Hey guys. So I'm back and I will be finishing this this year. Sorry for the long wait. Anyway, I'm not going to make a super long A/N, so here's the new chapter.


December 5

Click. The unmistakable sound of a camera snapping a picture and a brightness lighted up the dim lighting surrounding the agitated teen. She never would consider herself to be a morning person.

Ally pressed her fist into her eye, rubbing harshly and letting out a yawn. Her eyes finally opened, focusing on the environment around her. Some time in the night she must have fallen asleep on the shoulder of the one person she despised. Austin Moon. The realization resulted in her sitting up rather quickly, startled. She really didn't feel like dealing with that situation had he been the one to wake up first.

The environment surrounding them wasn't too much different. Rydel had fallen asleep on Ratliff. They seemed to be cuddling, and if Ally hadn't known any better she would assume they had been dating. Ross' head was laid back in the open space on the couch between Ally and Austin's legs. Riker and rocky were in positions mocking that of Ross.

They were all still in their same sitting arrangements; now just tangled up. They must have watched at least 2 more movies after 'For never was a story of more woe than this of Juliet and her Romeo.'

Ally wondered who was the one to stay up the longest, determined on finishing the final movie, and who had given up first, weak and craving for sleep. She didn't even quite remember where she would have placed in that list.

Standing before the sleepy group was Mike and Mimi, smiling about how this reminded them of old times. That is, old times plus Ally.

Apparently Mimi was big into the whole scrap booking thing. According to Rydel, she has one for every cabin trip, to this day.

One by one, they all had returned to their previous positions, trying to keep to their own bubble. Someone, though Ally was not sure who, let out a loud groan showing how annoyed just everyone was.

"Ughh.. Is that really necessary?" Austin rolled his eyes. Apparently his inner rudeness couldn't contain itself under the wee hours of the morning.

"Up up up!" Mimi smiled with her sing song voice and the developing Polaroid picture in hand. The smell of warm pancakes and sugar filled syrup instantly lifted the spirits of everyone; Austin springing from his seat and setting off on an instant sprint for the kitchen.

After all retrieving a stack of pancakes each, they all scattered. Although there were more chairs (taken out of the storage closet the night prior), a few people had to sit on the stools that surround the island.

"So" Mimi announced, not too soon after everyone had finish eating -or rather scarfing down in austin's case-, "as you may have guessed..."

"We're leaving for our annual camping trip tonight," Riker interrupted as he walked into the room after dropping his plate off in the sink.

"We camp out a little bit away in tents for a couple of nights while Mike and Mimi set up a few things here," Rydel explained sitting down on the couch beside Ally.

"Yep, so pack a duffle bag of some thicker clothing and make sure to stay warm. Rydel can you help Ally make sure she has everything? And grab a spare sleeping bag from the closet for her to use."

"Sure," she said, grabbing Ally's hand and leading her back to their room. Rydel opens their closet wider, which really can't close all the way because the amount of clothes shared between the two, and grabbed a dark gray duffle bag, on the side of which says 'dance' in large purple letters.

"Here, pack this with a couple sweat shirts and sweat pants, things you can layer, enough for two nights." The blonde said before leaving the room. Ally quickly folded up a couple of sweat pants and hoodies and shoved them into the bag. After which, she grabbed out a pale blue sweater and slid it on over her tank top.

She then grabbed out her phone and slipped on her headphones once more blasting the Christmas music and cuddling up underneath the covers. She could deal with the rest of it in a little bit. She had some time before they would have to leave.


4:00 pm. 1 hour before sunset.

The group of eight, all with duffle bags slung over their shoulders, began to march out the door, after proceeding to say bye to Mimi and Mike.

Before leaving, Ally had been informed that this was a no electronics trip. Aka no blissful Christmas music for almost 48 hours. It was supposed to be a 'bounding trip' since the group did not really hang out other than on holidays. Still, Ally was not quite sure why she had to participate in this requirement. After all, she really wasn't a part of the family.

Before leaving Ally even pondered not going at all. She was going to offer to help fix things up at the cabin with Mike and Mimi, but Rydel convinced her not to. Rydel said she wanted to get to know her better. Plus, turns out they only are really going out to get a Christmas tree and the such. They usually do the decorating as a groups thing. Another bounding event most likely.

The rather large group walked off into the trees, leaves crunching underneath their feet as they dodged branches and stepped over fallen logs.

"How do you not get lost?" Ally asked Rydel as they both ducked under a branch from a tree they were passing.

"We've been going here for years now, probably 10. We used to take the long way around, following the roads and paths, but 5 years ago, when we started going without Mike and Mimi, we discovered this short cut. It took us a few hours to get through though," she let out a small giggle, "Riker kept insisting that he knew where he was going. Needless to say we were walking in circles for the majority of it. But we didn't realize that until we came back the next year. Now the path is just ingrained in our minds, I guess"

Ally smiled. She wished she had something like this. Sure she had her parents, but they were gone all the time. She never really knew what was going to happen with them either. Sure she expected the divorce, but she didnt really believe it. And she never really knew who was going to leave and go off to where. It's must be nice to have some consistency.

This is just part one. I didn't really want to rush it too much but I wanted to be able to get a chapter out today. Whenever I post part 2, I will just update this chapter. I will not be posting tomorrow most likely, but I will post 2 chapters on Thursday.

Sorry for for the absence. I was going to post it, but I didn't really feel like it would do the story justice if it was posted in the summer. It sounds weird, but yeah. Anyway, I WILL be finishing this this year. I will try to post everyday, unless I say otherwise.