DISCLAIMER: I own nothing. These characters are solely those of the original producers, 'Kevin and Heath Productions' and 'Disney'. I do not take credit for characters or relationships between characters. Do not sue. Copyright infringement not intended.

While Trish and Ally were cleaning up in the morning, I was trying to get Dez packed and ready while he sat on the couch, trying to console his mother and convince her he was okay. She insisted on picking him us up and taking us all there, but we agreed to let her take him alone. Instead, we would wait for a phone call about Dez's accidents so we knew when to visit. Ally still felt bad for keeping us all at the hospital for us so was willing to wait for Dez, but we came to this arrangement.

Earlier this morning, Ally had called Mr. Dawson to explain what had happened with the floor. He wasn't angry like I thought he'd be. In fact, he was sympathetic for Dez and had said, "I knew we should have replaced that floor years ago." He also couldn't stress enough for us to be careful around the hole, and suggested putting something over it to block it. We settled on moving the recliner there. Mr. Dawson also called me personally and asked me to keep this quiet from Ally.

"Austin," he had said. "I need you to do something for me."

"Anything," I replied, confused.

"I need you to really watch Ally. By that I mean try to never make the room too dark, as she's been afraid of total darkness for years. I also need you to make sure she knows she is not at fault for the floor, because if I know my daughter – and I do – she'll try to make it her fault. It's her only flaw, trying to accept the blame for things she didn't do... I also need you to love her."

I was speechless. I managed to spit out, "I do love her, Mr. Dawson."

"I know," he had said quietly. "And I'm glad you do. But I need her to know it. I'm not telling you to say, 'I love you' to her every 5 minutes, but make sure she realizes it. And Austin?"

"Yes, sir?"

"She loves you, too, don't forget that." He said goodbye and hung up. Wow.

I peer over at Ally. She's sweeping the floor and talking to Trish. Trish is laughing. Dez is sleeping quietly with his foot propped up on a pillow now that his mom is done freaking out over the phone. Trish gets up and heads to the washroom. I stand up and walk up behind Ally and hug her. At first she's startled but quickly melts in to my arms.

"I love you," I say.

She turns around and smiles. "I love you, too," she replies. I lean down and kiss her, ever so gently on her soft lips. She wraps her arms around my neck and we stand there, intertwined, for what seems like an eternity. When I pull back, her face is flushed and she's averting her eyes. I laugh and lift her chin and kiss her again.

She giggles in the middle of it and I pull back, laughing again.

We sit down on the couch. She leans in to me, I rest my head on hers, and we just sit there.

Trish comes out of the washroom and sees us and says, "get a room," jokingly.

Ally sticks her tongue out at her and laughs.

ALLY'S POINT OF VIEW

It such a perfect moment, even with Trish there making snide comments. He held me like I was a small child he was trying to protect. I loved it.

Suddenly, everyone jumps at the sound of frantic banging at the door. I quickly get up and open it. In comes Dez's mother, Darla, immediately looking for and finding Dez, asleep.

"Oh, my baby!" she cries. She wakes him up and has him lean on her as she directs him out the door.

"Bye, guys," Dez calls back.

"Call us," I yell over Darla's tears.

I sit back down with Austin on the couch and Trish puts Mean Girls on the DVD player. We all settle in and we find ourselves marathoning movies all morning to afternoon. I'm glad it's a holiday weekend and Sonic Boom is closed.

I wake up later on the couch, without Austin, under a really warm blanket. Trish is still awake – I think – in front of the TV, watching a different movie I can't place a name to. I can't see Austin anywhere.

"Where's Austin," I ask Trish.

"In the kitchen, I think," she replies, never taking her eyes of the screen.

I get up to go find him. I see him out on the porch, strumming away on his guitar. I smile. I open the door and he looks over at me and continues singing his first song, the one I inadvertently helped him with. I sit across from him on my porch swing. I put myself in a ball and lean on my knees, rocking rhythmically to the song.

It's so calm, so tranquil, so pretty outside. It's dusk, now. I'll probably be up all night. Great, I think sarcastically at myself. I see a caterpillar crawling on the column of the house. I put my finger to it and let it crawl on. I look at it closely while Austin plays. I love caterpillars because they truly grasp how beautiful something is even before it goes through metamorphosis. It crawls up my sweater and I use my finger to keep moving it. Austin stops playing for a while and I can feel his gaze on me. I look up to see him eyeing the caterpillar.

What is he thinking?

AUSTIN'S POINT OF VIEW

This caterpillar looks like the one I found outside the hospital, when I made the connection between it and Ally. I smile. I watch them for a few moments and I continue playing, but a different song.