Hello my lovely readers! Here's a new chapter! I hope you all enjoy it and PLEASE give me feedback. I love it, and I love you!

Austin's POV

Today is Christmas. I'm usually happy on this day, but since my mother isn't home to celebrate it this year, it's just another ordinary day. My father didn't get me any presents and he was drunk as usual. We didn't even have a Christmas tree this year, so it's safe to say my day wasn't the best. I have a black eye again, thanks to my father, and I also have more bruises all over my body. What a way to spend Christmas, right? And now he has me outside, in the freezing cold, chopping up firewood.

I've been outside for about an hour now, just cutting up the firewood. My father said I wasn't allowed to go back into the house until I was finished and to be honest, I don't ever want to finish. I'd rather stay outside in the cold than be in the house with my father, getting beaten for no reason. I'm in excruciating pain right now, and all of this axing of the wood is hurting me even more. I just wish my mom was home. I miss her so much. Everything is always great when she's around.

I also miss Ally. I haven't seen her for a couple of days because she has family things to attend, which is understandable since it is the holidays and all. I've known Ally almost two months now, and it's safe to say that I like her, a lot. I think she likes me, too. A few weeks ago we almost kissed… twice. Unfortunately, her mother interrupted both of the times, and since then, we haven't come close to kissing at all. I want to kiss her, so bad. When we were at lunch the other day at school, I couldn't stop staring at her lips, and I don't know why. It's like every time I see her, I crave her. I crave her lips, her touch, her scent, and just her in general. I think she likes me, but I'm really unsure since she treats me like a friend.

I sigh and start axing at the wood again. There was still a lot more to be cut up, but right now I don't really mind. At least it's giving me something to do, even though I'm feeling so much pain.

Ally's POV

I sat silently at the dining room table while everyone else in my family were all laughing and having fun in other parts of the house. I look at the walls in the room, and a small smile grows on my face because I started thinking about the time Austin and I painted this room. We had a lot of fun that day, even though I rudely got paint splattered on me. I still had fun. I take a deep breath and hold my chin up with my hand, just staring at the wall. The silence was interrupted by none other than Emily, of course.

"Why aren't you out here partying with the family!?" She half shouted and half spoke. She was under the influence, and it was so obvious. At family events, the kids are allowed to drink, which was kind of awesome since I'm only sixteen. I looked up at Emily and just sighed. "Are you okay?" She sounded more sincere when she said this, and not so drunk anymore.

"Not really," I said sadly. I haven't talked, let alone seen, Austin in a couple days, and it actually made me upset. I'm so used to seeing him every single day, and it's just strange being without him for this long.

"What's the matter?" She said, taking a seat across the table. I thought for a moment, and I wasn't sure if I should tell her, but what the heck?

"I miss Austin," I said as I started twiddling with my thumbs, avoiding all eye contact with my cousin. Even though I wasn't looking at her, I knew the expression on her face was a shocked and very confused one.

"You miss him?" She asked. I looked up at her, and she had a smirk on her face, causing me to roll my eyes.

"Yeah, I miss him," I said softly and then letting out a sigh.

"Do you like him, Ally?" Emily asked, seriously. I gave her a look, a look that said yes, and she stared at me in awe. "I knew it. I told you!" She shouted, and I had to shush her.

"Keep your voice down," I said, looking around, making sure no one was listening. I took a deep breath, and looked Emily in the face and nodded my head. "I like him. I like him a lot, Em," A grin grew on her face, and she was just giving me her famous 'I told you so' face.

"Well, if you miss him, why don't you go and see him?" She asked simply. "He's in his backyard cutting up wood, I just saw him when I walked past the window in the kitchen,"

"Really?" I said, raising an eyebrow. I wasn't sure if she was telling the truth, because, well, she is kind of drunk, so she may not know what the hell she's saying.

"Yes really," She said, getting up from her seat. "Now go see him. I'll cover for you," And with that, she walked out of the dining room.

I got up from my seat, ran to my room, grabbed my jacket, and quickly ran out of my house before anyone could see me. As soon as I stepped outside, I started shivering. It was so freezing. I walked down my stairs and started heading over to Austin's house. I walked along the side of his yard, and soon enough I spotted him. He was cutting up wood into blocks with an axe, just like Emily had told me. I put my hands in my pockets of my jacket, and started walking over to him slowly. He was really working hard, and I have to admit, it was kind of hot how manly he could be. As I made my way up to him, I noticed something; he had a black eye. I frowned and when I reached him, I put my hand on his back, making him jump. He looked down at me, holding his heart, but then ended up smiling.

"Sorry," I said softly, a small smile forming on my face. I look at his eye and frown. "Why didn't you call me?" I stroked my thumb gently over his bruised eye, and he flinched a little. "Did I hurt you?"

He shook his head no, throwing the axe on the ground. "No, you didn't. I missed you," He said suddenly, pulling me into a hug. His arms were wrapped tightly around me, and soon enough, my arms were doing the same to him.

"I missed you too," I said, sounding muffled because my face was against his chest.

"How was your Christmas?" He asked, still holding me tightly.

"It was good," I said as I starting rubbing my hand up and down his back. He shivered, and I don't think it was because of how cold it was. "How was yours?"

"Dumb," He said quietly. His voice sounded shaky when he said this, and I let go of him and looked him in the eyes. His black eye was worse than the last one he had, and now tears were falling from both his eyes. I rubbed my thumbs on his cheeks, wiping away his tears. I hated seeing him like this.

"You should come over my house for a little bit," I said, now rubbing my hands down his cheeks to the sides of his neck. "We can talk for a while, and actually be in warmth." I looked at the axe and the wood, and then back at him. "Why are you out here anyway? It's freezing."

"My dad made me come out here," He said in a sad voice. I shook my head and kept rubbing his neck.

"Well, come on," I said, grabbing his hand. His hands were like ice. "You're coming with me,"

"Ally, I don't want to intrude on your family time," He said, hesitating to follow me. I pulled him along with me, still hand in hand.

"You aren't," I said, and then I did something risky. I intertwined our fingers, and I was relieved that he grabbed my hand tightly. "We're going to go in my room, away from everyone,"

"Okay," He said quietly, and then we walked to my house.

When we walked in the door, laughter and chatter was spread throughout the house, and it was pretty loud. Still holding Austin's hand, I shut the front door quietly and looked around to see if anyone was in sight. When I saw no one, I slowly pulled Austin along with me, heading toward my room. I opened my bedroom door, and looked around one last time before we walked in. After I turned the light on and shut the door behind us, I locked it.

When I turned to face Austin, he looked like he was hurting, and I noticed that we never let go of each others hand.

"Where does it hurt?" I said, letting go of his hand, and putting my hand up to his cheek.

"Everywhere," He said, almost inaudibly.

I looked him in his eyes and slowly moved my hands to his chest. "Maybe I can help," I whispered.

Still looking him in the eyes, I unzipped his jacket slowly, and for some reason, his breathing started to get slow and heavy. I slid his jacket off of his shoulders, not breaking eye contact with him. He was wearing a button up plaid shirt, and without hesitation I started unbuttoning his shirt, starting from the top.

"Ally," He said huskily as I continued on to his last couple of buttons. I slid his shirt off of his shoulders to reveal his bruised up, yet extremely muscular, body.

"What can I do?" I said, still whispering, slowly backing him up to the wall. His breathing got really heavy now.

"Kiss them," He said, and now his back was against my wall.

Without hesitation I started trailing kisses all over his chest, over every bruise. I made my way down to his abs and literally kissed him everywhere, even on spots that didn't have any bruises. I made my way up and got on my tip toes and placed a kiss over his bruised up eye, and now Austin was taking my jacket off. He unzipped it and quickly slid it off of me. We were looking each other in the eyes the whole time. Suddenly, his hand moved up to his collarbone and he pointed at a bruise that was partially on his neck and collarbone.

"You missed one," He said, and I don't know why, but I started to get turned on. I bit my lip and looked at the bruise that was, in fact there where he pointed. I pressed my lips against the bruise and kissed it, slowly and repeatedly. His arms quickly wrapped around me, and he was now squeezing my waist. I placed a few more kisses over it and then looked up at him. His breathing was so unsteady and it was turning me on even more. "Are you hurting anywhere?" He whispered, and this took me by surprise.

"No," I said, and now my breathing began to get heavy. He squeezed my waist tighter and then started rubbing his hands from my waist to the small of my back. One of his hands slipped under my shirt just a little, and I started shivering because of how cold his hands still were, but I didn't want him to stop.

"Can you pretend something hurts then?" He said, inching his face closer to me, and he was now biting his lip. Hard. And now I'm even more turned on, and I wanted him.

"O…okay," I managed to breathe out. I pointed to my neck, pretending that it hurt. Austin dipped his head down and his lips were now on my neck. Kissing it slowly and even sucking it a little. I wrapped my arms around his back, placing my hands on his lower back. He was so damn muscular. Austin surprised me by biting my neck and letting his tongue dart out and touch my skin, and I let out a small moan, even though I didn't mean to. Oh my god, what are we doing?

"Austin," I said, leaning my head back a little, and biting my lip. He kissed his way across my neck to the other side of my neck and started kissing my there. I let him kiss my neck for a couple of minutes, and I did moan again. Soon, I let go of his back and grabbed his head. I was going for it, I wanted it, and I wanted it now. I pulled his face down to mine and pressed my lips against his… hard. Austin responded immediately by grabbing my head now and making the kiss more passionate. He parted his lips, and I did the same, and now his tongue was sliding through my mouth. My tongue moved with his perfectly, and our kiss was just… perfect.