A/N: Thank you so much for your comments and suggestions. I hope you enjoy this next chapter. A lot of changes will be happening for our Cabenmichael girls. :)

Abbie had just confessed her feelings to Olivia and, in retrospect, she had no idea why she felt the need to confess her feelings. She knew nothing was going to come out of that confession. She honestly didn't expect Olivia to break up with Alex and be with her nor did she expect Olivia to look at her as anything other than her best friend. Sure, Olivia had said she was attracted to her, but attraction isn't love. Abbie had a track record for being reckless with her heart and the hearts of others, but this was the first time she had lost her best friend and possibly ruined her best friend's engagement as a result. Then again, wasn't ruining Alex and Olivia's engagement her intention? No, Abbie told herself as she searched for a pay phone. I'm not that wicked. I'm better than that. She may have told herself that, but in her heart she knew those were her intentions and she hated herself for feeling that way.

Abbie pulled into a convenience store parking lot and searched her coin purse for some change. Falling short of the amount she needed to make a long distance phone call, Abbie had no choice but to call collect.

Once she heard her grandma's voice on the other line, Abbie could no longer stop herself from crying. Her voice was always so soothing and Abbie knew her grandma was the one person who loved her unconditionally.

"Grandma," Abbie said softly.

"Abbie, honey," her grandma responded in the worried tone of voice that only mothers and grandmothers have. "Are you okay?"

"No," Abbie admitted as she began sobbing. "I messed everything up again, just like my mom always told me. I ruined her life 21-years-ago. I ruined Serena's life. I ruined Alex's life. I ruined Olivia's life. I'm going to ruin Trent's life, too. I just know it."

"Abbie, come home," her grandma pleaded. "Whatever you're going through is something you shouldn't be facing alone. That's what your grandpa and I are here for. We love you, Abbie, and we want to help you. Come home. We can have you on the first flight to Austin tomorrow. We'll pay for someone to put your belongings in storage until law school and we can arrange for you to move into your own place. Anything you need, Abbie. Just come home for the summer before you do something you'll regret."

She had already done something she regretted, but she didn't feel like explaining that to her grandma over the phone.

"Okay," Abbie said, finally feeling hopeful. "I love you, grandma."

Once she hung up, Abbie hurried back to Trent's house so she could pack her things. Explaining everything to him wasn't going to be easy and, although she wanted to avoid that conversation altogether, she knew it was impossible. When she couldn't find him anywhere in the house, she decided to head to the weight room his dad had built for him. When she saw him, he was in nothing more than gym shorts and it was enough to make Abbie wet.

"Maybe you should stop pumping iron and pump something into me," Abbie said to break the ice. She knew it was a cheesy line, but she felt as if it was better than trying to explain why she had been crying.

"Babe, you're home early," Trent said, surprised that she was there. "I was hoping the next time I saw you I'd be showered and smelling like cologne instead of sweat."

"I like when you smell like sweat," Abbie said as she went over to him. "It's so rugged and masculine and—"

"Abbie, were you crying?" Trent asked once he saw how red her eyes were.

"Yeah," she admitted. "Alex, Liv, and I aren't friends anymore."

"Why? You three have been inseparable since elementary school."

"Things change, Trent," Abbie said, hoping he'd take the hint and drop the subject. "I'm going to Texas tomorrow."

"What? For how long?"

"The rest of the summer," Abbie responded. "I need to get away from Fallbrook, the entire state of New York, really. You're welcome to come with me."

"It wouldn't be right," Trent told her. "You should spend some time with your grandparents. Besides, I have to watch the house until my parents get home from Hawaii next week. After that, if you still want me there, I'll take the next available flight to Austin and stay with you until football practice starts again."

"Great!" Abbie said, feeling excited for the first time that day. "You can go with me to my family reunion in Dallas."

"As more than your fuck buddy," he said just before she started kissing him. "I plan on us being a couple by then. I really love you, Abbie."

Alex stormed into her house and slammed the front door as hard as she could. She had no idea if anyone was home and she honestly didn't care. Never in her life had she felt so betrayed. She was betrayed by her dad, then Abbie, and now Olivia again. Olivia—just the sound of her name made Alex start to cringe. She wondered how she could be so in love with someone who insisted on breaking her heart every chance she was given.

"Alex?" Mrs. Cabot asked as she knocked on Alex's bedroom door.

"Yes?" Alex responded. It was the first time her mom had come to her room in years and she wasn't sure what to expect.

"I heard you come home."

"The whole neighborhood heard me come," Alex said sarcastically.

"Don't take that done with me, Alexandra," Mrs. Cabot told her. "Can I come in?"

"If you must, but I'm not up for talking."

"As long as you're up for listening," Mrs. Cabot said as she entered Alex room. Once she saw the way her daughter was dressed, she became horrified. "Alex, your clothes."

"I spent the night at Olivia's and I didn't have anything to wear so I borrowed something of hers."

"Well, you're home now and you can change."

"Mother!" Alex scoffed. "Your only daughter is crying and all you can talk about is what I'm wearing."

"I know neither of us are in the mood to talk about why you're crying, especially because I know exactly why you're crying. It's because of Olivia, isn't it? Every tear you've shed over the past three years has been because of that girl."

"And Dad," Alex admitted. "Olivia and Dad."

"Alex, about your father," Mrs. Cabot began. "I know what he's doing. I know about that girl. The reason it seems as if I don't care is because I'm trying to be strong for you and Jared. Your father and I are getting a divorce, Alex. I know you're a woman now and I should be telling you these things, but sometimes I like to pretend you're still a little girl and you still need me even though you don't."

"I'm sorry," Alex told her.

"It's not your fault, Alex. I'm the one who should be sorry. I've put so much pressure on you your whole life and it's turned you in to me. Don't be like me, Alex. I let that man cheat on me for years and I never said or did anything about it because I wanted the perfect family and the perfect life. I was Deborah Morgan, for crying out loud. I had a sorority pin and so many prospects, but my parents told me that William Cabot was the perfect match for me because of his family name and the connections that the Cabot family and Morgan family could make if we were married. I felt like it was an arranged marriage, Alex. We loved each other, but there was never any passion. The only good things to come out of this marriage have been you and Jared. Believe it or not, but I was in love once, Alex—madly in love—and my parents hated him, kind of like how your father and I hate Olivia."

"Tell me about him," Alex insisted.

"It was the '60s, then again that's how every wild story begins," Mrs. Cabot told her now smiling daughter. "We met at Woodstock—"

"Wait! You went to Woodstock?" Alex asked, completely shocked.

"It's hard to believe, I know," Mrs. Cabot told her. "I wasn't a hippie, mind you, but I was into the music. He approached me as Jefferson Airplane was performing and it was love at first sight. We were inseparable for the rest of the festival and we kept seeing each other even after I went back to school. I was so happy, Alex, and I wanted to share my happiness with the world, but Norma Benson told my parents about him before I had the chance. They told me they sent me to college to meet a suitable husband and I was too old to be canoodling with some low-life with no goals and no direction. So, instead of following my heart, I followed their orders and broke up with him."

"Kind of like what you both tell me to do with Olivia," Alex pointed out. "Olivia has goals and dreams, Mom. She's just…young. So am I."

"I know," Mrs. Cabot told her. "And I want to tell you not to listen to me or to your father. If you want Olivia, be with Olivia. Your father and I will learn to love her eventually. Besides, marrying someone your parents don't like is how you know you're doing something right."

"I think she's in love with Abbie," Alex confessed. "Abbie is always kissing her and I saw her kissing Abbie today."

"Did you talk to her about it?" Mrs. Cabot asked.

"Not exactly," Alex responded. "I kind of went off on her and then stormed out."

"Abbie may love Olivia, but Olivia doesn't love Abbie."

"Yes, she does, Mom!"

"No, she doesn't. I can tell, Alex. I've seen her with both of you and she doesn't look at Abbie the way she looks at you. That girl practically worships you, but if you're not certain, maybe you two should take a break. It's time for you to be Alexandra Cabot instead of someone's girlfriend. Focus on yourself, Alex, at least for the summer. If Olivia truly loves you like I know she does, she'll understand and she'll be willing to wait for you."

"Mom?"

"Yes, sweetheart?"

"I don't care what Grandma and Grandpa will say about you getting a divorce. It takes a lot of courage to do what you're doing after all these years and I'm proud of the woman you are."

"I'm proud of the woman you are, too, Alex."

Olivia had contemplated staying at the house by herself, but she knew it would be too painful that night, so she grabbed Mr. Cuddles and headed over to her mom and Peter's house. When Serena opened the door, she saw her 21-year-old daughter clutching her teddy bear and looking as if she was about to cry.

"Liv? Come here."

After giving her mom a hug, Olivia hurried up to her room to change into some pajamas that she had worn when she was in high school. They were the same pajamas she used to wear to their weekly Cabenmichael sleepovers and she felt as if they were perfect for tonight. Once her hair was up in a ponytail and secured by a pastel purple hair ribbon, Olivia went downstairs to join her mom on the couch.

"I miss you wearing pastels. You're a beautiful young woman, Olivia. I don't know why you insist on ripping your jeans and wearing pieces of metal on your face."

"It's my style," Olivia told her. "It's who I am."

"Are you going to tell me what's wrong?" Serena asked.

"I lost them both," Olivia said as she cuddled up to her mom.

"Eddie Haskell and Alex?"

"Yeah, Abbie came over today and said she was in love with me and then she kissed me. Alex saw everything and assumed I was kissing Abbie in return, but I wasn't. It was a goodbye kiss, Mom. Honest. Abbie gave me an ultimatum. She made me choose between her and Alex. Of course I was going to choose Alex and because I chose Alex she said she couldn't be friends with me because it hurt too much."

"Peter did that to me in college," Serena pointed out. "I ended up marrying the bastard."

"I heard that, Serena," Peter said from the kitchen.

"You were supposed to," Serena teased.

"So, you're saying I should marry Abbie?" Olivia asked.

"I didn't say that."

"So, you're saying I should marry Alex?"

"I didn't say that, either," Serena told her.

"Then what are you saying?"

"I'm saying," Serena paused. "As much as you don't want to hear it, maybe you don't need a girlfriend. I love Alex and I love Eddie, but you need a life outside of them, at least until you can work out all of the problems between the three of you."

"I do have a life outside of them," Olivia insisted. "I have friends other than Abbie and Alex. Well, they're all Abbie's friends now, too, but still—I have other friends. There's Sketchy Steve and Bastard Brian—"

"Sketchy Steve and Bastard Brian?" Serena asked.

"Yeah, we all have nicknames," Olivia pointed out. "I'm Clarke. Chucky came up with that name because he said I was more like a guy than some of the guys we hang out with and Clarke was the first guys' name that came to mind. Steve is completely sketchy and, well, Brian is just a bastard. Then there's Josh, Dylan, Scotty, Mark, Drag Queen Lawrence, my co-host Katrina and her boyfriend Beer Pong Bobby, and then there's Karen, the girl who says that high heels are tools of the patriarchy."

"College students never change, do they?" Serena said, fondly. "They don't sound too different from the people Olivia, Lorraine, and I spent time with when we were undergrads."

"Mom, I miss Abbie," Olivia admitted. "We have a history together. We went to Woodstock '94 together, which was the ultimate bonding experience for us. Plus, we like all of the same things and hang out with the same people. I can just chill with her and not have to worry. We have just as much fun staying home and watching Beavis and Butt-Head or 120 Minutes as we do when we go out together. I feel like being in a relationship with her would be so easy and the sex would probably be amazing. She's so pretty and she's so perfect, Mom, but I'm not in love with her. I'm just not."

"You're in love with Alex?"

"With all my heart," Olivia said and started smiling. "I've known her for seventeen years now and I still get butterflies every time I'm around her and every time I think about her. I have them right now. Alex is the woman I see myself spending the rest of my life with. It doesn't matter to me that we're different because we still love each other. I want to start a family with Alex and experience every milestone with her. I'd do anything for her, Mom. I gave up my best friend for her. Alex is my heart, my everything. When we make love, I feel so connected to her, like I could lose myself in her. We made love this morning and I actually cried because of what I was experiencing with her. The kind of love I have for Alex is the kind that most people never experience. I want her, Mom. I want to prove myself to her. She needs to know that there's no other woman in my heart—present company excluded, of course."

"Olivia, I don't want anyone tearing your world apart the way she does," Serena told her daughter. "You're both so young and you're trying to take on a relationship that is more than you can handle right now. I know I told you both that I was anxious for you to start a family, but now I know you two aren't ready for that yet. You're also not ready for a serious commitment. The two of you have been in a serious relationship from the very beginning. Have you ever thought about taking it slow with her?"

"Taking it slow?" Olivia asked with a confused look on her face.

"Yes, Olivia. Take it slow," Serena insisted. "Don't be so quick to make Alex your girlfriend or your fiancee again. You've never dated her. Maybe that's what you need. Take her somewhere fun. Spoil her. Surprise her with flowers at her job. Do the silly little things that you two have never done for each other because you were so caught up in having a serious commitment. Most importantly, don't move back into an apartment together and don't try to do any of this right away. Give the girl some time."

Giving Alex time was the last thing Olivia wanted to do, but she knew her mom was right. Regardless of how much it hurt her to hear that, the three of them needed time apart before any attempts could be made at mending their broken friendships and relationships.