Hey everyone, welcome back to this story!
So I really wanted to update this story every day, but it seems life has been working against me recently – a sudden influx of work, as well as having to move into my brother's room over Christmas, meaning I don't have my computer and have to use my laptop… which didn't have Word installed so I've had to do that and it's been a stress… BUT I'm all sorted now and today I am writing all day so hopefully I can get lots done!
I hope you guys enjoy this chapter.
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 Seven
Ally's POV
I've been here in Palm Bay for just over a week now, and it's December 8th. It's a Saturday morning, and I wake up to the now familiar sound of the crashing waves and gentle streams of sunlight.
However, it's amazing the difference one week can make in the weather. It's not as warm anymore , unlike when I arrived, but it's still not absolutely freezing. We've even had a few small flurries of snow, but not enough for it to set on the ground properly. I've always dreamed of seeing a white Christmas, and I'm quietly hoping that this will be the year, if it snows enough.
I go through my normal morning routine. I don't really plan on leaving the lodge today, and the whole place has central heating, so I don't need to dress for the cold, so I wear a purple floaty long-sleeved t-shirt with some blue skinny jeans and my knee-high Ugg boots.
I decide to head down to the lobby to get a coffee from the coffee machine Mimi told me about, which is technically meant to be Staff Only, but I think the Moons have taken a liking to me and they let me use it for free.
As I get into the lobby, I see Mike and Mimi seemingly getting ready to go out. "Morning, Ally dear." Mimi calls out as I walk in.
"Morning Mimi." I reply as I walk over towards the coffee machine. "You guys going on a family outing or something?" I ask, but notice Austin is not with them.
Mike chuckles. "No, Ally, I wish, but someone has to stay here to watch the lodge." I instantly feel kind of stupid for even considering that they could all leave for the day.
"But Mike and I are having a day off, we're going round the town to do our Christmas shopping. Austin's going to stay here, and I'm sure he'd appreciate you keeping him company." Mimi said, as she and Mike put on their winter coats and scarves.
"Well luckily for him I hadn't planned on going out today." I reply with a smile, pouring creamer into my coffee and stirring it.
"Ah good. He was just finishing getting ready upstairs," Mike said, referring to the small apartment the Moons have within the lodge building where they live. "I'm sure he'll be down in a few minutes."
I smile and nod. "Well, enjoy your day." I say to them, walking over to take a seat one a couch and pick up a magazine to lazily flip through.
"We will dear, bye." Mimi says, offering a small wave before her and Mike leave through the front door and get into their small car.
A few minutes pass by before I hear footsteps coming down the stairs and look up to see Austin walking into the lobby. "Morning Als." He calls out with a smile, copying my actions of walking over to the coffee machine.
"Hey Austin." I reply. "Any plans today?" These morning conversations were standard for us now, we hadn't really had proper time together since he showed me around, but we speak every morning.
"Well, I could hear voices from upstairs so I'm guessing you've spoken to my parents." Austin says, stirring his coffee and walking over to sit next to me. "So, as I have to stay here all day I've decided I might as well decorate the lodge today." He continued, taking a sip of his drink.
"Ooh exciting." I say, putting the magazine back on the coffee table.
"Indeed." Austin smiled at me. "Would you… uh… care to give me a hand?" He asked.
I smiled. "Sure, I'd love to. I love decorating for Christmas." I reply.
"Great, me too." He said, putting his coffee and the table and standing up. I do the same. "The decorations are all in the back room, I'll go get them." He says before walking away.
He disappears into the back room and comes out a minute later with a huge box full of lights, tinsel and other Christmas-related paraphernalia. He then disappears back into the room, only to once again re-emerge with another box. He makes several trips in and out of the room, and eventually there are about seven big boxes full to the brim with decorations. I clap my hands together with excitement.
"Ready?" He asks.
"Of course!" I reply, walking over to the first box, which he is already standing next to. This box contains mostly lights, all different kinds and colours.
"So, first, the lights outside." He states. "I won't make you come outside, so why don't you start sorting through all the boxes and arranging everything into piles and stuff whilst I really quickly do these lights. Shouldn't take long." He says, hoisting up the box into his arms and strolling towards the door.
"Okay." I reply after him, before turning back and kneeling next to the box, pulling everything out and organising it into piles: tinsel, indoor lights, tree parts, baubles, stockings, etc.
Austin comes in and out a few times, plugging things into sockets and turning on the power. We exchange smiles each time, I can tell he really loves doing all of this.
About 25 minutes later I'm done, everything neatly arranged and ready to be put up, and just as I finish placing the last item, Austin triumphantly strides back into the lobby.
"Okay, outside lights all done." He says happily, walking over to where I am in the middle of all the piles, looking proudly at my work. "Nice, I think we're ready to begin!"
He walks over to the huge pile of stockings – I was really surprised with how many of them there were! "First, we do the stockings." Austin said, picking one up. "We give every guest who's in the lodge over Christmas a small stocking of presents. Nothing big, just like a few chocolates, stuff like that. We try to get to know the people who stay here over the festive period so we can make sure to get something they'll like." He explains, as I also pick up a stocking off the pile.
"That's so nice!" I say, as we walk over to the lobby desk, where Austin pulls out a small pad of paper with a list on it, detailing what each guest is to be given in their stocking.
"Yeah, I think so too." Austin says. "Now, this year there's going to be 10 people here on Christmas day, so we only need ten of those stockings."
"Okay, shall I put the rest away then?" I ask, turning to start to walk towards them, but I'm stopped by a hand on my arm turning me back around.
"Hang on, it's not that easy. As well as personalising each guest's gifts, we also need to choose a stocking for each of them. They're all different designs so we need to choose ones we think they'll like best." He then proceeds to walk past me to the pile and I follow, amazed at how much the Moons care about their guests.
"Right, so what do you think, then? You know them, after all." I say, kneeling down in front of the pile as he does the same.
"Well, four of the ten guests are a family with two small kids." Austin explains, pulling out two stockings that strike us as particularly appealing for children. One is green, with a Santa and a few presents decorated on the front. The other is blue, decorated with a snowman wearing a red top hat and green bow-tie. "So I was thinking we use these two for them."
"I couldn't agree more." I say, feeling the soft fabric.
"Then for the parents I was thinking these two." Austin says pulling out two identical, simpler red stockings which simply have "Merry Christmas" embroidered in gold fabric. They look elegant and classy but still festive.
"Perfect." I confirm with a smile.
We go on like this for all the guests who will be in the lodge, and I'm really impressed with how well Austin knows each guest and which stocking will suit them best.
We then fill the stockings with the gifts which have been pre-determined and re-bought, and then the stockings are all stored in the back room ready to be hung on the doors of the rooms late on Christmas Eve ready for when they wake up on Christmas Day.
Next we decorate the corridors with tinsel and paper chains, getting into several small arguments over whose design and idea for how to hang them was better. Austin, probably just being a gentleman, conceded and allowed me to win most of these debates, after which we both laughed lightly as we hung them.
It was just after 3 in the afternoon and we were back in the lobby, the final place we needed to decorate. After around an hour, tinsel, paper chains and paper snowflakes were pretty much everywhere. Think of how Buddy the elf goes massively overboard decorating his dad's apartment in the movie 'Elf' and you get the idea. Yeah… we may have gotten a little carried away!
The final thing we need to do is the Christmas Tree, which is going to sit right against the wall in one corner of the small lobby.
Constructing the tree itself is a bit of a hassle in the first place, we both get hit in the eyes with branches a couple of times, but it's good fun and our laughter fills the room pretty much the whole time. Then came the time to actually decorate the tree.
Here came our most significant argument, over what colour of tinsel should go where on the tree. "Are you serious? Gold tinsel would look so much better there!" I would say sternly yet still smiling.
"Nuh-uh! Red tinsel should go here and you know it!" He would reply, and we would both burst into laughter again.
It was dark by now, so we put on the lights next, and they looked absolutely beautiful twinkling away when they were on. Next was the red baubles, which we scattered on branches evenly spaced, happily chatting away as we did this.
The last thing we had to do was put the star on the top of the tree. I, obviously, was too short to reach the top, but I think Austin could tell I really wanted to do it. He could have reached had he stood on his tiptoes, however instead he said I could sit on his shoulders, which I happily accepted.
I stood on one of the couches and he stood in front of me, and with one swift jump I was comfortably on his shoulders, giggling as he walked towards the tree, feeling as tall as a skyscraper in comparison to my normal height. 'So this is what being tall feels like…' I jokingly thought to myself as Austin handed me up the star which I took. I gently leant forward and the star fit perfectly on the top of the tree. It looked perfect.
Austin took a few steps back and we admired our handiwork, both really happy with how the tree eventually turned out.
I leant my neck down and wrapped my arms around his neck, effectively hugging him as best I could in the position. "Thanks Austin." I say into his ear. "I've had a really great time today."
"Don't mention it." He replied. "Thanks for helping me out."
I think at this point he's gonna let me down off his shoulders, but it seems he had other plans, since as I began to lower my legs he suddenly said a quick "Nope!" and began running round the lobby, causing me to laugh loudly as he unexpectedly took off, and his laughs soon join mine. He runs a couple of laps around the lobby, before stopping in front of the tree and spinning round quickly, making me squeal as he continued to laugh.
I join him in the laughter as he slowly stops spinning and lifts me around to face him, still holding me off the floor, our faces not at all far apart. I look into his eyes and immediately get lost, as I have done so many times before.
As I look into his eyes I come to the realisation that I am falling for this man, and this is confirmed by the fact that my body makes no effort to move away as he slowly begins leaning in towards me.
My eyes flutter shut as I prepare myself for the feeling of his lips on mine… when the front door swings open and Mike and Mimi walk in. Austin immediately drops me down and we take a few steps apart. I look down, willing my face to stop blushing before looking up at the couple.
"Hi Mike, Mimi. Did you have a nice day?" I ask politely as they take off their coats and put them into one of the many bags they are now carrying.
"Yes thank you, dear, we got all our shopping done." Mimi happily says as Mike picks up a few bags and begins to walk towards the stairs.
"Austin, give me a hand carrying these bags up will you?" Mike asks, and Austin quickly nods before walking over, kissing Mimi on the cheek and picking up a few bags before following his father.
As soon as they leave the room, Mimi turns back to me with a smile on her face. "Soooo?" She asks like a teenager.
"What?" I ask, confused.
"What was that we walked in on? Sorry we interrupted, we would have waited otherwise." She says, winking.
I laugh lightly. "Don't worry Mimi, you didn't interrupt anything. We didn't even kiss, I don't know what happened, we were just in the moment I guess." I explain, fiddling my hands around nervously.
"Ally, I don't mind if you like Austin." Mimi says comfortingly, rubbing my arms. "In fact, I would be very happy if you did. You're a lovely girl." I smile. "Plus, I'm pretty sure he likes you too."
"Really?" I ask.
"Yes! After that day you spent together, he was happier than I can remember him being for a long time." She explains, and I smile. "So? Are you gonna go for it?" She asks expectantly.
I sigh. "I don't know, Mimi." I reply. "The whole reason I came to Palm Bay in the first place was because I just got my heart broken. I don't know if I'm ready for another relationship yet." I explain and her face softens.
"Oh no, I'm so sorry Ally. What happened?" She asked.
"My boyfriend of two years just suddenly dumped me, because he 'wasn't feeling it anymore'," I say, using air quotes.
"Oh, well, honey, he was clearly a jerk and not right for you. Nobody should treat you that way." She says, comfortingly stroking my hair and pulling me in for a hug.
I'm really growing to Mimi, she's already like a new mother to me. It's reassuring, nice, but sadly unfamiliar, as I've had to grow up without a mother figure since my Mom died when I was young and my Dad never remarried.
"Thanks Mimi." I say, returning the hug.
"No problem honey. I understand why you're sceptical about dating Austin." She says, pulling away from the hug and resting her hands on my shoulders, looking into my eyes. "But trust me when I say that Austin is truly one of the nicest guys you'll ever come across, and I can guarantee he'd never treat you that way."
"I believe you Mimi, I really do." I reply, looking into her eyes with a smile. "I'll think about it." I continue. "For now, I'm gonna go and have a nice, long bath I think. And I need to call Trish, I haven't spoken to her in a few days."
"Who's Trish?" Mimi asks, walking over to the desk.
"Oh just my best friend back in Miami. She's the one who suggested I could come here, she's Dez's ex." I explain.
"As in Austin's best friend Dez?" She asks.
"Well how many other Dez's do you know?" I ask with a chuckle, which she matches.
"Good point. Well, you must thank Trish from me for suggesting us. I would never have met you otherwise." She says with a smile, which makes me beam too.
"I will do. Thank you Mimi. I'll see you tomorrow." I say, turning to walk towards the stairs.
"Night Ally." I hear Mimi say behind me.
I pass Austin on my way up the stairs. I smile at him. "Thanks again, Austin. I'll see you tomorrow." I say.
He returns the smile. "No problem Als. Sleep well."
And with that I return into my room and collapse onto my bed, picking up my phone and dialling Trish. "I have so much to tell you." I say when she picks up the phone.
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That's chapter 7! So it's up a little later than intended, as I said earlier, but I'm really happy with how this chapter turned out in the end.
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Catch you later!