Disclaimer: I don't own Primeval. It was created by Adrian Hodges and Tim Haines and produced for ITV by Impossible Pictures.
This is just a little Stephen/Abby one-shot because there wasn't much out there. It only took a little while and hasn't been betaed, so sorry for any mistakes.
Abby learnt early how cruel life could be. She learnt the first time her father hit her and every one of the many times after. She learnt it when her mother died and left her alone in the world. She learnt it when every boyfriend she had would leave her again and again, for varied reasons that all seemed to boil down to her not being enough for them in some way. Finally, she learnt it when she lost Stephen.
They had been in love, dating secretly for a few months before it happened without any of the ARC team finding out. It was so great to have someone who knew what she had to deal with and who felt the same stresses and pressures as her. Stephen was amazing and though they hadn't been together long she truly felt that they had an unbreakable bond between them.
The first time he said he loved her was before he went into that room. He leant down and whispered it into her ear. She could still remember his last words to her;
I love you Abby. Remember that. And I'm sorry.
It had torn her apart when he had run into the room and locked them out. They had all asked him not to do it, and inside she had silently pleaded and begged with him to stop, to not sacrifice himself. He hadn't listened, though. Stephen always was headstrong.
His funeral had been a nightmare. Abby had tried to keep up the illusion of being a friend and nothing more, but she knew she had slipped more than a few times. It wasn't in her to hide how she felt, not when the grief was threatening to tear her apart. Her life had felt all but over and it felt like nothing mattered to her any more. She had lost her spark.
She really did try to move on. She even started dating Connor. Still, anyone could see her heart and soul weren't in it. Cutter knew, so did Jenny. Connor was the only one who couldn't see it, although she guessed he wanted her to want him so much that he couldn't see what was right in front of his eyes all the time.
Every night, when Connor would sleep, she would slip out of the flat and go to where it had happened. She would sit all night and wait in vain for an anomaly to appear and Stephen to walk through, though she knew it was hopeless. No one ever asked her why she was always so tired. She would cover the dark shadows under her eyes with concealer, drink coffee to stay alert and smile brightly to hide her pain. Whenever her mask slipped and the team noticed they knew better than to question her.
She drifted away from Connor. Their relationship was over, even if neither of them had actually said it yet.
And then it was the night of the one year anniversary since Stephen's disappearance. She never, ever said death because that would be giving up hope. She was sitting at her nightly vigil, tears creeping down her face and crying out to no one, "why did you leave me Stephen. I loved you."
She was so distraught that she didn't notice the lights flashing or the footsteps coming up behind her.
However, she did hear the voice that came next. His voice. The voice she had been desperate to hear for a year.
"I never wanted to leave you Abby. It was necessary. But I'm back now and I love you."
She whipped her head round quickly and took in the tall figure before her. Stephen! The tears dried and she leapt into his arms crying and kissing him, engulfing him with her arms.
All other thoughts were driven from her head – how he had survived, the team, Connor's reaction.
Because Stephen was back and nothing else mattered but him.
Thanks for reading. Hope you enjoyed it.