This is the chapter you've been waiting for! Maybe it is, the next chapter has got some juicy stuff too. Sorry if the summary confused anybody, I changed it just a tiny bit. I don't think it should bother anyone, but if it did, my apologies. The feedback was SO amazing for the last chapter, i went ahead and posted this one today! Anyways, Read and Review! :D

AUSTIN'S POV

I jerked up out of my bed and came to my senses. I was being absolutely stupid. Didn't I promise to fight for her? Didn't I promise to be there for her? Didn't I tell her that I loved her? Yes. Yes. And yes. And I do not break my promises. I wasn't going to ignore her anymore. But I wasn't going to be so pathetic to her again either. I figured it would be better to wait for her to come to me though. Then if she wanted to talk, I'd definitely talk to her.

It was a nice day outside, so I decided to relax in my front yard. I brought my favorite lounge chair and set it up. I laid down in the chair and watched the sky. It reminded me of the beauty I saw in the woods that one day. That was a seemingly perfect day, and the scenery matched it exactly. Though, what was actually going on at the time, wasn't so perfect.

I wish I could show Ally how pretty that spot was. She wasn't aware of it when we were there the first time. I wish she could see how beautiful she was to me that day as well. She still is. My mom ruined my daydream by telling me that I had chores to get done.

"Austin! Stop being so lazy! If you need something to do, mow the grass! I've been telling you to get that done for weeks now!" She nagged.

"Ugh! Mom, do I have to?" I groaned.

"Yes. Now get up and do it before it gets dark outside." She instructed me, even though it wasn't even that late. It was about four in the afternoon.

I walked around to the back of the house and went into the shed to get the lawnmower. Unfortunately, there was no gas left in the ride mower, so I had to get the push mower. Great, more work. I reluctantly started mowing the lawn.

About twenty minutes in, I saw someone at Ally's house. Ally walked out from the back of the house with a smile on her face. It wasn't until now that I saw that the person at her house was Nathan. They greeted each other and he hugged her. I felt my heart get ripped into shreds. They walked to his car, got in, and drove away.

I immediately turned off the mower and jumped into my car without even thinking about it. At this point, I didn't care if I got in trouble with my mom. Because I know Nathan. And I know that he isn't who he seems to be. People might think that he is someone who cares, and is a nice guy, but he is nothing but a player. He has practically dated every girl in school and has tried to get his hands on Ally for who knows how long. Ally wouldn't know this because she was never at school, even when she was, she tuned out of everything. I used to be friends with Nathan, but I realized that he only cares about getting laid. And I didn't want Ally anywhere near him.

I had caught up to them in my car, but I stayed back a little because I didn't want them to know that I was following them. I saw them pull into a restaurant. I parked in the parking lot a few spaces down and waited there. I debated on whether or not I should go in, but decided to just wait outside.

It was almost an hour, and they finally came out of the restaurant. He hugged her again, though Ally didn't seem to thrilled about it this time. I could see his hands trailing downwards on her back, farther than they should be. Just as I was about to step out there, Ally stepped away casually, getting out of the situation nonchalantly. She just smiled as if there wasn't a problem and got in the car. He brushed it off and got in the car as well.

I continued to follow them to see where they were going. We drove for about twenty minutes until we were in the city. He stopped at a club, which was clearly a hotspot for people to get drunk and hook up with someone. I could see him coaxing her to go in, and Ally was noticeably refusing. She was walking away to the bus stop, then that's when he laid a hand on her.

He grabbed her shoulder roughly, and jerked her back towards his direction. She started yelling at him to let go, and continued to try and pull away. He only jerked her harder and began to get very hostile. I had seen enough. I stepped out of my car and proceeded to walk over. Then I saw him slap her right across the face and he was dragging her by her hair into the building. That's when I started running.

I jerked Nathan off of Ally by his shirt collar. I pinned him against the side of the building, in a chokehold, and looked him dead in the eye.

"What the hell do you think you are doing?" I said in a deep, deadly voice.

"Austin? What are you doing here? I thought we were friends?" He said, trying to sound calm, but his voice cracked with fear.

"We are NOT friends. I'm here because I know who you are, and I don't want you anywhere near Ally." I hissed through gritted teeth.

He just gave a look of fear as he realized that I knew what he was up to. It took every ounce of willpower I had, to not kill this guy right here and now.

"Dude I...I didn't mean..." He stuttered.

"You keep your hands off of her, and I'll keep my hands off you, got it?" I asked bitterly.

He nodded repeatedly. Then I punched him square in the jaw as hard as possible, causing blood to drip from his mouth. I may have possibly just broke a few fingers, but oh well. He deserved it.

"That's for Ally." I said as he got up and into his car, driving away rapidly.
I directed my attention back to Ally, who was sitting on the bench next to the street. She was holding her hand to her face while crying. I walked over and sat down next to her.

"Hey, you okay?" I asked, my voice toned down and more concerned now.

She nodded shakily as she still stared at the ground. I grabbed the hand that was being held to her face and wrapped it in my own. I turned her head towards mine and looked into her eyes with as much concern as possible. I put my other hand on her cheek where a welt had formed across her face. I gently rubbed my fingers over the mark, hoping to soothe her and ease the pain.

A tear slipped out of her eye and rolled down over my finger. She sniffed and her breathing became choppy again. I wasted no time wrapping my arm around her shoulder, and pulled her into my chest. She gave up trying to hold back the tears and let herself cry into my chest. People walking by gave us some strange looks, but I could care less.

I ended up carrying her to my car, and I sat her down in the passenger seat. I walked around to my side and got in as well. Her sniffling had finally ceased and she stared at her feet with red, puffy eyes.

"I'm sorry about Nathan. He's a total jerk. He always seems like a nice guy at first, but he's just a player." I explained.

"No, it's okay. It wasn't your fault." She finally said in a small voice.

"He doesn't deserve you. You're amazing, and he's not smart enough to see that." I said.

She didn't reply, just gave a small smile, returning her gaze to her feet.

"You know I still love you, right?" I said, hopefully brightening the mood.

She turned her head to look at me with a hint of hope in her eyes, then turned back to a sad expression. "Sure didn't seem like it yesterday." She muttered.

I remembered the note that was left in my door, and my over-dramatic reaction. "Why did you do that?" I asked seriously.

"Isn't it obvious?" She said in a knowing tone.

"But..but why? Why an all of a sudden, random change of heart?" I tried to figure out.

"It was never a change of heart, it was a confession." She admitted.

"Then why did you ignore me for so long? Why did you keep shutting me out?!" I asked, my voice rising in agitation now.

"Because, I...I just can't talk about it. I just wanted to be alone." She said.

"See? There you go again! The,'I can't talk about it' phrase! All I want is for you to talk to me, and tell me what's going on! I would never think less of you because of anything you would say to me!" I yelled.

"Why do you have to know?! What if its none of your business?! Can't you understand that?!" She yelled, getting upset now too.

"But we were best friends! We told each other everything! You can still tell me anything! That's all I want! I want you to trust me enough to talk about anything! I just want to be there for you!" I yelled, hoping she would understand my point of view.

"Okay! So you wanna know everything?! Alright! Well how about this! My mom is dead! My dad died a few months ago from drinking too much! Everybody bullies me! I can't even live in my own home without throwing up! Everything I have is gone and I've been left with nothing! And my life is absolutely miserable! Is that good enough for you?! Do you know enough now?! Does that make you feel better?!" She screamed as more tears fell from her eyes.

She got out of my car and slammed the door, walking off down the street.
I immediately felt extremely guilty about everything. I had no idea that was the situation with her. I felt so, so bad. I hopped out of the car and jogged after her.

"Ally! Wait! I didn't know, I'm sorry!" I yelled from behind her.

She stopped walking and turned on her heels to face me. Her look was a mixture of sadness and hatred.

"You didn't know, did you? You never knew. Nobody ever did. And that's why they didn't care." She said in a sarcastic, bitter tone.

"Ally, I'm so sorry. I had no idea things were like that. But I just wanted to be there for you, and comfort you. If you haven't been aware, I love you more than life itself. I know that sounds cheesy and cliche, but it's true. And I wanted us to have that unbreakable bond that we had when we were kids. I may not have always been there for you when you needed someone, but a day hasn't passed that I don't think about you. You've been the only true friend I've ever had. Those people at school are jerks. I knew that from the start. I don't know what I was thinking when I decided to hang out with them. I never meant to leave you in the past. I decided to stop being stupid and try to win you back, but I was still being selfish by trying to keep you for myself. But I can't even stress to you how much I'm sorry, and how much I love you." I confessed, explaining everything. Her face changed from her previous bitter expression, to a happier one, as I explained to her.

"Austin, you have no idea how much that means to me. I loved that you were trying so hard to be there for me. I just wasn't ready to accept it yet, because everything in my life has been taken away from me. And I didn't want to get attached to something that I would have to give up on. But that doesn't mean I didn't appreciate what you were trying to do. Everyone has always been nothing but mean to me, then you come around and strive to make sure I was always okay. I just didn't know if I believed it or not. That day in the woods, I was out there to kill myself. I thought it was a good idea at the time. Because I had nothing left. But I kept praying that someone cared enough about me to save me. That's when you showed up. I was beyond relieved that my prayers had been answered. And that it was you. And then that day in the old fort, that was the first time in so long that I had felt free and genuinely happy. If you haven't been aware, I love you too." Ally confessed, mimicking my tone on the last part.

She has absolutely no idea how long I've wanted to hear those words come out of her mouth.

Well there it is! Ally finally admits it to him! But how is Austin going to react? Find out in chapter nineteen! Do you guys think I can make it to 135 reviews? Help me reach my goal! Here's a little motivation, I'll give you a sneak peek into the next chapter. If i reach my goal, I'll start giving sneak peeks on every chapter! Here goes:

He stood in shock for a moment, then his eyes twinkled with so much excitement, and his smile grew so wide, that it was honestly adorable. His hazel eyes locked with mine, and I saw many emotions swimming through his eyes. Time stood still in this very moment. I knew his eyes were distracting, but that was nothing compared to how they looked now. I could read every emotion through his eyes, and I knew this was real. Words weren't neccesary, beacuse we knew each other too well. This mutual connection between us was growing stronger, and I could feel it.

So I know that's not a lot, but I don't want to give away too much! It's just a little sneak peek for motivation! Remember, 135 reviews. That's fifteen more for this chapter. Let's try to reach the goal! :D