A/N: Ahh nothing to say this time except enjoy…and Abbie's parents will be called by their first names because it's easier instead of "Abbie's mother" and blah. Also, there's an event in this chapter that happened in another story…just so you know, I'm not stealing from the author, it's just a great idea, and I tried to make it my own. 2 more chapters after this! I'm sad yet excited!
Chapter 21: What This Place has Done for Her
Abbie raised both of her eyebrows at her parents after their exclamation. There was no way they could hate him at this very moment, no way….they didn't even know his name, and they hated him!
"Mom, Dad," Abbie said firmly, "This is Christopher Chambers."
Abbie's mother (Claudia)'s eyes widened and she put her hand to her heart. "Did you say Chambers?"
Chris shuffled uncomfortably and looked down at his sneakers. "She did, ma'am. That would be me."
"Well…then," her mom shrugged her shoulders with a flourish and let out a huffy sigh, "Um, it's very…ah, nice to meet you."
Chris looked up suddenly and gave her a small smile. He outstretched his hand towards her. Claudia stared at it as if there were insects covering his entire hand, gnawing at his skin, creating an incurable disease. Chris looked at his own hand, and then back at Abbie's mother. His eyes bore into her's, trying to stare her down. That's right lady, you're gonna judge me when you only know my fucking name. After she didn't back down, Chris withdrew his hand.
Abbie glared at her mother. All she knew was his name…she was just like the rest of Castle Rock. It was true, her mother, not so much her father, thought they were better than everybody. They had tried to spoil Abbie senseless when she was little, but she had felt that everything was so overwhelming she refused everything. Except for food. Abbie shivered inwardly, remembering what all of that food had cost her: friends.
Claudia turned to Abbie, her face returning to a bright smile.
"Abbie darling, we better get going to your aunt's house. We need to catch up, then you'll need to pack your stuff. We'll be spending the night, and then: back home we go!"
Abbie's eyes widened so fast that if you blinked, you would have missed it. Chris' head whipped towards her, and he shot her a questioning, worried, and most of all, horrified, look. She nodded her head at her mother, and then grabbed Chris' arm and pulled him down so she could whisper in his ear.
"I'll see you tonight, I promise," she spoke lightly.
"Well…" Abbie's mother started horribly, "It was a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Chambers."
"Oh please, call me Chris," Chris insisted seriously, "Mr. Chambers is my father's name."
"Well Chris, if we don't see any more of you, which is most likely: have a good life."
Abbie's jaw dropped. How could her mother be so incredibly rude?
"Bye Chris," Abbie said simply as she followed her mother into the car.
Chris didn't say anything back to her, because he was waiting for her to tell him that she loved him. But she didn't. The car sped away fast, and Chris glared at it as it took his love away from him.
"Well, it was so very nice to see you all," Claudia said politely to her sister-in-law, her two nephews, and Vern's girlfriend, "But I think we will retire now. We have a long trip ahead of us."
Abbie's heart was pounding so loud, she could hear the thumping sound in her ears, and she was very surprised nobody else heard it. She was also very surprised that Vern had barely acknowledged her presence, for he was too busy with his girlfriend. Trisha had grabbed a Twinkie, and she and Vern took different ends and started eating it together, and then they met in the middle. They were sharing the icing that was on the inside. Abbie almost puked at the sight of them giggling with white icing all over their mouths.
She didn't dare say a word to him, Billy, or her aunt as her mother and father led her upstairs. She couldn't fucking believe it…..she was leaving Castle Rock tomorrow. After a few minutes of lying in bed thinking of nothing but leaving, she got up and walked into the hallway, where she saw her dad. She engulfed him in a huge hug. Her father was nowhere near as bad as her mother. Her dad was a quiet, reserved person, but he seemed to understand so much. Except for her problems…
"Dad," Abbie started firmly, "I don't want to leave Castle Rock. This place has made me a different person, and I like this person a lot better. I feel like I fit in here, and I have so much fun….dad, it's just really hard to explain what I feel for this place. Can't I stay?"
Her dad looked at her, searching her face unbelievably. "You know your mother is the one to ask, not me."
Abbie sighed and strolled confidently into her mother's room, which at the moment, was her room. She was resting on her bed, in the same place Abbie slept every night, and the same place she first saw Chris. She winced inwardly just thinking about what she'd have to tell him if she couldn't stay, and she felt her heart beginning to tear a little at the thought.
"Mom."
"Abbie?"
"I'm not leaving Castle Rock."
Her mother stared at her with an unreadable expression, her jaw set tight and her eyes not blinking.
"You don't decide that, young lady. I am your mother, and you will come home with your father and I. Back to California, where you belong-"
"Where—where I what, excuse me?" Abbie asked incredulously, "I don't belong in California at all! Everybody there hated me…and if they don't anymore, it's because I look ok now. And they hated me because I was fat. I have friends here, who like me for who I am."
It was true. Everyone didn't want to be her friend in California because she was fat and disgusting, and every day she'd be on the verge of tears, ready to burst. And of course, there was the bulimia…the thing that got her skinnier in the first place. But then working out started to become a bigger thing than the bulimia, so she wasn't skinny like the rest of the girls, but she looked decent. And still—no one wanted to be her friend, until she came to Castle Rock.
She continued, "You don't know what Castle Rock has done for me as a person-"
"You seem a whole lot different, and I mean that in the worse way possible," her mother said coldly.
"Well, you're wrong," Abbie challenged, "There have been such good things…I have a boyfriend."
The minute it escaped from her lips, she regretted it. But even when she said it to her mother, she could still feel this bit of amazement inside of her about having a boyfriend. It was just a weird phrase for her to say.
"A boyfriend? Who?" her mother inquired snappishly.
"Chris Chambers," Abbie answered, folding her arms. She felt as if she had to show her mother who should really be calling the shots here. For the very first time she felt as if she should rebel against her mother, and at the moment, nothing could give her greater pleasure than infuriating her.
"That wretched dirty boy we met!" her mother asked loudly in shock, "But he's a lowlife!
"Don't call him those things!" Abbie ordered, "And actually…he's told me he loves me. Mom, he's in love with me!"
"He's just saying that to use you for his sexual urges that nobody else will answer because he's a 'bad boy!'" her mother exclaimed.
Abbie's mouth fell open in surprise. How could she say something like that? She didn't even know him….and then she realized: that's how it was with the entire town. Even though he had lived here his entire life, nobody really knew Chris. Nobody gave him a chance…except for Gordie, Teddy, Vern, Emma, and herself.
It angered her so much that she dared to retort: "Shut up!"
Now it was her mother's turn to be surprised. Abbie couldn't help but feel pleased with herself, but she could still feel the frustration rushing through her.
"Chris loves me for me," Abbie continued, "And you know how you were talking about those sexual urges?"
Her mother stared at her, her mouth almost touching the ground, her eyes wide. "Oh you didn't."
"But I did," Abbie confirmed with a smirk, "And I enjoyed it to!"
"You aren't staying here," her mother snarled, standing up, "You're never to see that boy again!"
"Who says I'm going to listen to you?" Abbie snapped.
"Why are you being so selfish?" her mother asked her with a growl.
"I'm being selfish!" Abbie exclaimed, "You're the one who wants to keep me all to yourself! You know….I have no idea what the hell you did to ruin me! You fattened me up, and no one loved me, except for you? Why did you do it, Mom? Why? Did you want to look pretty beside me, did you want people to say that you were prettier than your own daughter?"
Abbie could feel tears welling up in her eyes, but she wasn't finished.
"You don't know what it feels like…you don't even know what I've gone through, in California and in Castle Rock! But all I know for sure is that I was a different person when I got off the train at the Castle Rock Train Station. I was a different person when I got into Billy's car and met his weirdo friends. I was a different person when I entered this house. I was a different person when I saw for the very first time, the love of my life, where you were just sitting, he was there. Someone finally loves me, goddammit! And you're taking me away from the person I care about the most! I mean Mother, what would you expect to happen to a girl whose parents left her in a town alone for an entire year? If you have to blame it on somebody, blame it on YOURSELF!" she screamed the last word and began panting from anger.
Her mother stayed silent, staring at the ground, yet she began to shake her head slowly.
Abbie couldn't believe it. After all she had said, after all she had gone through in California and in Castle Rock, her mother wouldn't let her stay. She turned and stormed out, slamming the door behind her. She ran into the bathroom, locked the door, and threw up. The effects of bulimia were still following her. Tears running down her face, she immediately grabbed a shampoo bottle and threw it at the door, breaking it. This just wasn't fair to her. No one knew what it was like to have no friends, and soon, she wasn't even going to have any. She wouldn't have her boyfriend….no more Chris. The thought sent more tears to trickle down her face, and actually gasp. She looked up at the ceiling, praying to God that there was some way that she would be able to get out of the house. If she didn't, she wouldn't see any of her friends again. Soon, she became face to face with a window, right above the sink. Whose ever idea it was to put a window in a bathroom is an idiot, but they are officially my hero. Abbie climbed onto the sink, out of the window, and gently eased herself down a tree. She jumped to the ground and landed on her feet, and in front of her, she saw none other than Chris.
"Chris, what are you doing here?" she asked softly.
Chris didn't speak, but Abbie could see the cuts on his face, and the black eye. He reached out for her with his left arm. Left arm? That's strange, Chris is right handed. His right arm hung limp at his side. Oh no….
"I think my arm popped out of its socket," Chris told her, and she could tell just by his tone that he was in extreme pain.
She slowly lifted his right arm and held his right hand in hers. She stayed quiet. She wouldn't dare say anything or ask him any questions unless he wanted her to. She knew who did it.
"I'm not going to the hospital," Chris stated stubbornly, "They don't give a fuck about what happens to me, they just have to fix it…physically that is…but I don't want people who don't care helping me."
Suddenly, Abbie had an idea. She reached for his left arm and began to drag him down the street.
"Come on, I know who we can go to, he's real close. I don't know why you didn't think of him in the first place."
"Where are we going?" he asked.
"To the person who cares about you just as much as I do," Abbie told him.
The two jogged down the street for a little longer, and then Abbie signaled Chris to stop when they got in front of a familiar two-story house with blue shutters. Chris's eyes traveled up the house to a lone window at the left end of the house.
"Oh come on, I don't want to bother Gordie," Chris told her.
"But you can come bother me?" Abbie joked.
"No seriously," Chris said gravely, his face twisted into an expression of pain, "Let's go."
Abbie took Chris's left arm again and pulled him gently to Gordie's window. "Gordie won't mind, Chris. He cares about you so much."
They looked straight up at Gordie's window for a moment, just staring. Then Abbie let go of Chris and picked up a few rocks that were in the dying garden. She stepped back and threw the rock as hard as she could up and at the window. It hit it with a rather loud tap! and when she noticed no movement, she threw them over and over. As Abbie tossed another one at the window, Gordie suddenly poked his head out sleepily.
"Who's there? What do—OUCH!"
The rock had hit Gordie square on the nose, and he began to rub it profusely. He looked down angrily to see who had thrown the rock, but only discovered his best friends.
"Jesus Christ Abbie, you have a pretty good arm, that hurt like shit," Gordie commented, "Why are you guys here?"
"Chris's right arm is dislodged," Abbie called up to him, "He refused to go to the hospital, and I thought bringing him here was the next best thing."
"No, bringing me here was the best thing," Chris corrected, "Gordo, can you fix it man?"
Gordie nodded solemnly and retreated back into his room. After a minute or two, the front door opened, and Abbie and Chris stepped inside. Gordie closed the door and gripped Chris's good arm, which Abbie wouldn't be surprised if it was sore by now.
"Come on," Gordie murmured.
He led them upstairs and into his shockingly neat room. He sat Chris down on his bed and began to rummage through his closet, throwing things out of it. Soon Gordie came back to the bed with a dirty towel and scissors. He plopped down gingerly next to Chris, and cut the towel in half. He held out one half to Chris.
"Here," he instructed, "Put this in your mouth. Abbie, you'd better hold his left hand."
Chris stared at the piece of towel in Gordie's hand as if it were a deadly snake. Reluctantly, he took it with his left hand and stuck it into his mouth. Abbie then took a hold of his hand.
Gordie gently rolled up Chris's t-shirt sleeve onto his shoulder and felt his arm. As he did this, Gordie's face paled. This set off a chain reaction with Chris, who had been studying him. Chris's face looked as if he had just seen a ghost. Correction---he was a ghost. Gordie then took Chris's right hand in his own.
"Alright. I'm going to pull on your arm and get the bones to go back into their places. You ready?" Gordie asked.
"As ready as I'll ever be," Chris answered with a little bit of shakiness to his voice.
Gordie took a long, deep breath, counted to three, and tugged as hard as he could. He could feel the joint going back into the socket, and Abbie could hear it snap back into place. Chris almost fell back into the bed in pain, and it took all of Abbie's strength to keep him from doing so. Chris had closed his eyes and screamed into the towel in his mouth, making the sound muffled and rugged. Gordie let go of Chris's arm. But it seemed as if Chris would never let go of Abbie's hand, which was beginning to cramp up and turn a nasty red. Gordie grabbed the other half of the towel he had cut, made a makeshift sling, and gently put Chris's right arm in it. Chris leaned forward and spit out the towel onto the floor.
"Are you alright?" Gordie questioned quietly
"Yeah," he answered back in a pained, high-pitched whisper.
"Spend the night," Gordie ordered, "You look tired, and probably after that you need some sleep."
Chris nodded, and then Abbie made a move to get up. Chris pulled her back down with his left arm.
"Where are you going?" he asked her.
"Back home," Abbie responded, and then remembered that the next day, she really was.
"No, stay. Please. I need you here with me," Chris pleaded.
"Fine," Abbie sighed.
Gordie got up and went to the closet again, coming back with a whole bunch of blankets in his arms, and he almost went flying by tripping over one.
"You guys can stay in my bed, I'll stay on the floor," Gordie offered once he steadied himself, but Abbie could tell that he was still unsteady from putting Chris's arm back into place.
"No, guys get in the bed, girl on the floor," Abbie told them with a small smile, and took the blankets out of Gordie's arms.
The guys got ready for bed and then hopped in gratefully, both of them were obviously tired from what had just happened. Abbie took her time laying down the blankets and her thoughts kept wondering back to what she was going to do in the morning.
She wanted to stay in Castle Rock, and then follow Chris to his university. In fact, she just wanted to stay with Chris. But having Castle Rock in the background would be better than just some other city, at least for the next year. Castle Rock was where her life took a turn for the good….but then again, the worse. She learned that there were some people, idiots, assholes, snobs, and hoods, which she couldn't escape, no matter where she went. But Castle Rock showed her that there were good people too. People who judged from the inside and not the outside. People who would care if one of the people who you couldn't escape did something awful to her. The place changed her, it really did.
"Abbie?"
Abbie turned her head towards Gordie's bed. "Yes, Chris?"
"Come here a second, please."
Abbie stood up and then sat down at the edge of Gordie's bed by Chris's feet. Chris sat up slowly, as to not wake Gordie. The two stared at each other until:
"Are you excited about going back to California?"
Abbie's eyes widened at Chris. "No, and I never will be."
"You know, I had forgotten that you didn't even really live here," Chris told her softly, "It's like you've always been here. Been here with me. I….I don't want you to leave."
Abbie put her head to Chris's. "I don't want to leave either. And when I do, I know there will be this part of me that will still be in Castle Rock. Hell, I think all of me is going to still be in Castle Rock."
"It's not good to stay here though," Chris informed, beginning to nuzzle her, "This place is a total dump."
"A total dump where I met my first and only love," Abbie added, and then kissed him.
The two could feel it again: that connection. It was as if they were just destined to be together, as if fate wouldn't have it any other way. Chris eagerly slipped his tongue into her mouth, and they began to kiss heavily, breaths becoming hard to catch. Abbie could feel just by his kiss what he wanted and she could see why. But she couldn't. She knew that she would have to return to California one day, and that day would probably be tomorrow. She knew that she couldn't stop her mother or change her mind. Fate was so sweet, but so cruel.
Abbie broke away reluctantly. She ruffled his hair fondly, and let her hand fall from his hair to his face. She could feel herself holding back the tears. Chris stared at her forlornly, as if she had left him already.
"Come by the house tomorrow morning," Abbie instructed, "Bye love."
And with that, she withdrew her hands and stood up. She turned towards the window, opened it, and began to climb down the tree near it. Once she disappeared from sight, Chris grabbed the towel he had spit out onto the floor earlier and stuffed it back into his mouth. He fell roughly back onto the bed and screamed his stifled, rugged scream.
