Ally's POV:

Guess what today is?! It's Christmas Eve! You know what that means! Tomorrow is Christmas! Oh, I just can't wait! We have a Christmas tree up in the corner of the store where the colored violins usually are. There's tinsel everywhere and moving/talking Santa dolls and stockings and lots more! We have presents under the Sonic Boom tree just for Austin, Dez, Gabby, Trish, and I.

Gabby is a friend we met about a month ago. We immediately accepted her into Team Austin. She's sweet, loving, pretty, and about a year younger than we are. Her job in Team Austin is to help Trish manage Austin. You know, since Trish isn't the best manager out there. We love her anyway, of course. Speaking of Gabby, she rushes into Sonic Boom with a medium-sized cardboard box in her hands.

"Thanks again, Gabby, for helping us decorate Sonic Boom," I say as she drags the ladder in front of the entrance doors. She pulls mistletoe out of the box and hangs it above the doors

"You're welcome," she says, a bit absentmindedly. She dashes around Sonic Boom, hanging mistletoe everywhere.

Nelson walks in next, wearing an elf costume. He's carrying a small, wrapped present. The wrapping paper is red with snowmen on it. There's a bright red bow on top.

"Hello, Ally," he says with a smile, pushing his glasses further up onto his nose. He puts the gift on the counter. There's a white sticker on it that says To: Ally.

"Aw, thank you, Nelson. If you put that under the tree, I'll be sure to open that tomorrow," I tell him, smiling. I take out a slightly larger wrapped box and hand it to him. "That's for you." There are two DVDs in there: one on how to play the piano and one on how to play the oboe. My lessons obviously aren't helping him very much.

"Can you open my gift right now?" he asks.

"Oh, but it isn't Christmas yet," I remind him.

"Please," he begs with pleading eyes. I look down into the adorable blue-green eyes of his and know then and there that I can't say no to him.

"Oh, all right," I give in, tapping his nose. His face glows red. I carefully tear the wrapping paper off. I take out the red box inside and open it. Inside is a charm bracelet. "Oh, Nelson, this is beautiful! Thank you," I say, leaning over the counter and kissing his forehead. I ruffle his brown, curly hair. His face glows even redder and he faints. I lean over the counter and look down at him. Austin and Dez are the next people to walk in.

"Merry Christmas Eve, Ally and Gabby!" they say in unison, holding out their arms for dramatic effect.

"Merry Christmas Eve to you guys, too!" I say, smiling brightly. Austin walks around the counter and gives me a big hug. I smile and take in his scent. Today, he smells like cinnamon mixed in with pancakes. That's his usual Christmas breakfast: Cinnamon pancakes and chocolate milk. He must not have done anything that would make him smell differently.

"Merry Christmas Eve," Gabby says distractedly, holding the last mistletoe from the box. She seems unsure of where to put it.

"Uh, what happened to Nelson?" Dez asks, crouching down and poking his face.

"He fainted for some reason after I kissed his forehead," I say, confused. "He gave me the most beautiful charm bracelet." I try to hook it around my wrist but have trouble.

"Here, lemme help you," Austin says. I stretch my arm out toward him and he hooks the bracelet around my wrist. His hands linger near my wrist for a few seconds as he stares into my eyes. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Dez and Gabby glance at each other with a smirk. Austin looks at Dez quickly. "Uh... yeah, anyway..."

"Thanks," I say quickly, turning away from him.

"You're welcome."

"Guess who got a job at Christmas Castle?!" Trish asks, walking in dressed like Mrs. Claus. She even has a gray-haired wig on.

"Mrs. Claus?!" Dez asks excitedly, leaning down and hugging Trish tightly. "You're my favorite person in the world! Next to Santa Claus, of course. I love you!"

"It's me, Trish, you idiot," Trish says, shoving Dez off of her. "And Santa Claus doesn't exist, ya goof."'

Dez's bottom lip quivers and his eyes fill with tears. "S-S-Santa isn't... r-real?" he asks in a small, squeaky voice. Austin rushes to his aid.

"Of course Santa is real!" he exclaims, hugging Dez and covering his ears. Austin glares at Trish. "Trish doesn't know what she's talking about!" he spits, giving her the evil eye and sticking his tongue out at her.

"What happened to Nelson?" Trish asks, ignoring Austin and Dez.

"He fainted," I tell her. She picks him up and sits him on the counter.

She smiles briefly then screams in his ear, "Wake up, Nelson!"

He wakes with a start. "Huh? Oh! I have to get home! Bye, Austin, Ally, Dez, Gabby, and Trish!" He grabs the present I gave him and runs out the door. I giggle.

"He's the most adorable thing ever," I say, smiling.

"I bet I could think of something more adorable," Austin says, rolling his eyes playfully. I giggle again.

"Whatever," I joke.

"Whoa, do you guys think you have enough mistletoe in here?" Austin asks, staring up at the ceiling.

"Not yet..." Gabby says, looking over at the Christmas tree. "Aha!" She drags the ladder over to the tree and stands on the very top step, high above the ground. She hangs mistletoe from the ceiling near the tree.

"Now we have enough." She climbs down with a bright smile on her face. Trish nods approvingly at her. "Oh! I almost forgot!" She pulls out two gifts and puts them under the tree. She looks up, as if to make sure she's under the mistletoe or something.

"Austin and Ally, those are your gifts. Anyway, I'd better get home. My parents are probably waiting for me. Bye, everyone!"

"Bye, Gabby!" we all say. She walks out the door. But before she's out of our sight, she turns back around. Austin walks up the stairs.

"Do you want me to go ahead and close these doors?" she asks. "You know, since it's almost closing time anyway?"

"If you want to, you can," Trish answers. Gabby moves the door stopper and it closes behind her. I turn around to put the bowl of guitar picks under the counter. "Dez, look over there for a second."

"What's over there?" he asks. There's a large noise from behind me. I spin around.

"What was that?" I ask.

"What was that?" Austin asks, running down the stairs with a bottle of water in his hands.

"What was what?" Trish asks innocently.

"That noise," I say.

"What noise?" she asks.

"That big noise!" I exclaim, frustrated.

"I didn't hear anything," she says quickly. "There was no noise."

"If you say so..."

"All right, guys, I think it's time to get home. I'll see you later," Austin says to us. He walks over to the door and pulls it... but it doesn't budge. "Um..." He pulls again. Nothing. All of us try together and it still won't open. We try for at least ten minutes.

We finally give up and walk over to the counter. We stare at it, as if to open it with telekinesis. Suddenly, Austin runs forward into the door and falls to the floor. He stands up and brushes himself off. "It was worth a shot."

"How are we going to get home?" I ask, defeated, after a moment.

"Our cell phones!" Dez exclaims. Everyone but Trish hurriedly pulls their phones out of their pockets.

"Everyone's probably asleep," Trish says quickly.

"You're right," Austin mutters.

"What are we gonna do, then?" I ask.

"I guess we're spending the night at Sonic Boom tonight," Austin announces. Dez and Trish look at each other and groan.

"Hey, this could be fun!" I exclaim. "It's a big slumber party!" I smile brightly.

"I guess it could be a little fun..." Austin replies slowly.

"I think it will, too!" Dez yells. He pulls his book bag off of his back and sets it on the counter. He begins to dig through it. While he does that, I turn to Austin and Trish.

"Uh, how about you and Austin go upstairs and write a song? I'll stay down here and smack Dez around a little," Trish suggests.

"Okay. Come on, Austin," I say, taking his hand carefully in mine. I lead him up the stairs to the practice room. Before we sit, I look up.

Sure enough, I see mistletoe hanging on the ceiling above the piano bench. I gesture for Austin to stop and I stand up on the piano bench. I'm just too short to reach it.

"Austin, can you get that down?" I ask, climbing down and pointing up at the mistletoe.

"Why should we take it down?" he jokes with a wink. I laugh. He climbs up onto the piano bench and takes down the mistletoe. He drops it onto the piano lid. We sit down at the piano and I begin to play a melody.

"Do you like that sound?" I ask him. I look at him and see that he's still staring at my hands. I bring one up and snap my fingers in his face.

"Huh? What?" he asks.

"Did you like that rhythm?" I ask.

He nods vigorously. "I loved it," he tells me with a bright smile.

"Awesome. Now let's think of some lyrics to go along with it," I say.

"That isn't my area of expertise..." Austin says, looking a bit embarrassed.

"I know. It's fine," I promise with a smile. "Let's see, let's see..." I grab my book off the top of the piano and flip it open to a random page. "Ooh, this is Christmas-y."

Oh, oh

Christmas is comin'

Those elves and reindeer are runnin'

"What else could we put?" I ask, hoping Austin has input. For once, I'm not sure exactly what to write about.

"Um, we could put stuff about how our families probably will miss us tomorrow," Austin says, a bit questioningly.

"That's a great idea!" I clear my throat and play the melody.

And I just

Want you by my side

Santa

Is comin' to town

And you're not gonna be around

This snow

Is bringin' me down

'Cause—

"What snow?" Austin jokes. I playfully shove my shoulder into his chest.

"Shut up," I say.

'Cause tomorrow's gonna be a big day-ay-ay

And you're worlds away-ay-ay

I'd give anything

If we could sing

Fa-la-la-la

La-la-la-la-la-la-la

I stop playing for a second. I look to Austin, hoping, once more, for input. I've been trying to get him to help me write songs. Since one day, when he becomes actually famous, they'll probably hire a new songwriter for him. I mean, he swears that he would never give me up for a new songwriter but we all know that the fame will go to his head. Fame always changes people.

"You could put that part you put at the beginning again," he suggests.

Oh, oh

Christmas is comin'

Those elves and reindeer are runnin'

And I just

Want you by my side

"What else?" I ask. I've begun to ask him periodically throughout the time that we're writing a song. Soon, it'll become a habit and he'll know it's coming. Then, his brain will be thinking for the whole duration of the song.

"I don't know, Ally," he says with a sigh, "you know I don't." He stands up and walks over to the window.

"Come on, Austin, think. Somewhere, deep down in you brain, you have amazing song lyrics that are just waiting to flow!" I encourage him. I stand up, walk over to him, and put my hand on the shoulder closest to me. If I were to try to put my arm around both of his shoulders, it'd just be a failed attempt.

"I know you're trying, Als, but I just don't think I'm creative enough to write song lyrics," he tells me dejectedly.

"You don't think you're creative enough?" I ask, confused. "Austin, you're the most creative person I know!"

"Yeah, I'm creative but in different ways than you are," he says. "I'm musically talented, yeah, but in a different way than you are. I can play every instrument that's ever existed and you can write lyrics about any subject that's ever existed." He pauses. "I'm a rocker; not a writer."

"All right. Fine," I say, walking back over to the piano. When Austin doesn't appear at my side, I turn around. "Are you coming?" I ask, noticing that he's still looking out the window.

"This year, the season is crazy," he says. "It's almost eleven thirty and there's still a lot of people at the mall. Doesn't the mall close at ten?"

We've been here for over an hour? It doesn't seem like it... I guess time really does fly when you're having fun. While I explain, I shake a snow globe that's been set on top of the piano. "Yeah, on normal days. But the mall owner knows that some people have last-minute gifts to buy. So it closes at midnight on Christmas eve. But shop owners can go home to their families at any time. Most of the family-owned shops stay here, though, because they're already together, you know?" Then I gasp. Austin rushes to my side.

"What? What's wrong?" he asks me.

"Nothing's wrong. That's just perfect for the song!" I say.

This year

The season is crazy

Snow globes that somebody's shaken

But that's what

Makes it Christmas time

"Do you wanna take a break?" I ask.

"Yeah. All this songwriting is tiring," he says with a fake yawn. I playfully hit his shoulder.

"Oh, shut up." We walk downstairs to see Trish literally smacking Dez around. She's basically chasing him. When she hits Dez's face, he tries to run away from her. And she, of course, runs after him.

"Oh... hey... Austin... and... Ally... Finished... with... the... song?" Trish asks, out of breath yet still running.

"Not yet," I say. "We're taking a quick break..."

"Austin! ... Help... me!" Dez shouts, out of breath, too.

"Um... I'm not the one you should be asking," Austin says, jerking his head in my direction. By the time Dez glances at me, Trish has stopped running and ducked behind the counter.

"Ally!" Dez screams. "Help... me!"

"Uh, Dez?"

"Help!"

"Dez?

"Help... me... Ally!"

"Dez!" I shout. "Trish has stopped chasing you!"

Dez stops running abruptly. He looks around. "Oh." His goofy smile returns.

I look around, thinking of song lyrics. I know we're taking a break, but I just can't help it! Songwriting is just so fun! I sing softly to myself, to where no one can hear me.

Presents

Under the tree

Could never mean as much to me

As you here

That's what I believe

"Ally, what'cha hummin'?" Austin asks me.

"Nothing," I lie, "I'm gonna go work on the song."

"All right, I'll be up in a sec'," he tells me. I nod and walk up the stairs. I write down what I thought of downstairs and begin to play the melody again. I look around again. Across the room, on top of the fridge, I see a decoration: It's Santa in his sleigh. His reindeer in front of the sleigh, pulling it. Rudolph's nose, shining brightly.

That when I see Santa's sleigh-ay-ay

Headed this way-ay-ay

I stop for a second. I flip through my songbook and land on a letter that I'd written last Christmas. Austin had went to his grandma's for Christmas that year and we all missed him very much. We even invited Nelson over to fill Austin's chair. It, of course, wasn't the same. It was still fun, but... just not the same. Nelson had suggested that we write letters to Santa.

Dear Santa Claus,

I don't want much for Christmas. I just want one thing. I know how selfish this will sound, but I want my best friend, Austin Moon, here. I want him to come back from his grandma's house and spend Christmas here with his best friends. See? I told you it would sound selfish... I hope you hear my wishes and when you stop by his house to give him his presents, please let him know I miss him. I've never been without him this long. It's crazy, I suppose, since he's only been gone for two days and he'll come back the day after Christmas. That's not even a week without him. Anyway, Santa, I'll let you get back to making your list and checking it twice to find out who's naughty or nice. Thanks for listening.

Love, Ally

I read my letter to myself at least three times before I think of some lyrics. I stare down at the piano and play.

That when I see Santa's sleigh-ay-ay

Headed this way-ay-ay

He's gonna hear my wishes

And know I miss ya

Fa-la-la-la

La-la-la-la-la-la-la

Oh, oh

Christmas is comin'

Those elves and reindeer are runnin'

And I just

Want you by my side

This year, the season is crazy

Snow globes that somebody's shaken

That's what

Makes it Christmas time

I stop playing and look up to grab my songbook so I can look for ideas... but it's not there. I stand up and immediately spot it behind me in Austin's hands. I snatch it away from him and smack him over the head with it. He remains neutral. He doesn't flinch. He doesn't cry out in pain. Nothing.

"Did you really miss me that much?" he asks me, his face breaking into a small grin.

"You weren't supposed to read that," I mutter, pretending to look through my book. Next thing I know, I smell cinnamon pancakes. It takes a few moments for me to realize that Austin's hugging me.

"If it makes you feel better, I missed you a lot, too," he tells me. He pauses. "And everyone else, of course," he adds with a small chuckle. He scratches the back of his neck and continues to laugh a bit awkwardly. After a moment, I join in. Soon, it goes from awkward laughing to real laughing. Then, we're crying from laughing so hard.

"What's so funny?" Trish asks, appearing at the door. I wipe my eyes and Austin copies me.

"We don't know," we says simultaneously, erupting into laughter again.

"Have you guys been drinking eggnog?" Trish jokes. She shakes her head. "Anyway, since it's Christmas Eve, we decided that we should all open one gift. Come on downstairs. You can finish your song later."

We follow her down the stairs and over to our Christmas tree. Austin, Dez, Trish, and I each grab a random gift with our names on them. They all seem to look exactly the same. They're from Mimi, Austin's mom.

"One..." Austin starts.

"Two..." I say.

"Three..." Dez says.

"Open!" Trish exclaims.

They rip the wrapping paper from their presents, revealing Christmas sweaters. I carefully peel each piece of tape off and stick them to my leg until I can throw them away. I unfold the wrapping paper and set it to the side. Inside is another sweater. They've all been matched to our favorite colors. Mine is red, Austin's is yellow, Trish's is purple, and Dez's is multicolored. He's always been undecided about his favorite color.

"This is awesome!" Dez exclaims, slipping his sweater over his head. His sweater has a picture of a decorated Christmas tree with an orange tabby cat. Its smile and large eyes kind of make it look like the Cheshire cat. "I'm gonna name you Kitty Cat!" he exclaims, stroking the knitted kitty. Then he meows like a cat.

Trish slowly pulls hers over her head. It has a picture of the same decorated Christmas tree on the front except there's a black-and-white penguin on the front.

"Whoa! A wallaby!" Austin exclaims. He puts his on quickly. It has a picture or the same tree except, sure enough, it has a grayish wallaby on it. Austin hugs himself.

I look at mine. It has the Christmas tree, like everyone else's, except there's a brown, baby Labrador. "Aww!" I exclaim. "He's so cute!" I smile brightly. I sing softly to myself again.

If we could all be together

In crazy Christmas sweaters

I know that Santa hears me

Loud

And

Clear

Don't ya hear me now?

"Ally, what are you—?" Austin starts but I cut him off by grabbing his hand and dragging him up the stairs. We sit down at the piano and I begin to play.

If we could all be together

In crazy Christmas sweaters

I know that Santa hears me

Loud

And

Clear

Don't ya hear me now?

Oh, oh

Christmas is comin'

Those elves and reindeer are runnin'

And I just want you by my side

Ooh, yeah

Each year, the season is crazy!

Snow globes that somebody's shaken!

That's what

Makes it Christmas time

Yeah

Yeah

Yeah

Oh, oh

Oh, oh

Christmas is comin'

Those elves and reindeer are runnin'

And I just

Want you by my side

This year, the season is crazy

Snow globes that somebody's shaken

That's what

Makes it Christmas time

Oh, oh-whoa

Oh, whoa-oh, oh

That's what makes it

Makes it Christmas time...

"Another amazing song, Als," Austin says, giving me a high-five.

"Aw, thank you," I say, smiling. I look up into his eyes and he smiles down at me. His eyes are so... No, don't say it. My eyes flicker down to his lips. They look so... Shut up. I glance over at the mistletoe, still laid upon the piano-top. I quickly look down at the piano keys. Suddenly, I hear something drifting up from downstairs.

You know Dasher and Dancer and Prancer and Vixen!

Comet and Cupid and Donner and Blitzen!

But do you recall...

The most famous reindeer of all?!

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer

"What is that?" I ask with a laugh. Austin smiles that million-dollar smile.

"Let's go find out," he says. We walk down the stairs. I see a few cartons of eggnog on their sides on the counter. Beside the cartons, Trish and Dez are sitting there with their arms around each other. They're swaying just a bit and singing at the top of their lungs.

Italics=Trish; Bold=Dez

You would even say it glows!

All of the other reindeer!

Reindeer!

Used to laugh and call him names!

Like Pinocchio!

They never let poor Rudolph!

Rudolph!

Play in any reindeer games!

Like Monopoly!

Then one foggy Christmas eve

Santa came to say...

Ho, ho, ho!

"Rudolph, with your nose so bright

"Won't you guide my sleigh tonight?"

Then all the reindeer loved him!

Loved him!

And they shouted out with glee!

Yippee!

"Rudolph, the Red-Nosed reindeer..."

Reindeer!

"You'll go down in history!"

Like George Washington!

Austin and I clap, laughing our heads off. Trish and Dez spin around, letting go of each other. "Oh, hey, guys!" Dez exclaims, his words slurred.

"Are you two all right?" I ask, cocking an eyebrow. "You're touching each other and no one is screaming in pain."

Dez and Trish giggle. "You said we're touching each other..." Trish says, her words also slurred, then they burst out laughing. Then it all makes sense. The empty eggnog cartons. Trish and Dez singing loudly. Trish being within five feet of Dez and not hurting him. They're drunk. "You guys want some eggnog?" Trish asks, holding up a half-empty carton.

"No!" I shout. "I don't!"

"I'll take some," Austin says, sitting beside Dez on the counter and chugging the carton of alcoholic eggnog. I walk up and slap it out of his hands. It spills onto the floor and it begins spreading across the floor.

"Austin, are you crazy?!" I ask. "It'll get you drunk!"

"Awesome!" he exclaims. I groan, roll my eyes, and turn around.

"I can't watch this stupidity," I say.

"Come on, Ally," Austin says, "live a little."

"If living means getting illegally drunk, then no, thanks, I think I'll just die then," I tell him.

"All right, Ally. If you don't want me to drink the eggnog, then I won't drink the eggnog. We'll be the symbolic designated drivers," he informs me.

I laugh. "Sounds good." I yawn. "I'm gonna head up to the practice room and go to sleep. Tomorrow's a big day, you know." I start to step forward to pass by Austin but I stop after I look up and see one of the many mistletoe plants on the ceiling.

"What's wr—ohhh," he says, following my gaze. "Gabby put way too much of that stuff up, almost as if she were trying to catch two of us under it... Hm..."

"Right?" I look above Dez and Trish and see yet another one hanging above them. "Uh, Dez, Trish..." I say, staring up at it. They both look at it, then at one another, then at the other's lips. The next thing I know, they're eating each other's faces. They fall behind the counter. I blink. "Well, I'll see you later. Goodnight, Austin."

"Night, Ally. I'll keep an eye on these two," he tells me. I laugh as I walk up the stairs to the practice room. I pull the bed out of the futon-couch, collapse onto it, and fall right to sleep.

My eyes flutter open and I see Austin sitting on the chair in front of me, staring at me. Just staring at me. I'm about to say something when he puts a finger to his lips, a sign to be quiet. He points to my left and I look, seeing Trish and Dez tangled up in a pile on the floor, snoring loudly.

Austin and I walk down the stairs. Not wanting to accidentally walk under mistletoe together, we walk separately. He stops at the Christmas tree. He picks up the smallest present under there and I look up at the clock, seeing that it's 12:16 AM.

"Merry Christmas," Austin says, handing me the gift. I unwrap it and peer inside. A locket rests on the bottom of the box. I pull it out and open it. On one side, there's a picture of Austin, Dez, Trish, and I. On the other, there's one of just me and Austin.

"Austin, thank you," I say. "I love it." He takes it from me, spins me around, and secures it around my neck. I bend down and pick up the next smallest gift and hand it to Austin. "I got this one for you."

He opens it and smiles brightly after he looks inside. I had a pick specially made just for him. It's half yellow, half red. On the red half, it's got one A, and that one's yellow. On the yellow half, it's got another A; that one's red. There's an & symbol in between the two As and it's blue. On the other side of the pick, it's also red and yellow, but this side just has black music symbols and notes on it.

"It's awesome, Als. Thanks," Austin says. He slips it into his pocket. I wrap my arms around his neck and hug him. He doesn't hesitate to put his arms around my waist and hug me back.

"Well!" Trish slurs, coming down the stairs with Dez's arm draped around her shoulders. "Look at the lovey-dovey birds!"

"Ha, ha, very funny," I say sarcastically, pulling away from Austin.

"We just drank our last carton of eggnog and we're ready to open shtuff!" Trish exclaims.

"Don't you think we should wait until later?" I ask. "We're all kind of tired. We should wait until later when we can fully enjoy our gifts."

"How come you two were allowed to open your gifts?" Dez asks.

"Because they were special," Austin says to him. I'm not sure if he really meant that or if he was just trying to trick Dez.

"That makes sense," Trish says. "Fine. We'll wait until later."

No gifts are left under the tree. None that I can see, anyway.

From Trish, I got a new stand for my keyboard, some books, and a charm for my bracelet (she and Nelson collaborated). From Dez, I got a ham, a pair of earrings, and a red version of his backpack ("Now we can be twins!" he exclaimed as I slipped the straps onto my shoulders). From Gabby, I got books, books, and more books. I think her gifts were the best. From Austin, I got the locket, a jar of pickles, and a scrapbook entitled "Team Austin" (Austin made the entire scrapbook himself!).

Trish, who'd been sitting on the counter putting on the jewelry we all got for her, straightens up, as if remembering something very important. "Aushtin! Ally! I almost forgot! Don't forget about the ones that Gabby got for you! The ones right there!" she exclaims, her words slurred.

I look at the tree where Trish pointed and I remember Gabby setting them there. Austin and I walk over and pick them up. I carefully tear off the paper and untie the ribbon. I take the top of the box off and take out the small strip of paper inside:

Look up.

So I do. And so does Austin. Above us, there's one of the many mistletoe decorations hanging from the ceiling. I blush furiously and, looking at Austin, I see that the tips of his ears have turned bright pink. I blink.

"Well..." Austin says, "here goes nothing." He leans down, his eyes squeezed shut, and presses his lips against mine. We stay like that for just a moment before I reach up and tangle my fingers into his hair.

When we pull away, I smile brightly, as if we just accomplished the impossible. Austin has a smile that matches mine on his face. I laugh. Suddenly, Austin's smile is gone and he stares down into my eyes with a look of confusion on his face. "I... I love you, Ally," he says, sounding completely and totally sure of himself.

When my family tells me they love me, I automatically say it back. When Trish tells me she loves me, I automatically say it back. "I love you, too, Austin," I say, out of habit. But as soon as it passes my lips, I realize it's true. Completely and totally true. Dez's mouth drops open and Trish's mouth drops open.

Gabby walks into Sonic Boom and I'm still staring at Austin, contemplating what exactly just happened. "Whoa, what happened here?" Gabby asks in a high-pitched, innocent voice. Too innocent.

I walk quickly over to her. "You planned this, didn't you?" I ask her.

She swallows. "Uh, y-yeah," she says.

I stare at her for a moment before my face finally breaks into a wide grin and I hug her tightly. "Thank you," I whisper in her ear. "Best Christmas present ever."

"So how'd you do it?" Austin asks, his arm around my shoulders. "You know, the door."

"Oh. The door. Well, all I did was tie a rope around the handles," Gabby explains. "I was going to chain it, but I thought it was a little much. That was that big sound you probably heard. I had the chain around the handles but then I unhooked it and I didn't catch it in time so it fell on the ground. I almost thought the rope wouldn't hold, but I just had to take my chances, you know?"

"What made you do it?" I ask.

Gabby laughs. "What made me do it?" she asks, raising an eyebrow. "You two. I was getting tired of the way you two were tippy-toeing around so I decided to intervene. I mean, seriously, you guys, it was so obvious."

"Was it really?" Austin asks, tapping my shoulder with the hand that's already around them. I look over and see that he's got his fingers spread. I reach up and intertwine my fingers with his, blushing a little. "I didn't see it. Not at first, at least." He leans over and kisses my cheek. "Thanks, Gabby."

"Yeah, thanks, Gab'," I say. "You're the best. I think this is the best Christmas I've had in my entire life." I smile at her and we all go in to hug her: me, Austin, Dez, and Trish.

"Why do I smell eggnog?" Gabby asks and we all laugh.

Merry late Christmas, you guys! And a very happy late birthday to Gabby! This is my birthday present to her and I hope she loves it! Sorry it's late. Internet connection is terrible. But I finally have a good connection at a motel (long story I don't feel like getting into right now). Anyway, have a good New Year's Eve and New Year's Day! You guys better kiss someone at midnight or I will come after all of you! In fact, everyone kiss two people (the second one is for me) because I know I probably won't be able to... because I'm a loser... and I don't have a boyfriend... and I don't have a life... Anyway! Enough about my dramatic, dreary life! Hope you enjoyed the one-shot, Gabby and everyone else! Love you guys! Mwah!

LoVe, KeNxIe