Chapter 20- She Doesn't Fall

Ally's POV

I wake up feeling refreshed and alert. The sun was shining through the giant windows, creating prisms of light when they hit shiny, glass things- which there seemed to be a lot of. I softly exhale, enjoying the comfort and warmth I feel at this moment. I look around lazily, not aware of my surroundings and suddenly, realize that my warmth doesn't have anything to do with being wrapped around in a cashmere blanket and everything to do with being pressed against another body. I shift away, startled, and I rub my eyes. When the sleep is out of them, I start to look carefully around. I see the sunlight streaming in through the window but I also notice that outside, there are no other houses or sidewalks like at my house - only trees. Also, the inside of my house was much different. I had tons of pictures of my family, everything was tight spaced- overflowing with my dad and my things and I always had a couple crumpled up song sheets on the floor. But, the fact that gave away that this wasn't my house was the bareness of everything. All the walls were solid and undecorated, staring at me plainly. Even the furniture was too orderly, all the couches and pillows matching each other and all the wooden objects the same colour. It was as if someone just randomly chose the matching house décor instead of spending their time picking their favourite furniture items.

I frowned. Then if this isn't my house, where am I?

And just as I thought this, a memory came chasing behind it:

My eyes are tired. I've been trying to keep them open for too long. Luckily, we are back. I see the door being swung open and then, the air conditioning hits my face. But, I barely notice. I was concentrating on keeping my eyelids from closing. Suddenly, I feel as if I am sinking as the earth gets closer and I land on something sturdy. A couch my mind supplied. I lean to the side and rest my head on a pillow. It was harder than an average pillow was supposed to be but, I didn't care. I snuggled closer, pressing my face into it and could smell a familiar scent on it. Like, soap and beach water… and syrup?

I heard a sharp intake of breath somewhere close by but I had already closed my lids, and did not think I would be able to open them again. So, I shift my weight and wrap my arms around the pillow, feeling hard planes on it.

Another deep breath and my head rocks with it.

"Ally, this isn't a good idea," someone's voice says. Austin. My heart thumps out of rhythm for a second, aware of how close his voice sounded, almost like his lips were right by my ear…

"S'okay," I mumble, the words lost into the pillow. Then, when there are a couple beats of silence, I start to let go, letting sleep take me over.

"I meant for me," I heard him whisper; sounding like it was more to himself than me. But, I can't give it much thought as to what he could have meant because when the silence comes again, I let myself drift unconscious.

I jerk backwards when the memory vanishes. I sit still for a minute, thinking harder and putting pieces of my thoughts together that I was too dazed yesterday to figure out. This was Austin's house, Austin brought me here and Austin… he was the "pillow." I gasp out loud, startled that I did that, even if I couldn't control my actions at that time.

"Ally?" a voice asks beside me. My heart leaps again, startled from the sudden voice that broke the silence but mostly because my name was the word he said on the edge of sleep. I look down just as Austin opens his eyes and blinks a couple of times. I suddenly feel my face flush as I take in his morning appearance. His eyes were sparkling even though he just woke up, his hair was a soft blonde mess and he had an innocent smile playing on his lips. It was very hot. Ally! I try to scold myself. But, unlike every other time, I wasn't listening to my conscience and instead, was subtly roaming my eyes across his features. I 'tsk' myself in my head. Even if I have the upper hand in my mind battle, the innocence in me always slips through. I dart my eyes away and focus back to the huge glass window taking up most of the wall. I look a little longer and see that the sun is shining very brightly, shooting beams of sunlight into Austin's house. This makes me think that it was past morning, and a second later, Austin confirms my thought.

"So, do you want to have breakfast?" he starts as he glances up to a clock I had not seen hanging on a wall. "Or lunch, actually?" I make a show of thinking his offer over so I don't seem too desperate but, my stomach was already protesting, giving away my answer.

Austin smirks and gets off of the couch. Then, he grabs my hand and pulls me to my feet. I try not to gasp as his touch sends tendrils of electricity up my arm. So, I wasn't dreaming that part I think, and then as an afterthought, but what does this mean?

Austin starts leading us to his kitchen, and all the while, I am staring at his house. I had realized that besides his furniture in the living room, there wasn't any room that we had past that had much of anything else. Just the simple things like a carpet and some chairs. We enter his kitchen and I take in that it looks the same as every other room. The only difference was that there were kitchen necessities like a huge metal fridge and a stove next to it. This made me wonder yet again why there were no other things that would make his house… homier.

"So," Austin says when I take a seat at the kitchen table. "Pancakes?"

As soon as the word goes through his lips, a childish grin spreads onto Austin's face. One that I have never seen before. It looks like an expression on a child that is locked in a candy store. Austin doesn't even wait for my answer and he turns around to get the supplies. I smile to myself and remember only one of the thousands of the talks about Austin.

Flashback…

"Trish, why do I have to be here?" I say, exasperated. My Latina friend pushes open the cafeteria doors and then proceeds to push me through them. I sigh as she is stronger than me and pushes me all the way through. Then, realizing that escape is probably impossible, I trudge to the table where Trish is already waiting.

"Okay, we're so glad that you could make it!" A girl said to me. She had nice peachy skin with straight blond hair. In other words, one of Austin's most obsessed fans- Cassidy. So, her welcoming someone who wasn't a fan of him at all- me-, was very confusing.

"So, last night, in Cheetah Beat, I found this," Cassidy says to the entire group of the fangirls. She lifts up a colourful magazine and obviously, a picture of Austin is on the page she shows us. But, it was a column and the title read "Austin Moon loves pancakes!" I sit back in my seat when all of the girls scream and start fighting for the magazine. Finally, a pair of arms reaches into the group and pulls the magazine away from the rest of them. When they all sigh and sit back down in their seats, I see that Cassidy is holding the magazine, and she is looking straight at me.

"Ally, this is why you are here," Cassidy starts as she puts her hand on the table and leans closer. This makes me think of a predator about to pounce onto its prey, and I scoot farther back on my chair.

"Since everyone thinks you are so nice, we need you to talk to the lunch lady and get her to make us pancakes every day." All the girls start chattering about the new idea, thinking it would get Austin to show up or something, and I sit uneasily in my chair. The idea of pancakes every day was quite abnormal, not to mention I had to lie to the staff-.

"So, you will do it, right Ally?" Cassidy asks, but her voice states that I didn't have a choice. Everyone at the table turned to look at me and I felt as if I were trapped in a cage. So, forgetting my earlier thoughts, I scramble out of my seat and go to the office to suggest 'my new idea.'

Needless to say, I always brought my own lunch from that day on. Ironically, it seemed that the girls' plan had worked because Austin did enroll to our school but, the point is: Austin's pancake obsession.

I look up to see Austin frowning at the pancake mix and I bit my lip to keep from laughing. He might love them but I bet he doesn't know how to make them. I get off my chair and walk beside him. Then, I pull the package from his hand and turn to the stove. Minutes after I have put all the ingredients together in silence, Austin speaks.

"Ally, let me do that," he says as he reaches for the bowl. Austin's head is ducked down but I can see that his cheeks are pink. I smile and willingly hand over the bowl and whisk.

"Sorry," Austin says, referring to how he doesn't know how to make pancakes. I just nod, accepting his apology and then, I excuse myself to use the bathroom, missing how he was about to say something else.

I hope you guys are enjoying my story but if you are not, I apologize for that. Also, I'm sad to say that there will be only a couple chapters left to this story. And some of you might be thinking "but Austin and Ally haven't gotten together yet!" and I will just say be patient. I will try my best to end this story as best I can but right now, I just want to know what you think.

Thanks to those who have stayed with my story, you guys are amazing! I hope you review and if you do, I want to know if you have read my little author's note.