Hey everyone! It's officially December, which means it's officially Christmas season! And what better way to begin the Christmas celebrations than with this, the first chapter of my new Christmas story?

All being well, chapters of this story should be uploaded every single Thursday, Saturday and Monday!

I know this story doesn't really have a very creative name but just go with it :D And feel free to put suggestions for a better name in a review!

I hope you guys enjoy this new story, and if you do then please let me know with a review!

Disclaimer: I do not own Austin and Ally or anything you recognise from the show in any way, shape or form, nor do I own any recognisable brands, songs or lyrics within them.

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Chapter One

Ally's POV

"W-what do you mean it's over?" I asked as I looked up at my boyfriend – or seemingly ex-boyfriend – with the tears starting to gently run down my face.

It's a cold December night, around 7pm, in Miami and I'm stood with the man I love outside our favourite café in the suburbs.

"I mean exactly that, Ally. I'm sorry, I'm just not feeling it anymore." He replies, with a shrug of his shoulders – he doesn't even seem to care!

"You're not feeling it anymore?" I shout, outraged. "What the hell is that supposed to mean? You told me yesterday that you loved me!"

"Yeah… but that was yesterday." He continues nonchalantly. "Things change, babe."

Even more anger floods through my system at this. "Don't you dare call me 'babe'!" I shout, slapping away his arm that was rising towards my shoulder. The anger I was feeling suddenly breaks into overwhelming sadness as the tears continue to stream out of my eyes and fall to the sidewalk like a waterfall. "How can you be so heartless? What happened?"

His face scrunched up in confusion. "What are you on about?"

I let out a disbelieving chuckle at how idiotic the man in front of me now seems. "All those times you said you loved me, and I returned it, all those times you said I was the best thing that ever happened to you, that you could never be with anyone but me, what about them? Were they all lies?"

"No, I meant all of those things. I just… don't feel like that anymore." He says it so casually, as if he hasn't just broken a girl's heart into a million pieces.

"Two years we've been together! Two years of my life I have dedicated to you and our relationship! I could have gone to college, you know, the only reason I stayed in Miami was because you didn't want me to go!"

This is true. I'm 19 now, nearly twenty, and at the end of high school my dream had always been to study music at college, but instead I decided to stay in Miami and just help my Dad at his music store instead, just so we wouldn't have to break up or attempt an inevitably-doomed long-distance relationship. I'd never thought twice about this decision, I always thought it was the best, I was happy. Now I'm starting to think that was the worst decision I've ever made.

"I just don't understand why you're throwing everything we have away." I said more quietly, breaking the eye contact to look at the increasingly damp sidewalk.

"I'm sorry, Ally." He replies in a soft voice that is in no way comforting to me. "Bye." Is all he says before he turns and walks casually away, seemingly completely unaffected by the fact he's just dumped me. Never have I felt so worthless.

"Goodbye, Dallas." I whisper, before turning myself and walking in the opposite direction.

It's December, which means only one thing: Christmas is everywhere. There's no escaping it. Lights and decorations are everywhere in the Miami streets, Christmas tunes on a constant repeat in every shop, bar and restaurant, and the supposed "festive cheer" a constant pressure to make people feel happy.

I had never really experienced feeling truly lonely at Christmas time, but now I was suddenly feeling it, the weight of it crashing down on me like a nuclear bomb the minute Dallas opened his mouth to end our relationship.

I love Christmas, I genuinely do, it's my favourite time of year. But now all of a sudden, it just makes me feel… isolated. As I continue to walk with tears still running down my face, I somehow found myself completely surrounded by couples, happily chatting away as they walk along together, shopping for gifts for each other and their other relatives and friends. Just yesterday that was Dallas and I, but now…

I realise at this point that the last thing I need right now is to be on my own, that's just going to make me feel even worse (if that's physically possible right now).

I could call my Dad, I mean he knows better than anyone how painful it is to lose someone you love, but I just need to be with my best friend right now, so I instead pull out my phone and call Trish. She's been my best friend since elementary school and we tell each other everything. She answers on the second ring. "Hello?" Comes her familiar voice.

"Hey Trish." I say, trying not to sound pathetically sad even though that's how I feel inside.

"Oh hey Als." She replies upbeat. "Aren't you meant to be on a date with Dallas right now?" She asks, confused.

"Yeah, but h-'' Is all I can manage to get out before I start full-out sobbing again.

"Ally?" Trish responds, concern evident in her voice. "Are you okay? What's going on?" My best friend's concern is strangely reassuring to me and makes me feel like I'm not completely alone.

"Trish, I'm okay… look, I'm on my way to yours now, I'll tell you everything when I get there, yeah?" I say as I continue to walk with my head down.

"Sure Als, just get here as soon as you can."

"Will do Trish, be there in like 10." I say before hanging up and shoving my phone back into the pocket of my skinny jeans.

12 minutes later I'm knocking on Trish's apartment door, and in less than three seconds it is flung open and I am immediately pulled into a huge hug from my best friend, which causes me to let out a surprised giggle.

"Whatever's happened, I'm hugging you now because I can tell you just need it." She says as she continues to hold me in a near death lock which I gratefully return.

"Thanks Trish." I say, eventually pulling away from her arms and walking over to sit on her couch. She joins me and we turn to sit facing each other.

"So, come on chica, what's happened?" She asks.

I open my mouth to answer but when I try to say it everything just hits me again and the tears start to flow. Trish goes to tell me that I don't have to say anything, but I cut her off. I have to say it, that's the first step towards getting over him. "D-Dallas d-dumped me, Trish." I say, head down again.

Trish mutters some Spanish curse words that I've heard her use before but have no clue what they mean, before pulling me back into another big hug.

After a couple of minutes she pulled back and got up, saying "I'll go get the ice cream" whilst walking into her kitchen, which managed to bring a small smile to my face along with a giggle.

She returned into the living room a minute later with two huge tubs of Fruity Mint Swirl, my favourite ice cream. "I've kept these as emergency supplies for exactly this situation since you started dating him." Trish explained with a smirk, which got another giggle out of me. "So, you want to tell me exactly what happened?" She asked as we both began to dig into the ice cream with the spoons she had also picked up.

I nodded and went on to recount the details of what had happened to her.

Ten minutes and a lot of tears and tissues later, I was done explaining how Dallas had essentially dropped me like a hot potato.

"Thaaaaaat asshole!" Trish hissed menacingly with narrowed eyes. "I swear to God when I get my hands on that boy-''

"No Trish!" I cut her off. " Please don't call him out, it's just gonna make everything worse. Now I just want to try and move on and get past this as fast as I can." I explain, and I see Trish relax slightly, but also a hint of disappointment in her eyes – let's just say Trish has never really been afraid of confrontation.

"Okay, I won't kill him." She sighs. "But it is so tempting."

I giggle. "I know it is, Trish. Thanks for being so supportive."

"You know it chica!" She replies. "Plus it's Christmas! No one, least of all my amazing best friend should be sad on their own at this time of year."

At this point I have an idea. "But that's the thing. At Christmas I'm always surrounded by people… but I don't want that this year, it will just make me remember everything. I kinda want to be on my own, you know?" I explain.

"I get it." Trish replies, nodding. "So what're you gonna do? You can't stay at home alone for the entire month."

"Maybe I should go away for a while. Just leave town, go somewhere small, quiet and cozy. Just have some alone time." I say, liking the idea more and more.

"But where would you go?" She asks.

"That's what I don't know." I reply, looking back down at my nails. "I can't go too far away…"

We both sat there for a couple of minutes, thinking, before Trish snapped her fingers and triumphantly announced "I've got it!"

"What?" I ask, eager to hear her idea.

"Well remember when Dez moved away?" Dez is Trish's ex, who was my friend too during high school, but he moved away at the end of junior year. He and Trish managed to keep their relationship going for a few months but eventually the distance just forced them apart. Luckily, they ended on reasonably good terms.

Dez moved to Palm Bay, Florida, just south-west of Orlando on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean. Not a million miles from Miami, but much quieter. "Yeah…?" I answer.

"Well he got in touch with me a couple of months ago and mentioned that one of his new friends' parents own a little lodge there, I think he suggested that we could go visit him sometime. Ally, this is your chance! Go to Palm Bay over Christmas!" She encouraged.

I liked that idea, I liked it a lot, and a huge smile spread on my face. "Okay. I'll give Dez a call." I say.

"Do it girl!" Trish said, getting up to go and chuck out the now empty ice cream pots.

I pull out my cell phone. 'No time like the present…' I think. I find the contact I'm looking for and hit dial, and a few seconds later I hear the familiar voice of my redhead friend.

"Hey Dez, it's Ally. I'm coming to visit you."

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That's it! The first chapter of Away For Christmas!