Wahey for Ollie!
And for the reviewers, diligently reviewing your little hearts out!
PENULTIMATE CHAPTER!
But first, obviously, thank you all of these people:
Mrs. Rhett Butler, carbytothecore, Shadow Spade, starbright, striker20, Kathryntally, gotluka'scookies, Angel Dust, maura, Dracula5555, Hibbs, britgirl2003, Trapped in a Matchbox, Emily, LittleCoffeeAddict, Sampa-girl, loocy, mandi, hyperpiper91 and DragonflyFaith!
Read on – Read on
There may just be a sequel
Maybe
But for now:
Enjoy! Love LJ xXx
Beyond All Of Everything. Chapter Twenty-Three. Lost Time
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o SUMMARY OF CHAPTER 22: Ollie calls the police and has Richard arrested – you gotta love the little guy.
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"I heard you and John talking about it last night." Ollie tells her, earnestly. "But it's okay; it's over now, Mom."
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As soon as Eric, Abby and Ollie emerge from the back corridors, Susan rushes to her with bright, anxious eyes.
"Oh Abby…" is all she can manage to say. Abby was so very good at hiding her traumatic home life from them all that this had come as a huge, unimaginable shock.
"You okay, Eric?" Carter murmurs to Abby's brother who's looking quite pale.
"Yeah," he answers. "The guy's gonna get what he deserves, I guess." Carter smiles at him.
"Really want to beat him up, though," Carter comments. Eric laughs.
"How did you know?" he says with a grin.
Now they all sit in Carter's living room – inviting them all back for a spontaneous dinner isn't so hard when you have three kitchen staff. It is past ten o'clock and it has been a tiring day for six-year old Oliver Elliot Lockhart; he lies on one of Carter's many comfortable sofas and has long since fallen into a happy sleep. The four adults sit around a table with endless supplies of coffee continuously being brought to them while Abby finally, gladly, explains everything.
"You know, I would've thought that, after everything with Mom and growing up and stuff," Abby says, mainly to Eric who nods and offers a smile. "I would've thought that I'd never take any crap from anybody. I thought I wouldn't stand for anything like that."
"Well, you won't have to anymore. He has nothing to hold against you," Eric murmurs. "And I'm gonna stay here in Chicago anyway – I'd like to see my sister and my nephew a whole lot more."
"Yeah, I'd like that," Abby smiles. A silence fills the room although it isn't awkward or empty. Ollie mumbles something in his sleep and Eric chuckles.
"Hey, well we'd better be going," he gets up with Susan and hugs his sister. "I'll see you sometime – thanks for dinner, John."
As the goodbyes are said and the pair walk out Abby can't help but notice Eric unconsciously slipping his hand into Susan's. She looks to John in the quiet room and now it's her turn to ask:
"So what now?"
Carter gently lays the sleeping boy onto the same bed he slept on last time and both he and Abby slip out of the room, shutting the door behind them.
"Where do you want to sleep?" he asks and she looks at him with raised eyebrows.
"Got any other spare rooms?" she shrugs and he leads her to another room with another bed, opening the door for her with a slightly let down expression.
"Goodnight then," he says and Abby kisses him.
"Goodnight," she replies. They pause in the doorway, the same old confusion over rules causing second thoughts again. Then, Abby reaches her hand up and cups the side of his face with perfect grace, guiding his lips to hers. Carter kisses her again and again but as his hands move down her body, she freezes with a sort of defensive rigidity. He stops and looks at her to find a fearful pain glazed over her brown eyes. He strokes her face softly and she leans her head on his shoulder, closing her eyes. She breathes deeply and inconsistently, ancient memories and memories of not so long ago – both the same – wrack her body with terror. Her heart is pounding; even Carter can feel it and a dizzy, sick feeling slips down her throat.
"I'm not going to hurt you," he whispers into her ear. He runs a hand through her hair, down her back and promises again: "I'm not going to hurt you, Abby."
She looks at him, uncertainly. A surge of fury floods him, anger at Richard and all that he's done to her forcing her to recall these harrowing memories with everything she does, but he fights it back and offers her a slight smile.
"You know that, right?" he murmurs, staring into her vacant eyes in sincerity. "I would never, never hurt you, Abby."
After a moment, she nods slightly and chews her lower lip.
"Everything – at the beginning – and we fought – I said some things – I didn't – I mean – I was only trying to – " she finds her voice in the darkness and struggles to put everything into words.
"You know what?" Carter interjects as her forehead creases with a confused frown. "Let's start over, shall we?"
Abby takes a breath, eventually letting herself smile and it is her who slips her hands under his shirt and finally leads him deeper into the dimly-lit bedroom.
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