A/N: Here's Chapter 5 or "When Abby met Ali" (sorry - couldn't resist!!).
Thank you, thank you one and all for the reviews & input and the verdict is
in. Cam can come back - but how he does I haven't decided quite yet. Oh
and to all you observant people who realized that Alison was not drugged in
CS - very good catch but I thought it was obvious that the poor girl has
the flu. :) Haven't y'all ever been sick?? If it's something else I guess
you'll have to wait and see. ;) Enjoy! xox-G
Chapter Five
It had been three days since she'd found the ring and lost Cameron again. She hid the ring deep inside her luggage, she was sure that no one would find it. It worried her to keep it from Rafe, but she had to figure out what to do first. She pushed the thoughts aside for the moment. The good news was Lucy was home and better than ever. Abby had thought Lucy was a bundle of energy before - the fact was that she had been ill at the time astounded Abby. Now that she was well - Lucy was like a little kid let loose in a candy store. She acted like she was running on a sugar high that lasted a week.
Though her mind wandered a bit here and there was one thing really concerning her today. She was going to meet Alison.
They would have met days ago but Lucy had been so sick and Alison had been through so much it had taken a bit of time for everyone to focus enough to make plans. Abby knew it shouldn't but the fact that she was about to meet her scared her to death.
From the other side of the room, Lucy looked over at Abby, seeing for herself for the first time how much like Alison she was.
For the past ten minutes all Abby did was pace back and forth. It was making Lucy crazy.
"You know, if you keep this up, I'm going to need a new carpet." She said with a smile.
"I'm sorry. I'm just so nervous. Lucy, what if she hates me?" Abby asked and continued to pace.
"Abby. Stop. You're being ridiculous." Lucy grabbed a hold of her to keep her still.
Abby stared at her shoes as she admitted, "I just - I just want her to like me."
"Well I'm sure she won't like you. I'm sure she will absolutely love you, you silly goose!! You know, Rafe already adores you. And of course so do Ian and I."
"Really?" Abby asked, unable to believe any of it was true.
"Really. Now c'mon. Relax. Sit down. They'll be here any minute."
***********
Alison stopped a few feet away from Lucy's door. Rafe continued on ahead, and then suddenly realized he'd left her behind. He turned around to look at her.
She was white as a ghost.
"What's wrong? Are you OK? I thought you said you felt better."
"I do." She said unconvincingly.
"I should have made you stay in bed." Rafe held her face in his hands and looked into her eyes. "You can meet Abby tomorrow. C'mon. Let's get you home."
"No. Rafe. It's OK. I don't want to wait - I've waited long enough."
"Alison - she's not going anywhere. She'll still be here tomorrow. You need to go back to bed. I'm really worried about you." He smoothed her hair back from her face, his voice full of concern.
Alison didn't want to admit it to Rafe but she was getting worried herself. She was rarely ever sick, but this bug just wouldn't go away. It had been almost 3 days since she'd first been ill and she still didn't feel quite right. She really should go to the doctor, but not today. Today, she had more important things to do.
Alison pushed her worry aside as her thoughts turned back to Abby. "I'm fine - really. But - Rafe? What if she doesn't like me?" She looked up at him sadly.
"You're serious?" He asked, shocked by her question.
Her eyes were filled with worry. "Yes. I'm serious. Rafe, she might hate me."
"Hate you? Who could hate you? That's not possible." He pushed her hair behind her ear as he spoke to her.
"Livvie hates me." She said simply.
"Yeah - well. Livvie's psychotic."
Alison couldn't help but grin. "That's true."
"Alison. Listen to me. Abby loves you already. Look what she's done. She helped me find you, she told me about that crazy, insane, screwed up idea you had to save my life."
"Rafe." Alison warned. "Please. Don't start with me."
He still would never let her take such a chance again. He didn't need to tell her that now, though. He'd deal with it when the time came.
"OK, OK I won't - for now. But, listen to me. What I'm trying to say is, relax. She's fantastic. She's almost as incredible as you." Rafe said as he leaned in to kiss her. "And she will love you."
Alison took a deep breath and reached for Rafe's hand. "OK." She said with a sigh, "Here we go."
Rafe reached up to knock on the door. With a last quick look at Abby who had turned away nervously as soon as she heard the knock, Lucy threw the door open wide.
"Hi Cousin!" She said giving Rafe a quick hug. Lucy pulled away to look at Alison. "Hey you." She said as she pulled her close. "I'm so glad you're OK."
"Me too." Alison replied, her voice shaking with nerves. "and I'm glad you're OK, Lucy. I was worried about you." She reached for Rafe's hand again. He linked his fingers with hers and brought her hand to his lips for a quick kiss, trying his best to calm her down a bit. She looked up at him, with fear written all over her face. "It's OK." He whispered.
The temptation to look over was more than Abby could bear. She turned towards the door and her eyes met Alison's.
"Hi." Abby said softly, and raised her hand to sort of give a wave, feeling like a complete idiot. That's great, Abs. She thought to herself, looking down at her feet again. Surely you could think of something more to say.
Alison took a deep breath and let go of Rafe's hand, not really believing her eyes. There was no doubt that this was her sister. She looked so much like her. "Hi." She replied, waving back. She moved to take a few steps toward her, but then stopped.
Rafe and Lucy looked on and grinned. As they watched, Lucy could see neither one of the two girls knew exactly what to do, so she decided to jump in. "Abby. I'm sure you know this is Alison. Alison, meet your sister, Abby."
"Hi." They both said at the same time, still standing still.
Rafe almost laughed at the picture in front of him. Lucy figured there was only one thing left to do. She slipped her arm through Rafe's and said, "OK. You two. You know what? I haven't spent nearly enough time with my cousin here in ages, so we're going to go out for a bit and let you chat. I'm sure there's a million things you want to talk about."
Panicking, Alison turned to look at Rafe, her eyes wide. Abby gave the same exact look to Lucy.
Ignoring them both, Lucy turned to Rafe, "So, shall we?" He nodded, but moved away and walked over to Alison.
Rafe leaned down to kiss her softly. "Relax. Have fun." He said, running his hand over her hair. "See you later Abby," he said as he pulled away.
"Yeah, OK. Later." Abby nervously replied. In seconds, Rafe and Lucy disappeared out the door.
As she watched them go, Alison brought her hand to her mouth, trying to resist the temptation to chew on her nails. She turned back to Abby and gave her a weak smile.
Abby decided to say the first thing she could think of. "He really loves you."
Alison's smile grew. It was so much easier to talk about Rafe than herself. "That's true. He does. I'm very lucky."
"Are you sure about that? He's also got to be the most stubborn man I've ever met." Abby grinned back.
Alison laughed, then. "That's true too. But I'm sure, I'm incredibly lucky."
It was getting easier to talk every second. "I know we have a lot to talk about, but first, I have to thank you, Abby." Alison continued.
"Stop. That's OK." Abby looked down as she answered.
Alison walked over and took Abby's hand causing her to look up. "No. I do. Rafe told me what you did. You helped save me, and even more than that, you helped Rafe. He doesn't let people do that very much. The fact that he trusted you - that's pretty amazing in itself."
"Well. Let me tell you, it wasn't easy." Abby grinned.
Laughing again, Alison replied, "I'm sure it wasn't.
"I've got a million questions for you. I don't know where to start." Alison said as she moved to sit on the couch. "Rafe told me of the gift you have, and that you can see things before they happen. You already know so much about me."
"So I guess I should tell you about me then." Abby smiled, suddenly very at ease talking to her. She sat down on the other end of the couch. "Let's see. I grew up in Colorado. It was just me, and my mom. I never knew my father - I mean, our father."
"Well, there's the first thing we have in common. I barely knew him myself." Alison said sadly.
Abby knew that already too. "But my, mom. She was amazing. She and I were a team."
"Well, my mother - I guess you could call her amazing, though probably not the same way you mean." Alison was furious at Elizabeth for knowing about Abby all along and never telling her but at least she still had a mother here with her. Abby spoke about her own mother in the past tense. "You mother, she's gone now?" Alison asked.
"It was a horrible accident. She was hiking and well, the edge of the trail.." Abby's eyes started to fill with tears.
"Abby - it's OK. You don't have to tell me. I don't want to make you sad."
Abby brought her hand to her face and wiped at the tears on her cheek. As she did Alison noticed the ring on her finger.
"Wow, what a beautiful ring," Alison took Abby's hand.
The tears Abby was holding back started to fall again. She couldn't speak.
"Abby?" Alison didn't mean to make her so upset. "I'm sorry. Are you OK?"
Abby took a deep breath - suddenly realizing - if anyone would understand how she felt - it would be her sister.
"You won't believe this." Abby sniffled as she looked at Alison.
"Oh - I think I might. You've seen what goes on here." Alison squeezed Abby's hand.
"True." Abby smiled through her tears and continued. "I've worn this ring every single day since Cameron died four years ago. He was going to ask me that night. They found the ring near the car and someone gave it to me. Up until a few days ago, I wore it on a chain around my neck."
"OK, and." Alison urged Abby to keep going, her heart breaking for her sister as she did.
"When Rafe killed Joshua, I was there. I saw you drop to the ground and I was sure, that just like everyone else that mattered to me, I didn't help save you. So I ran, as far and as fast as I could - until I was crying too much to see where I was going."
Alison's own eyes filled with tears. Abby was incredible. They had never even met and she felt responsible for saving her and was right there when it happened. Simply saying "Thank you" no longer seemed like enough.
Abby took a deep breath. "And then, I looked up and he was standing there."
"Who was there?"
Abby sighed. "Cameron."
"Really?" Alison knew exactly what Abby was saying now.
"I couldn't believe it. I thought I was dreaming - but he was. He was there, I could hear him and feel him and I was so incredibly happy I didn't know what to do."
"I know exactly what you mean. You're afraid to open your eyes, in case you're dreaming. You're almost afraid to breathe." Alison sighed. She'd felt that way herself, far too many times to count.
"Yes." Abby went on, "It was amazing. We talked about everything, we said everything we ever wanted to say to each other, and when he realized I'd been wearing this ring since he left, he took it off the chain and put it on my finger."
"Oh my God." Alison was so excited. This was incredible.
"And then" Abby sighed, "He told me I had to move on."
"What?" Alison asked, confused.
"Exactly. I told him, no - that I knew he could stay with me, but he insisted he couldn't. So, even though I didn't want to I promised him I'd try. Before I knew it, he was gone."
Alison was completely amazed. Not only did she have a sister, who was incredibly sweet and funny and nice, but it seemed Abby was in love with a man who was as stubborn an "angel" as the one she called her own.
"OK." Alison grinned as she looked into her sister's eyes, which, she noticed then, were nearly identical to her own. She knew now how she could start to thank Abby for her part in saving her.
"Well. It seems we have some work to do."
"What?" Abby was the one confused now.
Alison's mind was spinning as she hatched a plan. It was so good to concentrate on something positive for once. Her grin grew wider. "You just leave it to me."
Chapter Five
It had been three days since she'd found the ring and lost Cameron again. She hid the ring deep inside her luggage, she was sure that no one would find it. It worried her to keep it from Rafe, but she had to figure out what to do first. She pushed the thoughts aside for the moment. The good news was Lucy was home and better than ever. Abby had thought Lucy was a bundle of energy before - the fact was that she had been ill at the time astounded Abby. Now that she was well - Lucy was like a little kid let loose in a candy store. She acted like she was running on a sugar high that lasted a week.
Though her mind wandered a bit here and there was one thing really concerning her today. She was going to meet Alison.
They would have met days ago but Lucy had been so sick and Alison had been through so much it had taken a bit of time for everyone to focus enough to make plans. Abby knew it shouldn't but the fact that she was about to meet her scared her to death.
From the other side of the room, Lucy looked over at Abby, seeing for herself for the first time how much like Alison she was.
For the past ten minutes all Abby did was pace back and forth. It was making Lucy crazy.
"You know, if you keep this up, I'm going to need a new carpet." She said with a smile.
"I'm sorry. I'm just so nervous. Lucy, what if she hates me?" Abby asked and continued to pace.
"Abby. Stop. You're being ridiculous." Lucy grabbed a hold of her to keep her still.
Abby stared at her shoes as she admitted, "I just - I just want her to like me."
"Well I'm sure she won't like you. I'm sure she will absolutely love you, you silly goose!! You know, Rafe already adores you. And of course so do Ian and I."
"Really?" Abby asked, unable to believe any of it was true.
"Really. Now c'mon. Relax. Sit down. They'll be here any minute."
***********
Alison stopped a few feet away from Lucy's door. Rafe continued on ahead, and then suddenly realized he'd left her behind. He turned around to look at her.
She was white as a ghost.
"What's wrong? Are you OK? I thought you said you felt better."
"I do." She said unconvincingly.
"I should have made you stay in bed." Rafe held her face in his hands and looked into her eyes. "You can meet Abby tomorrow. C'mon. Let's get you home."
"No. Rafe. It's OK. I don't want to wait - I've waited long enough."
"Alison - she's not going anywhere. She'll still be here tomorrow. You need to go back to bed. I'm really worried about you." He smoothed her hair back from her face, his voice full of concern.
Alison didn't want to admit it to Rafe but she was getting worried herself. She was rarely ever sick, but this bug just wouldn't go away. It had been almost 3 days since she'd first been ill and she still didn't feel quite right. She really should go to the doctor, but not today. Today, she had more important things to do.
Alison pushed her worry aside as her thoughts turned back to Abby. "I'm fine - really. But - Rafe? What if she doesn't like me?" She looked up at him sadly.
"You're serious?" He asked, shocked by her question.
Her eyes were filled with worry. "Yes. I'm serious. Rafe, she might hate me."
"Hate you? Who could hate you? That's not possible." He pushed her hair behind her ear as he spoke to her.
"Livvie hates me." She said simply.
"Yeah - well. Livvie's psychotic."
Alison couldn't help but grin. "That's true."
"Alison. Listen to me. Abby loves you already. Look what she's done. She helped me find you, she told me about that crazy, insane, screwed up idea you had to save my life."
"Rafe." Alison warned. "Please. Don't start with me."
He still would never let her take such a chance again. He didn't need to tell her that now, though. He'd deal with it when the time came.
"OK, OK I won't - for now. But, listen to me. What I'm trying to say is, relax. She's fantastic. She's almost as incredible as you." Rafe said as he leaned in to kiss her. "And she will love you."
Alison took a deep breath and reached for Rafe's hand. "OK." She said with a sigh, "Here we go."
Rafe reached up to knock on the door. With a last quick look at Abby who had turned away nervously as soon as she heard the knock, Lucy threw the door open wide.
"Hi Cousin!" She said giving Rafe a quick hug. Lucy pulled away to look at Alison. "Hey you." She said as she pulled her close. "I'm so glad you're OK."
"Me too." Alison replied, her voice shaking with nerves. "and I'm glad you're OK, Lucy. I was worried about you." She reached for Rafe's hand again. He linked his fingers with hers and brought her hand to his lips for a quick kiss, trying his best to calm her down a bit. She looked up at him, with fear written all over her face. "It's OK." He whispered.
The temptation to look over was more than Abby could bear. She turned towards the door and her eyes met Alison's.
"Hi." Abby said softly, and raised her hand to sort of give a wave, feeling like a complete idiot. That's great, Abs. She thought to herself, looking down at her feet again. Surely you could think of something more to say.
Alison took a deep breath and let go of Rafe's hand, not really believing her eyes. There was no doubt that this was her sister. She looked so much like her. "Hi." She replied, waving back. She moved to take a few steps toward her, but then stopped.
Rafe and Lucy looked on and grinned. As they watched, Lucy could see neither one of the two girls knew exactly what to do, so she decided to jump in. "Abby. I'm sure you know this is Alison. Alison, meet your sister, Abby."
"Hi." They both said at the same time, still standing still.
Rafe almost laughed at the picture in front of him. Lucy figured there was only one thing left to do. She slipped her arm through Rafe's and said, "OK. You two. You know what? I haven't spent nearly enough time with my cousin here in ages, so we're going to go out for a bit and let you chat. I'm sure there's a million things you want to talk about."
Panicking, Alison turned to look at Rafe, her eyes wide. Abby gave the same exact look to Lucy.
Ignoring them both, Lucy turned to Rafe, "So, shall we?" He nodded, but moved away and walked over to Alison.
Rafe leaned down to kiss her softly. "Relax. Have fun." He said, running his hand over her hair. "See you later Abby," he said as he pulled away.
"Yeah, OK. Later." Abby nervously replied. In seconds, Rafe and Lucy disappeared out the door.
As she watched them go, Alison brought her hand to her mouth, trying to resist the temptation to chew on her nails. She turned back to Abby and gave her a weak smile.
Abby decided to say the first thing she could think of. "He really loves you."
Alison's smile grew. It was so much easier to talk about Rafe than herself. "That's true. He does. I'm very lucky."
"Are you sure about that? He's also got to be the most stubborn man I've ever met." Abby grinned back.
Alison laughed, then. "That's true too. But I'm sure, I'm incredibly lucky."
It was getting easier to talk every second. "I know we have a lot to talk about, but first, I have to thank you, Abby." Alison continued.
"Stop. That's OK." Abby looked down as she answered.
Alison walked over and took Abby's hand causing her to look up. "No. I do. Rafe told me what you did. You helped save me, and even more than that, you helped Rafe. He doesn't let people do that very much. The fact that he trusted you - that's pretty amazing in itself."
"Well. Let me tell you, it wasn't easy." Abby grinned.
Laughing again, Alison replied, "I'm sure it wasn't.
"I've got a million questions for you. I don't know where to start." Alison said as she moved to sit on the couch. "Rafe told me of the gift you have, and that you can see things before they happen. You already know so much about me."
"So I guess I should tell you about me then." Abby smiled, suddenly very at ease talking to her. She sat down on the other end of the couch. "Let's see. I grew up in Colorado. It was just me, and my mom. I never knew my father - I mean, our father."
"Well, there's the first thing we have in common. I barely knew him myself." Alison said sadly.
Abby knew that already too. "But my, mom. She was amazing. She and I were a team."
"Well, my mother - I guess you could call her amazing, though probably not the same way you mean." Alison was furious at Elizabeth for knowing about Abby all along and never telling her but at least she still had a mother here with her. Abby spoke about her own mother in the past tense. "You mother, she's gone now?" Alison asked.
"It was a horrible accident. She was hiking and well, the edge of the trail.." Abby's eyes started to fill with tears.
"Abby - it's OK. You don't have to tell me. I don't want to make you sad."
Abby brought her hand to her face and wiped at the tears on her cheek. As she did Alison noticed the ring on her finger.
"Wow, what a beautiful ring," Alison took Abby's hand.
The tears Abby was holding back started to fall again. She couldn't speak.
"Abby?" Alison didn't mean to make her so upset. "I'm sorry. Are you OK?"
Abby took a deep breath - suddenly realizing - if anyone would understand how she felt - it would be her sister.
"You won't believe this." Abby sniffled as she looked at Alison.
"Oh - I think I might. You've seen what goes on here." Alison squeezed Abby's hand.
"True." Abby smiled through her tears and continued. "I've worn this ring every single day since Cameron died four years ago. He was going to ask me that night. They found the ring near the car and someone gave it to me. Up until a few days ago, I wore it on a chain around my neck."
"OK, and." Alison urged Abby to keep going, her heart breaking for her sister as she did.
"When Rafe killed Joshua, I was there. I saw you drop to the ground and I was sure, that just like everyone else that mattered to me, I didn't help save you. So I ran, as far and as fast as I could - until I was crying too much to see where I was going."
Alison's own eyes filled with tears. Abby was incredible. They had never even met and she felt responsible for saving her and was right there when it happened. Simply saying "Thank you" no longer seemed like enough.
Abby took a deep breath. "And then, I looked up and he was standing there."
"Who was there?"
Abby sighed. "Cameron."
"Really?" Alison knew exactly what Abby was saying now.
"I couldn't believe it. I thought I was dreaming - but he was. He was there, I could hear him and feel him and I was so incredibly happy I didn't know what to do."
"I know exactly what you mean. You're afraid to open your eyes, in case you're dreaming. You're almost afraid to breathe." Alison sighed. She'd felt that way herself, far too many times to count.
"Yes." Abby went on, "It was amazing. We talked about everything, we said everything we ever wanted to say to each other, and when he realized I'd been wearing this ring since he left, he took it off the chain and put it on my finger."
"Oh my God." Alison was so excited. This was incredible.
"And then" Abby sighed, "He told me I had to move on."
"What?" Alison asked, confused.
"Exactly. I told him, no - that I knew he could stay with me, but he insisted he couldn't. So, even though I didn't want to I promised him I'd try. Before I knew it, he was gone."
Alison was completely amazed. Not only did she have a sister, who was incredibly sweet and funny and nice, but it seemed Abby was in love with a man who was as stubborn an "angel" as the one she called her own.
"OK." Alison grinned as she looked into her sister's eyes, which, she noticed then, were nearly identical to her own. She knew now how she could start to thank Abby for her part in saving her.
"Well. It seems we have some work to do."
"What?" Abby was the one confused now.
Alison's mind was spinning as she hatched a plan. It was so good to concentrate on something positive for once. Her grin grew wider. "You just leave it to me."