Whoop whoop, managed to get this chapter up before the day ended! Heidi's on a roll. You know that laptop I was talking about last chapter? I went and got it! :D It's da bomb and i've been on it for like the past 5 hours. It came with a built in webcam so I skyped with some of my friends for like four hours and then I started typing this up. The only downside to the word program on here is that it doesn't have spellcheck D: but, fortunately, i'm somewhat of a good speller so I think I won't have too many spelling errors. Like I know the difference between they're, their and there. That's one of my pet peeves.

Anyway, i've gotten alot of questions as to who I picture when I talk about Ben and Allison and, instead of answering them all individually, i'll answer them in the author note! I picture Ben as Channing Tatum, not because he was in Dear John, but because of the fact that he's just so gorgeous... :D And I picture Allison as Leighton Meester. Of course, she's in Gossip Girl, she was in Country Strong, The Roommate and in the new movie with Selena Gomez. I think it's called Monte Carlo? I haven't seen it. And strangely, I had no idea she was in Gossip Girl, I don't watch it, I just seen her in Country Strong and absolutely loved it.

If you don't like them or picture Ben and Allison looking different, that's totally fine with me. I'm in no way telling you this is what they look like, this is just what I picture them looking like. It's entirely up to you to picture them however you want. But this is the longest author's note ever, so I won't keep you any further. This chapter is kinda long, but it's pretty good :D Enjoy!


Chapter 10

He led her towards the back of the cemetery, where a set of wrought-iron gates were. When they reached it, he pushed them open and led her down a long path.

"How far is it?"

"Why? Are you tiring out on me already?"

"No." She said quickly,

"I was just wondering."

"The entrance is up ahead to the right."

She nodded and they continued to walk to the spot where he had pointed to. When they got to the entrance, there was a sign that said 'Old Grove Memorial Garden, est. 1945.'

"Wow, this is an old place."

"Yeah, they built it three years after the church opened. It's a huge place. Are you ready?" She smiled,

"Yeah, let's go."

They entered the garden and all around them were flowers of almost every color. Allison looked around in amazement,

"Oh my gosh."

"I told you it was huge."

"How big is it?"

"About two acres." She raised an eyebrow,

"Wow. We're not going through the entire place, are we?

"No, I just want to show you a couple of spots." She smiled and motioned towards the path,

"Lead the way."

They walked on the path that wound its way through the entire garden. They walked in silence for a while; Ben was letting her take it all in. There were flowers of almost every color and trees of every kind. There were tons of birds, too, and they could hear frogs and grasshoppers chirping. They walked on the path for a while before she said,

"Wow, this is amazing."

"Yeah, my grandad used to take me through it all the time when I was young." They continued to walk before he remembered something.

"Here, let's go off of the path for a few minutes." She looked at him,

"What?"

"Yeah, let's go."

"We won't get lost will we?"

"No, no, no, I promise." She still looked doubtful and he added, again,

"I promise."

"Okay."

He led her off of the path and they walked for about five minutes before they heard rumbling.

"What's that?"

"You'll see. We're almost there."

They walked for a few more minutes before he said,

"All right, it's just around this corner."

They rounded the corner and they came upon a huge waterfall. It was almost three stories high. Allison stared in amazement. He looked at her and smiled,

"Pretty cool, huh?"

"It's amazing."

"Let's go to the top."

"The top?"

"Yeah, or at least to the middle platform right up there."

"I don't know..." He nudged her shoulder,

"You going to chicken out on me?"

"I'm not chickening out I'm just concerned for our safety." He smiled,

"Thank you, but I won't let anything happen to you." She looked at him and smiled,

"Okay."

"You want to do it?"

"Yeah, I trust you." He smiled,

"Alright, let's go."

He led her up a stairway of rocks they had to climb to get to the platform. It only took a couple of minutes but, halfway up, she was lagging behind. He stopped and waited for her,

"You okay?"

"Yeah, just wait a second."

He smiled and she got stuck for a minute. He extended his hand out to her and she smiled and took it. He was helping her up to where he was when she liped on a rock and fell in his arms. He caught her and she looked up at him. They smiled and she stood up and smiled embarrassedly.

"Thanks." He cleared his throat,

"No problem. Do you want to keep going?"

"Yeah, let's go."

They finally reached the platform and he went out to the edge of the rock. She stood far behind him,

"Ben, what are you doing?"

"Come here, come look." She crossed her arms,

"I can see fine right here."

"Come here, please."

She thought about it for a minute, then slowly came towards him. She stopped and looked out below. There was a pool of beautifiul blue water and, in the distant, was a rainbow of colors. She new they were the flowers that were in the garden and the tops of the hundreds of trees. She smiled,

"Wow, this is amazing."

"Yeah, I love it here."

They stood together, admiring the view, before he asked,

"Do you want to go swimming?"

"What?"

"Yeah, let's do it."

"Ben, it's February." He shrugged his shoulders,

"So? It's not cold out here. And, besides, it's the end of February."

He took both of his shirts and shoes off and his pants, leaving on only his boxers.

"Ben, don't."

"Why not? Come on."

"It'll be cold."

"Please?" She looked at him and he said,

"Well i'm going." He then dived off of the rock as he heard Allison yell his name. He re-appeared a minute later and saw her standing at the edge of the rock.

"Come on!"

"I don't know!"

"Please? It's not cold!"

She stood there for a second, then took off her sweater. She had on a tank top and she slipped off her shoes. She left her pants on and took a couple of steps back. He smiled and saw her run and jump off. She landed with a splash and popped back up a couple of seconds latre. She came up smiling,

"That was fun!" He smiled,

"I told you. And it's not cold, is it?"

"No, not at all."

"I told you." She splashed him,

"Don't rub it in." He laughed and splashed her back.

They splashed each other and laughed for a long time before they heard footsteps in the woods. They stopped and listened for a minute,

"What was that?" Allison whispered. They heard footsteps start to approach them adn Ben moved in front of Allison, prepared to protect her. She looked at him, then at the woods and, a few seconds later, a security gaurd stepped out.

"Excuse me, what do you two think you're doing?" Ben stammered a little bit,

"Uh, nothing, sir, just going for a swim." Allison looked at him and smiled. The gaurd, however, wasn't amused.

"Well noone is supposed to be back here. I'm going to have to ask you both to wrap it up, okay?"

"Okay, thank you, sir."

The gaurd nodded and walked back into the woods. When they didn't hear any more footsteps, Allison burst into laughter. He looked back at her and she continued laughing. He smiled,

"What are you laughing at?" She continued to laugh until she regained herself.

"Ooh, i'm sorry, that was hilarious."

"What was?"

"The look on your face when that gaurd came out." He smiled,

"Well I had to deal with him by myself; you didn't help me any."

"Well you stood in front of me, so I took that as a sign to not say anything." He scoffed, playfully,

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah."

He smiled and splashed her. She laughed and they splashed each other for a few minutes before Ben immediately stopped. He held out his arm,

"Wait!"

"What?"

"Shhh..." He whispered. She wore a nervous expression.

"Do you hear that?"

"What?"

"Lean towards the woods."

She leaned forward and focused her eyes on the woods. He went behind her and then did a huge tidal wave with both of his arms, drenching her. She whipped around and splashed him,

"God, Ben, that wasn't funny!" He laughed,

"I had to get you back."

"For what?"

"For making me handle that officer by myself." She smiled,

"Whatever. You scared me though, I thought a bear was coming or something." He went under for a second, then popped back up. He shook his head,

"I told you I wouldn't let anything happen to you." She smiled and her teeth started to chatter.

"Are you cold?"

"Yeah, i'm starting to get a little chilly." He motioned towards the rock,

"Alright, let's go."

They swam towards the shore and she lipped on her sweater and shoes. He put on his pants and handed her his black button up shirt. She looked at it and shook her head,

"No, you keep it."

"No take it, i'm not cold." She still looked at him and he said,

"Take it, please." She finally took it and slipped it on while Ben put on the white t-shirt. They started walking back towards the path and a few minutes later she said,

"Thank you."

"For what?"

"This, today, everything." He smiled,

"You're welcome."

"Thanks for dealing with that officer, too."

"No problem. I could've taken him anyway" She laughed,

"I'm sure you could have." She took a break, then said, seriously,

"I don't think I could be in the Air Force." He looked at her,

"Why not?"

"Because you have to do all of those missions you were telling me about and shoot down planes while being worried about someone shooting you. I would be so scared all of the time."

They eventually got back on the path and started making their way out. They continued to walk past flowers and trees of every color and kind. The frogs had continued to croak, also. He finally replied to her statement,

"It's not that bad. Yeah it can get pretty intense in the heat of the moment, but 80% of the time it's quiet, or at least somewhat quiet."

"I still don't think I could do it."

They continued to talk about the Air Force and talked about other things, as well. She asked him what he liked to do and he told her mainly outdoor things, especially hunting, fishing, four-wheeling and water-skiing.

"Oh, i've always wanted to go four-wheeling. And fishing."

"You'e never gone fishing?"

"Nope, i've always wanted to, I just never got around it."

"I can't believe that. I guess i'll have to take you one day." She smiled and nodded,

"Okay. You promise?" He smiled,

"I promise."

"Good."

They walked for a few more minutes, then came back to the entrance. They walked out of the garden and she stopped and turned around, looking back at it.

"That was such an amazing place."

"Yeah, it's beautiful."

"Thank you for taking me. And showing me the waterfall; that was my favorite part."

He smiled, wondering if she meant because of the waterfall itself or the fact that she had had a good time with him, as he did with her.

They walked back into the cemetery and he said a quick good-bye to his mom while she said a quick goodbye to her grandma. They both went to Jeff's grave and stood at it for a minute before turning around and walked back towards the gate. While they were walking, he was that his truck was the only car in the parking lot.

"Did you drive here?" She shook her head, embarrassedly,

"No, I don't have a car."

He knew there was more to it based on the way she had said it. She obviously didn't want to talk about it, so he avoided it,

"Do you need a ride home?"

"I don't want you to have to go out of your way. I'll just take a cab." He waved it off,

"No, i'll give you a ride, you don't need to take a cab. Besides, you don't know if it's out of my way or not." She still looked unsure.

"Why would you pay somebody to take you home when i'm offering for free?"

"Because you're still sort of a stranger."

"A stranger? You've spent the whole day with me. And before today as well. How am I a stranger?"

"I don't know, I still don't know you that well."

"Well you don't know anything about the driver of the cab, do you?"

"Not really."

"I rest my case." She thought about it, then smiled,

"Okay." He smiled, too,

"Alright, let's go."

They walked out of the cemetery and walked across the street and into the empty parking lot. When they reached his truck, they both got in and he started the engine. He pulled out of the parking lot and she directed him to a long road. While he was driving he asked her,

"So, you don't really know me, huh?" She smiled and shook her head,

"Not really."

"Well, i'm in the Air Force of course, i'm 23, my birthday is July 14th and my favorite radio station is," He turned it to a modern rock station,

"This one."

She smiled and she recognized the song. She stared singing quietly and, as it neared the chorus, she began to sing louder. He looked at her and smiled. She continued to sing before the song ended She looked at him and he smiled. She smiled, too,

"What is it?"

"Nothing."

"You don't like my singing?"

"Of course I do, you're a good singer."

"Don't lie." He laughed,

"You really are a good singer. Have you ever thought about auditioning for anything?" She laughed,

"Okay, let's not over do it."

"I'm serious, you're a good singer."

"All right."

"Okay, don't believe me." She looked at him,

"You really think i'm a good singer?"

"Yeah, I really do." She smiled,

"Well, thank you."

They rode in silence for a while, past dozens of houses. Allison finally said,

"Okay, you're going to take the next right." A few seconds later, he made the turn and turned onto another long road.

"I told you it was a long drive."

"No problem. I offered anyway, right?" She nodded and turned to face him in the seat,

"So, what else do you like to do?"

He told her that he was mainly an outdoor person, but he was happy to just sit and watch a movie or play a board game. She also told him what she liked to do. While she was talking, she told him to take two more lefts. He found out that she liked going to the beach and she often volunteered at her church as a helper in the nursery. He smiled and was about to ask her something when she said,

"All right, we're almost there. At this stop sign take a right." He approached the stop sign and slowed down and took a right.

"Okay my house is right up here on the left. It's the one with the black mailbox and white volvo. Do you see it?" He nodded and slowed the truck and pulled into the driveway. He turned the truck off and they got out.

When he got out, he looked at her house. It was a nice two story brick house with white shutter and a brown oak door. They yard was very well kept and he could see a little garden off to the side with a birdbath in the middle of it. He walked her up to the door. She turned to him,

"Thank you for today."

"You're welcome."

"I had alot of fun." He smiled,

"I did, too. But, again, you didn't help me with that security gaurd." She rolled her eyes, playfully,

"You're still on that?" He smiled and shrugged his shoulders.

They stood together awkwardly and Ben knew their time together was about to end. He wanted to see her again and figured it was now or never. He cleared his throat,

"So what are you doing tomorrow?" She looked at him,

"Nothing, why?"

He shuffled his feet. He couldn't remember he last time he had felt nervous around a girl.

"Well you said you wanted to go fishing, right?"

"Yes."

"Do you want to go tomorrow morning?" She smiled,

"Sure. What time?" He exhaled, realizing he was holding his breath,

"How about around ten?"

"Okay, sounds great."

"All right."

"Well, I'll see you tomorrow then."

"Okay." She smiled,

"Goodnight, Ben, and thank you again for everything."

"You're welcome. And goodnight." She smiled and walked inside while he turned around and walked off of the porch and back to his truck. When he opened his door, the turned towards the house and Allison was standing in the doorway. She smiled and waved and he waved back. She went in and closed the door and he got in his truck and backed out of her driveway.


XD How adorable, they're getting closer. I'm going to try and keep updating every day, but I have work five days a week, coupled with other stuff that i'm doing, but I know that there's people who are here, wanting to read this, so I'm going to try my best to update every day. I owe it to you guys, you're all so fantastic :D Hope you enjoyed it! See you next chapter! And you know what's coming next. I say it at the end of all my author's notes. Please review. :D