It was the first day back at Tree Hill High after break. For a reason that Abby could not put her finger on, she was actually excited to be going to school. The halls buzzed with a nervous excitement as students of THH caught up with each other and filled others in on the good times had during break. Her thoughts flitted back to the strange course of events that had happened over the long break. After getting settled in at "the Sawyer Place", as it was now called by both family and friends, Abby had gone to see who had moved in down the street. Only, when she arrived there she found that no one was home. In fact, it had stayed that way all of break, which in Abby's opinion, was just plain weird. A girl with silky long blond hair and pretty brown eyes broke her out of this reverie, once she had snapped back into reality and realized that her friend Krista was talking she tried to concentrate one the words being said. However, try as she may, she just couldn't focus on the conversation but caught snidbits like "absolutely gorgeous" and "clearly wealthy". She then politely excused herself from the situation and made her way to period one, English Lit.
Half way through the lecture, and wayyyyyyy after the late bell and the "late, late bell", the door creaked open. Attention was turned from the board in the front of the classroom to the side door. Ms. Sumkins the guidance counselor for Abby's grade, and recent college grad who happened to be gorgeous, poked her head in and talked with Mr. Cole, the handsome English Lit teacher in his late twenties. Mr. Cole soon flashed a smile at Ms. Sumkins and said something in a hushed tone that made her blush profusely, most likely flirting as the entire student body knew that they had a thing for eachother. He then turned his focus onto the class and announced the arrival of a new student.
A nervous anticipation fell among the students and all eyes turned to the door. Seconds later, wearing blue dress shirt and designer jeans an overwhelmingly attractive guy with deep brown hair and bright green eyes walked in and introduced himself as Tristan Maudlin. Abby, who had fainted on the spot upon seeing her estranged best friend was noticed by Krista who brought it to Mr. Cole's attention. The nurse was soon called and arrived just as Abby was coming to.
At the nurses office, Abby was pacing in the small room designated for "fainters". Her best friend, who she loved more than anything in the world, was here, in tiny Tree Hill. She felt like she was going to puke. But at the same time, something in her stirred. He had proven to her that he still cared about her. Maybe not in the same way she cared for him but still, it had to mean something that he had uprooted his life in Raleigh and moved to such a tiny town. She immediately began finding other reasons for his sudden appearance in Tree Hill. This time she wasn't going to delude herself into thinking that he actually had come for her. No way no how, she wasn't going to put herself through the sheer agony of an unrequited love yet again. Although, as she sat and thought about it in the small room she currently occupied, she never had really gotten over Tristan. She merely had pushed all thoughts of him aside and tried to get over him because she figured he had moved on. Now he was in Tree Hill and back in her life. She surmised, after going through numerous reasons in her head, that Tristan had come to Tree Hill because the Ravens were the best basketball team in the state, it was just an added bonus to him that his best friend was here. The nurse came in and informed her that the 3-hour waiting period had expired and she was free to leave. Abby was never happier to be going to lunch.
Meanwhile, Tristan was getting more and more antsy as time wore on. He was desperately worried for Abby and had not seen her in any of their classes that day. When he had enrolled in Tree Hill, he had chosen all of the same classes and sections as Abby. He tried to convince himself that she had all the classes he wanted to take but he knew it was fueled mainly by the overwhelmingly selfish need to be around her. As 11:15 rolled around Tristan was no longer able to sit still. He left his Geography class at 11:10 claiming that he needed to use the bathroom and politely declined the many females who offered to "show" him where it was. His thoughts rested with one girl only, and that was Abigail Marie Sawyer. And so, after retrieving the hall pass from his antiquated teacher, he hurried off in search of his true love.
Abby by this time had left the nurses office and was heading for her locker to pick up her afternoon books and lunch. As she rounded the corner that would lead to a main hallway, and thus her locker, she collided with a brick wall. She realized, as two strong arms wrapped themselves around her frame, that it hadn't been a brick wall at all, but the object of her affections and source of much inner turmoil himself, Tristan. She managed a small smile and a strangled hello and prepared herself for the conversation she knew was coming.
Tristan just stared at the beauty that was now in his arms. He hadn't expected to literally run into Abby, but appreciated the ease of his location of her. After what seemed like several moments, but in reality was more like 30 seconds, the spell was broken when Abby let out a strangled hello. Noting the unease in her voice and the worried expression on her face, he gently guided them to the library to talk. When they arrived, he wasted no time in asking her what he felt he needed to.
"Why Abby?" he said. The tone of his voice was resigned and sad. Abby who had been in a state of shock during the walk to the library finally made a move to acknoledge his presence. She pulled him into a tight embrace shocking them both by giving him a little squeeze and a nice pat on the back.
As she pulled away from the comforting embrace she hung her head so that he wouldn't see the tears spilling out of her eyes, and whispered "There was nothing left for me there, Tristan. Not even you." She then shifted out of his embrace and sat dejectedly on a chair.
Tristan was shocked when he heard those words spew from her mouth like the crap that they were. Those words cut him deep. Not only because the situation was entirely untrue, Abby had friends who could have supported her and then of course there was him, but he knew that she actually felt that those words were true. He suddenly realized how deserted she must have felt during the week that followed her parents' funeral when he had avoided her like the plague; he was confused about his feelings for Abby and was heartbroken over the death of her parents who, in many ways were his parents too. Even after she went missing she had tried to call, but at that point he had been too angry with her to return her phone calls. He realized now that that had been the worst way to handle the situation and probably the most childish. Best friends didn't do that kind of thing, they were a shoulder to cry on and they worked through things together. He wanted to cry. Standing there in the middle of a library in a strange town that he had moved to, Tristan Gregory Maudlin had a revelation. He needed to show Abby that he was still her best friend, hell while he was at it he needed to show her that he was in love with her. Even if it pained him over the death of her parents he should have been there for her. Instead he had been a selfish bastard who only cared about himself, in a word, his father.
Tristan rushed to Abby's side and pulled her chin up gently with his finger. He brushed the tears away that continued to trickle down her face and made her meet his eyes.
"I've been a jackass Abby and I am soooo sorry. You don't even know the hell I went through when I thought I had lost you. And when you called I was so angry, and I had no reason to be angry because you were doing what was best for you, but I was selfish and I wanted you with me and I should have been there for you but I froze you out. You must hate me." Tristan got out all that he had been feeling since their fight back in Raleigh.
"I don't hate you Tristan," Abby stated as the tears died down, "I am sorry too, I know that they were like parents to you too, and you've always had a lot on your plate and I was just sad and depressed and I thought that my best friend hated me. So I did what any normal teenage girl would do, I went to find someone who would care. And I found them Tristan, I really have, but they aren't you. No one ever measures up to you."
After she said that, her mouth snapped closed and she was worried that she had said too much. Silence descended on the pair for some time, but it was companionable silence, as each was immersed in their own thoughts. After quite a while Abby finally asked the question that she had wanted to since period one.
"Well, we know why I came here, but why are you here? Playing on the Ravens looks better for scouts or something?" She asked managing to keep her voice level and not bitter.
Tristan gave her a hurt look while he tried to gather what she meant by that. Did she really think that he would come because of a basketball team? He realized, and not for the first time that day, just how messed up their relationship had become. He needed to put an end to this, needed, once and for all to show Abby that she was the most important thing in his life. He needed to get passed his insecurities and tell her how he really felt, even if she didn't return the sentiment. Taking a deep breath he opened his mouth to speak. Only to be cut off by the bell signifying the end of lunch. He told her that they would finish this conversation after school and practice because he was giving her a ride home. She nodded quickly before practically running out of the library leaving him alone with his thoughts for awhile before he followed in the same direction.
For the rest of the day, Abby refused to meet his gaze in any of their classes and skillfully avoided him in the halls. Word got around to Brooke and Peyton just who had turned up at school and after the bell rang at the end of the day, before cheer practice and basketball, they went looking for Tristan. They found him trudging dejectedly towards Whitey's office and that meant one thing to the girls, basketball practice. They lengthened their strides and caught up with him right near the front office.
"Hey there Tristan, care to take a walk?" Asked Brooke with Peyton smirking behind her.
Tristan looked at the strange girl and then glanced at the girl behind her who looked a lot like Abby. 'must be her sister' he thought and a small smile began to grace his features. "Well, I'd love to take one, but I usually don't take walks with strangers, even if they are two beautiful ladies like yourselves." He said giving them his patented "Tristan Grin".
Peyton smiled at the man who her sister had loved all her life and realized how excellent the match would be. Both were pretty and both put on personas, but she sensed that behind Tristan's playboy persona he was one hell of a guy. She stuck out her hand and smiled at him whilst introducing herself and Brooke. They began to walk in the direction of Whitey's office while the girls bombarded Tristan with questions. He tried to answer them as best he could and couldn't help but feel as though this was some sort of test. Finally, just before they came to Whitey's door, Peyton asked the question that all of them had known would be coming. "Why are you here?"
Tristan didn't know where to start, but since he believed honesty was the best policy, and this was his best friend/crushes sister, he felt the need to give an honest answer. "I was miserable without Abby there. I'm sure you've heard about me and from this little quiz session I'm guessing it wasn't all good things, but you have to know that I love her. And it isn't just in a best friendy way. We have a connection and I've always been too scared to act on it. But I can assure both of you that I am going to be dealing with that right after practice today." He finished with a large determined grin on his face before heading into the office. As he was walking away he heard applause and turned around to see Brooke and Peyton yell "right answer there kid" to him. Pleased with the way things turned out, he headed into the basketball coach's office and felt as though he was ready for anything.