Chapter 30
"Trish!" Ally stood by her best friend's bed shaking her, trying to wake her up. But Trish was one heavy sleeper who could probably sleep though a storm. But then again, they all had been up at midnight to attend the local church's midnight mass. Ally sighed in defeat and sat down. Then a smile close to the Cheshire's crept up her lips. Time to get some payback.
Should she scare Trish? Or go to that old trick of pouring cold water on her? Eh, that might be too mean. Then what? What could she do? She looked around Trish's room. Nothing much were here. Oh! Ally quickly ran to the kitchen and grabbed a can of Reddi-Wip and some ice cubes. Forget the whipped cream, Ally just grabbed the whole tray of ice and ran back to Trish's room. Popping each one out of its place she placed them on Trish's face and kept the rest, waiting to her to wake up.
Finally Trish came around, slowly opening her eyes and feeling her face. She woke up screaming that she'll kill Ally. But Ally just stood by laughing and throwing ice from now and then. "Ally..." Trish growled. "You are so getting it!"
Ally shrugged from her place in Trish's doorway. "Just payback for waking me with an air horn."
"But that wasn't ice! Urgh!" Trish threw the melted ice pieces at Ally who dodged them and ran to her room. Trish grumbled and got up. Then she remembered. "Ally!"
Ally showed up a second later, flinching, waiting for Trish's scolding. "Yeah?"
"It's Christmas! Merry Christmas Ally!"
Ally smiled. "Merry Christmas Trish." And hugged her best friend even though she was dripping wet from the melted ice.
But what Ally didn't know was that Trish spied the tray of ice and grabbed a few in her hand and pulled Ally in for a hug. She slipped the ice down Ally's shirt, causing her best friend to shriek and jump around. "Trish!"
She shrugged. "Told ya I'd get you back. I wouldn't kill you, I'm too nice."
Ally withered a few more times pulling the ice out. "Okay, if we're done here, we have to get changed."
"Why?" Trish groaned, pulling on her robe. "I know it's Christmas but do we need to be somewhere?"
Ally nodded. "Yes, we do. To Lighthouse Café. Remember? We all decided to meet there for the exchange of gifts. So, get ready. You have thirty minutes," Ally said, pouring herself a cup of coffee.
Trish walked back into her room. "Yes, mom."
Heavy snowfall had fallen overnight. The streets were empty, snowdrifts piled high. And Dallas hadn't had the time to cut a path through the snow, so Trish and Ally were left to jump and skip from each long stride of Dallas'. They were carrying bundles of gifts for the others so by the time they were at the front doors of the café, they were tired. But the cold winds kept them alert.
Ally rapped sharply on the glass door after finding it locked. Dallas immediately showed and pulled it open for them. "Merry Christmas!"
"Why couldn't you have cleared a path?" Trish asked, irritated. No greeting, just that. Typical of her.
"Hey Dallas. Merry Christmas," Ally added.
"Thanks Ally. And hi to you, grumpy," Dallas replied. They entered the warm threshold of the store. It was quite warm and Ally could've sworn she saw some snow melt from the heat. "Did something happen this morning?"
Ally chuckled as she set down the boxes and gift-bags. "Uh, yeah. You could say so."
"Don't ask," Trish warned, putting down her baggage and slumping into a seat. "Do you have any drinks?"
Dallas gestured to the counter. "Help yourself."
Trish sighed happily. "Thanks. Best gift yet. But there are better ones, I assume?" she bluntly asked, then started to scour the shelves for food and some coffee.
Ally shook her head. "Yes, I think there are."
"Hey guys. Merry Christmas." It was Elliot.
Ally turned from her conversation and hugged her brother in greeting. "Hey Elliot. Merry Christmas to you too."
"MERRY CHRISTMAS!"
The rest of the party had arrived. Dez, Cassidy and Austin. A round of hugs were shared all around. Austin pulled Ally into a tight hug and pulled her aside. "Merry Christmas, Als," he greeted.
"Merry Christmas to you too. And don't you look dashing with that tie of yours." She straightened his tie for him and pulled him into a kiss.
"Even though, we're all adults now. Get a room or keep it PG," Dez wise-cracked, receiving high-fives from the other guys in return.
Ally smiled through the kiss and reluctantly pulled away. Austin took her hand and looked at Dez. "Well, if we're going to be rated R, I think we should be a room. Shouldn't we Ally? Well then, I'll go find us a room." He started to pull her away as everyone erupted in laughter.
She swatted his arm and hissed, "Austin! Seriously?!"
He held his arms up, defensively. "I was joking. I was joking. Jeez."
"Well, why don't we grab some chairs and circle around the tree?" Dallas suggested, getting up from his perch at the bar.
Everyone nodded in agreement and the screeching of pulling and pushing the heavy-set chairs as they dragged them along the floor with the presents around the tree. Now circling the tree was a huge array of presents. But what stood out was not the big bags and boxes, but the turtle doves that hung in flight.
"Presents time!" Dez cheered. "I'll go first." He took out several boxes and passed them around to their rightful owners. "Hope you like your presents."
Knowing Dez, everyone was prepared for the worst. Well his best, but their worst. The wrapping paper already told them that. It was in weird colors, far from the green and red of Christmas, to purple, orange, and black all on one box.
Austin found himself pulling the wrapping paper with a cautious gaunt. It was a slim box, but there was a lot of things that could be in there. He lifted the flimsy tissue paper to see a silk silver tie. He looked for the note and smiled immediately at his note. The other guys had also gotten a silk tie with gift cards. But Austin didn't need the $100 cards, the though of the tie was all he needed. He smiled at his best friend. "Thanks man."
Ally gasped as did the other girls. They all had a pale pink, chiffon straps dress that flowed thigh-height. It was all of similar designs. They all squealed in delight. All had notes, but only Ally had a different note. She smiled at Dez's sloppy handwriting. "Merry X-mas Ally! Hope you'll love this dress, after all I think it'll come in handy in the near future. -Dez"
"You all thought it'd be something weird, right?" Dez asked. "I threw you guys off! Plan succeeded!" Everyone laughed.
"My turn!" Ally replied. She walked to the tree and selected the gifts. "Here you guys go."
She had taken several hours at several stores to find the 'perfect' gift for the right person. She hoped her hours of thinking and logic would pay off. She smiled at their reactions.
"This is so cool! Thanks Ally," Dez said holding up a new super expensive Canon XF100 and a copy of the 1974 version of "The Great Gatsby.' He was a technical person so Ally had bough him those. "But you didn't need to spend that much."
Ally shrugged in reply. "It was nothing."
Trish and Cassidy got some new pairs of shoes and some cute tops. For her brother she got him a book of accounting since he was a lawyer. His smile dimmed seeing his present. "Open it." His mouth dropped seeing that inside the cover were two tickets each for a Bruce Springsteen concert and another pair for The Wanted. In Dallas' she bought him a new pair of Air Jordan's and some new shirts.
"And Austin. I hope you love it." It was the smallest box, holding the simplest present, but he loved it. Tears started to well up in his eyes and he hugged Ally for good measure. He smiled in thanks, and Ally knew no words could describe how he was feeling. It was a simple scrapbook filled with pictures. She had kept all of their pictures, the ones she threw at him to burn at Sonic Boom many years ago, and tucked it all away. Only recently she found it, during a day she had been panicking to figure out what Austin would have wanted for Christmas. When she had talked it over with Dez, she found out that he had no more pictures of them, so now those pictures were a treasure he'd love. And he did.
"Ally, I'll give yours last," Austin said as he passed out his presents for everyone else.
She nodded uncertainly. "Sure..."
But once everyone had given out their gifts, it was show time! "Okay Ally. Here's your gift. I know for the past ten years you've been holed up here in Manchester. Not that it's great here, it is, but I think you need a little get-away. So next summer, you and I..." he took out a thin folder and opened it, "... will take on Europe. The route is still open, so you and I will plan every step of the way. We'll tour Europe together but not before we head down to Miami." He knew he had to choose between Ally and his hockey career, but right now, Ally was all he could think about. He could live without hockey; but he couldn't live without Ally. "How about it?"
Ally smiled. "I love it. This seriously has been the best Christmas ever! And you're all I have to thank for being here."
It was evening now and everyone was at Austin's place preparing for the traditional Christmas dinner.
Austin was next to the fire with a mug of hot latte when Dez came up to him. "Hey man. So you ready? You can do this right?"
Austin nervously took a deep breath. "Yeah, I can." After all, he was doing this for her. And he was ready. He had been waiting for most of his life to be in that moment. "Wait, how did you know? And your gifts. I never told anyone except..."
"Well then," Dez said, "you've got quite a chatty sister of yours."
"Ugh, I'm so getting her after this."
"Okay. So let's get this show on the road." Then Dez turned to everyone else. "Dinner is ready!"
Once everyone took a seat, Austin stood up. He cleared his throat to gather attention. He took a deep breath and addressed everyone. "Hey, so thank you for coming out. This day couldn't have been any better." He looked down at Ally then to everyone else. "But I want it to be even better."
He looked directly at Ally. "It's been more than ten years since we've last seen each other. I don't know if it was fate or destiny that brought us together again, but I am thankful. Seeing you here, with me, is a dream come true."
"Okay, Ally. Now for my gift for you." Ally looked confused. She thought she already got her gift, but he read her mind immediately. "This is part two. They actually are related. It isn't under the tree because it won't fit there, well it could, maybe. It isn't something super expensive because I know you love something simple. You just want me to prove my love. And I am or I will. Guys?"
Dez stood up and dimmed the light, so only the candles on the table lit the room. But Cassidy and Trish came in with glowing balloons that had been filled with a glow sticks before blown up. It looked so cool. Ally marveled at the sight. Then she turned back to Austin. She gasped, immediately seeing him.
"I know we've only gotten back together a few weeks ago, but I've though about this even as far back as high school. So this Christmas, my gift to you, is me. I know it sounds so cliché, but it's true. This Christmas, I want to give you my life because nothing means more to me than being part of you. And for that to happen, Ally Dawson, will you marry me?" Austin faithfully asked, with a hopeful smile.
Ally couldn't believe his words. "Austin..." Through the tears, she nodded and grabbed him in a hug, then kissing him. "Yes! A million times yes!" she gasped.
Austin smiled and nodded at his friends. He pulled away and slipped the ring onto Ally's finger. "Finally I've secured you as mines."
"So..." She gasps in realization. "The Europe trip!"
Austin nodded. "I plan for that to be our month long or so honeymoon."
"And Dez's gifts!" She turned to Dez who smiled warmly.
"Yes Ally. I got the guys a silk tie to wear at the wedding and the girls their dresses for the reception. Yours is too, if you want it to be. I put in notes hinting at it, in all but yours since Austin would have killed me if I spilt the beans to you."
Ally laughed. "Well all of you got me. Thank you. Now officially, it has been the greatest Christmas in all of history!"
"Let's eat!" Trish called, who had already taken her seat. "I'm starving!" They all laughed and took their seats to say grace. Trish got first dibs for being the first and since they all were in a merry mood to forgive. As they passed around the ham, Austin's phone buzzed from his pocket. He ignored it, but a minute or two later, it buzzed again. Irritated, he pulled it out, though it was quite rude, and looked at the texts.
One from his parents and it wasn't a Christmas greeting. Well, the last words were "Merry Christmas" after a long message that had nothing to do with the holidays. The second was from Hayden. He quickly put it away before anyone could see and took a sip of wine to cover up his shock.
He wouldn't let it bother him, not today. Today was supposed to be a happy day. It was a happy day. But still, it caught in the back of his mind, eating away at his thoughts.
Soul mates? What are they? Our other half, we spend our life looking for? Fate and destiny are in charge to see it all happen all the way through, but is there such a thing? Life is a funny thing, that will bring is to our knees or in the air in triumph. Life is to live. Life is to love. What is love? It's what brings 'soul mates' together. But in truth what is it?
"Love is a four letter word that could bring pain, loss, and sorrow. But it also brings friendship and companionship. It could mean anything, everything, depending on the person thinking and feeling it. Don't ever underestimate the power of love. It could be a life or death situation, and given the emotions that could be at play, it may or may not be fairytale ending. But everything ends, eventually, and then starts a new beginning." -idk
So that leaves us still searching for our soul mate. We live and love but still we don't know the true struggles that people face to go all the lengths to find their one and true love. Their soul mate.
A/N: okay, that was the ending! ... and not quite a very happy ending too. supposed to be on Christmas to fit the mood, but doesn't hurt to be several days late. :P And it was done yesterday, but I wanted to update today because Happy Birthday Ross! So, I'm still thinking of doing a short sequel because I left some things hanging. :P Anyway, hoped you loved it and possibly I'll see ya in the sequel.
Oh, wait. LoveLover13's story "No such thing as happily every after" is something I'd like you to check out! :D
And thanks for the quote from your story, Leona. :D
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