I finished this sooner than expected because my sister wasn't home to bug me. I'm not sure if this will be the last part or not. Thank you for all your reviews and continuing support through the time I have been writing this. Upcoming stories will be posted as soon as I write them. Once again, thank you for your lovely reviews, your encouragement made me want to continue this forever, even though that could not happen.

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Once inside Abby went and sat down and John went to get them both coffee. He brought it back to Abby and took the seat next to her. Handing her the Styrofoam cup, he took a sip of his own and leaned back in his chair. Carter was about to break the awkward silence as the man who had been speaking sat down, but Abby began to stand up and walk towards the podium. Surprised, John watched silently as she got to the podium, sighed, and began to talk.

"I haven't shared in a while. Mostly because I think the whole thing is way too cheesy, and maybe that's part of the reason I'm standing here right now. Last night I decided I'd had enough of sobriety. Damn the consequences. Why bother being a part of a life that was falling apart so rapidly. I had the bottle sitting in front of me, but all I could do was look at it. It was like there was an invisible force around it, prohibiting me from picking it up, even though I wanted to so badly. Five years ago, that would be how I would solve a problem." Abby paused for a moment before continuing.

"I received a call from my mother this morning. I haven't spoken to her in a few months so her call was totally out of the blue. She has been diagnosed with breast cancer. After years of wishing she would die, I now realize that she's all I have. Without her, I am totally alone, and that scares me. After years of being frustrated at the idea of having to deal with her, I now want her to live more than anything." Abby paused one more time and bowed her head and then continued.

"Last night I had the ability to make everything go away. Everyday we are faced with the prospect of everything going away, but I know the consequences and that really scares the shit out of me. I used to drink to make my mother go away. Now I want to drink to make her stay. I must admit that I did not want to come here today or to admit that I still have the temptation to drink. But both of those things are true. I want a way to stop my pain without drinking, but I'm not sure if that's possible. Maybe that's why I'm standing here right now, or why any of us stand up here. There's not a way to stop the pain and we all know it. I think that applies to all things, not just being an alcoholic." With that, Abby stopped and stepped away from the podium. Afraid she was going to cry, she walked quickly down the center aisle and out the exit, not even looking John in the face. As she pushed through the door though, and felt the cool breeze on her face, she turned around and realized he was standing right behind her.

"Why didn't you tell me?" John asked angrily.

"I just found out right before you picked me up."

"That's what was bothering you. I can't believe you just sat there and didn't tell me."

"Why do you care so much? What does it matter to you?"

"I'm your friend. I want to support you. I don't want you to have to go through things by yourself because I know what might happen if you do."

"I'm not going to start drinking again."

"You almost did. Last night, in fact." Carter said, matter of factly. Abby just shook her head and started walking away. "I'm not going to watch you do this to yourself. You've gone through too much to have yourself fall apart like this."

"I'm not falling apart. I have never fallen apart before and I will not fall apart now." Abby said, trying to be strong.

"Tell that to yourself one more time, Abby, see if you really believe it. Because I think if you look hard enough you'll see what I see, that you're just lying to yourself to get over your pain. Everything you said inside there you just forgot about as you walked through the door. You deserve everything in the world, but you're holding yourself back because you don't want to get hurt again and be held to your pain. Life is about taking chances, you should know that by now." By this time, Carter had caught up with Abby and whipped her around to make her face him, even though she refused to look directly at him.

"What gives you the right to talk to me like this?" Abby whispered.

"Because I love you and you know it, but you're afraid of what that means." John said, looking at Abby and lifting her chin with his hand to make her look him in the face.

"Why me? Go find yourself some young skinny blonde."

"Because I wouldn't be happy with some young skinny blonde. You're the only person I'd be happy with." Carter said and smiled. Slowly, Abby started to smile too and suddenly she felt herself being drawn to John. They both leaned in at the same time and gently at first, began to kiss. As soon as they touched, they both felt a bolt of electricity rip through their bodies. They broke apart and Abby smiled once again and wrapped her arms around John's neck and pressed her lips to his again. When they broke apart a second time, John was the first to speak.

"Well I must say it's about time we did that."

"Thank you."

"For what?"

"For making me realize I'm not as alone as I thought I was." Abby said and smiled and kissed Carter again.

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