I'm so so so so so so so sorry it has taken me so long... But I got the flu, and then I'm pretty sure I had a small pneumonia (or well, everyone keeps telling me that I might since I have coughing fits non stop)...
School has been crazy with way too much homework, and this geek club thing I'm in has started again and I'm doing all this volunteering stuff with American exchange students studying here in Copenhagen...
And well, the Danish Cheerleading Championships are coming up in a month, and we're NOT ready, so we're practicing A LOT lately!!
Plus my computer has kind of crashed... but luckily I got a new one for my birthday, so I just got all my ffs etc moved to this the other day.. YAY

Anyways, done with my rambling.. ENJOY!! (And I'm so so very happy for my replies :P I'm really glad you like it, so thanks for replying!!)


Chapter 45 - Some Things Will Never Change

Abby almost fell backwards as Eric as good as jumped on her. She had been stuck in the hospital all day, so meeting up with her brother afterwards made the day just a bit better.

"Easy, Eric, let her breathe." She hadn't even realised she had let out an audible wince until Eric's new foster dad had pulled her out of the shock of the hug, so she quickly gave him small, maybe even a bit grateful smile, before turning to her brother and tousled his hair.

"I missed you, Abby." She didn't get a chance to reply before he grabbed her hand and pulled her towards a table in the other end of the restaurant while Dr. Kovac was greeting Eric's foster family.

"I missed you too." She meant it, she supposed, but it sounded kind of forced. Not that it surprised her very much, because to be honest, she'd had too much on her mind to constantly think of her baby brother for the past little week's time.

She sat down across from Eric, just as the adults joined them at the table, Dr. Kovac sitting down next to her. Abby felt her gently grab her hand and squeeze it. Either she was really bad at hiding how nervous she actually was, or Dr. Kovac just knew her too well by now. Sure, she'd met Eric's new family before, the family she was supposed to move to later on, but this was the first time she'd really get to talk to them. Besides, she still felt really awkward around Eric, now that he knew so much.

"It's nice to finally meet you, Abby." Realizing she had been staring at the table she looked up and gave them a small smile.

"You too."

"Eric hasn't shut up about wanting to see you for days, so we're really glad that you had time for some lunch." She just gently shook her head, and a tiny smile formed on her lips as she noticed Eric looking as innocent as ever with his big grin and puppy eyes.

"No I... I wanted to see him too." The entire table fell silent as the waiter put down their drinks. Abby hadn't even noticed that anyone had ordered them.

"So Alice, how's work going?" Abby wasn't sure whether Dr. Kovac had started a conversation to break the awkward silence or if she was really interested, and to be honest she couldn't care less. She was just happy that she was no longer the centre of attention.

"How did your soccer match go?" She wasn't sure how to describe the look in his eyes. He seemed so happy, but at the same time a bit sad, but what she noticed the most was how they were practically yelling out how amazed he was that she remembered it.

"We won, and I scored both the first and the winning goals." He gave her a huge smile, but she saw right through it, knowing him better than anyone else.

"Then why do you seem so sad about it?" He looked down, but then decided to look back up at her, although avoiding her eyes.

"I just wish you'd been there." She gave him a small apologizing smile, refusing to let him she the pang of guilt she felt.

"I promise I'll come next time, I just..."
"It's fine, Abby. I know you would have been there if you could." She gave him a smile, this time a sincere one. How could you not love that boy? So sweet and understanding. Sometimes she really did believe he was switched at birth, he so didn't fit into their crazy family.

"So, what do you guys want?" Abby had barely even had time to realize that they were talking to them before Eric had forgotten all about their conversation.

"A triple meat pizza." She quickly kicked his shin under the table, and as he looked shocked at her, all he received was a dead glare. She had raised him to be polite, not to just use people. "I mean, I would really like a triple meat pizza, if that's okay." She resisted the urge to roll her eyes as the grown ups just smiled at him. Well, at least it was a bit better.

"Of course you may have one. What about you, Abby? What would you like?" Looking down at the table she started fiddling with the bottom of her sweater, which she had yet to take off. But that was most likely not going to happen as she was only wearing a short sleeved t-shirt underneath, and her arms still looked as bad as they'd done almost a week ago.

"I'm not really hungry." It was very quiet and barely audible, but she knew they'd heard her, cause she could feel all of their eyes on her. They, or at least Dr. Kovac knew that it wasn't true, but she just really didn't like people being so generous to her, so nice. Yes, she was hungry, but she couldn't accept them buying her food. It seemed so weird. Unreal. And Abby was scared that if she started accepting their kindness, that if she started believing that it was real, that things were actually different now, then it would all fall apart, break beneath her. She didn't deserve people caring about her, taking care of her. It just seemed so wrong.

"I find that hard to believe. You haven't eaten anything since breakfast, and even then you only ate a yoghurt." She just shrugged her shoulders, still not wanting to meet their eyes. "At least have some bread sticks." Closing her eyes she let go of the sweater she hadn't realized she was still holding on to. She supposed it couldn't hurt, so she gently nodded her head.

"Sure. Thank you." She saw the relieved smile on the doctor's face as she looked back up. Maybe it wasn't so bad after all. Maybe she could actually trust that someone did care about her, and not just pretended to out of obligation.


They were both silent for most of the ride back to the house, but as they waited for the light to turn green at an intersection downtown, Abby pulled herself away from the mirror and looked at the woman sitting in the driver's seat.

"Dr. Kovac?" She sounded insecure, and she was. She wasn't sure if she should ask, or even how to ask the question that had been bugging her for the past hour.

"Mhm?" She started runner her finger along the edge of her seat, trying to come up with a good way to formulate the words.

"How come you care so much about what I eat?" When she didn't answer right away, Abby realized it hadn't come out like she'd wanted it to. "I mean, why are you always trying to make me eat so much?" Not that t was that much, but it was more than she was used to, and she'd never had anyone to tell her to eat up before." The doctor gave her a small smile as she started driving again.

"You want me to be completely honest?" A bit confused, Abby just nodded before returning her gaze towards the street in front of her. "Well, I care about you, and I've seen how little you eat." When she stopped Abby thought she was done. She wasn't really that satisfied with the answer, but she would never say that. "It's not healthy, Abby." At this her head snapped up, still a bit confused. "You're skinny, very skinny. Too underweight for your own good." Looking down at her lap she slowly nodded. She sure hadn't expected that.

"So you're trying to fatten me up?" A small laugh escaped the grown-up's throat, but it was a friendly laugh.

"I wouldn't have put it that way, but I suppose you can say that. All I'm doing is trying to give your body some nutrition. It'll help you heal a lot faster as well." She couldn't really argue with that, so knowing the doctor was right she turned back to the window.


She wasn't sure exactly how long time she'd standing there with the water next to her running. She had told the others that she needed a shower before going to bed, but in stead she had found herself staring at her reflection in the full-length mirror. At the big fading bruise which still outlined the upper left part of her face. The cracked lip which was barely visible by now. The old scar on her earlobe which you wouldn't spot unless you knew it was there.

Forcing her hands to stop shaking, she carefully lifted her shirt to reveal her still very painfully looking purple stomach. Without removing her gaze from the mirror she slowly traced her finger along the white bandage covering up the stitches from where they worked on her spleen, as if they'd rupture or break if she wasn't careful enough.

At least they would be taken out in a couple of days. Not just the ones on her stomach, but all of them. She would be able to take a shower again, a real shower. Right now, a shower meant attempting to wash herself without getting the stitches wet. And that was a bit hard, considering how many she had.

Moving her hand a bit further up she let it trace the outline of her ribs. Dr. Kovac was right. She had always been skinny, or at least for as long as she could remember. She supposed she had been much to stressed and busy lately to realize that she was losing weight. A lot of weight. How that was possible while being pregnant she had absolutely no idea, but then again, it might have had something to do with that.

Letting her shirt fall back down she rested her hand on her left hipbone, right on top of where the mark used to have been. Even through the layers of clothes she could still feel the small letters practically burning her fingers, just as if they new and fresh. They might be completely gone and even the scar was so invisible that it couldn't be seen, but for Abby they had left an everlasting pain. Those two tiny letters, 'RL', his initials, 'Richard Lockhart', the ones he'd carved with a needle where you usually get tattoos, back when she was what? 10? They still reminded her every day, every time she thought she might be able to forget, that she belonged to him. That she always would. That she was his.

Shaking her head she turned away from the mirror, trying to think of something else, anything but him. She was supposed to be safe now, wasn't she? They kept telling her that she'd never see him again, that it was over. That no one would hurt her. She was out, he had absolutely no control over her anymore. Except he did, mentally. It was to just too hard to forget and pretend after so many years.

Closing her eyes she sat down on the closed toilet seat, reaching over the sink to turn off the water without even having to look. She probably should get back downstairs or at least reemerge from the bathroom before anyone got suspicious as to why she spent so much time in there.

Twisting her hair into a bun she got up and once again turned the tap so the cold water started running into the sink. She created a bowl her hands and splashed it in her face, to make it look wet. It would after all be kind of weird if she managed to stay completely dry while washing herself.

Purposely avoiding the mirror she turned around and left the bathroom, deciding to just go to bed in stead of joining the others by the TV.


BTW!! I'm kind of stuck and well, The way I had invisioned this way before I started posting, I was gonna go evil again pretty soon, but I dont know if that would be too much..
So I need you to help me.. Please tell me in a review if you want 'EVILNESS'! Even if you don't review, you can just go 'yes' or 'no'...
THANKS!!! Love you guys :P