I start to cry. I can finally, completely, cry for the first time. I run past Austin's truck and towards the road, but I have no idea where I'm going. I hear footsteps behind me and I start to slow down, my lungs tightening up.

"Ally, wait!" Austin yells.

He catches up fast and grabs my arm, stopping me completely. He steps in front of me and bends down a bit to look at me but I turn my face to the side, "Ally, I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have brought you here. I had no idea about your mother either."

"I- I know."

He grabs my waist and pulls me to him, hugging me tightly. I wrap my arms around his neck as much as my short body will allow me to reach and cry into his chest for a while. He doesn't move away, he just holds me until my tears dry out.

When I've finally got myself together I pull away from him and look up. His face is full of concern as he searches my own, "I'm sorry." I tell him.

"Don't be sorry. I think you needed to get that all out."

I nod, "I d-did."

"Come on, let's go to my truck. We'll go watch the fireflies."

And so we drive back home and park in our usual spot and sit next to each other. I stare off ahead but I'm not really looking at the fireflies, and I feel Austin's eyes on me too. I sigh, "My mom died a couple weeks before I came here."

"I'm sorry." He says.

"She got in a car accident. It was storming badly, and she hit the guardrail. They say they think she died instantly." Suddenly, he grabs my hand that's rested on my thigh and holds it softly.

"And then, my dad, he just drank his sorrows away," I say, and my eyes start to water again.

"When he's drinking, all he says is I look too much like her and he doesn't want to see me. So he decided to send me away. It's like I lost both parents, not just one." I say, choking back tears, "And it's not like I really care about my ex, but he broke up with me when I was already going through all of that. I was completely alone. What did I do to deserve all of this?"

Austin scoots as close as he can to me and wraps both arms around me. I look at him and he stares into my eyes, "You didn't deserve any of it." He whispers.

"My aunt kept telling me to talk about it with someone, but I just couldn't. But I feel better not that I told you."

"I'm glad you told me." He says, brushing one of my loose hairs out of my face, putting it behind my ear. I rest my head against his chest. He puts his chin on my head.

"Everyone told Amber off at the party. I think she kind of felt bad, which is a step for her. There's still no excuse for her actions."

"It's not like she knew. But still. And I guess I don't blame her for not being over you. You're amazing."

I feel him kiss my head, "So are you."

()()()()()()()()

The next morning, Austin eats breakfast with us. My aunt made eggs and bacon and the three of us eat in silence. My mom used to always say 'you know the food is good when everyone is too busy eating to talk'. Even though we were silent, Austin kept smiling at me from across the table.

"What's on the agenda for today?" my aunt asks as we pick up.

"Well if Ally wants to, I was thinking of having her come to my house for a bit. Show her around."

I nod, "Sure."

"Just be back for supper!" my aunt says and I roll my eyes.

After Austin finishes up a couple of chores, we drive over to his house which is only a fifteen minute drive. Little did I know he lives on a small farm… I don't know why I'm surprised. His house is not as big as my aunts, but it's just as nice.

"You don't work on your own farm?" I ask as we get out of his truck.

He laughs, "I help out, but your aunt is my first choice."

We walk into his house and it's very nice. There are a lot of pictures hanging on the walls, and lots of nice furniture. I even see a piano in the living room. When we get to the kitchen, his father is sitting at the table reading a newspaper, "Hi dad." Austin says, getting his attention.

He looks up at us and takes his glasses off. He stands up and grins, "Hello. You must be Ally."

I nod and shake his hand, "Hi Mr. Moon."

"Call me Mike." He says.

"I thought I'd bring her here to hang out for a change."

"I just hope you at least cleaned your room." He says and laughs. Austin rolls his eyes.

"Come on." he says to me.

I follow him upstairs and to his room. It looks like a boy's room; posters of cars on the walls, a gaming system in front of his television, a bed that hasn't been made, and some clothes on the floor. But it sure wasn't messy.

"Did you clean up?" I tease.

He shakes his head, "You wish!"

"Oh, do i?" I ask.

"Don't make me tickle you."

"You wouldn't dare." I threaten, putting my hands on my hips.

Sure enough, he starts tickling my sides and I go crazy, "Stop!" I say, trying to push him away but he is a lot stronger than me. He pulls me to him and keeps tickling me before I start to fall over from giggling so much, causing him to go down with me and we land on his bed, him landing on top of me. We stop laughing and he looks me in the eyes and my heart starts beating so fast I thought it was going to pop right out of my chest.

"I win." He says.

I try to calm my breathing, even though I don't think it's from being tickled anymore, "I surrender." I say lowly.

"Oh do you." He says; his voice low.

He rolls off of me then and I sigh. He puts his hand out to help me up and I take it. Then we go on a tour of his house, and his farm. A handful of workers run it. He has a lot of cows and pigs, and a few horses. He told me that this was his mother's dream, and after she passed away, his father kept it going to honor her, even though he doesn't work it much himself.

"How did your mom die?" I ask him.

"She worked part time at a factory. She was running one of the machines and something went wrong…"

"Wow. I'm so sorry."

He nods, "I know."

After a little while of silence as he showed me around, he suddenly perks up, "I'm going to show you one of my secret spots."

I smile, "Okay."

We walk towards a wooded area, on a trail. As we walk, he reaches over and grabs my hand. I look at our interlocked hands and then up at him. He smiles down at me and my cheeks turn red. We walk hand in hand until we finally reach his secret spot, that just so happens to be a strawberry field. I look up at him in confusion, "This is a secret spot?"

He nods, "No one knows about it."

"How do they not know?" I ask.

"Well, its way out here, and my mother and I planted these bushes together. So she and I were the only ones that knew about it; until now."

"Thank you for sharing something this special with me." I say to him.

"You're special." He says and squeezes my hand.

We walk around and pick strawberries until our hands are full and take a seat in a clearing in the middle of all of them and snack on them. It really is beautiful and quiet out here. I mean, we have our own personally never ending supply of strawberries, how cool is that?

"These are so good."

"Have you never had fresh strawberries before?" He asks and laughs.

"I don't believe so."

He coughs, "City girl." And coughs again and I roll my eyes.

It's getting late and we know we can't be late for dinner with my aunt so we say goodbye to his dad and head back to my house. Austin holds my hand the whole drive home and well, I grin like idiot, like usual. And he sings along to his favorite country songs.