This is my first fanfic so read, review and enjoy!
Chapter 1 – Agreement
"Are you coming with us?" Connor asked Abby hopefully. The team were going for a drink to celebrate the end of a hard days' work: a stegosaurus has wandered into the gazelle enclosure at Wellington Zoo, and was understandingly causing a stir from the spectators. Abby helped the creature back through the anomaly, but almost lost her job at the zoo after being blamed for the disturbance.
"Um, I don't know. It's been a long day …" Her excuses trailed away as she saw her flatmate's face fall. Abby hated hurting Connor, but unfortunately she was hurting him every time she looked at him, every time she spoke to him, every time she touched him. After last years' visit to the future, Connor had spilt his heart out to Abby, telling her how much he loved her. The truth was that Abby felt exactly the same way about him. She just didn't think it was a good idea to date her flatmate, workmate and best friend.
"Come on Abby, it'll be fun." Nick Cutter persuaded her in his usual Scottish dialect. "Jake can always meet us there if you call him." Of course. Nick would always take every opportunity to quiz Abby's new boyfriend. Strangely overprotected over his only female colleague since Jenny Lewis resigned, he acted like the Dad Abby had never had when she was younger.
Slowly, she turned to Connor whose face had fallen even more at the mention of Jake. He met her eyes and pleaded silently for her to come. Without Jake. Abby couldn't resist his chocolate brown eyes and gave in.
"Fine I'll come, but Jake's at a conference in Cardiff." A sudden wave of annoyance washed over her: they didn't understand. When Stephen died last year, they just carried on: they thought he deserved it after his relationship with Helen. Abby didn't think like that, and had never got over his death properly. Neither had Jenny, but she resigned and got proper help. Stephen was a lot closer to Abby, and after his funeral, she changed. She needed someone to talk to, a shoulder to cry on. The shoulders she tried however, shrugged her away. She didn't have any parents – she was raised in a care home. The team didn't care and her friends were too busy enjoying life. Connor had tried to help, but as nothing he did or said raised Abby from her pit of despair, he gave up eventually. She became unsociable, uncaring and basically the opposite of what had made her so popular before.
It wasn't until she met Jake – he came to the zoo for some advice on how to care for his pet lizard and came away with a date – that she returned to normal.
There was one thing that Jake couldn't cure though: any visit to a pub or club would always end in panic attacks. Usually Jake was there to calm her down, make an excuse and take her home, but this week he really was in Cardiff. Abby was agreeing to the unknown.
Sorry it's a little short but I'll only write more when you review. I don't mind criticism but try to make it things I can work on in my next chapter. Thank you for reading!
