"Dad," Abi shouted. "Dad, are you in?"
Max walked out of the kitchen while drying his hands on a tea towel ."Alright, babe? What are you doing here?"
"I'm coming home," she explained. "Me and Ben, we're over."
Max acknowledged her suitcase by the door and attempted to hide his happiness at the news. He had hated all of the involvement Abi had with the Mitchell family. First Jay, then Ben. And not forgetting her friendship with that Lola. Pregnant at 15. It disgusted Max.
"Why? What happened?" Max questioned, but really he was just looking for another way to start a fight with that family.
Abi shook her head. "It doesn't matter now. It's done."
Max knew when Abi didn't want to talk about something and he dropped the subject. "You hungry? I've got some pasta boiling."
"Go on then."
She followed him into the kitchen and he smiled down at his daughter as he stirred the dinner. "I've missed you, Abs. It hasn't been the same without you."
"I missed you too, dad, but you understand why I had to leave don't you? You were a mess."
Max nodded. "I know, Abs. I'm sorry. I promise you nothing like that is going to happen again."
"Really?" Abi was used to Max's broken promises.
"Seriously, I mean it this time. Carol has helped me out and got my life back on track again."
Abi nodded appreciatively. "Good."
Max patted her on the head like she was five years old, not nineteen. "It doesn't matter how old you get, you will always be my little girl."

Abi fell back into her old routine again pretty quickly. She went to work everyday at the vets. She came home and cooked dinner for her and Max (like seriously, he's cooking was truly awful). After dinner they stayed up and watched TV or an old film together. Things were just like they used to be. Her and Max.
As the summer holidays approached, Abi began to think about applying to retake her final year of sixth form. She knew she was too late to post an application now but the head of sixth form had always had a soft spot for her. She was supposedly their star student before those results had come through. Vet extraordinaire. Abi was positive they'd make an exception for her.

A few days after Abi had returned home there was a knock at the door.
"Abi," Max called up the stairs. "It's for you."
Abi dropped her on her desk and closed her notebook shut before making her way to the front door.
"Hey," she said when she saw Jay standing in her hallway. It had certainly been a long time since she ad seen him here.
"Hey to you too." He smiled. "How are you doing?"
"Good," she told him. "Really good."
"Great, that's great." Jay mentally cringed at himself. "Uh, anyway, I've got the rest of you things. I don't know if I grabbed everything but I brought what I could find." He handed her a fairly small cardboard box.
"Thank you. I was going to come pick it up but I wasn't really up to facing Ben just yet."
"Don't worry about it. What am I here for, eh?"
Abi laughed. "That's what I've been using you for all this time," she joked. "My personal slave."
Jay joined in with her laughter and when the silence began again, Abi began to close the door on him. "Well thanks again for bringing this round. I really appreciate it."
"Wait a second."
She paused. "Yeah?"
"Me and Lola were thinking of heading into town tonight, have a couple of drinks. You up for it?"
"Oh, I don't know. I haven't spoken to Lola for ages."
"But I thought you two would be cool now. I mean, it's been months since all of that went down with you two."
"I guess, but I just don't know if I'm up for going out yet."
"It'll be fun," Jay promised. "A chance to take your mind of things.
Abi bit her lip. Man, he loved it when she did that.
"It isn't going to be a wild night out, just a few drinks. We'll be gone a couple of hours tops."
"Okay," Abi sighed.
"You'll come?"
"Yeah, if it'll get you of my doorstep." She gave him a gentle shove.
"I'll see you later then. We'll come over at eight."
Abi nodded. "See you later."

I apologise that this chapter is slightly bitty and I am not 100% happy with it, but it all leads up to something exciting so please bare with me :)