Raleigh:

Abigail woke up the next morning to discover that it was Sunday. Tristan had never even come to Tree Hill and probably would never give up his ways to commit to her. The thing was though that the dream had seemed so realistic. It motivated her to go to Raleigh and sort things out with Tristan. Maybe she would even tell him about where she was and how much she wished he would love her too.

Considering it was Sunday Abby had a difficult time finding a train that was going to Raleigh. She decided that she would bring one of her cars from home that night to save her the time and trouble. She took a taxi to Tristan's house from the train station without even stopping at her house there. She had thought about selling the old place but realized that it would always be a part of her, and so she kept it and hired a care taker for the immese property. Delightedly, she found Tristan's house to be the same as it had been a month prior to her departure from Raleigh high society.

By the time she arrived it was nearing 2 o clock which meant that Tristan's father was at his golf game. She silently thanked God that she wouldn't have to deal with Mr. Maudlin. Abby had always liked Mrs. Maudlin and Mrs. Maudlin treated Abby like the daughter she never had. She knocked on the door and was greeted by James, the family butler who took her to the back garden where Mrs. Maudlin was and announced her presence.

"Mrs. Maudlin, you have a visitor…" Florence turned around at the sound of James' voice and much to her delight, the visitor was none other than Abigail Marie Sawyer who had disappeared much to her and her sons' chagrin. She greeted Abby with a warm smile and a bear hug.

"There you are dear, tell me where have you been hiding yourself," inquired Florence.

"You know I couldn't stay here, but I've been taken care of don't worry," Abby stated.

"Tristan will be so disappointed that he missed you, he's been in such a state since you left."

"Oh, well, where is he?" asked Abby perplexed.

"Well, if memory serves me, he is at his new girlfriends house trying to forget about someone." Florence announced. When she noted Abby's crestfallen expression she tried to make amends by offering to call him, Abigail politely refused and made a hurried excuse to leave. She didn't take into account the last part of the statement, and rushed out of the Maudlin estate barely noticing a familiar car pulling up and a name being called…

Tristan could not believe his eyes, there she was, his best friend forever, and secret crush Abigail Sawyer, running from his house in near tears. He called out to her but she did not hear him. Tristan decided to go inquire about the unusual visitor to his mother, to find out more before he went to find his girl. He found her as usual in the back garden, looking wistfully at the planted arrangements and reading another Jackie Collins book.

"Hello mom, care to tell me why ABIGAIL SAWYER was here and you didn't think to call me!?!?!" He got out.

"Well, hello to you too dear, and yes, you left specific instructions not to bother you while you were at Tanya's house this morning." Florence stated.

"Mom, its Abby, you didn't think that I would have wanted to talk to her!!" he spat out, turned on his heel and ran to his fastest car. At his departure, Florence smiled; maybe there was hope for the two of them after all…

Abigail was crushed, she didn't know why; she hadn't expected Tristan to wait around for her. But what hurt her most was that he didn't seem to be upset about her leaving, since she had vanished one month ago, she had called him about 5 times and had never received a call back. She concluded her run from the Maudlin estate at one just down the road. It was, by far the grandest house on the block. Its old hickory trees lined the walk and its white siding starkly contrasted with the black shudders. The beautiful old Victorian house sat in the middle of tree lined walks and beautifully landscaped surroundings. It was the home of the richest people in Raleigh the Sawyer's and this meant Abigail now that her adoptive parents were dead. She found it very strange that her adoptive family had the same last name as her actual parents, but this coincidence was excellent in her book.

Abigail walked up the front steps, through the door, said a quick hello to her butler and old friend Carl ran to her room and collapsed in tears on the bed. She stayed like that for a long time until she heard the door click open and a pair of strong arms encircle her. She knew those arms; they could only belong to one person. Abigail turned around and came face to face with the brightest green eyes she had ever seen.

Tristan looked into the eyes of the girl he loved and saw sadness and emptiness where there was once a mirthful light. The sight almost brought tears to his eyes but before he could open his mouth to ask her what was wrong, this apparition he had dreamt of so many nights spoke so softly he thought he had imagined it.

"What are you doing here?" Abby whispered, hoping that this was real and she hadn't dreamt this up again. After a few moments she began to worry until she felt him stroke her hair and her back. Finally, he spoke.

"You are so beautiful" He said in a hushed tone. Of course he told her this all the time but this time it sounded different, almost reverent. "I could ask you the same thing Abby."

"I came here to see you, but you were too busy with the flavor of the week so I came here to rest up a bit before returning to where I came from." She said, managing to keep the bitterness out of her tone.

"If I had known you were here I would have dropped everything Abs, you are my best friend. It doesn't matter that you ran away you are here now." Tristan mumbled into her hair while taking a deep whiff of the intoxicating scent that was distinctly Abby.

"Such a line Tristan, especially from someone who doesn't return my phone calls and seems to be doing just fine without his 'best friend' here." Abby spat, finally submitting to the feelings of desertion she felt from Tristan whilst trying to ignore the sensation of him stroking her hair. "Its late, I need to get going, maybe when you realize that I am more than just a pity friend I'll tell you where I am."

Tristan felt as though his heart was being ripped out and was too stunned to do anything as she picked her self off the bed and moved a considerable distance away from him before finally turning on her heel and walking out of the room. He continued to lay there long after he heard the engine turn on and the squeal of tires which meant that she definitely was driving her Aston Martin. He had a lot of work to do if he was going to convince Abby that she was so much more than a pity friend. But first, he needed to find out where she was. Finally, he picked himself up and walked to his old room in the Sawyer household and began going through contact sheets to find just the person he was looking for.

Abby was heartbroken as she raced toward Tree Hill in her Aston Martin. She didn't think that by driving this car here, she would reveal who she was. In fact, she was too tired to care anymore and simply wanted her sister and father to comfort her and help her with her burden, she was going to tell them everything when she got to their house.

The telling:

Abby finally pulled up in the Sawyer driveway and hopped out of her car. She ran into the living room and found Peyton and her father sitting there going through old boxes and deciding what needed to be thrown out in order to make room for Abby. Her heart swelled with such love and admiration for these people that she was almost afraid to talk.

"Hey guys what are you doing," Abby questioned.

"Going through boxes to make room for you of course," stated her sister with a smile.

"What if I told you that you did not need to do that because I can afford to buy us a bigger house?" Abby asked.

"I'd laugh and you and tell you, you were crazy, no 16 year old can afford a house." Her father said with a light in his eyes.

"My parents were Judith and Willard Sawyer of the Raleigh Sawyers. I am their only heir. You do the math." Abby stated with a smile.

"OH MY GOD!!! My sister is Raleigh Royalty! Ohhh Brook will be soo jealous of this!" Peyton squealed while doing a dance that made her look slightly crazy.

"Well guys, what kind of house did you have in mind. And ohhh can you not tell anyone but your close friends about this and tell everyone to keep it on the dl for a while, I like my friends to like me for me." Abigail sputtered.

The Move:

Abigail had been attending Tree Hill High for a month. She was one of the most popular students at school. Many boys wanted to get with her and all the girls wanted to be her friend. It was exactly as it had been at Centennial. The only person missing from that equation was her best friend and "future husband" (according to her mom). Abigail tried her hardest not to think about Tristan as she was trying to get on with her new life. She had told her sister and her sisters friends all about Tristan even showed them a couple photos. To which Brooke remarked on his exceedingly good looks and obvious charm.

Peyton and Jake had finally gotten together thanks to an ingenious scheme cooked up by Brooke and Abby. Brooke and Abigail had bonded considerably thanks to similar backgrounds and taste in boys, music, clothing, and most other things. Peyton often remarked at how similar the two actually were. Brooke and Peyton were by far Abby's best friends in Tree Hill.

Today was move in day, it also happened to be the first day of winter break. Abby had purchased a beautiful home in Tree Hill right next to Brooke's house. It had a gorgeous wrap around porch and came complete with a pool and a hot tub. The entire Sawyer Clan was excited for the move. Peyton of course was the most excited because now her best friend was right next door. As the kids and movers lugged boxes in, they noticed a similar scene playing out just down the street and resolved to go check it out later during break.

Abigail's new room was beautiful. Peyton had painted a couple scenes on the walls of the room. The bed was big and fluffy and the furniture accentuated the room without making it look gaudy. What Abby loved most though was the walk in closet. Plenty of room for clothing and shoes. To her left was the bathroom that connected the girls' rooms, and down the hall was Mr. Sawyers "suite" as they called it. All in all Abigail was very happy with her new house and even more overjoyed with her new life. She found without all the social constraints of high society that she was happier than she had been for some time at school. What Abigail didn't know was that life was just about to get a bit more wonderful…