This story includes all the Damilynn, Natarray and Charlat, etc. fluff (and occasionally smut) shots of the Right In Front of You series by Instagram's own psychoducklings, purplebluedoodles, someoneingspm and fel24d. Comments are open!!
Austin awaited her. His rear was placed on the railings if the gazebo as he breathed in the fresh scent of the night air.
He had a scrap of paper stuffed in his fist and the ink blurred as his palm grew sweaty. Austin had practiced for this moment the whole month and did, surprisingly, research about what Alice would say in reply and how he would respond. Of course, he needed help from her friends: Evelynn, Cat and Natalie. The people who knew Alice Stark best.
"Don't sweat it, Austin," laughed a Damien Woodmoore from his mobile phone, "she won't know what's coming."
"But, she's pretty smart too," he rasped back. "In my opinion."
This time, Damien took a long time to regain his sobreness. "Listen, man, the point of the surprise is to make her happy. You don't need to hide anything to put a smile on her face."
"And you're the expert in this?" snorted Austin. "Dude, you can barely uphold your fort in Level 31 in IGBT 3."
"IDON'T WANT TO TALK ABOUT THAT!" Damien shrieked angrily. "She should be there by now. You should go and check on her."
"Damien Woodmoore, don't you dare change the subject."
"I'm serious!"
Deadpan silence.
"Dammit, Damien."
Austin threw his phone back into his pocket along with the flash card. He flung himself off the railings and slid his glasses up his nose before he began to take a sprint.
Where is she? he pondered. The thought dropping on him heavily. His goosebumps prickled him like pins and needles but he didn't care any less.
His thoughts were now set on Alice Stark and why she was falling behind schedule. Austin Blake Johnson had planned for this, now wasn't the time to reschedule.
"AAAAAAH!"
Austin had slammed into someone. Hard. The two fell on the ground, wincing in pain as Austin groped his surroundings for his glasses.
"My back..."
When he had slipped his glasses back on, he stuttered. "Alice..."
"Oh my gosh! Austin! Are you okay?" Alice immediately rose to her feet and began yanking Austin up too. "Sorry for that."
"Nah, that was my bad," he mustered, clutching onto Alice for dear life. "Are you okay?"
She shrugged and set him down on the gazebo steps. Her brown locks cascaded down her shoulders in the most extravagant way for someone as simple as Alice. Silence was a queer thing for Austin, who in his life never experienced a single bit of silence.
"So," she muttered, a laugh threatening to escape her lips, "you're A.B.J?"
Austin fiddled with his fingers, pretending he hadn't paid the slightest attention. "Mmm?"
Alice pulled out the note from inside her satchel and handed it to him, who had took it out of her hands with a quivering smile creeping his face.
"Damien told me you wouldn't expect it to be me," he chuckled lightly. "Well, now, he's the one to pay me 15 bucks."
"Did you even know it was my birthday today?" she asked.
It was all a bet, to see if someone like Alice would fall for someone like Austin. And Alice had found out the moment the words slipped out of her A.B.J's mouth.
"Of course," he flashed a crooked grin while folding the note into smaller squares, "I was the one who made the bet in the first place-"
Little did he know that he had created an awkwardness between them.
"Shoot."
"If you hadn't made the bet, would you still remember my birthday? Would you remember me?" Alice pressed, prodding her finger into her own chest as she spoke.
"Alice, I-"
"Yes or no?"
Austin let his shoulders drop before he intertwined his fingers with hers. "Yes."
A hot feeling seared Alice's cheeks making her go a bright shade of crimson. The laugh that had threatened to escape her lips, forcefully fled into a torrent of giggles.
"Alice Stark, I would never forget your birthday, let alone you," he muttered, ignoring everything he had practiced in the flash card, folded neatly into his back pocket. "You're too important to be forgotten."
Alice leaned forward and pressed a soft kiss on his reddening cheeks. She ruffled his hair when her lips left his skin and stood up to marvel at the chocolate cake he had prepared for her.
She looked back at a tomato-red Austin and grinned. "This might just be my happiest birthday yet."
《end》 _____________________________
A/N: I actually have two versions of this story: one being this one with a painfully happy ending, and the other one eith a painfully sad ending with lots of feels. I am in progress of the sadder spin-off of Lead The Way but I'm still going to write a couple more stories before that.
So hold on to your seats, as I fight through my writer's block.
It's a huge one. And I'm going to need to read a LOT of Harry Potter.
Toodles!
-lunaticgoose
(Below is a depiction of me writing two fanfics at a time and finishing)
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