Happiness Doesn't Come Easily

Beta’d by Drift Queen Tierra.

Chapter Eight

Abi woke up the next morning with an ache in her legs. She sat up and looked down at her legs. They were full of cuts. She didn’t really remember much of what happened last night, other than that she needed to get rid of the pain in the only way she knew how. Standing up, Abi went over to her bags and pulled out a pair of jeans and a tank top. She pulled on her clothes and went out to the living room. She didn’t see D.K. or Neela anywhere, so she left them a note and grabbed D.K.’s keys and went outside. She got into D.K.’s car and drove over to Han’s garage. She pulled into the garage and everyone looked up as she did.

She slowly got out of the car and smiled at everyone as Tierra came running over and threw her arms around her.

“Where in the hell have you been!?!” she demanded.

“At D.K.’s.” Abi replied as she stepped away from Tie. Tie looked at her closely and noticed a pained look in her eyes. She also noticed that Abi’s normally tanned skin had a pallid cast to it. She put two and two together.

“You started that shit again didn’t you!” she accused.

“What are you talking about?”

“Cutting.” Tierra hissed at her.

“No, I’m not doing that again.” Abi denied.

“Yes, you are. Where are they?”

“Where are what?”

“The wounds. Not on your arms. Though you never did cut your arms. Your legs then.” Tierra said as she reached down and grabbed Abi’s thigh. Abi cried out in pain and twisted away from her. Tierra looked at her and shook her head, “Why, Abi, why?”

“I needed to take away the pain. I had to Tie. They forced it out of me last night and I couldn’t take it.”

“Damn it, Abi! I can’t believe you did this again. Come on I want to see how bad they are.” Tie said as she dragged Abi away to the bathroom and locked the door.

“Drop them now.” She said. Abi slipped her jeans off and Tierra gasped.

“Oh, Abi.”

“It’s not that bad.”

“Not that bad! Abi your legs are covered in cuts! They look like shit. Have you cleaned them yet?”

“No. I just rinsed them off. Anyway why are you getting all pissed off? You cut too!” Abi said as she pulled her jeans back on.

“No. I don’t” Tierra denied.

“Liar!” Abi said as she ripped off all of Tierra’s bracelets. “What do you call these then?” she asked as she pointed to several fresh cuts on Tierra’s arms.

“Nothing.”

“So it’s ok for you to cut yourself, but not me? You’re such a hypocrite!” Abi said as she left the bathroom. She got back in D.K.’s car and sped away. She didn’t know where she was going, but she knew that she had to get away. She slowed down as she saw a small sign that read "For Sale" in front of a small house. She turned into the driveway and got out of the car.

She walked up to the door and knocked. The door opened to reveal a middle-aged Japanese woman with a pleasant face.

“Can I help you?” she asked.

“Yes, I saw your sign out front and I was wondering if I might take a look around?”

“Yes. Please come in.”

“Thank you.” Abi said as she stepped into the house. The owner took her around the place and described what the small problems were with the house. At the end of the tour Abi asked, “How much are you asking for it?” The woman named a price and Abi smiled.

“I’d like to buy your house, but I need to go back to the place I’m staying and get the money. I’ll be back in about twenty minutes.” Abi walked back outside and got back into D.K.’s car and drove off, leaving the woman flabbergasted. She drove back to D.K.’s house and stopped the car. D.K. was standing outside with a very pissed off look on his face.

Abi got out of the car and walked up to him and handed him the keys.

“Where in the hell have you been?”

“Out.”

“Out where?”

“Out buying a house.”

“Buying a house?”

“Yeah, I’m buying a house.”

“Can you afford it?”

“Yeah. I just need to get some money from my bags and then I need to head over to the bank.”

“When in the hell did you get a bank account here?”

“About five years ago. Some friends of mine were boosting trucks and needed a place to stash the money they made from selling the stuff in the trucks. They asked me if I’d keep the money for awhile until the heat had cooled down. I said sure. They transferred the money to my bank in Barstow and I, in turn, transferred 20 percent of it to a bank here in Japan. Six months ago, I transferred it all back to another account in Mexico as they asked me to do. So now I just need to get this money into the bank and write the owner of the house a check and I’ll have bought the house. She’ll have thirty days to move out, of course.” Abi said as she walked into the house and to her room. She grabbed the roll of money that she had won the last night she was in L.A. and went back out to D.K.

“Can you drive me to the bank?”

“I guess. I want to see this house, anyway.”

“Thanks.” Abi said as she slid into the passengers' seat. D.K. got into the drivers' seat and drove off. They stopped at the bank where Abi deposited 27,000 dollars. They then drove to the house that Abi was buying and got out. They rang the doorbell and waited for the owner to answer the door.

“I have to ask you. Why have you been so nice to me? What’s in it for you?” Abi asked.

D.K. shrugged. “I thought the way you stood up to me took guts. I’m not really as bad as everyone thinks. I have an image, since my uncle is Yakuza. Everyone expects me to be this bad ass gangsta and I act the part.”

“So you’re not after anything then, you're just a nice guy under the bad ass exterior.”

“No, but don’t tell anyone. I have an image to protect.”

“I won’t. It’s nice to know that you’re really not that ass I met the other week. I was ready to kick his ass.” Abi said as the door opened.

“You're back already. Please come in.” the woman said as D.K. and Abi walked into the house. The woman led them to the kitchen where she poured them both a cup of tea. Abi pulled out her checkbook and wrote her out a check for the amount that the woman asked. Handing her the check Abi asked, “When will I be able to move in?”

“How does a week sound? I’ve found a place, but I needed to sell this place first.”

“Great. I’ll be back in a week to get the keys and everything. It’s nice doing business with you.” Abi said as she turned around and left the house with D.K close behind her. They got back in his car and he drove off.

“I can’t believe that in a week I’ll be in my own house. Do you mind if I stay with you till then?”

“Not a problem. Did you get a chance to talk to Han yet?” D.K. asked as he looked over at her.

Abi shook her head, “I went over there and I was going to talk to him, but my friend Tierra got to me first. She knew what I had done and called me on it. I got pissed at her and I left, that’s when I found the house.”

“You need to talk to him, but right now it’s time to get ready for the race night. You’re coming right?”

“Hell yeah, but I want a shot at your boy, Morimoto.”

“You got it. Sean raced him. Kicked his ass too. I hated to give up that car!”

“You mean the AE-86 Toyota in Han’s garage?”

“Yeah.”

“Aww.”

“I need to stop by the docks for a minute, ok.”

“Yeah.” Abi said as she saw a car pull up behind D.K. It was Morimoto. Abi didn’t think much of it as they got to the docks and she saw Sean and the gang hanging out. D.K. and Morimoto got out of their cars and walked up to the gang. Abi got out as Han was saying, “We’re just about to roast marshmallows.”

D.K. walked right past him and sucker punched Sean. Abi ran up to them as D.K. kept punching Sean. “Stop it!”
She got in between D.K. and Sean. Not realizing that she was there, D.K.’s fist connected with Abi’s cheek. “OW!” D.K. looked down and saw Abi holding her hand to her face.

“Oh god! Abi! Are you ok?” Tierra asked as she came running over to her. Abi nodded her head as she looked over at Sean, who was spitting blood out of his mouth. Sean looked up at Han, who said, “What did you expect? You didn’t just play with fire; you soaked the matches in gasoline.”

D.K. just stood there flabbergasted that he had hit her. Abi helped Sean up and walked back over to D.K.

Han walked over to D.K. and punched him. “That’s for hitting Abi. Now get out of here!”

D.K. started to walk away, along with Morimoto and Abi, when Han grabbed Abi’s arm,

“You're not going with him are you?”

“Yeah, I am. He’s my ride.”

“You can’t. He just hit you.”

“It’s not the first time a guy has hit me. Anyway, he didn’t mean to. I was stupid enough to get between them. Now let go of me.” Abi said as she tried to pull away from him.

“No. You’re not running away again. You’re staying here. We need to talk.” Han said.

“Fine. Just let go of my arm. I need to tell D.K. something, ok.”

“Ok.” Han said as he let her go. She walked up to D.K. and said, “It’s ok. I’ll have someone drive me back to your place later. I don’t blame you for what happened, it was an accident.”

He nodded and get in his car and drove away along with Morimoto. Abi walked back over to Han and said, “You wanted to talk, so talk.”

“Not here. Let’s go for a drive, ok.” Han said as he got into his car. Abi reluctantly got in with him and he drove off. He drove up to the mountains and parked the car. He got out and leaned on the hood. Abi followed him and she sighed at the sight. It was breathtaking.

“Why did you leave the other night?” Han asked quietly.

“When I was in L.A., I realized something that really threw me for a loop.”

“What did you realize?”

“That I’m, oh god, this is harder than I thought. I’m in love with you and I thought I felt something from you before I left for L.A., but when I got back and I saw you and that woman, it broke my heart and I realized that your just like my ex-boyfriend. I didn’t want to be any where near you so I left.” Abi said as she looked down at her feet.

Han got off his car and stood in front of her. He lifted her chin and forced her to look in his eyes. “I love you, too.” Abi gasped as she searched his eyes to see if he was lying to her. She only saw love in his eyes.

“If you love me, why were you with that other girl?”

“Because I didn’t think you even liked me. You were always pushing me away and never showed any interest in me that way. I mean you would tease, but you never gave me one clue as to how you felt. I thought I needed to move on. She was there and willing so I went for it. If I had known that you returned my feelings, I never would have even looked at her.”

“How can I believe that?” Abi asked.

“Believe this.” Han said as he leaned down and pressed his lips to hers. He slipped his arms behind her and pulled her closer to him. Abi wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her hands in his hair. He ran his tongue across her lips begging her for entrance; Abi opened her lips and let him inside

She pulled away first and looked at Han. He smiled and started to lean back down, but she stopped him, “I can’t do this.”

“Why not?”

“I just can’t.”

“Stop thinking and just let your heart guide you.” Han said.

“I can’t. Take me back to D.K.’s please.” Abi said as she tried to push him away from her. Han didn’t move. He just lowered his head and captured her lips again. Abi tried to pull away, but Han wouldn’t let her go. He pressed her tighter to him. Abi finally stopped struggling and just let Han kiss her.

Han pulled away again and looked at Abi and noticed that tears were coursing down her face, “What’s wrong?” he asked, concerned.

Abi reached up and slapped him, “How dare you.”

“What the hell was that for?”

“For being just like my ex. Now take me back to D.K.’s” Abi said as she got back in the car. Han sighed and got in the car. He drove back down to D.K.’s house and stopped the car.

“I thought you loved me.” He said as Abi started to get out.

“I do love you.”

“Then why are you acting this way?”

“I need to know that I can trust you. I’ve had too many bad relationships and I don’t rush into them anymore. Prove to me that you’re worth my time and trust.” Abi said as she closed the door and headed into the house.