Shout out to:
*Serena Sterling: I'm glad you liked it :) It's fine, and thanks :)
*Tesla424: I would have too! Thank you :)
..
The next morning, Ash feels a little better. So, she drives Scott to school, she takes Isaac and Jessie too as they're only across the hall.
"Thanks." Ash mumbles to Scott since it's only for his ears, and she doesn't have to specify what. For his comfort last night and the little gift he left on her dresser this morning. His old inhaler, in case he's not there to help her calm her breathing, she can use that.
Scott, Isaac and Jessie get out, throwing 'thank you's over their shoulders. Ash then spots Stiles waving at her and waves back. He jogs towards her but ends up stopping beside Jessie. Ash watches as Isaac and Scott make their way into school while Stiles and Jessie talk, not that her human ears can hear what they're saying to each other, but her eyes can certainly see their body language.
"Hey, you okay?" Stiles asks Jessie, putting his hand on her arm lightly. "You look stressed." He says, noticing she's frowning, not looking as bubbly as she usually is.
"I'm okay, Peter's just an asshole." Jessie sighs. "I really don't know why Derek puts up with him." She says, shaking her head.
"Derek's big on family, that includes Peter, I guess." Stiles says. Jessie nods because she knows he's right. "Did you still wanna study for that mid-term Chemistry exam?" He asks her.
"Yeah." Jessie nods, looking up at him now. "If you're free too."
"I am. I'll text you?" He asks because the whole pack have exchanged numbers by now. Jessie nods. "I gotta see Ash but I'llsee you later, alright?" He says.
"Sure." Jessie smiles. They part ways, Stiles' hand slipping from her arm. Jessie goes into school and Stiles walks over to Ash's car, sliding into the passenger's seat.
"Hey." Ash says with a small smile.
"Hey." Stiles says.
"So..Jessie?" She questions, unable the ignore what she just saw.
"Yeah?" Stiles asks.
"You know she's Derek's baby sister, right?" Ash asks him. He just looks confused. "He would kill you if-"
"Whoa, whoa, we're just friends." Stiles stops her, realising what she means now. Because really, they are just friends. But Ash does notice the tint of red in his cheeks. "I mean, she's a cool chick but..I don't think that's an option." Stiles says.
"I can't help but notice how you never said you didn't want that to be an option." Ash points out.
"I don't know." Stiles shrugs.
"She's a very pretty girl." Ash says.
"Yeah, and she's got a very protective brother." Stiles says.
"Ah, I see the problem now." Ash nods. "Well..you think properly about this, Stiles. Don't throw away something that might make you happy because it might not make someone else happy." She says.
"You just love getting under Derek's skin." Stiles says.
"That I do." Ash admits, both of them chuckling. Ash's phone starts to ring from inside her bag. "Hold on a sec." She says to Stiles and he nods in understanding. She brings her phone out of her handbag. She smiles when she sees the caller ID. She presses the answer button and brings it to her ear.
"Hey, Aunty." Ash answers.
"Hey, baby, how're you doing?" Hailey asks her neice.
"We're okay here, we're holding it together." Ash tells her, because Ash does feel a hell of alot better compared to how she was days ago.
"That's good, I'm glad." Hailey says sincerely.
"And you? How are you doing?"
"I'm getting by." She says. "But, there's someone here who really wants to talk to you." Hailey says, smiling at the 1 and a half year old jumping at her feet. Hailey holds the phone out to little Jade.
"Ash." Ash smiles even wider when she hears her little sister's voice.
"Hi, Jade. What are you doing?" She asks her. With everything going on with her father and his girlfriend wanting to take Jade, Ash is relieved to hear Jade's cute little voice.
"See you?" She asks, her talking is coming along well but it still needs some work.
"Put Auntie back on the phone, Jay, I'll see if I can make that happen." Ash says, liking the idea of seeing her little sister again. Ash wasn't in a very good space when her baby sister was last around, Melissa had just passed and it felt like Ash's insides were being teared out. It wasn't a good time for Jade to be around her older siblings. Ash wouldn't say it's good now, but it's better now that they've had a few days to settle down. And besides, she wants Jade with her where she knows Rafael can't swoop in and take her.
Jade does as her big sister says and hands the phone back over to her Aunt, who is currently stewing apples and plums to make a crumble.
"She wants to see you." Hailey says, balancing the phone between her ear and shoulder as she sprinkles brown sugar into her boiling pot of peeled fruit. "Do you think you'd want that?" She asks her neice, unsure if she's ready to jump into this shared custody thing so fast. But they know that's what Melissa would want, for Jade to be with her brother and sister and her only Auntie, not in the system or ending up with a foster family. No matter how broken they are, they will always put that aside to take care of their own.
"Yeah." Ash says. "I can take her for a few days, maybe more, depends what you want." Ash tells her. Ash doesn't mention the mess errupting with Rafael, Hailey's hurting as much as she and Scott are, Ash doesn't want to make it worse for her too. Right now, Ash can handle this, she'll go to her Aunt if she needs too.
Stiles looks at Ash with intrigement, he's unable to tell what she's talking about yet.
"Well, honey, if you're sure, I'm okay with that." Hailey says, a smile coming to her face.
"I'm sure." Ash says. Family is everything is her, having her little sister around will do her and Scott some good. It'll help remind them what's important, what will help get them through this tragedy. "I can come pick her up, just tell me when." Ash says, feeling excitement starting to fizzle in her stomach, a feeling she hasn't had the luxury of feeling in quite a long time.
"Whenever you can make the drive out." Hailey says. Ash smiles.
"So..if I could do that right now? Would that work?" She asks hopefully because really, she has no plans today. And she really wants to see Jade.
"If you really want to drive all the way out right now then that's fine with me." Hailey says. They're an hour out but Ash doesn't have anything to do, and she'd love to see her sister, so why not?
"Yeah. I'm on my way now." Ash says.
"Alright, I'll see you in an hour, honey."
"You will, bye." Both females bid farewell and hang up. This'll be a good thing, having all the McCall kids together again under one roof. Only problem is, the murders. But Ash, and she knows Scott will too, likes the idea of having Jade close so they can protect her, if it came to that. Which hopefully, it won't, ever. But you never know in a town like this. And their Dad's a problem, but Ash can handle that right now, what she can't handle is murders. Ash turns back to Stiles.
"You're going to get Jade?" He guesses, now understanding.
"Yeah." Ash nods with a proper smile. The school bell goes and Stiles glances over at the school. Ash raises an eyebrow when he doesn't get out of the car.
"Coach is making us do suicide runs today." Stiles comments with absolutely no enthusiasm. Ash chuckles.
"If you're coming with me, you have to tell Scott so he doesn't worry about you." Ash says. Stiles grins now and nods.
"Yeah, of course." He says, happy he's going to be spending the day with Ash and not at school. He hasn't had much time with Ash lately, he's thankful for this time.
Ash drives away from the school while Stiles texts Scott, letting him know that he's taking the day off today and his Jeep's in the carpark.
"Did you text Jessie and tell her too?" Ash asks innocently.
"Shut up." Stiles says half-heartedly, making Ash chuckle.
..
A couple hours later, brings them to here.
"Icy! Icy!" Jade says, bouncing in her carseat. Ash smiles a little, happy to see her happy and just happy to be able to feel some happiness herself. Things looked really bad, they still do. But things like this, family, it throws a little sunshine over that darkness, eases the tension and makes things a little easier.
"Do you want ice-cream?" Stiles asks her, smiling too. 'Icy' is Jade's way of saying ice-cream.
"Yes, icy! Icy!" Jade hollers again.
"Yeah, okay. Here we are." Ash chuckles, pulling up outside of the supermarket in Beacon Hills. She gets out and goes into the backseat. She unclips Jade's carseat and helps her down to her feet. Ash grabs her handbag, slings it over her shoulder and locks the car once Stiles has gotten out as well.
When they walk inside, Jade's small hand grabs Ash's fingers. Ash looks down at her with a soft smile, moving so she can hold Jade's hand properly. Jade smiles toothly up at Ash, a comforting feeling that she is yet to understand filling her stomach as she feels the love and the safety her big sister provides her with.
Before going to ice-cream, Ash picks up some foods and supplies for Jade's stay. Some low-fat milk, fruits like bananas and strawberries, jelly. Ash leads Jade over to the frozen and cold foods section. She takes both of Jade's hands and lifts her up, sitting her on the edge of the freezer so she can pick which one she wants. Jade happily looks at each one, marveling at the rainbow of colours her young eyes see.
"That." Jade says to Stiles, pointing down at one. "That. That." She quickly changes her mind, pointing out half a dozen of them.
"What about this one?" Stiles asks her, pointing to another one. Jade nods with a big smile. Ash just leans back and watches the two of them together. Stiles is a part of her family, blood or not, you can tell just by the way he's with Jade and how comfortable and happy Jade is with him.
"She really is adorable." A voice to her left says. Ash is about to thank the person for the compliment but when she turns to the side, her happiness is replaced with that unsettling dread again, same as the other day.
"Are you following me?" She asks her father in an angry voice but quiet enough so it doesn't attract Stiles' or Jade's attention. Ash just ignores the blonde woman with him, she has nothing else to say to Danielle, she made her point quite clear already. Ash can ignore her, as long as she doesn't try to get close to Jade that is, Ash will keep her promise and hurt her.
"Relax. It's a small town." Rafael says. "We'll go, we just want to say hello to my other daughter." He says, his eyes falling to Jade. Ash steps closer to Jade protectively. But Jade's far too focused on the wide variety of ice-cream to even take notice of the man and woman behind her.
"No, she is not your daughter." Ash corrects him. Because he doesn't deserve to be Jade's father, he's never met her until the other day, he skipped out a few months into the pregnancy. Rafael's eyes narrow and he steps forward, closer to his eldest daughter. "Back off." Ash says, putting her hand to his chest firmly when he gets too close. It takes half a second for Rafael to have a rough grip around the wrist of the hand she had out. She cringes when his grip is far too tight for her liking. And Danielle does nothing but watch.
"She is my daughter, I have a right." He says calmly while his grip tightens even more. The bones in her wrist ache, getting worse. "She's our's, and we're taking her." He says.
"Ashy?" It's Jade's voice that gives her the strength to rip her wrist out of his grip. The blood starts to flow again but it's sore enough to have some bruising. Ash is tough, but she's small and he's 3x her size. He finds it easy to hurt her like this. Stiles looks up when Ash doesn't answer her little sister. He sees a man he's come to hate himself, and the blonde, and quickly goes over to Ash.
"Back off." Stiles says to Rafael with strength in his tone. He doesn't like how close he's standing to Ash. Rafael steps back, he doesn't need Stiles getting involved in their family domestics. Danielle puts her hands on Rafael's arm, looking between the two younger adults. Stiles glances at Ash and she nods to him.
"Come on, baby, let's go." Ash says, helping Jade to her feet and walking away with her, not even sparing her 'father' or Danielle another glance. Stiles throws Rafael a glare before following Ash and Jade. He doesn't even look at Danielle, he has nothing to say to her either.
Once paying, Ash takes Jade back to the car, clips her into her carseat and gets into the driver's seat. She shakes off the third discouraging encounter with her father and his partner. Stiles gets into the passenger's and Ash pulls out of the carpark and onto the road again.
"Are you okay?" Stiles asks her.
"Yeah." Ash nods. "Thanks for that." She says.
"It's okay." Stiles says. "I'm sorry, I didn't even see them." He says because he knows what kind of man, what kind of drunk, Rafael was and how we walked out on his family. He despises that man with a passion. And the fact his partner is helping Rafael try to steal Jade from them..well, Stiles might despise her too. Hell, Ash definitely does.
"It's not your fault." Ash says. She glances at her wrist, that's turned an angry red. She rolls her sleeve down over it before Stiles can notice it, she doesn't need or want the questions right now. "School or home?" Ash asks Stiles, changing the subject.
"I should probably get to school before they call Dad." Stiles says reluctantly. Ash chuckles and patts his knee.
"Good boy." She teases and he rolls his eyes playfully. As she drives, Stiles glances at her with a soft smile. He's starting to see the real Ash come out from that mourning mess, he's glad she hasn't lost herself completely. It was getting to that point, with Scott as well, but it's understandable. He's just glad he's starting to see the real them coming back out in both McCalls, he doesn't want to lose his brother or sister.
..
After dropping Stiles back off at school and dismissing what happened earlier with her father, Ash balances brown paper bags of groceries in one arm and holds Jade's hand, helping her up the many stairs up to their loft with her other hand.
"Ah, Jesus." Ash sighs, stuggling to get her keys from her pocket with all the bags and Jade still holding onto her.
"You okay?" Ash looks to her left to see Peter and Derek coming out of their loft. Derek's twirling his keys is his hand as they're about to go out. Ash sees this and decides not to disturb them.
"I'm fine, thanks." She says. But Derek goes over to her anyway, taking her bags. She sighs fondly, giving him a grateful smile. Peter sighs to himself, his point of Derek going soft being proven even more. But he wasn't being soft, he was being respectful, there's a difference.
She manages to get her keys from her pocket and unlock the door, sliding it open. Jade frowns at the two males as they both follow Ash into her loft, her little mind only vaguely remembering Derek.
"Who?" Jade asks, not coming in the door. She stays standing there, looking between Derek and Peter. Ash throws her handbag onto the sofa and goes over to her, seeing she doesn't feel comfortable. A few things fall out of Ash's bag and onto the couch. Derek spots an inhaler and frowns, he didn't know she was asthmatic. In fact, she doesn't give off the smell of the sickness like Scott used too..so he wonders why she's carrying it.
"Hey, it's okay." Ash says, looking at Jade as she kneels down in front of her. "You know Derek, remember?" She asks Jade. Jade shrugs, unsure. "Come here, it's okay." Ash says, standing up and taking her hand. Jade follows Ash over to them, hiding behind her legs shyly. Peter gives Jade a small, hopefully not creepy, smile. Derek just tries to appear less intimidating. "This is Derek." Ash introduces again, showing her sister the dark-haired, green-eyed man.
"Yes." Jade nods because she can remember him, his eyes mostly.
"And this is Peter." Ash says, showing her Peter now. Peter handles himself better, crotching down to her level.
"Hi." Peter says and Ash feels like she's seeing a whole other person. He's smiling, genuinely, and he's not mad or being cheeky. It's strange for Ash to see, but it's sort of nice too. But Ash is still watching him closely, because she doesn't trust, or like, Peter. And when Peter reaches his hand out, Ash instinctively moves Jade back behind her. Derek looks between the two adults before putting his hand on Peter's arm, a sign for him to back up a little. "That history's dead, sweetheart." Peter says, standing back up. Ash looks down, not saying anything. She, like Jessie, still has alot of problems with Peter.
Ash's eyes widen in horror when Jade starts crying. All eyes fall to her with worry.
"Jade? Honey, what's wrong?" Ash asks her, grabbing her shoulders gently. Jade doesn't say anything, she just wails and points at the coffee table. Derek realises what it is that's upsetting her first.
"Hey, it's okay." He says to her. He takes the spider into his hands, taking it off the table. Jade does settle a little but she's still upset, she's terrified of spiders, something her family really hope she'll grow out of, or at least get better with.
Derek takes it over to the window, letting it out. He comes back over to the three and is surpised when Jade grabs his, much larger, hands with her tiny ones. Ash is surprised she'd be so bold with someone but let's Jade do whatever she's trying to do. It takes a few moments for them to realise what she's doing. She turns and twists Derek's hands. She's checking to make sure the spider's gone. Ash smiles softly at how Derek's able to make her stop crying.
"Gone?" Jade asks, looking up at Derek with hopeful big blue eyes. It's been a long time since Derek's had someone so small this close to him, not since Jessie was young. He's either hiding out, on the run, or people just avoid him and Peter..he doesn't exactly get to be around alot of children, let alone toddlers.
"Yeah, it's gone." He assures her. Jade smiles at him toothily and Derek swears a tiny part of his heart actually melted. Jade's not scared of him, she's thankful and she's happy he helped her. Derek doesn't exactly get alot of smiles or praise so he can't help but give the young girl a hint of a smile back, he's not a big smiler himself.
"We should probably get going." Peter reminds Derek, seeing he's a little distracted. Derek looks away from the blue eyes and softly curled black locks and over at his Uncle again with a nod. Ash moves to the sofa, lifting Jade up to sit down. She starts throwing her crap back in her bag but pauses when she can't find something, something she knows she can't lose because she might need it.
"Here." Derek says, moving the sofa cushion a little to reveal what he knows she's looking for. He picks up the blue inhaler, to cure the attacks of asthma and to help prevent them, and holds it out to her. Ash looks away from him awkwardly, taking it from his hand. "I didn't know you were asthmatic." He says to see what she'll say.
"I, uh..I'm not." Ash says, scratching the back of her neck. Derek nods slowly. He looks over at Peter who gives a little shrug and nods to the door.
"See you later then." Derek says. Ash throws the inhaler back into her bag with more force than necessary. Peter starts to move for the door with Derek but pauses, noticing the dark marks around Ash's wrist.
"Hey." Peter says, getting Ash's attention. "What happened there?" He asks Ash, looking at her wrist. Derek sees too now, looking at her. Ash swallows loudly, her other hand coming up to rub over the reddened-half bruising marks from her father's little intimidation display that she's happy both Stiles and Jade missed.
"Uh..I don't know." She lies, not willing to reveal where they really came from. She doesn't need to add to the drama already floating around.
"You sure about that?" Derek asks, both him and Peter easily picking up on that, terrible by the way, lie.
"I'm sure." Ash nods, sounding and looking more convincing this time. Derek and Peter share a quick look, both knowing that was another lie. But they can see she's not budging.
"Okay." Peter nods, still studying her because he knows she's only spilling half-truths. But to him, that's not his problem. "We'll get going then." Peter says, going towards the door again. Derek looks at her for a moment longer, Ash avoiding his eyes best she can, before he's following his Uncle out the door.
"Thank you for that with her." Ash says with sincerity as he passes her. Derek nods. Peter glances at Derek and back to Ash again, seeing they aren't as hostile as they usually are towards each other. Derek slides the door shut behind him and Peter as they leave.
Ash sighs and takes the groceries into the kitchen. She knows all that must have stirred up a few questions between the two Hales. Jade slides off the sofa and to her feet. She follows Ash into kitchen, watching as her older sister puts the groceries away in the fridge, freezer and pantry.
"Scott?" Jade asks.
"He's at school, baby, he'll be home in an hour or so." Ash tells her little sister and that makes Jade smile. As much as she loves her Aunt, Jade's excited to be with her older brother and sister.
Once Ash is finished putting the groceries away, she takes a book out of the bag Hailey packed for Jade's stay. She sits down on the couch with Jade and starts to read it. It doesn't take long for Ash to have her legs stretched out on the couch and have Jade curled up on her stomach, laying her head on Ash's chest as she slowly falls asleep to her sister's voice.
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Jade's home :3 Obviously, Danielle isn't as warm-hearted as she's tried to make out. Favourite, follow and review!
