Author's Note: Hi Everyone! I had intended to get this out over the weekend, but it wasn't meant to be. I hope you are still enjoying this story as much I am still enjoying writing it. I promise I have an end game – and we're getting there, but there are still a few more chapters to come. As always, enjoy and I would love to hear your thoughts.

Chapter Thirteen

Abby

She and Buck had agreed that she would call him within the week and walked back towards Matt's office. Matt was still in the lobby outside of his office, sitting awkwardly a few seats down from Buck's friend, Chase.

"So…how did it go?" Chase asked in a sing song voice as he noticed Buck and Abby reappear.

"Shut up." Buck said shortly to Chase, before turning to Abby.

"Um, bye Abby." He shifted awkwardly.

"Yeah, I'll call you." She said and watched as he left the lobby and disappeared.

Matt stood silently watching her.

"So, do you still want those files?" He asked, more for something to say than to inquire about her plans to buy real estate.

"What?" She asked as if she'd just remembered he was there. She had been staring over at the door that Buck had left through.

"The files, for the properties?" He reminded her.

"Oh, um yeah, it can't hurt to look." She smiled.

"So, do you wanna talk about, uh what just happened?" Matt asked her.

"Is it okay if we talk tonight? I think I just need to zone out for a bit?" She smiled weakly.

"Yeah, no problem Abs, I'll see you later." He clapped her on the shoulder, and began to turn back to his office.

"Thanks Matt." She smiled again, and then left.

She spent most of what remained of the afternoon lying on her hotel room bed, staring at the ceiling. She wasn't entirely sure what to do – mainly about Buck. Wishful thinking had been easy when there was no chance of that wish becoming reality, but now, she just wasn't sure what she should do. She'd never really given much thought to the time between reading Buck's letter and meeting Sam. It really had only been about two weeks. She'd been in Prague when she'd gotten the letter, she'd spent a brief period of time in Morocco, but then decided to backtrack to see more of Europe. She'd travelled back across the continent and had been in Budapest just one day, when she met Sam. He approached her at a bar after hearing her order a drink and realising she was American. She'd been miserable ever since she'd gotten Buck's letter. She'd alr4eady considered not returning to LA, but the letter had made it final. She'd cried herself to sleep for a week and had almost booked a flight home three times already. But, Sam had been charming and good looking and more than anything, he took her mind off things. If she was honest, she hadn't so much gotten over Buck as she had distracted herself, and as time went on she thought less and less of Buck and it just kind of stopped hurting.

When she really thought about what she wanted, it was simple enough, she wanted to say yes to Buck, to give things another go. They had never really gone wrong – not when they were actually together. But, then she thought about all the time that had passed and how hard she'd worked to separate herself from her life in LA. Would it not be going against everything she'd worked hard to avoid if she simply went back there?

She sighed heavily and groaned, raking her fingers through her hair. She grabbed her phone a checked the time, it was six o five and she needed to leave for Matt's in half an hour. She sat up and went over to her small suitcase, grabbing her jeans and a soft sweater. The dress she wore to lunch was too much for a casual dinner at her brother's, and she was more comfortable dressed casually anyway. Her hair was slightly dishevelled from three hours of staring at the ceiling, so she put it up in a ponytail and reapplied some mascara before grabbing the property files (she hadn't even looked at) and booking an Uber.

Buck

Chase was looking at him like he had gone completely insane.

"So, let me get this straight. You're calling off your wedding because this Abby chick might agree to get back together?"

"No. I'm calling the wedding off because I'm not in love with Emma, and it's not right to lie to her and let her think I do if I don't. It would hurt her in the long run." Buck explained again.

"Right, I don't think hurting her is gonna be avoidable man, you're cancelling the happiest day of her life." Chase reminded him.

"This is the right thing for both of us. I do care about Emma. She deserves someone who loves her, and that's just not me." Buck sighed.

"And Abby? Do you love her?" Chase looked at him seriously now. For all his juvenile joking Chase did care about Buck and wanted what was best for him.

"I don't know. I definitely did love her, and I'm not over her. If she comes back, I think we have a real chance." Buck told him.

"Well I hope for your sake she does, because I'm not agreeing to be your best man again, unless it's the real deal." Chase said.

They spent the drive back to LA the next morning trying to decide what Buck should say to Emma, what he was going to tell her and what he was going to tell everyone else. Buck was the most concerned about Maddie's reaction. Maddie really liked Emma, after all she had been the one to introduce them. Buck knew she'd be disappointed to learn that he was calling the wedding off, and she'd probably be angry when she found out about Abby. But, it wasn't just about that. What happened with Abby had been the catalyst for Buck realising that perhaps he wasn't as in love with Emma as he had thought, but he was calling the wedding off regardless of what Abby decided to do. Maddie had never actually met her, as Abby had already been in Europe for some time by the time she had decided to come to LA. She'd never really approved of this girlfriend that Buck had seemed head over heels for, just leaving him and disappearing from his life. Maddie had always been protective of him and as they got older, he became protective of her too. It was clear to everyone that Abby had had quite an impact on Buck, and whilst this wasn't necessarily a bad thing, Maddie felt that perhaps Abby was being given too much credit for something that Buck had ultimately done himself.

But Buck didn't see Abby as a woman with magical powers who somehow changed him, it was less that she changed him, she was just the first woman who made him feel like he didn't need anyone else. He didn't stop sleeping with girls on tinder because Abby had asked him to or told him to, he'd stopped because when he was with her, he wasn't interested in any girls on tinder. He'd been looking for that again, ever since he and Abby had gone their separate ways. He hadn't felt like cheating on Ali or Emma either, but that was more to do with other girls not being Abby, he later realised. He knew that he couldn't tell Maddie that either, she would perhaps be as difficult to tell as Emma, but Emma had to know first.

Abby

When she arrived at Matt and Beth's the mood was far more comfortable than the last time she'd been there. Beth welcomed her warmly, ushering her to the island in the middle of their large kitchen and pouring a generous glass of Chardonnay.

"I'm so glad you and Matt made up, I just felt awful after you left last time. I've been on at Matt to call you ever since, but you know how stubborn he can be." Beth explained.

"Oh I know alright, but in fairness last time it was late, he was tired, I was emotional. But it's behind us." Abby brushed it off, not wanting to dwell on last time.

Matt wandered into the kitchen and squeezed Abby's shoulder in greeting.

"Hey, how was your afternoon?" He asked, knowing this was a more complicated question than it seemed.

"Ugh confusing, I didn't really get to look at the property files, but right now, I'm not even sure where I'm going to be." Abby said putting the files down on the granite island top.

"Uh oh, what's that about?" Beth asked.

"Abby's ex turned up at my office today." Matt told her.

"Matt!" Abby chastised him.

"What like you were expecting me to ignore that all evening?" Matt said defensively.

"Sam turned up at your office?" Beth asked incredulously.

"No, the other ex, Buck – the fireman." Matt said.

"Ooh yes, I remember the fireman. What did he want?" Beth said, now looking excitedly at Abby.

Abby was about to have to suffer through telling Beth the whole story when she was saved by her nieces and nephew.

"Aunt Abby!" Sara smiled running up to give her aunt a hug, with her younger siblings following behind her. Matt gave Beth a look, silently telling her that Abby's story was not one for the kids to hear. Once both her nieces and nephew had greeted her with warm hugs, the matter seemed forgotten by Beth for now and they settled into a comfortable evening of chatter and catch up, listening to Sara talk about her sophomore year at college and the twins about their freshman year at High School.

It was ten thirty by the time Sara had retired to her room to facetime her boyfriend and the twins headed to bed. Beth and Abby were sat at the kitchen island with a fresh bottle of wine, whilst Matt loaded the dishes in the washer.

"So, what was your fireman doing in Vegas?" Beth asked, taking a sip of her wine. Her eyes seemed to glitter with intrigue. It was clear she had been waiting to finish this conversation all evening.

"He's not my fireman." Abby protested.

"But he was. Why did he turn up at Matt's office? Did you tell him you were going to be here?" Beth asked.

"He was actually there to see me." Matt interjected, closing the dishwasher and grabbing himself a wine glass, as he took a seat next to Beth.

"You? What did he want to see you for?" Beth wrinkled her nose in confusion.

"He was trying to track down Abby. Apparently, he was going to try and get her address from me, seeing as when he called her she hung up on him." Matt talked slowly, he was enjoying this story far more than Abby expected him to.

"What? Why? I don't understand." Beth looked between Abby and Matt waiting for one of them to fill her in.

"You take this one." Matt said nodding at Abby. Abby sighed deeply and ran her hand back through her hair before taking a long sip of her wine.

"Okay, so after I left here, last time, I went and checked into a hotel, and I decided to have a drink in the bar, you know to unwind, because I was mad about Sam and mad that Matt didn't seem to get it, and anyway Buck was at the hotel, in the bar." Abby explained.

"What was he doing in a hotel in Vegas?" Beth asked, her eyes now wide with interest.

"He was at a bachelor party, but everyone else had gone to bed, it seemed. Anyway, we were drinking and talking, and we just kind of ended up in my hotel room. It wasn't until the next morning that he told me it was his bachelor party." Abby told her.

"Oh no! So he cheated on his fiancée, with you, and didn't tell you until after? What did you do?" Beth looked affronted on Abby's behalf, before going back to being curious.

"I was pretty angry, you know because I had left to get away from Sam, who was cheating on me, and then Buck, who I thought was different tells me that he had just cheated on his fiancée – with me. So, I kind of threw him out of my hotel room and assumed that was the end of it. And it was, at least until Sunday when he called me up." Abby finished.

"But you hung up? Why? What did he want?" Beth asked.

"Well he said he just wanted to talk about things, but I mean he was still engaged and I didn't necessarily feel like there was anything to say." Abby went on to explain what she'd found out from Carla and how hurt she had been, eventually explaining everything that had followed that day.

"So, are you going to move back to LA?" Matt asked her once she finished.

"I don't know, I mean I was in love with Buck and I do still care about him, but so much time has passed and I kind of – it's history you know, I mean what if he just got nostalgic? How do I know it's for real?" Buck had always been an idealist. In his mind, everything seemed to go as planned all of the time, and she knew when it didn't, it devastated him. Abby, on the other hand was more pragmatic. In a way, when they were together this had worked, as they kind of balanced each other out. In this case, she worried that Buck might not have considered all of the implications of restarting their relationship. She worried about how his friends would view her. She knew that his team were like a family, and she'd hurt him, badly.

"But he's leaving his fiancée for you." Beth said.

"Well not really for me. I mean I asked him and he'd said he'd call off the wedding either way, because he wasn't in love with her." Abby felt defensive about this most of all.

"Yeah, didn't he also tell you he wasn't over you, and that he still wants to be with you?" Matt reminded.

"Yes, but that's not why he's calling off the wedding. He's calling off the wedding because he's not in love with her, and he doesn't think it's fair to marry her." She insisted.

"Abs seriously? He's not in love with her because he's still in love with you." Matt said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Not necessarily, I mean he was really hurt by what happened with Europe, and he's not going to just forget about that." Abby said, as much as she liked the idea of Buck still loving her, she wasn't sure that that was the case.

"Abby, he cheated on his fiancée with you – at his bachelor party, he came to my office to try and find out where you live, he would've travelled to Phoenix if I had given him your address – I'm not saying I would have, but anyway. He's calling off his wedding and wants to get back together with you. He's obviously crazy about you, what more proof do you need?" Matt listed off all the things Buck had done. When he put it like that, it made for a convincing argument.

"Look, it's simple really. What do you want to do?" Beth asked looking at Abby seriously.

Abby knew what she wanted, she wanted to be with Buck, but she had to go back to Phoenix before she made any final decisions.

By the time she left Matt's it was gone midnight. Beth had offered her the guest room, but she felt as she'd paid for the hotel room, she may as well use it. Matt and Beth made her promise she would at least consider moving back to LA and she went outside to the waiting cab.

Buck

It was every bit as awful as he had expected it to be, and worse. It was far worse than when he'd told her he'd cheated on her. She wasn't so much angry this time as she was devastated and humiliated.

"I don't understand. You said you still wanted to get married. What changed?" Emma sobbed after he'd said they needed to cancel the wedding. He'd had to say it three times, the first time she thought he was joking, the second time she had just looked at him completely bewildered.

"I…I'm…it's not…Emma I'm…" Buck stumbled over his words, there was no way to say this without hurting her.

"What is it? Please tell me. We can work it out." She begged through her tears.

"Emma I'm really sorry, I'm not in love with you. I really care about you, but I'm not in love with you." He felt awful just saying it.

"But, you said, and you asked me. You were the one who wanted to get married in the first place." She continued to cry.

"I know, and I thought that was what I wanted, but it's not and I'm sorry." She looked truly heartbroken. He felt terrible, looking at her, sat on the couch.

"You're sorry? Sorry? Buck, our wedding is in three days and you're telling me we need to cancel it, and you're sorry?" She seemed to become angry at this. He felt like he was drowning, just being filled up with guilt.

"Emma, you deserve to marry someone who loves you. You deserve to marry someone who is as amazing as you are. I believe that you will find that guy, but it's just, it's not me." Buck tried to explain, although he knew this wasn't likely to make much of a difference now.

"But I wanted to marry you." Emma let out a whine and Buck felt like the worst person in the world.

"Emma, I know that's how you feel now, but I promise you, it would be a mistake for us to get married now." Buck sighed, this was a lot harder than he thought it would be.

"So, we can just postpone it, you might feel differently in a year, we don't have to cancel it." She sounded almost desperate.

"Emma I'm sorry, I don't want to waste your time, it's just not what I want anymore." He tried to be as gentle as possible, but her face still crumpled.

"Is this because of Vegas? Is it because of her?" She asked, a mix of anger and hurt swam in her watery eyes.

"No, this isn't about that. It's about me. It makes no difference if Abby…" Buck stopped himself. He hadn't wanted to share the situation with Abby with Emma.

"It makes no difference if Abby what?" Emma's sobs seemed to falter, for a minute as she looked up at him. He didn't say anything, he just sat down on the sofa opposite her.

"If she what, Buck?" Emma's voice was shaky but she wasn't crying anymore.

Buck didn't know what to say, he'd never wanted to go back just fifteen seconds in time more. He knew that there was no way to do this without hurting Emma, but sparing her the knowledge that he was waiting to hear from Abby about possibly rekindling their relationship was something he had definitely wanted to do.

"I'm not over Abby." He said, realising after he'd said it that it was hardly any better than the alternative of telling her what was actually going on.

"So, this is about her then?" Emma's seemed to be on the verge of tears again, but this time they were tears of anger, and in fairness, Buck could hardly blame her.

"No, it's not. Look, I will admit that I'm not over Abby and I did speak to her – again since Vegas, but we're not sneaking around or anything like that. I just spoke to her, that's it. But, this, what's happening here, calling off the wedding is not about Abby." He insisted.

"I don't believe you. Why should I trust you? I never should've given you second chance." Emma told him, she was clearly furious.

"It's fine Buck, you're right. I am better off without you." She stood up grabbing her purse and stalked out of the apartment. Had he not seen her wiping at her eyes as she left, he might've thought she was almost over it.