Into the completed column, this one goes. Not a lot of Beth or Daryl in this chapter, but this was always more Abby's story anyway.

…

"You're ridiculously good at this," Max smiled at her as the machine spit out a long strand of tickets – so many, they were piling up on the floor. "Like, unnaturally good." And he smiled when Abby practically beamed at him.

The arcade off to the side of Marco's was crowded, but after they ate and Max paid the bill, Max went to one of the change machines and changed a five dollar bill into a pile of gold arcade coins, they managed to get a ski-ball machine and had currently been there for almost an hour. There had been a moment when Abby had considered pretending she wasn't good at ski-ball so Max could appear to be the better one – something about fragile male egos and she had read in books of girls doing that for boys they liked – but at the last moment, she wasn't able to help herself. She loved ski-ball and she was good at ski-ball and she didn't want to lie.

With it so crowded in there that night, she had turned down her hearing aids. She normally would have shut them off completely, being surrounded by so many people and noises, but she was on a date and she wanted to be able to hear him. And Max had seen her reach behind her ears and had now spent the past hour, standing close to her so she could hear him and she didn't hate that at all.

She leaned in close to him now to respond. "My dad goes to Savannah for his business often and we sometimes go with him. There's this arcade my brother and I always go to. I've been in training for years."

Max grinned at that and she smiled at him before turning her head away, noticing how close their faces were to one another. What she had told her mom was true. She wasn't ready to kiss him or be kissed. She could only hope that he wasn't expecting it. What would she do then if he did? She knew what her mom would say, but she couldn't possibly tell Max "no", could she? She was Feral Abby and he was… he was Max and he was one of the most popular boys in their class and everyone already thought she was a freak. What if they found out that she didn't kiss Max?

"Are you okay?" Max then asked and she felt his hand hesitantly touch her elbow.

Abby did her best to give him a smile and she nodded her head before crouching down and ripped her tickets carefully from the machine.

Max gave a little smile as he looked at the amount of tickets in his hand – a paltry amount to the pile that Abby had to hold with both of her hands. "We have to find a game here that can show you I'm not a complete failure," he joked.

Abby's smile came easier now.

Together, they went up to the ticket counter to see how many they had gotten and to see what kind of prize they could get. Max admitted that he was extremely curious to see how many tickets Abby had. He had never seen anyone kick so much ass at ski-ball and he wanted to tell her that she was amazing, but he didn't know how to tell her that because her ski-ball skills wasn't the only reason shew as amazing.

The teenager working behind the counter took all of the tickets and fed them into a machine, the red automated number popping up. "903," the teenager said in a bored tone, looking back to them. "You can basically get anything."

"You pick. 900 of those were yours," Max grinned at her and she smiled.

Abby looked for several moments, taking her time as she studied everything. She then pointed to a white round unicorn stuffed animal with a rainbow horn and a matching rainbow tail. The teenager handed it to her and Abby took it with a smile.

"There are twenty left," she said to Max. "You have to pick something now."

"Can we take the twenty back?" He asked the worker, who counted out twenty and handed them back to him. "Alright," he smiled widely at her. "I know what to play."

He led her to a basketball hoop and fed the machine a coin. A buzzer went off and three small basketballs were dropped. A clock began counting down from ninety seconds and Max began taking his shots. Abby stood off to the side so not to get in his way and where she could watch perfectly and with all of the shots he took, he only missed one and the tickets were spitting out of the machine. When the ninety seconds were done, another buzzer went off and the machine went dark.

Max turned his head to look at her and Abby smiled brightly.

"Very impressive," she said with a nod and Max grinned before slipping another coin into the machine and the machine lit again and the three balls dropped again.

He played two more rounds and at the end, Max had his own pile of tickets and they returned to the counter to get them counted.

"462," the teenager told them after they were counted. "Anything from the third shelf down."

Max studied the selections and then looked to Abby, next to him, her arms around the unicorn, holding it to her chest. "What do you want?" He asked her and her eyes widened slightly as if she hadn't been expecting him to ask her that in a million years. He almost smiled, but he managed to stop himself before he could.

He had dated a couple of girls in their class – both of them cheerleaders because he was a football player and that was who he was expect to date – but they had both been the same. Both had seen too many movies and read those stupid magazines and they thought they knew exactly how he should act because that was how Zac Efron or whoever the hell they had a crush on acted on dates in the movies.

But Abby wasn't like that. She was as far from any other girl in their class as she could get and that's why he liked her. She was shy, and despite all the bullshit she dealt with from classmates, she was still nice and she didn't make him feel an idiot and she was so genuinely surprised at so many things.

Like him asking her what she wanted with the tickets so he could give it to her.

And he wanted to tell her that he didn't share those tickets with the other girls, but he knew she didn't need nor probably want to hear that.

She looked closely and carefully over all of the suggestions and then pointed to a Nerf football and Max was honestly surprised. He expected her to pick another stuffed animal and she smiled at the worker as it was handed to her.

She shifted the unicorn to one arm and held the football in the other. "Something to remember tonight," she explained, her face exploding with a blush.

Max grinned. "You live on that huge property. Maybe I can come and we can throw it around," he suggested and though on the outside, he seemed completely relaxed, inside, he felt like a bowl of the pancake mix his mom put together on the weekends.

And Abby was still blushing, but she smiled faintly and nodded. "I'd like that a lot."

Max caught the clock on the wall and he sighed. "My mom's going to pick us up soon. We should wait for her outside."

Abby nodded in agreement. "I just have to go to the bathroom."

"Here," he said and without her asking him, too, he took the unicorn and football from her so he could hold it for her. She gave him a smile of thanks and he felt like he was honestly a little taller that she would smile at him like that. "I'll be right here," he then told her and Abby nodded before turning and heading off to the bathrooms.

In the bathroom, once she was finished, Abby stood at the sink, washing her hands and looking at her reflection in the mirror in front of her. She couldn't stop herself from smiling. This was the best night of her life. She was having such a good time and Max seemed to genuinely like her and it seemed like he was having fun, too.

He said that he could come to her house and show her how to throw the football. Did she count that as another date? Did he? Did he want to take her out on another date?

What would they be like in school on Monday? She wasn't his girlfriend. At least, she didn't think she was. She hadn't kissed him and she wasn't going to – at least not tonight. But girlfriends kissed their boyfriends and if she didn't kiss Max, then she couldn't be his girlfriend. But she didn't want to kiss him. At least not yet. She didn't know how to kiss and tonight had been so much fun, she didn't want to ruin it.

Abby gave herself another smile. It was okay, she tried to reassure herself. She wouldn't think about that right now. Right now, she was going to go back out there – back to Max – and they would wait for his mom and she would ask him what his favorite movie was.

She dried her hands and with one more look at her reflection, smoothing her hands down the skirt of her dress, she left the bathroom and headed back into the arcade.

But Max wasn't alone anymore. She recognized a few boys and girls from their class – Max's friends – were with him now, laughing, and Abby's stomach instantly clenched. She couldn't hear them clearly from where she stood, but she knew perfectly well what they were laughing about.

Max was frowning at one of the boys – Ryan – and Ryan continued laughing.

"Jellyfish? Really?" Another of the boys, Will, asked Max with a frown of his own.

"Hope you got your rabies shot before taking her out," Ryan laughed. "You don't want Feral Abby to give you anything."

"Shut up, Ryan," Max said.

"Oh, this is so cute!" One of the girls, Rebecca, gasped as she took the unicorn from Max's arm before he could stop her.

And Abby knew it was just a stuffed unicorn, but she hated the sight of someone other than Max or herself holding it. Especially a popular girl like Rebecca. It tainted the unicorn somehow.

She couldn't help, but feel the familiar sting of tears. It wasn't as if Max was joining in with his friends teasing her. Actually, he looked pretty angry about it all, but Abby knew he shouldn't be expected to do anything. These were his friends and who was she? She was just Feral Abby. That's all she would ever be to these people and she couldn't expect Max to take her side over anyone else's.

With tears stinging in her eyes, and Max not seeing her, Abby began getting that feeling again that someone was watching her. This time, she was determined to find the person that was staring at her so intently and making the hairs on her arms stand up on end.

Her eyes swept over the bar area and there, sitting on one of the stools…

Uncle Merle.

Abby nearly sighed with relief. She didn't know why he was there. She didn't care. She rushed for him, not looking back over to Max and his friends. As she entered the crowded bar, she saw that Hunter was sitting on a stool next to Merle, but again, she didn't care even if both looked like deer caught in headlights. It was obvious that they had come to Marco's that night to spy on her and Max during their date, but thank Goodness they were here.

"Please take me home," she signed, not trusting her voice right. She felt like she was seconds away from crying and she didn't want to do that in front of Hunter because he had already punched Max. She didn't want him to do that again. This wasn't Max's fault, but she couldn't stay here and watch his friends laugh about her.

They were always laughing her and this night had been so perfect. She supposed she should have been expecting it. It was a small town and there was no school tomorrow so why hadn't she thought that some of their classmates would end up at the arcade attached to Marco's?

"Are you sure?" Hunter asked, sliding from his stool and standing up.

Abby nodded her head, not knowing if she could handle another second of being here. Merle watched her as he stood up, tossing a few bills onto the bar. He then put his arm around her shoulders.

"Let's get you home, Ms. Abby," he said and he guided her out of the restaurant.

She spotted Merle's familiar pickup truck and she broke away from him to run to it. Merle never locked it so she knew the door would be open and once she had climbed into the cab, she slid over to sit in the middle. Merle climbed in behind the steering wheel and Abby took off her shoes as he turned on the ignition.

Abby frowned, looking over her shoulder out the window. Where was Hunter?

But then she saw him coming out of the restaurant and walking towards the truck.

Once he got in on the other side of her and closed the door, Merle pulled out of the parking lot and started the drive back to the Dixon farmhouse.

"You didn't punch him, did you?" Abby signed.

Hunter shook his head and Abby believed him though she didn't know if she could or not. She knew how Hunter felt about Max. And that was another thing. Max's friends teased her mercilessly and her brother always wanted to punch him in the face. She had read too many romance books if she thought that anything between her and Max would ever last past this one night.

When Merle pulled up the dirt drive, they saw the windows were warm with light. Abby didn't even wait for Hunter to open the door. As soon as Merle parked, she leaned over her brother, pushed open the door and crawling over him, she ran towards the house.

She heard the television on in the living room, but she didn't stop to look at her parents. Instead, still holding her shoes, she ran up the stairs, ignoring her mom calling her name out after her.

"What the hell happened?" Daryl asked as soon as Merle and Hunter came inside, his face already twisted in a frown and he wondered if he had to go beat on some kid for hurting his daughter. "What did he do?"

Hunter and Merle exchanged a look and Hunter looked back to Daryl.

"Actually, he didn't do anything."

…

Beth sat on the edge of Abby's bed and rubbed a hand in circles on her back as Abby laid on her stomach, hugging her pillow to her face. She hadn't said anything, but Beth didn't know if she was expecting her to or not. All Beth knew was that Abby had left a couple of hours before, so excited, and now, tears were streaming down her cheeks and seeing her cry, it made Beth want to cry, too.

"Oh, Abby," Beth said because she didn't know what else to say and Abby just shook her head and clenched her eyes shut.

Beth turned her head when she heard the floorboard in the hallway creak and then Daryl appeared in the doorway. He didn't pause as he came to the bed, crouching down next to it.

"Hunter let Max know that you were comin' home. Max said he's real sorry," Daryl told her and Abby nodded, still not speaking. "Those kids are idiots, Abby. You know that," he continued as he lifted a hand, joining it with Beth's on her back.

"What kids?" Beth asked.

"Some of Max's friends," Daryl answered, not looking away from Abby's face. "Was sayin' things 'bout Abby 'cause they're idiots and they have to talk even though they don't have anythin' to say."

Beth let out an angry breath. She was so sick and completely fed up with Abby's classmates. Kids were vicious and they had to pick on someone and things had gotten so much better for Abby since Becks had moved into town and the girls because best friends, but the teasing still continued and at times like this, Beth was more than prepared to pull her out of that school and homeschool her herself.

"So, Max didn't do anything?" Beth asked Daryl.

Daryl shook his head. "Merle and Hunter said it looked like they were havin' a good time before his friends showed up."

"The best time," Abby whispered.

Beth leaned over and kissed Abby's head.

"You know what I think we all need?" Daryl asked. "We got vanilla ice cream. We got roo' beer. We need some roo' beer floats right about now. What do you girls say?"

With her nose still to Abby's head, Beth nodded. "Ice cream will help, Abby. It really will," she promised her.

And after a moment, Abby nodded, too.

Abby changed from her sweater and dress and got into her pajamas – a pair of boys' boxer shorts and a University of Georgia tee-shirt with the mascot Bulldog printed on the front. She then met everyone down in the kitchen as they stood at the island in the middle of the room. Beth was laughing as Merle kept scooping vanilla ice cream into his glass, leaving very little room for the root beer to be added and when Abby entered, Hunter saw her first and handed her the glass they had set aside for her. Merle handed her the tub with a grin and a wink and Abby finally found herself smiling.

But the doorbell rang then though and her smile faded and she completely froze.

"Don't be takin' all the roo' beer," Daryl said as he left the kitchen.

Abby stood there, trying to hear who it was, but it was impossible for her to and even with a part of her expecting it, when Daryl entered the kitchen again with Max, she still stared at him, completely taken aback with him being there.

"I brought you your things," Max said, looking at her, holding her unicorn in one arm and the football in his other hand.

"She totally kicked your ass at ski-ball," Hunter then laughed a little as he began constructing his own root beer float.

Max smiled at that, still looking at Abby. Abby looked at Max and didn't know what to say or what to do. She had left Marco's, completely convinced that the entire night had been ruined and they may have only been thirteen, but they had given it a shot, but it wasn't going to work out and that was that.

Except now, he was standing here, in her kitchen, and she felt something inside of her soar that very recently, had been dropped down to her feet.

"I invited Max in for roo' beer floats and a lil' bit of Cupcake Wars. His mom said she'll pick 'im back up in a lil' bit," Daryl explained to them all and his eyes settled on Abby, asking her silently if she was alright with that.

Abby didn't have to think about it. She smiled and she nodded and Max seemed to sigh with relief. Abby went to the cabinet to get him another glass and he was full-blown grinning at her when she returned, handing it to him. She felt her cheeks blush, but she smiled, too, as her stomach fluttered uncontrollably.

"And while we're doing that, you can tell me what you and your Uncle Merle were doing at Marco's tonight, Hunter," Beth said, looking at her son with a raised eyebrow.

"It was Uncle Merle's idea," Hunter immediately told and Daryl smirked at that, taking the ice cream scoop from Beth's hand, but only dropped a little into his glass before handing it to Abby and Max so they could help themselves.

"Good God, boy," Merle frowned at him. "Ain't I taught you nothin' 'bout snitches?"

Max listened to the warmth of the good-natured bickering breaking out around him and he then looked at Abby as she stood next to him. She caught his eye and they both shared a smile.

…

The End.

Thank you so much for reading! I hope you liked this little story!