Okay guys, I'm back with chapter twenty! I finished writing the story and I have already started my new story. It's turning out really well and I will post a little more about that one once I finish with this. I'm still EXTREMELY thankful for all your reviews! I hope i can get to 200 reviews by the end of the story! Keep reading and reviewing! :D

ALLY'S POV

We kept on driving for a while as Austin took me to an unknown location. At this point, it wouldn't even matter if he took me to the city dump, cause I'd probably still be happier than ever. There was a silence in the car, though it wasn't necessarily awkward, just there. Nevertheless, Austin reached to turn the radio on anyway. When his hand reached out to click it on though, his hand was shaking. As if he were nervous. I giggled quietly, knowing that I probably had something to do with it.

"What?" He smiled, looking over at me.

"Nothing, keep your eyes on the road." I laughed again.

He rolled his eyes at me, and continued to drive. After another ten or fifteen minutes, he pulled off on a dirt road in the woods. We drove a few more feet, then he stopped and got out of the car. I was a little confused at why we would be at the woods, considering it was getting kinda late. He got two big bright LED flashlights out of the back, came to open my door for me, and handed me one of the flashlights.

"Uh, what are we doing?" I asked as nicely as possible.

"There's something I wanna show you. I've seen it before, and it was so beautiful, I thought you should see it too." He explained.

"But it's starting to get dark, we won't be able to see anything." I pointed out.

"Just trust me, you'll see it." He smiled.

We walked through the woods for a little bit, then he stopped and covered my eyes from behind me.

"Austin!" I giggled.

"Just hang on, I want it to be twice the surprise." He said.

He walked me forward a few steps, and an orange glow was visible, even through his fingers. He slowly let his fingers peel back from my eyes. I got an amazing view of the sunset immediately. We were in this clearing in the trees, it was weird. We were walking through a dense forest, then it was just a clearing. A big one. The sky was still blue, yet it was mixed with pinks, oranges, purples and yellows. It was the most breathtaking scenery I had ever witnessed.

"Wow..." I breathed.

"Yeah, I know." He said proudly.

"How did you find this place? It was so far away." I asked.

"Well, I wasn't sure if you'd really want to know, but I found it a few months ago. When you ran away, and I came to help you. After you passed out, I came across this place while finding my way back. I was really stressed at the time, because you weren't in such great condition, but this spot helped me have the strength to move on. I just thought you might actually want to be conscious here this time." He explained.

I tensed up a little at the memories of what had happened when I was here last, but it was just so beautiful, that I had to give in. "Oh, well, good idea, cause this is probably the most amazing thing I've ever seen." I said back.

"I don't know, I might've just seen something more amazing." He said smiling at me.

I knew what he meant, and smiled shyly and rolled my eyes in acceptance of his cheesy compliment. "One more thing you should know about me, I hate cheesy compliments."

"And one thing you should know about me, you're still going to hear them from me anyway." He laughed.

If I had a dollar for every time he has made me feel amazing, I'd be extremely rich. I looked back to the glowing palette of colors in the sky, admiring the beauty as the sun went down. Austin walked over to me and hugged me from behind, and I leaned back into his chest. The amount of peace and serenity I felt right now was unreal. Add another dollar to my stockpile. Then reality hit me like a ton of bricks when I realized I would have to go back home after all of this, and start to slowly suffer again. I sighed as the stress started rebuilding inside me.

"What's wrong?" Austin asked sincerely.

"Nothing, it's just...going back home is going to be so hard after having such an amazing day." I confessed. He knew about my life story in a summary anyway at this point, so I figured he would understand.

"Well, maybe you don't have to go home." He stated.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Maybe we could go find somewhere with amazing scenery like this place, and just...live there." He suggested.

It honestly didn't sound like a bad idea. It's not like anyone could stop me, there wasn't anyone to stop me. My house was utterly disgusting, so why not? But it just seemed like such a fairy-tale thing to do.

"Friends don't usually just run off and live together though." I pointed out.

"Maybe I don't want to be just friends." He said, pulling me a little closer.

I felt the sparks of happiness and hope start to return inside me. I turned my head to face towards his neck, placing my hands on top of his, which were resting on my stomach.
"Maybe I don't want to either." I whispered.

"Does this mean..." He started.

"Yes. Yes it does." I cut him off.

"Good, cause I thought we were past that anyway." He said. He turned me around to face him completely, and his lips met mine for the second time today. It was just as breathtaking as the first, and I was feeling like my life was finally falling into place. A good place. My mind thought back to the many kisses we shared in the fort as seven year olds. I felt like a little kid again, without a worry in the world, living life in the moment. Once he pulled away, he had a suggestion.

"Well, you wanna go 'house shopping'?" He asked. I was unable to tell if he was serious or not.

"Austin, it's late. The sun has almost disappeared through these trees. And I'm tired. I hardly feel like walking back to your car, much less around town looking for houses. How on earth would we afford one anyway? It's just a little unreasonable." I protested.

He stood and thought for a moment. "Oh yeah, I didn't even think about that. But don't worry, if living there makes you uncomfortable, then I will find a way to make sure you're okay. I promise." He said sincerely.

"Thanks, that really means a lot to me." I said honestly.

"Well, if you don't feel like walking back to my car either, I think I can do something about that." He said with a sly smile, showing he had an idea.

I raised an eyebrow in question. He bent down slightly, giving the notion that he wanted to give me a piggy-back ride. I smiled and walked over to him, hopped onto his back, and wrapped my arms around his neck. He lifted up, and I felt the muscles in his shoulders flex against my arms. This sent a small blush to my cheeks, and I don't even know why.

He started walking back to the car. We got there shortly, and he sat me in the passenger seat. He took the flashlights back to the trunk, and returned to the driver seat. I quickly ended up falling asleep against my will as we drove home. Eventually though, I was awoken to his gentle voice telling me that we were home. I stepped out of the car, and he did too.

"You sure you're gonna be okay?" He asked me.

"I promise I'll be fine. I can handle living in the shed in the backyard for as long as I need to." I said, almost shuddering at the thought of going back into my house.

"Okay." He said. "Hey," I turned to face him. "I love you."

It was dark, but I could still see the glistening of hazel that I knew and loved. It was strange how every other time I've heard him say that, I felt like running away. But now, I only wanted to get closer.

"I love you too." I said softly.

It almost felt weird actually saying it back this time. But it was a good weird. His smile lit up across his face, and he bent down to kiss my cheek. I again, smiled in return. I decided I would have to go home, and proceeded to go. Austin drove right back across the street to park his car in his driveway. I crawled onto my mattress and ended up crying. But they were tears of happiness. That's another first. I fell asleep easily, with no stress holding me down.

AUSTIN'S POV

I just got back home after what I guess you could call mine and Ally's first date. Yep, Ally Dawson was officially my girlfriend, and I was feeling like a million bucks. I guess persistence pays off.

It was probably about eleven thirty at night when I finally got home. Driving all the way out to Nosville and back, wasn't a quick trip. But it was worth it to show Ally that beautiful place.

Somewhere in the conversation we had out there, I suggested living on our own somewhere else. I have no idea where that suggestion came from, but once I said it, I didn't regret it. I could picture it so perfectly, both of us living happily ever after. But after thinking, I realized that it was totally ridiculous. My parents would never let me move out at age seventeen, with a girl, or at all, and I could never come up with the money needed to buy a house. But I promised to get Ally out of that house, because both of us knew how awful it was. And I don't break my promises.

I suddenly had another crazy idea, but this one seemed just a little bit more realistic. What if I could turn our old fort into a livable place? I could just rebuild it. It would be easy. I used to help my dad with that stuff all the time. The barn in our backyard, I built that. I have also built four different tree-houses for my cousins. They are still standing and fully functional, so rebuilding our fort shouldn't be too hard.

My plan was falling together perfectly. I was mentally doing everything I planned on doing for real. But then my mom showed up in the hallway with a furious look on her face.

"Austin Monica Moon! Where have you been?! You think you can just leave, and not come back until midnight?! You are grounded for two weeks!" She yelled.

"What?! That's not fair! Mom, I was helping Ally! Somebody was trying to get her, and I had to help!" I argued back.

"No exceptions! If you were going to leave, you should've at least told me. Or answered my calls, or texted me, or something! Do you know how worried I was?" She asked.

"I didn't even have my phone! My best friend was in trouble, and I wasn't going to stand around and wait for your permission to go help!" I yelled.

My mom stood there quietly as she thought about the situation. I guess realization hit her as she said, "I understand you care about her, but I care about you, Austin. If this person was going to hurt her, they could've hurt you. I was just worried about you. But I'm glad you were at least leaving to do something good. But please, just give me some kind of update next time. Kay?" She said, calmer.

"I promise that next time I leave, you'll know where I'm going." I said calmer as well.

She gave me a hug, and went back to her bedroom. I went upstairs to my room too, and changed into sweatpants. I lay there, thinking. Did today really happen? Did I kiss Ally Dawson? Is she really my girlfriend? It was all true, and the thought made me feel amazing. I tried hard to get to sleep, because I would have to wake up early to get started on the fort renovations tomorrow.

What did you think? Chapter twenty one is well on its way! See you soon! I love all of you! :D