Abby tilted her head and squinted her eyes, scrutinizing the garment in her hand for a few moments before rejecting it as unsuitable and placing it back on the rack, completely oblivious to the slack-jawed expression on Susan's face.

"Excuse me?!" Susan finally shrieked.

"You want to keep your voice down?" Abby asked, sending reassuring smiles to other customers around them who were giving them odd looks. "And way to have a delayed reaction, Sus."

"But…but…you just…do you realize what you just said?"

Abby shrugged nonchalantly and moved onto another rack of clothing. "Of course I realize it. I said it, didn't it?"

Susan's jaw fell open once more, this time at her friend's casual manner. She hurried over to the other girl and grabbed her arm, pulling her ear close to her own mouth. "Then would you care to repeat it, just so I can make sure that I heard you properly?"

Abby tried her hardest to bite back her grin. She'd figured that Susan would give her a good reaction, and she didn't disappoint. She continued to examine the formal dresses in front of her, almost as if her life depended on it, and said in the most casual manner she could muster, "John and I are going to have sex after the prom."

"Yeah, you said what I thought you said." Susan blinked, trying to get her bearings. "This is huge! I mean…huge!"

"Susan Lewis at a loss for words; I never thought I'd see the day," Abby teased.

"Well, come on. You've gotta admit that this sure as hell ain't small."

Abby snickered and grinned lasciviously. "No, it sure isn't."

"Oh, ew! Come on! I mean, it's one thing to know that you and John are going to have--"

"Shh!" Abby frantically threw her hand over Susan's mouth and silenced her. "I don't exactly want it advertised, dude."

"Sorry," she said, once her mouth had been uncovered, though she didn't look at all fazed. "But he's still kinda brother-like in my mind, ya know? I can't picture him as a sexual being, so I don't want any intimate details about his plumbing."

"Then riddle me this, Batman; how am I gonna tell you all about it the next day if you don't want any details?"

Susan seemed to genuinely ponder this for a few moments before shuddering. "Well, it's still a couple of months of months away, so I suppose I'll have time to bone up beforehand."

Abby snickered once more, then bit her lip.

Susan looked her friend warily. "I'm almost afraid to ask."

"You said 'bone.'"

"Yes, folks—Abigail Wyczenski's mind is thoroughly entrenched in the gutter."

"Well, considering the topic we were just discussing…"

"Fine, fine, touché. Let's just move on from that part of the topic, shall we?"

"How 'bout this? You tell me what parts of this topic you're okay with discussing and we'll hit those."

Susan gave Abby the best haughty look she had in her repertoire. "I don't see how sarcasm is necessary."

"It's not supposed to be sarcastic…well, not completely sarcastic, at any rate. But I will concede that this is probably a very strange position for you to be in, so I will spare you the details until you think you can be okay with hearing them. Fair enough?"

"Fair enough," Susan agreed, then remained silent.

Abby kept quiet for a full minute before she exclaimed, "Well?"

"Well what?"

"Um, the topics you feel you can discuss?"

"What, you think I can just figure that kind of thing out in a matter of moments?"

Abby sighed in frustration. "Must you be so difficult?"

Susan wrapped her arm around Abby's shoulders. "Abby, Abby, Abby…would you really want me any other way?"

"You want a truthful answer?"

Susan chuckled. "At this point? No, can't say as I do. Just steer clear of mentioning John naked and everything should be all right. Actually, if you could maybe keep mentions of his name down to a minimum that would help a lot, too."

Abby gave her an incredulous look. "You want me to not mention my boyfriend's name when I'm talking about him?"

"I didn't say it would make sense. But it might help me get past it if I hear a lot of 'he's' and 'him's', and believe me when I say I want you to be able to talk to me about this. It's kind of a big deal."

"So you said."

"So let's just start from the top, okay? I mean, I just can't believe that the two of you have been back together for less than a month and you've already made this monumental decision."

Abby shuffled her feet and gave Susan a sheepish look.

"What?"

"Okay, well, first of all, it's not like we've only known each other for a month of something. We've known each other for almost a year and a half—it'll be nearly two years by the time the prom rolls around—so it's not like we're just jumping into this. Second of all, we really do love each other. I know that with a certainty I've never known anything else--"

"Well, that part I believe completely."

"Thirdly, we decided on a date so that when we're alone together, as rare as that is, we can relax a little and not try to do as much as we can as fast as we can. But last of all…well…we actually figured out the whole prom night thing on New Year's Eve."

Susan's eyebrows jumped to her hairline. "WHAT?!"

Abby cringed at Susan's volume and reaction. "You've got to stop doing that."

"You've known for almost a month exactly when this whole thing is going down—if you'll pardon the expression," Susan threw in at the raised eyebrow and look on Abby's face, realizing that her friend's mind was still in the gutter, "and I'm just hearing about it NOW?"

"You know," Abby said, looking around the store and seeing a sea of irritated faces glaring back at her, "I think now isn't the best time to be looking for prom dresses. People keep staring at us, and one more outburst from you will have us banned from the store for the duration of prom season."

"Blame me all you want, but you're the one who keeps dropping these bombshells on me in the middle of the mall. You had to have known that I was going to have a few outbursts."

"Well, can you at least try to keep your outbursts down to a whisper?"

"Can you try to not make anymore earth-shattering revelations for the rest of the day?"

"Ah, I see your point," Abby conceded. "I think I'm all tapped out, as far as revelations go, anyway."

"In that case, can I ask you a question?"

"I think, given the circumstances, that's only fair."

"Why am I only hearing about this now? For real, I mean."

Abby shrugged helplessly and sighed. "I don't know. I mean, I wanted to tell you, but I didn't know how to bring it up. I'm excited about the whole thing, but it just doesn't come up in casual conversation, you know?"

Susan couldn't help but roll her eyes. "Well, the conversation we had about your and John's reunion wasn't exactly classified as 'casual'."

"Maybe not, but we'd been back together for less than a day when I told you about it, so it was all very surreal and, if you'll forgive me, dream-like. And I was a lot more focused on being with John again than anything else. After that, it just felt kind of awkward bringing it up. There's also the fact that while the three of us have spent plenty of time together lately, we haven't had a lot of one-on-one time. This just didn't seem like a topic you'd be comfortable discussing with John around. Am I right?"

"That is so very true."

"So, I waited. And I didn't know when it'd be a good time to bring it up, but shopping for prom dresses seemed like a good a time as any."

"I can live with that."

"So, I'm forgiven?"

"Dude, there's nothing to forgive." With that, Susan pulled Abby into a quick hug. "Now," she said, smiling mischievously, "our task is to find you the perfect 'come hither' dress."

"Do you really think I need one of those? I mean, it's kind of a sure thing."

"Just because you're easy, doesn't mean you can't look sexy. What—you want to show up in ruffles and lace?"

"Easy?! Excuse me?" Abby squeaked.

"Hey, you're the one that said you're a sure thing. Don't get all uppity with me, missy."

"I don't know why I bother with you."

"Probably because no one else would put up with you, dearest. Now, here," Susan said, shoving a few dresses into Abby's arms, "let's go try these on and see which one looks the most scandalous."

"Oh, hell no. Not after that easy remark. Besides, I've seen this movie. We go into the dressing room and start talking about prom night and John and have a great time giggling about which dress I'm going to be wearing the last night I'm a virgin, and all the while, John's grandmother is in the stall next to us."

"There's just one problem with that, Abs."

"Oh, yeah? And what's that?"

"This is real life, not a movie."

Abby let out a derisive snort. "That's what you think. But you know that kind of thing would happen to me. The one time Millicent Carter decides to go to a department store in the local mall would coincide with me trying to find a prom dress."

"I suppose you do make a very small point. But, speaking of the Carter family, why is it that you're shopping for a prom dress in the local mall. I'd have thought someone would have coughed up a credit card for you so you could go to some swanky boutique on Michigan Avenue or something."

"Well, to be perfectly honest, John did offer something of that ilk. He seemed to have no problem offering his family's ample supply of money to me." Abby batted her eyes and smile beatifically. "It's one of the perks of having a boyfriend who's loaded. But I somehow couldn't see myself abusing the Carter family generosity at this point in time. Something about using their money to buy a prom dress when I know their grandson is going to be deflowering me that night just seems kinda…hooker-esque."

"Wow…I cannot believe you just said deflower."

"Oh, I said it, and I'll say it again. I mean, as happy an ending as Pretty Woman had, I don't like the parallels of someone buying me clothing and then having sex with that person. Perhaps, next year, after we've had sex so many times we've lost count, I'll let him buy me a prom dress. Right now, it just feels icky."

Looking ever so queasy, Susan said, "Speaking of icky, I think I've stomached about as much sex talk as I can for the moment."

"All right, all right, I can respect that. We'll let it go for now."

"So, are you gonna try these dresses on or not?"

"Or not, actually. We have to meet up with the love muffin in a few minutes."

"Aaaaabbeeeee!" Susan whined.

"I'm sorry; I just couldn't help it. But seriously, we have to go catch up with him."

"Do we really? 'Cause I don't know if I can look at him right now."

"Well, we don't have to if you don't want to. But it's a long walk from here back to your house, and since John's our ride…"

"Point taken," Susan concurred, reracking the dresses. "Can you just promise me you'll behave for a little while? At least until I can get my bearings."

"Well, I'll be good," Abby answered, strolling out of the store, "but I can't promise John's behavior. I mean, the guy is insatiable."

"Abby!" Susan shrieked, covering her ears and closing her eyes, trying to block out her friend's voice. "I can't hear you! LALALALA!"

Abby just started to laugh and grabbed Susan's arm, pulling her out of the store before they could be escorted out.


I am SO sorry that it took me two years. Writer's block doesn't leave on command, though (and believe me when I say I tried—I used my scariest voice and everything). So, to all of you wonderful people who have stuck with me through all these years (and YIKES to that whole years thing), THANK YOU SO MUCH. Your support means the world to me. I hope this chapter meets your approval. I also hope to not wait another two years before posting again. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that my creative juices will be flowing to some degree for a while, so maybe I can manage to be productive. Thank you all for your patience!

In particular, I want to thank C-dawg—no particular reason this time around, but just a general thanks for reading my stuff and being my friend all this time. It's really quite impressive, considering our main connection is the internet. I also want to thank Sarah F for her kind words and support; she helped me more than she'll realize, so I want everyone to give her a big thanks as well.

One more thing--for those of you who aren't familiar with that area, Michigan Avenue is in Chicago, and it's often called the Million Dollar Mile. It's beautiful and it has all sorts of fancy and expensive stores. So, if there are any Chicago natives out there who can help me out with a better description, I would much appreciate it!