Chapter 4

I told Elliot that I would love some ice cream. He smiled and high fived me. I laughed and then told him that I just needed to let Austin that I was going with him. Elliot had a confused look on his face and that's when I remembered that he didn't know who Austin actually was. I walked back to our spot to find Austin fast asleep, his chest rising and falling, his hair partly sticking up and his eyes moving beneath his eyelids in a deep dream. I left him a sticky note on the cooler and took my song writing book with me after getting dressed again.

Elliot let me order what I wanted and then paid for it without letting me argue. That was just who he was. A gentleman. I smiled to myself, realizing how much I had missed him since these past years. We sat and ate in silence for a few minutes, probably unsure of how to start a conversation after all of these years. Ironic, wasn't it?

"So, Ally, what have you been doing all of these years?" he asked with a playful smile on his lips. I smiled back and pushed a piece of my hair away from my face.

"Well, my partner Austin and I and my friend Trish and Austin's friend Dez are all in the music business together." I stated. He raised an eyebrow and then 'oh'ed, now realizing who the person Austin I was talking about.

"So what do you do in the music business?" he said. The way he said it made me giggle, again like a little girl. I was surprised that I was this comfortable around a guy that I hadn't seen in almost over three years.

"Well, I'm Austin's songwriter. He sings the songs I write because I have stage fright. Dez is the director of all of Austin's videos and Trish is his manager, who gets him gigs and things like that." I said, the smile still on my face. It was then that I realized that I had really missed Elliot and I wanted to spend more time with him. I ate a spoonful of my Fruity Mint Swirl ice-cream while he told me why he was in L.A.-his Dad got a job as an architect and he got to travel with his dad all over the world to see his father's jobs-which was extremely interesting. I swirled my spoon around my plastic bowl absentmindedly, thinking about different things, my mind never settling once.

I had never noticed Elliot watching me and smiling until I caught one of his gorgeous blue eyes. He blushed slightly and so did I.

"What?" I asked before eating another bite and licking my top lip after, realizing I had missed a drop. His smile grew wider and he shook his head, fluttering his long eyelashes as if it came natural to him.

"Nothing. I was just admiring how beautiful you are." He said softly. He had said it so softly that I had thought it had been my imagination but it wasn't because his blush grew deeper, the redness taking up most of his cheeks and nose. My blush depend too and I tried to avoid his gaze. I was flattered that he thought I was beautiful. No boy had ever called me that before. I just wasn't that type of girl to be noticed as that type of quality.

"Thank you. No one has ever told me that before." I said honestly. Why would I lie to him? He looked at me dumbfounded.

"You're kidding right?" he asked. I looked at him as if he joking. But he wasn't, he was actually curious as to how someone could not think of me as gorgeous. I smiled to myself before answering him.

"No. I'm not. You're the only one." I stated. His mouth dropped open in clear shock.

"Well, just to let you know, anyone who hasn't said it is an idiot and is blind. You are the most beautiful person I have ever met." He said. I blushed once more before questioning what type of 'beautiful' he meant. That's when I asked him. He swallowed a bite of his Chocolate Chip Brownie Cookie Dough ice-cream before answering, clearing his throat.

"Both. You are amazingly beautiful on the inside and extremely gorgeous on the outside." He stated. I smiled and then it faded just as another question popped into my head.

"Which one do you like more about me?" I asked curious. He looked at me like I was an idiot. As if the answer was right in front of me and I couldn't see it.

"The inside. Your ginormous heart and passion to help others has had a hold on me ever since I met you. Your outside beauty is just an incredible bonus." He said honestly. I swallowed hard. I wanted to cry because unlike some guy that would have used those words to get me to believe him, Elliot was being completely honest, as if what he said was the most obvious thing in the world.

I smiled before thanking him.

"You're welcome, Ally. Hey, I was wondering, there's this small party at the beach tonight and I was wondering if you would mind going with me?" he asked, hope in his eyes. I smiled and nodded.

"I would love too. I said. I wrote my hotel name and suite number on a napkin and told him to pick me up at 7:30. Before I left, I leaned in and kissed him on the cheek. He smiled and told me that he couldn't wait for tonight.

Neither could I.