Abby Maitland was watching Connor Temple as he settled in for another evening of video games on the sofa in their flat. He'd spent all of Friday night with his headset on, joking with his gamer friends as he played something that involved a lot of shooting and explosions and yelling at his teammates. Why didn't he go out with those friend and interact with them in person?

Of course, she didn't have much room to talk. She was home on a Saturday night as well, playing Sudoku with her iPod on. But that was different, Abby thought. She was used to spending her time alone, she was content with her quiet evenings in. And she was naturally a loner... that's why she didn't have as many friends as Connor had to make plans with. If she had more of a social circle, she doubted she would choose to do anything else tonight.

"Connor, don't you want to do something?"

His game had just loaded but he hit Pause and turn to her with a smile. "Um, sure. What would you like to do?"

"No, I mean by yourself. Well, not by yourself but with friends. Your other friends." Her words came out all wrong. As he began to look vaguely hurt, she rushed on. "I mean, you don't have to hang around here with me. You could go out if you wanted to. With Duncan maybe. You haven't seen Duncan in ages; you two could grab a pint. Or go to Caterpillar. You said there was a new issue of Neozoic you out."

Connor tried to hide his worry. He exasperated Abby often enough, that he knew too well, but she had never before hinted that he should absent himself from the flat for a while. He couldn't think what he could have done annoy her today though, so why did she want him to leave? Was she so sick of him? Did she want him to move out? He spent almost all of his time with Abby and never thought twice about it, but maybe she didn't enjoy his company as much as he enjoyed her.

"I don't now, it'd be a bit late to make plans for tonight." But he stammered on before she could wonder why two young guys couldn't go out after 9pm. "I could give him a ring though. If I'm in your way. I mean, if you want to have anyone over or anything…" his stomach sank at the thought of Abby entertaining a man in their flat. He definitely wouldn't care to be there while Abby had a male guest over.

"No. Never mind." Abby mumbled quickly, wanting to cut off that line of questioning. She felt awkward enough being so introverted without shining a spotlight on it. "Just thought you might like a change of pace from keeping me company is all." She distracted him with a slight smile.

"Oh, no worries on that, mate." Connor's voice was cheerful in his relief that she hadn't been trying to shake him. "No where I'd rather be, eh?" He flashed a grin at her before slipping his headset on and turning back to his game. Soon he was mashing buttons furiously as he shouted military terms he'd learned from Captain Ryan into his mic.

Abby poked her earbuds back in, and frowned down at the puzzle on her lap that her eyes didn't actually see. She worried Connor was putting his life on hold to wait around for her. She'd have to be blind not to see what a crush he had on her.

She was a safe option, a friend who would always care for him. As long as he loved her in silence, never confiding his feelings or asking her to return them, he was safe from being hurt by her rejection but still always had something to hope for. And she was safe too. Safe to be loved without having to take the risk of loving back. This might explain why Abby had never tried to put a stop to Connor's affections before.

But it wasn't fair to him. Connor deserved to be a boyfriend. He'd treat a girl like she was royalty. A good man shouldn't be wasted pining for a woman who didn't return his passion. How could Connor ever find anyone else if he didn't look at anyone but Abby? He barely ever left the house alone so he'd certainly never meet anyone by accident. How could she get out of his way, yet still be a part of his life?