II

Dating; it was a whole new world.

Jed's romantic experience, prior to his now aborted decision to join the church, had been limited to the early teen version that seemed to mostly consist of hand-holding, possessive declarations and giggling in corners. An all-boys school under his father's eye had hardly been conducive to opportunities for girl-chasing, and to be honest he hadn't tried that hard. He'd never imagined there could be someone out there who was honestly right for him, so to have the perfect girl dumped unexpectedly in his lap was definitely a surprise.

Dating Abbey, then, was completely different to any relationship he'd found himself in before. There was no awkward shuffling of terminology and boundaries, anxious discussions over who'd done what and who'd said what and what it was supposed to mean. They just... were themselves. It was a scary, heady, wonderful feeling, like falling forward into the unknown.

He and Abbey had been spending time together for months, but now it was a conscious thing, an important thing. Even just hanging out together like they always had felt different. Whether they were watching a movie or killing time in the bookstore reference section, eating in a restaurant or arguing newspaper headlines over cookies in the kitchen, his heart would always jolt in exactly the same way.

And then there was the kissing. He was fairly positive that by this stage they were getting quite good at it, but still, they should probably practise as long and as often as possible, just to make sure.

His roommates and classmates might brag enthusiastically of their conquests and what base they'd got to with a random blonde they'd snagged the night before, but just being in the same room as Abbey was enough to get his head swimming. Even if their current state of affairs just continued forever, he thought he'd be thanking God for it for the rest of his life.

Of course, forever had a nasty way of running out.

"I have to go home for spring break," he told her miserably, after it became increasingly clear that his tactic of ignoring it in the hope it wouldn't come was somewhat ineffectual. His father had ordered him home in no uncertain terms; apparently, Jed's shifting class roster and the shock news he'd acquired a girlfriend was enough to convince his father he was leading some hedonistic lifestyle of skipped classes and promiscuity.

Abbey offered a commiserating smile. She didn't know much about his relationship with his father, except that it was bad... but really, what else was there to know? "I wish I could go with you." She squeezed his hand.

Jed snorted faintly. "I don't think your parents would approve of that, somehow."

She snuggled closer against his shoulder. "Ah, they like you," she shrugged.

"Crazy people."

"Yeah." Abbey planted a little kiss on the side of his neck, which proved to be somewhat distracting. "When do you have go?" she mumbled into his shoulder.

"Too soon," he said, with feeling.

"Write me?"

"Every day," he promised, and meant it. "And I'll call, when I can." He buried his face against her hair, bereft at the thought of being deprived of this contact for days... weeks. "Maybe I can come back early."

It wasn't as if his father actually wanted him around, anyway.

"If that girl's face gets any longer, she'll be dragging her chin on the floor," Daniel observed to his wife.

"Missing her man," Mary noted dryly, but there was a serious point underneath it.

"Yes... those two do seem to have become surgically sutured together in a remarkably short period of time. I swear, half the time I have to lever the two of them apart with a crowbar."

She swatted his shoulder. "He's a good boy, and your daughter's a sensible girl. You leave well enough alone."

Daniel growled good-naturedly, but conceded the point. "Ah, well, he's a couple of states away now. That seems like just the right distance to me."

"Daniel Barrington, must you glorify in your daughter's misery?"

He sighed, and sat down. "She really is missing him, isn't she?"

"The two of them are inseparable," Mary agreed. "No doubt the poor boy's suffering just as badly out there in New Hampshire."

"Probably worse," said Daniel darkly. He hadn't forgotten the evidence of brutal bruising he'd seen on Jed's back when he returned from his last visit home. The boy had tried to deny it, but it was obvious he'd been violently beaten... and just as obvious who the perpetrator must be.

As a doctor, Daniel knew better than to consider such a 'punishment' acceptable no matter what the crime, but his every experience of Jed had suggested he was as polite, respectful and obedient a boy as you could wish. It was difficult to imagine his behaviour giving even the most irrational mind sufficient reason to deliver such a beating. He only ever grew forceful in speech and manner when he was fired up about one of his pet issues - of which he had many.

Grumble as he did, Daniel had to admit that Jed and his daughter were really quite two of a kind. They both had a passion for putting the world to rights that could keep them arguing the driest issues of history, religion and politics for hours on end. He sensed that Abbey and her young man would never have the problem of running out of things to talk about.

Apparently, though, not getting to talk to each other might be more of an issue.

"It's a shame," Mary said sadly. "It would have been nice to have him here again for the holidays. He's such a lovely boy..."

"Ah, but Matthew will be home in a few days," he reminded her. "I doubt he'd welcome bunking up with a complete stranger."

"I'm sure Abigail wouldn't mind the company," she said slyly, and chuckled aloud at his disgruntled expression.

"Quite," he said icily, and let his breath out in a sigh. "Anyway, it's hardly up to us. He's in New Hampshire, and we can scarcely drag him back just because our daughter misses him." He rubbed his forehead. "It's less than a month, it won't kill either of them. And Abbey's bound to cheer up once Matthew gets home."

He hoped.

"I'm back! Mom, dad, are you home?" Matthew Barrington bounded cheerfully into the family home, and grinned as he saw his little sister poring over one of her hefty medical books at the table. "Hey there, squirt."

He crossed over to ruffle her hair, knowing how much she hated that. She punched him in the arm, but it seemed only a half-hearted shadow of her usual vehemence.

"Hey, what's with you?" Matt demanded, pretending to be injured. "Not happy to see your prodigal older brother?"

"It's a real thrill," she said dryly, not looking up. He peered over her shoulder.

"Oh, so diagrams of... the oesophagus are what you kids are looking at for fun these days? Why aren't you off painting the town red with Ronnie, hmm?"

"Well, firstly 'cause his name's Ron, not Ronnie, and secondly 'cause we broke up."

"You broke up?" Matt's eyebrows shot up. Ron Ehrlich was an old schoolfriend of his, and last time he'd been around, he and little sis had been quite the cutesy couple. He presumed this breakup was the reason for the moping. "How come?"

Abbey shrugged minutely. "We just... talked about some stuff, and we decided that we didn't really fit together anymore."

Matt frowned in bemusement as he grabbed himself a drink from the kitchen. "Oh, come on, what kind of reason is that?"

She gave him a sharp look. "A good one?"

He slumped casually into the chair across from her. "No it isn't. Come on, what really happened? Did he dump you?"

"Nothing! And no, he didn't dump me. It was a mutual decision."

Matt snorted in disbelief. "A mutual decision? What the hell is that? You just both walked up to each other one day and said 'Oh, hey, changed my mind' and that was that?"

"Pretty much," Abbey agreed shortly, flipping another page.

"Yeah, right. He got a new girl?" he queried sharply.

Abbey shrugged. If it was a facade, it was a good one, but then he'd expect no less from his devious little sister. "Don't know. We haven't really kept touch."

She didn't sound like crazy stalker rejected girlfriend, so he tried the other possibility. "Oh, so you got yourself another man?"

Bingo! She hesitated a beat too long before answering him. "I have another boyfriend now, yeah," she said, in her best 'wanna make something of it?' voice.

Other men might have cut and run at the sound of that tone, but hey, he was big brother, and he knew no fear.

Well, at least since she'd grown out of biting, anyway.

"Oh, c'mon, Abs, you and Ron had it made!" he protested. "You're just gonna throw him over for the first flash new guy who comes along? What is he, captain of the basketball team? Got his own sports car?" He would never have put Abbey down for the type to be so fickle, but, well... girls. Crazy, the lot of them. He knew Ron, he was a cool guy; why would Abbey throw him over unless it was for some dumb pretty-boy who'd come along and dazzled her eyes?

Abbey gave him an icy look that she'd borrowed and perfected from both of their parents. "Firstly, I did not throw Ron over for anybody, we just split up. Secondly, no, he's not a super-jock, and he doesn't have a flash car. His name is Jed, and he's not some stupid rebound guy, he's totally smart - way smarter than you - and really fun to be around."

Matt snorted and picked up his suitcases. "Whatever," he tossed over his shoulder. Abbey was so obviously dazzled by this Jed guy, whoever he was, who'd probably waltzed in all flashy and fake cool and lured her away from nice guy Ron. Well, if this guy thought he could get some kind of easy score with his little sister, he was in for a rude awakening.

Matt resolved to meet this Jed at the earliest opportunity... and put the fear of God into him. Or at least, the fear of a very protective big brother.