A/N: Okay I will try and update this one a little more often than what I have been updating it, but I haven't come to any conclusions as to where I want to take it or what I want to do with it just yet, so please be patient with me.

Chapter 3:

Abby's week passed by rather slowly as she was looking forward to Friday night and the chance to go out with him again. She hadn't looked forward to a date in a long time, yet she was nervous and excited at the same time about this.

The clock was moving so slow today, she normally wasn't a clock watched but today she couldn't help it, she just wanted seven to get there so she could punch out, go home change, and go out to the movies. It had been awhile since she had the chance to go to the movies and the fact that it was another date with Carter made it seem even that much more special. Ah finally that damn clock hit seven and she made a mad beeline to punch out. Putting her stuff into her locker, practically slamming it shut as she ran to catch the EL.

She made it home, showered quickly, dressed, and changed her clothes a second, no third time wanting to make sure that she looked nice. After all, it was a date, not that she needed to impress Carter by looking nice but she wanted to in a way. Her doorbell rang at 8:30 they were going to catch the 9:30 show, or at least that is what he had told her they were going to do. He hadn't even told her what movie they had tickets too.

Abby crossed the room to open the door and let him in. He was dressed nice but casually too. She didn't feel like she was over dressed or even underdressed. "Come in." She said as she gave him a soft smile.

"Thanks Abby." Carter said as he crossed into the room. "You look lovely this evening."

Flattery would get him everywhere with her right now. Those were nice words to hear, and made the smile that was on her face grow a little more. "Thank you John." She said.

"Shall we go?" Carter asked as he watched as she grabbed her belongings so that they could leave. She knew that he had made plans for them and knowing Carter he already had the tickets for the movie.

"Yeah I'm ready to go." Abby answered him still smiling, "did you pick a movie?"

She watched the smile on his face grow some when she asked that question to him. "Movie, well not exactly." He said answering her as they headed down to the street level to get to his car.

She laughed slightly, "not exactly? What are we are hertz commercial tonight?"

"You are a comedian you know that." He said smiling, "I think that you will enjoy what I have for us tonight, sorry about the movie but tonight there's nothing good playing, well nothing that would be good for a romantic date."

"Well as long as you were going for the romantic factor then that gets you completely off the hook." She said.

"Glad that I am off the hook there." He said smiling still, as he held the door to the jeep open for her waiting until she got inside before closing the door crossing with quickness to his step to get to the driver's side. He slipped into the driver's seat before saying anything, "but I do think that you will like tonight, it's something special that I cooked up."

"It's okay." Abby said, "if it's something that you cooked up I am sure that you have something good planned, you are a real romantic at heart."

Carter just smiled over at him as they drove. He headed down by the lake and then found a quiet place, or what seemed like a rather quiet place parking the car. Abby looked around wondering what he had planned. He helped her out of the car and grabbed something out of the back of the jeep and then took her on his arm as they headed down towards the water.

"Well this is something that I thought would be a nice thing to do." He said as they strolled along, arm and arm. There was a warm breeze blowing, not hard but it made the night more bearable. The sky was clear and the stars were out tonight shinning in the sky, the moon reflecting off the water. It looked more like something out of one of those movies rather than a night in Chicago.

"I think that this is very nice John." Abby said almost afraid to break the silence that was between them, the peacefulness of the night. There was a sense of magic in the air as the walked along, that is if you believed in magic, it was something special as if they were supposed to be out there walking tonight. Abby had small goose bumps forming on her arms, she wasn't cold, she was sure it was caused by whatever it was in the air.

Carter walked pulling her a little closer to him, "this is the spot." He said as he held his hand out gesturing towards a spot on the sand. He let go of her arm and spread a blanket out on the sand, the warmth of the sand heated from the day time sun warming the blanket that he had laid down upon the sand.

Abby looked around the view from where they were at was beautiful and nearly breathtaking in it's own right. This was something that they had never done before. Granted they had spent time on the roof together watching the city lights, but that was about as far as they had gotten, before dating had been rough and there seemed to be very little time to do much, now here he was pulling out all the stops to make a memorable night.

This was something that was more out of a fairy tale than from real life that is what Abby considered real life. The way that he looked at her, the way that she was looking at him, was this how to people who where in love looked, how they acted, this night raised many questions, so many more than what she might have had answers for. Was she reading too much into it, was he just trying to do something nice for her, to give her that romantic evening that she had always secretly longed for, or was there more to this?

Those were not the thoughts that she was supposed to have on her mind. Surely she wasn't supposed to be thinking about anything right now, not analyzing her relationship. Carter probably had brought her out her so that she could relax and enjoy the calmness, the peacefulness of the night and here she was doing the exact opposite, why couldn't she just relax and allow life to give her something.

Because that wasn't who she was, that's why. Insecurity, fear, an inability to rely on those around her that is who she was, those feeling were a giant part of who she was, who she had always been. Never once had Abby ever seen how a real relationship worked, and for her she was certain that, that was a giant part of why as an adult she never could get one to work. She might not have had a lot of relationships but that didn't mean that she hadn't had any. There were a few that stuck out in her mind, but she was always with the "bad boys." The ones who drank to much, who rode motorcycles and had tattoos, the kind that you didn't bring home to mother and father. Not that she ever had to worry about bringing anyone home to mommy and daddy that was something that in Abby's life never really existed. Sure she had Maggie, but since when could Maggie ever be considered a mother figure, sure she was for all intense purposes Abby's biological mother but the ties that bind for the most part ended there, for what they had was not your typical mother/daughter relationship, it was an entity all to it's own.

"You still with me?" Carter's voice pulled Abby from her thoughts.

"Yeah," she said in a soft voice, determined in every way not to let her mind ruin tonight. She needed to stop thinking about all the bad that could happen, and for once in her life focus on the good, how happy she really could be with Carter. "This is absolutely perfect Carter. I couldn't have asked for a better way to spend a date with you."

"I'm glad that you like it." He whispered softly into her ear. She seemed distance but Carter wasn't going to push her, whatever she was thinking, he would just let her think, a deep discussion wasn't in his plans for this evening, unless that is she started it, for there was one thing that John Carter had learned about Abby, and that was when to push and when to back away, this tonight was one of those nights when you backed away.