Wicked Game by Chris Isaak

"I never dreamed that

I'd meet somebody like you."

IX. Monday

That following Monday morning, Abby attempted to get out of her car carrying her bag and coffee in a single attempt but she didn't take into account of the sludge of ice and water mixture accumulating on the cold, wet ground. She cursed under her breath when her backpack slipped from her hold after she stepped out of her car the wrong way. But her falling bag didn't get a chance to touch the dirty surface because a pale hand shot out and grabbed it midair.

She looked up and smiled, biting her bottom lip slightly as Edward grinned down at her. A blush found its way to her cheeks when she saw his beautifully colored eyes flash down to her mouth as she softly nibbled on her lips. Oh, the things he manages to do to her without a single word having to escape him.

"I never thought of you as a klutz," Edward said, swinging her backpack around his own shoulder.

Abby rolled her eyes, "I'm not. Give me back my bag, Edward - it's heavy." She reached for it but he dodged her attempt of getting the bag back from his hold.

The man scoffed and placed a hand over where his heart would've been, "I'm hurt you think so little of my body."

"Well, you're not exactly your big brother," Abby teased, while grabbing his upper arm and gave it a couple of squeezes. He might not have been Emmett but she'd be lying if she didn't have the sudden urge to see what Edward looked like without his clothes just from touching his obviously firm bicep. An unwarranted pool of warmth abruptly swam through Abby's veins and a region she's not so familiar with, making her gulp and release his arm.

He deadpanned and scowled at her, "Oh, well, aren't you hilarious."

Abby released a loud laugh, catching the attention of her fellow peers. She was actually sure the duo had gotten the attention of the entire school. But then again, most of the school had gotten used to the two of them in such close proximity.

Suddenly, Edward swung an arm around her shoulder.

Okay, now she was sure the entire school was staring at them - again.

"Uh," she started to say as the man started to guide them into the school building, "everyone's staring, Edward." And everyone was. Oh, no, this was like the first day of school all over again.

He squeezed her shoulders, making her slightly huddle into his cold chest and whispered in her ear, "Do you blame them? I'd want to look at you forever, Abby."

An unanticipated shiver sped through her spine and her heart flipped so harshly in her chest while at the same time dropping to her stomach. How did he do that? How did he manage to make her feel so protected against the worst horrors of the world? He was always protecting her - saving her.

He saved her.


"So, did you do the sinful deed?" Jess asked, with a raised eyebrow at Abby. The girl swiftly turned around from searching Jess's closet to picking up a stuffed animal on the floor to chuck at her. Hearing her and Ang's laughter, Abby rolled her eyes and turned back to the closet to find the denim jacket Jess borrowed and never returned.

The rest of the day went as it usually did. Throughout the day, Edward walked with her to her every class and never allowed her to hold her own books. They had even shared lunch today within the cafeteria and not huddled in their little corner of the library. The looks were nearly unbearable but Edward made it worth it, and they only got worse when the two gave each other a hug before parting ways at the end of the day.

"No," Abby hissed, shuffling through Jess's hangers, "there was no deed being done."

"Okay well," Ang started off, before plopping a bunch of popcorn in her mouth, "you promised us the story after school and now here we are."

"Yeah, here we are without a story," Jess snorted before adding, "Come on, Abby."

Abby released a long breath before halting her search and turning around to face the curious duo sitting on Jess's bed, trying not to display the already bright cheeks she had. She thought back to the revelation of her falling fast and deep for the man who confirmed that he definitely wasn't human.

"It was," she sighed dreamily, thinking of Edward as the perfect gentlemen, "everything you wish a date would be. It was a dream."

Jess scoffed, "I mean, you went out with literally the hottest teenager on earth. How could it not be perfect?"

"She's right," Ang agreed. "The man could've taken you to the dump and it would've been a perfect date."

Abby laughed at her words and she rolled her eyes, taking a seat on the beige carpeted floor in front of them, "Well, he didn't take me to the dump! He took me to an art museum." The girls urged her to continue and so she did, not leaving out a single detail - other than the whole 'is he human' debacle. They awe'd and cooed at appropriate times, even making fun of the hostess that tried to catch Edward's attention but his sole focus was on Abby.

"God, Abby, you're crazy about him!" Jess laughed, watching as the brunette across from her covered her cheeks with her hands and whimper pathetically.

Both girls snickered at Abby's undoing, knowing that she had never truly felt any romantic feelings towards a guy that wasn't Tom Hardy or Jake Gyllenhaal. She was convinced she could attain either one of them but alas, a man has swooped in and captured her entire heart - Tom Hardy and Jake Gyllenhaal didn't stand a chance against Edward.

"Ugh, can we please talk about anything else?!" Abby grumbled through her hands.

"Why?" Jess grinned, chucking a few pieces of kernel into her mouth, "Torturing you about love is fun."

Abby ripped her hands off her face and glared at the girl who shot her a cheeky smile. She crossed her arms across her chest and continued to face down Jess, who was struggling to hold back her laughter.

"Stop it, Jess," Ang, the saint, placated, "Abby obviously doesn't want to talk about it."

"Thank you," Abby heaved out, exasperated and in desperate need of a shift in the conversation.

"Are you going to Lauren's barbecue this Saturday, Abby?" Ang asked with a soft smile on her face, her glasses crookedly resting on the bridge of her nose.

"Barbecue?" Abby wondered, thinking of when Lauren had even glanced her way since last week. She hadn't. The girl was clearly still upset with Abby that Tyler had asked her out - again.

Jess shook her head at Ang, while saying, "Lauren's still pissed that Tyler asked Abby to the dance."

The girl groaned, falling back first to the carpeted floor beneath her and grumbled out, "I regret ever kissing him during Spin the Bottle. Why did we even have that party? It's been six years!"

Jess laughed at Abby's downfall of being in between Tyler and Lauren, "Yeah because Tyler clearly has forgotten that very special moment in his life."

"I mean, he should." Ang shrugged, "When has Abby ever shown the slightest interest in anyone?"

"Except Edward Cullen, of course," Jess giggled and Abby audibly groaned again. "Sorry," she added for Abby's benefit but she wasn't really sorry. "I wish Mike would give me the time of day like Tyler did."

"So take control," Abby stated, staring at Jess's lavender ceiling above her. "I don't understand why you don't just ask him out?"

"Because I don't know if he likes me? He could've asked to hangout a hundred times! And he hasn't!" Jess groaned, hugging a pillow close to her and pouting while thinking of her unrequited love.

"We're in the 21st century, Jess," Abby added, "Just ask him!"

"And have him hear me?!"

Abby and Ang bursted out with laughter, with Abby saying, "Okay, fine, die alone then."

The girl chucked the pillow at Abby's face and Abby yelped when the cushion hit her square in the face. She wasn't hurt as she was still laughing due to Jess's antics but used the pillow for a cushion behind her head.

"So, you're not going to the barbecue? We're going to La Push after for a bonfire! Come, it'll be fun!" Ang tried again ignoring Jess's obvious petulant look and knowing the day would be more fun if Abby had joined them just like times before the summer.

"I can't," Abby shook her head, "it's the first weekend of November."

"Oh," they two girls on the bed said in unison in surprise.

"Yup," Abby sighed, "the Port Angeles Food Bank calls my name." She sat up and saw the sorrowful look in both their eyes, and said before they asked any questions, "I know my mom and I always do it. But I think I'll be fine doing it alone this year! Besides, Viviane always needs the extra help."

"Abby, you know I don't mind coming," Ang offered. It was tradition for Abby and her mother to volunteer at the Food Bank every weekend leading up to Thanksgiving in November and to give back to the less fortunate in what little way they could. Abby was okay with doing it alone; she knew she'd have to get used to doing it alone.

She shook her head at the proposal, saying, "I'll be okay, honestly. Besides, it's tradition and I don't want to break it. It'll be fine."

Jess quirked her lip and with a cocked eyebrow said, "If you say so, just know we'll drop the barbecue and come to you if you need us to."

Abby smiled at the two of them softly, grateful she had her friends back in her life. Why she ever thought of pushing them away was beyond her. But she was so entirely filled with gratitude that she had some of the best people in her life.

The rest of the girls night was made with more gossip but cut short enough due to it being a Monday night. Abby had to go home soon enough and heat up the leftover lasagna for Jay and her. She figured Charlie would be okay tonight considering she made him the same lasagna the previous night.

Abby made her way home, and walked inside recognizing that somehow it had gotten easier for her to be home alone. She didn't know when it had happened. Maybe it was because she was spending so much time with her friends and Edward that she came to the realization that coming home to an empty house didn't hurt as much as it once did.

Smiling to herself, remembering Edward's touch upon her skin, she walked over to the fridge to pull out the lasagna that was only half finished. Turning on the oven to preheat it, she decided she'd finish her homework on the kitchen table instead of doing it right before bed. Soon enough, after plopping the lasagna into the oven, she sat concentrated at the table looking over her Calculus homework.

Deeming impossible, she groaned to herself and looked up from her book across the room into the living room bookshelf to a picture of her parents. An old picture, back when they first married at the ripe age of 18; they were young, in love, and ready to start a life.

Abby smiled at the picture of her parents who's cheeks were pressed together in the very flimsy disposable camera picture. It was clear that her father had taken the picture because his arm was outstretched in the shot, and it was in the dead of winter due to their coats and reddened noses. They were standing right outside of Abby's paternal grandfathers house in Portland, Oregon - where Jay was born.

"I swear," Abby started, "I'm not going crazy talking to myself but I don't know, if you guys are like ghosts or something want to make a noise so I know you're here?"

Abby waited a beat for nothing to happen and she sighed, somewhat upset that her parents weren't haunting her in the afterlife. A weird thing to be melancholic over but she missed when her mom scolded her to finish her math homework and her dad refuting her mother, saying 'Math got me nowhere in life!' Her mother would roll her eyes and hold up her hands while saying, 'yes officer whatever you say'.

"I guess not," she sighed, "I wonder if there's some cosmic parallel universe or something where you guys are still alive and berating parallel universe Abby for not finishing her Calculus homework." She released a small smile thinking of certain intoxicating eyes and continued, "Hey dad if you're listening, you'll hate this. I met someone, I mean I think I met someone. It would be nice though to have one of those mother-daughter boy talks that mom and I never got to have. Mom, you would've loved him - old school and charming. He's kinda' amazing." Abby shook her head and softly laughed, "Maybe I am losing it."

As soon as Abby finished talking into the void she heard keys at the front door jingle and knew Jay was home. He walked in through the front door in his uniform and his weapons belt hung over his shoulder.

"Hey," Abby greeted, acting as though she wasn't talking to the air seconds ago, "work tough?"

"Not really," he replied, shrugging and dropping his belt on the sectional, "just a bunch of paperwork today. It's not like Forks has that many arrests."

"Not like Seattle, huh?" Abby wondered, her guilt eating at her once again. "I'm guessing being a deputy in Forks, Washington is as boring as it gets."

He laughed but didn't reply, before walking into the kitchen and ruffling the top of Abby's head - the way their father always did. Jay was almost a spitting image of their father with sandy brown hair sat atop his head haphazardly and a chiseled face of a strong chin and high cheekbones, except for the green eyes - that was all their mother. He made his way over to fridge to grab a bottle of beer and twisted it open before turning to face Abby.

"Calculus kicking your ass again?" Jay grinned, before taking a swig of his drink.

Abby rolled her eyes before plopping her face down to her textbook, "Math is a nightmare and I am living within it every waking moment."

"Yeah, well, we're not a family of brainiacs anyways." Jay snickered, taking a seat next to his younger sister. "This is why you're an artist and I'm a cop."

"Mom was a teacher, Jay," Abby spoke directly into her textbook.

"Okay, except for mom," Jay replied, placing his beer bottle on a coaster. "Oh, before I forget, Harry Clearwater came to the station today to invite us over for Thanksgiving with Charlie, of course."

Abby lifted her head up and struggled to keep the crestfallen look off of her face, "Dad would've told us to bring the flatscreen to make sure everyone sees the game."

Chuckling, Jay said, "That explains why Harry told me to bring the flatscreen. I forgot we had the biggest TV between all the oldsters."

"We have to do it for the Super Bowl as well," Abby smiled, reminiscent of the times they lugged TV's from house to house because of a 'big game'. Too bad there was a big game every stinking month. Harry Clearwater just had the largest common area of them all so they all gathered there during most important games.

"It's gonna' be weird, isn't it?" Jay suddenly asked, picking at the label of his bottle. He cleared his throat of lump forming and whispered, refusing to meet Abby's gaze, "First holiday season without them?"

Abby held her breath because Jay wasn't one to get emotional; the man was a walking stick of humor. He hadn't been exceptionally vocal about the loss of their parents but he knew he was Abby's crutch and unbeknownst to Abby, she was his.

She reached over to grasp his hand and gulped, refusing to let the tears surface, "We've still got each other." But a single tear dropped down her cheek when he tightened his hold in her hand.


A/N: Okay, I'm so sorry! This was supposed to be up a lot sooner but for whatever reason my Fanfiction profile just wouldn't let me upload. But, alas, here I am with a brand new chapter with cute bits of Edward/Abby lovinnnn!

I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, continue to review, favorite, and follow this story!

I love every single review I get, I'm not joking when I say the more reviews I get, the faster I want to upload. Love you guys, the next chapter should be up by the end of this week.