Thank you all again for the lovely reviews. I appreciate every single one of you that have favourited, followed and reviewed, and all those that have enjoyed the story so far! I'm sorry if this chapter isn't the best. It took me quite some time to write since I got stuck in some parts.

"It all made perfect sense, and at the same time, nothing seemed to make sense at all."

- Nicholas Sparks, A Walk to Remember

He cupped one side of her face with his shaky hand and breathed out on her face, to signal her what was to come. Quickly understanding the situation, Ally's breathing hitched.

"A-are you going to kiss me?" She whispered.

"May I?" Austin breathed out as he closed his eyes.

Ally pulled away as she felt his minty breath from his earlier mint chocolate chip ice cream and sighed. "You shouldn't..."

The funny feeling he had in his stomach was then replaced with a tight knot and all he wanted to do was punch himself and drown in a deep hole of shame. He felt pathetic, and he was sure he looked like it too.

"Oh."

Austin pulled away and gripped on the steering wheel of the car till his knuckles turned white. He knew Ally couldn't see how pathetic he looked, but the air was so suffocating he knew she felt it too. What was he thinking? Of course a girl like Ally wouldn't want to kiss him. She was probably waiting for a guy that would be worth something. Worthy enough to kiss those stupid pink lips. He insisted he felt the twisting knot in his stomach because no girl had ever, ever reject a kiss from Austin Moon. That had to be it.

He couldn't even remember when Ally got out of her seat and left the car. He was too focused on his knuckles lacking blood flow and the pain his chest was feeling.

/

Seeing Austin without a girl against his locker was already weird enough, but seeing Austin reading a book was not something Dez was prepared for.

"Who are you and what did you do to my best friend?" Dez teased.

Austin returned his teasing with a half smile. "Just reading last minute."

It wasn't really last minute. It was the only thing he could do to get Ally out of his head.

"What's that?" Dez asked as he spotted a piece of glossy paper peeking out of Austin's textbook he had used as a bookmark. Before Austin could answer, the redhead had grabbed it out.

'Curing Blindness: Vision Quest', the brochure read.

At this point, Austin was a deep shade of red and Dez looked up at him knowingly. He wasn't the brightest crayon in the box, but he knew Austin like the back of his hand. Frankly, he was quite observant and people never gave him enough credit for that.

"Want to tell me anything about this?" He waved the brochure in the air.

Just then, the bell rang and Austin couldn't be happier to hear the sound the clinging metal. "Nope."

Austin slumped down on his seat and ran his hand through his hair. For the past week, he hadn't been able to think the way Austin Moon did; girls, pancakes and more girls. Now it was Ally, pancakes and a bit more of Ally. Just a tiny bit. He really needed to get a grip of himself.

" 'Sup Moon. Missed you at the big party last night." Trevor Young greeted as he stood next to Austin's desk. "There was no one to entertain the girls."

Douche, he thought.

Austin knew Trevor hadn't taken a liking for him ever since they met, but after he learned of Austin and his girlfriend's - Alexandra - make out session behind the gym, he was less than thrilled. For Austin's defence, he didn't know she was anyone's girlfriend. It wasn't his fault Trevor couldn't keep her in check. Was it Austin Moon's fault all the girls were all over him?

"Too busy with blind girl huh?"

Austin's head shot up and his jaw clenched. The classroom had gotten silent and Trevor smirked, enjoying the flame he was building inside of Austin.

"What did you say?" He said through his teeth.

Trevor's smirk seemed to glow with each passing minute and Austin's head was spinning. "You think a zoo would be a good place to hide your little dating business?" The room filled with laughter and Trevor's wide grin seemed to glow with each passing second.

"You screwed her? Was she good Austin? Got some nice curves doesn't she?" Austin looked around the classroom and every pair of eyes in the room were looking straight at the two boys. He was furious at this point, his vision turning red.

"Too bad she can't see how big of a dic-" and with that, Austin's fist made contact with Trevor's jaw.

/

Austin's head was still spinning by the time he sat down outside the Principle's office after his suspension was called. He cooled his busted lip and eyes with the ice pack the nurse had given him after the incident as he waited for further instructions from the Principle's assistant.

Trevor hadn't done a very good job at defending himself. Meanwhile, Austin's anger caused Trevor to be on his way to the hospital at that moment. A broken nose and jaw he heard them say, he wasn't paying much attention.

Why had he been so angry? He was known to be the womaniser of the school and he knew that. Austin had messed around with girls at parties before and he couldn't care less. It was just the way he spoke of Ally..she was worth so much more than just a girl who would mess around. He wanted to make that clear for Trevor.

He let out a huge breath he didn't know he was holding when a petite girl walked by and handed a note to the assistant.

"Ally?"

She turned to where the voice came from and frowned. "Oh…Austin."

Austin stood up and helped her to sit next to him on the uncomfortable leather couch. Ally tried to ignore the heat of the couch that Austin had left as she sat down. "How are you?" She asked.

Your rejection? Bloody lip and nose? Yeah, fantastic.

"I've felt better," he admitted.

She took his hand and rubbed his knuckles that were covered with a bandage. "You know, people talk in this school. I can't see, but I can still hear what people talk about."

He sighed and stayed quite, watching her thumb rub his knuckles gently so he wouldn't wince.

"I'm sorry that I've caused you a lot of trouble," Ally continued. "I really am."

He turned his head to look at her. "I didn't punch him for me."

Ally took a moment to reply. "Oh."

"I punched him because he disrespected you."

The only thing Austin enjoyed from the fact that Ally was blind was that he could stare at her all day, and she wouldn't suspect a thing. He watched her as she stayed quiet and he liked how she curled her hair that day, the way some strands were hanging down her face and the rest were flowing behind her back. He wondered who would curl her hair, or pick out her outfit for the day. Her nails were painted, and he wondered who had done them too.

He was lost in his thoughts that he hadn't heard the assistant call him. "Mr. Moon?" She called for the third time, waving his suspension sheet in the air.

"So will you be okay?" Ally finally spoke up.

"Yeah. Don't worry about me." He lied. Austin concluded it was best if Ally didn't know about his suspension. Knowing how she was, she would blame herself for it. With that, he received a smile from her.

Ally knew Austin had tried to avoid her after the kissing incident last week. She felt a deep loss ever since then. It wasn't that she didn't want to, she knew she did. She wanted to know what kissing felt like, and from all she heard, Austin Moon was the best kisser out there. Her decision was what was best, she thought - after all, she always made rational decisions. That was until Austin came into her life.

"Do you like breakfast for dinner?"

"What?" Austin's head shot up from the floor.

"My parents have this tradition to eat breakfast for dinner once a month. Maybe you'll like to experience that tradition with us?" Her question came out as a little shriek, hoping her desperation wouldn't be too obvious.

Austin smiled wide and frowned all within the span of five seconds. His plan to avoid her had been working so well for the past week, he really didn't need to setback. However, seeing her petite face filled with hope and radiance, it was difficult to throw up the word no. The pancake-loving Austin Moon wouldn't even think twice about the idea of breakfast for dinner. The new Ally-obsessed Austin Moon needed to get a grip of himself. There was no way this would be a good idea.

"I don't know Ally.." he finally breathed out.

She tried to smile as authentic as she could, hoping it would mask her disappointment. "That's okay. If you change your mind, you know where to go."