It was late afternoon in the Cretaceous. Connor estimated the sunset was less than an hour away. This was the end of the fifth day that he and Abby had been stranded in the past. They stayed in a small cave that contained the remaining supplies from their backpacks: matches, a swiss-army knife, blankets, a basic medical kit and one remaining stun grenade. The cave also contained a non-working anomaly opening device.
Connor gathered wood and tried not to think about anything. He walked over to the sunny area where the pines thinned out. Among the boulders and bushes, Abby was searching for wild berries. She looked up as Connor approached, "I think I've got enough to feed us for tonight, but we are totally out of the rations we had with us." Abby looked away, not wanting to say anything else out loud, but in her head she was thinking. We are out of food. We are going to starve or get eaten, and my little brother will never know what happened to me…
Connor frowned but said, "I've almost finished the spears so we can go hunting tomorrow or maybe try fishing. We'll be O.K."
"So you keep saying, but we're not O.K.!" snapped Abby as she walked back toward the cave they were using as their sleeping area. "Our supplies are almost gone, we have no way to get back home and you have zero survival skills."
Connor watched her walk away, his jaw clenched. Abby seemed to want to fight and his temper, although usually not an issue, was starting to get the better of him. Connor took a deep breath and waited for another minute before following Abby back to the cave.
Abby heard Connor approaching the cave and saw his shadow as he ducked to enter, but she refused to look at him. She was so angry about everything and she wanted to stay angry. If she wasn't angry, she would be afraid and that wouldn't do at all.
Connor sat down without a word and started to work on the wooden spear he was making.
Abby finally scooted around to watch Connor work. Almost immediately she gave in to her anger, taking it out on Connor. "What good do you think that spear is going to do? Do you honestly think you'll be able to catch and kill anything with that?"
"At least I'm trying," Connor snapped back.
"Trying isn't good enough out here." Abby stood up and started pacing within the small space.
Connor looked like a puppy who had been scolded unjustly. "Maybe you think you'd do better without me"
"Yeah, maybe I would." The words were out of her mouth before she even thought.
Connor's face expressed surprise, hurt and anger in quick succession. "Brilliant", he yelled, "I'll just take my blanket and leave you to it."
"Fine and if we ever get out of here maybe you should take your blanket and the rest of your stuff and go find Caroline." Abby couldn't believe she had brought up Caroline. She hadn't even realized she was still upset that
Connor had dated her.
Connor's jaw tightened and he knew he shouldn't say another word, but he was so mad. He wanted to hurt Abby like she was hurting him, so he said "Maybe I will."
Abby was so angry, she wanted to scream. She raised her fists into a fighting stance and kicked out at Connor, missing him by inches.
Connor jumped back, but just as quickly moved in, getting in Abby's face. "You want to hit me? Go ahead. You think you can do a better job of getting us out of here? Fine, because I've had enough!"
Abby crossed her arms over her chest and turned her back on Connor. When she felt him leave the cave, a feeling of intense loneliness and absolute fear came over her. "Good job, Abby, you finally managed to push Connor totally out of your life. Happy now?" she thought to herself. For the first time in many years, Abby began to cry.
Connor made it exactly ten steps before he decided to apologize to Abby. He entered the cave thinking about what he could say to make things right, but at his first sight of her, everything flew out of his head. Abby still had her back to him, but her shoulders were shaking and Connor heard the soft sobbing sounds that Abby was trying to contain.
Striding forward, Connor gently grabbed Abby's arms and turned her around to face him. When he saw her watery eyes and tear streaked face, Connor crumbled. "Abby, please don't cry. Everything is my fault. Please don't cry." Connor dragged Abby into his arms, holding her and rocking her. When she cried harder, he pulled back a bit to kiss the tears from her cheeks, "I'm sorry… I'm sorry" Connor punctuated each apology with a kiss. He was concentrating so hard on comforting Abby that he didn't stop to think; he just wrapped her closer in his arms and gently kissed her lips.
Abby couldn't believe Connor had come back. Better than that, he was holding her and kissing her. It was heaven.
Weeks ago, after she had kissed Connor the first time, she had emotionally backed off, claiming that she didn't want things to be weird between them. That had been a lie. She had backed away because the kiss had been so much more than it should have been. It scared her how much she had felt from a few simple kisses.
Connor came to his senses with a jolt, "What the bloody hell am I doing?" Connor loosened his hold on Abby and tried to step back, but Abby's arms were still wrapped around his neck. She opened her eyes and stared up at him, almost exactly as she had after he had save her from the mer-creatures. This time there was no escaping those beautiful blue eyes. "Abby I… "
It was all Connor managed to say before Abby's mouth was on his again.
A long time later, Abby looked up at Connor giving him time to open his eyes and focus on her face. When he finally did look at her, there was awareness in his eyes but also confusion.
Abby hugged him tightly, took a deep breath and started to talk. "Connor, I'm sorry. I've been so scared. Scared of this place, but also scared of us. I'm scared of trying for something more - only to lose our friendship."
Connor smiled slightly as Abby continued to cling to him. "Abby, I meant what I said when you were hanging off that cliff. I still feel that way, but no matter what, I'll never stop being your friend, O.K? Being close to you like this is brilliant, but you have to feel the same way. Just tell me what you want."
Abby didn't waste another second on fear. This was her best mate, the man who would always be there for her. Whether they died tomorrow or lived to be 110, he would be there. "I want this," she said holding him tightly. "I want us." She leaned back just enough to look into his eyes. With a smile that lit up her whole face, Abby said the words Connor needed to hear, "I love you."