. Gone was the purple dress from her petite frame and in exchange, she was being swallowed by his clothes. Half of her hair was still pinned up, and Austin couldn't help but stare back at Ally, wearing his old ACDC shirt and a pair of his sweats that if possible, made her look even sexier than the dress had. He choked back his want and took a drink of the wine he had poured.
"Do, do you have a hanger or something I can put this giant thing up on? Silvana can resell it at the shop," Ally asked and he nodded, heading back into his room for a minute before returning with a random hanger from the wardrobe he didn't use. Putting it up on the back of the bathroom door, he offered her a drink as well.
They sat down on the sofa, once he had moved some of the songbooks, and sipped on the drinks in their hand. "Did you enjoy your first Carnevale ball?" she asked him.
"Yea, I did. I wasn't expecting how it ended up being."
"You thought of royal balls and stuffy dances, right?" Ally bit her lip, holding back the cute giggles he liked. "Like those old movies about Cinderella and minuet dances. I'm not wrong, am I?"
Just a bit embarrassed by his assumption, Austin nodded. "Santo might've put that vision in my head, though. I blame him and I'm glad it wasn't. But, your dancing skills..."
"I told you I'm a horrible dancer."
"I don't think horrible is the right word for it, Ally." It wasn't. It was more extreme and disastrous than anything else. She was okay during the slow dances when someone had a handle on how she moved and where she moved, but the fast songs...that's where it went from elegant to extreme. Arms were everywhere, flying and hitting people. Her feet were stepping on everyone else and causing major damage...in fact, his toes were still throbbing thinking about it.
"I'm glad you had fun." She brought her legs up on the sofa, pulling them close to her after the last pin had come out of her hair. Ally threaded her hands through it once more before she leaned her head back on the couch, her eyes slipping open and close every so often.
"Thank you for inviting me," he said, truly meaning it. "You should take my bed. Get some sleep."
"Yea," she said, but wasn't moving an inch. Instead, she got comfortable right where she was - close to him; close enough where if he wasn't careful, she could very clearly hear his heart beating out of his chest.
+++
This was not her bedroom. Her bedroom had more than just one window and when it was morning, you knew. This was a little window with a very deep blue curtain over it and there was absolutely no way light could get through it. This bedroom was also smaller, much smaller, with a flowery comforter spreading across her body. Ally didn't know what time it was, or how long she had slept, but she thought back to the night before - the ball, the dancing, Austin in a cape...and going back to his place.
That's where she was - at his place. In his bedroom, covered up with a comforter that looked way too girly for Austin Moon. Peaking underneath just to make sure, she was still dressed...in his clothes.
She could do this, she could remember everything. They hadn't drank that much at the ball, or rather she hadn't. She knew what was in those drinks and if she wanted to impress her professors later today, there would be no drinking more than two of those cocktails. Then she remembered treats and him giving her clothes and wine...damn it, white wine. White wine always messed with her brain and why she drank it with him, she didn't know. She was sure nothing else happened last night. Austin wouldn't do that. Since they've met, she had gotten to know Austin pretty well and he definitely would not do anything like that...but she still wanted to make sure.
Slipping out of the bedroom, Ally was surprised to see the apartment in clear light. Gone were the stacks and mountains of paper and in their place were clean surfaces. He had cleaned the apartment while she was sleeping. Her feet led her to around the corner where Austin was at the breakfast bar, headphones on and plugged into his keyboard. She didn't know how long he had been up or how long she had actually been asleep, but it was very bright outside and he had at least a full songbook filled with notes and lyrics that she was trying to read from her spot behind him.
Ally listened to him hum the tune, his fingers running over the keys and she was instantly taken with it. She didn't have to know what the song was about or any of the lyrics that went with it. Just the way the notes melted together was enough for her to like it.
"Behind your sweet smile, are confident words," his voice resonated throughout the entire apartment, not once wavering away from the music. "I saw room for me and I wanted to say things that you've never heard."
They were beautiful lyrics and she wanted to let him finish. More over, she wanted to slip in and kiss him then for writing such beautiful words. She had no reason to believe that they were about her or anyone in particular. But someone should kiss him for writing them down. Softly placing her hand on his shoulder, he looked over at her and pulled the headphones from his ears.
"Morning."
"Morning. That was beautiful Austin."
He scratched the back of his neck, a bit nervously. "Thanks. It's one that I've been struggling to finish for a while." Austin took the headphones off completely and turned towards her again. "Sleep well?"
"Yea, um...how did I get in your room? I last thing I actually recall right now is me nodding off on the sofa," Ally pointed back to the living area.
Austin nodded. "I carried you in. You're a heavy sleeper."
It was Ally's turn to choke back her nervousness. "Oh. Thanks."
"Of course."
There were questions in her eyes and she could see him trying to pry them out of her. "Okay, just like fifteen more questions and you can get rid of me. I promise," she said, taking note of his own chuckle at her statement. "What time did we stay up to? Where's the dress? What time is it now? Did we do anything other than talk? Are you still up for the next ball? Why did we drink white wine, and where's my blueberry tart?"
"Okay..." Austin led her over to the other stool, making her sit down before getting up himself and getting her some juice from the fridge. "It was about four when I took you in my room, so a bit before that. The dress is still in the bathroom, hanging on the door, along with my costume that I'm hoping you can take back to Gianna, too," Austin took a breath and checked his watch on his wrist. "It's currently ten twenty six in the morning. Yes, I'm still going to the next ball. You ate the blueberry tart last night and white wine is all I actually have. It was a gift from Santo when I first got here."
Ally nodded, processing everything he told her. "What about...did anything happen between us?"
"What do you mean? Besides talking and you crashing out on me, no," Austin said, coming back around the bar as she sipped slowly on the juice he had served her. "Ally, I wouldn't do anything to screw our friendship up."
And there it was. Ally thought she had read all his signals right. He had almost kissed her not once, but twice and now this...maybe she wasn't reading them as clear as she thought. Just a few minutes ago, she was worried about if something did happen and now that she knew that nothing did, Ally found herself wanting something to happen. She wanted something else to happen with her and Austin. Sucking in a breath and nodding, "I know you wouldn't," her voice a little sorrowful. "White wine just likes to mess with my brain a bit and I just wanted to make sure."
Austin leaned closer to her and before she knew what the hell was happening now, his lips were on her forehead. If he wasn't still just a friend, she would think this was sweet and a major boyfriend thing to do. "I have to be at the conservatory in like an hour."
Ally sucked up the disappointment she was feeling right now and nodded at him, ignoring the fact that his hand was still at the small of her back and giving her even more mixed signals. "Yea. I have an appointment at the university later too. I should get back home and clean up."
Austin kissed her forehead again, scooping up the songbook that was lying on top of the keyboard before putting it down again and escaping to his room. Ally didn't want to be there when he emerged. Taking the dress and costume from the bathroom door, she scribbled a note on his songbook and slipped out of his apartment. She wasn't going to risk having a breakdown in his apartment, in front of him. They were just friends. That's all they were.
When Austin came back out of his room, a new jacket around his body, he called himself a few names after she left. Stupid, idiot, and jerk were only three of them. He picked up his songbook again, doing a double take at the note she had left.
I wouldn't have minded if something did happen last night.
Yea, he was the stupidest idiot jerk in Italy right now.