Sing For Me

Chapter Four: Aftermath

~~~A/N~~~

You made it to Chapter Four! Woo! And, what's that? It looks like Tim left something else behind, too... a smile and a cheeky wink just for you! 😉 

Thanks for reading! 

~~~<3~~~

It took a fair amount of my remaining energy to convince both Abs and Rob that I was still emotionally intact and quite capable of finishing the final three hours of my shift. Regardless of my endless assurances about the state of my mental health over the phone, Abs slunk into Rob's Coffee Express ten minutes before my shift was due to end. Her hair was drawn back in an easy ponytail, the way it always is when she is having a bad day, and I could tell that she had been crying. She plonked herself down at my favorite table, on the side exposed to the rest of the café, and waited for me to finish. As I wiped down the tables, her puppy dogs followed me from one side the room to the other in nervous anticipation. At exactly five o'clock, I threw my bag over my shoulder and walked as nonchalantly as I could toward her, rubbing my sweaty palms on my jeans.

"You know, we'll never be able to cash in that discount for a bestie's manicure if you keep gnawing at your nails." Abs threw her arms around my neck. Her breathing felt stuttered, impaired by weight of muted sobs.

"I'm so sorry, Meg. I didn't think he'd do this! Oh God, it's all my fault... I never should have signed up for Tind–"

"Hey. It's okay, don't worry about it. It's not your fault. You weren't to know he'd turn out to be a total loser." Fresh sobs racked at Abbey's small frame, and her brows scrunched together in hurt.

"It's not your fault Abs. And it's okay. I'm okay..." Abbey's grip around me relaxes. I sit down in my usual spot and rub her back gently, relieved that I had managed to maneuver our hug-fest out of sight of the rest of the café.

"I hope you're right." Abbey let go of me and wiped her face free of tear tracks. She picked her shoulders up and gave me a pathetic, wimpy little smile. I scrunched up my nose in return. 

"We don't have to go tonight, you know... if you don't feel up to it? We could do a movie and pizza instead. I'll pay." In my shoes I scrunch up my toes, hoping like hell that she will accept my decoy offer.

Abs giggles, in that malevolent way that best friends do when they have one over you. She shoots me a sly smile.

"Nice try, Meggiekins."

* * *

Trix is still not home when Abs and I arrive back at the apartment, which isn't surprising, considering the weird hours she has worked since starting her personal assistant gig. As soon as Abbey closes the front door, she makes a beeline straight for my wardrobe.

"So, what are you going to wear? And please don't say that dreadful thing that you wore out last Saturday, or boring old jeans, because I won't let you leave the house in either."

Not leaving the house would be fine by me... Though I know better than to ruin her excitement with my nervousness.

Abbey might be a pushover at times, but if there is one thing that she won't compromise on it is clothes.

Clothes; and her appalling taste in music.

I suppress the grumble in the back of my brain that informs me, in a matter-of-fact kind of way, that I actually did enjoy listening to BABEL today, before I was interrupted.

Tim's hand pulling back the chair at my table blazes in front of my eyes. I blink it back. So not what I want to be thinking about right now.