Thank you guys so much for the reviews! Sorry for such a long wait! I promise to try and update quicker, but school is about to start so no guarantees. Anyway, this chapter is kind of short so I apologize for that. Hope you guys enjoy it anyway.

Patrickstar1999- the reason Ally was wearing a thong is because of her dress. She didn't want her underwear line to show. Sorry if that was confusing. Thank you for reviewing :) Hey that rhymed!

Ilovefluffysocks- yes I have read To Kill A Mockingbird. Such a well written book, and yes it is very emotional. Thank you so much for reviewing!

—

As much as I complain to you guys, there really wasn't much to complain about this day (besides the fact that the whole school saw me in my underwear). Austin was such a sweetheart. Before we went to the park, Austin bought us ice cream cones.

We pulled up to the park, cones in hand, and began our walk through the park. At first we walked in silence, pointing at the pretty birds or cool shaped leaves as we continued to nibble on our cones. We walked side-by-side, our hands gently brushing against each other. I'm not sure exactly when, but somehow our hands managed to grab each other so we were now walking hand-in-hand, side-by-side.

It felt nice walking in peace with Austin. I felt like I actually belonged somewhere. If only that feeling lasted...

"Do you wanna talk about what happened?" Austin asked, finally breaking the comfortable silence. I shrugged, taking another bite on my ice cream.

"Can I ask you something?" Austin asks. I nod.

"Why is Cassidy so mean to you? I mean, I know she's snotty already, but why is she so much meaner to you than anyone else?" Austin asks. Now that he asks it, I'm not really sure.

"I don't know. I guess it's because I'm shy and nerdy. You know, the "princess" will always need her witch" After I said that, we fell back into a comfortable silence.

Austin was the one to break it again.

"Have you ever thought about being a singer? Because you know, your voice is really pretty" Austin said, making me blush.

"Thank you. Um, yeah I guess. It would never work out, though" I say quietly. Austin just shook his head.

"Don't sell yourself short" he says.

I smile and reply, "Well I am only 5"1, so I really don't know another way to sell myself" I joke. Austin just face-palms.

"That was so lame" he says with a laugh

"Thank you" I reply with a laugh.

Soon Austin's smile faded and he looked over at me and said with all seriousness, "I'm going to marry you one day".

Me, taking the joke for exactly what it was, a joke, laughed. He didn't though, he just smiled softly, his eyes filled with thought.

He stopped our walking and turns so that we're now facing each other. He grabs my other hand and holds them between us.

"Do you know how important you are?" He asks me. I quirk my eyebrows.

"Important? Hmm, I gotta say I don't" I say softly.

"I just feel like I should let you know, you're my best friend and you mean so much to me. I don't know what I'd do without you" He said calmly. I grinned up at him, before embracing him in a bone crushing hug.

"You're very important to me too, Austin. I can't even imagine my life without you" I said into his shoulder, still holding onto him tightly. Butterflies erupted in my stomach as I felt Austin's arms wrap tightly around my waist. We just stood their for a while, me being perfectly content in Austin's arms.

Austin was the one to pull away first.

"Ally, you're beautiful" He tells me simply, before leaning down to peck me on the cheek. As soon as he pulls away, he goes running off to the swing set yelling words incoherently. I blushed, then laughed, then followed him.

—

We had now been swinging quietly for five minutes. We were swinging at the same pace and the silence was comfortable. Everything was nice. That was until I had to ruin it.

"I'm sorry you had to see me like that" I blurted suddenly.

"Huh?" Was Austin's reply.

"At the school. Whenever Cassidy had her friends rip my dress off. I'm sorry you had to see me standing there" I said pathetically.

"Ally you shouldn't apologize for things like that. There's nothing you could have done to prevent that from happening. Besides, I was too busy trying to cover you up to even get a good look at you. I knew you must have been embarrassed enough by having all the other students see you and I didn't want to be put on the list of people who saw Ally Dawson half dressed in the middle of the hallway. I only saw enough of you to know what had happened. I swear I didn't check you out" After he said the last part, I choked out a laugh, tears blurring my vision.

What he said to me then was one of the nicest things anyone had ever said to me. I know it's embarrassing, but I couldn't help but cry. Austin noticed my tears right away.

"Ally, what's the matter?" He asked quickly, jumping off his swing and running over to me, standing right in front of me to stop me from swinging. He rested his hands on top of my knees (making them go weak), and looked me directly in the eyes. I looked away quickly, not wanting him to know the reason I was crying.

"What happened Alls?" He asked, giving me a little nickname. "Was it something I said?" He asked, his tone laced with worry. I nodded my head yes. It was everything about him. He was so nice. It just kind of overwhelmed me.

"What? What did I say? I'm so sorry Ally! I didn't mean to-" I cut him off by pulling him in a hug. I cried into his shoulder as he wrapped his toned arms around my back. He sat down by the swing, pulling me off of it while doing so, and I landed in his lap.

"Can you tell me what I did to make you cry?" He asked softly. I pulled back and looked him directly in the eyes, our faces just inches away.

"Okay, do you promise not to laugh?" I asked, holding my pinky out for him. It didn't take long for him to wrap his much larger pinky around it.

"I, Austin Moon, promise not to laugh at whatever reason you are crying about" He said in his best British accent (which is not very good, I might add). I laughed at his attempt to cheer me up and told him the reason.

"I'm just not used to people being nice to me. The things you said to me-the things you always say to me-I guess I was just overwhelmed. I'm sorry if that sounds weird or embarrassing, but you wanted the truth so I had to give it to you" I say quietly, turning my head so I wouldn't have to look him in the eyes.

What happened next took me by complete surprise.

I felt something warm press against my forehead, before Austin pulled me against his chest.

"I love you, Ally Dawson"