No one has really bothered me since the little escapade in the kitchen yesterday except Kenny bringing me food because I refuse to leave my bedroom.

Well at least no one bothered me until now.

Someone was knocking on my door and I was too afraid to know who it was that I just ignored it.

"Abby, it's me." A girl's voice said.

Girl?

It didn't sound like Misha, but it did sound familiar so I got up went to the door but didn't open it.

"Me who?"

"Hayden, John's girlfriend, remember?" Oh that's who it was. I opened the door slightly but didn't move to let her through.

"Yeah, I remember. Um, what's up?" I asked casually even though my voice was incredibly hoarse and I probably looked like I had just been hit by a car twice.

"Well John told me what happened and I figured you didn't know any other girls here. I know how bad something like this could be and how much having someone else there for you can help." She looked so sincere I couldn't help but let her in and as soon as I did I felt the tears building up again.

"Oh Abby." She wrapped her arms around me and I melted into her. She was so warm and smelled like vanilla. I hadn't felt like this in a long time, not since Aunt May died actually.

This only made me cry harder and Hayden let me. She just stood there holding me, telling me things were going to be alright and rubbing my back soothingly.

After a couple of minutes though she did pull away and held my shoulders at arms length. "Now, enough of that." She said softly. "The first step to mending a broken heart is to stop thinking about it. So that's what we're going to do. Today and tomorrow you and I are going to keep your mind off of things and just have fun, understand?" I nodded and she continued. "So let's get you cleaned up and then we'll go to my house so I can pick up some things, is it alright if I stay over?"

"Of course it is." I felt like having someone with me would make me feel better.

"Alright then, off you go." She pushed me into the bathroom and I decided I was in desperate need of a shower. I didn't even look in the mirror as I got undressed and turned the faucet on because I was afraid of what I would see.

About halfway through my shower, Hayden opened the door and I heard her say, "Here are some clothes for you to put on when you're done." So when I was done I put on the clothes which turned out to be shorts and a flowery tank top.

I left my hair to air dry and came out of the bathroom.

"Ready?"

"As I'll ever be."

"Now, if anyone tries to talk to you about something you don't want to talk about just stick your nose up and walk past them. It will only make things worse if you break down."

"But what if he's down there?" I asked and my voice cracked.

"Ignore him. If he tries to talk to you just ignore him and I'll deal with it. Just try not to show you're upset." She pulled some lip gloss out of her purse and gently put it on my lips. "There we go. Now let's do this." I slipped on my shoes on and grabbed my stuff before Hayden looped her arm through mine and we began walking down the hallway while I tried to mentally prepare myself for what could happen.

As we were walking down the stairs I heard voices in the kitchen. I started to freak out inside but I kept my head up.

"My car keys are in there so just follow my lead." She unlocked our arms and walked into the kitchen, slightly swinging her hips a little more than normal. I followed close behind her (with less hips though) and internally cringed when I saw Isaac, Chris, and Alex.

Luckily though Isaac's back was to us and Alex and Chris made no move to let him know I was there. I smiled politely at them and Hayden said in a sweet voice, "See you later boys." She walked out of the kitchen just as Isaac turned around but I quickly followed her before we made eye contact.

"See? That wasn't so bad." Hayden said as she started up her car.

"I guess not."

"So off to my house then off to the mall."

"Awesome." I promised myself that I would try my best to have fun.

~°~°~°~°~°~

After three long hours of shopping and twenty bags later we got back into Hayden's car and was driving back to my house.

I didn't even think twice about it when we got to the front steps and I opened the door. I guess what Hayden and I were doing was working.

We carried our bags upstairs and collapsed on my bed because shopping was a lot of work, I was exhausted.

"So was that fun?"

"Definitely." We both started laughing and I realized that I really liked Hayden. She was a lot older than me, but it was like having an older sister. It seemed like she generally cared about me.

There was a knock on my door and Hayden went to open it. Kenny walked in.

"Hey Abby- woah." He saw all the bags and his eyes widened. "How was your day?"

"It was great!" I said with a smile

"Well that's- that's great. Did you eat?"

"We ate at the mall."

"Really?"

"Yup."

"Are you staying the night?" He asked Hayden.

"Yup." He looked between both of us and then shrugged his shoulders.

"Then I guess I'll see you tomorrow." He left my room and Hayden and I started laughing again.

"He seemed so confused!" Hayden whisper-yelled in between laughing.

"Well he is the one who has taken care of me through all this."

Hayden finally sobered up and then all of a sudden turned really serious. "So can I ask you a question?"

"Sure."

"Why did you move here? I mean, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to, but I asked John and he said I would have to ask you."

"It's fine." Here I go again. "My parents died when I was little and then I went to live with my aunt but she recently died of cancer and I guess Paul knew my dad growing up so he offered to take me in and adopt me."

"Wow. I'd say I'm sorry but you've probably heard that so many times so I'll just give you a hug." She wrapped me in her arms quickly and squeezed me. "Now, let's watch a funny movie because I don't want to be depressed tonight."

I loved her so much.

We watched about six movies and ate a lot of ice cream to where I thought I was going to explode before I actually fell asleep.

At about two o'clock in the morning I felt the bed move next to me and cracked open one eye to see Hayden getting up and leaving my room.

Once she was gone I sat up in my bed. She was probably going to go see John. I didn't mind really because she had barely mentioned him the whole time we were together. It made me think that maybe I should talk to Isaac and get his side of the story. It's been a couple of days and my heart felt empty because of what happened. I don't even really know what happened, just that him and Misha were kissing. I don't know any details of the story, I had ran out of the theater before either one of them could explain themselves.

I got out of bed and tip towed down the hall to Chris' bedroom and gently knocked before just pushing the door open.

"Chris?" I whispered. The lights were off and I could barely make out a shape on the bed so I assumed he was sleeping. "Chris?" I said a little bit louder. He still wasn't waking up so I bent down and grabbed the closet thing to me, which happened to be a shoe I think, and through it at his sleeping figure. I heard him groan and sit up.

"Abby?" He yawn tiredly

"Can we talk?"

"Right now?" He looked at the digital clock next to him and then back at me.

"I can come back tomorrow if you want." He seemed to gain his senses back at that movement because his voice got about ten times louder.

"No! No, um, we-we can talk now. What's up?" He moved over on the bed and leaned up against the back board. I climbed over him and sat next to him under the covers.

"I miss Isaac."

"You do?"

"Yes. I don't even know what really happened, just what I saw. I want to talk to him, but he probably hates me for ignoring him."

"Abby, he does not hate you. He misses you probably more than you can even imagine. He's just been giving you space so he doesn't upset you more."

"Really?" I felt the oh-so-familiar tears prick in the back of my eyes. "He still likes me?"

"Abby, he loves you, more than you know." He wrapped his arm around me and pulled me close to him.

"I'm sorry I completely lost it on you and Alex, you guys were just trying to help."

"It's fine, we figured you just needed your space. And technically you had every right to be upset because you don't know what actually happened."

"I want Isaac to tell me, I want to hear him tell me what happened." I didn't want to hear what Chris was told had happened, I want to know the actual story.

"I won't tell you."

"Thank you, I'll talk to him tomorrow. Just don't tell him, I want this to be completely him and I. No one else."

"That's completely understandable. Oh! And by the way happy birthday."

"Thank you." I wrapped my arms around his neck and quickly kissed his cheek. "And sorry for waking you up."

"It's fine, I'm glad we talked." I climbed back over him and left his room.

By the time I got back to my room Hayden still wasn't back so I just climbed into my bed and fell into a peaceful sleep.

I woke up that morning to someone hitting me with a pillow.

"Get up!" Hayden was yelling at me. When I finally did sit up and hold my hands up in surrender she crushed me in a hug.

"Happy birthday! We've got so much planned today starting with a birthday breakfast so get up!"

"But it's still dark out." The sun still hasn't risen yet.

"Well it's a long drive so you can sleep in the car, breakfast first though. They're already waiting so hurry up."

"They?"

"John, Matt, and Josey."

"Where are we going?"

"I can't tell you, but wear a swim suit under your clothes."

"Um okay."

"You have fifteen minutes." I jumped out of bed and took a super quick shower. I then picked out a bikini that was light purple with blue swirly things and slipped on a tank top and shorts. I put on flip flops and packed a bag with a towel and a hairbrush because I assumed we were going swimming.

I ran downstairs as fast as I could and saw that indeed John, Matt, Josey and now Hayden were waiting for me.

"Happy birthday!" Josey said and hugged me. We hadn't talked in awhile and I was beginning to miss him.

"Where's Eli?" I asked

"He didn't want to go to the-"

"Anyway, happy birthday." John cut Josey off and gave me another hug followed by Matthew.

"Everyone ready?" We all shook our heads yes. "Then let's go!" Hayden said enthusiastically.

We all grabbed our stuff and headed out to a SUV and piled in. Matthew was driving with John in the passenger seat and Josey was in between Hayden and I in the back.

We stopped at a really good breakfast restaurant where we got our food, mine being chocolate chip pancakes that were free because it was my birthday and a cinnamon roll.

I realized as I was finishing my food that it was only 5:30 a.m. and I wondered once again where we were going and why we had to get up so early to do it.

I fell asleep in the car once we were done eating with my head on Josey's shoulder. I woke up what seemed like a long time later and it was bright out.

"So will you tell me where we're going now?" I asked Matthew who seemed to be the only other person awake.

"It's called Splashdown."

"Splashdown?"

"Yeah, it's a water park that's supposed to be really big and has like eight indoor slides and five outdoor rides. We figured you would like it."

"That sounds awesome."

"Josey's been there before, he really liked it. So this part of your birthday present."

"Part?"

"Yeah, the first was breakfast."

"Well thank you."

"So tell me about yourself." Matthew said after a couple minutes.

"Tell you about me?"

"Yeah, I mean you're my new sister and the only things I know about you are what the boys have told me."

"Well what do you want to know?"

"Like, what's you're favorite color, how old are you today, where did you live before here, do you have any special talents, things like that."

"Well my favorite color is purple, I'm sisxteen today, I lived in Greenville, North Carolina in America before I came here, and I have no idea if I have any special talents."

"Can you play an instrument or do anything musical?"

"I can kind of play the guitar and I like to sing."

"That's a special talent."

"I don't think so."

"Well it is to me considering I have no musical bone in my body other than that I enjoy listening to music." He laughed

"Well how old are you?"

"I'm twenty."

"Where do you go to college?"

"I go to Durham University."

"Where is it?"

"It's in Durham, Stockton which is a little over four and a half hours from the house."

"Wow. What do you want to be? Like what are you majoring in?"

"Business and management, I want to own my own company one day."

"Really?" Matthew didn't really seem like the business-y type.

"Yeah." He laughed

"What type of business do you want to own?"

"I have no idea." We both started laughing and then lapsed into a comfortable silence.

Josey woke up and then Hayden and John when we were about twenty minutes away according to Matthew.

When we got there I gasped because it looked so incredibly cool. I felt like a little kid as I grabbed my stuff out of the back and was bouncing around in circles with Josey.

"So I take it you're excited?" John asked seeming very amused by the way Josey and I were acting.

"Yes!" We both said at the same time.

Matthew gave us the okay to go run off as long as Josey and I stayed together and meet them by the concession stands for lunch at around noon.

We both took off straight to the giant pool. I stuck my toe in the water to see if it was cold and as I did so Josey pushed me in.

"Josey!" I choked once I resurfaced.

"What?" He asked innocently

"That was not nice." I looked at him pointedly. "At least help me out. It's freezing." I said trying to climb out the side of the pool.

"Sure." He grabbed my hand and I yanked him into the pool over me. As soon as he resurfaced a full-out water war broke out between the two of us which involved a lot of dunking, splashing, and jumping on each other.

At about noon we made our way to the concession stands and each of us bought something to eat and drink. Matthew, John, and Hayden met up with us.

"Are you having fun?" John asked Josey and I.

"A lot of fun. Thank you guys so much." I said, no one has ever really gone out of their way to help me have an awesome birthday.

I wish Isaac was here.

~°~°~°~°~°~

Around two in the afternoon we all piled back into the SUV and started the long drive back to the house.

"You guys want ice cream?" Matthew asked us about an hour in.

"Yes!" All four of us yelled at once. We pulled through a drive through and got our ice cream just as Uptown Funk came on the radio.

"Turn it up!" Hayden and I yelled

"This hit, that ice cold. Michelle Pfeiffer, that white gold. This one for them hood girls. Them good girls straight masterpieces. Stylin', whilen, livin' it up in the city. Got Chucks on with Saint Laurent. Got kiss myself, I'm so pretty. I'm too hot." We both busted out singing. Josey joined in on the chorus and finally (due to much provoking) John and Matthew joined in.

"So you like to sing?" Matthew questioned

"I'm sorry if I was bad."

"You were amazing, Abby. Like wow, I did not know you could sing like that." Josey said next to me.

"Thanks." I felt my cheeks go super red and everyone obviously found this hilarious because they wouldn't stop laughing, which only made me blush more.

A little while later we were pulling up to the gate of the house. Matthew put the pin in and everyone seemed really excited for some reason.

"Are you guys alright?" I asked skeptically.

"We're perfectly fine, what about you?"

"Then why do you guys seem like ten times more excited than an hour ago?"

"Maybe it's the ice cream." John ventured

"Mhm, sure. Well okay." I decided to wait and squeeze information out of Hayden or Josey later.

"Abby will you help me with the bags?" Matthew asked.

"Where did everyone else go?"

"I think they had to pee really bad or something."

"Oh, all at once?"

"They're a crazy bunch, best not to question it."

"Got it." I grabbed mine and Hayden's bag out of the back and made my way to the house.

When I got in all the lights were off, they're almost never off. "Hey Matthew, why are all the lights-"

"Surprise!" I about wet myself when everyone jumped out from behind things and screamed loudly.

I dropped the bags and put my hand over my mouth because I was so happy. Tears built up in my eyes as everyone started hugging me and wishing me a happy birthday.

And then in my path stood Isaac.

"Happy birthday Abby."

"Thanks." I said quietly.

"Um, can we talk? All I ask is for five minutes." I was about to ask the same question.

"Of course." He let me lead the way into a room by the front door to the house.

"Alright. So I want to start this off by saying I'm sorry, you have every right to be upset with me because you don't know the whole story. Abby I would never hurt you like that, I love you. I love you more than you could possibly ever know. Misha kissed me. She saw this weird game and led me over and I asked her what about the movie and she said it could wait and then I asked her what about her drink and she said it didn't matter anymore. That's when she kissed me and I was way to shocked to move. I had no idea what to do and then I heard someone talk behind me, which I'm guessing was you, but it sounded far away. And then you said my name and it snapped me back and I started freaking out and Misha started saying things that weren't true and then you started crying and ran off and I chased after you but then she grabbed my arm just as I was about to chase you out of the theater and said things like she knows that I know she never got over me and that she knew that I was just using you as a way to get over her, which isn't true at all by the way, and I called her a psychopath and then ran after you. I probably drove around the block five times before I realized that you probably called someone to pick you up.

"So then I came back here but no one would let me in and the pin wasn't working so I came back first thing in the morning and Lianne let me in and I got punched like three times from three different brothers of yours but I eventually convinced them that Misha set me up so they helped me organize all of this and I'm so sorry and I love you Abby and-" As much as I loved his cute rambling I couldn't pass this moment up. I stood on my tiptoes and pressed my lips to his. He wrapped his arms around my waist then pulled away, just barely.

"So you forgive me?" He said with a pleading look on his face.

"Of course I do." He lifted me into the air and swung me around in circles while my giggles filled the room. Finally he pressed his lips to mine so passionately I thought my heart was going to explode. It was agonizingly slow at first until he quickened the pace and I felt his hand move up my tank top.

"You know I thought this was going to be a lot harder, I was going to sing you a song and play the guitar and everything." He said after about five minutes.

"You were?" I laughed

"I was, do you still want me to?"

"Of course I do!" He grabbed my hand and made sure no one was looking before dragging me out of the room and up the stairs. We went into my room and I gasped when I saw that there's was a bouquet of white and purple lillies. There was also a card and a giant wrapped box resting up against the wall.

Isaac went behind my bed and produced a guitar and sat down.

"I love you Abby." He said before he started strumming.

"When I look into your eyes
It's like watching the night sky
Or a beautiful sunrise
Well, there's so much they hold
And just like them old stars
I see that you've come so far
To be right where you are
How old is your soul?
Well, I won't give up on us
Even if the skies get rough
I'm giving you all my love
I'm still looking up
And when you're needing your space
To do some navigating
I'll be here patiently waiting
To see what you find
'Cause even the stars they burn
Some even fall to the earth
We've got a lot to learn
God knows we're worth it
No, I won't give up." By now I was full out crying because this was just so sweet. No one had ever done something like this for me before. He continued singing but was now standing up and looking me straight in the eyes.

"I don't wanna be someone who walks away so easily
I'm here to stay and make the difference that I can make
Our differences they do a lot to teach us how to use
The tools and gifts we got, yeah, we got a lot at stake
And in the end, you're still my friend at least we did intend
For us to work we didn't break, we didn't burn
We had to learn how to bend without the world caving in
I had to learn what I've got, and what I'm not, and who I am
I won't give up on us
Even if the skies get rough
I'm giving you all my love
I'm still looking up, I'm still looking up." He took a deep breath and finished the last part of the song without the guitar.

"Well, I won't give up on us
God knows I'm tough enough
We've got a lot to learn
God knows we're worth it
I won't give up on us
Even if the skies get rough
I'm giving you all my love
I'm still looking up." Isaac set down the guitar and cupped my face in his hands.

"I will never give up on us because you're worth so much more than you give yourself credit for. I love you Abby."

I wrapped my arms around him and hugged him so tightly and closely. I was afraid that if I let up even a little he would drift away and this would all be just some dream.

"Do you want your present now?" He asked quietly.

"Just one more minute." I breathed into his chest. He squeezed me gently and buried his head in my shoulder. "I love you." I said quietly.

He held my shoulders away from him a little. "I love you too, Abby." He let go and then walked over to the wrapped box leaning against the wall. "I wrapped it and put it in such a big box so you wouldn't know what it is."

I went over to it and picked up the card.

'I hope all of your wishes come true on this special day, because you're amazing, even to the untrained eye. You're beautiful and talented and I never want you to forget it, so happy birthday to a girl who makes my dreams come true.

I love you so much Abby,

Love, Isaac'

I wiped a few tears from my eyes and then started unwrapping the box, or boxes. Isaac had about three different boxes just to hold one thing. Once I opened the last one though my eyes widened in shock as I stared at the most beautiful guitar I had ever seen.

It was a lot like the one Isaac had had but the finish was a golden-brown and so smooth and shiny. It had my full name engraved on it in fancy, black, sparkly lettering with a small heart next to it.

"Isaac it's beautiful." He wrapped his arms around my waist from behind me and rested his chin on my shoulder.

"So you like it?"

"I love it." I turned around in his grasp and stood on my tiptoes to kiss him gently on the lips. "And I love you."

"Diddo."

It was good to have him back.