"When is she going to get here?" John asked, his voice bordering on a whine, his body practically twitching.

"Probably when she gets here," Susan answered, rolling her eyes.

"Funny."

"Well, staring at the door isn't going to make her get here faster, so knock it off."

"Can I help that I'm anxious?"

"Probably not, but could you try to tone it down a little? People will start to stare."

John couldn't have cared less if people stared at him. "I'll be able to relax once she actually gets here."

"Yeah, okay. Then you'll remember that she's here with Luka and get bouncy again. And, you know, just because you're going to try to talk to her and clear the air doesn't mean she's going to run back into your arms."

"Do you have to rain on my parade?" he asked, scowling at his friend.

"I don't want to just rain on your parade. I want to blow up all the floats."

"Nice."

Susan's playful demeanor turned slightly serious. "Seriously, John--I just don't want you to get your hopes up only to be crushed."

"Why are you so sure I'd get crushed? You may be Switzerland in this battle, but that doesn't mean you can't be supportive of your best friend's feelings."

"John..." She paused, trying to word her thoughts more carefully. "It's not that I'm sure you'll be crushed, I just don't want to see you get hurt. I don't like watching my friends suffer."

"Relax. I'm not expecting her to just forgive and forget. I just want to talk to her. And I'm anxious about it. I haven't talked to her in a couple of months. It's more than just a little nerve-wracking."

"Well, you can rest easy."

"Why?"

She nodded her head in the direction of the door. "Because she just walked into the room."

"What!" John exclaimed, using all of his willpower to not whip his head around and gawk at Abby.

"I told you she wouldn't get here faster by staring at the door," Susan replied, her voice definitely smug.

John, for his part, pretended to eye her suspiciously. "Are you a good witch, or a bad witch?"

"One day, grasshopper, you will know why the tree bends to the wind," she answered sagely.

He blinked, then shook his head in bewilderment. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"It means that the force is strong with me, and that your midi-chlorians are very low."

"Has someone spiked the punch or something? I mean, seriously. Have you been sniffing glue?"

"Not that I'm aware of. I just like to mess with your head. Really, dude, you should be used to this by now."

"Even so...you're acting weirder beyond any level of weird I've ever encountered from you."

Susan waved her hand dismissively. "Anyway, she's here. What are you going to do about it?"

John paused for a moment. "Nothing."

For one of the few times in her life, Susan was speechless. "Excuse me?"

"Nothing...yet. I can't just go running over there, guns blazing. She'll freak. I need to give her some time to settle in, mingle a bit, relax, et cetera. Then I'll find her so we can pounce. Hey, maybe you can give her some of that glue you've been sniffing. That should keep her calm."

Susan was happy to see a bit of a twinkle in her friend's eyes--a twinkle that had been missing for far too long. "First of all, I have not been sniffing glue! Nor have I been drinking happy punch," she answered quickly, saying it before he had the chance. "And second of all, I don't pounce. There will be no 'pouncing.'"

"I've seen you pounce once or twice before."

"No, that was me hopping. You've seen no pouncing."

"I've known you most of my life. I've seen you pounce before."

"Whatever makes it easier for you to sleep at night, my friend."

"Oh, it does. Trust me."

Susan paused, coming close to scratching her head in confusion. "Why are we talking about this?"

"Because I'm nervous as hell and this is keeping me distracted?"

"Fair enough. Anyway, I'm going to actually go talk to Abby."

"Show off," John grumbled, sulking a little.

Susan just batted her eyes at him. "Why don't you go circulate for a while? You know, be a good host?"

"Why don't you go circulate your mom?"

"You have GOT to work on your comebacks, dude."

"Ahh, bite me."

"Original AND clever," she thew over her shoulder as she walked away.

---------------------------

It had been an hour since Abby had walked through the door, and John's nerves had not eased any. It didn't help that he hadn't seen Susan since then, either. A paranoid part of him couldn't help but think that she'd changed her mind about helping him and had ducked out. Logically, he knew she wouldn't do that to him, but logic wasn't working in his favor much at the moment.

Eventually, he spotted her by the snack table, plundering the munchies. He'd known she couldn't hide forever. Eagerly, he trotted over to her. He casually glanced around, making sure no one was within earshot before asking, "So, what's the plan? How are you going to divert Luka?"

Susan smiled at him sheepishly, her cheeks turning a little pink. "Would you believe I don't actually have a plan yet?"

"Susan!"

"Hey, I'm trying! I've been wracking my brain since I mentioned this and I've come up with a whole lot of nothing."

John sighed impatiently. "Well, why don't you do the whole 'I'm-the-best-friend' thing and tell him that he has to go through the approval process?"

"How about no?"

His brain was running a mile a minute, trying to find some plausible reason for Susan to talk to the guy. "Then why don't you talk to him about Christmas?"

She wasn't expecting that. "Christmas?"

"Yeah. Ask him how he enjoyed Christmas in America, find out what traditions he has in his country, that kind of thing."

Susan was impressed. "Amazingly enough, that's not a bad idea."

"Glad you like it. Now go over there." He gave her a push in Luka's direction to emphasize his point.

"What? Why?"

"Because they're no where near each other; Luka's by the window and Abby's by the stereo. Now is the time."

"But--"

"No buts, no second thoughts." His entire being seemed to be begging. "Please. For me."

Susan let out a very put upon sigh, but started to move nonetheless. "You owe me."

He rolled his eyes. "You'll be the best man at the wedding. Now go!"

He watched Susan walk away, then turned toward Abby. He took a deep, fortifying breath, then walked over to her.

--------------------------------

Abby stood over by the stereo system, thumbing through the vast music selection and absently wondered how John's family and their ritzy friends, who upstairs having their own "classy" party, hadn't come downstairs yet to tell them to turn down the noise. Even though she was more than fond of very loud music, even she had to admit it was a bit loud. But maybe that had something to do with the fact that she was practically on intimate terms with one of the large speakers.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw someone approaching her, but didn't think much of it; she assumed it was Luka. So she was a bit surprised when she heard an all-too-familiar voice say, "Hey Abby."

Her head jerked up in surprise. "John?"

"How're you doing?"

Words were escaping her. "Uhh...okay." She said, the response coming out more like a question, then remained silent. He seemed to be waiting for her to say something else. "How are you?"

"I'm good," he answered, somewhat lamely.

Silence ensued again. Awkwardness was not in short supply. Finally, he spoke again, cutting right to the chase. "Listen...can we talk?"

She was slightly taken aback. "Talk?"

He shuffled his feet. "Yeah."

"I don't know if I have anything to say to you."

"Fair enough. But would you be willing to listen for a few minutes?"

Well, this was unexpected. "I suppose..." she answered slowly.

He let out a sigh of relief. "First, dumb as it sounds, I want to thank you for coming here tonight. I wouldn't have blamed you at all if you'd done something else."

"Well, Susan begged me. And it looks like most of our class is here, so there wasn't much else to do."

"Even so, it means a lot to me that you're here."

"I didn't come for you," she replied, trying to keep the bitterness in her voice to a minimum.

"Oh, I know. Believe me, I know." The pair fell silent again. A year ago, uncomfortable silences weren't terribly unusual for the two of them, but then it was for entirely different reasons. At that point, they'd each realized they had feelings for one another, and were trying to come to terms with that. Now, they simply felt like two strangers, struggling to find something in common.

Finally, John let out a frustrated noise. "Can we do this somewhere quieter?"

"What?"

"I have some stuff I want to say to you, and it'd be a lot easier if we didn't have to shout over this music. Not to mention that I'd rather not advertise our personal business to our school." He tried to wait patiently while she processed his request. "Please?"

Despite herself, Abby was moved by the naked honesty she saw in John's eyes and she felt her resolve begin to melt a little. This is precisely why she had avoided talking to him, being alone with him, for so long. She knew that it didn't matter how angry she was or how badly she wanted to hurt him. Deep down, she could deny him nothing. And that aggravated the hell out of her.

Nonetheless, she found herself nodding and following John down the hallway where it was, surprisingly, much quieter. "Okay, so...talk."

John took a deep breath, and jumped in. "This is tough. It's been a while since we last spoke--"

Abby snorted mirthlessly, but remained silent, letting him continue.

"And I take full responsibility for that. There was no reason at all for you to talk to me, or for you to make the first move--"

Abby's eyes narrowed dangerously. "You know, John...I don't need this reverse pyschology crap from you. And don't patronize me."

"Excuse me?"

"Don't give me that. You're trying to make me feel guilty about the things that you've done."

"No! I swear to you, I'm not. I acted like an ass. A complete and total ass. It really is all my fault, and I never ever expected you to make the first move. It was all on me. I'll be honest, there was a part of me that hoped you would talk to me, even if it was just to yell, but even that part of me accepted early on that it was a pipe dream. I had no right at all to even hope that you would talk to me."

Abby studied John carefully, trying to determine his sincerity. It was amazing. The guy who just a few months ago she was sure she knew better than herself was a mystery to her. She couldn't be completely sure that he meant what he was saying. He looked sincere enough; she was fairly certain she could see his heart on his sleeve. With that image in mind, she nodded slightly, indicating that he should continue.

"You have no idea how grateful I am that you're even standing here with me. Seriously. This is a dream come true for me. Especially since I know this is just about the last situation you want to be in right now. And I honestly wouldn't blame you if you kicked me in the nuts, then pointed and laughed while I rolled around on the floor in pain."

She couldn't help herself; she let out a snort of laughter. The mental imagery was just too funny.

John smile self-deprecatingly. As she remained quiet, he studied her carefully, watching a million thoughts and emotions chasing across her face; the wrinkling of her forehead as she contemplated his words, the quirk of her lips as she thought of something that amused her. It all fascinated him. In that moment, he was almost content. He knew he'd missed her, but he didn't realize just how much until he was in her presence again. He knew it might not last that long, but he had to take what he could get. He watched as some kind of realization hit her, and braced himself for what could be coming.

"This was carefully orchestrated, wasn't it?"

John's heart leapt into his throat. The last thing he wanted was for Abby to know that Susan'd had any part in this. He didn't want to cause a rift between his friends.

"What?"

"You planned this out. You knew that no matter how upset I might be, how angry I could get, I wouldn't make a scene in front of all these people."

He felt his heart rate slow down a bit; Susan was safe for the moment. "Well, I'll admit that was an added bonus, but that wasn't the reason. It was just the only way I could figure for you to talk to me. You, understandably, avoided me at school. If I'd tried to call you, which I probably should have done anyway, you could have easily hung up on me. Going to see you in person at your house would've been just as effective."

Why was this so hard? They used to be able to talk to each other. At the very least, he should be able get out some kind of apology. He tried again.

"What it all boils down to is...I'm sorry. I know that's not enough, but it's all I can say. If I apologized for every idiotic thing I did to you, we could be here all night. But I'll do it," he said quickly, "if you want to hear it. I'm just sorry that I treated you so badly. You deserve so much better than that, especially from someone you thought you could trust."

Abby remained silent for several long minutes. "I just don't understand, John," she finally blurted out. "I don't get it!"

"Which part?" he asked slowly.

"All of it. I don't understand what happened. I don't get why you just decided that you were done with me. I don't know what happened overnight to make you want to break up with me. It doesn't make sense. I thought we were happy...I thought you cared about me."

"I do, Abby. So much. So very much."

"Well, it sure as hell doesn't feel like it! Not after you broke my--" She stopped herself, not willing to admit it to him.

John cringed anyway. "Broke my heart." That's what she was going to say. He knew he had done it, and he knew he couldn't change it. "I don't know how to explain it to you."

"Try. I deserve that much, don't I?"

"You deserve more than that. But I don't know how..."

"Explain it to me. Make me understand. I need to understand. I won't be able to move on until I know what happened and why. I just don't get how we could be so happy together, how we could have so much fun and everything be great and then you just dump me. My mind can't wrap around it. I don't understand how you could be so sure that we should be apart, but then mope around for two months because you're depressed that we split up. It doesn't make any sense!"

"I know--"

"So explain it to me!"

"I love you!"

Abby's breath caught in her throat, and she was fairly certain her heart stopped for several seconds before beating triple-time. She felt her body begin to shake. "What?"

John's eyes grew wide as he realize what he'd said. That definitely wasn't part of the plan. But it just sort of...fell out in the heat of the moment.

"I'm sorry...I shouldn't have just blurted it out like that."

"But...but...what?"

He rubbed his face vigorously, hoping he could collect his thoughts. There was no way out of this. He'd told her how he felt. He was fairly certain that he could lose her forever now. Well, if she was going to walk out of his life, then she should at least be well-informed about his stupidity. In for a penny, in for a pound.

"I love you."

Abby shook her head. "No, you don't."

"Yes, I do. I love you. I realize now that this wasn't the best way to tell you, but since we're on the subject..."

"Don't you dare make jokes right now."

"I'm sorry. I'm just trying to get a handle on the situation."

"Well, get it fast."

He slumped against the wall, defeated. "I love you, Abby. It's as simple as that. And before you can ask, this isn't some revelation I came to after we split up. Nor did I realize it after I found out that you were dating Luka. I figured this one out a long time ago."

Abby was dumbstruck. "But, if you...why would you...?" She was at a loss. Coherent sentences were not her friend at the moment.

"Because I'm stupid. I am the dumbest person to ever walk the planet. I realized that I was madly, hopelessly, insanely in love with you, and instead of being happy about it, I got scared."

"You got scared?" she parroted, disbelieving.

"Yes. I got scared. Terrified. It was a big revelation for me, and I didn't know how to handle it. The feelings were so intense...I couldn't cope. I know that doesn't excuse me for what I've done, but that's what happened. I woke up, realized that I love you, and promptly freaked out. I tried to figure everything out. I kept hoping that I could make sense of it, at least partially. Everything was in a jumble in my head and my heart, and I was afraid it wasn't real...I've never been in love before. I didn't know how to tell if was LOVE love, or high school love."

"And it never occurred to you to talk to me about this?" Abby asked incredulously, finally finding her voice. "It didn't cross your mind to talk to you girlfriend about your feelings for her?"

"I didn't want to scare you off!"

"So pushing me out of your life sounded like a swell alternative!"

"No! I just...I didn't know what to do. And I guess that in some part of my mind, getting some distance from you would help me work everything out." He let out a bitter chuckle. "And I did. I worked out that while being in love with you is terrifying, the thought of being without you scared me even more. Helpful, huh? Having a revelation like that after I was without you."

This was almost too much for her to take. Her stomach felt like it was residing somewhere around her toes. "How do you expect me to respond to this?"

"Well, in a perfect world, or at least a world where I haven't fucked everything up, you'd say that you love me, too."

"Love you, too! Jesus, John...you dumped me out of the blue, you've been ignoring me for months, putting me through hell...and now you want me to tell you that I love you?"

"I know you can't. I'm not expecting anything from you. I've already said that I didn't mean to tell you this way. All I wanted from tonight was to clear the air between us. I just wanted to be your friend again. That's all. But now you know. Do what you want with it."

"I...I..." she took a deep breath, desperately trying to compose herself. He was putting it on her. Unbelievable. He'd dumped this on her lap, then basically said that it was all up to her. She'd be mad if she wasn't so damn confused. "I need some time to think about all of this. I don't know if I even want to be your friend at this point..."

"I understand completely," he answered quickly. "Believe me, I do. This is a lot to take in at one time, especially considering the circumstances."

"Yeah..." she gesturedly helplessly down the hallway toward the party. "I need to...you know...go...or something." And with that, she hurried down the hall, blinking rapidly to keep her tears at bay.

John wanted to say something to stop her, but he knew it wouldn't do any good. She needed time; she'd said so herself. Pestering her right now wouldn't help the situation at all. Dejectedly, he followed her back into the party, scanning the crowd for her familiar face. Disappointed, but not surprised, he saw that she was standing with Luka. Feeling even worse, he slunk off to the food area, even though he knew there was no way he could eat.

--------------------------

Abby walked as fast as she could without drawing attention over to her date. She needed space, and she needed space now. Fortunately, Luka was standing by himself, clearly enjoying the festivities going on around him. He grinned as he caught sight of her.

"There you are! I thought you'd left," he teased, putting his arm around her shoulders in a quick hug.

She smiled weakly, positive that it wasn't convincing, but holding out hope that he wouldn't notice.

No such luck. He felt how tense her shoulders were, and noticed the strange, bewildered look on her face when she attempted to smile and was immediately concerned. "Abby? Is something wrong?"

She shook her head. There was no way she could explain this.

He still looked concerned. "Are you sure?"

She simply nodded, not really trusting her voice.

Luka let it drop for the moment. She would come around if she wanted to talk about it; that's just the way she was. He knew he couldn't push her into it. "Well, I have an idea." He grinned down at her. "Want to dance?"

Abby almost felt relieved by the distraction, and nodded enthusiastically.

Taking her gently by the arm, Luka guided her out onto the makeshift dance floor. He was happy to realize that someone had put on a cd of slow music; it would give him a chance to hold her close. Abby, on the other hand, was anything but relieved. Slow dancing meant time to think. It meant she wouldn't have any kind of crazy music to keep her mind occupied.

Without even realizing it, Abby's eyes found John. His back was to the crowd, but she knew it was him. It didn't surprise her that, unfamiliar as part of him was to her now, she still knew him. She'd know him anywhere. But she didn't know if that was a blessing or a curse. Either way, she couldn't take her eyes off him. She and Luka were moving in a slow circle, but it was a circle nonetheless. She was so focused on keeping her eyes on him that her head was nearly turned all the way around. She managed to come out her reverie a bit when she heard Luka mumble, "Ow."

"Huh?"

"You stepped on my foot," he explained, chuckling.

"Oh. Sorry."

He looked down at her and discovered that her attention wasn't anywhere near him. "Abby, please tell me what's wrong. I want to help."

"Nothing's wrong," she mumbled, still obviously distracted.

Luka didn't believe her. Then again, she wasn't trying to be convincing. He followed her line-of-sight, and noticed that she was staring at someone. He couldn't tell who it was until the figure turned slightly--John Carter. Luka felt his hackles begin to go up.

"Abby...did John do something to you?"

At the mention of his name, her head whipped around, and she stared at him in shock. "What?"

"John. Did he do something to you?"

She felt a brief moment of panic; she wasn't ready to talk about this. "No. No, of course not. We just talked. I'm fine. Please don't worry about it."

"You are not fine. I can tell. Please tell me what it is."

"Luka, seriously, it's nothing. Just let it go."

"I can't. If something is in your mind--"

"On your mind," she corrected automatically.

"Yes, on your mind, I want to know about it. What did he say to you?"

She remained silent. She couldn't tell him this. How could she possibly discuss the conversation she'd just had with her ex-boyfriend to the guy who on the verge of being her new boyfriend? There was no way.

Her silence spoke volumes, though. "He wants you back," Luka stated, matter-of-factly.

Abby's eyes widened and she gulped audibly. "Luka..."

"Who does he think he is?"

Now she was confused. "What?"

"What right does he have to treat you like this?"

She wasn't prepared for his anger to be directed toward John. "It's not--"

"Does he think that he can have you at his convenience?"

"No--"

"Are you some toy to him? One that can be tossed about carelessly?"

"Luka, it's not like--"

"He has some nerve!"

"Luka--"

"Doesn't he realize that you have moved on?"

"He told me he loves me!"

The two stared at each other for a few moments, surprised at her words. Luka seemed to get even more irate.

"A real man wouldn't do such a thing, Abby. He had his chance with you and he blew it. It's not fair of him to expect you to just go running back to him. Can't he see that you're happy now? Doesn't he understand--"

She couldn't take it anymore. The words just burst out. "Luka, I love him, too!" As soon as she said it, she clapped her hands over her mouth, almost as if she could take it back. But the damage was done.

Luka looked stunned.

"Oh, my god..." she whispered, talking more to herself than to him. "I love him."

"Abby?" he asked, confusion and hurt tinging his voice.

"Luka!" she exclaimed, having forgotten about him for a moment. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean for it to come out like that. I didn't even realize it until just now."

"You just realized this now?"

"Yeah. I'm sorry. I never meant to lead you on like that. I thought that I had moved on, or at least that I was moving on..."

Abby was amazed. Despite the fact that she knew things weren't settled between John and herself, a cliched feeling of peace settled over her with her revelation. True, this whole situation scared the hell out of her (thus gaining John a little sympathy for his actions), but she couldn't deny it. Not anymore than she could deny herself oxygen.

Luka looked like he was still trying to understand all of this. "But...things were going so well. I thought we were having fun together."

"Oh, Luka, we have been. You've been wonderful to me. Probably better than I deserve, all things considered. You're an amazing person."

He grabbed a hold of her hands, bringing them up to his chest. "I can make you happy, Abby. I know I can."

She felt awful. The last thing she'd wanted to do was hurt him. He didn't deserve that. "It just wouldn't be fair to either of us. I care about you a lot. I really do. But I love John. He's what I need."

He opened his mouth, still trying to convince her to give him a shot, but she spoke before he could. She didn't think she could bear it. "Luka, I never meant to hurt you," she said softly. "Please, try to understand this."

"It's difficult," he answered, his voice equally soft.

"Believe me, I know."

He remained silent for quite some time. Neither noticed that the song had changed or that their fellow students were giving them odd looks as they danced around the pair. They were in their own bubble for the moment. Finally, he lifted his gaze to her. "Okay."

She was shocked. "Okay?"

"Yes. I think I understand. Or I will understand. Love is love. You can't tell your heart what to feel."

She smiled at him; he'd summed it up just about perfectly. "Thank you. I was wondering...can we still be friends?"

"You want us to be friends?"

"Absolutely. You're a terrific person, and I want you in my life, even if it's not in a romantic capacity."

He smiled a bit in return. "Can you give me some time? I know I'll be all right with this eventually, but for right now, I need some time to...understand."

"Of course," she answered quickly. "Take as much time as you need. Let me know when you're ready to be around me again."

"Oh, it won't be long. I don't think I could stay away from you if I tried."

She pulled one her hands out from under his, and brought it up to his face to brush his cheek. "Luka...you're wonderful. And someday, you're going to find someone that makes you so much happier than I ever could."

He nodded, trying to believe her, hoping it was true. "Go," he finally said, jerking his head in John's direction.

"Are you sure? I mean, I came here with you, and I have no problem with--"

He smiled a little brighter this time. "Go."

She smiled gratefully in return and squeezed his hand. "Thank you." At that, she released herself from Luka and turned in the direction she'd last seen John. Spotting him, she marched over to him, determined to figure things out.

His back was still to her. She took a deep break before she could lose her nerve and lifted her hand to tap him on the shoulder. But before her hand could make it half way there, John turned around, nearly crashing into her hand and almost choking on the cookie he had just stuffed into his mouth in the process. "Abby!" he gasped.

She opened her mouth, but no words came out. She tried again. Still nothing. Now that she was face to face with him, she had no idea what she wanted to say.

John looked concerned, putting his hand on her upper arm instinctively. "Are you all right?"

His touch sent a jolt through her body. It was the first time they'd had physical contact in months. But it snapped her out of her stupor. "John...what you said...I've been thinking...I mean...well...you said that...it was...I'm just..." Clearly, conversation was not one of her stronger points tonight. So she decided that actions could speak louder than words. She brought her hands up to his face to cup his cheeks and pulled him down to her. Hesitating for only a fraction of a second, she pressed her lips against his.

It felt like heaven.

It felt like coming home.

It felt perfect.

John was floored. Abby's lips were on his and he was doing nothing about it. Nothing. He was too shocked. Fortunately, instinct kicked in. His arms wrapped around her waist, pulling her closer. His mouth responded to Abby. He kissed her for all he was worth.

Finally she pulled away, taking a deep breath. But she kept her mouth close to his; close enough so that their lips were still touching. "The thing is...I love you, too," she whispered.

His eyes snapped open only to find Abby gazing back at him with what looked like tears shining in her eyes. He swallowed hard, determined not to blow it this time. "Abby...oh my god. Are you sure? I know I've screwed up--big time. I've hurt you a lot--" He was silenced by her lips against his once more.

She pulled back a few moments later and smiled at him. "You're the one thing in this world that I'm sure of, John."

He grinned, glee threatening to overwhelm him. He slid one of his hands up to her face and softly stroked her cheek before moving to cup her head. "I love you so much," he whispered, pulling her close to kiss her again.

It was a kiss out of a fairytale or a movie. The perfect kiss. Every emotion they'd felt over the past couple of months--anger, pain, joy, sadness and even a little bit of hate--came pouring out in their kiss. But the predominant emotion was love. Their for each other was stronger than anything else they'd ever felt. And they tried to express that they only way they knew how.

Unfortunately, Abby had to breathe. She didn't want to stop kissing him, but she knew there'd be time for that later. For now, they just looked at each other with silly grins on their faces.

"Wow," was all John could say.

"Say it again," Abby requested.

"Wow?" he repeated, confused.

She rolled her eyes. "The other thing."

"Oh, that. I love you."

She felt a shiver of happiness race down her spine. "I like the way that sounds."

"Me, too."

"I love you, too."

"I think I like that even better."

"Just so you know," Abby said, settling contentedly in his arms, "you're not off the hook entirely. We still have a lot to talk about."

"I know. But can we deal with it tomorrow? I just to be us tonight. Is that okay?"

"I think I can live with that."

They rested silently in each other's arms for a while. It had been so long since they had felt this that neither were ready to give it up yet. Eventually, Abby spoke again.

"Do you think we could get out of here?"

John smiled ruefully. "I wish I could, but I'm kinda the host of this thing."

"Damn. Well, do you think you could disappear for a few hours? Just until it's time for the countdown or something? I mean, I'd kinda like to have you to myself for a while."

He honestly felt like his face was going to split in half from smiling so much. "I think that can be arranged. Come on." He untangled himself from Abby's arms, but made sure to grab a hold her hand. Now that he had her, he didn't ever want to let her go. He looked around the room for a few minutes, then spotted Susan talking to a few friends. He led Abby over and tugged gently on Susan's arm, silently asking for a moment of her time.

She followed him a few paces away. "What's up?" Then she realized that he was clutching Abby's hand. A smile broke across her face, but she refrained from saying anything. Their smiles were answer enough for now.

"Abby and I are gonna duck out for a bit. Can you keep an eye on things for a while?"

"I'd be thrilled to keep an eye on things, John."

"You're the best," he told her, already walking toward the door, Abby close on his heels.

Susan chuckled as she watched them wrap their arms around each other, attempting to walk that way. Her friends were happy. It looked like they'd finally managed to get their acts together.

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So tell me...was it worth the wait? I hope so. I'm so sorry for taking so long with this. Life got in the way. It didn't help that my monitor shorted out this summer, so I had no way to access stuff on my old computer, even when I got a new one. And that's where all my notes and ideas for this chapter were. Plus, work got wildly insane for a while and...I suck. That's pretty much what it boils down to. I suck. But anyway, I've made this one extra long for your edification. Hopefully, that'll make up, at least in part, for the delay.

So, shout outs. Lots of love and credit to Courtney, who worked me through a lot of this. A bunch of the dialogue in this is either stuff she came up with, or stuff she inspired. There are too many to name individually, though I will point out the one she really likes--"The thing is, I love you, too." It's a great line. I owe her more thanks than I can express. I also want to acknowledge that I stole a couple of lines from other sources--one was from SVU (if you can find, I'll give you a cookie!), and one was from my friend in college, so that one's not copyrighted. Anyway, thanks for your patience. And there will be a continuation of this chapter in (hopefully) the near future. Not til Sunday at the earliest though. I'm gonna be in Chicago this weekend! Holla! But, again, I want to say thanks to all of you. You rock.