Rick was right in her face.

Abby didn't know what to do. She'd just locked the door to the studio, there was no going back there. Rick was standing between her and her car and she doubted that she could outrun him.

Besides, she was fucking sick of running. She squared her shoulders and locked eyes with him.

"What do you want?" She asked. "If you want to beat me up, do it already. If not, get out of my way." She didn't feel nearly as confident as she sounded but she forced herself to stand her ground and to not back down. Over the last few weeks, she'd lost her apartment, her job, and her freedom to just go wherever she wanted. And she was in constant fear that he would do something to Haley. Enough was enough.

He studied her for a long moment but then he took a step back. Still in striking distance but not longer right in her face.

Suddenly a car honked right next to her. Abby yelped in surprise, she hadn't even noticed the approaching car.

"Abby, you okay?" Josh was leaning out of the passenger side's window.

"Yeah, call 911."

With the witnesses around, Rick had backed off but he was still lingering around. But when Josh got his phone out, he took off running.

Abby had half a mind to tell Josh to not call, they didn't have time for this, but then he was already talking to somebody. Only now Abby had a closer look at the car. It was an old, beat-up jeep but the man behind the wheel was a stranger.

"Hi, I'm Lars." The man got out of the car to greet her. Now it became clear that he was more around Josh's age. "That guy looked pretty scary."

For an outsider, the situation must look strange but Abby was not in the mood to explain herself to a random teenager.

"Abby," she introduced herself. "You must be the DJ."

Stiles had said something about the DJ coming in early to set up his stuff.

"Yep." He was bouncing on the balls of his feet. "And that was?" He jerked his head in the direction Rick had taken off to.

"My stalker." Suddenly she felt just tired. "I have a restraining order if you see him around, tell somebody."

"Will do." He took it with a broad grin. It was clear that he had questions but since Abby didn't care to elaborate farther, he went to unload his stuff.

"Police is on its way," Josh informed her. "You okay?" He asked again with a concerned look at her.

Abby was most certainly not okay. She slung her arms around her torso to hold herself together while her vision started to swim.

"Maybe you should sit down." Josh guided her over to the still-open door on the passenger side of the jeep.

"Why can't he just leave me alone?" She asked. Not that Josh had an answer to that.

"Hey man, show me where I can put this?" Lars poked around the back of the car.

"Give me a sec," Josh yelled over his shoulder, his eyes still on Abby as if he expected her to keel over any second now. It was clear that he didn't want to leave her alone but the doors were locked and Lars didn't know where he was supposed to go with his stuff so Josh needed to go with him.

"Just get me my purse, would you?" She would feel better with her phone and the pepper spray.

"It won't take long," Josh promised and then he was off to show Lars around.

The police were there before Josh was back.

They wanted to talk to him and Lars as well but there wasn't much they could add. When they had arrived they had seen Rick threatening Abby but Josh had been able to startle him with a honk and then Rick had run away. The police took their statements and they did look around for Rick but he was gone. Abby was not surprised, this was the third time she'd called the cops on him and he was always gone by the time they arrived.

"That was helpful," Josh commented when the cops left.

"It creates a paper trail," Abby said. "And it keeps him on his toes." She wasn't so sure about the latter but having as many incidents documented as possible would help in the long run, she knew that. It just didn't help to make her feel better now.

"I have to get back to Lydia, she's wondering what's keeping me." She had seen the message from her but hadn't found the energy to answer yet. They were supposed to go to a wedding in a few hours, she didn't want to ruin the mood.

"See you later." Abby waved Josh goodbye and walked over to her car. "And thanks, you're my knight in shiny armor."

Josh laughed at that and she left feeling slightly better.

"What happened?" Lydia asked as soon as Abby stood in the door.

"Ran into Rick at the studio." She dropped her purse on a chair in the kitchen and wondered if it was too early for a drink.

"You what? What happened?" Lydia was next to her in a second. And of course, Haley had heard her too and came out of the guestroom to check on her as well.

"Nothing, I'm fine," Abby assured them. "Josh scared him off. But we called the police and that took a while."

Lydia wasn't buying it, that much was clear, but for Haley's sake, she didn't say anything. Instead, she just caught Abby in a hug and held her close.

"We don't have to go …," she offered but Abby wasn't having any of that. She wouldn't let Rick ruin this as well.

"No, it's okay, I want to go. It's Stiles' and Derek's wedding." She wiped her eyes with the heel of her hand. "And I could really use some distraction now."

Lydia held her at arm's length for a moment, studying her face, before she nodded.

"We should get ready, then."

Lydia had already laid out their dresses on the bed and seeing them now did lift Abby's mood. She still needed a shower first and drying her hair would take forever but she was looking forward to putting on her new dress.

They had been out shopping one Saturday, all three of them, and they had gotten dresses, shoes, and purses, all new and shiny. Abby had never before shopped a matching outfit at once but she had the money now and damn, it just felt good. Lydia had helped her to choose the right dress and now there was a bronze dream waiting for her on the bed. The bronze complimented her skin tone and the lines would play around her curves. Abby loved it.

Haley had gotten a white dress with pastel flowers in which she looked just adorable. And she had her very first purse to go with it.

Lydia was going with purple which made her eyes pop and set her hair on fire. Abby loved it and she was already looking forward to getting her out of that dress.

However, she needed a shower first.

Even with the delay earlier they were ready on time and Lydia drove them over to the studio where some of the guests were already waiting.

Boyd and Erica were there along with a pair of young men who had to be Scott and Isaac. They were chatting and laughing but the conversation died down when the newcomers arrived.

"Scott, Isaac, good to see you," Lydia greeted them like old friends which they most likely were. "And good to see that you two idiots finally figured it out."

At that Scott and Isaac looked sheepish but both with a huge grin on the face.

"I don't think you've met Abby," Lydia introduced her. "And her daughter Haley."

They said their hellos and Scott and Isaac didn't even blink when Haley just waved at them without saying a word. Abby didn't know what Stiles had told them but as far as she knew Scott, the one with the crooked jaw, was Stiles' best friend so for sure he'd told him at least something.

While Lydia was catching up with the two men, Abby stepped over to Boyd and Erica.

"Josh told us about earlier," Erica said in a low voice.

"Let's not talk about that now." The last thing Abby wanted was for Stiles' friends to ask questions. "I'm fine."

Erica gave her a look but didn't ask farther.

They were saved by a taxi pulling up.

Abby recognized Derek's parents but there was another man with them.

There was a second round of hellos and the man introduced himself as Peter, Derek's uncle. Abby registered the name with a polite smile, her focus was more on Derek's mother who was looking at her with a sour expression. She was most likely still put off from the other day.

"Kids these days, no manners," Talia muttered under her breath. Abby wasn't sure if she'd said it loud enough for her to hear on purpose or if it had been meant only for her husband but it did raise her hackles.

"What kind of manners are you missing here?" Abby asked loud enough for everybody to hear. At least the Peter guy seemed to enjoy himself.

"Well." Talia looked her up and down. "I taught my children proper greetings but it looks like that is not the standard any longer."

"How many of your children are mute?" Abby countered to which Talia flinched back as if she'd been slapped in the face. "But as far as I heard your greeting for a disabled person is to throw a flower pot at them."

"Uhh, burn," Scott said into his fist.

Talia just gaped at her, at a complete loss on what to say to that.

"I … I …," she stammered with red spots high on her cheeks.

"Well." That Peter guy slung an arm around her shoulders. "You deserved that one, my dear sister."

They were saved by more cars arriving.

Derek's Camaro came to a halt right next to them while John parked Stiles' car a bit down the street. And there was another taxi approaching them as well but all eyes were on Derek who had come around the car with Stiles' chair.

They were looking good, Abby had to say. Derek was a sight to see in his sharp suit and Stiles was rocking the red.

Stiles barely made it out of the car before they were swarmed by friends and family. From somewhere a little girl in a yellow dress appeared and wiggled her way through the crowd until she was hanging at Stiles' arm.

Abby stayed back, she wanted to give the families a chance to be the first to congratulate the couple and Boyd and Erica did the same. But finally, it was her turn and she and Haley had their chance to tell Stiles and Derek how happy they were for them. Haley said it with fierce hugs, though.

When Haley slung her arms around Stiles the little girl, it had to be Derek's niece, was glaring at her and tightened her grip on Stiles' arm.

"She's not going to steal me," Stiles assured her while he was hugging Haley with one arm just as fiercely.

"I think we're all here." Derek raised his voice over the crowd. "Shall we go in?"

Once again, they let the families go first but this time Abby shared a knowing look with Boyd, Erica, and Lydia. They couldn't wait to see the reactions to the pictures. Abby had also a close eye in Haley, she hadn't seen them either.

Derek and Stiles were leading the group into the building which came to an abrupt halt when they entered the actual studio.

There were ahhs and ohhs and Scott was just standing there with his mouth hanging open. Even Talia seemed to be overwhelmed by the pictures.

"I think that answers the question if he's serious," Peter said to his sister. "In case witnessing him signing the papers wasn't enough." With that, he left Talia standing and walked farther into the room to have a closer look at the pictures.

"That's not what I expected," the man who had to be Stiles' dad said and if Abby wasn't mistaken, he had tears in his eyes.