Twelve

"Where are we going?" Abigail asked Lucas as they drove in his truck. When they woke up he said he wanted to take her and Mia somewhere so they got dressed and left.

Mia's passed out in her car seat while Lucas has his hand resting on Abigail's thigh. She'd be lying is she said it didn't cause butterflies in her stomach.

"I want you to meet my friends." he looked over to smile at her. "But most of them live on campus so we have to drive out here. We're all just gonna hang out at this park so Mia can play while you meet everyone."

"A bunch of college students hanging around at a park. That doesn't sound weird at all." she commented.

"It's like a huge community park. Adults go jogging on the paths, kids play on the playground. Teens ride their skateboards and bikes, it's a normal thing."

"As long as Mia doesn't get lost." she said.

"She won't." he glanced through the rear-view mirror to look at Mia who had her head lolled to the side with snores falling from her mouth. "Look, we're here."

Abigail looked out the window and the park was exactly like he described it. There was a bunch of people their age sitting around with computers and textbooks doing their school work but there was also kids running around playing at the playground.

"Mia baby, it's time to get up." she leaned into the back seat and nudged Mia's leg. The three year old groaned and moved away from her. Lucas opened her door and laughed.

"Mia, you gotta get out of the car." he said with a chuckle. At the sound of his voice her eyes opened and she reached her arms out for him. He smirked at Abigail who rolled her eyes and got out of the truck.

After getting Mia unbuckled he set her on the ground and she held his hand while they started walking to a group of three

 people. Abigail walked beside him with her backpack of Mia's stuff.

"Look mama!" Mia pointed at the playground. "Can I go play?"

"Yeah just wait till we sit down so you know where I'm gonna be." Abigail told her. They followed Lucas over to his friends who looked up.

"Guys, this is Abigail and Mia." he introduced them. Abigail smiled at them while Mia waved enthusiastically.

"Hi!" she beamed making Abigail and Lucas laugh.

"Aw, you are so cute." the girl sitting there said to her.

"Thank you." Mia blushed and hid her face in Abigail's leg. 

"Abby this is, Chloe, Max and Nick." Lucas pointed at each one of them. 

"Hi." Abigail smiled at them.

"So you're the girl that's got Lucas on his phone ignoring us 24/7." Max smirked. Abigail smirked over at Lucas who rolled his eyes and pulled her to sit down next to him.

"Mama can I go play now?" Mia asked Abigail while bouncing up and down.

"Yes but stay where Luke or I can see you." she told her daughter. Mia nodded and then ran off to the playground.

"So you really have a whole kid?" Nick asked. "Gosh, how old are you again?"

Abigail laughed. "I'm 20 just like you guys. I had her when I was turning 17." 

"So she's three?" Chloe asked and Abigail nodded. "Well, can I just say she looks like a miniature version of you. She's adorable."

"Thank you." Abigail smiled and looked over at Mia who was going down one of the slides.

Lucas's POV

I watched as Abigail and Chloe began talking and getting along. It made me happy seeing her get along with my friends. Every time she would laugh my focus would stay on her.

Max and Nick kept teasing me for staring at her but I don't care. She's beautiful. I'm not one to get all sappy or whatever but she really has changed my life. I love hanging out with her and that's why I plan on asking her to officially be my girlfriend before she leaves.

Max said something to make her laugh and she leaned into my side. I grinned and wrapped my arm around her waist before I heard a voice that made me feel sick to my stomach.

"Oh my god, Lucas?" 

We all looked over and my heart dropped to my stomach.

Rachel.

I don't know why, I probably shouldn't have, but I moved my arm from Abigail's waist and scooted away from her a bit. God the look on her face made me feel like shit.

"Uh-- Rachel." I cleared my throat.

"What are you doing here?" Chloe asked her in an annoyed tone. 

"Well I thought I saw Lucas over here so I figured I'd come say hi." Rachel grinned and I looked down at my hands. Her tone sounded so fake as much as I wish it wasn't.

"Go away Rachel. Nobody wants you here." Chloe told her. 

"You're just jealous of her." one of Rachels friends said.

"There's not much to be jealous of." Max scoffed.

"Oh come on, don't you think I look good today, Lucas?" Rachel asked me with a flirty look. Why she's flirting with me after she broke my heart, I'll never know.

"Yeah, you look nice." I smiled at which made Abigail look at me in disbelief before she looked away and moved towards Chloe.

"Who's this?" Rachel motioned to Abigail who looked incredibly uncomfortable.

"This is Abby, Lucas's girlfriend." Nick smirked at her.

"Girlfriend?" Rachel raised her brows and looked Abigail up and down. The latter squirmed uncomfortably under her gae and when our eyes connected they showed nothing but sadness.

"Dude, she's not my girlfriend." I regretted the words the minute they left my mouth. The look of hurt on Abigail's face made me feel absolutely terrible.

She pursed her lips and nodded her head before picking up her bag.

"Good to know." she whispered and stood up with a pained look.

"Wait, Abby--" I tried to grab her hand but she moved away from me.

"No, just-- you have a great rest of your day with her. I'll call your mom to pick us up." she said making me frown.

I watched as she went to the park and called for Mia. Her little girl ran up to her and jumped into her arms. My frown deepened when Mia looked over at us with a sad look after Abigail told her something.

"So Luke, how's life?" Rachel sat next to me and I shook my head. 

"I'm sorry, I have to go." I stood up.

"But wait, I just got here." Rachel giggled and stood up with me. She put her hand on my shoulder and looked up at me. Just being this close to her is making me fight tears. I know, how manly, but I hate the effect she has on me.

"Come on, we've got a lot of catching up to do. How about we go out later after my friends go home?" she intertwined her fingers at the back of my neck and for a second I saw her glance down at my lips. 

She ran her thumb over my bottom lip and I heard her friends giggle from behind her. I realized how close we were but I was frozen. When I realized she was leaning in I didn't move until Nick shouted at me.

"Lucas!" he snapped at me. I shook my head and stepped away from Rachel. "You fucking dick, Abby and Mia saw that whole thing." he spat.

I looked towards where Abigail previously was and now saw her walking away from the park at a fast pace. When I saw her wiping at her eyes it made me feel like shit.

"God Lucas, you're such a piece of shit." Chloe scoffed and stood up.

"Dammit." I ran a hand through my hair before chasing after Abigail and ignoring Rachel's calls for my name. "Abigail!" 

Abigail's POV

God I'm so fucking stupid.

I can't believe I actually thought he wanted to be with me. I thought this trip would be the one where he finally asked me to be his girlfriend especially with how he kissed me in front of everyone at the football game. I finally felt happy about something and once again, it fell through.

When he acted like I was some sort of plague the second Rachel showed up it hurt. I get it, she was his ex and she hurt him but I don't think he realized how much it hurt to see him not want her to think we're together. And then came the complimenting her outfit.

But the thing that really got me was how quickly he was to say I wasn't his girlfriend. 

He didn't miss a beat on that one.

I got Mia and called Sally to come pick us up. She asked no questions even when she saw Lucas running towards the car. She just drove us home and I tried to not let any tears fall. I'm used to it.

"Hey you've reached the voicemail of Theo, T-Dog, The Thee mister-- anyways, I'm either sleeping or ignoring you. Speak at the beep. See that kinda rhymed--" 

I huffed and closed my phone as I reached Theo's voicemail again. I was gonna call him to see if he could pick Mia and I up at the airport because I just want to go home. Kenzie doesn't own a car or else I'd ask her but for some reason none of them are answering the phone.

"Abby, what happened?" Sally asked from the doorway as I packed my bag up.

"I'm sorry, I know I shouldn't go but I can't even look at--" before I could finish the man himself walked up behind his mother.

"Abby..." he stepped towards me but I looked back at my suitcase. Sally slowly stepped out of the room and closed the door.

Lucas and I stayed in a silence while I went back to fixing my suitcase. Just looking at him makes me feel angry and hurt at the same time.

"Abigail, please look at me." he begged.

"No thanks." I pursed my lips and folded Mia's clothes.

"Please, I'm so sorry." he crouched next to me and I shook my head.

"Lucas, just please leave me alone." I said.

"Just talk to me! I'm sorry about what I did it was really shitty and I hate that I made you upset." 

"You didn't just make me upset Lucas, do you realize how embarrassing that was?" I finally looked up at him. "When we got there, you introduced me to your friends like I was your girlfriend. They were talking to me like we were together but then for you to go and say so easily that I'm not your girlfriend, it hurt."

"Why are you so mad about that?" he asked. "We're not together."

I scoffed and stood up. I closed the suitcase and zipped it up before turning to face him. I crossed my arms over his chest while he looked at me with a guilty expression obviously regretting what he said.

"You want to know why I'm mad?" I asked as my eyes welled up. "Because you made me feel how everybody else does. When I saw you again after all those years of being gone, I finally felt like I had someone that genuinely wanted to be around me. When you kissed me on the fourth of July you said you were ready for a new relationship. You then spent months reassuring me that you were over Rachel only for her to come back after two years and you act like I'm nothing."

A tear fell from my eye and Lucas looked like he was on the verge of tears.

"I hate feeling like I'm nothing." I choked out as more tears fell. "It was so easy for you to move yourself from me just so she wouldn't think we're together."

"Abby, you have to realize that I was once in love with her. She used to be the girl that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with before she completely broke me." he said.

"Yeah she broke you and then you're almost kissing her!" I raised my voice. "After you kissed me 48 hours earlier!" he looked down ashamed and fiddled with his fingers. "Do you want to know what Mia told me when she thought you were kissing Rachel?"

"Baby--"

"Don't call me baby!" I snapped. He nodded and bit his cheek. "She told me 'But mama, he's supposed to be with you and we're supposed to be a family'." I saw Lucas's eyes well up and I knew that hearing that hurt him. "She loves you, Lucas. But I can't get involved with you if you're still in love with Rachel. I can't risk putting Mia through the emotional pain of losing you."

"I-I'm not in love with her." he choked out but I shook my head.

"I find that very hard to believe." I stated.

"No, I-I'm not in love with her anymore. Abby, what happened earlier, I have no excuse for because I was an idiot. I saw her after almost two years and I don't know what came over me. She was my first kiss, my first date ever, my first homecoming date, my prom date, m-my everything."

That hurts.

"But she's not anymore. She's not the girl I want to be with, she's not the girl I want to kiss. I don't spend my days imagining what it would be like with her by my side. She's not my everything anymore, she's--" he took a deep breath and stepped towards me. "She's not you."

"Lucas..." I squeezed my eyes shut.

"Please Abigail. Don't leave. I want you here for the rest of the week, I want to spend time with you and Mia. I was an idiot for letting Rachel get in my head. I don't want to be with her, I want to be with you an--and Mia."

I cupped his cheeks as tears fell from his eyes. He leaned his forehead down onto mine and sniffled.

"I didn't mean to hurt you, please, please, don't go. I can't lose you." he choked out. "I can't lose you too." 

"You're not losing me." I told him. "It's okay. I forgive you."

"Oh thank god." he leaned down to kiss me but I moved back. His face twisted into confusion while I squeezed my eyes shut. "What?"

"I like you, Lucas. I really do, but I think we should stay friends for now." I said making him frown.

"But why?" he asked in disbelief. "I thought you said you forgive me, everything's okay."

"It is but I need to know you're 100% committed to a relationship. Because it's not just me you're getting involved with, it's Mia and I can't risk  putting her through the emotional pain of losing you." 

"Abby..." he trailed off.

"I'm staying, Lucas. I'm not leaving you yet." I said.

"Okay." he nodded. "But, I'm gonna prove to you that I'm ready for a relationship, because I am. I-I lo--"

He cut himself off when there was a knock at the door. I dropped my hands to his forearms because his hands were on my hips.

"Who is it?" Lucas asked.

"Your princess." we both laughed at Mia's little voice before she opened the door and walked in slowly. She shuffled on her feet towards us and we looked down at her.

"Are you guys friends again?" she asked. "Or more than dat."

"Yeah, we're friends again." I nodded and lifted her up onto my hip.

"Just friends?" she asked.

"Mhm." Lucas hummed but I saw the pained look on his face.

"Dats dumb." she put her face in my neck making me laugh.

"What is?"

"You're supposed to be together." she murmured making me sadly smile. 

"Baby--"

"We will be, Mia." Lucas cut me off and she looked at him. "Just not yet."

"Why?"

"Because I did some things that your mommy didn't like so I have to apologize." he said.

"So apologize." she stated adorably. "Mama, do you accept his apolgy?"

I laughed at her pronunciation of the word.

"Listen Mia," Lucas took her into his arms and sat on his bed with her on his lap, "I really like your mommy." she giggled at that and I smiled. "But she doesn't want me to leave you so she wants to wait a bit."

"But we're so far from you." Mia pouted. 

"I know, I know." he laughed. "But hopefully we can see each other more often."

I sighed and ran a hand through my hair. "I'm gonna go grab something from downstairs, I'll be right back."

Lucas's POV

Abigail left the room and I sighed. I messed up big time. I thought this trip was gonna be the one where I asked her to be my girlfriend but instead, I acted like a jackass and now I'm back where I started.

"Lukey?" I looked down at Mia who messed with the buttons on my flannel. 

"What's up Princess?" I asked.

"Is mama mad at you cebause of the girl at the park?" she asked and I bit the inside of my cheek.

"Just a little bit." I nodded. "But she's upset at me for being mean to her."

"Why were you mean to her?" she looked up at me with her adorable blue eyes. 

"Because I'm an idiot." I laughed half-heartedly. She giggled a little bit making me smile. 

"You're not an idiot." she said and laid her head on my shoulder. I put a hand on her back and rubbed it up and down. "Can I tell you a secret?"

"As long as it won't get me in trouble." I said and poked her nose. She smiled and looked at her hands.

"I want mama to forgive you cebause you make her happy." she said. 

My lips twitched upwards and I readjusted her in my arms. 

"What do you mean princess?" I tilted my head.

"I don't know. Well, Grampy's been mean to her but she goes on the facey thing and you make her laugh and then she takes me to the park." she explained. 

I can't help but smile. "Well, she makes me happy." I grinned.

"Really?" she raised her brows.

"Yep." I nodded my head before smirking. "You know who else makes me happy?"

"Who?" she bounced up and down in anticipation. 

"You!" I laid on my back and lifted her up in the air. She giggled loudly when I smothered her face in kisses. I tossed her in the air and the sound of her laughter brought a warmness to my heart.

"Lukey!" she giggled making me smile.

Yeah, I've gotta make this work with Abby.

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