Chapter Sixteen:
"I think about you."
It's the morning of the wedding, and these past couples of weeks have gone by smoothly. Dallas hasn't come around us, but I still don't trust that he's staying away for good. I mean, it is Dallas that we are talking about.
Ally and I have been closer than ever, but our relationship still hasn't taken the next step. I want to ask her to be my girlfriend, but at the right time, plus I don't really know how she feels about it. I know that she loves me and everything, but I don't know if she wants to be in a new relationship already, or maybe she is just waiting patiently for me to ask her out. Ugh, this stuff is way too complicated.
I stare at my dress clothes that are lying on my bed. It should really be against the law to wear long dress pants and shirt to a wedding that's on a beach. I'm going to be sweating before it even starts. But I'll deal with it because I know how much this day means to Ally. It means a lot to me too. I like that her family likes me, and I don't want to disappoint them in any way.
I slip on my black dress pants and then my white long sleeved shirt. As I'm buttoning it up, my phone goes off. I walk over to my bedside table and read the text from Ally: Are you getting ready? I can't wait to see you, today is going to be amazing! I smile as I read it. I reply to her and continue to get ready.
When my clothes are all situated, I attempt to make my mess of blonde hair a little less of a mess. It doesn't really work though and I shrug at myself in the mirror. Ally likes me the way I am, and that's all that matters. I'm just glad that my bruise is only small now. I can play it off like a surfboard to the face accident now. I spray on some axe and grab my phone before going downstairs.
My parents are both gone, so I walk into the kitchen and grab a bottle of water and take a seat in my living room. Ally and her father are going to be here any minute. The wedding is in a few hours but they want to get there as early as possible.
I hear a horn beep outside, so I stand up and grab the house keys before going out the door. I lock my door and walk over to my driveway, where a beautiful red comfortable is parked. Ally is beaming from the driver's and I raise an eyebrow, "What's going on?" I ask.
"It's my aunt Helen's. She's letting me borrow it for the day." She says.
I get in the passenger seat and grin at her, "She is way too awesome." I tell her. I look her up and down in her beautiful blue dress. It's tight on the top and then it flows on the bottom. Her hair is in loose curls with a white flower behind her ear; she looks absolutely gorgeous.
"And another thing, we aren't going to the wedding just yet." She says, smirking.
"So I got dressed in these nice clothes early for nothing?" I groan.
"Oh stop your whining." She says, laughing, "I'm in my nice clothes too."
"And you look breathtaking." I say.
She blushes, "Thanks."
"You know, this convertible is going to mess up my hair that I tried so hard to tame today." I say, patting it down as she pulls out of the driveway.
"So where are we going?" I ask her.
She shrugs, "Just on a scenic route. My dad hardly ever lets me drive his car because he always has it so this is my chance to finally drive." She says.
"Well, don't crash or anything." I tell her.
She rolls her eyes, "Yes of course Mr. Moon. I'd never." She says in a terrible British accent.
"Yeah, I don't think you should talk like that ever again." I say, laughing.
"That's not nice!" She says, but laughs with me.
We finally arrive at the wedding spot. Dozens of people are sitting down or standing in front of their seats and talking with each other. A lot of heads turn when we pull in. It was a beautiful car, after all. But Ally's father looked nervous and then relieved when we pulled in. I jump over the door as I get out and Ally shakes her head at me, "What if you would have fallen or something and got dirty?" She asks.
"Ally, I'm Austin Moon. I never fail." I say, laughing.
I walk up to her and put my arm around her shoulder as we walk over to her father and our seats. Her family from the picnic all looks our way and whisper to each other. Well, the last time they saw us we were just friends, which we still pretty much are… except for the fact we have kissed and said we love each other.
"Hello Austin." Her father says to me as I take my seat beside Ally.
I nod, "Mr. Dawson."
"How was the ride here?" Helen squeals as she walks over to us. Ally stands up and hugs her tightly, "It was great! Thank you so much!"
I stand back up and grin at her, "Hello Helen."
"It is so nice to see you again Austin!" She says, grinning. She pats my shoulder and looks at Ally. Ally just shakes her head at her and then Helen walks away. I raise an eyebrow at Ally but she just takes her seat next to me.
After mingling for a while, the wedding starts. The groomsmen and the bridesmaids walk down and then the ring bearer and flower girl. The bridesmaid's dresses are yellow and all of the men's tuxes are white. It's all goes really beautiful together with the yellow and white flowers. We all stand as the nervous bride appears. Her dress is really beautiful and she's the same petite size of Ally. I look at Ally and picture her in a wedding dress. Hopefully when Ally walks down that isle, I'll be the nervous groom at the altar, awed by her beauty.
I watch Helen cry her eyes out watching her daughter and the whole moment is just bittersweet. I look down at Ally and she smiles warmly at me. I'm glad I got to share this moment with her. And I can't wait for more moments like this. Any moment I spend with Ally is special, and I hope she realizes that.
When the ceremony is over, we hop back into the convertible and head over to the reception place. Ally doesn't stop talking the whole ride, about the wedding and how much she loved it. I just sat back and watched her talk, smiling the entire time. She stopped at one point and her cheeks turned red, asking what I was staring at.
"Well, this beautiful girl that I am in love with." I say.
She smiles, "Oh Austin."
We arrive at the familiar spot on the beach and I use the door to get out this time. I unbutton the top button my shirt and I already feel a little cooler. We walk over to a table with Ally's father and Helen and wait for the newlyweds to arrive.
"It was a beautiful service." Ally tells Helen.
"Wasn't it?" She says happily.
"It was." I nod.
"Oh look, food!" Ally's father says happily as he heads for the snack table.
Ally and I both laugh and take our seats next to each other. Ally faces me and puts her hand on my knee, "Thank you for coming."
"No problem, I'm glad you invited me." I tell her.
We both lean in to kiss when her father comes back and he clears his throat. We jump back and straighten up in our seats. He smirks and sits down across from us with his mountain of food on a small plate. I look at Ally and frown, she returns it.
The bride and groom finally arrive and take their seats at the wedding party table. Then the best man says his speech, then her father and then Helen. That took up a lot of time, and Ally seemed to still be enjoying herself. Then, after we eat, they cut the cake and smash it into each other's faces, causing everyone to burst out into laughter. It was quite comical actually.
They start blaring music, all different kinds of genres and a lot of older music. They do the whole bride and groom dance, and then the bride and father dance and all that. Wow, there is a lot of stuff that happens at a wedding. I can't imagine how long it must have taken to plan the whole thing. I bet Helen had a lot to do with it because of how proud she has seemed the whole night.
Ally and I are seated at our table, talking about different things while everyone fast danced to the song 'footloose'. I thought it was odd that they were playing it but I guess none of the other guests though that way. They were going insane. Ally laughs at them and looks at me, "I think my dancing would fit in here."
I laugh, "Probably."
"Everyone would think your dancing was weird." She says, laughing.
"Thanks." I say, but I laugh too.
Suddenly, I hear a few people near the door talking loudly. It draws my attention so I look over, and out from the group stumbles a very drunk looking Dallas. I look at Ally and she stares at me with her mouth dropped, "He isn't…" She says.
"I can't believe this." I say, face palming.
Nobody seems to know who he is, I mean they wouldn't. He practically falls on one of Ally's cousins and then tries to straighten up but his clothes are a hot mess. He looks like he has been drinking for hours. I look at Ally and search her face. She sighs, "I forgot he knew about this. He must have figured you came with me." She says.
I stand up in front of Ally as Dallas stumbles over to me. He has a sarcastic grin on his face as he looks me over, "I see your face is healing."
"What the hell are you doing here Dallas?" I say through gritted teeth.
"What's going on here?" Ally's father says as he walks over. He looks Dallas over and his face scrunches up, "You're drunk Dallas, what are you doing here?"
"I just came to talk with your daughter." Dallas slurs.
"Like hell I'm going to let her near you." I spat.
"Oh look Austin the protector!" He yells, drawing everyone's attention to us.
"This is a private wedding and I'm not letting you ruin it. Let's go outside, now." I say.
"Austin…" Ally says, grabbing my arm.
I look down at her, "Its okay."
"Are you sure you can handle this on your own Austin?" Mr. Dawson asks. I nod in response.
"Come on." I say to Dallas. He rolls his eyes and groans but follows me away from the tent and the crowd, near the bathrooms.
"What is your problem?" I ask, even though I already knew.
"You took my girl." He says.
"No, I didn't." I tell him.
He laughs, "You are a sneak and a liar and a girlfriend stealer."
"Well maybe if you knew how to treat a girl you could keep a girlfriend." I say.
Fury rises in his eyes and he takes a swing at me that I dodge quickly. After he hits air, he almost falls flat on his face. I shake my head and try not to laugh at him, "You would be a lot better at this if you weren't so drunk you know." I tell him.
"I'm fine." He says, straightening up and going for a nothing punch.
I simply step out of the way to avoid it and shake my head, "Listen Dallas, just go home."
"Not until I get Ally back." He says.
"You're never getting me back." Ally says, coming up from behind me.
I turn around and eye her, "I said I could handle this." I tell her.
"It's not just your problem to handle Austin." She says softly, standing beside me.
"Ally, I need you." Dallas whispers.
"No, you don't Dallas." She says.
"Why would you do this to me?" He asks.
"I didn't do anything." Ally says.
"You did this, Dallas." I say.
"Shut up!" He says, to both of us.
"Dallas, I know what we had in the beginning was good, but it just went downhill okay? I'm sorry I didn't tell you about Austin, I know I should have but I was scared that you would do this." Ally says.
"Dallas, what happened to my old buddy? You were never like this." I say.
"You were never a true friend! If you were you wouldn't be with her." He says.
"It's not my fault that these feelings developed Dallas." I say.
"Dallas you pushed me away, and didn't treat me like you used to. You know its better this way. And trying to fight Austin all the time isn't going to help." Ally says.
"I think it will." Dallas says, and with that Dallas jumps me.