My first ficlet, written as a pressie for Kaz/MickeyStone's 1,000th LiveJournal entry. Inside Ash's head...
Always There
I wonder, sometimes, if she knows. She's sharp, is Stace. Gets inside people. Maybe she knows how I feel. But she's never let on one way or the other, and I don't ask. I don't wanna know, not really. Well, it would never work, would it?
Course I love her. We all love her. But she's told Danny twice now - she doesn't screw people she works with. That makes sense. It just gets messy - awkward. I don't want that. There's been enough mess in her life. That little bastard Jake broke her heart; and she had a big thing for Mick for a while, on the rebound a bit I suppose, though it looks like she's got past that one now.
Albert's guessed. Well, he would, wouldn't he? He keeps an eye on us all. I told him: I just want her to be happy. I didn't say: I love the way she lights up when she smiles; she's got that way of dipping her head down and looking up under her eyelashes when she laughs. But that's what I was thinking. If I came out and asked, I'd ruin everything. We couldn't be friends after that, could we? It's never the same.
She'd kill me for saying this, but I want to keep her safe. Protect her. And that's one thing I can do. I'm always there. She knows that much. I know she knows. And that's enough.