"Abby!" I exclaim, throwing my leg over the bench before I make my way over to her.

"Oh my God, you look so beautiful. Jesus, I've missed you." She engulfs me in a hug, and I tuck my chin into her neck, hugging her back.

I haven't seen her since July; five months is way too long.

"I've missed you too." I say, not really believing that I'm hugging her right now.

"Who is that hot chunk of meat?" She whispers close to my ear, and I smile pulling back.

"Um, he's Ethan, my- well, there's not a label right now." I say awkwardly, hating that I can't call him my boyfriend. I know I could ask him, but I know how he is with commitment and I don't want to scare him away. I really like what we are right now.

"You're joking, wow, he's an upgrade." She mutters, and I slap her shoulder, scolding her. "Still that feisty bitch I've always known. But seriously, he's hot."

"I'm aware. Do you wanna come over, we have some lunch? But hands off the churros." I warn her, and she raises her hands up in defense.

"Ethan!" Abby says in a sing-song tune, and I laugh as she wraps her around the back of his shoulders, and I can see him visibly tense.

"Ethan that's Abby, Abby let him breathe." I say, and Ethan widens his eyes at me. "Don't worry, she's not a mental patient escapee."

"You know, you've gotten rude." Abby scoffs, taking a seat next to Ethan and I roll my eyes as I sit across from them.

"Um, hi?" Ethan questions her, I'm guessing as to why she's sat next to him.

"Hello buttercup, aren't you sweet?" She beams at him, and he darts his attention to me, only making me laugh. Yeah, I've missed her. "Don't look like a scared puppy, I'm harmless really. So, what's happening? You still fighting with Paul the prick?"

Oh fuck.

"Paul?" Ethan asks looking concerned.

"My dad - and I don't know, I haven't spoken with him since I left for college. So you could say we're silently fighting." I tell her, hoping to God she won't mention the incident in front of Ethan. She's the only person aside from family who know because she was there.

"If it makes you feel better, I never liked him." She mutters, taking a couple of the nachos from the dish, and I burst out laughing. "No offence. No offence. I know he's your dad, but what he did was fucked up and you know it."

"It's in the past." I say, my eyes wide urging her to drop it and thankfully she catches on.

"So, what else has been happening?" She asks, looking hopeful.

"Um, nothing much. Ooh, wait, I've been going to the gym." I say with a smile, and her jaw may as well be on the floor. Same, girl, same.

"Why?" She blurts out.

"My fault, my father kind of owns the place and I dragged her with me one day." Ethan says, and this is the only time I'm hearing him refer to Scar as his father. I know everyone else is led to believe he's biologically Scar's, but I've never heard him say it.

"Really? I mean it's cool that your dad owns the gym but taking her to it is not a good idea, she's probably fall all over the place." She smiles at him, and I ignore that she's making fun of me because only now do I realize the ring on her finger.

"Um, Abby, do you have something you want to tell me?" I ask, giving her an accusing look.

She looks at me, then down to her hand where I'm directing my eyes back and forth.

"Oh! I'm engaged!" She says so casually, and I frown, wondering why I've not heard of this before now, or that it's not on social media. "He's called Albert... and, um, he's kind of, um, he's seventy-two."

"Abby Fisher!" I exclaim.

"He's rich! He wanted a companion, here I am baby, the best of the best." She gestures to herself, and Ethan laughs, lying his head down on the table. I'm just in shock, staring at her because I don't know what else to do. "There is no room for judgement. Okay?"

"Do you have sex with him?" That has to be my first question, and Ethan looks scared to find out.

"Yeah, but it's not bad when you know you're getting paid." She says, and I cringe imagining that. It's not a pretty picture, not at all.

"So, you're a hooker?" I ask and she squeals, covering my mouth and I fall into laughter.

"How did this even happen?" Ethan asks, bewildered by this conversation.

"Sugar daddy website - if I want to finish college and medical school, I need money - and Mr and Mrs Fisher aren't exactly the best help. So, I'm doing it this way. And it's his choice, he's very much aware and knows what we are." She says as casually as if she were saying she's getting a bag of chips.

"A sugar daddy and being engaged is totally different, Abby! A sugar daddy is like escorting, you may have to send pictures now and again, you go to dinners in exchange for money. Jesus Christ." I mutter, this is better than the lingerie incident.

"How the fuck do you know all of this?" Ethan asks, his voice full of jealousy.

"Calm it down. And Matt - we got drunk and went on one of the websites." I say, seeing Abby smile from the corner of my eye.

"Wait, so what am I? Am I a prostitute now?" Abby now frowns.

"Is he paying you to fuck him?" Ethan asks her, and she hesitates before frowning again.

"I don't know, I get money when I ask for it, but we are engaged. He couldn't get down on one knee, but it was still very sweet. And it's not like we've got a sex life, I think I've fucked him four times or something. I'm scared to give him a heart attack before the wedding." She says sadly, and I have to bite my lip to stop myself from laughing. I can't be the only one finding this funny.

"Do you... like him?" I ask cautiously, not wanting to offend her.

"I mean, not like that, but he's a nice guy. He's a widow, and I think he's still not over her. He's an ex veteran, and his stories are so amazing and intriguing. I like him as a person, and honestly I like the company too. But I don't like him like that. I know I'm a bitch for accepting the proposal but I feel bad for him." She says, looking genuinely upset for him.

"So... you're marrying him because you feel bad?" I ask, frowning slightly.

"I know this sounds bad, but I need the money too. I'm not corrupting him, he's aware of my financial problems and he is technically still my sugar daddy, so I don't see the difference." She says, and Ethan looks really concerned for her.

"You do realize that marriage isn't the answer to that, you can still do what you're doing but without the legal technicalities." Ethan tells her, and she sighs.

"Yeah, you could be his wife for another twenty years, maybe more. He's only seventy-two, you do realize that?" I question her.

"I know, I know. But he's sweet guys, I can't break his little heart. He may die if I leave him." She says, and I look her in the eyes seriously.

"Look if you want to marry him, congratulations and I'm happy for you - but think about yourself and your happiness." I say, and she nods smiling.

"I am happy though that's the thing, he doesn't care what I do - I'm still allowed to sleep with my boyfriend, I can live in my dorm, I'm literally living my life how I was before but with a Sunday dinner at his mansion." She rambles, trying and failing to sell this to me. I'm not a judgmental person but I just don't see how this will work. "And Jaime is loving this extra cash."

"Who the fuck is Jaime?" I ask, I'm so confused.

"My boyfriend." She says like it's total normalcy.

"So... hold on, you have a fiancé and a boyfriend?" Ethan asks, and she nods with a cheery smile. "And they're both okay with it?"

"Yeah totally fine." She says.

I'm bamboozled, completely baffled right now. I'm more concerned that her boyfriend allows this, not that I don't think it's a good idea, I think it's brilliant - but she has a boyfriend, so isn't that cheating? They all know about it though so I'm confused. Are the polyamorous?

"Well, I don't see a problem." Ethan says, and I arch my brow at him.

"So, you'd let me go online, meet a guy, occasionally sleep and eat dinner with him?" I ask him, pushing a nerve but I'm proving a point.

"What? No, of course not." He says, and Abby smiles over at me.

"Keep him." She whispers over the table, even though he can very clearly hear her. "Jaime, he isn't bothered because I met him after I met Albert, I brought Jaime to dinner one night and they really got along, Albert says he reminds him of his grandson:"

"You do realize that you've just said at the age of nineteen that your boyfriend reminds your fiancé of his grandson. I'm just so baffled, but at the same time I'm proud of you." I say with a little laugh.

"I've always been imaginative, babe." She puts her hand on mine.

"Yeah, but I didn't expect marrying a rich old dude. I expected you to become a stripper in all honesty." I'm joking, and she knows it but she still slaps my shoulder.

"You're the one who broke into a strip club and had sex in there - you're the one who was supposed to be a stripper." She points out, and Ethan laughs.

"She's got you there." Ethan says, and I glare at him.

"I- shut up. I was seventeen!" I excuse.

"Still did it." She mutters.

"How's school?" I change the subject because talking about her fiancé is creating a headache to spiral, and I also don't want to talk about the time Chris and I broke into a strip club.

"It's fun but hard." She says shrugging slightly, and I nod along, I understand that. "I'm thinking of getting an apartment for next semester though because living in dorms are just crazy - this girl I'm living with, she's a freshmen, at first I liked her because she was like me, quite a party animal. But now it's too much, she's just a nightmare and no one seems to care."

"Moving out of the frat was the best thing I've ever done." Ethan tells her.

"Seriously?" She asks, seeming to be shocked by his statement.

"For the first half of freshmen year, it was a blast, I loved it but it was just getting too much - the parties were every night, so I got moved into a dorm which I still have but I don't use since I'm back at home. You are technically required to live on campus in the dorms for your first and second year, but what they don't know can't harm them, so I moved back home." He shrugs, and I smile over at him.

"Have you got your own place now?" She asks.

"No, I want to get an apartment next year though." He says, only this is the first time I've heard of it. I'm not surprised though, as much as he loves living at home, he does love his own space also.

"So, Frankie, how are you doing? We've hardly spoke about you." Abby asks, and Ethan looks weary when she does.

"I'm okay, been through some shit recently, but I'm getting there." I say, and she immediately frowns.

"What happened?" She whispers.

"Um, I went out with my friends to a club, and just got into some trouble with a guy. Ethan knocked him out before it got too bad though." I quickly dismiss, not really wanting to talk about it but I want her to know because she's my friend.

"What! How dare someone do that! Did he hurt you?" She asks, and if she were an animated character, steam would be coming from her ears.

"I'm fine, I'm okay." I say, but I don't think that calming her down is going to happen.

"Did you kill him?" She asks Ethan.

"He wanted to, but no he didn't." I say, and she glares at him. "Hey! Stop, he was helping me by being with me and not by murdering a useless prick."

"He hurt you though, I would have kicked his ass like the Kung Fu bitch I am." She says, and I know she's being serious.

"Matt and Kieran took care of that." Ethan assures her and she sighs, looking concerned for me. I know how bad she would kick his ass in too, I've been witness to a few of her cat fights.

"I'm getting back to myself again, I swear. My friends, especially Ethan have been amazing. And I'm back at the gym, so I'm feeling better in myself." I say, and she screws her face up at the mention of the gym.

"I still can't envision you going to the gym, it just doesn't fit right in my mind." She says, then starts to think about it before shaking her head rapidly. "Nope, no it just doesn't work."

We continue talking, catching up at this table, occasionally snacking at the food we had, but time had gone so quickly that two hours had passed since Abby arrived, and she couldn't stay any longer because her parents were expecting her home.

It was sad to see her go, and I regret not seeing her before now but I know that I wasn't ready. So much has happened between us, and I'm still trying to deal with the incident, and she was there that night, and that is why I haven't seen her since then.

My heart was pounding in my chest whilst we spoke, my anxiety with me somewhat the whole time because I didn't want her to bring it up. She didn't, but I was always on edge in case she did. It's a me problem, not hers and I know that, but I felt guilty for feeling like it the whole time.

I just would hate Ethan finding out what happened, what I did from someone else.

Seeing her though, it's been amazing and I've missed her so much these last five months. I've missed her hilarious personality, everything about her really. I've also missed coming here to New York, only this time I'm with Ethan and the day isn't over once she's left.

"You know, when I met Matt, Lauren and Hanna, I was like, okay these are some amazing yet quite strange people, but now that I've met Abby, I realize how normal they are." Ethan says, and I laugh, looking up at him, tightening my arm that's hooked around his as we walk slowly around the park.

"Yeah, she's a little crazy but I love her because of that, and believe it or not, she has always been like this." I say with a smile.

"She reminds me of a female version of Felix." He laughs.

"Yes, I couldn't agree more." I say, and he smiles down at me.

"So, where to next?" He asks.

"Let's keep walking. I'm loving being here, it's beautiful." I whisper, gazing at all the beautiful lights – it's dark now but with how bright and busy this city is, it's never fully dark.

Ethan's arm wraps around my waist, pulling me closer as we continue the slow pace. I feel so safe, so happy right now.

I feel at home with him.

~~~~~

A/N

You met Abby, she's a character I've always kind of wanted to write and I finally have. She won't be making another appearance in this book, but maybe the future...

This chapter is smaller than the latest updates, but honestly the lack of motivation hit me and I couldn't concentrate to write more because I've been overthinking about this book. I'm not sure if people like it or not because I've not being getting the same amount of votes as before and literally ZERO comments. My mind is my worst enemy but I can't help overthinking about everything.

If you're a silent reader, just say hi and check in so I know that someone is reading my book.

Question of the chapter:

What are you looking forward to this year?

I'm going on two holidays (both in England), and I'm starting college!

Buckle your seatbelt, only ten chapters left!

Thank you for reading! Please comment your thoughts, vote by pressing the little star, and if you want, you can follow me too. Xx

2681 words!

~B