Disclaimer: Do not own The O.C.

A/N: Thanks so much for the reviews! I know it's not a lot of them, but I don't care! At least some people like it. I'm sorry about the grammar. I'm using the spelling and grammar check, but I understand that it might have left things out. I'll try my best to keep it correct from now on, but I'm sorry if there are a few stray ones. I'm still getting used to this thing. Hmmm… think I have decided whom to pair up but it won't happen in like the next couple of chapters because there has to be more drama! Soon, I'll be adding the rest of the characters Marissa, Summer, Julie Cooper, etc. ENJOY THIS ONE!!!

Abby knocked on the door to which she remembered to be Seth's room. There was no sound coming from the other end but she knew he was in there. He always used to retreat up to his bedroom and hide under the covers for hours when they were younger.

"Seth I know you're in there," Abby said.

She hated talking through a door. It was almost like talking to a wall. She really wanted to confront him face-to-face.

"Go away, I really don't want to talk to you right now," Seth called back.

"You may not want to, but you need to. We both need to talk and get out whatever it is that's come between us," Abby said.

Abby listened, as there was a moment of silence then a small thump. She stepped back from the door as he unlocked it and it opened.

"Ok, shoot," Seth said giving her a nod.

"Can I at least come in? It's not like I've never been in your bedroom before," Abby said pushing past him and stepping in.

His bedroom hadn't changed much from what she could remember. I did seem a little smaller though and there were more posters of bands than there were comic book hero's now. Abby looked over to his desk and spotted a little miniature horse gazing back at her. She had to smile.

"I see that Captain Oats is still a faithful follower of yours," Abby said turning to look at Seth.

"Yeah, well once you swear your oath to forever be in my company there is no turning back. Plus I believe I can outrun him if he tries to go. Plastic legs don't much for the speed." Seth said.

She could tell that he was trying to be nice.

"The speed that is Seth Cohen I presume?" Abby asked giving him a smile.

He gave her a nod and a slight smile. Abby sighed and looked up at him. She knew they had to start talking sometime.

"We need to talk about what went on down there," Abby said.

"So…?" Seth retorted.

"So? I just want to know what's wrong? What did I do?" Abby asked.

"Do you not know?" Seth asked back.

Abby gave him a look that said, "no, I have no idea" even though she did. Seth held on to grudges for long amounts of time. It was very possible that her leaving when they were eight was why he was mad. She thought it was silly, but it would be better to just resolve it so they could go back to being friends.

"Seth, are you mad because I left?" Abby asked

"That could be it," Seth answered.

He wasn't being very helpful. Abby felt a little angry towards him because he need to be a part of this to. Not just her.

"If you want to work this out you need to at least care," Abby said raising her voice a little.

"That's the thing. I do care Abby. I cared when you first sat in that sandbox right next to me and threw sand at my face. I cared when we made up that useless comic book club. I cared when you told me I was your best friend in the entire world. I cared about all of those things, but mostly I cared when you left. You didn't seem to! You didn't even say goodbye." Seth stormed this out and it had caught Abby a little off guard.

"Seth I'm sorry," Abby said.

"No, you just can't say your sorry and give me those eyes because you know I just give right in when you do that," Seth said pacing around the room now.

She never remembered seeing him like this before. She wasn't sure if anyone had.

"Seth what do you want me to say? That I didn't care about leaving? About leaving you behind because I did! I was only eight but I remember that to be the hardest thing I'll ever have to do. I couldn't say goodbye to you because you were the only person who would talk to me. You were the only person who would stick up for me when Bobby Wilson threw mud down my shirt. You were the only person who knew everything about me. Even stuff my parents didn't know. You don't know how many nights I stayed up crying knowing that I was gonna leave behind the only real thing I had ever known. Don't tell me I didn't care and don't tell me that I don't care now, because I do. More than you know." Abby could feel tears starting to well up in her eyes but she didn't mind.

She really wanted to cry. She needed to in fact. Everything had been balled up inside her the past few months that she needed to let it go, but she didn't. She didn't want to in front of Seth.

Seth looked across at her his mouth gaped a little. Abby could tell that she had gotten through to him. Not the way she had planned, but she still had gotten through to him.

"Seth, I just want you to know that I'm sorry for not saying goodbye. I know it must have been hard on you because it killed me," Abby said.

She sat down on his bed and Seth sat down beside her.

"I didn't mean to blow it out of proportion Abby. Just seeing you again reminded me of when you left and how after that I had no friends and no life until Ryan came along. Then he left almost the same way you did and so I think it just brought back more than one thing to mind that I didn't want to deal with. " Seth said.

Abby had no idea what the whole Ryan thing was about, but she wasn't going to get into it right now.

"So are we good?" Abby asked.

"Yeah, I think so," Seth answered looking at her.

Abby gave him a hug and they both sat there for a few minutes. She looked across his room and spotted a Superman comic lying in the corner.

"Superman? Your still into that loser?" Abby said smiling.

"Los…ah I can't believe you said that. Superman a loser? What did they teach you kids in Chino? If I do recall, though, you liked Batman. He had no powers." Seth informed her.

"Yeah but the whole suit and bat mobile worked for him," Abby laughed.

She smiled and realized that maybe life back in Newport wasn't going to be so bad after all.

"Ok, so now we just have to get the balloons," Kirsten said, "and we have about 10 minutes to do that."

Ryan finished hanging the ribbons up and looked around at the Cohen's decorated house. They were preparing for Abby's welcome back party. Sandy had taken her to spend a morning back in Newport while Kirsten, Seth, and him decorated.

Now though, Kirsten was panicking because the balloon boy hadn't shown up.

"Don't worry mom, he'll be here in a minute." Seth said picking at the food they had set out.

"So will the guest and shortly after Sandy and Abby." Kirsten said pacing around making sure everything was in order.

"Balloon boy? What kind of a job is that anyway?" Seth asked.

"Seth I don't need this right now. I want to make this perfect for her. She is my best friends daughter and I want this to be special," Kirsten said hurrying to the door as the bell sounded.

Seth walked over to Ryan.

"She still can't believe Abby's mom died. They were really good friends back then," Seth said as they watched Kirsten run back in holding a bundle of balloons.

"Ok, Seth start hanging these up, Ryan get the door, I believe there are guests here, and I will grab the ice. Ok, this is good. Very good." Kirsten said as she hurried to the kitchen.

Ryan looked at Seth and went to the door to let the guest in. It seemed as though everyone had arrived with each other. About 15 people filed in. Old friends from school were first, then Summer, and the Cooper clan brought up the rear. That was including the terrible twosome who were looking oddly happy. Ryan shut the door and went back to join the rest of the people. He noticed that Marissa wasn't with the Coopers or even Summer. Funny, he should have noticed something like that. He decided to not let it bother him because according to Kirsten, Sandy and Abby had arrived.

AN: Sorry I cut it there. The party will be next chapter because there is a surprise in store for our wonderful Newport characters! I didn't say it was a good one either. Dun Dun Dun....

Hope you liked this chapter!