When little Nicole Chambers turned 10, her and little Ashley Davies made a pact to always dedicate one day of every week to 'bonding time.' Whether it be going to a movie, talking, or talking through webcam, they would always have some sort of connection every week. Even now, about 8 years later, they still hadn't broken this pact. A great achievement, in Nicole's opinion.

Since Nicole was feeling much better, she decided to take Ashley and Anna Molly out to lunch (no Sarah since she had to go shopping with her sister). She was definitely looking better too- she looked like herself again. She had cut her hair, making it touch the end of her neck, with the bangs swept across the left side of her face. She wore a plain gray button down with black skinny jeans. On top of it all, she re-pierced her lip.

"Sorry I'm late," Anna Molly kissed both of her friend's cheeks and sat down. Nicole and Ashley just kept looking over their menus, both glad that Anna was now there. Nicole and Ashley always invited Anna Molly to their 'bonding time'. This time especially; they both had plenty to talk about. "Sophia was crying when I left."

"You could have brought her," Ashley smiled at the thought of Sophia.

"It's Peter's day," Anna Molly made a face.

"No wonder she was crying," Ashley said while Anna Molly rolled her eyes. Nicole smirked; she hated Peter just as much as Ashley did. She closed her menu once the waitress showed up.

"Ready to order?" the waitress asked the table, her eyes only on Nicole. Anna and Ashley both rolled their eyes, smiling at each other.

"I'll have the garden salad with a coke please," Anna Molly smiled fakely. Her order was simple, but she knew that the waitress would mess it up. Her eyes were still locked on Nicole. She didn't even write it down.

"Uhm," Ashley couldn't help but chuckle. "I'll have the turkey on rye. No pickles."

"Anything for you?" the waitress put her hand on Nicole's shoulder, which scared the hell out of her. Being the oblivious Nicole she is, Nicole hadn't even noticed the waitress even showed up. "I recommend the pasta."

Nicole looked up at the waitress and smiled politely, to which Ashley rolled her eyes at. Good thing Sarah's not here I guess. "Okay. I'll have the marinara. Thank you."

"Would you like anything to drink with that? The tea is good," the waitress smiled at Nicole, who was oblivious to her obvious flirting.

"Uh sure," Nicole scratched her hand and handed her new fan the menus. "I'll have the black peach tea then."

"Coming right up."

Ashley and Anna both rolled their eyes as the waitress walked away. She didn't even write any of their orders down.

"Well it's a good thing Sarah's not here I guess," Anna smirked as she took a sip of her water. Nicole made a face.

"Why?"

"You can honestly say you didn't notice the waitress flirting with you?" Anna looked across the table at her friend, who had a weird look on her face. "I'm afraid to see how you act when you're drunk and with your coyote friends."

To that, Nicole rolled her eyes. "No, because she wasn't. Besides, I would never cheat on Sarah."

"Of course not," Ashley leaned back in her chair. She'd kick Nicole's ass if she ever cheated on Sarah. She put her hands behind her neck. "We all know that Sarah Edmund is meant to be Sarah Chambers."

Nicole smiled; she liked the sound of that. "Kind of like how Spencer Carlin is meant to be Spencer Davies."

Ashley rolled her eyes. As much as she hated to admit it, she knew that too, sadly.

"Are you ever going to tell us the full story?" Anna asked, smiling as the waitress served them their drinks.

"You guys know the full story." Ashley made a face as the waitress handed her a coke. She didn't order a coke.

"No we don't," Nicole took a sip of her tea and grimed. This shit is not worth five bucks. "Spill, Davies."

Ashley sighed. "You guys know me."

Nicole shrugged. "Not really anymore. The Ashley we know wouldn't treat Spencer the way you do. Excluding Anna considering she hasn't met Spencer yet."

"I only treat her like that so she'll leave me alone," Ashley sighed. That statement just made her feel like an asshole.

"You can't be serious, right?" Nicole rolled her eyes.

"No no no, not in a bad away," Ashley moved the drinks as the waitress set their food in front of them. She must have good memory. "She's better when she leaves me alone."

"You can't believe that, Can you?" Nicole's eyebrow was now raised as she played with her pasta.

Ashley shrugged. "That's what she told me."

Nicole sighed. "You know she didn't mean it, Ashley."

Ashley took a bite of her sandwich and grimed. The bitch put pickles in it! "Why am I not surprised she got my order wrong?"

"Ashley."

Ashley sighed. "Isn't it true though? I mean her and her family are fine without me in the picture and all. That's what she wanted."

"She wanted you and her family," Nicole took a bit of her garlic bread. "She just freaked out when she couldn't have both. She didn't know what to do."

"So sleeping with my jackhole of a brother is the answer?" Ashley's tone was surprisingly calm. As if it was an actually question she wanted answered.

"She was on drugs-"

"How does that make it better?" Ashley sighed. She was tired of having the conversation being turned on her over and over again. She was hurting just as much, if not more, as Spencer was. "Once Spencer and I started dating, I stopped everything. I gave it up when she asked me to."

Nicole looked down. She knew that being Ashley's best friend and all- she was supposed to be taking Ashley's side. But she just couldn't help rooting for Spencer. She knew- or thought at least- that Ashley had already given up on her and Spencer's relationship. How could she take Ashley's side when she knew that her and Spencer were meant to be together?

Ashley frowned, she could pretty much read Nicole's mind by now. "Look, I love Spencer okay? And I probably always will… But in my own little way, I guess I'm just trying to give her what she wanted. Every day that she was living with me, she told me about how much she missed her family and such, and I just want her to have that. For at least a little while. I want her to be happy and I want things for her to be okay again. I'm not going to mess that up. I love Spencer, I really do. But in my own way, and I know this sounds half way insane, I just right now, love her a bit too much. I'm just trying to protect her."

Anna Molly and Nicole both just stared at Ashley, neither knowing what to say. Neither had ever heard Ashley be so… open. It was honestly refreshing.

"And I know that maybe it's possible that we could get back together and find a way to work it out, but it wouldn't. Not right now, at least. I've forgiven her, but that's where it ends, really. I can't be with Spencer with that shit in the back of my mind. I know if we were to get back together right now, I'd just treat her like absolute shit and push her away and I cannot- I will not do that to her."

"Why?" the nosy waitress, who had been standing there the whole time listening to, Ashley asked, completely won over.

Ashley just shrugged in her Ashley fashion. "Like I said, I love her too much."