Use Somebody

Abigail decided to wait until they got back to the Staal's farm to talk. Jordan was antsy with anticipation and Abigail's stomach was doing summersaults. They were both so nervous, yet they didn't let the other know.

When they finally got back Abigail went upstairs to change, telling Jordan to wait for her by the tree where they had shared their first kiss. As he was walking outside, Marc caught up with him.

"What's up man?" He asked his younger brother.

"Abigail said we needed to talk," Jordan said solemnly.

"That's not always a bad thing," Marc tried to tell him.

"Don't try and make this better Marc. I know this isn't going to have a good ending," Jordan shook his head.

"Well just don't jump to conclusions. Maybe she just had a bad session today and kinda got a little out of her head. She does have a tendency to be pretty impulsive when it comes to her emotions, but I know she cares about you. She won't fuck that up," Marc said confidently. Jordan nodded at his brother's words, hoping he was right. Marc gave him one last at on the back before letting him walk out towards the tree.

Abigail walked outside a few minutes later wearing a pair of white shorts and a tight purple v-neck. Jordan couldn't help but smile as he watched her walk towards him. Even though he was scared out of his mind because of their talk, she still was able to make him grin like a fool. She sat down next to him, crossed her legs Indian style, and took a long steadying breath before glancing up at the blonde boy in front of her.

"So what do you need to talk about?" Jordan asked her uneasily.

"What are we doing?" She asked him.

"Talking...?" Jordan answered dumbly.

"No, I mean with us," Abigail elaborated.

"You're my girl," he said simply, almost automatically. "And I care about you a lot. Probably more than normal too," he added with a smile.

"I live in New York," she said quietly. Jordan didn't understand where she was going with all of this; she was confusing him.

"Where are you going with this?" He asked her finally.

"What's gonna happen when summers over?" She asked, her voice so vulnerable and shaky it just about broke Jordan's heart.

He couldn't say he hadn't thought about it too. He wondered what would happen when the summer ended and hockey season started back up again. But he also couldn't say it took up a big part in his mind. He was the kind of guy who took things day by day; he learned it was much easier to live that way. There was much less to worry about when you lived like that. But now he felt like a fool. He should have thought more about it. He should have come up with some sort of solution before the summer was almost over. He shouldn't have waited so he didn't have to be in a position like this.

Jordan never had a live in girlfriend before. He never had a real girlfriend if you wanna get technical. He had girls that stayed around longer than others, sure, but he never called any of them his girlfriend. To him that was a big step. And it was an even bigger step to be thinking about living with a girlfriend.

Was he ready to move in with Abigail? Probably not. But he didn't know if they would last if they weren't together. He knew Abigail leaned on him for support. He knew she needed him a lot more than he needed her. But that wasn't to say he didn't need her; he knew he wanted her more though.

He wanted her all the time. He wanted to wake up next to her. He wanted look up during games to see her sitting in the stands next to the other girlfriends and wives. He wanted to call her his every single chance he got.

She needed him. She needed to know he would be there when she got home from work. She needed to fall asleep with his arms wrapped around her waist to keep her safe. She needed him around when she couldn't muster the strength to do anything but lay in bed and sleep.

He studied her face as he sat there, not answering her. She didn't look nervous, mostly because she wasn't. She knew it was a loaded question. One she wasn't even sure she knew the answer to. She would have done the same thing if the roles had been reversed and Jordan had asked her such a question.

"I dunno," he finally mumbled lamely. Abigail smiled softly, lifting her small hand and placing it on Jordan's cheek. He smiled at her as well, leaning in to capture her lips in a sweet, simple kiss.

"I don't think I can bare not having you around whenever I need you," she admitted. "But I can't imagine living anywhere but New York. Or even moving in with each other so soon after...everything."

Jordan nodded understanding what she was telling him, "I know what you mean," he said. "I've never lived with a girlfriend before."

Hearing Jordan call her his girlfriend still made her heart flutter. And more over, it made her heart mend just a little more. She trusted him with her broken heart. When she told him her story, the full, graphic story of the night that would forever change her life, she handed him her heart. She asked and begged that he kept it safe and held it close to his own heart. He didn't know this, but that's exactly how Abigail felt after the words left her lips that night.

"I care about you a lot you know," Jordan told her as she dropped her hand from his cheek. She smiled slightly and nodded shyly, her cheeks turning a light shade of pink.

"I know," she confirmed.

"I'm not going to tell you we're ready to move in together, because I don't know if we are. But I know that one day I'll come to New York and we can pack all of your things and move you to Pittsburgh. And I know you'll love it there, and I know that we'll be happy and you'll feel safe, and normal again. I don't know when it's all gonna happen, but I know it will. You just have to trust me on that," Jordan explained to his girlfriend.

"I do trust you," she nodded slowly.

"Pittsburgh isn't that far away from New York anyway. You can come to games when Marc plays us, I'll stay with you as long as I can when we come and play the Rangers. We can call and text, we can iChat too. We'll be together, just not physically I guess," he shrugged.

Abigail smiled at him, a small laugh emitting its way from her lips, "You know," she smiled, her nose scrunched up in the most adorable way possible. She titled her head to the side and Jordan couldn't help but grin widely at how completely gorgeous his girlfriend was. "You kinda put me back together," she pointed out.

- - -

It was hard to wake up for the last time in Thunder Bay that summer. Marc and Abigail had already packed up Mr. Staal's truck the night before so they could just leave when they woke up. Jordan was leaving the following day, opting to spend one extra day back in Thunder Bay before diving back into hockey.

Jordan drove them to the airport and the car wasn't quite or sad, in fact it was quite the opposite. Marc and Jordan spent a lot of time trash talking each other, light heartedly of course, and reminiscing about their past summers and joking about the year ahead of them. Abigail sat shot gun smiling the whole way to the airport, not even believing how much she had changed since the last time she was at the airport.

They unloaded the truck when they finally arrived at said airport, putting all of their bags on the sidewalk. When everything was out of the truck and Marc and Jordan had said their good-byes Jordan walked over to his girlfriend smiling widely.

"You know this isn't good-bye," he told her, wrapping his arms around her shoulders as he pulled her into his toned chest. Abigail smiled into his tee-shirt, inhaling his scent. She would have said she would miss his scent if he hadn't given her a few of his tee-shirts that were laced with it. They pulled away only slightly and he pressed a soft kiss to her forehead.

"Think of me a lot," Abigail smiled up at him.

"I will," Jordan nodded. "Every time I see a little black dress," he kissed her right cheek. "Every time I hear Wonderwall," he kissed her left cheek. "Every time I think about my day with the Cup," he kissed her nose. Abigail smirked and blushed profusely. "I'll always be thinking about you," he confirmed.

"I hope so," she whispered. Jordan smiled and pressed his lips to hers, kissing her deeply, not giving a single thought to everyone else around them or even that Marc was standing right next to them rolling his eyes.

"We need to catch our flight," Marc finally interrupted the couple. Abigail pulled away from Jordan, her arms still wrapped around his neck. She bit her lip and smiled at him.

"Are you nervous?" She asked him softly. Jordan smiled and shook his head, cupping her face with one of his large hands.

"Nope," he said. "370 miles isn't that far," he grinned.

Abigail laughed, "It kinda is."

"Not when you care about someone as much as I care about you," he whispered, kissing her cheek one last time.

Abigail glanced over her shoulder as she walked into the airport to see Jordan smiling like he was the widest, most proud smile he had ever smiled. He watched Abigail go from the most broken person he had ever seen, to someone who was slowly putting herself together again. And he was happy to know he had helped her.

And as Abigail took one last look at Jordan before she went to check in, she blew him a kiss- silently thanking him for all he had done. Because she knew deep in her heart that if she hadn't met him, she wouldn't be comfortable with going back to New York.

She didn't care how cliché it sounded- Jordan Staal had saved her.