Awkward...

Disclaimer: I don't own South of Nowhere or the characters.

About half an hour passed. The club started to fill close to its maximum capacity. The sound of chatter and belligerent drunkards started to drown out the mellow music. Ashley slowly sipped on her martini and tried to enjoy the music. Suddenly, she heard a familiar voice.

"Luke! Luke!" Spencer called out as loud as she could. Ashley felt someone push her way through the crowd and up to the bar. She saw her at the corner of her eye. Spencer was standing right next to her. Ashley turned her head the other way and took a deep breath of that familiar Jasmine scent Spencer would always wear.

"What can I get you?" Lucas walked up to Spencer. He paused, as he realized Ashley was sitting right next to her. He smiled and felt the moment to be an interesting one.

"Two more glasses of Pinot Noir please?"

"Yep." Lucas said as he quickly glanced at the two. Ashley felt very awkward and uncomfortable. She could hear Spencer sifting through her purse for her wallet.

"Eighteen dollars." Lucas said as he placed both glasses in front of her. He placed a coaster in front of Ashley as he took Spencer's credit card. Ashley quickly took the coaster.

"Why don't you talk to her?" The coaster read. Ashley shook her head faintly. Lucas went over to the cashier and charged the card. He printed the receipt and brought it back with a pen.

"Just need your signature." He smirked at her.

"Thanks a bunch, Luke!" Spencer signed it quickly. Ashley could not wait for the moment to pass. Everything was somewhat agonizing – the scent of her perfume, the sound of the pen striking the paper on top of the wooden countertop, her angelic voice. Ashley managed to drown out everything else going on in that room. "Do you have my credit card?"

"Oh, I almost forgot!" He smiled slyly and handed it to her. She tried to take it but he was holding onto it really tight. She looked up at him confused. He motioned his eyes to Spencer's right. Spencer's eyes immediately looked down over to the person sitting next to her. Lucas let go of the credit card and went to tend to other customers. Spencer tried to look over at Ashley's face, but she could already tell it was her just by looking at the back of her head. She stood in awe for a moment before she said anything.

"Ash?" Ashley was caught off guard. She thought she had successfully avoided Spencer, but she immediately felt vulnerable the second she heard Spencer utter her name. She felt there was nothing left for her to do but to face her. Ashley turned her head, her hair spinning around and grazing her cheekbones. They could not help but stare at one another in awe. "How have you been?" Spencer asked as she smiled.

"Good! I've been good!" Ashley responded lightheartedly.

"Well, I'd much rather ask 'where have you been?' You practically fell off the face of the Earth! I haven't seen you since… since…"

"I've been here in New York." Ashley interrupted as Spencer nodded. She knew the last time they saw each other was when they had gone their separate ways. Ashley tried to avoid that topic.

"Wow! This whole time?"

"Yeah, for now." Ashley nodded.

"So what have you been doing out here? Art school fall through for you."

"Not exactly." Ashley said as she grabbed another cigarette and lit it. "I teach art to kids though." She said so haughtily. Lucas rolled his eyes, keeping his ears perked.

"How's your mom? Last time I spoke to her, she was looking for you. Why did you…"

"I moved out on my own." Ashley interrupted as she took another drag and put the cigarette on the ashtray. She diverted the smoke away from Spencer. "But I still talk to Christine. You know her. Always here and there. She actually moved out of state." Ashley tried her best to avoid questions about her new life.

"Tell her 'hello' for me when you see her, would you?" Spencer smiled. She picked up one of the wine glasses and briefly sipped its contents.

"Since when did you become my mommy's little girl?"

"We used to speak a lot… when you disappeared actually."

"Okay, I'll tell her." Ashley put on a cheesy smile. "What about you? What's new?"

"I went to law school after college. And I've actually started practicing at my own firm in San Francisco." She took another sip.

"Frisco, huh? What brings you out here?"

"I'm actually visiting a friend." Spencer looked over and pointed through the crowd. "That blonde one over there is getting married."

"To you?" Ashley chuckled.

"No!" Spencer laughed. "To a man!" She turned back towards Ashley as they laughed with each other. They both sipped their drinks as the laughter died down. Spencer took a deep breath. "She's my girlfriend's cousin." Ashley looked up.

"Oh!" Ashley tried to act surprised. "I'm happy for you then." She smiled as she took another drag of her cigarette and put it out. She forcefully exhaled the smoke. There was an awkward silence between the two.

"Well, this has truly been an interesting rendezvous." Spencer put down her glass, her purse in her left hand. She stuck her right hand out. Ashley looked over and gently pushed her glass away from the edge. She gently took Spencer's hand in hers, with a slight shake.

"It's only a rendezvous if it's intentional." Ashley smirked as she stood up to face Spencer. "But it was a pleasure." Spencer smiled as she threw her purse around her arms and grabbed both wine glasses.

"Take care of yourself." Spencer said as she walked away.

"You too." Ashley responded as she watched Spencer disappear into the crowd to join her party. She turned back around and saw Lucas staring at her. "What?"

"Nothing." He said so smugly.

"Well that was stupid. I can't believe you pulled a stunt like that!"

"It's obvious you two still have feelings for each other." He said as he wiped down another shaker and prepared another drink.

"You could not be more wrong!" Ashley scoffed as she downed the rest of her martini. She looked down at her watch and noticed that it was almost 10 o'clock in the evening. She stood up and squeezed her way through the crowd, making her way towards the exit.

Spencer saw Ashley leaving at the corner of her eye. She excused herself from the conversation she was having and began to make her way through the crowd as well. Ashley could feel the cool air seeping through the entrance into the warm atmosphere of the club. She suddenly felt someone grab her by the wrist. She immediately turned to see who had the nerve to touch her. But it wasn't what she had expected.

"Hey!" Spencer smiled.

"Hey." Ashley responded. She couldn't help but stare into Spencer's eyes, feeling entranced and weak within her grasp.

"I'm in town for a bit. Maybe we should grab lunch sometime if you're not busy?" Spencer let her arm go.

"Uh…" Ashley was caught off guard again. "I don't know."

"Really?" Spencer felt a bit disappointed. "Not even for a little bit?"

"I'm sorry," Ashley snapped out of her trance, "I'm really tied up with work and what not." She looked over to the bar and saw Lucas holding her helmet up.

"Oh," Spencer was somewhat disappointed, "well, if you change your mind, here's my cell phone number." She stuck out a business card. Ashley quickly looked down at it and took it from her.

"Yeah, I'll be sure to." Ashley smiled. "It's getting late for me so I'm heading out."

"Okay." Spencer responded. "Well call me sometime or something. I'd love to catch up." She wrapped her arms around Ashley in a quick embrace. Ashley was caught off guard again, lightly hugging her back. Time seemed to slow down again as Spencer pulled away. Ashley tried to memorize this feeling at this very moment because she knew it wouldn't come again.

"Alright." Ashley said as she smiled back and made her way to Lucas. She shoved the card down her pant pocket

"Oh I could not be more right!" Lucas smirked as he handed the helmet to Ashley.

"Knock it off." She smirked back. Ashley motioned to Lucas to lean in closer. "You know nothing's going to happen. This is for her own good. She needs to go home and forget this night happened." She whispered in his ear as he nodded. She turned and made her way back toward the exit.

"See you in a few months!" Lucas yelled out to her.

Once outside, Ashley took a deep breath as she walked toward her bike. The line to get in was still long. It started to drizzle again as the long line of people squeezed under the awning. The raindrops fell on Ashley's shoulders, dripping down her elbows and fingertips. She pushed her hair out of the way and put the helmet on. She then got on her bike and sped away.

Spencer joined her party again. She grabbed her glass and observed her girlfriend talking to her cousin about the wedding. She took a sip and smiled at the two.

"Sweetie, why do you smell like smoke?" Her girlfriend turned to her. "Were you smoking?"

"Oh someone's in trouble." The blonde muttered as she sipped her drink, turning away slightly.

"No!" Spencer explained. "The bar's packed with smokers, Kennedy. It's not me."

"Where'd you go?" Kennedy was unconvinced.

"I was talking to Luke, the bartender." She looked her directly in the eyes. "Remember? I was telling you how Luke and I went to college together. He's a good friend. We were just catching up since I haven't seen him in years."

"Who was that woman you were talking to?"

"Old friend, Ken. She went to the same college as Luke and I. Why are you bombarding me with questions all of a sudden?"

"Okay, you're right." Kennedy noticed her own overprotective behavior. "Sorry." She smiled, as she grabbed Spencer's hand. Spencer smiled back.

"So the bachelorette party is in two days!" Spencer quickly changed the subject as she looked at the blonde. "Are you ready?"

"Of course I'm ready!" She smiled at the both of them. "My cousin can plan some wicked events. So I'm pretty confident that this party's going to be crazy!"

"Heather, remember the last party I planned for you? You woke up the next morning with nothing on but cowboy boots and a hangover." Kennedy laughed.

"Oh my god! I still don't remember everything that happened that night." Heather said as she fixed her glasses. They slightly slid down her nose from all the laughing.

"Hi ladies!" A voice interrupted. They looked over to the source and saw Lucas making his way through the crowd. "I saw your glasses were a little low. So I took the liberty of bringing a bottle to you."

"Thank you!" Heather was ecstatic. She ran up and quickly hugged him.

"Hey Luke!" Spencer smiled. "That's really generous of you!"

"Yeah, it's not a problem." He welcomed the unexpected hug. "I also found an empty VIP spot so you ladies won't have to stand all night." He motioned them to a cozy section in the corner. They quickly followed, making their way to the opposite side of the club, adjacent to the bar.

"Luke, I want to introduce you to my girlfriend, Kennedy."

"Nice to meet you!" Kennedy shook his hand after he placed the bottle on the table.

"And this is her cousin, Heather."

"Hello!" He said in a cheery voice as he gladly took her hand in his.

"She's getting married this weekend." Spencer immediately interjected.

"Aww! Are you gonna go around telling everybody this?" Heather asked somewhat disappointedly.

Spencer smiled at her as they all sat down on the plush couches. Lucas pulled a bottle-opener out of his pocket and began to open the bottle of pinot noir. Kennedy turned to Heather and enthusiastically continued their last conversation.

"Having a good time?" Lucas leaned in toward Spencer before he removed the cork and slowly poured the wine in the empty glasses.

"Oh yeah!" Spencer responded as she grabbed a glass, "it's been… interesting."

"Yeah?" He placed the bottle down.

"Oh come on, Luke." She quickly took a sip. She leaned closer to his ear. "How often do you run into your ex?"

"Good point."

"I'm just… kinda caught off guard, you know? She just disappeared one day. Her mom didn't even know where she went. I got worried and eventually gave up looking for her." She took another sip. "And then all of a sudden, she's here! I mean… did you know she was here?"

"She's been in New York the whole time, Spence. But she rarely comes in here. I only see here maybe a couple times a year."

"That so?" Spencer was surprised. "Well then."

"Yeah." He looked at her and tried to press on. "So…?"

"So what?"

"Is… there a problem?"

"No, no problem. I'm just surprised." She placed her glass on the table. "But I've moved on. So it's fine!"

"Good!" He carefully observed her behavior.

"I guess the thing about it is…" she turned to him again. "I never really got closure, you know? We had a fight and broke up, and then she disappeared."

"Yeah, I understand what you mean."

"In the back of my mind, I couldn't help but think that what we had meant more than that silly fight." She looked down. "It was totally something we could've worked through."

"What did you guys fight over?"

"Personal goals." Spencer grabbed her glass and sipped from it. "She was gung-ho about pursuing art school in LA. She wanted me to come with. But I wasn't ready to leave New York. The ironic thing is that she's been here all along and I've moved to the west coast."

"Perhaps it was for the best though."

"We'll never know." She smiled slightly. "Do you happen to have her number?"

"No," Lucas responded quickly, "and even if I did, I wouldn't give it to you."

"Why not?"

"Spence, you've got a good thing going for you. You've got a good life the way it turned out. Don't let the past ruin it."

"Oh, of course not!" She looked into his eyes. "I've moved on! No doubt."

"Yeah, right." He was unconvinced. "How long have you been with… Kennedy, is it?"

"Yeah. Two years."

"Just build on that and let go of the past. You don't need closure for that."

"Well, what if I just wanted to catch up with Ashley? I'm confident that things are completely over and we're back on good terms."

"Perhaps," he responded. "But Ashley's a workaholic. She loves her job way too much."

"Art and kids. What's there not to love?"

"…Yeah." Lucas had to contain the laughter in his head. He could never picture Ashley teaching art to kids. He just smiled at Spencer.

"So where does she live?"

"No idea." He thought for a second. "Well, then again, she said she lived closer to this other bar where she hangs out more often. It's a wonder how this bar still exists!"

"Which bar?"

"The Jabberwalker out in Brentwood. Truly a terrible place!"

"And how do you keep in touch?"

"Like I said, honey. She comes in here unexpectedly, maybe three or four times in a year." He stood up. "All I know is that Brentwood's about an hour way's east." He turned towards Heather and Kennedy. "You ladies enjoy the night!" Lucas said as he began to make his way back to the bar.