Chapter 10

Oh my God! What the hell happened?!

"You downed three fourths of a bottle of Grey Goose with no mixers. Shh… You're okay." Her voice was soft and Spencer could feel something cool touching the back of her neck.

"What are you doing?" The blonde's voice was raspy and raw after the night of throwing up.

"It's a rag. You threw up quite a bit last night and I knew your throat would be raw as fuck so I remembered this beau…" The sudden pause caused Spencer to quickly open her eyes which would have been a foul move if the apartment wasn't lit with candles. The subtle glow was easier on her eyes and for that she was grateful. She found the brunettes eyes and realized that, in candle light, was her favorite view of them because they looked like gold.

Ashley cleared her throat and looked down at the bowl of water. "I remembered this woman who did the same for me. Or at least I think she did. That or she enjoyed having a rag in a bowl of water by her bed." With that she resumed aiding the blonde.

Spencer laid in silence and thought about what she didn't hear.

"You can go back to sleep, you know? I hope you don't feel too bad. You drank all of the shake I gave you and you only threw up the one fourth of the cup so it should have helped with the headache and nausea." Ashley was rambling.

Spencer grabbed her arm to stop her from refilling the already damp rag.

"I feel ok." The heat beneath her fingertips was so electric she didn't want to pull her hand away. Ashley look down at the point of contact and began breathing harder. She was feeling a butterfly effect on her skin.

They made eye contact. Ashley's eyes were no longer gold… they were auburn. A deep, golden, brown that seemed to change in an instant. But it wasn't just the brunette. She had never seen such a cerulean blue before now as she looked into once beautiful blue eyes that were now astonishing.

Neither girl spoke for what seemed like ages. Until Spencer looked down suddenly and pulled away.

Ashley immediately started to move, unsure of what action she was in the middle of before being interrupted. She was about to get up to take the bowl back to the kitchen when she heard the faintest voice.

"Don't." One word and she immediately halted. She turned to look at Spencer from her kneeling position on the floor next to the couch. She rocked back and pulled her knees out from under her so that she was sitting indian style. The blonde carefully got up and sat down next to her on the floor. Spencer's back was against the couch she had just been laying on while Ashley sat to her left, facing the blonde's profile. It was quiet for a while.

"Ash, about last night…"

"No." Spencer looked at her carefully.

"No. You don't need to apologize. I was wrong to be upset. I don't even know why it bothered me so much…" Ashley finished in a rush. She was still staring down at her hands. "And I am so sorry for what I said about you… I didn't mean it. I just… I was a certain way before you came along…" Spencer snorted at the memory. "I know… you saw part of it. I am sure I've said things to you that are more than… revealing." Ashley's eyes were still pointed almost directly at her hands. Spencer was staring straight ahead as she absorbed each of her words.

"I think we need to do a better job of getting to know each other." Spencer's mouth moved and she didn't understand her own words. But something was telling her, that if she didn't follow what she was saying… she would break and for the first time… she felt like fighting.

"What do you mean?" Ashley asked finally looking up.

"Personally. I know your favorite liquor, your favorite color. I know you love to argue with merchants at the artisan market. Your favorite ice cream, your favorite movie… I know all these things but I don't know you. I don't know about your family, I don't know how old you are even… and you know even less about me besides my siblings…" The brunette's eyes closed thinking of the two evil beings she met.

"So let's fix that. What is your full name, Spencer?" Ashley scooted so that her back was against the couch too and looked at the blonde on her right.

"Spencer Marie Carlin. What's yours?" She looked at Ashley and smiled a very comfortable smile.

"Ashley Nicole Davis. How old are you?" Spencer smiled wide.

"That's a beautiful name. I am 21. You?"

"Thanks. I am actually 24. When is your birthday?"

"Wait you're 24?" Spencer was shocked.

"Yes! How old did you think I was?" Ashley laughed at the blonde's shock.

"I thought maybe 22. But I didn't think you were older than me." Spencer's chuckle made Ashley laugh even more.

"Can we move to my room? My back is hurting and I can adjust my bed settings." Spencer giggled and agreed.

It was about 8:30 at night and Ashley set up a girl's night in her bedroom.

"So let's play 21 questions. We get one pass. Deal?" Ashley was munching on some pringles while Spencer was eating popcorn and they were watching Netflix.

"Sounds fair." Spencer was trying not to close up but she kept her eyes glued to the screen because she didn't know what would happen if she looked at the brunette.

"So… are you gay?" Ashley didn't know what came over her but that was the question that tumbled from her mouth.

"I feel like you should ask questions you don't know the answers to Ashley." She wasn't offended at all she just felt like the brunette was looking to ease her own mind.

"Yea. Ok…" Ashley was quiet for a minute. "What is the deal with your brother and sister?" Spencer felt like she had the wind knocked out of her.

You agreed to this Spencer. You know you need this… to heal… to find the strength to fight.

Yes but why this question…

Maybe it's time to talk to someone.

Many minutes passed by and Ashley was feeling very uncomfortable but she wanted answers.

"When I was 15, I had a crush on this girl. She was my best friend. I grew up in Ohio in a very small town and it wasn't ok for a girl to like a girl. Well, the only person that knew was my brother Clay. He understood because he had a hard time due to the fact that he was black. My dad use to be a social worker but that didn't last long… Anyways, my dad adopted him and he became my best friend. I didn't have many because I was so afraid of who I was. He was always there for me. Well one day as I was talking to him in my room, Glen, the guy you met, overheard. He started yelling at me and cussing me out. Clay and he got into it which called my parents' attention. Glen ratted me out and my parents tried to send me to a shrink to "straighten me out."" Ashley listened careful as Spencer's eyes filled with tears.

"Well these kids at school found out thanks to Andrea…" Ashley noticed Spencer beginning to shake a little so she moved closer to her. One knee bent to her chest and the other foot tucked under her; the blonde had her undivided attention. "I was walking home from school and these guys came up behind me, calling me names and saying they could fix my problem in 15 minutes. Clay came out of nowhere. He began to tell the guys they needed to leave me alone before he called the cops. Well one of the guys pushed him and the next thing I knew, I was holding clay in my arms screaming and crying and the guys had run off… one of them had a knife. Glen and Andrea and my parents blamed me. Eventually, mom and dad split because they couldn't agree how to deal with me."

Spencer was crying out now. And in an instant, Ashley's arms were around the blonde as she tried to sooth her with her own tears spilling over. Ashley guided Spencer down to a laying position. Spencer was facing Ashley while Ashley was leaning over her with one elbow propped up to hold her head. She held Spencer to with her free hand as the blonde cried. Ashley's tears fell along with Spencer's as they both drifted off to sleep.

4:15 AM

Spencer's eyes fluttered open. Her head hurt and her eyes were stinging. She felt the incredible need to run… just as she started to move she realized that Ashley was awake and holding her firmly.

"Where you headed?" her voice was raspy and sent a chill down Spencer's spine.

"Bathroom." With a little hesitation, the brunette let her up and watched her walk over to the bathroom. Ashley was exhausted but she understood the blonde better and experience had taught her that Spencer was a runner. She avoided questions and when she was forced to answer them, she ran afterwards. The brunette didn't want Spencer to out sleep her and then run. So she stayed awake just to keep Spencer with her.

After returning from the bathroom for the "adequate" amount of time, since she didn't really need to use it, Spencer found Ashley with her eyes closed. So began her internal debate…

Run. She's asleep! Run!

You know you will never forgive yourself if you run. She didn't run away from you. Don't do it to her.

"I don't like to wake up alone…" It was so soft the blonde almost didn't hear it. Suddenly she was thrown back into the arms of the brunette in her memory as she recalled the night they met… the reason the brunette woke up at her house…

"I know. I'm right here." There was no second thought. She climbed back into bed next to the exhausted brunette. They were facing each other, both of them with one arm under their heads and the opposite draped across their own stomachs; their hands just centimeters apart.