Chapter 7:
Abby closes the door as Carter leaves. She leans back against the door, half not believing what just happened. Carter had kissed her, and well she kissed Carter too. She was happy and confused at the same time. She didn't know why she was confused though, it shouldn't have been that surprising. She had heard the conversation between him and Susan a few days ago so why was she so stunned that Carter had just kissed her?
Carter stares at Abby's apartment door for a minute, then turns around to leave. Part of him was telling him that he should give the relationship a try, and the other half was telling him that maybe it wasn't the right time to start a relationship, with Abby nonetheless. He decides to refrain from thinking that and walks towards the El to go home.
The next day Carter and Abby tried to avoid each other as much as possible. Neither of them knew what to do or say, so when they met up in the medicine supply closet, they just stood there in an awkward state of silence. "Hey," Abby says.
"Hi," Carter says back. They are both kind of quiet, wondering if the other is going to bring up what happened the night before.
"So last night…" Abby finally says.
"Was different," Carter suggests.
"I was gonna say unexpected, but nice."
"Just nice?"
"Well what do you want me to say? What happened was the last thing I expected to happen."
"Oh come on, you said it yourself you heard Susan and me talking."
"Yeah… so?"
"Why is this so surprising to you Abby?"
"I don't know. I thought you were happy. I thought you were with Kem. I thought we were over Carter. I thought we were completely over. Then all of a sudden you're not with her and your back here and I realize that we are not over. I realize that all this time I was trying to convince myself that I was over you that I really wasn't, and now were not over, and I'm just really, really confused." Abby slows down. "I … I think I just need some time to think about all of this, okay?"
"Okay, take all the time you need," Carter says calmly.
"Thanks," Abby says as she turns around to leave. It isn't until she is at admit that she realizes she didn't get what she needed from the supply closet.