Hi there, beautiful people

I truly hope you enjoyed last chapter, I think you did and are glad that there's finally some action. Behold, the morning after. Always fun.

Another rather long chapter for you guys, savor it. I should mention that this story has 11 chapters in total, so the end is coming up. I know I mentioned a sequel to this story, though I have no idea if that's coming. Sorry to get your hopes up like that. An epilogue is quite certain, though.

Last week, I talked a bit to this sweet girl on Twitter who loved my very first story, Roles of a Lifetime, that I was proud of, and asked if there was any chance of a sequel (you guys must remember that one). Honestly, I finished that story with no intention of writing a sequel, since it was partly based on true facts (the show, the people) and things turned out different (no movie, Andrew/Courtney). Though, I find myself questioning if there might be a way to continue this story. If you have any ideas/would read the sequel if I would write it, please let me know!

This particular morning, I feel quite shit, actually. I found out that I have to delete my feelings for a crush and, in the process, might have to step away from her friendship as well. Having to accept that your crush is hopeless and losing a friend, that's just a lot. Sorry for the personal info, just had to get that off my chest. If anyone has experience in deleting feelings, hit me up

The moment Ally opens her eyes, it takes her a while to comprehend where she is, how she got in this awfully comfortable bed and why she is naked. One turn of her head clears most of the confusion. A mop of blond hair is laid out on a white pillow right next to her, Austin facing away from her as he's lying on his stomach. When following his arm who she finds sprawled across her stomach, she's shocked to see her own hand covering it, her fingers slipped between his own. In a reflex, she pulls it away, the fast motion resulting in Austin being disrupted in his sleep.

After waiting a minute to be sure she didn't wake him, Ally lifts his heavy arm off of her in order to escape the scene that she started the night before. The worst thing is that there wasn't even any alcohol to blame her actions on. So, now one final question haunts her; what the hell had she been thinking?

Grabbing the nearest piece of clothing that was somewhat enough to cover everything that needed to be covered, she walks towards the shower. It wouldn't be long until the person she had been fighting with less than eight hours ago would find himself in an abandoned bed, looking for an explanation neither of them would be able to give.

Surely, she had been the one who made the first move. And that might not even be the thing that left her wondering most. The fact that Austin obliged, seemingly without hesitation, had shocked her, but he hadn't really given her much time to think about it. Her body hadn't either, remembering how it had reacted to his touch. It didn't help that her mind was clear enough to remember the whole event. Honestly, she just wanted to stay in the isolated shower forever, but she knew she had to face him sooner or later. She just hated not being in control of the situation and the fact that she could do nothing to change that.

Figuring her clothes were still scattered around the room, Ally chooses to dress in one of the fluffy bathrobes that were conveniently hanging next to her. Opening the door as silently as she could possibly manage, she finds her cautious movements had been pointless. She knew she had little time to prepare herself, but when she sees him already dressed in clean, short sweatpants. Sitting on the edge of the bed, he had been leaning his arms on his knees with his head down but looked up unconsciously as soon as she entered the room, making immediate eye contact with her.

"Oh. Hello." She drops her eyes immediately as she gives him the awkward, yet mandatory greeting in the situation.

"Hi." He sounds calmer than she feels, calmer than he's supposed to be. Was she the only one who thinks whatever happened between them in the past twenty-four hours was extremely weird? They went from allies and great friends to hostile opponents, to... Whatever the hell they were supposed to be last night. Either way, she had no idea in what position they were in now, which made her insecure about what to say to him, if she should even say anything at all. He didn't sound half as anxious, as he was the one making an effort in keeping the conversation alive. "How did you sleep?"

"Fine," she says stiffly, attempting not to sound too rude. "You?" She adds out of decency.

"Fine as well." Ally nods at his answer, not knowing if he's even looking at her. While lowering herself on the bed, she looks over her shoulder subtly to see that he is, indeed, staring right at her. He doesn't look like he's about to leave the room anytime soon, so she postpones the plan to get dressed, herself. Just as she purses her lips at the unbearably painful atmosphere between them, Austin starts talking again. "Do you regret it?"

"What?" The oblivion doesn't sound as convincing as it did in her head and she shakes her head as a mental face palm. A blush creeps on her cheeks, making her turn her face away from his constant questioning eyes once again. "I don't... Know. I don't know."

She hears Austin sigh. "You were right about me, you know," he says, his voice quieter and finally matching her own distress. With wide eyes of confusion, she forgets her shame as she turns around on the bed to face Austin. "Last year, I fell into a depression and convinced myself that drugs were the only things that could make me happier, even for just a minute. The only reason I wanted to get better was for Ariella. I managed to get help, but it was too late. I was in rehab during the trial."

"I-I didn't know," Ally stutters, completely amazed at this sudden confession.

"The trial could not be postponed. I found myself again, but I lost my daughter." He nods, a painful expression covering his face, like this is the first time he's spoken about it in a while, maybe ever. "I guess all good things come with sacrifices."

Like a hunter approaching an easily startled deer, she slowly inches closer to him on the bed. "I'm so sorry, Austin. Last night I said some pretty awful things without knowing the full story and I regret every bit of it. I had no right of speaking like that." The waterfall of hurting words she had spilled a few hours ago had hit him like daggers and there was no way to justify that, but Austin seemed like he forgave her, much to Ally's surprise. "From what I've been privileged to see, Ariella truly loves you. I believe you're an amazing dad."

A response doesn't come from his lips, but he shoots her a thankful look. Ally is about to move back to her side of the bed again, glad to finally have settled this disagreement that had caused so many problems, but, at the same time, also was a motive for last night, when Austin leans forward to capture her lips. His complete unannounced move catches her by surprise, given by a small yelp she makes once she feels the butterflies which immediately present themselves in her stomach.

The feeling also answers the question she had about last night; whether she regretted anything. As she enjoys the lovely reaction once the power of surprise wears off, it's clear to her that she doesn't want him to stop. Ever. And since he kissed her makes her believe he feels the same way. Last night was nothing but the start of something beautiful, something they would figure out together. The kiss only lasted a few seconds and her eyes are still open when Austin removes his warm lips off of hers.

"I'm sorry," he quickly states, finding her still semi-wide eyes as a result of the presumably unwanted attack. Turning away in embarrassment, he starts to stand up when Ally's hand wraps around his pulse to pull him back.

"No, it's okay." Shyly smiling at him, she makes it obvious the kiss was anything but a mistake, just like the event of the night before. Without taking her eyes off of him, she grabs one of his hands and intertwines their fingers. "That was nice."

Not long after, the familiar little white boat arrives to pick them up again. With freshly washed hair and bodies, Austin helps Ally aboard before they take off. They sit in silence for a while before Austin notices Ally is far from content about returning to the island. After watching her fiddle her fingers, releasing an unconscious sigh every so often, he lightly brushes her hair from her face to catch her attention.

"Hey, what's wrong?" He asks her with care. She shrugs once, trying to make clear that it's not a big deal, besides it being hers to deal with.

"I'm going home tonight." That's when the reminder hits him. She ended last in the test, meaning she already had one extra vote in the selection. And with the very few candidates left, this was basically a one-way ticket off the island. There was very little Ally could do to change it and they both knew it. Only, Austin was having none of that.

"I'm not letting that happen," he says determinedly. Ally shoots him a confused and hesitating look in which Austin scoots closer to her. "We have the power remember?"

Something Ally had forgotten, was that Austin had won the test. This meant he had two votes to cast at the selection tonight, meaning that anything could still happen. If they managed to play their cards right, Ally would be able to escape her faith in the nick of time.

"Ally, it'll be okay. I promise," Austin smiles fondly, a plan forming in his head. Hiding a hopeful smile, Ally looks away. With a simple gesture, Austin touches her chin to make her look him in the eyes again. "Do you trust me?"

Ally nods, pursing her lips with a giggle. "I do."

"Good." Austin copies her smile before taking a quick look at the approaching island. "In order for this to work, we need to pretend last night didn't happen. We need to make them believe we can't stand each other. Only then, my plan has a chance of succeeding," he explains. "I'm sorry."

"It's alright, I understand." Ally backs away from him before the rest of the candidates could spot them. Raising one eyebrow, she punches his shoulder. "So, what does this magnificent plan of yours intend anyway?"

"You'll find out soon."

"Oh, come on!" Rolling her eyes, she makes sure he knows how offended she is. "I should know, I'm the main subject of the whole thing!"

"Patience, young one," he reassures her with a flirty wink. "Let me take care of this."

As soon as the couple enters the beach, they split ways. It surprises Ally how quickly and convincing Austin plays his part. He scoffs at her as he walks away from her in which Drew flashes her a satisfied grin. As far as he knows, the two are quite the enemies which only improves his chances to win the game. If the two are too busy scratching each other's eyes out to help each other like they used to do, Drew could snatch the trophy right from under their noses. Or so he thought.

They find out, once they only see two others on the island, that another test had taken place when they were away. One short evaluation on the famous, yet dreaded, balance beam had taken out Oliver. This had broken the pact he had made with Rebecca, making her an easy target. Without her friend, she felt lost and alone, and she would probably lay her faith in the hands of anyone who seemed trustworthy.

They had been told that the selection would take place tonight, so the time they've got was very little. After putting her feelings aside, Ally puts on her best façade. With a frown on her face, she stays far away from Austin and anyone else on the island. She figures that the fewer people she speaks with, she smaller chance she has to make a slip of the tongue and ruin everything.

Though, from the corner of her eye, she watches Austin as he talks to the rest and notices his plan develop, even though she still had no idea what it was. She had just returned to her trusted fishing spot when an obvious cough sounds behind her. As she takes a quick look over her shoulder, she finds Austin who gives her a saying look before nodding his head to the woods behind them. Watching him disappear between the maze of trees, she glances at the other two who were too busy making a fire to notice them.

Getting up as quietly and unnoticeably as possible, she follows Austin. Once she stands in the middle of the forest, she realizes he could've walked anywhere and the directions to head are endless. She takes a few more unsure steps before an arm appears from behind a particularly thick trunk and grabs her pulse, pulling her. Before she realizes, she falls against Austin's chest.

"Hey," she greets him breathlessly in which he smiles at her and she realizes how much she has missed him. Austin looks around to check no one had followed them, except for the camera which they had grown familiar with seeing everywhere around them, and lets go of her.

"Two things," he speaks as he leans his back against the tree, his face serious again. "Everything is set. Drew is still convinced I'm on his side. I managed to convince Rebecca that Drew is aiming at her. She thinks I'm helping her to send him home tonight."

"Is there anything I need to do?" Ally offers.

"You have one last extra vote, right?" She nods in response, remembering how Austin had used two of his when they had made a plan with Drew so Austin wouldn't get sent away. "This selection will be the final one, I'm pretty sure. You have to cast your extra vote on Rebecca."

"I will." She doesn't question his plan any more, because, honestly, she trusts Austin has got everything covered. Releasing a relieved breath, she cocks her head as she shoots him a questioning look as she remembers how he had greeted her. "So, what was the second thing?"

Austin grins excitedly. "This."

With two hands, he grabs her face to bring it closer to his, slamming his lips on hers like he has no more time to lose. Breathing in sharply, she smiles in the kiss as she grabs the fabric of the front of his shirt tightly, parting her lips to deepen the kiss. It's so different from the night before since the two both knew exactly what they were doing now. No unconscious doubts or blames on the spur of the moment, just the two of them.

They could both tell the other had desired this ever since their last touch. Ally couldn't possibly get closer to Austin as she has pushed her body against his, Austin feeling the rough material of the wood through his clothes. After a few minutes, Ally lowers herself again, feeling the exhausting pain of standing on her tippy toes for too long. As they wait until the sense in the lips returns, they just stare at each other.

"Wow," Austin whispers, grinning at the wrinkles Ally's hands had left in his shirt.

"I've missed you." Ally bites her lip as her arms find their way around his neck.

"I've missed you, too." Kissing her forehead, he gives her the same butterflies she had missed badly. "I'm sorry you have to go through this, all the pretending."

"It's the game," she shrugs. "Thank you for doing all of it for me. I really don't deserve it." Ally bites her tongue after the last sentence, that was just her guilt talking, slipped out.

"Don't say that." Austin frowns at her negativity as he brushes a strand of hair from her face. "There's no one I'd rather have by my side in the finale." Austin laughs mischievously as he fakes a doubting expression. "Besides, Rebecca had been an actual threat, while you-"

"You did not just say that! We both know I'm better than you on a lot of fronts," Ally makes effort to keep her laugh quiet, but doesn't hold back hitting Austin's chest roughly.

"I didn't get placed on this planet to stroke your ego, sweetheart." Raising his eyebrows cockily, he winks at her.

"Found a replacement, have you?" She asks, driving at his usual nickname for her.

Austin nods proudly. "Though, I don't think anything will be as suitable as the original 'princess'."

"Wouldn't want to forget our origin." While teasingly brushing her lips against Austin's, she sees him catching his breath. "Prick."

"Austin, we need you for dinner!" A loud voice that could only belong to Drew echoes through the trees, luckily far enough. He doesn't sound like he's planning on coming to find him. A disappointed sigh comes from both their lips, their moment being cut short.

"Coming!" Austin yells, turning his head in the direction of Drew's voice, his tone sounding somewhat annoyed.

"Sounds familiar," Ally chuckles, meaning how he had used the phrase at a certain point the night before.

The irritated frown disappears in a heartbeat, making place for an attempt to hide his smile. "You're the worst."

Ally giggles to hide the way she's struggling with going back to not being able to be with him again. Though, Austin knows better than to be fooled by her by now and pulls her into a bone-crushing hug. Taking their time to be skin to skin for the last time in a few hours, nuzzling their noses in the crooks of the other's necks they breathe in each other's scents.

"See you in a bit," Austin whispers. Ally nods before releasing him. After placing a quick kiss on her cheek, he hurries back to the camp. Ally waits a few minutes before making her way back to the beach as well, careful to make a detour and exit the woods from a different point. Not that anyone would notice.

I cannot even start to explain how content I am with how this chapter turned out. I'm so happy I was able to produce something I'm so proud of and to have people reading it. I'll see you in a week.