Chapter 6 – Settling In
Stephen woke up slowly, blinking his eyes blearily, and looking down at the warm body curled against his side. Her head had come to rest on his shoulder, his arm snaked around her back to hold her against him, and his hand resting on the bare skin at her waist; her arm was curled around his waist and at some point in the night their legs had gotten tangled together. Their arms, that weren't wrapped around the other's body, had come to rest on the middle of his chest, his hand covering hers and their fingers linked together. Stephen couldn't help the smile that spread across his face as he watched Abby continue to sleep; this was a propinquity he'd never felt with anyone before, not with any of his previous girlfriends, and definitely not with Helen. He'd once heard that you could always tell how you felt about someone if you watched them sleeping; never before had he realised how true this was. When he'd watched Helen sleeping all those years ago he'd only felt a slight regret, watching Alison sleep he'd felt the same regret; but watching Abby sleep, curled against his side and trusting him enough to be completely vulnerable around him, he felt only love and the urge to protect her, to hold her against him and never let her out of his sight, to never let anything or anyone hurt her in any way. It scared him slightly, this sudden need he had to protect the woman at his side, the things he felt when he looked at her, it was stronger than anything he'd felt before; anything he'd let himself feel before. He had thought he'd loved Helen, now he realised it had been a stupid student crush that had gotten out of control very quickly; Helen, and the way she'd treated him after that night, had made him want to stay away from proper relationships for as long as possible. All that had changed with the arrival of Abby Maitland into his life. He often wondered why he had never known her to have a boyfriend, even before he met her; she was beautiful and smart and he couldn't understand why no one had tried to be with her. His arm tightened around her, and he started to trace circles across her skin with his finger tips, placing a feather light kiss to her hair. As far as he was concerned, it was better that she wasn't with anyone else at the moment, he was too happy being with her.
Abby felt the last remains of sleep falling from her as she listened to the steady rhythm of his heart, and the deep breaths he took. She felt him start to trace circles on the small of her back and press a kiss to her hair; she snuggled closer to him, a smile creeping to her lips as she sighed happily and opened her eyes. She titled her head to look up at him.
'Has anyone ever told you you're a really comfy pillow?'
Stephen laughed, 'Not that I can remember,' he replied.
'What's the time?' she asked; Stephen looked over her head at the clock.
'Almost half past nine,' he replied; Abby groaned.
'Please tell me it's Saturday,' she begged, Stephen laughed.
'Why?'
'Because if it's Sunday that means I have work tomorrow, and I'm not in the mood to have to get up early tomorrow,' she replied. Stephen chuckled, a sound that reverberated through his chest and gave her a case of the warm fuzzies.
'Shall I get us breakfast?' he asked; Abby shook her head and snuggled closer to him.
'Too comfy, food can wait,' she said, sounding very much like a three year old.
'Come on, lazy,' Stephen said, standing up and scooping her up into his arms. Abby gave a squeak of surprise and wrapped her arms around his neck, burying her face in his chest.
'Stephen, put me down,' she squealed as he laughed, spinning them both around before walking down the stairs, keeping her close to his body as he walked so he wouldn't accidently drop her. Once downstairs he put her down on the sofa, pulled the spare blanket that had been left down there last night around her, and walked into the kitchen. Abby smiled and, after a few minutes, stood up and stretched before making her way into the kitchen; she came up behind Stephen and wrapped her arms around his waist, resting her cheek on his back. Stephen chuckled.
'I thought you didn't want to get up.'
'Well I am now; anyway this is a first for me. I never get people making me breakfast,' she replied; Stephen raised his arm and pulled her around to his side, placing a kiss on her forehead.
'I'll make a habit of it then, shall I?' he suggested; Abby laughed, reaching up to kiss him.
'I won't complain if you do,' she replied.
After a few minutes they were sat on the sofa, Stephen's arm around Abby's shoulders, as they ate breakfast, comfortable to be silent in each other's company without feeling awkward. She sighed contentedly as she curled up against his side, breakfast finished and neither of them wanting to move any time soon; she should have known it was too good to last. The phone rang and Abby groaned in frustration.
'Do you think they'll go away if I leave it?' she muttered, burying her face into his shoulder; Stephen laughed.
'I doubt it, anyway it could be important,' he told her; grumbling about people that phoned her whenever she got comfortable, Abby made her way to the phone.
'Abby Maitland,' she said, leaning against the wall, 'Hi Rachel. She's what? I thought she wasn't due for another week... why me?... Jo isn't in?... No I didn't know she was ill... alright I'll be there ASAP... yeah... alright see you in a bit... Bye Rachel.'
Abby hung up the phone and turned to Stephen, 'One of the tigers at the zoo has gone into labour and one of the girls is off sick so they want me to go in and help. Will you be okay?'
'I'll be fine, Abby,' he told her, standing up and running his hands down her arms, 'I'll clear up from breakfast and see if I can get hold of Cutter. See what's happening and what we've got planned to do next.'
Abby nodded, 'I better go and get changed,' she said, sounding as if she'd want nothing more than to curl back up on the sofa.
'Give me a call when you know when you're going to get back,' he told her. She nodded and hurried up the stairs to get ready.
A record five minutes later Abby was downstairs, grabbing her phone and checking the new message as she grabbed her coat. Stephen looked out from the kitchen when he heard her curse.
'What's wrong?' he asked; Abby showed him the message from Connor.
'You'd better get onto Cutter and tell him,' she said, putting her jacket on and picking up her car keys from the work surface. Stephen handed her back the phone and then brought her against him, pressing a tender kiss to her lips; for a few seconds they stood there, locked in an embrace, until Abby finally pulled back.
'Stephen I need to get to the zoo,' she said; he smiled down at her and she pulled him back down for another quick kiss.
'I thought you said you have to go,' he said when they pulled away again.
'I do,' she replied, stepping back and putting her phone in her pocket, 'See you later.'
Stephen smiled to himself and shook his head as the door slid shut behind her and he heard her run down the stairs to the front door.
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A few hours later and Abby was sitting in a room with one of the tiger cubs, double and triple checking that it was breathing normally before she picked it up, cradling it against her chest, and walking out of the room to return it to the cage where it's mother and siblings were. They'd been worried when it had been born because it didn't respond as quickly as the others had and the mother had seemed to be constantly trying to revive it; while someone had distracted the tigress Abby had quickly scooped up the tiny cub and taken it out of the pen so the head vet could check it over and make sure it was healthy enough to be returned to its mother. After an hour it had been given the all clear and now Abby was left to return it to the tigress.
'How is the little one?' Rachel asked her as Abby came up to her. Rachel was one of Abby's good friends at the zoo as she'd joined a month after Abby had; she had long black hair and brown eyes that were almost constantly smiling. The other keepers often commented that when the two of them were in the same room it was almost impossible not to smile the happy energy they gave off was so contagious.
'She's fine now,' Abby replied, handing the baby to one of the other keepers who would return her to the tiger. 'How's Lily doing?'
'Fine, she's a natural mother; never seen many first time mothers adapt so quickly before,' she commented. Abby smiled.
'Do we know the sexes of the other two yet?' she asked.
'There's the girl you just brought back and two boys,' Rachel replied, 'We agreed you should name one of them seeing as you weren't even supposed to be in today. I'm naming one, and Phil's naming the last one.'
Phil was the keeper in charge of the tigers at the zoo and always named one of the new cubs, the other keepers that helped were given a chance to name the others.
'I'm naming one?' Abby asked, the only animals she'd named before had been her own ones, and that was only if they didn't have a name to begin with.
'Yep,' Rachel replied, 'We've got two weeks to name them. Phil's already got some names picked out.'
'I swear that guy has a list of names in his locker for when one of the tigers gives birth.'
The two girls laughed as they made their way out of the building, passing the new mother as they went. Abby looked into the cage and saw Lily pick up her daughter and place her with her brothers; she smiled at the young tigress and then followed Rachel outside. Since she was here she might as well get a bit more work done.
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A few hours later saw Abby sitting in Brad and Angelina's cage again, looking between the two of them; she chuckled to herself as she let her mind take her back to the time Tim had come to tell her the program was being slimmed down; that meeting had eventually led her to the team and Stephen.
'Come on guys,' she muttered to the lizards as she climbed out of the pen, she turned and stood in front of the glass, looking in at the pair, 'Trust me you don't want to wait forever. Really bad idea; take it from me and I know it from personal experience.'
She chuckled quietly to herself as the lizards looked at each other, seeming as if they'd understood what she'd said.
'Daft lizards,' she muttered to herself, she heard someone enter the building and looked around to see who it was. She frowned when she couldn't see anyone there; a shiver ran up her spine that only comes when you know you're being watched and she turned back to look once more at the lizards.
'Maybe I'm just going crazy,' she muttered to them, placing one hand against the glass for a few seconds before turning around again to leave. As she started to walk out someone grabbed her arm and spun her back around; she raised her free hand automatically to defend herself when it was caught as she was pulled up against a hard body. A very familiar hard body.
'You know some people would call you a stalker,' she commented, 'Normal people don't creep up on each other.'
Stephen laughed as he trailed his hand from where he'd caught her hand down to her rest on her hips.
'I like to think I'm protective,' he replied; Abby snorted.
'What are you doing here anyway?' she asked, 'You're supposed to be at home recovering. You've only been out of hospital-'
Stephen cut her off by pressing his lips to hers, placing a hand on the back of her head and gently running his fingers through her hair. She gently slapped his shoulder before she relaxed and started to return the kiss, running her hand from his shoulder down his torso before slipping her fingers through one of the belt loops on his jeans and pulling his closer. Stephen smiled against her lips before running his tongue over her bottom lip; her lips parted on a small groan as his hand ghosted up her back under her shirt, making shivers run up and down her spine. Abby felt him pull away slowly and looked up at him.
'Cutter dropped me off,' he told her, 'I thought I'd come and surprise you.'
Abby laughed, 'By being the world's biggest stalker?'
'Come on you, let's get back to your flat,' he said, putting his arm across her shoulders and steering her out of the lizard's enclosure. Abby rolled her eyes.
'We're stopping off at your flat first,' she reminded him, 'We need to get some of your stuff if you're staying at mine for a while.'
& & & & & &
A few hours later Abby and Stephen stumbled through the door to her flat, trying to catch their breath as they laughed, both of them carrying a bag each full of Stephen's things that he would need for the next week or so. Abby pulled the sliding door shut as Stephen dumped the bags at the bottom of the stairs; she turned to look back at him, still smiling, and saw him watching her with an odd expression on his face. She put her hands on her hips and pointed to a chair.
'Sit down, I need to change that dressing on your back,' she told him; he grinned sheepishly at her as she ran up the stairs. Only a few minutes later she was back downstairs and stood behind him, removing the old dressing; he winced slightly as she dabbed it with the antiseptic pad.
'It's healing well,' she told him, redressing it, 'It should be healed up soon.'
'That's good,' he commented absently; she went round to face him once she'd finished with the dressing and knelt in front of him, placing her hands on his knees.
'Are you okay?' she asked him; he smiled at her concerned expression.
'I was just thinking,' he replied; Abby tilted her head to one side.
'What about?' she asked him.
'You,' he replied, placing a finger under her chin, 'Wondering how someone so beautiful can be living on her own with reptiles for so long.'
Abby bit her lip and looked away from him, 'Maybe I just preferred animal company to human.'
Stephen frowned as she stood up and went to Rex's cage, pulling open the lid and absently running the material between her fingers. Stephen stood up and stood a step or two behind her, giving her her space.
'What happened, Abby?' he asked her. Abby stood motionless, even stopped running the material through her fingers; he could see her tense up and wondered if he'd overstepped the mark. The two steps between them seemed miles now and he wanted to close the gap and take her into his arms. Instead Stephen took one step closer to her and placed one hand on her shoulder, letting her know he was there with her. Abby looked up out of the window and, taking a deep breath, opened her mouth.
A/N: I'm sooo sorry it's taken so long for me to update but I wanted to get my fic 'Bye Bye Beautiful' finished. Look out for a one shot sequel that might be appearing at some point, a few people seemed to like the idea of a peek into the future so I'm going to try and write it.
Thank you to everyone who have been really patient with me. I know I'm not the best of updaters, I keep losing my plots for a few weeks and then I find them again. I have an idea of where this is going though so don't worry I should have a fairly good updating time.
Thank you to all my readers and thank you to all my reviewers as well! Thank you so much for reviewing it makes me feel really happy when I'm having a crap day at school and I can go onto my emails and read what people are saying about this fic. Thank you!
I've got the next chapter planned out, or at least I know what's happening. Here's the plan for everyone whose interested:
-Abby tells Stephen why she was living alone for a while before she met the team.
-Nick learns what happened to Claudia Brown
-Connor plans to come back early from his mother's to confront Duncan about the internet post
Ciao for now
Starsword
