Real life, Abby discovered, is never as easy as a dream. The dream she had about Tristan was just a fantasy, she figured, and she did not think she would be able to go back to that state of mind after what had transpired in Raleigh among the two. As she made her way to dance practice (she had tried out for the team and made co captain, just as she had predicted) she thought about the sad turn of events the day had taken. That morning she had been excited to be at school for the first time in forever. She had woken up ready for whatever new challenges waited for her. Little did she know just what the day had to throw at her. Suppressing a bitter laugh, she waved a quick hello to Peyton and Brooke as they grinned like Cheshire Cats. In her haste, she failed to note the new addition to the basketball team, who had walked into Whitey's office, but waved to Nathan, Lucas, and Jake. Abby figured that she should be happy that Tristan was here, and she was ecstatic, but she could not get rid of the feeling of desertion and guilt that had piled itself at the bottom of her stomach. When she had run, she had used the logic that since Tristan had, for all intents and purposes, deserted her, she in turn could desert him. She herself knew that this was a thin disguise and that Tristan hadn't actually deserted her, their connection was too strong. In the end, Abby was left with the hope that her and Tristan could repair their damaged relationship and maybe she would tell him about how she felt. She had once again surrendered to the fact that her desire to be with Tristan would always put a small strain, however infinitesimal, on their friendship and decided it was about time the truth came out.
Tristan was in Whitey's office talking to the Coach about his basketball skill. While Whitey made a quick call to Centennial to see if he was actually acquiring the legendary Tristan Maudlin (his skill almost rivaled the Scott Brothers), Tristan felt his thoughts drift to where they inevitably always ended up, Abby. He wanted to try to pinpoint the exact moment where the relationship had become what it was. She had come to Raleigh to see Tristan and he had been at another conquest's house. He had failed her yet again, and he hoped that Abby would be able to forgive him like she had in the past. Tristan didn't know why he had always flaunted whatever conquest he made to Abby. Every time he would acquire a "girlfriend" or flavor of the week as Abigail called it, he would endlessly parade that fact in front of Abby until he got bored of the girl and discarded her. It was part of his image, of his façade. And he knew for a fact that Abby had a façade at school; of course hers was the wild untamable girl (think Brooke), a façade which belied her intelligence and caring. A public face, one is taught in society, is a lifeline. Through it all though, Abby stood by Tristan, and took this endless parades of girlfriends for what it was, nothing. She must know, he deduced, that those girls mean absolutely nothing to me, which is why she never makes an effort to know them. Tristan had never been good at commitment. He saw his mother's spirit crushed under the burdens of society and marriage to his father and decided that he would never willingly submit himself to another individual. Tristan had, however unwillingly, submitted himself without his knowledge to Abby, and he was a hopelessly lost case because of it.
Practice was going well for Abby. As she taught the complex steps necessary for the choreography she had invented to a new song by 50 Cent, she felt all her stress and anxieties float away. Dance had always been an escape for Abby; throughout her life, she used dance as a way to free herself from the confines of her existence. Not that her life had been particularly hard, after all she had had two loving parents and plenty of money, but dancing was her freedom from society. As her feet would glide across the floor and she would become entranced by the music, Her focus would shift so that she would no longer care about appearances or friends or money or Tristan (well that thought was diminished greatly). She was free for that small amount of time each day. The girls in her dance troupe were great. They were her closest friends in Tree Hill besides her sister and Brooke. Krista, the blonde from earlier was her co captain. She knew as soon as she met Krista, that she was Tristan's type. While Krista was beautiful and caring, she wasn't the brightest person in the bunch, but her personality more than made up for it. Together, the girls made the dance troupe a distinguished and fun place to be. Abby's extensive dance training came in handy when teaching girls the steps and inventing choreography and Krista made sure that everyone got along and feelings were spared. She was kind of like the mom of the group and this made Abby love her all the more. As the song drew to a close, Abby realized that practice was over. And so, she dismissed the girls and headed to the locker room to get washed up before "the talk", as she had dubbed what was going to be happening in Tristan's car.
Tristan loved basketball. For as long as he had been playing it, it had been his escape. It was a complex game and some necessary skills were complicated, but the goal of the game was simple; get the ball into the other team's basket. This simplicity is something that Tristan clung to in his own life. Basketball was his escape from his father, and escape from his façade, and an escape from his life. The sound of a dribbling ball was music to his ears. This devotion to Basketball showed in his game. Tristan had been the best player at Centennial and was ridiculously excited to be playing on a team with a reputation like the Ravens. He silently thanked God that Abby had run away to the one place with a basketball team better than Centennial. Of course, he would have followed her anywhere, but this made it easier to convince his father to pull him out of his ritzy private school and allow him to transfer to a public school in the middle of nowhere. Tristan was also excited that he would be playing on the same team as the legendary Scott Brothers. Tales of their escapades on and off the court were common knowledge in basketball circles. He wondered if they even knew how famous they were in North Carolina. He assumed that they did not, because after meeting them at the beginning of practice they were two of the most grounded people he had ever met. He also learned of their mutual hatred of their father and bonded with them over that fact. As practice drew to a close, he caught sight of Abby's curls bouncing towards the locker room and prepared himself to get his dream girl, his angel. These thoughts stayed with him as he got cleaned up, grabbed his stuff, and headed out to meet her for what he had termed "the talk".
Abigail felt him approach before she saw him coming. It had always been like that with them, the hypersensitivity to the others location was a comforting fact that Abby had always clung to. As he rounded the corner she shifted her focus back to the conversation she was having with Krista. She was explaining, or trying to explain the relationship between her and Tristan. Krista just kept asking if he was available. She had resigned herself to the fact that Tristan and Krista would probably get together some time that year and had decided to just wait it out. Finally, after what seemed like ages, Tristan cleared his throat behind her to announce his presence.
"Hello Tristan, come and meet my friend Krista," Abby said with a smile that reminded Tristan of the old Abby at school, a fake smile, "She's just your type." She whispered under her breath.
Tristan heard Abby's comment but shook it off. Krista was gorgeous and at Centennial, if things had been normal, Tristan would have fallen into that trap. He would have gone out with Krista but become bored and dropped her since she could never measure up to Abby. Wanting to be polite Tristan gave her the "Tristan Grin" and a kiss on the hand.
"My, my what a charmer," Krista said proud of herself for attracting that kind of attention from such a boy. "Doing anything later tonight?" She asked suggestively, basically throwing herself at him.
"Well unfortunately, another beautiful lady has me for tonight." Tristan said with a genuine smile in Abby's direction. Krista looked dejected and Abby felt she should try to make it better. Her conversation with Tristan could wait.
"Oh Tristan, I wouldn't mind if you got to know Krista. I'll just get a ride home with Brooke or Peyton. Man I need to start bringing my own car." She said with a fake smile and a wink. To anyone else, this would look 100 genuine, but Tristan saw the sadness that lurked behind those haunting eyes. He wouldn't let Abby down again, he needed to tell her how he felt before he exploded.
"How do you know I meant you, dearest Abigail?" He said jokingly, but the look in Abby's eyes told him that she thought he was serious. "Well of course I meant you silly, and I am not giving up best friend catch up time to get to know someone else." Tristan smiled at Krista indulgently "No offense Krista, but this is my girl and we haven't seen each other in ages." He said throwing an arm around Abby and ruffling her hair.
Krista could see that Tristan was other wise occupied and that he actually really liked Abby. From what Abby had told her, she could tell that Abby liked Tristan too. She only hoped that her friend would be able to let him know that. Relationships were kinda her thing. She knew she wasn't a smart girl but she knew tons about relationships. Krista considered herself an expert. And so she grinned a Cheshire cat grin at both of them, said "no problem I got myself a date with history", and excused herself to go make out with Tim. No one knew about their secret relationship and she wasn't sure she wanted to deal with going public with him. It worked out better this way, besides it made her plan work out better.
Once Tristan and Abby were alone, he steered her in the direction of his car. When finally arrived at their destination it had been silent the whole way. Both of them were lost in thought and worried about telling the other about how they felt. Tristan figured that it would be better to drive them to the River Court so that their talk could be uninhibited. They drove in companionable silence with occasional small talk and made it to the river court in no time at all. They got out of the car, a cherry red new mustang convertible GT (only one of Tristan's many cars), and fetched a blanket from the back to lay on the grass.
As soon as they sat down Tristan was no longer able to keep silent. "I missed you Abs." He said as he watched her twist her head towards him with the use of such an intimate nickname. Only her parents and Tristan ever called her that.
"I'm sure you found someone to help you through that Tristan." She said bitterly remembering Raleigh and times before when Tristan had flaunted his conquests in front of her. She was tired of this dance that they were doing. She just wanted everything to be out in the open. Finally she leveled her gaze and choked back tears.
"Abby, there is something that you need to understand." He tried again to make her see how much she meant to him. "Those girls mean nothing to me."
"I know Tristan, it just hurts that you choose nothingness over me. It pretty much has happened our entire lives." She said and finally let the tears she had held in out. She felt one run down her cheek and quickly wiped it away.
"Just like you chose to get involved with people who were all wrong for you." Tristan spat out defensively. Abby had always had boyfriends who were attractive and rich. This wouldn't have been a problem but they always ended up hurting her. They couldn't see the real Abby like he could. Realizing that the conversation was turning ugly he said, "This isn't about how we don't like the people we go out with Abby."
"Tristan, why did you even come here? I was happy here trying to get over my best friend deserting me and offering no explanation." She said.
"BEST FRIEND DESERTING YOU! You were the one that ran away! You were the one that left Abby. You were the one who deserted ME!" He cried feeling the prick of tears.
"It wasn't physical desertion Tristan, you left me alone when I was hurting the most. That is when I needed you the most. You were off gallivanting around with yet another bimbo while I was morning the death of my parents. My life had been shattered, and I know yours was too, but not in the same way mine was. And I tried to call you when I left, I tried to get you to come with me. But I can see now what a huge mistake that was." Abby said pushing herself up and walking away.
Tristan sprang into action and grabbed her wrist before she got away. He wasn't going to let her run again. She crossed her arms defensively across her chest and tried to collect herself. Then she actually looked at Tristan for the first time since the fight began. His hair was mussed, most likely from the constant hand running through it, it was a gesture he did only when he was extremely frustrated. But then she saw his eyes, they were almost glowing with anger, hurt and frustration and he was crying. Her Tristan, her rock, was crying. Her heart went out to him but she knew she needed to stand her ground. This was one fight he was not going to win.
Tristan looked at Abby whilst she was looking at him. Her eyes were bloodshot and fresh tears were running down her face. To him she looked beautiful, hair askew and all. He wanted to take her into his arms and tell her that everything would be ok, but he knew that this needed to be sorted through before he would get that satisfaction. Frustrated, he ran a hand through his hair and said, "This conversation isn't going in the direction I wanted it to."
Still defensive Abby muttered, "Yeah well it isn't going the way I want it to either but at least I tried." She shrugged his hand off her wrist and tried again to get away from Tristan and the feelings he stirred in her. He was too quick and stopped her again this time with words.
"Jesus Abby, I came here for YOU. I didn't come for some basketball team or because I dated everyone at Centennial. I came here because without you I am miserable. Without you in my life it isn't worth anything. I know I screw up sometimes and you screw up too," He paused for affect, "But I need you in my life."
Abby was speechless. It gave her hope, hope that her feelings were returned. She still didn't want to delude herself but stopped to listen to the rest of what he had to say. It looked like he really wanted to say something else to her. "I need you in my life too Tristan, but it shouldn't be this difficult. You and I need to get things straight before we are best friends again Tristan." She smiled a genuine smile for the first time in what felt like ages that day.
"I cant be your friend Abby," Tristan said. Abby's face fell. What was all that shit about needing her in his life if he was not going to be her friend. She stood there, stock still in shock as the tears which had stopped started flowing. Then just as quickly as they came, a warm hand came to rest on the side of her face and gently wiped the tears away. She looked at Tristan and saw something in his eyes that she had only seen flashes of before. It had always been there lurking beneath the surface, but Tristan kept that part of him closed off. The emotion was love, and she was sure that it was reflected in her eyes each and every time she spoke to him. "I cant be your friend Abby." He restated as he wiped the tears away.
"Why not?" Abby said. She wanted more than anything to give in to the sensation of his hand, but she wanted him to get out what he had to say first.
"Because I am in love with you." He whispered reverently while his hand traced the contours of her face. "And I always have been"
Abby's face lit up like a kid in a candy store, the mischievous spark in her eyes which he had missed so dreadfully in Raleigh was re ignited and her smile was as big as the moon. Her eyes flashed such emotion that Tristan felt he was going to drown in them. Then, in a small, shell shocked voice, Abby whispered back "What took you so long? I was afraid you would never feel the same way as I do."
And right in the middle of the River Court Park, under an old hickory tree, Tristan leaned his face down to Abby's and captured her lips in a mind blowing kiss. Both felt the shock waves travel up and down their spines and every cliché that had ever been used to describe love was rolled up into that one kiss. It held passion, but most of all it held promise. The promise that a love as strong as theirs would last, despite their worry and their fights, their love was the forever kind.