Chapter 19

Darcy had felt bad about the way she had treated Abby for the past week. At first she was mad at her for speaking her mind, but after she thought about it she realized that Abby was right. When Abby was getting ready for Lucas and Karen to come Darcy decided she needed to talk to her.

"Hey Abby" Abby turned around and smiled. Darcy couldn't believe how nice Abby was to her, even after everything that had happened between them. "Um, can I ask you a few questions?"

"If you really want to, go ahead." Abby sat on her bed while Darcy plopped down on hers.

"Okay, so I usually hear why people are here, but they have been very secretive about you. Why?" Abby shook her head.

"I don't know why they are keeping it quiet, but I don't have any parents."

"Do you mind me asking why?"

"My mom died when I was 10 from a heart failure. My dad moved us to Wisconsin and then he killed himself a year later. Some friends of my dad's took me in. The woman was killed two years later in a hit and run drunk driving accident. So the man moved me back to North Carolina, which is where I grew up. He hit me constantly. The last time I almost died and so he is now in jail."

"Wow, I thought I had a hard life. My parents were both killed in a fire and I was sent straight here."

"How long ago was that?"

"Um, about seven years ago, I was 8."
"Wow…" Abby cell phone rang. She picked it up.

"Hello" Darcy heard a pause in the conversation. "Are you here?" There was another pause. "Oh my GOD! I'll be right down!" Abby hung up and started towards the door. "Do you want to come and meet my boyfriend and his mom?" Darcy smiled and walked over to Abby. She grabbed Darcy's hand and pulled her down the stairs. As soon as she saw Lucas she ran over to him and threw her arms around him.

"I missed you so much!"

"I missed you too Abs. Oh, please don't cry…"

"I'm sorry Lucas, but I'm so happy to see you…" She trailed off when she saw Karen, Nate, Haley, Deb, Peyton, and Anna standing behind him. She walked to each person and gave them hugs. After she hugged everyone she walked back over to Darcy.

"This is my roommate Darcy. Darcy, this is my boyfriend Lucas, his mom Karen, his brother Nathan, Nathan's wife Haley, Nathan's mom Deb, and two of my other friends, Anna and Peyton. I'll explain some things later."

"Well, it was nice to meet you all. I will be looking forward to hearing all about you." She walked away leaving Abby to catch up with everyone.

"Okay, I thought you didn't get along with your roommate?"

"I know Pey, but today she's been really nice. I figured I should give her a chance." She paused. "I can't believe you are all here. I'm so happy. Where are you staying?"

"We are across town at the Super 8. How are you Abby?" Deb answered.

"I'm good. They treat us well here."
"How many people are here?" Haley asked looking around nervously.

"There are ten workers over the course of the day. There are 5 babies, 3 kids under five a few under twelve and then there are eight teen-agers, five girls and 3 boys. So there are about twenty all the time and then this past week we had a couple more babies, but they were adopted quickly." Karen had been pretty quiet the entire time.

"You need to get out of here. I thought I was okay with this, but now that I see it, I need to know you are incredibly safe."

"Karen, I'm fine. Trust me. I get three square meals a day, there is always an adult here, and no one is hitting me. I promise you that this is a good place."

"We are trying to find a way to get you back where you belong." Deb really liked this young girl, but there was something about her.

Flashback

"Hey mom" Deb said as she walked into her parent's house.

"Deb, honey, this is a nice surprise. We weren't expecting you."

"I know, I thought I would surprise you."

"Well, I am surprised, but your father is not here." They sit down.

"Mom, I actually have a question for you. I know this is hard for you, but why did you decide to keep me and give away…"

"I know I have avoided this question so many times and I am sorry."

"Mom, I'm not upset, but please answer my question."

"Because your father and I were a year older and we could afford a baby. Your sister went to a great home and I believe leads a great life. We haven't heard anything, but that was expected at the time of adoption."

"Do you remember who adopted her?"

"Um, let me go check. I wrote it down somewhere. Here it is, Randall and Gloria Suzda. Why are you wondering?"

"I don't know, I want to try and find her."

End Flashback

Deb had forgotten to look on the computer, but promised to look when she got home.

"Well, I hope you find a way for me to come back to Tree Hill. I really miss it there." Karen was still looking around the living room when she saw Lucas staring at Abby.

"Well, we should go check into the hotel. Let's give Lucas and Abby some time alone."

"Thanks for coming. I will definitely see you soon." She hugged everyone again and then ran over to Lucas and jumped on his back. They walked out the door and headed for the swings. They didn't even notice how long they were outside until it started raining.

"Crap, come on, we'll find a quiet spot inside." As they started in they noticed Cheryl coming down the stairs.

"Abby, it's 6:30, time for supper."

"Already, are you serious? You just got here, you can't leave."

"Hey Abs, don't worry, I'll see you later."

"Why don't you guys take dinner in the living room? You can't watch TV, but you can have a little privacy while you eat."

"Thanks Cheryl, you're the best." Abby grabbed Lucas' hand and ran into the kitchen. They spent the rest of the night playing cards and watching the rain with the other kids. Lucas left around 10:00 so that Abby could get try and sleep before the big day that his mom had planned for them. Darcy and Abby were woken up at 7:30 by Abby's cell phone ringing. Abby jumped out of bed and ran over to the desk.

"I'm sorry Darcy. I thought I turned it off last night." When she picked up the phone she noticed it was her alarm going off.

"Your boyfriend asked me to turn it on for you and set the alarm actually. You had turned it off." She walked to Abby. "He will be here at 8:15 to pick you up. Cheryl already okayed it. So go have fun." Abby ran to the bathroom to get ready. When Lucas picked her up, her took her to a small restaurant by the Super 8 where everyone else was waiting. They spent the entire day at the beach. They knew they had to relax for the next day. Lucas and Abby were both nervous about testifying, but they knew they had to if they wanted John behind bars.