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Ally's POV

I had been in the living room when I heard Emily barge into the house and straight for the kitchen. My mom was cooking homemade pizza, which was Emily's favorite. I got up from my spot on the couch and walked into the kitchen.

"Sweetie, stay in here. Dinner is going to be ready in a minute," My mom said, taking the pizza out of the oven. Emily eyed it and licked her lips, causing me to laugh.

"What!?" She practically shouted at me. "You know I love your moms cooking."

"I know," I said simply, taking a seat at the table. I looked around and sighed. There was still so much to unpack and to be honest, I was so over unpacking already and I only just moved the day prior. Buzz. I took my phone out of my pocket and saw that I had a text from Austin.

'Just wanted to make sure that this is your real number ;)'

I smiled down at my phone and let out a small laugh. I started replying back as my mom set the pizza down on the table.

'Don't worry, it is :P'

Emily sat down in the seat directly across from me, and I could feel her staring at me, so I looked up from my phone and raised my eyebrows. "Can I help you?" I asked, still smiling from the text.

"Who're you texting?" She asked curiously as she took a slice of pizza off of the tray.

"Austin," I said, slapping a slice on my plate. She smirked at me and I just shook my head, knowing exactly what she was thinking.

"Ooooh," My mom cut in, taking a seat at the end of the table. "Who's Austin?"

I opened my mouth to start talking, but Emily interrupted me.

"The boy next door. Auntie, they've been flirting non stop!" She said, wiggling her eyebrows as she took a bite into the pizza. "Mmm," She said quietly.

"We have not been flirting!" I said defensively, looking at my phone as it buzzed again.

'Good, cause if it wasn't, we'd have a serious problem, Ally Dawson"

I smiled at my phone again, and soon began replying back. Not without Emily blowing kisses again, like she did earlier on the car ride home.

'Oh yeah? I'm sure. ;)'

When I looked up from my phone after I sent the text, my mom and Emily were both staring at me.

"What?" I asked innocently. "He's the one flirting with me! Okay?"

"False!" Emily said, pointing a finger at me. My mom let out a laugh as I crossed my arms, raising and eyebrow to Emily.

"What do you mean 'false'?" I said, still with my eyebrow raised.

"You were flirting back with him in the car today, that's what I mean!" I gaped at her, and that's all I could do. I can't believe she thought I was flirting back with him. I was just being friendly!

"Wait," My mom said, staring at Emily then to me. "Is that the blonde boy that was out in his yard yesterday?" Emily nodded her head at my mom and my mom smiled and looked at me. "He's cute, Ally!"

"Mom, believe me. I'm not interested. I just met the boy yesterday!" I said defending myself once again. I was going to kill Emily. Why did she have to bring this up in front of my mom? It was honestly nothing, and it will never be anything. I see us as being good friends, but that's it, really.

"If you say so," My mom said in a tone that made it seem like she didn't believe me. Damn it, Emily. I shot a glare at my cousin as my mom picked up out empty plates off the table and walked them over to the sink. Emily just grinned at me, acting as if she did nothing wrong.

Emily stayed at the house a few more hours after we finished eating. Me, her, and my mom sat down and caught up on things; telling stories, cracking jokes, and just flat out entertaining ourselves. I loved spending time with them. I always had a good time whenever we were all together, and I'm happy that there will be more of these moments now that we live next door to one another.

It was 10 P.M. when Emily left, and of course, I had to walk her across the street. You know, for someone that is sixteen years old, she sure was a baby when it came to walking across the street at night. It wasn't like the road was fully black, there were street lights. After she went inside, I made my way down her front steps and across the street. I was about to walk onto my front lawn when I noticed Austin sitting on the curb in front of his house. I walked over to him slowly, and when I reached him, he looked up at me and smiled. I returned the smile and sat next to him, and then looked at him. Even though I hardly know him, I could tell something was wrong.

"What are you doing out here all by yourself, hm?" I said softly. He looked at me and smiled again. Why is he smiling? There's definitely something wrong.

"Just thinking," He said, looking up at the stars.

"About what?" I asked curiously, watching him as he looked up in the sky.

"Everything, really," He said, looking at me then back up to the sky. "I sit out here occasionally when I need to clear my mind."

"Do you want me to leave you alone?" I asked. I didn't want to be bothering him if he wanted to be alone.

"No, it's okay. You're good company," He said, and I smiled.

"Okay," I said, mimicking his position and looking up at the sky. I never realized how beautiful the sky was. I guess I didn't pay much attention to it, but right now I was. It was beautiful, and that's the only way I can describe it. Stars were spread out everywhere, and the moon was full. We sat there in silence for a few minutes until Austin said something.

"Ally?" He said, looking at me. I looked back at him and nodded my head. "This might be personal, so I don't know if I should ask you." I was now curious.

"No, no. Ask me." I said, smiling at him. He rubbed the back of his neck and looked at me.

"Have you ever been in love?" He asked hesitantly. That question was unexpected.

"No," I said, looking back up at the stars, "I don't like getting too close to people."

"How come?" He said, I could tell by his tone that he was actually curious.

"Because when I thought they would always be there for me," I started, and looked Austin in the eyes. "They eventually leave,"

Austin's POV

I was shocked by the response I got from Ally, because that's how I felt about the whole getting too close to people situation.

"Wow," I said, whispering. "That's exactly how I feel," We were still looking each other in the eyes, until Ally turned away and looked up at the sky again. I just kept staring. She was extremely beautiful, and she seemed different from other girls. She treated me differently than other girls did, too. From what I know of only knowing this girl for a day, she wasn't afraid to be real with me, unlike other girls who I've ever associated myself with. She doesn't try to get with me like all of the other girls have, and she seems like she is a very genuine person. I had a feeling that she and I will be really good friends, and that's what I need in my life, especially now.

"Thanks for talking to me," I said quietly, looking down at the ground. She looked at me and smiled, "I have a feeling you and I are gonna be really good friends, Ally Dawson," I said, repeating what I had said to her yesterday, and she smirked.

"We'll see about that," She said, exactly the way she had said it to me yesterday, and I laughed.

"You don't think so?" I said, nudging her a little.

"We'll just have to wait and see, now, won't we?" She replied, but I knew she was being smart with me, and I couldn't help but smile.

"You like being a smart ass, don't you?" I said, laughing. She shrugged her shoulders and raised her eyebrows.

"Maybe," She said with a smirk. "I hope it doesn't hurt your feelings," She said in a mocking baby voice.

"It doesn't," I said, and her smirk turned into a smile. "I think you're funny,"

"Yeah?" She asked, and I nodded my head. "Well, thank you."

We sat outside the front of my house for a good hour, maybe a little more. A majority of the time we sat in silence, but it wasn't an awkward kind of silence, it was really nice. I never had anyone sit outside with me, not because I didn't want to, but because no one every really took the time to sit down with me. My father and I didn't get along, my mother was constantly on business trips, Dez and Trish lived across town, Emily hated the dark, and my other friends were always out partying. So, it was actually really great to have some company with me this time, to say the very least. And it felt nice to actually know that somebody cared. I didn't ask Ally to come to me; she had come on her own.

Ally's POV

Austin and I had been sitting outside for a while now. He was actually really fun to talk to. We sat there in silence mostly, but it was nice. Austin seemed to open up to me easily, and I could tell just by his expressions that he was happy I had come over to him. For a while we threw stones across the road, seeing what stone would bounce off the ground the most. I won most of the time, but I knew he was letting me win. I could still tell something was bothering him, but I knew he didn't really feel like talking about it, so I didn't ask. I wondered while we were in silence what might be wrong with him, but since I've only known him a day, I wasn't able to pin point it.

I looked at my phone, and the time read 11:15 P.M. We had been outside a little more than and hour, and that's when I decided it was time to leave.

"I'm gonna go, okay?" I said, putting my phone back in my pocket. "It's getting late,"

"Okay," He said softly, getting up off the curb and standing in front of me. He reached a hand down to me, and I grabbed it. It took him no effort to help me up. 'Was I really that light?' I thought. "So… tomorrow…" Huh? Oh right! He was coming over to help me unpack. My mom had asked me if I could start painting the dining room, so maybe he'd help me with that instead.

"About that…" I said, and he frowned. Why was he frowning? "Do you mind helping me paint instead?" His frown turned into a smile, and I smiled back. Aw, I think he was sad because he thought I was going to cancel, that's so cute. Wait, what?

"Not a problem," He said, grinning.

"Great," I said. "Wear clothes that you don't care about, wouldn't want you to get paint on your nice clothes,"

"Okay, I will," He said simply, and I smiled at him. I started walking toward my house when I heard him call my name. "Ally?"

"Yeah?" I called back, turning around to face him.

"What time should I be over tomorrow?" He asked, and I felt stupid. How could I not have given him a set time? I thought for a moment because I honestly wasn't sure what time I'd be waking up.

"Ten," I said, sure of myself.

"Great, I'll see you then," He called, starting to head into his house. I watched him as he walked up his stairs, but then turned around and headed back into my own house.