Sanctuary - Side 2

Nine days later, it was the day before Christmas Eve. Over the past month, Abby and I have been discussing us visiting her mom and her fiancé in her hometown in Virginia. We were packed up and ready to leave in the middle of the night to head to the airport. Tonight, she got home from work at eight o’clock which I hope gives her enough time to sleep.

“How was work?” I asked from inside the kitchen.

I was scrounging around in the cabinets for food.

“It dragged and now, I hope I can get some sleep, but that’s gonna be tough. I’m too excited.”

She walked into the kitchen and wrapped her arms around me. I turned around and placed her on the counter while she giggled.

“I’m pretty damn excited to visit your hometown.”

Her hometown is supposedly the epitome of a small town compared to Baltimore.

“It’s not too exciting. Just wanna let you know that it’s not Baltimore.”

“Doesn’t matter. It’s where you grew up.”

She smiled.

“Are you packed?” she asked.

“Yes. I’m all ready to go.”

“I wanna go now, but it’s too early and I actually want sleep.”

“Remember you can always sleep on the plane.” I said, taking her hands.

She nodded and kissed me; I kissed her back.

“You want something to eat before you go to bed?”

“Maybe a little something. I need to wind down before I go to bed.”

“I’ll find you something.”

“Thank you.”

Abby blacked out before I could even get her something to eat. When my alarm went off shortly after two am, I turned it off and slowly but surely got out of bed and walked into the bathroom, hoping for an invigorating shower. I heard the water running and smiled, knowing it was her in the shower.

"Morning, Caveman."

"Good morning." I said, yawning.

"Wanna join me?"

I removed my clothes falling followed by opening and shutting the shower curtain.

"How'd you sleep?" she asked.

"Ok. You?"

"Ok. Hey, did I blackout? Because..."

"Yeah. It was a couple minutes after you thanked me when I told you I'd get you something to eat."

"Fuck. I was tired."

I laughed.

"Was I on the couch? Please tell me I was.”

“You were, but I would’ve caught you if you were about to hit the ground.”

She laughed into my chest. I laughed along with her.

"Good to know."

Fifteen minutes later, we were out of the shower and drying off. When Abby was dressed, she fell back onto the bed and sighed.

“What are you doing?” I asked, standing over her.

“What’s it look like?” she mumbled with her eyes closing.

“It looks like I’m driving.”

She flipped onto her stomach and placed her face into the sheets and groaned. I couldn’t help but laugh.

“I love exhausted Abby.”

“If I had enough energy, I’d flip you off.”

“You’re hilarious.”

She pushed me out of the way to brush her teeth five minutes later.

“Well, excuse you.”

“I need to brush my teeth. I can’t leave the house without doing so.”

I was annoyed.

“Sorry.” she said in a bitchy tone.

She began brushing my teeth while I left the bathroom. She slipped past me when I was walking back in.

“Abby?” I asked in a better mood.

“Yeah?” she yawned.

“I’m assuming you’re ready?”

“Yep. You?”

“Yeah.”

I had my belongings with me like she did.

“Let’s go, then.” she said, getting up and grabbing her suitcase.

I went ahead of her and opened the door.

“Thank you.”

Shortly after Abby got into the car, I knew she would drift back asleep.

“How long have I been out?”

“Since we left the house.”

“Oh wow. Glad I didn’t drive.”

The wait for our flight to be called seemed to drag.

“Fuck yeah.” she said as she got comfy and laid her head on my shoulder.

I laughed.

“Goodnight.”

“Goodnight.” I said kissing the top of her head.

“How do you feel?”

“Rested and not bitchy.”

“Thank goodness.” I sighed.

“How about you?”

“Great.”

Walking out of the terminal four hours later, Abby couldn’t control how excited she was; I clearly noticed.

“Someone’s excited.”

She squealed and I shook my head with a smile of my own on my face.

“You think she’s gonna have a sign?”

Before she could get a response, she saw her and began to dash toward her after she dropped her suitcase. She ran toward her and met her halfway.

“Hi Abby.” her mom embraced her.

“Hi Mom.”

I caught up to her with her suitcase in tow.

“You drop something, Miss?” I asked with my English accent.

She turned around and smiled.

“Oh yes, I did. Thank you, Sir.”

She stood on her toes and kissed me.

“You’re welcome.” she said, smiling.

She was about to wrap her arms around my neck when she realized her mom was there.

"Oh, sorry about that." she said laughing.

“That’s okay. That was adorable.”

She blushed and her mom turned to Tyler.

“Tyler, I’d like to formally introduce you to my daughter, Abby and her fiancé, Alex.”

He reached out his hand and shook both her hand and my hand with a genuine smile on his face.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you both.”

"Pleasure to meet you, too."

"Pleasure to meet the man who has stolen my mom's heart."

He blushed and her mom smiled; the man was speechless.

"Are we good to go? Because I know you're itching to go home." her mom asked.

"Absolutely."

It was a fairly short ride from the airport to her hometown. She had a hold on my arm as she looked around which amused me. She hid her face in my shirt which I knew was an attempt to not have me see her crying; however, I knew she was crying as I heard her light sniffling.

"Abby." I whispered.

Tears continued to run down her face as she looked up at me.

"What is it?" I asked, wiping her tears.

"That's where I grew up." she said, pointing to the house.

I looked backward and saw the red car that was parked directly in front of the house. I kissed her forehead and wrapped an arm around her waist and kept it there for the last five minutes to their apartment. By then, her tears had ran dry.

"Is everything okay, honey?" her mom asked as we got our suitcases out of the trunk.

"We went past the house." she said simply before she began rolling her suitcase.

“Abigail...” her mom said, stopping her in her tracks.

She walked toward her and hugged her.

“Is there any chance I can go take a walkthrough? I know someone’s living there, but...” she said, pulling apart.

“I know the person who lives there. We work together. She’ll let you.”

She smiled widely and hugged her.

“You’re the best.”

I cleared my throat; She turned around and laughed.

“What about me?”

“You’re the best in other ways.”

She smirked; a chunk of that was sex-related. I smirked as well.

“Let’s go in, shall we?” Tyler asked.

She nodded. We rolled our suitcases and walked into the apartment building and after he unlocked the apartment door, we followed him and her mom inside. He had two bedrooms, two bathrooms and a decent sized living room and kitchen.

“You guys got a really nice place here.” she said, sitting down on the couch.

“Thank you.” he said.

“You’re welcome.”

“Would you guys like to go out and eat? It’s nearing four and I bet you two are starving.”

“We are.”

“Then, it’s a plan.”

Abby and I excused ourselves to the guest bathroom to freshen up.

“I want to know exactly how you’re feeling about seeing your childhood home.”

“Well, it brought a wave of emotions and just hit me hard. That house might be small and at the time, it was a shitty home, but I had a lot of good memories there. That’s where I made my first meal, where I made breakfast every Sunday morning since I was twelve and where I had numerous sleepovers with Miranda. I miss it, you know?”

She sighed, backing up against the wall.

“Yeah. Want me to come with you?”

“Of course.” she said, smiling.

“You guys good?” her mom asked.

We were walking down the hall.

“Yep. Where we headed?”

We headed to where Abby had her first job which brought a smile to her face.

“So, this was your first job.” Alex said.

It was a run down restaurant, but it was one where everyone knew each other.

“I was 16 and I loved it. It wasn’t cooking, but waitressing wasn’t bad. I prefer to be behind the scenes.”

We sat ourselves and patiently waited for our waitress.

"When did ya start cookin'?" Tyler asked.

"When I was 12. That's when my mom finally let me near the stove. I had been wanting to for a couple years at that point."

“How about your first meal?”

We were interrupted by our waitress who quickly took our drink order.

“Chicken marsala. It was a huge hit.” she said dramatically.

“She taught me how to make it, actually.” I added.

“He made it for me five months ago.”

“Did it measure up?” Tyler asked.

“It did. It was excellent.”

She smiled and blushed.

“Is he giving you a run for your money?”

“Yeah, but he’s incredibly talented in other ways; ways that I’m not.”

“I heard. Your band is pretty amazing.”

Her fiancé had no idea who All Time Low was until the first time Abby met him through FaceTime. Her mom proceeded to educate him about them after that.

“Everybody ready to order?”

Once she took our orders, Abby was eager to hear what else he had to say.

“Thanks, man. That means a lot.” I said.

“That’s so cool. What have you listened to?”

She had her elbows on the table and leaned forward.

“So far, just Nothing Personal and Dirty Work. I need to get on Amazon and order the rest.”

“You won’t be disappointed.”

“It’s always great to gain another fan.” I said.

She changed the subject when she saw the ring on her mom’s left ring finger. Abby nudged me and directed me to her mom’s hand.

“So, when did Tyler propose?”

She looked up and was speechless.

“Last night. He proposed when we were out for ice cream after a homemade dinner.”

“Aww...”

They both blushed.

“I wanted to propose when she’d least expect it. What better time than two days before Christmas? She was shocked.”

"I definitely was. I've never been happier."

“Well, I’m very happy for you two.”

“Thank you, honey.”

In the middle of eating, someone walked toward our booth.

“Abigail Shaw.”

“Gary Barnes.” she said with a smile.

And you are?

“It’s so nice to see you.” he said hugging her.

“You too. How are you?”

She hugged back.

“Great. How are you?”

“Wonderful. I got my dream job out in California.”

“And it looks like you’re engaged.”

“We’re getting married in April.”

“Congrats, Abby on everything. Am I getting an invite?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Of course and thank you. This is Alex, my fiancé. Alex, this is Gary, my first boss.”

“Nice to meet you.” I said, shaking his hand.

“Nice to meet you, too.”

I smiled.

“So, how was Abby as a waitress?”

“Awesome. Everyone here loved her. She had a great personality; she was very personable but could also hold her own."

She blushed.

"Well, nothing's changed."

I stood back up and kissed her cheek which furthered her blushing. She took my hand into mine before I could have a chance to sit back down.

"Glad to hear that.”

A couple minutes and a stomach rumbling later, we ended our conversation.

“I’ll see you in April then, Abby. Take care.”

“You too.”

“He seems like a cool dude.” I said.

“He is. He was like a father figure to me.” she said digging back into her dinner.

"Up for dessert?" I asked close to a half hour later.

"Maybe later. I'm full. Feel free to get something for yourself." she said, patting her stomach.

"If I do, I know you're gonna want some."

"No. I'm not."

She looked at me incredulously. I rolled my eyes.

"I know you, Abby."

She shook her head. Her mom and Tyler were laughing at this point.

"Whatever you say, Alex."

A minute later, I ordered a slice of cherry pie and also asked for another fork as if we were gonna share. Cherry's her favorite flavor and I decided to tease her like she did on my birthday. Her mouth was watering as she saw it being set in front of me.

"Want some?"

She gave me a look and I smirked.

"I'll take that as a no."

Don't give in. Don't do it.

I picked up her fork and dug in when I was chewing a piece.

"How is it?"

I was still smirking.

"Shut up."

She tried to remain serious, but that turned out to be a failure as she cracked a smile. She playfully pushed me and I laughed.

"It's delicious as it always has been, smartass."

"Does that mean you want to get a slice?" Imdared to ask.

"No. I'm good."

The rest of the day consisted of chilling in Tyler and her mom's apartment; movies were watched, there was a discussion of football much to her mom's dismay and talk of what tomorrow had to bring. When Abby and I excused ourselves and went to bed for the night, we were exhausted and just wanted to crawl under the covers.

"You look warm." I said, joining her.

"I am." she said with a goofy smile.

I shook my head then placed my lips on hers and kissed hers. She tugged on my shirt hoping that I’d take the hint and crawl on top of her; needless to say, I got the hint and laid on top of her.

"I love you." she said, wrapping her arms around my neck.

She kissed me and ran her hands through my hair.

"I love you, too."

“I had a wonderful day. Did you?”

“One of the best. Tomorrow will be even better.”

Notes