A/N: Hey everybody. I'm soooo sorry it took me so long to update, especially after all your wonderful reviews, but I got some bad news about a friend and I just couldn't focus. But I'm back. I'm still not sure where I'm going with this story.. Abby/Jake Abby/Carter, it can all happen.. for now it's Abby/Jake. But I've decided I just want Abby to be happy, so it can all change.. I hope for now that you like this chapter. I wrote it in a hurry, because I felt really bad for not posting all this time. I'm working on the next chapter already, so it'll probably be up sometime this week. Let me know what you think. I need reviews to continue!

Listen to your heart

Chapter two: Awkward on ice

'Ouch!' I say, as I fall once again. It's all I've been doing for the past 30 minutes. Why did I agree to go ice-skating again?

'Give me your hand, I'll help you up' I hear a voice say. Owh yeah, that's why: Jake persuaded me. I knew that it was a stupid idea but I agreed non the less. Now, about twenty falls later, I wonder why. I extend my hand and he pulls me up. I look at his smiling face and smile back at him, just a little bit embarrassed. How come he hasn't fallen since we've been here? It's not fair.

'Come on, keep trying. I'm sure you like it when you… don't fall down all the time' he says.

'I doubt it' I mumble, but he hears me anyway.

'Owh now, come on! It's really fun. Here, give me your hand and I'll hold you up' I look at him and raise my eyebrows. He just laughs. 'If you want I can get a chair for you to hold you up, like those kids over there' he says mockingly, pointing to a couple of toddlers a few meters away. 'Just what you prefer' he adds with a wink. I give him a 'don't-mock-me' look, but I can't keep it up for long and smile at him. 'Fine' I say, and he grabs my hand. Together we skate and it's going pretty well. Mainly because he's holding me up, otherwise I'm sure I would've fallen already. I don't know what it is with us and hands. It's how this whole thing between us started and right now it's the only thing keeping me up. Kind of symbolic, don't you think?

'Okay, ready to try it on your own again?' he asks me, making me feel a little stupid. I'm a grown up woman. I should be able to skate by myself. However, I don't think it's gonna happen today. But I don't want to disappoint him, so I take a deep breath and nod.

'Sure, why not?' I say. I can feel him let go of my hand and prepare myself for the worst. But, hey! This is actually going quite well. I'm skating, not falling! Well, that's a first today. I look at Jake next to me; he's smiling. I know that it's probably very stupid, but seeing him smile like that, makes me want to smile too. The time I've spent with him the last three weeks have been great. It's not very serious between us, but we have fun. I haven't felt this happy in a long time and I can tell he likes it too. I have a very good feeling about this and-

'Ouch!' I say again. This time however, it's not from falling, but from bumping into someone. While I was looking at Jake, I didn't really pay much attention to where I was going, this resulting in me bumping into a guy in front of me who, from what I can see, is teaching his son how to ice-skate. While he's at it, maybe he can teach me it too. Or not, I think, as the guy turns around and I see who it is- Richard. Great, just what I need.

'Abby! Always nice bumping into you' he says to me. Now, given the situation, if it were anybody else, I'd laugh at that. But since this is Richard, I don't find it that amusing.

'Yeah, sorry about that. I wasn't really paying attention'

'No, I can see that' he replies. Great, just great.

Meanwhile, Jake has gathered himself by my side again, putting a hand on my lower back. 'Hey Abby, you okay?' he asks, giving me a concerned look.

'Yeah, I'm fine' I say.

'Okay good' he says. Now that he's sure I'm all right, he looks at Richard who, still standing there with his son, is in his turn looking at Jake and me. I'm sure Jake heard me and Richard talk and Richard calling me 'Abby' so I guess he figured out we know each other, which would make it inappropriate for me not to introduce them to each other. I don't really want to, but I feel like I don't have much choice here.

'Jake, this is Richard. Richard Jake' I say, and they shake hands.

'Nice to meet you' Jake says, having no idea who this is and having no idea that there's nothing nice about him. Richard just nods back at him. There's an awkward silence which is fortunately broken by Richard's son, calling for his 'dada'. Richard picks him up and looks at me. I smile at the kid and don't really know what else there is to say. My mind is racing for a way out of this situation, but before I can think of anything, Richard speaks first.

'So Abby, how are you. I see you have a new boyfriend again' Yup, leave it up to him to embarrass me. 'What happened to that rich kid, John something?'

'Nothing' I say, in a sharp tone, looking angrily at him. 'And it's none of your business anyway Richard' I add. I haven't told Jake about my history with Carter, and I wasn't planning on it for him to hear it this way. I just hope he doesn't figure out right now that 'John' is actually 'John Carter'

'Okay okay, no reason to get all defensive about it. I was just showing interest in your life' he says with an innocent look on his face. Yeah right. Like he really cares what's going on in my life. He's just doing this to make me feel foolish, uncomfortable and embarrassed.

'That's great Richard. Just four years too late. Maybe if you'd shown interest in me instead of all those hookers when we were married, it would've made a difference, but not now. So, if you'll excuse me, we have to go' I say angrily, before skating away. I'm silently thanking God that I don't fall flat on my face. I hear Jake mumble a goodbye to Richard and then skate after me. I hear Richard call something along the lines of 'good luck with her Jake' after us, which is enough for me to spin around angrily. Apparently, I'm a very good skater when I'm angry. I see Richard turning around and Jake reaches me with a concerned look on his face and stops next to me.

'Abby, are you okay?' he asks me, a little uncertain. I really feel bad for him right now. He didn't know that I've been married and running into the ex-husband and finding out that way is never good, especially when that ex-husband is Richard.

'I don't feel like skating anymore' is all I say. I don't know what else to say. I'm not really okay, but I don't want to put all my troubles on him already. We're not so serious that he needs to know all my baggage and history. It's not like I was hiding it from him, I just didn't tell him because I didn't think he needed to know already. I don't know that kind of stuff about him either. For all I know he could've been married three times already. We were just having fun, but I guess, now that's all going to change. I have to tell him and he's either going to run away or know so much about me, that we have to get serious. Either way, spending time together and just having fun is definitely over.

'Okay' he says. 'Let's get those skates off and get some hot coco okay?'

I nod at him and smile a bit. He grabs my hand and leads me to the side. We take our skates off and return them at the counter where we rented them and we then head for the cafeteria.

'Just sit there, I'll get the drinks' he says to me, and then turns around and leaves me alone with my thoughts for a minute. I like it, because it gives me time to think about the whole situation. After Jake and I kissed and he'd dropped me off at me place that night, I made a promise to myself that I wouldn't screw this up over my problems. I wouldn't let the same thing that drove Carter away from me let drive Jake away. And here I am, in the same situation all over again. Jake and I were just having fun. We've become great friends over the last couple of weeks. Friends that like each other and make out occasionally, but to be honest, that's it. I don't know if I'd call him my boyfriend. I think he probably is my boyfriend, but if I had to introduce him to someone, I don't know if I'd say 'this is my boyfriend, Jake'. He'd probably call me his girlfriend though. He's been really sweet towards me. We've had dinner together a lot of times and we've watched movies at my place, but we've never gone any further than kissing. We've cuddled together on the couch while watching a movie, but he's never spent the night. I'm not saying that I don't want him to, but it just hasn't happened. For now I'm very content with the way it's going. It feels safe. But I guess that's all coming to an end now.

Before my thought can go any further I see Jake approaching our table, but his hands are empty. 'You can't believe the line that is standing there. I thought we'd make some ourselves at your place or mine, if that's all right with you' he says. I've never been to his place. I'm actually quite curious to what it's like, but I don't feel like going over there today.

'Sure it's fine. We can go to my place' I say and I stand up. He reaches for my hand and I let him, but my thoughts are elsewhere. I think he knows it, but he's kind enough not to mention anything. We walk in silence to his car and then get in. While he drives to my place I just stare out of the window. I can feel him looking at me a couple of times, but I don't react. Eventually he turns the radio on and the rest of the drive we don't speak. I know he's not mad or anything, he's just giving me time to think, which I'm very grateful for. I'm thinking about what to tell him when we get to my place. I can't freeze him out forever, but I don't want to tell him all the horrors of my life. He'll probably run away as fast as he can. I gave Carter that advice once and he was gone in no-time. I don't want to loose Jake, as a friend or something more I don't know, but I just don't want to loose what we have. I suddenly feel the car stop and realize that we're at my house. I look at Jake, who in his turn is looking at me.

'Abby, are you okay?'

'Yeah, I'm fine. Let's go inside' I say, but before I can get out of the car, he puts a hand on my leg and stops me.

'Are you sure? I mean, I can go home and we can talk tomorrow or something' I look at him, contemplating this. I really don't feel like talking right now, but I feel sorry for him. This whole skating thing was his idea and now it's all messed up.

'Are you sure?' I ask softly. 'I mean, if you don't mind... I'm kind of tired and-'

'Really Abby, it's fine. I'm not offended or something. I can see you need some time for yourself, but if you want to talk to someone, you can call me anytime, okay?' I mouth a silent 'thank you' to him and then reach over and kiss his cheek. He smiles at me and gives my leg one last squeeze before I step out of the car and walk towards my door. I open it and wave at Jake, who turns out of the parking place and drives away. I walk inside and close the door, leaning against it and I let out a deep sigh. I feel really crappy now. I was looking forward to spending some time with Jake, but instead of that, I'm alone and have a lot to think about. I walk up the stairs to my place, thinking how this is going to be a long evening and probably an even longer night.