Hey. Here's Chapter Twenty-Three. Hope you enjoy, but be warned, it is short.

I remember being told that love was a great thing. I remember feeling like love was really just a slap in the face. Now, that I'm in it, it's like I don't know what it is. Both?

After waking up, I decided to walk around. I didn't want to get caught up in what might be an awkward conversation with Austin. It's the first time I bothered to notice some pictures, but I didn't look at them deeply. Just quick glances. That was until I noticed one particular picture. It was of us.

It was when we were fourteen. The ferris wheel in the back confirmed we were at some type of fair or amusement park. His arm was around me. I looked unsure of what was happening, who it was happening with. I was distraught. Considering this was around the time I pretty much became an orphan, I think I know why. Still, I was smiling. Austin was smiling. Not the kind of smile a person smiles on school picture day; the kind of smile a person smiles when they're happy, or can't help it. I never remembered him smiling so much, him so... happy. Of course, I couldn't remember myself smiling like that. My smile was more of a grin, but I looked just as happy as he did. It was that summer when we hung out a lot, before he moved, before the hell known as high school corrupted us both.

"Austin. How about you and your little girlfriend take a picture?" Austin's mom, Mimi asked us.

Austin blushed. I chuckled a little. "I'm not his girlfriend." I reminded her, but tried not to sound bitter or annoyed about it. She told us we acted like a couple. Why, if he was moving two weeks later, did she encourage us to get together so much?

Austin's dad was being tempted by a hot dog vender, way too tempted to pay attention to us and his own wife. "Hey," Austin said to me. "You have a leaf in your hair."

"Oh," I said and raised my hand up to get it out. He stopped me. "I'll get it." he said, picking it out. That was my turn to blush. Never this whole summer had I thought of him in any other way than as a friend, but lately, considering we were fourteen and on the verge of puberty and hormones, I was thinking of him as something more. I didn't think of him as my boyfriend, but more so as wanting him to be. Because we were fourteen, he wasn't attractive or sexy; he was cute, or as the girls at school had described him, "hot".

"Why are you staring at me?" I asked. His stare made me uncomfortable because no one had ever stared at like that, like they liked what they saw. He didn't answer. "Well, you dope, get ready to take the picture." I said to him. This caused him to smile.

I don't know if I'm missing something, but that's all I remember. Did something else happen that caused him to smile like that or was he just smiling like that for no reason? Why did I even look distraught in the first place? Because it was just a smile—a really beautiful smile I wish I saw more often—I didn't spend too much time thinking about it.

I went back to the living room where Austin was. He was awake, but just staring at the wall. "Hey." I said, almost shyly. He didn't respond. "So..." I began, but couldn't find any words to say.

"Ally. We don't have to talk about what happened last night. I know that's what you're trying to avoid."

"I just don't want things to be awkward."

"They don't have to be. They only are if we make them. Things can be the way they were... if you want."

The way they were? That was us fighting and hating each other. There was no way I wanted that. "I don't want things to be the way they were. I want things to be like they were yesterday with us all... happy." No response.

I felt obligated to get the picture I had just examined and when I placed it in his hands, his expression didn't change. "Remember this?" I asked. "We both were happy. Things can be like that now."

"Ally. That was a long time ago. A lot of things have changed since then."

"Like what?"

"Feelings, personalities, and... issues." He looked at me when he said issues. I couldn't help but be offended by that, but because it wasn't important, I left it alone.

I realized that I wasn't getting through to him at all. I slowly lifted my head up. "Is this what being in love is like? Like you're in a constant battle with yourself on whether or not you should be in it, if it's right for you, if you're... happy." I kept saying happy. I really needed a synonym.

He didn't respond. I wondered why I kept getting silence. "Gravity. It keeps you rooted to the ground. In space, there's not any gravity. You just kind of leave your feet and go floating around. Is that what being in love is like?"

"Falling in love with someone isn't easy—anger, tears, laughter. It's when you want to be together despite it all. That's when you truly love one another. I'm sure of it."

I stared at him. I would have never guessed that he was capable saying something like that. He should be sure of it, because that's exactly what I felt. I wanted us to be together despite it all, but did he? Of course he did. He wouldn't say that if he didn't. I was beginning to tell the difference between the truth and a lie. It was silent, until surprisingly he was the one to talk. "I remember it." he said, staring at the picture. "I was in love with you, even then."

"So picking a leaf out of my hair was an act of love?"

"It was an act of not wanting you to look stupid in the picture."

I smiled. "It seemed to me like an act of crushing." I said, putting a strong emphasis on the last word.

"It was." he murmured, loud enough for me to hear. All my life I had heard what love is, what love is not, but I never got the chance to experience it for myself until now. It had taken seventeen years for me to fall in love, but at least now I know, it was worth the wait.

Kind of short, but I plan to update tomorrow so that should be made up, especially if you know what the next chapter is about... Anyways, tell me what you think. I had serious writer's block on this chapter, so it might not be ideal or what you had hoped for...