Hey everyone! Welcome back, I'm glad everyone seems to be enjoying this story so far!

Now that Ally's checked in to Moon Beach Lodge, and having met Austin, it's time for her to get to know her new surroundings…

Disclaimer: I do not own Austin and Ally or anything you recognise from the show in any way, shape or form, nor do I own any recognisable brands, songs or lyrics within them.

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Chapter Four

Ally's POV

I unpacked my case quickly, making the most of the ample wardrobe space I had available. I then walked over and took a long, gazing look over the beautiful water, only being pulled out of my trance by the sound of my phone pinging to tell me I had a notification.

I walk over to where my phone is resting on my bed and open it to find that it is a message from Trish, replying to my message that I had arrived in Palm Bay.

As I read her message, I realised that I still hadn't told my Dad that I wasn't in Miami – I don't have another shift at Sonic Boom until after Christmas, but he will still be expecting to see me – I normally go round to his house on Christmas day.

I find his contact and hit the "Call" button before pressing the phone to my ear. It rang a few times before my Dad's familiar voice came. "Hello?"

"Hi Daddy." I reply.

"Oh hey Ally-cat, what's up?" He asks.

"Umm… well I just thought I should let you know that I won't be coming to your house on Christmas day." I reply.

"Oh?" He responds, sounding surprised. "Why not?"

"Well, because, thing is, I'm not in Miami." I say quickly.

I hear my Dad chuckles slightly. "What do you mean you're not in Miami?"

"I mean exactly that, Dad. I'm in Palm Bay, and I'm gonna spend Christmas up here." I explain.

"Well what are you doing there?" He replied, sounding slightly annoyed now. "And why didn't you tell me before?"

"I'm sorry, Daddy." I say. "It wasn't really planned, more of a last minute thing really."

"And why is that?"

"Well… Dallas dumped me yesterday, Daddy, and I just want to be away on my own for a while." I explain, quickly and relatively quietly.

"Oh my poor Ally-cat!" He coos, bringing a sad smile to my face. "What happened?"

"I don't even know, Dad." I reply and my voice shakes slightly. "He just said he wasn't feeling it anymore."

"That little bitch." He hisses and I can just tell he has a scowl on my face, which puts a smile on mine. "I never liked him."

I chuckle. "Yeah, I know, Dad." It's true, he'd always been kind of cold towards Dallas, clearly he's a much better judge of character than me if he could already tell Dallas was no good for me when I was just blinded by love.

"Well I'm sorry honey, and I understand why you're away now. But are you sure you really want to be alone on Christmas Day?" He asks.

"Yeah it'll be weird not being with you and the rest of the family, but I'm sure I'll be fine. Besides this is where Dez moved, that's why I came here, so I'm not completely on my own." I explain.

"Ah okay cupcake. Well if you're happy there, then I'm obviously not going to try and force you to come back or anything. Have a good time, sweetheart."

"Thank you Daddy, I'll ring you on Christmas Day." I say.

"Okay Ally, bye."

"Bye Daddy. Love you." And then I hang up the phone.

Around 20 minutes later I decide to go down to the lobby, familiarise myself with the lodge a bit. Maybe Austin will be there… wait, why am I thinking like that?

Anyways, I grab my phone, which had been charging, and walk out and lock my door, before reversing my steps from earlier and going down the staircase.

The smell of freshly brewed coffee instantly hits me the moment I walk through the door into the lobby and it is heavenly. I smile as I look around the room, before walking over to one of the couches and sitting down. From here I had another great view out over the ocean, and decided this was the perfect place to read, for future reference.

I left all my books up in my room and I can't be bothered to walk all the way back upstairs just to get them, so I instead settle on the magazines on the coffee table in front of me.

I'm halfway through an article on "The perfect Christmas tree" when a familiar voice says "Oh, hey Ally." I turn and see Austin walking towards me, seemingly coming away from the back room behind the reception.

I smile and reply. "Hi Austin."

He takes a seat on the couch opposite me and I place the magazine back on the coffee table. The article wasn't that interesting anyway. "So, how long are you staying here for?" He asks.

"Well I don't really know yet. It was kind of a sudden decision to come here at all." I explain and he nods. "Probably until after Christmas, though."

"Nice, you're from Miami, right?"

"Yeah, how'd you know?"

"Dez told me." He answers. "You guys were friends before he moved away, right? You two and another girl… Tasha or something?"

"Trish." I answer. "Yeah we were all really close friends, and Trish is still my best friend."

"And they were dating before he left, right?"

"Yeah." I nod. "You seem awfully curious about all this."

He shrugs. "Honestly it gets pretty boring living here sometimes. There's not a whole lot to do. So when Dez moved it was just refreshing to have someone talk about somewhere different. Plus I might as well learn a bit about his old life so I can be better friends with him." Austin explains.

"Fair enough." I reply with a smile. There is a comfortable silence for just a couple of seconds.

"So, Ally, why did you come here?" He asks and my heart sinks at the memory.

"Uh… I don't really want to talk about it right now, if that's okay." I say as I look at my hands. Austin seems real nice and all but I've only just met him, I'm not ready to open up to him about Dallas yet. I look up to see him nodding quickly.

"Of course, no problem." He says with a smile and I return it. "Well, I should probably get back to work. My parents are out for the afternoon so I'm in charge of the place until they get back." He continues standing up and I do the same.

"Yeah you do that, I'll see you later." I say.

"Bye Ally."

"Bye Austin."

And with that he heads back to that back room and I head back upstairs.

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And that's chapter 4!

Austin and Ally seem to be getting on well… in the next chapter Ally's gonna go exploring round the town, and Austin may just tag along to show her around…

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Catch you later!