"Do I look alright?" Abi asked her sister, trying to fit her whole body in the web cam so that she could see her full attire.
"Who you trying to impress?" Lauren replied with a raised eyebrow.
She looked down at her grey skater dress and converse and then at her hair, which was in a fishtail plait, in the laptop's web cam. "Is it too much?"
Lauren shook her head, laughing. "No, of course not. You look great. Come on, who is he?"
"What makes you think it's a he?"
"Well unless you've turned into a lesbian over night, who else would you be getting dressed up for? Not being funny, Abs, but you don't really get out much these days."
Abi looked down at her hands and smiled. "It's Jay."
"Jay?" Lauren repeated, eyes wide, questions written all over her face. "As in Jay Mitchell?"
"Yeah, what other Jay's do we know?"
"Wow! It just seems a bit random, that's all. I thought you and Jay were over a long time ago. You said you were finished with him plenty of times."
Abi shrugged. "So did I, but it just kind of happened."
"Well I'm really happy for you, Abs."
"Slow down, it's only the first date. Things might not even work out. There was a reason why we broke up-"
"Of course they will. You're Abi and Jay, Walford's answer to Romeo and Juliet. I mean, look at me and Peter. We were apart for ages and now we've got a baby together. Anything could happen, don't be so pessimistic! Besides, I'm glad that you're not freaking out about John. I could never be as strong as you, Abs."
"I'm not strong," Abi said, shaking her head. "Actually there's something I need to talk to you about-"
"Hold on a second, Abi." Lauren paused and turned as if she was talking to somebody for a few seconds before turning back to the camera. "Sorry, Abs. I have to go. Louie hasn't been feeling well and he's just sicked up all over, Peter."
Abi smiled but she knew it was fake. "Don't worry. Tell Louie his Auntie Abi is thinking about him."
"I will. Have fun, and give Jay a chance."
"Isn't that what this date is?"
"You know what I mean. See you later."
Lauren signed off before Abi even had a chance to reply and Abi sat back in her chair sighing loudly.
She wanted to tell Lauren the truth about what had happened with John, after all her sister had been through almost everything with her and she knew she understood her better than anybody else ever had but she could never find the right time, or the right words, to explain. She knew that Lauren would kill her for meeting John alone and she'd tell Jack straight away, or even worse, get the first plane back to London.
Instead, Abi let her mind wander to her upcoming date with Jay, which she'd much rather think about. She wasn't sure if she was nervous at all, or even excited, although she knew she really should be. Jay had been the love of her life once upon a time and she knew that deep down that had never really changed, despite her year long relationship with Ben. So what if her tummy wasn't turning at the thought of him? Abi just put that down to her feeling so comfortable around Jay. The three years they spent together wasn't just going to vanish, no matter how much Abi wished it would when he'd first broken up with her 18 months ago.
A knock on the door broke Abi away from her thoughts and she quickly straightened her dress and checked her appearance in the mirror one last time before answering the door.
"Good afternoon, Miss Branning."
Abi giggled and took the bunch of roses that Jay was passing to her. "You've pulled the stops out, haven't you?"
Jay shrugged. "You deserve it."
"I hope you're not going to keep up with these cheesy chat up lines all day," Abi said, walking past him. "You'll never get a second date."
Jay chuckled as he followed behind Abi. "Do you want to know where we're going?"
"Surprise me," Abi smiled.
Jay held out his arm for Abi to take. "Follow me."
"Oh my god," Abi breathed. "I can't believe you've done all of this for me."
Abi looked around at the play area where Jay had laid out a picnic complete with champagne, strawberries dipped in chocolate, sandwiches, cocktail sausages and scotch eggs. She also noticed a single rose in a vase and Jay's iPod and speakers playing some romantic album, similar to the one that had been playing on that Valentines day, the day Abi lost her virginity to Jay.
"It's like the first one, isn't it?"
"The first one?" she repeated. "The first what?"
"Our first date," Jay told her. "It was here, on the swings."
"You were supposed to buy me chips," Abi recalled, taking a seat on the picnic blanket. "But you forgot your wallet, after turning up half an hour late. With no apology, might I add."
"The gentleman as always," Jay laughed.
"You asked me if I liked George Michael." Abi said, joining in with his laughter, thinking back to the days when they were both so naive and innocent.
"Heather was giving me some tips beforehand. She told me you should always ask your date if they like George Michael. Solid advice."
"Deal breaker, huh? Who knew Jay Mitchell would need dating tips?"
"I'm not the big shot you think I was."
"Thought, I figured that out pretty quickly when you took forever to kiss me."
"Hey!" Jay punched Abi in the arm lightly. "I can't help it if I was nervous around you."
"I made you nervous?" Abi asked softly.
"Of course. I fancied the pants of you."
"Don't tell my dad that," Abi said, raising an eyebrow. "He'll definitely think you were only after sex then."
Jay laughed. "Well, you were worth the wait."
"Don't be weird," she said, bumping him with her shoulder, slightly embarrassed. "Cringe doesn't suit you. We're not that kind of couple...You know, I've never been more nervous for anything than that night."
"It's understandable after what had happened-"
"No, it wasn't that. I mean, he was why I waited but he wasn't why I was nervous."
"Then what?"
"It was you."
"Me?" he repeated.
"Sure, don't sound so surprised. I mean, you'd probably been with all of these girls before me and there I was, with not a clue what I was doing and-" Abi stopped when she noticed Jay was laughing. "What? What's so funny?"
"That's what you thought? That I'd slept with loads of girls before you."
"Well maybe not loads, but-"
"I was a virgin too, Abs."
"What?" she asked, taken aback.
"You were my first."
"But I thought you'd said..." she trailed off, slightly confused.
"I just said that to impress you. I was just as nervous as you were. I was completely inexperienced, even if I was a Mitchell."
"Well now I feel like an idiot," she scoffed. "Why didn't you tell me that before, calmed my nerves?"
Jay shrugged. "Because you're you."
Abi frowned. "What do you mean?"
"You might have thought I was cool but really I was nowhere near as cool as you. I mean, you were like the most popular kid in your year. When I was at school nobody ever gave me much notice, and if they did it was because I was in trouble for something."
"I was not."
"Of course you were. You were ridiculously smart and pretty and everybody wanted to be friends with you. Don't believe me?" Jay asked when he saw her expression. "That party you took me too, Bernadette's seventeenth I think it was, you spoke to everybody and every guy did a double take when you walked past them. And what was he's name? That guy who kept trying it on with you?"
"Owen Walker," Abi reminded him, laughing.
"That's the one. I basically had to step between you so he didn't kiss you. I was ridiculously jealous that night. See, I found you just as intimidating as you found me."
"We were the worst couple." Abi shook her head, smiling.
"Yeah, but we were kind of the best too, right?"
Abi bit down on her bottom lip and looked at Jay. His eyes, that dark shade of green, had always been her favourite and she could feel them staring into her soul now as he looked back at her.
"Thank you, Jay. You proved it."
"Ah, well, this isn't everything yet."
"It's not?"
"Of course not. I got you a present," he said handing an envelope.
Abi looked at him, sceptical, while ripping open the envelope and pulling out a couple of tickets.
"I thought we could go up West End. They're for Hairspray. That's your favourite right because-"
"Link always turns me on no matter who's playing him," Abi said at the same time as Jay, laughing slightly amazed that he'd even remembered she'd said that. It had been a drunken night of passion when Max went away for work and Lauren was round a friends. They'd had a free house and it was one of her favourite nights they'd spent together over their entire relationship.
"You know what, Jay Mitchell. You are the absolute best."
"So, have I done enough?" Jay asked a couple of hours later as he walked Abi back to Dot's.
"Oh, I don't know. I was really expecting a weekend in Paris, dinner under the stars, a surprise appearance from Taylor Lautner."
"You cheeky mere!" he nudged her like she had done to him earlier.
"It was perfect, Jay. Thank you, really."
"I wanted to make it up to you. Not just what I said to Ben but the break up too. Losing you was the biggest mistake I'd ever made and breaking your heart was the worst thing I could have done."
"You haven't lost me, Jay. You'd never lost me."
Jay lent into Abi, knowing the moment was right, and closed his eyes as his lips met hers. Upon reaching Dot's, he walked Abi to the concrete wall and lent her against it, deepening the kiss. It was as if nothing had ever changed. She still smelt like roses and tasted like strawberries, her lips were still soft and fitted his like a jigsaw puzzle. She was perfect to him in every way possible.
He felt Abi smiling into their kiss and he pulled away.
"Best date ever?"
She nodded, her eyes still closed. "Best date ever."
"So, what now?"
Abi shrugged. "Date number two?"
"Date number two," Jay agreed. "But don't go getting your hopes up. I've spent half my savings on today."
Abi laughed, shaking her head. "You do too much, Jay."
Jay shrugged. "You deserve the world, and I had a point to prove."
"Well you proved it. I better go," Abi said, looking over her shoulder. "Dot will be home soon. I'll call you later."
Jay nodded and pecked her on the lips. "I'll be waiting."
Abi watched Jay walk away into the distance, smiling to herself, revelling in the perfect day she'd just had, and then turned away, pulling her keys out of her pocket and letting herself into the house.
"Anybody home?" she called out even though she knew Dot was still at the laundrette and Jack was at number five doing some construction work.
She turned around to take off her coat and put her keys down when she heard somebody move behind her and assumed the face paced movement meant it was Jack.
"I didn't think you'd be home. I'm-" She stopped mid sentence as she turned back and saw her worst nightmare standing right in front of her.
"You didn't think I'd actually go, did you, Abi?"
