Hey guys! Now, I know what you're going to say. Where in the hell did you go!? Why did it take you so long to update? I'm really sorry. School has been super stressful for me and I also have a job, so my plate is quite full. I know that this isn't an update to my other story, but I had a little bit of time and since it's Thanksgiving, I decided to write a one-shot for the holiday. I really hope you guys like it. I also kind of have writer's block on my other story, but I think it's clearing up a bit because I'm starting to get a few ideas. I probably won't update that story until I'm on Christmas break, though. That way, I won't have to worry about homework and stuff cause the semester will be over. I'll have almost a month off, so hopefully I'll get at least 3 or 4 chapters updated and also a Christmas one-shot. It's a curse and a blessing to be a freshman in college. But, I've also decided to do this thing where I post a one-shot every holiday. Well, enough of me rambling. Let's get onto the story!
Enjoy! :D
Thanksgiving day. In my family, every one of us has a different opinion about the holiday. For example, my mother is all about the being thankful for things like family and friends. She always does this thing where we each have to say something we're thankful for and why. She gets really into it. For my dad, it's all about football. After we all say grace and what we're thankful for, he takes his plate into the living room to watch whatever game is on. This year is different, though. The Pittsburgh Steelers are playing on Thanksgiving this year. That's my dad's all time favorite team. I know, weird, right? We live in Miami, Florida, but my father likes the Steelers. The reason is because he was born in Pittsburgh and lived there up until he turned eighteen and went off to college here in Miami. So, because they're playing this year, I doubt my dad will even set foot in the dining room. Now, my sister, Riley. The only part she likes about it is that after we eat, she gets to help my mother put up the Christmas tree. She's only four years old. Christmas is her favorite holiday. It's tradition that we put it up after dinner each year. And onto me. I don't really have a big opinion. I just think of it as a day you eat so much food, you fall into a food coma. Thanksgiving really isn't a big deal to me like it is to my mom.
"Ally! Can you come help me set the table please?" I hear her call my name from downstairs. I groan, but walk downstairs anyway.
"Yeah, I guess," I say. I grab some plates from one of the cupboards and do as she asks.
After I finish, I'm about to walk back upstairs, when my mother speaks up again. "I also need you to help me set up the island with all the food." We always make our Thanksgiving buffet style. We set up all the food on plates and in bowls and set it all nicely on the island. Then, when dinner time comes, we all just line up and grab what we want. I grab a big bowl from one of the cupboards below the island and set it on top. My mother brings over a tray of hot dinner rolls and starts putting them one by one into the bowl. "What's Austin doing for Thanksgiving this year?" I hear her ask.
"I don't know. I didn't ask him. He's probably doing the same thing we are. Eating dinner with his family," I tell her, grabbing a few more bowls and setting them onto the island. Austin is my best friend. We've known each other since third grade, and we're both seniors in high school. He lives right next door. When he first moved there, he was kind of mean to me, but when we found out that we both are in love with music, we sort of just became friends.
"Why don't you go over there and see what he's doing?" my mother asks, snapping me out of my thoughts.
I shrug. "Okay, I guess." Anything to get me out of helping. I walk over to the front door and put on some tennis shoes. "I'll be back in a bit."
"Okay!" I hear my mother call. I walk out the front door and immediately squint. The sun is unusually bright today. Well, I do live in Florida. I look over to the right at Austin's house and see that only his silver truck is in the driveway. Strange. Where are his parents? I walk over to the front door and knock on it three times. It's silent for a moment before the door swings open, revealing Austin. His eyes light up and he smiles when he sees me.
"Hey, Als!"he says.
I smile back. "Hey, Austin."
"What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be getting ready to eat dinner with your family right now?" he asks.
I shrug. "Nah, not right now. The turkey isn't even done. Probably won't be done for another half hour. My mom actually sent me over because she is apparently curious as to what you're doing for Thanksgiving. I know, weird question, right? I just told her you're probably doing the same thing that I'm doing. Eating dinner with your family." I look back at his driveway. "Speaking of your family, where are they?"
I immediately see his face fall, but then he smiles again. "Oh, uh, they're just at the store. Did you wanna come in for a bit?" I nod and he steps out of the doorway to let me in. I love coming to Austin's house. I always feel at home here. Mostly because his family is so nice to me. "Do you wanna hang out or something after you eat dinner?" I hear Austin ask. I turn around to look at him. He's still smiling. I can tell that it's fake, though. It doesn't reach his eyes like his genuine smiles do.
I give him a concerned look, ignoring his question. "Austin, are you okay?" He nods, but I'm not convinced. "Something's wrong. I can tell."
"Nothing's wrong, Ally. Why would you think something's wrong?" he asks, smiling yet again. Still fake.
"Don't give me that crap. I can tell when you're upset. That smile you have on your face right now isn't real. And whenever I ask you what's wrong, you always say, 'Why would you think something's wrong?'. So, don't you dare tell me that nothing's wrong." His smile immediately fades and he looks down at the floor. He mumbles something, but I don't quite catch what he says. "What?"
"My family isn't at the store," he says, just above a whisper.
I furrow my eyebrows in confusion. "Then where are they, Austin?"
He looks up at me, a really sad look in his eyes. "They're in North Carolina."
"And why are they in North Carolina?"
"To celebrate Thanksgiving with my mom's side of the family."
Are you kidding me? Why in the hell would his parents do that to him? "Why in the hell would your parents do that to you?" I ask, repeating my thoughts out loud.
He shrugs. "I don't have very good grades in school right now, so they said I couldn't go."
"That is beyond ridiculous, Austin! Why would they think that that is even a bit okay?" I raise my voice a little bit. I'm fuming with anger at Austin's parents. They are always such nice people. Why would they do that to their own son? Why would they just leave him alone on Thanksgiving? Suddenly, I get an idea. I smile up at Austin. He gives me a weird look.
"Why are you smiling?" he asks. I ignore his question and grab his hand dragging him out the front door. "Where are we going?"
"To my house. You are not spending Thanksgiving all by yourself!" He pulls his hand out of my grip.
"I am not going to intrude on your family's dinner, Ally," he says.
"You're not intruding, Austin. I'm inviting you. You're my best friend. You're basically family," I say, smiling at him.
He smiles back, looks at the ground, and then back up at me. The smile fades and he sighs. "If your parents hate me because of this, I'm going to be mad at you."
"They're not gonna hate you. They could never hate you, Austin. My parents love you," I say, earning another smile from him. I grab his hand again and start pulling him toward my house. When we get to my front porch, I let go of his hand. I open the door and step inside, Austin following me. "I'm back!"
"Oh, good. The turkey's almost done!" my mom yells from the kitchen. I walk around the corner into the kitchen, Austin still behind me. "Ally, I need your help with this." She looks up at me and her eyes immediately go to Austin. She smiles. "Hi, Austin. How are you?"
He smiles back. "I'm doing well. How are you, Mrs. Dawson?"
She scoffs. "Now, I know I told you to call me Penny. Besides slaving over this dinner, I'm doing great."
"Mom, you aren't slaving," I say, stiffling a laugh. I look up at Austin and then back at my mother. "So, uh, Austin here apparently thought that he was going to be spending Thanksgiving alone because his parents wouldn't let him go to North Carolina with them because he has bad grades. So, I, being the bestest friend in the whole world," I hear Austin scoff, "decided it would be a fantastic idea that he spend it with us this year."
My mother gives him a sympathetic look. You know that look that mother's give people when they feel sorry for them? Yeah, that look. "Oh, honey, that's terrible! Why would they do such a thing like that to you? Of course you can eat dinner here! You're basically family," she says, repeating what I had said to him earlier. I turn to Austin, giving him an 'I told you so' look, and he just rolls his eyes and smiles.
After about fifteen minutes, everything is all set up. "Finally. Seemed like that took forever," I say, and my mom gives me a look. "Joking."
"Mommy! Can I put this ordament that a made at kindergarden on the tree?" Riley yells, running down the stairs and into the kitchen. When her eyes fall on Austin standing next to me, the biggest grin appears on her face. "Austin!" She drops the so called ornament, or 'ordament' as she pronounces it, and sprints towards him, wrapping her arms around his legs. Riley loves Austin. Every time he comes over, she gets so excited. It's really adorable, actually.
He starts laughing and hugs her back. "Hey, Ry! How are you?"
"I'm great! Did you see my ordament I made at kinnergarden?" she asks, that grin still gracing her features.
"No, I didn't. Let me see it. I bet it looks amazing!" She runs over to pick it up and hands it to Austin. He studies it closely and then smiles. "I was wrong. It doesn't look amazing." Her smile fades. "It looks way better than amazing! It looks...stupendous!"
She smiles again. "Supedus!"
Austin grins at her. "Yup. I bet it'll look great on the tree." This is why Riley loves him. He's so great with her. It makes me smile every time I see them together.
"Alright, dinner's ready!" my mom says, a smile on her face. So, the usual happens. My dad gets his food and immediately goes to the couch to watch the game. My sister keeps going on and on about decorating the tree and my mother does her annual 'go around the table and say what you're thankful for' thing. It's all the usual. She's thankful for all of us and the beautiful, wonderful life she's been granted by God. All her words. My sister's thankful for all of her stuffed animals she has in her room. I just always say I'm thankful for everything. Short and sweet. "Now, what about you, Austin? What are you thankful for?" my mother asks. All eyes go to him.
"Well, uh, I guess I'm thankful for my family, too," he says, stabbing a green bean with his fork.
"Anything else?" she asks.
He looks at all of us. When his eyes settle on me, he smiles. "I'm thankful for Ally." This makes me smile. "I'm thankful that my dad got a new job and we had to move here. I wasn't thankful at that time, of course, but now I am. If I wouldn't have moved, I wouldn't have met the most amazing best friend in the entire world."
"That is absolutely beautiful, Austin," my mom says, giving him one of her famous motherly looks. The rest of dinner goes by pretty smoothly. We all just talk about normal things like school, work, and family. After everyone finishes eating, Austin and I help my mom clean everything up. Once we finish that, I race Austin up the stairs to my room, me winning.
"I win!" I shout, fist pumping. He just rolls his eyes, smiling. "So, what do you wanna do?"
He shrugs. "We could watch TV or something."
"Okay." I walk over to the television in the corner of my room and turn it on. I grab the remote from beside it and throw it at Austin. "Think fast!" He jumps a little and juggles it around before dropping it on the floor. I start laughing and he glares at me.
"That's not fair! You chucked it at me!" he shouts, pulling his well known, by me, pouty face. This makes me laugh harder. "That's it. You're gonna pay for this."
"Ooo! I'm so scared," I say in a sarcastic tone. That's when he gets that mischievious glint in his eye and he starts walking towards me slowly. My eyes widen a bit. With every step he takes towards me, I take a step back. Eventually, my back hits the wall and I can't move away from him any further. He keeps getting closer and closer until his face is literally two inches away from mine. "What are you doing?" He ignores my question and just stares at me. I swear I see him glance down at my lips, but I could be wrong. I thought maybe he would start tickling me or something of the usual, but he does something I would never expect he would do to me. Before I can register anything, his lips are on mine. My eyes widen in shock. I'm completely still for a few moments. Why in the hell is Austin kissing me!? Why am I still allowing this to happen? Why do I feel the urge to kiss him back? And that's exactly what I do. I don't know what pushed me to do it, but I did. Since I met Austin, I've never once thought about kissing him. My eyes flutter closed and I relish in this feeling that surprisingly feels kind of amazing. The kiss only lasts a few seconds, but it sure feels like it lasted way longer. When we pull apart, I open my eyes and just look at him. I mean like really look at him. I never noticed that Austin's eyes aren't just brown. There's flecks of gold and green, too.
"Ally?" I hear him whisper, snapping me out of my daze.
"Yeah?" I whisper back.
"I have quite a lot to tell you, don't I?"
"Hell yes, you do."
We both sit down on my bed and I look at him, waiting for him to start. "Okay, I'm just gonna come out and say it. Ally...during freshman year, I kind of developed feelings for you. And over time, they've grown stronger." He reaches over and grabs one of my hands. "Ally, when I found out you were dating Dallas sophomore year, I was heart broken. I stayed in my room for three days straight. Good thing it was the weekend, though." He laughs a little.
"Austin, I-"
"I'm not done," he says. "And then when he broke up with you a month later, you were devastated and it hurt me to see you that way. I vowed to myself that I would do whatever it took to make you feel better."
"And you did exactly that," I say, smiling up at him.
He smiles back, but it fades immediately. "Ally, I can't hide this anymore. It's driving me crazy. You're driving me crazy."
"What are you saying?"
"I'm in love with you." Those words sent me into a blur. Austin's in love with me? What is even happening right now? I've never thought of Austin that way before. Or have I? I remember that sometimes in Algebra class, I would catch myself staring at him and wonder why I was doing that. I also remember junior year when he dated Cassidy, I was kind of angry and I didn't know why. I remember I felt anger towards Cassidy and I wanted her to go away. Why did I feel that way? I wasn't jealous. Or maybe I was. Maybe I was jealous because I've never imagined Austin with anyone except for me. What am I even saying to myself?
"Okay, well, I'm just gonna go now," I hear Austin say, bringing me back to reality. He gets up and starts walking towards my door. Before he walks out, he looks back at me one last time, a terribly sad look on his face. I look down at the floor. I don't even know how to process this. I hear my front door slam shut. I just let him walk out. Why am I letting him walk out? All of those feelings I felt towards Cassidy junior year and towards Austin over time make me realize something. I'm in love with Austin, too. I can not let him walk out like that. I jump up from my bed and run out of my room and my house. I look over towards Austin's house and see him walking up his porch stairs.
"Austin!" I shout. He whips his head around and his eyes widen when he sees me. I start walking slowly towards him, my eyes never leaving his face. "I'm in love with you, too." I see his expression slowly change as he realizes what I just said to him.
"You do?" he asks. I nod and stop walking. He's still on the stairs and I'm standing in the front yard between our houses. A few moments pass. Suddenly, he starts walking down the stairs and towards me. Before I know it, his lips are on mine for the second time today. This kiss is way better than the first. I can feel the love in this kiss. When we pull apart, we just stare at each other for a while before I speak up.
"I can't believe it took me this long to realize it." Austin smiles and lays his forehead against mine. We stay like this for a while, just relishing in the moment.
"Does this mean that we're together now?" he asks.
I smile at him. "That depends."
"On what?"
"If you ask me the question or not."
"I think I can do that," he says, pulling back and grabbing my hands. "Allison Willow Dawson, will you make me the happiest guy in the world and be my girlfriend?"
"Of course I will, you idiot." This, by far, has been the best Thanksgiving I've ever had.
I really hope you guys liked this one-shot! See ya next time! :D