Chapter 9

Connor could only describe his life as getting weirder and weirder by the day. Had someone told him two months ago that today he would be walking with a beautiful girl who didn't mind his science fiction obsession, to a home where his mother spoke to him regularly, to work on a project with other people who also seemed to genuinely like him, he would have told them to get their heads examined.

As Connor thought back on the last month and a half of his life, he realized that he had no real complaints. He was happy to see the way his life turned out, happy to no longer be the nerdy boy no one spoke to, and most of all, he was happy just to have Abby. Connor looked over at her as they walked to his house. She was the best friend he'd ever had and, even if she'd never know it, she helped pull him out of a pretty serious depression.

Also, he was very, very in love with her. Connor couldn't help it, even though he knew that she would never think of him in that way, he still loved her. He loved how strong she was, even when things got bad at her house, he loved how protective she was over Jack, who spent so much time at Connor's house that he thought of him as a little brother. But most importantly, he loved that she took him as he was, she didn't want him to change his nerdiness, or act like someone else, she just liked him for a reason he could never understand. As they got to his house, Abby caught him smiling at nothing in particular.

"What're you grinning at?" she asked curiously.

Connor froze as he reached for the knob, but he recovered quickly. "Just excited to finally get started on this project is all." He replied, keeping his voice calm.

"Oh," Abby said, taken aback at his unusual willingness to work, "Well, do you know when Matt and Emily will be here?"

"Matt said they had to stop by his house for something, and that they'd be here soon." Connor said as he and Abby walked into the kitchen.

"Oh, are more of your friends coming by?" Connor's mother asked from the living room.

Connor was still having trouble coming to terms with his mother's recent good moods and attempts to make up for the past. While they still had their occasional bad days, things were going exceptionally smoother between them. Especially since Abby and Jack started coming over every afternoon and staying for dinner most nights.

After having been friends for a few weeks, Abby finally confided in Connor that her father was an alcoholic who spent most nights out at bars, leaving her to care for Jack most nights. When she started coming over in the afternoons, they would have to stop by her house and let Jack in, until Connor finally suggested that Jack just come over as well. Connor's mother took to him immediately and treated him like a second son. Abby just assumed that she had always been like this, but Connor knew it was his mother's way of trying to atone for how she'd treated Connor when he was that age. Connor also found that he was very happy with the way Jack was treated. He'd taken to Abby's little brother and often thought of himself as Jack's big brother, often making sure he'd done his homework and helping him with what he didn't understand. Eventually, the siblings just started staying for dinner most evenings, Abby helping Ms. Temple cook while Connor occupied Jack.

And while Connor was very happy with the new arrangement, his joy was nothing next to the joy he could tell his mother got from having the Maitlands around. She'd gone from having one child who she barely knew, to three children who she made it her mission to find out about every evening at dinner. Connor could see the change in his mother and it made him happier than he'd been at his house in a long time.

When Matt and Emily finally showed up, the four of them sat around the kitchen table, talking casually and trying to brainstorm ideas on the best ways to research and present the information. But eventually, the conversations got off topic.

"All I'm saying," Connor continued persuasively, "is that we need cool team nicknames. Matt, you could be the professional, 'cuz you know all about the school system, and I could be-"

"So, how did you two meet?" Abby asked, cutting Connor off suddenly and trying to restore normalcy to the conversation.

"It was all by chance, really," Emily said lightly, "Matt tried to run me over in the hallway, and then felt bad because I'm a girl. There's really not that much to tell. But what about you two, how did you get together?"

Abby gave a little splutter, "Connor and I, he's not, I mean, we're not dating." Abby said finally. Connor tried to hide how much that hurt. Did she have to sound so uncomfortable with the concept? Connor often liked to fantasize about them dating. He imagined it would be like it was now, only with more kissing and hand holding. He quite liked the idea; he just knew Abby didn't feel the same way.

Emily looked embarrassed at her mistake. Matt quickly stepped in.

"Looks like we've got to go," He said, standing up. "I promised Emily I'd watch The Notebook with her tonight, and we need to head back so we have time. We'll see you tomorrow."

Connor stood up and walked them to the door.

"Sorry about that mate," Matt began, "We'd just assumed…"

"I understand, it's fine." Connor told him reassuringly, "Don't worry about it. Enjoy The Notebook."

"Oh, I'll try." Matt responded with a forced smile. "See you at school, Temple." Connor watched them walk off and then walked back to Abby. She was holding her head in her hands when he walked in. She looked up in surprise.

"Hey," she said calmly, "I'm going to grab Jack and we'll head home."

"Aren't you going to stay for dinner?" Connor asked, surprised.

"Not tonight Conn, sorry. We have to be at home some time, you know that."

"Ok," Connor said, trying to keep the sadness from his voice, "I can walk you home if you like." He offered hopefully.

"It's fine, you don't have to."

"I don't mind."

"Just leave it Connor!" Abby snapped suddenly. "Jack, get your stuff, we need to go." Abby stormed past him and out the door, leaving Jack to hurry behind her. Connor sat at the table, trying to keep a straight face as his mother walked into the room.

"What's wrong?" She asked, sitting down across from him. "What got Abby all upset?"

"I don't know," Connor replied earnestly, "one minute we're fine, then Emily assumed we were a couple, and Abby got upset and left. I don't know what I did wrong."

"You didn't do anything" his mother reassured him, "Abby's got a lot of issues to work out. We talk a lot, me and her, while you are playing with Jack. There's a lot of things in her past she'll need to work through and you'll just have to be there for her when she needs you, and be willing to forgive the abuse when she gives it. God knows you're good at forgiveness." She smiled at him as she got up. "I'm sorry I wasn't there for you most of your life, but I want you to know that I'm here for you now. Any time you need to talk, you know where to find me." She left the kitchen, heading for her room, leaving Connor alone with his thoughts.

XXXXX

Abby Maitland sat in her room, doing the one thing she swore she'd never do again, crying over a boy. Throughout her life, she'd always been attracted to the guys who would use her, hurt her, and then leave her. She knew it was an unhealthy habit, but she couldn't stop. As soon as one buy left her, another took his place within a week. But then she'd moved here, and everything was going better. She had friends who didn't drag her out to parties every night and encourage her to drink and smoke. Now she had friends whose idea of a good night was pizza and a bad movie. And Abby was happy.

But now she'd ruined it. She'd messed up the best part of her new life, Connor. She'd known it wouldn't last forever, and she'd also known she'd be the one to ruin everything between them. Connor was the best friend Abby had ever had, and she loved him.

The realization hit her one day when they were sitting at his table. She'd had a rough day at school and was sitting down with her head buried in her arms telling him about it while he moved around the kitchen. As she finished explaining everything that had gone wrong that day, Connor set something down in front of her. She looked up to see a bag of her favorite chocolates that Connor had bought for her earlier in the week. She'd been so overcome with emotion that she couldn't think of anything to say. As Connor began stumbling over an apology, thinking he'd gotten the wrong chocolate, Abby had rushed up and wrapped him in a tight hug.

He was so different from the other guys she'd spent any time with in the past. He genuinely cared about her, so much so that he made sure to have her favorite chocolate in case of a bad day. It was all of the little things that Connor did that made her realize how much she loved him. But now she'd ruined it.

Her mind went back to the conversation with Emily and Matt. When Emily assumed they were together, Abby had been so quick to correct her. She'd seen the hurt in Connor's eyes, like he thought she didn't even want to be associated with him. Even though he would never admit it, Abby knew his biggest insecurity was his sense of worth, and she'd made his feel worthless. Then, she'd yelled at him and ran away. She had hurt Connor, something she's said she would never do. Abby knew he would never talk to her again, and she didn't blame him.

Abby heard someone opening the front door and checked her watch. It read 1:30 in the morning, which meant it was just about time for her drunken father to stumble home. Surprisingly, she heard his footsteps shuffling her way. His bedroom and bathroom were in the other side of the house, he wouldn't need to come over here for any other reason than to see them, and he shouldn't have any reason to see her or Jack. Curious, Abby got out of bed and went to open her door, intent on looking into the hallway and seeing what her father wanted.

XXXXX

Connor was sitting in a large room, facing a collection of computer screens. He looked around and saw Danny, Becker, and Sarah standing by a tube-like object that looked to be about three feet long and shaped like a hexagon. As he got up, intent on studying the strange artifact closer, Abby walked up to him, smiling. Before she could open her mouth, a loud blaring went off over hidden speakers and the computer screens flashed red. Connor looked around in confusion as everyone began rushing into action. As Connor listened to the alarm closer, he realized it sounded a lot like his phone.

Connor sat up suddenly, trying to get untangled from his sheets as he reached for his phone in the darkness of his room. It's 2 am, he thought wildly, who's calling at 2 am? He finally reached his phone and read the caller id.

"Abby?" he muttered under his breath. He knew nothing good could come of her calling this early and he only hoped she was ok. He answered the phone quickly.

"Hullo?" he asked

"Connor, oh thank god you picked up, I didn't know who else I could go to." Abby said frantically. Connor thought she sounded like she'd been crying and he thought he could hear Jack sniffling in the background.

"Abby, calm down, tell me what's wrong."

"It was my dad, he just… I can't talk about it now, please, we need somewhere to go, just for tonight. Please Connor, we don't have anywhere else."

Connor's heart was tearing itself apart with worry and his mother's earlier words about being there for Abby echoed in his head.

"Of course you can come over." He said instantly, "Do you want me to come get you?"

Abby gave a short humorless laugh. "If you could just come down and let us in, that'd be good."

"Ok, I'll be right down." Connor said, hanging up the phone. Although he was terrified of what could have scared Abby this much, a smaller part of him was happy that she knew he would do anything for her, no matter what happened previously in the day.

He headed down the steps to the door in his customary night clothes of t shirt and boxers. He thought about getting more clothes on, but he knew Abby wouldn't care and whatever was wrong seemed important. He pulled open the door and was immediately hit by simultaneous waves of sadness, fear, and anger as he looked at Abby, her arms encircled protectively around Jack and sporting a fresh black eye and split lip.

All he could get out was a strangled, "Abby" before he enveloped her in a tight embrace, Jack stuck between them. As he held her on his doorstep, he could feel her shaking in his arms and felt rage like he'd never felt before bubble up in him. He wanted to find out whoever did this to her and tear them apart, limb from limb.

After Connor held her comfortingly for another five minutes, she moved away from him and he moved back to let the siblings inside. He looked at Jack properly with the better lighting in the kitchen, but he seemed unharmed, just scared. The boy, who'd always been small, looked so much more fragile standing there in his Transformers pajamas, shaking with cold, exhaustion, and fear.

"Jack, why don't you go on upstairs and sleep in my bed." Connor suggested to the boy. Jack looked at Abby, as if questioning if he could trust anyone but her. She nodded and hugged her brother tightly. Jack hugged her back and walked up the stairs to Connor's bedroom. Connor led Abby into the living room and sat down next to her on the couch, keeping his arm protectively around her. They sat on the couch quietly for what felt like a lifetime.

"If you want to talk, I'll listen." He said finally, "If not, then I'll just be here for you to lean on for support."

Abby looked up at him with admiration in her eyes. "Thank you Connor, for everything. I'll tell you what happened, but not now, not tonight. Please, just hold me for now."

Connor looked at Abby in his arms. She was the strongest, bravest person he knew, but tonight she needed him to be the strong one and for him to provide her with comfort and security. Connor simply tightened his grip around her as she rested her head against his chest.

"It's going to be alright." Connor told her reassuringly, "I'm here and I'll never let anyone hurt you again."

AN: So for whatever reason, I can fit all of my other pairings into one chapter, but my Conby always takes up twice as much space and usually involves some sort of physical or emotional abuse. I'm sure that's a mental condition of some kind. Anyways, I hoped you enjoyed this and please review.