A/N: Hi y'all - Welcome back to a new chapter of Most Likely to Succeed. I know it's been nearly a year since my last update, but I am NOT giving up on this fic, so I hope you don't either. Thank you for the very nice and very much appreciated reviews! Please know I read ALL of them and they always make me smile :) This chapter DOES COME WITH A CONTENT WARNING:

Content warning! mentioning of sexual assault!

Please proceed with caution if this could possibly be triggering to you!

Anyways, I hope you enjoy!

Thursday - 4:32 a.m

Lincoln Residence

Abby rubbed at her eyes while muttering under her breath. 4:30 in the morning was way too fucking early to be awake, especially for basketball tryouts. She stared at herself in the mirror for what seemed like forever, inspecting every teeny tiny flaw she could find. She shook her head and turned on the faucet, splashing cold water on her face.

Once she finished getting ready she quietly opened the bathroom door and tiptoed down the stairs, not wanting to wake her parents. "What are you doing awake?" Abby whisper-yelled as she saw her older sister sitting at the kitchen table, sipping on orange juice. Cree only shrugged,

"I just got home,"

"You just got home?" Abby wondered as she opened the pantry, grabbing a protein bar. "Are you drunk?"

"Jeez, kid, are you a cop or something?" Cree teased with a smirk on her face. She rolled her eyes when she saw her younger sisters eyebrows shoot up, "A little tipsy, that's all,"

"Mm," Abby grunted,

"Are you nervous?" Cree asked, "About tryouts?"

"No, why would I be?" Abby didn't even bother looking toward her older sister as she rummaged through the pantry. Silently debating between an apple and a banana. For some reason, her brain couldn't rationalize both. She settled on the banana that was sitting on the granite kitchen counter and shoved it in her hoodie pocket.

"Just wondering. Good luck, kid,"

"Yeah, thanks," Abby responded, grabbing her car keys, backpack, and duffle bag before opening the front door. Abby has always been cool and collected. Of course, like everybody else, there are exceptions. But while many high-school athletes, even the best ones, felt at least some anxiety about tryouts, Abby felt nothing. In fact, she felt a twinge of dread. Ever since their coach announced during the summer that she would be leaving for a Division III college out west, Abby felt no excitement about playing anymore.

Driving down the road, too tired to even bother turning on the radio, Abby sighed. Of course she was devastated about a new coach, one that refused to reveal themselves until the morning of tryouts (which Abby thought was strange in itself), but she also felt a growing divide between her friends. Jimmy causing problems within their friend group was normal, but lately it felt like he was going out of his way to make Abby look like the villain in every possible situation. And since Angie and Muffy already disliked Hoagie and Bartie, and were also not particularly welcoming of Rachel, Jimmy's plans were working.

Parking in a spot as close to the gymnasium entrance as she could get, Abby heaved a deep sigh and turned her car off after checking the clock. 4:46 a.m. For high school basketball tryouts. How absurd. She figured she could have bothered to show up a little earlier when she saw a surprising number of people already warming up as she walked onto the court. She hadn't even put on her shoes yet.

Jogging out of the locker room, she bumped shoulders with Muffy in the door, "Morning," Abby muttered. Muffy abruptly stopped even though she was obviously on a mission.

"Good morning? You're here ten minutes before tryouts? We've been here since four warming up." Muffy spat. Abby raised her eyebrows, stunned to silence by Muffy's spiteful tone. The blonde simply rolled her eyes and moved past Abby. Abby tried to ignore the pit in her stomach as she continued to the court, grabbing a basketball and began shooting around on one of the hoops that was already claimed by her friends. Much to the obvious, although unspoken, dismay to the three that had apparently shown up nearly an hour ago, Abby was effortlessly sinking every shot.

Suddenly, a whistle blew and the gym was silent. Abby simultaneously felt her chest tighten and the banana she just ate rise to her throat as she made eye contact with who she suspected was the new coach.

7:02 a.m.

McClintock High Parking Lot

Kuki was visibly shocked when her passenger door opened and Lizzie slid into the seat, "I promise this is the last time I'll ask for your help". Lizzie said, with an unsettling lack of emotion in her voice. Kuki almost interrupted her with the futile attempts of reassuring her that asking for help is actually what friendship looks like. However, instead she went towards the more nonchalant route,

"What's up?"

"I just texted you the location of a Planned Parenthood that does abortions. I'm going to make an appointment for later this week, would you be able to take me and drive me home?" Kuki had always admired the way that Lizzie speaks with such conviction. Rarely any hesitation, even in moments like asking somebody you are not at all close with to drive you to get an abortion. Kuki hesitated, even though she tried not to, but nodded her head,

"Of course, just let me know when," Lizzie nodded and offered a small smile before getting out of the car and walking into the school. Kuki sat there, trying to calm her racing heart. She had so many questions that she knew she would never ask; mainly: did Nigel know? Of course, Kuki rationalized, not that he had to know. But she knew Nigel well enough, it's not like he would be against Lizzie getting an abortion. She was drawn out of her trance when she saw a text from Wally pop up on her phone:

Wanna hang out after school?

Her heart began racing ever quicker. From anxiety or excitement - or both - she wasn't quite sure. However, she knew exactly what Wally meant by "hang out" and immediately felt… excited. Ever since their encounter in Eva's bathroom after homecoming they had been consistently hooking up and hanging out in secret. Kuki has also been helping him with college applications and some other homework. In return, he gives her the best head she's convinced anyone has given anyone ever. She tried to craft a clever response, but nothing came to mind.

Duh :)

2:25 p.m.

Gilligan Residence

Sitting in his driveway, in Abby's car, his internal dialogue pushed him to ask questions. She seemed so spaced out today, and he was worried about her. But he was also worried about stepping over any boundary that he was not quite sure existed yet. It was already embarrassing enough that he had to ask her to take him home, since something is wrong with the Subaru (Bartie took him to school, but then somehow disappeared), but the last thing he wanted to do was cross over any lines, especially since he was still floating from their "moment" after homecoming. He looked over at her, feeling a pang in his chest. She was so obviously devastated about something. Hoagie took a deep breath, "Are you… are you okay?" He immediately closed his eyes and thought: real smooth, dumbass.

Abby looked at him and nodded unconvincingly, "Yeah, I'm fine,"

Hoagie, unconvinced, nodded back. "Okay… Do you wanna come in? Hang out?" As soon as the words came out of his mouth he immediately thought he was going to throw up. Of course she didn't want to hang out. Especially alone. He watched her slowly nod and she let out a slow deep breath,

"Sure," She smiled, which was maybe the most genuine expression of emotion she had all day. As the two went inside and descended to the basement, he was immediately regretting his decision to invite her in. What were they going to talk about? Why did he even bother asking anyways- she probably just felt sorry for him.

"Can we smoke?" Abby asked, almost timidly as she sat on the raggedy basement couch. His eyes widened in surprise, but of course, he agreed, relieved to have an excuse to calm his nerves. He choked out a laugh,

"Can we smoke? Duh," He grinned, "but, uh, don't they drug test you during the season?"

"I… I walked out of tryouts this morning," Abby stuttered, staring down at the ground. Almost as if she were ashamed, almost as if she was expecting Hoagie to berate her. Instead, his mouth hung open,

"What? Why?"

Silence. Rather than waiting for an invitation or an answer, Hoagie plopped down on the couch beside the dark haired girl, close, but not too close. She looked as if she were trying to formulate an answer, so he made himself busy by grinding up some weed, then packing the light blue bong. Abby watched intently, admiring how careful he was. For such a large guy, he was so meticulous. She never could have imagined that Hoagie Gilligan would be as detail oriented as what he was. She never would have guessed a lot of things about him that she's learned during their friendship and/or budding situationship. She appreciated that he wasn't pushing an answer out of her, so maybe that's why she felt brave enough, comfortable enough, to share with him something that she had never ever shared with anyone.

"Well, I've never told anyone this before," She took a deep breath, her voice and body shaking. So much for that cool, collected person that she was less than twelve hours ago. Hoagie looked up, giving her his full attention. He scooted closer to her on the couch, hoping that this move would seem comforting rather than overwhelming. "During travel season two summers ago, I played for a coach that, um-" Abby stuttered and Hoagie feared that he immediately knew where the conversation was going, "He did some… inappropriate and gross things to me throughout the entire season, threatening my playing time. I couldn't… I couldn't bring myself to tell anybody. I didn't think it was worth the hassle. But, this morning, the new coach that walked in was him. So, I walked out".

Hoagie was by no means a hypermasculine guy. He was not fond of violence, didn't like confrontation, and avoided conflict at all costs. But in that moment, he was confident that he could kill this man with his bare hands, or any man that laid his hands on Abby without her consent. But instead of verbalizing those feelings, because he knew they were useless, he slowly put his arm around the girl that looked uncharacteristically defeated beside him. She leaned in, clearly trying to control and suppress her sobs. It was obvious that this was the first time today she allowed herself to truly feel her emotions. What a truly awful experience this was, admitting that someone truly awful had happened to her out loud for the very first time, nearly a year and a half later. And who else other than this geek she had an embarrassing crush on?

"I'm so sorry, Abby. I'm so sorry you had to… to go through this alone, for this long." He rubbed circles in her back as her arms that were wrapped around him squeezed his torso. "You don't have to anymore, if you don't want to. I'll do whatever you need me to do. Seriously," As she began crying harder, she pushed her face into his chest. Although he hesitated, he wrapped himself around her, trying to think of the right things to say, trying to think if he should say anything at all. "I think you're really brave,"

She let out a shaky breath and sat back up wiping her eyes and snot running from her nose with her sleeve. "I've had my phone off all day long to avoid my friends,"

"Then are they really your friends?" Hoagie wondered aloud, once again, hoping he wasn't crossing any boundaries. Abby, instead of immediately responding, reached for the bong and lighter. She placed the lighter in Hoagie's large hand and asked,

"Will you light it for me?" Despite himself, Hoagie chuckled and let a grin spread halfway across his face,

"Always,"

3:40 p.m.

Uno Residence

Nigel glanced at his phone, rushing to pick it up when he saw a text from Lizzie. She had been refusing to talk to him since she came over nearly a week ago to tell him. His heart dropped to his stomach.

we need to talk.

He couldn't help rolling his eyes. He typed out,

Yeah, no shit

Then he immediately deleted it, and instead sent:

I'm available whenever you are

He noticed the three bubbles pop up, and watched his phone intently until his girlfriend finally responded.

come over now?

The next thing Nigel knew, he snatched his keys and raced to his car, as quickly as his still bummed knee would take him.

Sitting on Lizzie's bed, Nigel couldn't help fidgeting with the crocheted blanket laying across her bed, weaving his long fingers through the holes and wiggling them around. He decided to wait for her to talk first, since she clearly wasn't too happy to hear him out the other day. The silence was tense and uncomfortable and Nigel tried to steady his anxiety by continuing to fidget with the blanket. He had literally no idea what to expect. He had no idea what she wanted to do. Hell, he didn't even know what he wanted to do.

"So," Lizzie finally speaking up snapped him out of his trance, and upon looking up at her and into her eyes, he knew exactly what she was going to say. She wants to keep it. And she wants to get married. In the silence, he saw pictures flashing before his eyes - Lizzie pregnant at prom, her giving birth, their modest, but still nice enough wedding, the kids first day of school, their prom, moving them into their college dorm, them getting married, having children of their own. We can do this, Nigel thought to himself, We probably won't have a happy marriage but we could have happy kids. A happy life. Finally, Nigel noticed Lizzie didn't say anything else, so he cocked his eyebrow (always the left one, remember?).

She took another deep breath. "I'm going to get an abortion. Kuki is going to drive me to a Planned Parenthood," Nigel immediately was shocked. And also offended - why wasn't he taking her to a Planned Parenthood? Why did Lizzie talk to Kuki about this before him? Why does Kuki even know?

"Why Kuki?"

"It's not important-" He interrupted her,

"It is important Lizzie. Is the whole fucking school going to know that you're pregnant? Do you want that? We could've just kept this between us and moved on like it never happened!"

"Except it did happen. And don't get on me about telling Kuki, like you didn't run and tell Rachel!"

"I didn't tell Rachel!" He exclaimed, hoping that he was convincing. To be fair, he didn't tell Rachel - he just tried to.

"I don't believe you! You always fucking prioritize her-"

"Woah, that is not true at all. I fucking give up my friendship with her whenever we're dating! I prioritize you! Why are you so obsessed with her anyways? We're just friends. We shouldn't even be arguing about this right now, you're pregnant! That is the priority!"

"I know you two fucked last January!" She spat at him. His mouth fell open. How does she know that?

"How did you know that?" Nigel's eyes were wide and his heart, which was already beating pretty hard and pretty fast against his chest, was now pounding. He immediately closed his eyes and let out a sigh, Way to confirm it, dumbass!

"AHA! I knew it! And you just confirmed it!"

"Lizzie, I don't know why that's relevant right now. We were on a break, and so were her and Chad," Lizzie nodded her head and smiled an emotionless smile.

"You're right, it's not relevant. I'm getting an abortion and we're breaking up. Please get out of my house," She said calmly, looking into his eyes. He shook his head,

"Lizzie, we can work this out-"

"No. I don't want to work anything out, we are not good together. You so fucking clearly want to be with Rachel McKenzie, so go!" He knew he should put up a fight. In reality, he knew that he didn't really want to be with Rachel, even though he constantly thought about her smile, and her laugh, and how her hair always smells like coconuts, and her- "What are you still doing here?" Lizzie interrupted his train of thought.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Nigel asked, "Positive you want to go through with both of these choices right now?"

"Yes. The thought of raising a kid with you for the rest of my life makes me want to put a bullet through my head," She deadpanned. He stood up and sarcastically muttered,

"Lovely," Looking at her, sitting criss-cross on her bed, he felt a pang in his chest. Typically, when they break up, he knows that it'll only be a matter of time before they are back together. But this time feels different. It feels… like a conclusion. "Okay, Lizzie. I'll see you around," He closed her bedroom door behind him, and he couldn't help but feel like he was closing the door on their entire relationship.

A/N: There's that! I am in the works of another chapter right now that I hope to have up relatively soon. I am starting grad school soon (which is so crazy since I started this fic in HIGH SCHOOL), so while I know I won't have much time, I know that I'm not giving up. This fanfic will one day be finished!

Anyways, if you would like to leave a review, I would really appreciate it! Until next time, stay safe and brave!

xoxo,

Maddie 3