"Safe"
Series: Sesame Street
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, Friendship
Summary: Abby seeks a comforting space.
First Published 9/3/2014 at 8:25 PM on my Tumblr page.

* Disclaimer: This is a work of fan-fiction. This was NOT written for profit. I do NOT own any elements of Sesame Street. Sesame Street was created by Joan Ganz Cooney and Lloyd Morrisett; all materials & characters are currently owned by the Sesame Workshop.

Thank you.

Written by: Brittany R./FoxieSango

"I swear, you have to be the most irresponsible man on the planet"

"This again?!"

Please stop….she clenched her eyes shut tightly.

"If I hadn't come when I did, she'd still be at school right now!"

"I was on my way!"

"You're ALWAYS on your way but you NEVER get there! This is the third time this month!"

Please stop….she pulled her covers up over her head. Her mom and dad had been arguing all night. Today had been her father's day to pick her up from school. He didn't make it, but it wasn't his fault. Abby knew it wasn't his fault. He had to work, and sometimes he had to work late. Her mom came to pick her up instead. When her dad came over to apologize, he had looked so tired. Her mom was upset with him, and he countered with how he was working on a new project that could mean big things for his company and it just blew up from there. Their voices would fluctuate from low tones to yells, but Abby couldn't sleep and she was uneasy. She hated to hear them so mad, especially at each other.

She just wanted them to stop fighting.

"Once…just once…I'd like to know that we can rely on you!"

"And I wish you'd just listen!" They told her it wasn't her fault. It was never her fault. They told her that matter how much they may have fought, they both loved her deeply and would do anything for her.

…but if it wasn't her fault…why were they fighting over her?

"I'm sorry, please just stop!" she whimpered to herself, curling more tightly under her covers. "I wish you'd just stop fighting!" she thought. But alas, fairies couldn't grant their own wishes. But Abby didn't care. She just wanted to get away, just for a while.

"Until they stop yelling and fighting, I wanna go to a place that's warm and inviting!" she whispered harshly to herself, trying to drown out the voices downstairs. Her wand, which was under her pillow, began to glow brightly with sparkles that swirled and surrounded her form.

Elmo awoke with a start. He didn't know what had woken him up but….he felt as if another presence was in his room. It was weird because he wasn't scared…just…wary. Slowly, the young monster sat up and tried to peer through his still sleepy eyes. He blinked several times before reaching up to rub at his eyelids. Then, he felt his bed shift. Looking to his left, he saw another figure bundled up under his covers, with a tuft of sparkling pink and purple hair peeking out from underneath. His eyes narrowed a bit.

"Abby?" he whispered. There was a tired groan and more rustling before a pair of blue eyes sleepily peered up at him.

"Elmo?" she asked.

"What are you doing here?" he asked. She furrowed her brow, as if going into deep thought, like she was trying to figure it out herself.

"Oh….I….I guess I did a spell without realizing…" she said, quietly.

"What kind of spell?" at this, Abby felt tears well in her eyes again. She wrapped the covers around her more tightly.

"Abby?"

"My parents were fighting," she said in a small whine. There was a beat. Elmo didn't know what to say. He knew that Abby's parents were divorced, and that they argued sometimes, but he'd never seen Abby this upset about it. The young fairy took in a shuddering breath and let out a choked sob. Elmo's eyes grew wide.

"Abby?" she sniffled.

"I-I'm sorry. Can I stay here? Just for the night? I…I don't wanna go back home. Not right now," she said, her voice breaking. Elmo blinked in surprised.

"Oh! Y-yeah, of course Abby! Um…" he looked around. The thing he was looking for was usually right next to him at this time of night but he didn't see it any-ah! It had fallen on the floor. Elmo pushed the covers back and swung his legs over the side, hopping down to pick up the toy. He grinned as he stood back up.

"Here Abby, this is David. He's Elmo's best friend…well, aside from Dorothy," Elmo said, glancing over at his pet gold fish. It seemed as though she was awake too as she blew a few bubbles in his direction. He couldn't help but to giggle before turning back to his friend and handing her the doll.

"Here, you can sleep with Elmo's dolly. He always makes Elmo feel better!"" he said. Abby smiled a little.

"Thanks Elmo, but…I've got Prince with me," she said, showing the head of her doll that was nestled tightly in her arms. Elmo climbed back into the bed and sat on his knees.

"Well, both David and Prince can watch over you tonight, then! They'll be like a team!" he said. Abby laughed.

"That'd be nice," she said, before letting out a long yawn. Then she blushed.

"Sorry," she said. Elmo laughed again.

"It's fine, it is pretty late," he said, letting out a yawn of his own. Abby stared at him a moment; then she sat up and wrapped her arms around him tightly. Elmo froze, but only for a second before he wrapped his arms warmly around his best friend, hoping that it'd make her feel better. She hiccupped and snuggled closer.

"Thank you," she said.

Later that night, the door to Elmo's room peeked open and two sets of eyes peered inside. The two best friends were sleeping, facing each other. Abby's left hand was on top of the covers and Elmo's right hand covered her own. Their dolls lay between them. A voice at the door sighed,

"Man, I'm really sorry about this, Lou."

"Think nothing of it, Pres. You know Little Miss Magic is welcome here anytime," he said. Pres was short from Preston, which was inspired partly by the term 'Presto-chango,' in the similar way that Abby's name was inspired by the phrase 'Abra-Cadabra.'

"She must've poofed herself over here after hearing Ally and I argue," he said. Ally was short for Allison, which was partly a take-off of 'Ala-kazam.' "I can go ahead and take her off your hands; bring her back home."

"Nah, let her stay for the night. No need to wake her up when she's finally settled down. I'll bring her over in the morning."

"….thanks. You guys must be like a second home to her if she poofed herself here."

"Heh…well, we try," Louie said, looking back at the two kids who were sleeping soundly. He was proud that his son was such a warm and loving monster, because it meant that his friends could always come to him whenever they felt lonely or scared.

And as he saw his son grip the young fairy's hand just a little tighter, he realized that it really made nights like this one worthwhile.