Sasha had left the table after only sitting for a few minutes to see who else was there. Abby decided to stay at the table, not wanting to bother with the large crowd, and just watched as people walked by. The guys of Backstreet had left their table shortly after Sasha left, and Abby was sure that Sasha would end up running into her tall, dark, and handsome man.

Abby got tired of sitting around and decided to check out the snack table. AJ and Nick were standing side by side trying to stuff as many pretzels in their mouth as possible and trying to whistle. Abby reached around Nick's back trying to grab a handful when he felt her hand brush against him. He turned around, still trying to whistle, and a piece of a pretzel came flying out at her. It bounced off her head and into in her glass of champagne. She stared at the crisp snack and nodded her head, “First you give me a rose and now you're spitting pretzels at me. To what do I owe the pleasure?”

Nick quickly swallowed and took a sip of his drink. Clearing his throat, he extended his hand, “Forgive me. I'm Nick.”

Taking his hand, “Abby.”

AJ couldn't stop laughing and just stared walking away to find his girlfriend, leaving the two to talk. Nick had a goofy grin planted on his face as he watched AJ leave them, “And that was AJ. We got bored and decided to see if the cracker theory would work with pretzels.”

“And does it?”

Handing her a new drink, “Nope. So, where’s your friend?”

Abby took a sip of her drink and smiled, “What, am I not good enough company that you need her here too?”

“No, I… I didn’t…”

“Nick, it’s okay. I was just kidding. And I don’t know where she is. She disappeared a little while ago. Oh wait, here she comes.”

Sasha walked up to the two of them followed by the guy she was eyeing earlier. “Abby! This is Kevin, Kevin this is my friend Abby that I told you about.”

Kevin extended his hand, “Nice to meet you.”

“Like wise.”

“I see you’ve met Nick,” Kevin said taking a drink off of the table.

Abby nodded, “Yeah. He was spitting at me so I just had to meet him.” After receiving weird looks she added, “It’s a long story.”

“I’ll take your word on that. Nick, do you know where Brian went?”

Nick looked at Kevin and shook his head, “Not exactly. He said something about only staying for an hour then leaving, but I haven’t seen him recently. Why?”

"Just want to know if he's okay," Kevin looked around the large crowded room searching for his cousin.

Abby placed her half empty glass on the table and looked towards Sasha, "Now, if you all will excuse me, I think I'm gonna go. I'm a little tired and Sasha, don't stay out too late." She gave her friend a wink and a smirk before saying good-bye to Nick and Kevin. She made her way through all the people and let out a large sigh when she found the exit and stepped out into the night air. She walked down the steps and handed her ticket to the valet as he ran to find her car. Abby looked around and noticed one of the men she saw with Backstreet earlier sitting on the bottom steps. She stared at him as his head never lifted and stared at his hands playing with what looked like pen. He had a solemn expression written on his face as he ran his fingers up and down the small object. Slipping it into the inside of his pocket, he lifted his head and saw Abby watching him.

Standing up and walking towards her, he extended his hand out to her, "Brian. You are?"

Taking his hand, which was rather warm to her touch, "Abby."

He nodded his head as he looked around the empty surroundings. Trying to make small talk he turned to Abby and quietly spoke, "Why aren't you inside?"

"Tired," she bit her lip, not knowing what to say. She had only seen pictures of Brian from the children at the hospital. She had always thought that he was cute, but she never dreamed or thought of meeting him, let alone struggling to have a conversation. She kept her head held high but her eyes would dart and check Brian out from the corners of her eyes. She was standing close enough to him that she was able to smell his cologne, which was a rather calm, soothing smell much like Cool Water. Realizing the silence that passed between them, she quickly spoke up with her voice cracking a bit, "What about you?"

Brian looked over at Abby. "Bored." He looked Abby up and down before continuing with the small talk, "Nice night."

"Yup." The valet drove up with her car and she cursed him for getting her car so fast. Why do they always have to be so fast when you aren’t in a hurry to leave? Abby stuck out her hand once again to Brian, "That's mine. It was nice talking to you."

He gave her a slight nod as she walked towards the driver side of car. He stopped called to her before she could get in. “Hey, Abby!” She turned around to look at him. “Happy Valentine’s Day.”

She smiled. “Happy Valentine’s Day to you too, Brian.”

Brian watched her drive off as he returned to his place in the corner of the stairs.