Chapter 11:

Ally's POV:

"This is stupid." I tell Trish as I stand in front of the standup mirror that's leaning against my wall. My hair is curled in perfect spirals and my red dress is hanging off of me in an odd fashion. It's a lot bigger than it was when I bought it because of all the weight I lost. I've been trying to gain it back but my appetite has been pretty messed up.

"It is not. You look great." Trish tells me. She's standing in front of my dresser, putting on her earrings.

"Yes it is. You even have a date! Why do I have to go?" I ask.

"It's not a date. Dez and I just decided to go together." She says.

I raise an eyebrow, "That's a date." I tell her.

"No it's not. Anyways, you don't need a date to have fun." She says.

"Oh sure, poor old skinny Ally's back and she's so pathetic she can't even get a date!" I say dramatically, falling onto my bed.

"Get up; you're going to wrinkle your dress!" Trish shouts.

I groan but stand up anyway. I walk over to my door and lean against it, "What If Austin's there." I say out loud.

"I'm sure he will be. But so what?" she asks.

"We haven't seen each other since. It will be awkward." I tell her.

"Or maybe it won't be." She says.

"Ugh." I say.

"Stop being so dramatic Ally!" She says.

Austin's POV:

"This is stupid." I tell Dez, whose sitting on my bed looking through some sport magazine.

"Why? You look fine." He says.

I turn to him and give him an annoyed face, "I wasn't talking about my clothes." I tell him. Even though my black suit jacket and red undershirt goes nicely with my dark jeans, but my sling doesn't really match. But who really cares about that.

"Then what is it?" Dez asks, finally putting his magazine down.

"My plan… Well our plan. It's not going to work. She hasn't even talked to me so what's makes us think she's going to go along with it?" I ask.

"Well because she loves you." Dez says.

I shake my head and sit down on my gaming chair, "You don't know that." I say.

"Anyone could tell how she's felt about you for a long time." He says.

"What are you talking about?" I ask.

"I've seen the way she's looked at you, and how different she acted around you when you started dating Kira. Come on Austin, are you that blind?" he asks.

I just look at him and shake my head. I had nothing to say, because I didn't know what to say. Is that true? Have the signs always been there and I've been that blind? I guess it's possible. I'm really not that good at stuff like that. I mean, I just finally admitted to myself my own feelings for Ally, which I now know have been there for a long time.

"It's going to work Austin, trust me." He says, "Are you ready?"

"I hardly ever get nervous when I go on stage, but right now, I'm extremely nervous." I say, running my hands through my hair.

"Don't worry!" Dez says, patting me on my good shoulder.

I walk downstairs, with Dez right behind. My mom is standing near the front door with her digital camera, and my father is just walking out of the kitchen. My mother smiles big, "You two look so handsome!" She says.

"Oh mother…" I say, embarrassed.

"Thanks Mrs. Moon." Dez says with a huge grin.

"You'd look better without the sling." My father says. We all go silent and I look towards him, but he smiles, "You look good though."

"Thanks dad." I tell him.

"Let's get a quick picture before you leave!" She says.

"Mom, we're guys…" I say.

"Come on Austin!" Dez says, posing in front of the door. I burst into laughter and walk over to him. We both make silly faces as she takes the picture. She raises an eyebrow and goes into full mother mode, "A serious one boys!"

So we both put on our best smiles as she takes another picture. She hugs us both and tells us to have a great time. My father walks over then, and Dez says he'll be in the car. My father pats me on the back, "Have a good time son. Do you have a date?" he asks.

I shake my head, "No."

"Have you talked to Ally?"

"Not yet… I'm hoping to get her attention tonight." I tell him.

"You really care about her, don't you?" He says.

I nod my head, "More than anything."

"Well, I hope you get your girl." He says with a smile.

"Thanks dad."

Ally's POV:

"Please keep Ally safe Trish." My father begs as we're walking towards her vehicle in my driveway. He's been extremely paranoid since the incident and I don't really blame him. I refuse to go anywhere alone now, and I feel like that's how it's going to be for a while.

"I will, I promise. She won't leave my sight the whole night." She promises.

"Thank you." He says. He hugs me tightly and kisses me on the forehead, "I love you sweetheart."

"I love you too dad." I tell him.

We get into her jeep and she drives us over to the school. I don't know why, but I feel nervous. I don't know what to say if I see Austin. Should I just go casual and say hi? Or should I continue a conversation? Or should I even speak at all? I sigh out loud without thinking, causing Trish to have my attention.

"It's going to be fine." She says.

"I hope so." I tell her.

We pull into the packed parking lot. I see a lot of familiar faces going into the school, ones I feel like I haven't seen in forever. Trish gets out but I stay seated. She walks over to my side of the door and tilts her head to the side, tapping her healed foot on the parking lot. I sigh and get out, "This is mean of you, you know." I tell her.

"Oh stop." She says, grabbing my arm and pulling me towards the school.

The school entrance is all decorated with flowers and different spring related things. It all looks so beautiful. I never thought I'd say it but I've really missed school. We walk in and everyone's heads turn in my direction. I wait for the whispers or the weird looks but what happens surprises me. A lot of people that know me smile, or run over to say hi. So many people are talking at once that I can't keep up. I hear stuff like, 'I'm so glad you're okay', or 'happy you're back'. It makes me feel really good. I turn to Trish and she's smiling her big smile that means 'I told you so'.

After all of the greetings, we make our way to the side of the school near the refreshments. I look around, but there's no sign of Austin. I thought it's what I wanted, but I thought for sure he would come. I hope he's not here because of me. I hope he's doing okay. I really have missed him like crazy.

"I'm waiting for my thank you." Trish says as she grabs us two cups of punch.

"Yeah okay, thanks Trish." I say to her.

"Wow, way to make it convincing." She says and laughs, handing me my drink.

"Austin isn't here." I say.

"And how does that make you feel?" She asks.

I shrug, "I have no idea."

"Well, let's just have fun!" She says.

We finish our drinks and walk into the middle of the dance floor. It's weird, because I haven't even seen Dez. Maybe he's with Austin instead of coming here too. A few girls from my math class come over and start dancing with us. The music is nice; loud and fast paced. A good distraction from what's been going on in my life.

After about an hour, I finally let myself realize that Austin isn't coming. I mean, there's only an hour and a half left. Why would you come this late anyway? Maybe our friendship really is over. That's not what I wanted at all, I just didn't know how to cope with everything, and I just needed space for a little while. Suddenly, I'm not in the mood to dance. I tell Trish I'm going to go sit in one of the chairs to the side. She follows me quickly.

I sit down and she takes the seat next to me, "You didn't have to stop dancing." I tell her.

"I promised your dad that I wouldn't let you leave my sight, and I wouldn't have been able to see you from there." She says with a smile, "But are you okay?" She asks.

I shrug, "I don't know. I just thought Austin would come." I tell her.

And that's when the music stops mid song, and a familiar voices sounds through the microphone, "Hey everyone. Sorry to stop the song, but if you don't mind, I'd like to perform a song for you." The crowd roars with cheers and I stand up to look over everyone. I see a familiar mop of messy blonde hair and a sling covering his right shoulder, "I don't usually write my own songs, as you all know my partner Ally does. But after everything that's happened, this song just came to me and I knew I had to perform it. This is for you, Ally." The crowd then 'awes' on cue, and the music starts.

I push my way through the crowd to get closer, and before I know it, I'm right in front of him.

Austin's POV:

I wanted to be playing my guitar, so I could have something to focus on instead of staring at the crowd, but my wound prevented me from doing that. I'm about to sing when I see her, right below me in the crowd, the love of my life. Her old hair is back, and she looks better than ever. She's looking up at me, her face full of questions.

I freeze for a moment, but when I get myself together, I start to sing, "Last summer we met, we started as friends. I can't tell you how it all happened. Then autumn it came, we were never the same, those nights everything felt like magic. And I wonder if you miss me too, if you don't, it's the one thing that I wish you knew," those words have never been so true.

"I think about you, every morning when I open my eyes. I think about you, every evening when I turn out the lights. I think about you, every moment, every day of my life, you're on my mind, all the time, it's true."

Ally's POV:

"How long 'till I stop pretending, what we have is never
ending, Oh, Oh-oh-oh. If all we are is just a moment don't forget me because
I won't and, I can't help myself" He sings.

It's the most beautiful song I've ever heard, and he wrote it, about us. I can't stop the tears from forming into my eyes. He feels the same way I feel about it, I know it.

"I think about you, ooh. I think about you, oh. I think about you, every morning when I open my eyes. I think about you, every evening when I turn out the lights. I think about you, every moment, every day of my life, you're on my mind, all the time, it's true. I think about you." And the song ends.

"Thank you everyone!" He says as they all clap, and he exits the stage.

Another song starts to play, and I walk back over to Trish. I wipe away the tears from my eyes and she hugs me, "What do you think?" She asks.

"You knew, didn't you?" I ask her, as Dez walks over to us.

"We kind of all planned it." She says.

"Yeah, but it was mainly Austin." Dez says.

"Where is he?" I ask.

I realize the song that is playing is very slow, and I feel a tap on my shoulder. I turn around, and there he is. Austin Moon, my best friend, my partner, the boy I've fallen so in love with. He gives me a small, shy smile and puts out his hand, "Ally, will you dance with me?"

Austin's POV:

She takes my hand without hesitation and I bring her towards the middle of the dance floor. I put my hand gently on her waist, feeling her hip bones stick out a lot more than I remember. She wraps her arms as far as she can around my neck; I'm so much taller than her.

She keeps her eyes to my chest as I look down at her. Finally, she looks up at me. Her face is blank, but as beautiful as ever. I have to say something, and there's no time like the present, "Look… Ally," I start.

"Austin, you don't have to" – she interrupts.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you about my uncle. I wanted to, I was going to, believe me I was. But I just couldn't bring myself to tell you right there. I just wanted to make you safe." I tell her.

"I know that Austin. It was just hard for me to take in at the time. But I realized there was no reason for me to be upset with you." She says.

"You know how much it killed me when that happened to you, and you know how much it broke my heart to find out it was my own uncle. I couldn't even think about it without wanting to throw up. I never want anything bad to happen to you. I'd be lost without you in my life." I tell her.

"It's okay Austin, I'm here now." She says.

"Yeah, but that happened to you, and I should have been able to stop it. I should have been with you or something, I" I start, but she interrupts.

"There's nothing you could have done, and I don't want you to blame yourself, please. All that matters is I'm back and we're here right now, together." She says.

It's this moment right here I realized how much I truly missed her. She's the kindest girl I've ever met. After everything she's been through, because of my own family member, she can stand here and forgive and forget, because that's just how amazing she truly is. I can't stop a tear from streaming down my cheek, showing how truly weak I am when it comes to her.

"Oh Austin." She says, noticing. She wipes it away slowly with her fingertip.

Who cares that we are supposed to be slow dancing. I pull her in with my arm over a hug. She goes on her tip toes and hugs my neck tightly. If only my other arm was fine, I would be hugging her even more tightly. I can hear her gently sobbing now, the tears hitting my neck.

"Why are you crying Ally?" I whisper.

"Because… I've missed you so much." She whispers back.

That sends me back into my weak spot, and more tears fall from my own eyes when I whisper, "I've missed you so much, too."