Connor woke up tangled in limbs, which immediately registered in his brain as wrong. It wasn't that he had never woken up in someone else's bed before, despite certain seemingly popular opinions, he'd had a sexual encounter or two in his life, it was just that in this situation he usually had a hangover and this morning he did not. And it had certainly been a while since it had happened. Heart hammering, he ever so gently pulled back so he could see the face of the person whose face was buried in his shoulder. Abby. The events of the previous night flooded back to him and he immediately felt relief, then a little disappointment, and finally, another slight bout of panic. He most definitely was not was not on top of the blanket. In his defense, he wasn't under the blanket either, at least not so much as he was under Abby who had the blanket wound around her like a poorly made toga and was clinging to him like a koala bear with one leg thrown over his hips, arms wrapped around his middle, and her face smooshed into his shoulder. He needed to plan an escape, he decided quickly, one that wouldn't wake her up because he had a feeling she would be none too happy if she found them in that problematic position, particularly given that there was a certain… problem coming up that he was surprised hadn't already made itself more known.

Holding his breath, like that might help the situation, he ever so gently tried to unwrap her arms from around him. Apparently that was the wrong move, he realized as her grip on him tightened and she gave a soft moan, squirting her way a little closer, which only helped make his problem a little more prominent. He was about to try a different tactic when she sighed deeply against the fabric of his t-shirt and then, to his horror, her whole body went tense, head shooting up from where it had been resting. Her sapphire eyes were wide in shock as they met his, "Connor?!"

"Yup?" His voice was little more than an embarrassing squeak as he waited for her to get mad.

Her face turned as bright red as he was sure his was, though the look in her eye was more one of fear and mortification than the anger he had expected, which he didn't consider much better as she whispered, "Is that…?"

"The morning." He muttered, worming his way out of her grasp with such urgency that he almost toppled off the side of the bed, jumping to his feet and retreating to the corner of the room, "Sorry, I, uh… sorry."

"It's fine." She replied quickly, rolling the other way so he couldn't see her face and untangling herself from the blanket. Extracting herself from the bed, she kept her back to him, which didn't really help the situation, he decided, as she was wearing only her t-shirt and knickers.

"I'm just… I'm going to go." He decided. She looked like she wanted to say something, but he didn't give her a chance to respond before he rushed to the door and flung it open. All he wanted was to escape back to his own room across the hall where he could get rid of his little problem or, at the very least, put his jeans on, but the universe, it seemed, was not on his side.

Abby was on the other side of the door. Future Abby. Just standing there with her fist raised to knock. She blinked, clearly as surprised to see him as he was to see her, then her eyes traveled down and back up and over to her past self and then finally back to him, "Huh…"

Seconds before, Connor had been pretty sure that his face could not get any redder, but he was decidedly re-evaluating that assessment now as he directed his gaze pointedly at the door, "It's… it's not what it looks like…"

"Uhuh." Future Abby bit her lip, clearly trying and failing to hide her amusement as she held up the bag she was carrying, "I, uh, I brought you two some clothes, but, you know, you look like you're doing fine as is."

Behind him, Abby surged forward, snatching the bag out of her future double's hand with a quick, terse, "Thanks."

With that, Connor found himself pushed out of the room and the door swiftly shut behind him. He stood there awkwardly for a moment with the other Abby before she shook her head and chuckled, "Give her a minute and she'll figure out there's stuff in that bag for you, too."

"Is there?" He wasn't sure why that surprised him, of course his future self would have packed up some things for him, it only made sense, but it felt like a nice gesture anyways. "Well… she can have it for now, I'll just… get me jeans."

He retreated back towards his room, a little confused when Future Abby trailed behind him, leaning on the doorframe while he gathered his jeans and hoodie from where he'd abandoned them on the floor and pulled them on. He fumbled with the button of his jeans in an embarrassing manner, for some reason having her watch him put his jeans on made him feel a lot more awkward than wandering around the flat in his boxers did. He was about to request a little privacy when she suddenly spoke up, "This is... weird."

"Wha- oh… uh, yeah." He stumbled over his words, awkwardly agreeing with her as he shrugged his hoodie on and zipped it up, "Um, about… about last night. You… er, she asked me to stay."

"Hm?" She looked confused for a moment, then seemed to remember the scene she'd walked in on, "Oh. Oh yeah. I expected as much. I would."

"Nothing weird happened." He clarified quickly.

An odd smirk passed over her face, which she ducked her head to hide, "Pity. But, no, I didn't think anything did."

He prickled at little at that assumption, "Well it could have!"

"With her? Unlikely." She shook her head with a slight laugh, "Besides, based on when you're coming from, don't you have a girlfriend?"

"Oh. Yeah. Caroline." He had, for a moment, forgotten about her. Abby was too good at distracting him from such things and when he remembered, he was overcome by a wave of guilt. Still, he gave her a sheepish look, "Well, maybe I'm a bit of a scoundrel."

"You're not." She didn't even hesitate before brushing that idea off.

He wanted to defend his non-existent bad boy persona, but he got the feeling that there wasn't much point, "I guess you know me pretty well by now."

"You are my best friend." She pointed out.

Best friend. That stung a little. More than he liked. He loved being her best friend, of course, he wouldn't give that up for anything, but he had maybe hoped she would leave him with a little hope for something more. He was trying to come up with a response that wouldn't sound pathetic when they were interrupted by Stephen and their Abby emerging from their rooms and heading over to join them. Stephen gave Abby and her new attire a once over, "That's a good look for you."

Connor had to agree, she looked pretty sharp in the tight fitting jeans and figure hugging V-neck sweater that her future self had brought for her. She nodded in thanks and tossed the bag onto Connor's bed, "Thanks. Um, there's some clothes in there for you, too. And these three plastic dinosaurs that I assume are also for you?"

Future Abby looked at the toys that her younger self offered up in surprise and perhaps a little embarrassment, quickly relieving her of them, "Sorry, those weren't supposed to be in there. They belong to my… um, Rex. They're Rex's."

That didn't sound particularly believable to Connor and Abby and Stephen seemed to agree, but before either of them could say anything, something else seemed to catch Abby's attention on her future counterpart's left hand. Grabbing the older blonde's wrist, she took a closer look at the ring she was wearing, "Is that… is that an engagement ring?"

"No. Just a gift." Future Abby replied quickly, pulling her hand away before any of them could get a good look at the ring and removing it, slipping it into her jeans pocket, "That's just the finger it fits on. I shouldn't be wearing it at work anyways. Might lose it. Is Cutter up? I'll take you guys to see the menagerie now if you like."

"He's been up for a little while." Stephen mentioned, "He said he was going to check out the hub."

"I should go find him." Future Abby resolved.

"I'll come with you." Stephen offered, "Maybe you could show me where to get a cup of coffee?"

"Sure." She smiled, then gave Connor and her younger counterpart an expectant look, "You coming?"

"Gonna change my shirt." He decided, digging into the bag and pulling out the first one he found, as if he needed to prove he wasn't lying.

Abby hesitated, looking from him to her futureself, "I'll, uh, I'll catch up to you."

Connor wasn't sure what made him more nervous, the fact that Abby was likely sticking around to remind him that last night meant nothing or the knowing look Future Abby gave her before leading Stephen off towards the elevator. He tried to pretend neither had occurred to him, turning his back to Abby and shrugging off the shirt he'd slept in, trading it for the one he'd retrieved from the bag. Future him wore tighter clothes, he noted. Abby said nothing as he changed, simply lingering in the doorway. Steeling himself, he forced a cheeky grin to his face as he turned around, "You know, Abby, if you keep standing there and staring at me like I'm a piece of meat, people are going to talk."

Instead of smiling or trying not to laugh, like he had hoped for, Abby shifted uncomfortably, crossing her arms over her chest and dropping her gaze to the floor, "Look, Connor, about last night…"

"I shouldn't have stayed." He said quickly. Maybe it would hurt less if he got ahead of it.

He could have sworn for a fraction of a second she looked as heartbroken as he felt, but she covered it up far too quickly for him to be sure. She shook her head, "I shouldn't have asked."

"You were scared." He reminded her, horrified to think that she blamed herself, "This is a weird situation and we were both scared. But I shouldn't have stayed."

"Because of Caroline?" She asked, her tone a little more bitter than he expected.

"Because I made you uncomfortable." He corrected, then winced, "And because of Caroline, yes."

She finally glanced up to meet his gaze, "Connor, it wasn't you that made me uncomfortable."

Something about the way she was looking at him made his heart speed up a little, but he tried to shut that down, breaking eye contact and pretending to further examine the contents of the bag she'd brought him. He had a girlfriend now, he shouldn't still be following Abby about like a love sick puppy. It wasn't Caroline's fault that she would never be what he really wanted. He changed the subject.

"What was all that about? With the ring? Do you think future you is…?" He glanced back at Abby, but she was looking away again, staring down the elevator doors with the little frown she got when she was thinking something over.

"Maybe." She admitted, "She'd been acting kind of odd since we got here… and she really didn't want me to see that ring."

He shouldn't have asked. The confirmation that she was very likely engaged settled in the bottom of his stomach like a sack of rocks. His own future self had said they still lived together and at the time that had pleased him, but now he felt a little sick. Was he really still hanging on seven years later? Still too dumb and pathetic to realize that he was never going to be worthy of her affections? He blinked back tears, both of disappointment and of anger at his future self, "Well… congratulations, I guess."

"Connor…" Abby started, but he didn't want to hear whatever pitiful comfort she was going to try to offer him.

Pushing past her in the doorway, he headed towards the elevator, ignoring her calling after him. Thankfully, she didn't try to follow him onto the elevator because as the doors closed, he had to start furiously wiping tears from his cheeks. If he was lucky, he'd be able to find a private corner to duck into on the lower floor to sort out his feelings. He was never lucky, he reminded himself, as he reached the floor he remembered holding the main hub. The elevator door dinged, and slid open, and standing there waiting for him was the girl they called Jess.

Oooof, when I started this chapter I thought it was going to be funny, but it got real sad there at the end... sorry guys.

Reviews keep me motivated :)