Ally rolled out of bed the next morning in a good mood. Which surprised her since it was a Monday, and even if they were on break, Monday's were never good for Ally. It was 9:30 in the morning and she could hear Cassie and Adam downstairs. She glanced at Austin who was asleep next to her. The boy who she had grown fond of over the past few days was sound asleep, a small smile in his face indicating he was having a good dream. She felt a grin creep up on her face and she walked over to the balcony door, looking down at the crashing waves on the beach. There was a quiet knock on the door and Austin stirred in his sleep. She quickly ran over to the door and opened it quietly to see Adam and Cassie.

"Good morning!" Cassie exclaimed, making Ally shush her quickly.

"Shut it! Austin is still asleep!"

"Well my lazy brother should get his ass out of bed!" Adam yelled loudly, making Ally giggle as she heard the bed squeak behind her.

"Thank you for that, Adam." Austin's voice was deep, making her shiver slightly. The effect he has on me… "Alls," She smiled at the nickname, since Alex loved to call her that as well, "Go with Cass, I got to talk with Adam." She nodded quickly and followed Cassie into her room.

"What are they talking about?" Cassie just grinned. She pulled Ally over to the closet and pulled out a tiny yellow polka dotted bikini. Ally raised her eyebrows at her friend as she caught the bikini that was thrown her way.

"What? You both are musicians, it's a funny reference. He'll like it!"

"He as in Austin?" Ally asked as she walked into the bathroom. "Is there something I should know about?" She yelled out as she changed. She heard Cassie laughing. As Ally walked back out, grabbing the yellow sundress that laid on the bed, Cassie said, "Now where's the fun in that?"

An hour later, Ally had become frustrated. She helped Cassie pack a whole picnic basket, probably for her and Adam, and Austin and his brother were no where to be seen. She was pacing in the kitchen when he finally walked in. He laughed at her. "You okay?"

"No." She glared at him playfully, her frustration slowly edging away from the sight of him. "I thought you left me! I thought you left me to be here alone while Adam and Cassie go on their picnic thing and what not."

"What picnic thing?" Adam asked, walking over to the fridge. He glanced at the basket that sat beside him on the counter. "Oh, that's not my picnic thing. It's yours." Ally froze.

"What?" Then she glanced at Austin who was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, smirking.

"I heard from a little birdie that you love picnics on the beach and watching the sun set over the water. So Ally I don't know your middle name Dawson, would you care to spend all day with me?"

"Austin I don't know your middle name either Moon, are you asking me out on a second date?"

"It's Monica," Adam said from behind them, "and yes, yes he is." Ally started giggling as Austin glared at him.

"Monica?" Ally asked, "So what's yours, Adam?" Adam's smiling quickly dropped and he muttered, "Minor, unimportant detail." And swiftly left the room. They both laughed.

"So," Austin started, "what do you say?" Ally's smile widened.

"I would love to."

As Austin got ready quickly, Ally made sure everything was perfect in the picnic basket. Her phone started to ring and seeing the caller ID, she quickly answered it.

"Alex!"

"Hey sis, how was your weekend?"

"It was great, thanks for asking. I'm about to go on my second date with Austin."

"That's awesome Alls. I'm really happy you found him."

"Al, you don't have to worry about me anymore." Alex was her best friend who also happened to be her little brother. Al and Alls worked well together. She had Cassie, but Alex was great. All of her siblings were great."

"Yeah, I do Ally. You know I do."

"Alex, you're almost fifteen, you shouldn't be watching an eighteen year old."

"Well when that eighteen year old almost dies, things change." She flinched and didn't respond. "I'm sorry." She heard Alex say. "I'll talk to you later Ally." He hung up and she whispered, "Bye."

She sighed and grabbed the basket, colliding into Austin.

"Everything all right?" He asked, concern etched into his voice. She nodded and glanced at Adam and Cassie behind him, who wore similar expressions.

"I'm fine." Cassie and Adam knew she wasn't, because they knew everything, but they didn't push it. Austin walked quietly out and she went to follow him when they stopped her.

"Now would be a really good time to tell him, Ally." Adam said. She nodded her head when Cassie whispered, "Ally, you're falling in love with him." Ally cleared her throat in shock. "I can see it, and you can't keep your secret from him." She nodded slowly, knowing she was right.

Ally and Austin were walking down the beach when Austin spoke. "Ally," He said softly, "You can trust me."

"I know, Austin." She replied. "It's really hard for me to talk about. I promise I'll tell you eventually." He nodded his head and she grabbed his hand. He looked at her and she squeezed his hand. "I promise." She whispered. Ally kept replaying her past in her head, which she did often, but she hasn't completely spoken about it in two years. That was what was going to be hard for her. Especially telling the guy just three, four-ish days ago she didn't even trust but now was falling in love with him. Was she going insane? People do tend to do stupid things when they are scared, that's why she gave Austin a chance. She was just way more nervous about this then she thought she would be. What the heck is going on with me? You knew this day would come, Ally. This soon, no… but still. Get it together.

Austin on the other hand was just more than confused. He understood why she was nervous to tell him, he just wanted her to know that he cared for her. A whole heck a lot. Man, he had never felt this way about anyone ever. It was kinda freaking him out. He wanted to be with her so bad that it physically pained him, but he knew she was scared. Heck, he was scared. Could he really be falling for this girl in less than a week? Is that even possible? You know it is. Austin sighed and glanced at Ally who was too deep in her thoughts to notice he was looking at her. She was beautiful, and he knew that whatever she was hiding, he was going to be there for her. No matter what it is.

They arrived at Austin's special picked destination soon enough and Ally gasped. He had laid a blanket down on the sand, and lit some candles. The sun was not setting yet, which made her giggle because he lit the candles anyway. It was a romantic gesture and it made her feel happy inside. They sat on the blanket and pulled out the picnic Ally prepared. They were laughing, talking about everything and anything. Ally was nervous but she didn't let it show. She was having a good time, and she wasn't going to let her insecurity ruin it.

"I was twelve," Austin muttered as he finished telling Ally, who was currently in the fetal position crying from laughter, about a story where he accidentally dyed his hair brown.

"How do you accidentally dye your hair Austin?" Ally cried, after calming down.

"I thought it was shampoo, okay!" He exclaimed. "Anyways, I went to school the next day and the teacher thought I was a new student. Girls I had never even spoken to before came and approached me. I was so confused."

"That's awesome," Ally said, still giggling.

"It is not." Austin pouted. Then it was Ally's turn. They just talked and talked and talked, and finally, Ally took a leap of faith.

"Talking about the past, it's a new concept to me." Austin's head snapped towards the girl with the many secrets. "I always push it away because thinking about it is a lot different than talking about it. Thinking about is inevitable. Anything could trigger a memory and then, boom, you're thinking about it again. As for talking about it, it's more like reliving it. I mean, yeah, you're mind is a dark and scary place, but it's your mind. You can figure out how to deal with it. But actually hearing the words appear out of your mouth or someone else's is a different kind of feeling. That's why I'm scared." She ran her fingers through her hair and took a deep breath. "The past is the past and there's nothing I can do to change that. I know that, but it- it haunts me."

"Ally, you don't-"

"I have to," She interrupted. "I have to Austin. If I don't then it's just going to continue to haunt me, and maybe, just maybe, me telling you is one way of me letting it go." He didn't say anything, she didn't need him to. She took another deep breath and started. "It was freshman year. The year when you come into high school with all smiles and then as each day drones on and on, you start to realize how awful it becomes. So I decided to do something that would make me have something to look forward to. I started to volunteer at the local hospital.

I walked down the white hallways of the completely sterile hospital, shaking myself a little to rid myself from the weird vibe I was getting from it. I walked up to the lady sitting at the front desk, telling her my name. She smiled at me, nodding her head. She gave me a list of rooms and kids I could go talk to. I smiled at her before heading to the first room. I spent two hours there, laughing and just talking with kids ranging from ages five to seventeen. By December, I was a regular and everyone knew me by name. Around the second week of December, a little girl got checked in. She was around eight years old and went by the name of Livi. She had short, bright blonde hair and beautiful emerald green eyes. When I walked into her room, she was staring out the window. She glanced at me when I walked in a gave me a tiny smile. I tried not to stare, but her face was almost all black and blue. I wanted to cry.

"Are you Olivia?" I asked.

"Erin." She quickly responded. "I-I go bye Erin." I smiled at her.

"Hey Erin. My name's Ally."

Austin was listening intently, and it made Ally feel like he cared a lot more than she thought. She smiled at him and then continued, "Erin was special. There was something about her that made me want to spend forever with the girl. She soon became like another little sister to me, I adored everything about the girl. She was smart, beautiful, hilarious, and brave, so so brave.

"You can't catch me, Ally!" A giggling Erin said running down the hospital halls.

"Er!" I exclaimed, "Er, you know you shouldn't be running." She rolled her eyes as we walked back into her room.

"I just want to be a real kid, Ally, and not have this stupid disease."

"You are a real kid, Erin," I whispered when Livi's doctor walked back in.

"Olivia," I felt Erin flinch next to me. "I think you should get back in bed sweetheart. Ally, I need to talk to Olivia." I nodded my understanding and moved to leave when I heard Erin say, "No, stay Ally. I'm going to tell you anyways."

"Erin had hemophilia." Ally said, looking at Austin. "Hemophilia is a rare bleeding disorder in which the blood doesn't clot normally. It's usually inherited and very, very rare in girls. And of course Erin had a severe case of it. She was extremely sick and her family situation didn't help."

"Annie," I said as I approached the nurse who loved to look over my Erin, "Why do I never see Er's parents here?" Annie glanced at me and then pulled me into a back room.

"I'm not supposed to tell you this, but you need to know. Erin, her parents never cared about her. According to her mother, she was a drunken mistake from a one night stand she had and they could care less about the child. Her parents were almost always drunk, did drugs in her presence, could care less if she was in the house or not. Her "dad" beat her at least twice a day, and the day you first met her, that was when she finally called the cops. She was taken out of the household immediately, her parents thrown in jail. When the state realized how sick she was, they sent her here. Sending her to an orphanage would do her no good, as her sickness continues to get worse since her parents never got her the right treatment."

"After I found to, Erin could automatically tell that I knew, but somehow, it only brought us closer. Austin, when I tell you see was my life, I can't even explain to you. I would go there right after to school and wouldn't leave until nine at night, doing my homework at the hospital. She was my everything, I adored her. In February, her birthday was coming up and I talked to my parents. They had met Erin and they adored her, so I went to talk to them about a birthday present.

"So, Erin's birthday is coming up and I- I had an idea." My dad raised an eyebrow at me. "Could we adopt her? I know adoption is really complicated but you guys adore her and she is my lifeline and pleaseeeeee." I begged my parents. We talked for a while, but then we finally agreed that we would. I was going crazy. On her birthday, I have her the adoption papers, technically we didn't have to ask her parents for permission since she belonged to the state. She started sobbing and said yes and jumped into my arms.

"It is, to this day, one of the best days of my life." I let a tear slip and I felt Austin squeeze my hand. I took a shaky breath. "My parents got all the equipment she needed, and started to bring them back to our house. A couple days later, with the hospital's permission, I took her on a walk. Walking was okay, but she still needed to be extremely careful. That's when I got the call.

"Ally!" I heard my sister's frantic voice on the other end of the phone, making me stop dead in my tracks. "Erin's dad… he escaped from prison." My body went rigid as I glanced down at my little blonde bundle of pride and joy. "Okay," I whispered. I hung up and crouched down to Erin. "Er. I need you to understand something. What I am about to tell you to do, it's gonna scare you and me. But we need to do it, and you need to stay close to me. We gotta run back to the hospital as fast as we can." Her green eyes went wide but she nodded quickly. I squeezed her hand and we took off. I bumped onto someone and we both fell, but I made sure she landed on me. "Well, well, well. Look who it is." I felt Erin's body go rigid on mine and we quickly stood up, me shielding Erin behind me. "Leave her alone."

"Now listen here you little bitch." I flinched, "You give me my daughter and I won't need to shoot you." I watched as he pulled out a gun from his back pocket and held me at gun point. Erin looked at her father and said, "You leave my big sister alone." I pushed Erin out of the way as he pointed the gun at her. I felt the bullet seep into my leg and I screamed at Erin to run. I was already starting to black out when I heard another gun shot, police cars pull up, and my Erin falling to the ground.

Tears were flowing freely from eyes by then and I looked at Austin who was staring at me wide eyed, I took a second and calmed down and then I started to talk yet again. "I woke up in the hospital three days later, screaming for Erin. The doctors wouldn't let me go see her. Three agonizing days after my brutal wake up, I was finally allowed to see my princess and get a low down on what's going on.

I wheeled into Er's room to see my baby laying there completely still, tubes hooked everywhere. I started to sob. The doctors explained to me that the gun shot was in fact from her dad and punctured her right kidney. She lost so much blood and she was barely alive. It was only a matter of time.

"Erin died four hours later when they went into surgery to try to give her more blood. She just had lost too much blood and her Hemophilia did not help her case. I tried so hard to be brave, and I couldn't save her. I couldn't save my baby girl. Her funeral didn't consist of many people. I wore a pink dress for it was her favorite color and lilies in my hair for it was her favorite flower. It's hard to forget someone who gave you so much to remember. I see her in my brother all the time. I hear her in laughter and weird, upbeat songs that make no sense. I felt her when my cousin died last year in a car crash. She was everywhere and it was the worse thing imaginable. I couldn't even bare to live in a world without her, that I tried to take my own life when I was sixteen almost a year after the incident. My twelve year old brother was the one who found me and saved my life." Tears were flowing down Austin's cheeks as I talked, which made me cry even more. "It's so hard not talking to the person you used to talk to everyday. The last thing I ever heard her say was 'You leave my big sister alone'. Her big sister, she called me her big sister for the first and last time ever. I couldn't deal with the pain." I wiped my eyes. "I went into rehab the summer between sophomore and junior year. I got better. But when my cousin was killed in a car crash last summer by a drunk driver, it brought back so many unwanted memories and hauntings that I started to shut people out again. Alex wouldn't let me, convinced me to go back to therapy some more. And I'm fine. It's been three years and there hasn't been a day that has gone by that I haven't thought of her. So that's my story."

Austin held her as she sobbed, and he knew she knew he was sobbing too. She didn't deserve that. It made him hurt so much to know she went through so much. But the fact that she told him, made him fall in love with her even more. Yes, he was in love with her. After about an hour, the sun had started to set and they had both calmed down. Austin had grabbed an apple out of the picnic basket and declared that it tasted amazing, making her laugh. "So," He exclaimed, raising his eyebrows at the short girl sitting next to him. "Who are you?" He asked, looking intensely at her, biting into his apple.

"Uh, well. I'm Ally Dawson, female, age eighteen, five foot two, one hundred fifteen pounds, born and raised in Miami, Florida." He nodded.

"That's nice." She looked at him and watched as he took another bite out of his apple. He then turned to her and declared the one question she knew was on his mind all the time, "Who are you really, Ally?" She stared at him for a moment longer and then glanced back out to the endless sea.

"I'm just Ally." She shrugged, "Nothing special." He chuckled at her bluntness.

"Well, for what I know, Ally Dawson, you aren't just a name, or an age. You're not just a height or a weight, or where your from or what gender you are." She stared at him, a small smile playing at her lips. "You're all those dorky books you like to read, and all those brilliant, beautiful songs you write. You are your thoughts that you think in the morning when you wake up, or before you go to sleep. You're what you eat here, or there, or anywhere." She giggled and he grinned, continuing, "The thing is, you're a thousand amazing, beautiful, wonderful things but everyone chooses to see the things that you're not. Including you." She stared at him as he brushed his thumb along her cheek. "Ally, you're not your past. You're not your parents or your siblings. You're not your grades or your failures. And you're not where you're from. You are where you're going, and I can't help but want to go there too." She let a tear slip and he wiped it away. She let out a choky laugh.

"It's hard," She whispered, "to believe that things will get better when for the longest time things only got worse." She put her hand on top of his. "I- I never thought I'd fall in love, and if I did, not fast. Do-do you think you could fall in love with someone in, not even a week?"

"I think," He whispered, "anything is possible, especially when it come to the heart." He stared into her eyes. "What would you do if I kissed you right now?" She looked at him, and smiled softly.

"I would kiss you back." And without any hesitation, he crashed his lips onto hers.

Yo yo yo what's up my peeps? I be backkkkk. So I took a league of absence for vacation and what not, but then when I came back I had trouble with inspiration but I be back! I start school next Tuesday and am really busy this week, so I'll try to update as soon as possible.

Now we know what's up with Ally... pretty depressing, yeah I know.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW. It gives me more inspiration to update! Ask me questions, a simple hi would make me happy, orrrr if you don't mind tell me your favorite part!

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until next time *peace out, ace town*