"YOU WHAT?"

I flinched. It seemed as if every eye in the cafeteria looked over to the table where Trish and I sat. I slid down in my chair as Trish stared at me with wild eyes.

"I told you Trish, he just gave me a ride home. It's no big deal." Trish nearly choked on her bite of salad.

"'No big deal?' Ally he sought you out! He cares about you!" Trish was starting to make frantic hand gestures.

I rolled my eyes to the back of my head. She didn't get it. He was pitying me. And I hated it.

"I didn't ask for him to."

Trish gasped. "Did you show him where you live? ALLY! I don't even know exactly where you live!"

I looked down at the table. "Not exactly. I had him drop me off in a neighborhood about a block from where I live."

Trish reached across the table and grabbed my hand. "Oh, Ally. Don't worry, I understand."

She gave my hand a squeeze and went back to her salad. My stomach growled. I had no idea what I was going to do. When I got home the day before, my dad wasn't there. I waited all night for him to come home, but he never showed up. I was scared. I had no money, no food… nothing.

A&A

"Ally! Wait up!"

I groaned. I thought I was in the clear. I turned around to see Austin jogging over to me from the front steps of the school. He smiled at me, but I didn't return it.

"I'm going to drive you home." He held up his car keys and motioned to the parking lot. I crossed my arms and frowned.

"Look, Austin. I don't want your pity. I can handle myself. Yesterday was a one-time thing."

I expected him to just shrug and walk away, but his smile never faltered. He reached out and grabbed my wrist, starting to tug me towards the parking lot. Not expecting that, my body was easily dragged along behind him, but I found my footing and tried to pull my wrist back.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Stop it."

"Ally." He turned around and crossed his arms, matching my stance. "I can't let you walk home all alone. Do you know what kind of people are out there? Someone could just drive right up and snatch you!"

I scoffed. "Well at least they won't run over my bike."

"I'm going to pretend you didn't just say that. Come on Ally, please." He gave me the same puppy dog eyes that lured me into his car the day before. I huffed.

"Fine."

Austin smiled triumphantly and started walking towards his car. I trudged along behind him, getting in the passenger seat.

Unlike yesterday's drive, Austin decided to talk to me.

"So, do you have any siblings?"

I gritted my teeth. "No."

Austin wasn't fazed by my coldness. "Oh, so you're an only child too. Do you live with both your mom and dad?"

My breath caught in my throat. I squeezed my palms together. "Just my dad."

Austin looked at me out of the corner. "Are your parents divorced?"

I tried to swallow around the lump in my throat. "No."

Austin didn't push any farther, luckily. There was no way I was opening up to him that easily.

We turned into the same neighborhood as yesterday and he pulled over in front of the same house.

"Thanks for the ride, even though I didn't really want it." I said, sliding out of the Jeep.

Austin just gave me a warm smile. "No problem."

Just like yesterday, I walked halfway up the driveway and turned and waved to Austin. He lingered a few seconds longer than the day before, but finally he headed out the neighborhood, until he was far out of sight.

A&A

When I reached the apartment, there were four men standing at the bottom of the stairs. I paused for a moment. I vaguely remember them from my dad's poker games. They were big, burly men. Each one of them had various bald spots and bulging beer bellies.

I gathered myself and walked up to them.

"Can I help you guys?"

One guy that was leaning against the rail picked himself up and loomed over me. I gulped, trying to stay calm in front of these tough looking men.

"I s'pose. We's lookin fo Lester."

I looked past him to the top of the stairs, hoping for my dad to come swaggering down to take care of these men.

"I-He's not here right now?"

The man to the guy's left joined him in looming over me.

"What do ya mean 'he's not here'? Ya mean yous don't knows wheres he's at?"

"I-I don't know."

The third man cracked his knuckles. He walked over and grabbed my right arm tightly, causing me to yelp. He pulled me close to his face. "Well yous tell Lester that wes got some unfinished business wit him."

He squeezed tighter for a moment, and then he let go. The four men walked away. I scrambled up the stairs and locked the door behind me. What kind of business were they talking about? I prayed that Dad didn't owe them any money.

I slid down the back of the door, putting my head in my hands. I let my mind wander to the fantasy that I had yesterday when I was looking at the house. I imagined what the family that owned the house must be doing. I envisioned them sitting down to dinner, sharing stories about their day. The mom talking about her annoying colleague; the dad describing all the sales he made that day.

I leaned my head back and drew in a deep breath. Oh how badly I wanted that.

A&A

When I got to school, Austin was nowhere to be found. I breathed a sigh of relief. Maybe he finally understood that I wanted to be alone. I got to my locker and started grabbing my things.

"Why are you lying to me, Ally?"

I spun around to see Austin standing behind me. He did not look happy. I calmly tucked a piece of hair behind my ear and looked up at him.

"What are you talking about?"

Austin crossed his arms. "I know you don't live at that house."

My heart started racing, but I tried to maintain my calm composure. "What are you say-"

"Oh cut the crap Ally." His harsh tone made me flinch. "I went to that house this morning to convince you to let me give you a ride to school. I went up to the door and I asked for you. You know what the man said? He said he had no idea who the heck I was talking about. Why would you lie?"

I searched his eyes. They reflected hurt back at me. I guiltily hung my head.

"I don't know. I'm sorry. " I whispered. I felt so bad. He had been nothing but nice to me and I was such a jerk.

"Hey, it's ok." He reached out and put his hand on my right arm, causing me to reel back in pain. He had put his hand right where the man had grabbed me, where an angry bruise had formed. Austin pulled his hand back and a look of hurt flashed on his face, but he quickly gave me a small smile.

"Do you wanna tell me why you lied to me?"

"I-I don't know." I stammered.

"Ally, it's fine, you can tell me anything." He looked so sincere, and I really wanted to believe him.

The bell rang and people started to head to their classes. I closed my locker and looked back at Austin.

"I guess I'll just have to tell you later." I turned around to head to my class, but Austin grabbed my wrist and pulled me back.

"Or now."

"We have class." Honestly I didn't even care about class; I was just making lame excuses.

Austin searched my face and leaned in close. "Do you trust me?"

"I-I guess." A smile spread across his face. He pulled me the opposite direction of my class, right out the front doors of the school. He continued into the parking lot, and behind us the final bell rang.

"Where are we going?"

Austin looked back and smiled. "I think it's time we got to know each other a little better."

A&A

I had no clue where Austin was taking me until we reached the gate of his house. The memory of what happened just a few days ago replayed in my head. I gripped the armrest of the seat. Austin hit a button on a remote clipped to the sun visor and the gate swung open. We headed up the winding driveway and came to a stop in the driveway. He turned off the car and looked over at me.

"Why do you look so scared?"

"Well the last time I was here some jerk ran over my bike." Austin laughed and put a hand over his heart.

"Well at least that 'jerk' is trying to make up for it." I gave him a small smile.

"Wow." He said, staring at me. "I think that's the first time I've seen you smile. You look better with a smile."

I blushed and grabbed the door handle. I slid out and waited for Austin to come around and lead the way. When we walked through the front door, I was speechless.

The inside of his house was beautiful. Just imagine the typical double stair case entryway of ye old mansion, but times that by twenty. A crystal chandelier twinkled above our heads. I looked down at my jeans and sweatshirt and immediately felt out of place.

Austin motioned for me to follow him up the stairs. We climbed up and went down a long hallway, passing dozens of doors that I had to fight the urge to open. We rounded a corner and finally came to the end of the hallway. Austin opened up the door and I followed him inside.

My mouth fell open. The room I was standing in was probably as big as the apartment. There was a giant bed centered against the wall to the right. There were instruments strewn about the room, and drawings covering the yellow walls. The farthest wall was pretty much just one big window. There was a glass door that led out to a balcony.

"Is this your room?" I asked in awe.

Austin walked over and sat on the edge of the bed. "Yep."

I walked over to the glass door and pointed. "May I?"

Austin waved his hand, telling me to go ahead.

I walked outside and a cool breeze hit me. I walked to the edge and looked around. In front of me was his sprawling backyard. There was a giant swimming pool and a barbeque pit to me right. To my left was an outdoor dining area and a fire ring.

"Pretty nice, huh?" Austin suddenly appeared to my right, startling me.

"Oh-um- yeah. Very."

We walked back into his room. He went back to his spot on his bed and I sat on his desk chair. We sat in silence for a few moments before I could no longer bear it.

"So you said you wanted to talk?"

Austin took in a breath. "Oh yeah, right."

"So let's talk."

Austin nodded. "Ok. First of all, where do you really live?"

I looked down at my hands. "I can't tell you."

"Why? I won't judge you, Ally. You should know that."

"Nobody knows where I live, and I'd like to keep it that way."

"Ally," he crossed the room and grabbed my hand, bringing me back to sit on the bed next to him. "You can't just keep trying to push me away. I'm not going anywhere."

I looked into his eyes. Something deep within me stirred. "I-I live in a tiny little apartment above a taco shop with my dad."

I expected him to laugh, or make fun of me, but he just sat there and nodded, encouraging me to go on. "I mean, we didn't always live in that dump. I used to live in a pretty house with my mom and dad. My mom-she-she died." A tear rolled down my cheek. I just couldn't stop talking. Austin held onto both of my hands. "She was diagnosed with breast cancer when I was fourteen. It was too late. There was nothing the doctors could do to help her. She was so sick. That's how I remember her-sick. My dad started drinking after my mom died. It wasn't so bad at first, but then he started gambling. We had to sell the house and move into the cheapest place that we could find. He can't admit that he has a problem but I know that he does. He blames me." I was sobbing at this point. "Now we have nothing. Two nights ago he was throwing things and blamed for losing everything. He gambled away all the money we had, and even the college fund that my mom set aside for me. I don't know where he is. He hasn't come home for the last two days. I don't know what to do."

Austin held his arms open and I gladly melted into them. It felt good to get it all out. I had that all bottled up inside of me and I had no idea that it would be so nice to release it. I wasn't really sure why I opened up so easily to Austin. It just felt so natural.

He rubbed circles in my back as I cried into his shirt. "I'm so sorry Ally. I would have never guessed."

I pulled back slightly. "I've never told anyone what I just told you. Not even Trish."

Austin smiled. "Thank you for opening up to me."

I couldn't help but smile and melt back into his hold. It felt comfortable. Warm. Familiar. It felt like home.

A&A

Hey guys! First of all, thank you sososo much for the nice reviews! I seriously get so excited when I get a review. I can't even to tell you how much they mean to me. You guys rock!

Ok, so far I've been updating daily. Do you guys think that I'm updating too often? Like should I only update like twice a week? I'm just scared of posting too often. So let me know!

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