Chapter Twenty One - Wonderful Tonight

8pm - Carter Residence

"Honey - Where'd you put my tool box?!" Called Carter as he searched through the garage which was full of empty boxes and various garbage bags, all full of pointless items neither one of them could part with in the move.

"On the second shelf!" She called from the kitchen.

"What shelf?!" He shouted.

"By the door!"

"Where?!" He shouted again, feeling frustrated as he still couldn't find it.

"God do I have to find everything?" Abby silently muttered as she went to the side garage door which was attached to the kitchen. "There." She said confidently as she grabbed it off the shelf and placed it in his hands.

"Thank you." He said graciously and proceeded to search through it.

"Why do you want it anyway?!"

"The wardrobe door in our bedroom is broken."

"Can't you leave it till the weekend?"

"No cos it squeaks when it opens."

"So?"

"It keeps swinging open and shut by itself."

"John I don't think it's a good idea for you to fix it."

"Why not?!"

"Cos you're crap at DIY."

"Oh thanks! If this is the thanks I get for fixing stuff I won't bother next time!"

"I'd prefer it if you kept to medicine." She laughed and walked out back to the meal she was cooking in the kitchen.

He was stunned but it was kinda funny, and she was right, he was crap at DIY. Well the door wasn't gonna be fixed any other way so he decided to have a go regardless of the fact that he was crap. He carried his toolbox upstairs and began surgery on the door. Abby meanwhile was cooking her favourite, casserole. She went to watch some TV while it was cooking, when she began to smell burning coming from the kitchen. She got up quickly and ran into the kitchen to see smoke coming from the pot on the stove.

"Shit!" She remarked as she walked to the black pot. "Dammit!" She exclaimed as she shook her hand away as she touched the boiling hot surface. "Good goin' Abby." She muttered to herself as she sighed and lifted the pot to pour the contents down the waste sink. "Now what are we gonna eat?"

She looked around the room with her hands on hers hips looking frustrated. She spotted a take away menu on the side with a note on top. She walked over and picked up the note which read:

'How's the cooking going? Mine's a large with extra pepperoni.'

She laughed at the note, Damn him! She sighed, even though he was right she was still a bit pissed off that he knew she couldn't cook. She walked to the wall and picked up the receiver. She dialled the number on the leaflet and waited for an answer.

"Yeah hi, can I order a pizza to be delivered? Yeah. I'll have one large pepperoni with extra pepperoni, and a large cheese pizza. 105 Severn Drive. It's the big one at the end. Okay bye."

She replaced the receiver and pinned the leaflet on the pin board next to the phone. She figured they'd be using it again pretty soon. She didn't know why she'd ordered a large, she never finished them. They were so big it would take her 2 days to finish. Oh well, Carter can finish it. Just then he came into the kitchen with goggles on and a hammer in his hand.

"Oh my God! You look ridiculous!" She laughed as he stood in the door covered in sawdust.

"Ha ha. I couldn't do it."

"What?" She asked. Then she realised. "I told you! Leave it to the experts!"

"I almost did."

"Yeah sure."

"But now the doors' come off."

"Off what?!"

"The wall."

"John! So we have no door now?"

"No."

"Great."

"Well at least it doesn't creak anymore!"

"There's gonna be a huge draft now!"

"It's okay, I'll be there to keep you warm!"

"You might be sleepin' on the couch if you go on like this!" She exclaimed.

"I'm sorry! It wasn't my fault the door was a bad one!"

"You broke it!"

"I resent that!"

Abby rolled her eyes and walked over to the counter, lifting herself up onto it and curling over looking at the floor. Carter took off the goggles and walked over to her. She sighed and looked away, looking out the window at the now full moon that had appeared. He put his hands on her thighs but she still looked away. He lifted one hand to her face and shifted it gently to face him. She looked a little sad, and he tried to make her feel better with that look he was so good at giving.

"I'm sorry Abby. I should have listened to you. No more DIY I promise." He said quietly.

"Forget it Carter."

"You okay?"

"Yeah. I just wanted this night to be perfect."

"It will be trust me." He reassured her once again.

She lifted her eyes from the floor and stared deep into his eyes. A small smile was apparent on his lips as he moved a strand of hair from her face and tucked it behind her ear.

"Now, what's for dinner?" He said sarcastically after kissing her nose gently.

"Very funny John."

"What?"

"You knew it would burn!"

"I can't help it if your cooking sucks!"

"And yours is any better is it?!"

"Well I can't beat you on that but it does suck."

"It does not!"

"Does too. Big time."

"Well lucky for you I took the initiative of ordering pizza."

"Yeah only cos I left it out for you!"

"Yeah but I could have ignored it!"

"You could. Then you would have looked even more stupid."

He laughed a little and she tried to hide her giggle. He tucked another piece of hair behind her ear and wrapped his arms around her shoulders, hugging her tightly before kissing her neck behind her ear and whispering something to her as he continued his assault. She giggled and lulled her head back wanting him to carry on. They carried on for a while until the doorbell went.

"Ahh." Sighed Carter as he pulled back unwillingly as Abby jumped off the counter and grabbed her purse.

She fumbled through it to find a dollar and some gum in a tissue.

"I haven't got any money." She said flatly, slamming her purse down on the side.

"Here." He said handing her a twenty and kissing the top of her head.

"Thanks." She said before turning to answer the door.

He sauntered off to the garage, toolbox in hand to put it back to its place on the shelf. It would probably stay there now and collect more dust like it had in his apartment. Abby walked silently to the door and turned the handle to open the door. It was stuck a little so she had to tug it a bit to shift it.

"Damn thing!" She muttered.

The handle eventually gave way after a few hard tugs and the door swung open to reveal somebody she wasn't expecting.

"Abigail. How nice to see you. I'm sorry to interrupt you on your first night at home but I must see John. It's urgent."

"What's wrong?"

"I really must see John. Is he home?"

"Of course. Please come in."

Abby opened the door more so the visitor could walk through, and showed her into the kitchen.

"Did you get the.." Carter cut off as he walked into the kitchen to see the woman standing next to Abby.