A/N Well, I think I'm ready to update again. :)

First off, I want to thank the reviewer "Ready to fly." :) I really loved reading your review and I wished I could respond to you to tell you that but seeing as you're a guest this is the next best thing! X3 Reviews like yours are one of my biggest motivations to write. It's fun to get so much feedback and I'm glad that you are liking the story! Thank you!

And thank you to everyone who has reviewed. :) I absolutely love every word I read. Thank you.

Hope you guys like it! :) Please review!

The time had come for answers.

Drew wasn't sure where to turn for them. But now he had something to go on, something that said that maybe Natalia had been right in telling him to keep May from Victor.

He was unaware that he was straying from his usual solution to such problems. He had grown up pretending horrible things weren't happening, now he had to face them.

But doing it for May felt different.

After leaving Caroline, Drew had gone over and over in his head the different things he should do. The things he could do. He had already done all he could think of to get answers. So what now? He felt lost and it was frustrating.

He ended up in his parents room, laying on his back on the bed with thoughts running through his head that were unstoppable. What was it he was looking for? Who was the problem? Was Jackson really someone to worry about, or was Victor? And weren't they the same person anyway?

Drew stilled, one hand in his hair, and dropped it to the bed. He had experience with this. He had a way to get answers, he just hadn't wanted to try it. He swallowed and slowly slid off the bed. He reached under and pulled out the chests, opening them to find all of the tapes. Tapes of his mother. This time it only took him a moment to get used to seeing them sitting there, and he pulled them out one by one, flipping them up to see that most only had dates written on them.

Remembering all of the strange numbers and dates in his father's notebook, he reached into the shelf and pulled it out too, setting it on his knee and looking from it to the videos intently.

Slowly the strange numbers began to make sense. The dates on the tapes added up to the dates in the notebook. And different notes, short and usually only one word at a time were made about the tapes, correlating with the day and year on the tape. He still didn't know what all of the "no's" next to the dates meant.

Drew flipped through the notebook, trying to find something else to go off of, but it all seemed to just be pages and pages of dates. Drew wondered how long his father had been doing this. If it was the only notebook. What kind of a person would do something like this?

Finally, nearly at the end of the book, he found some other notes. Still short, but these were more sporadic, as if his father hadn't been quite sure how to catalog them. The side of the paper was still covered in dates, but the notes were longer. Drew tilted his head, trying to make sense of them.

The first read.

4/13/91 - Gone.

Simple enough, but still not making much sense. He read on.

4/19/91 – Questions.

4/20/91 - Julia. China ruined.

4/22/91 – Questions.

4/24/91 - More Questions. Kaitlin will not stay in 'c.' New bedroom.

4/30/91 - Room given away. Panic dying.

5/14/91 - ISSNO 4455-5642 05/91

7/23/92 - Rosemary questioned.

The next was his birthday, two years later, next to that written the word. "Drew."

Then:

8/24/95 - Drew. Questions. New 'H.'

Drew swallowed as he read on. Everything his father wrote seemed so professional, but these didn't match up. It was badly worded, as if he had written them in moments of emotion, and none of them made much sense, looking as if he meant them to be confusing.

Drew groaned and dropped the book to the floor, looking back to the tapes. He had nothing else to go on, and after several moments of glaring at the tapes, he pulled out the first three from the farthest box and made his way down the stairs with them. Drew placed the first one in the machine and dropped the other two to the floor more carelessly than he should have.

He vaguely recognized that the tape he had placed in the machine, the first one in the upper corner of the box, the earliest one dated, was slightly different, tag with the date more worn, tape made by a different company than the others. It didn't seem to matter to him, till he pressed play.

Drew watched everything with the eye of someone used to finding every detail, whether he wanted to or not. The camera was set up, and Drew looked at the chair before it across a table. There was something strange on the arms of the simple chair, but hard to see in the lighting, tape maybe, he thought, hanging from the arms.

The chair was only empty a moment, and then his mother was placed in it, a man's arms only there for a moment to help her sit down before the person retreated. Drew would've assumed it was his father if not for the dark complexion so unlike his. Drew's eyes widened, confusion coming over him when he took in that the woman had light hair, blonde, instead of his mother's brown. Her hair was messed, but in a way that said it had been styled that way on purpose. Pulled up about her in a way that might've been teased but missing clips that would have kept it looking more fashionable. The hair was fairly short, above her shoulders. As he watched she raised a hand to her mouth and rubbed it across her lips, staring down at the hand with a grisly smile as if she had uncovered something sadistically pleasing. She was wearing a white robe, something you might see in a hospital, but it was ripped in the way he had never seen. It looked intentional. Both shoulders were ripped to the seam, hanging on by just the collar so both her thin shoulders were clearly seen, bra straps and all. She had the front of her robe cut down as well, looking as if it would show her chest, were it not for the thin string running through the edges, holding both corners together.

Who was she?

"Hello."

The woman blinked at her hand and dropped it slowly, looking up as she did in a lazy manner and smiling at the man behind the camera. With the clear view of her face Drew knew that she was very young, perhaps his age, maybe younger. One of the faces that could be anywhere from seventeen to twenty-five.

Then she smirked.

Drew's breath caught the moment she spoke.

"Oh, it's you." Her tone oozed pleasure.

Despite a tone he had never once heard on her, he knew it was his mother.

Drew sat frozen, staring at the film with wide eyes. He knew her voice better than any aspect of her. It was the voice he had waited desperately to hear from a dark room during punishment. It was the voice that would go from sickly sweet to violently volatile. This looked nothing like his mother. She was thin, thinner than he had ever seen her, in the way that said she was malnourished and starved. He imagined if the film hadn't been so old, he may have been able to see brown roots through her hair, but the shadows made it impossible. The way she held herself was different too, varying even from the different sides of her he had seen. She had gone from kind to cruel. But her cruel attitude was always laced in a lying expression that said she was pretending to be sweet. He had never seen her like this, outright… pleased. As if she had just done something she should be proud of, her face giving every indication that if that were the case it was something horrible. She looked every inch the crazy, self assured teenager she might be.

Crazy. Drew paused. He had never thought of her like that before. Was it because she looked that way in this video… or because he was healing enough to understand that she had been?

Her smirk grew and she giggled. Her giggle lacked the lighthearted ring May's had, a darkness in it that didn't fit the action. She placed her forearms on the table and leaned across them towards the man sitting behind the camera, inadvertently facing it, smiling a way Drew had never seen a woman smile. A moment later her lips pursed together in a pout and she looked down to her gown, irritation in her expression as she looked at the string at the top of her clothing. She reached up and pulled on it.

"Wait."

Blinking, she looked up to the man, then smirked. "Why?"

When silence was her answer she tugged on it again, tilting her head to the side in a mock pout. "Are you sure?"

"…Leave it."

The pout was real this time, but Drew was surprised as she listened, arms crossing over her chest as she abandoned her attitude and sat back in the chair, seeming more the cruel side of herself he had seen at times in his life.

"Prude," she said loudly.

The man made no effort to tell her off.

They sat in silence for a moment and Drew consciously acknowledged things he hadn't up until that moment. The walls behind her were cement, unlike the walls of their house in the later videos. There was a sign above her head, only the latter half of one of the words showing. Drew wondered how his father had found the video and where this was. It made his stomach flip.

She suddenly groaned and pushed herself down to the table, drawing Drew's attention back to her. The same pout on her face, she looked up at him. "Don't you ever get tired of being here? Want to do something fun?"

"Why don't we talk about you today?"

She smirked. "Why? Talking about you is fun. Especially with the way you red up like that. You blush the way a schoolgirl would, if school girls were anything like the clichés. Should we play with that?" When he didn't say anything her expression slowly slipped to a frown and her eyes hardened. "I'm not blind."

Drew wondered what she was referring to but realized he might never know.

She sighed. "You're supposed to talk to me about that poor man aren't you?" The tone in her voice when she said 'poor' made Drew shiver. It was like she was making fun of the man being referred to. There was nothing decidedly scary about the phrase, but Drew was used to strange acts following words that were covered in that sugar sweet tone.

"Yes, I am."

She waited for him to continue, when he didn't she asked. "Wondering why I did it?"

A nod must have been her answer. She shrugged and sat up. "It was fun. You know that."

"What was so fun about it?"

She looked up at the ceiling and shrugged again, that smirk coming back to her face. "Something about the way he shrieked like a woman." She looked up and smiled. "See, you're not the only one to share features with a school girl." She giggled then, probably in response to the man's expression. Stopping she gave him a smirk flitted with something dark Drew didn't understand. "You're worried. You don't have to be. You're my favorite, I promise you that."

Drew swallowed. He suddenly wanted to turn the screen off. This was so much different then he had been expecting. He wasn't sure now that he wanted to know everything. But the man spoke and rooted him to the floor.

"I'm not worried about that."

And Drew finally recognized the quiet voice. His father's, though flitted with more emotion then usual.

That was how he had the tape.

Drew felt a knot grow in his throat.

His mother tilted her head and pulled her shoulders in, a falsely innocent smile on her face. "Then I guess we have nothing to talk about, do we?"

A moment of silence. "That's not why I-"

She leaned over the table. "No. That's not why they sent you, but that's why we're here." And she leaned back in the chair and glared at him, daring him to disagree. Drew noted with a strange feeling that his father didn't.

She tilted her strong chin up and smiled, and the screen went black.

Drew pulled the tape out and stared at it, his stomach in knots.

What the hell had that been?

His hands were shaking, and he felt sick. Nothing made sense. Where had they been? What had… He paused. Quickly his mind ran through all of the details of the video. He remembered the sign, some letters cut off. "ute," was all that had been visible. Why did that seem to fit with something?

He groaned and dropped his head into his hands. Without his consent his over active mind began to run through everything that fit together, from the words on the sign and the old video tape in his hand to the dates on his father's notepad. He looked at the date and realized that it was the very first, then dropped it again. So was this the first tape that ever existed? From the way his mother had talked and acted, he assumed it hadn't been the first time she had been in front of a camera. And she seemed to have talked to his father before so-

Drew's eyes widened. Something clicked. Something that never had before. Drew hadn't even realized the man was his father at first. The video had seemed like it was on professional standing. His mother had said that someone had "sent" him. Where had this tape been filmed? How had they met?

His stomach began to shift as he thought of the end of the notebook with the words that seemed to be set up to confuse a person who would just pick it up without the facts. But they seemed….

Institute.

He envisioned Jackson rubbing the envelope over his thigh and glaring at it and remembered the words on it. 'La' Rouse Institute.'

Was that it?

Drew stood and picked up his phone. For the first time he was moving desperately. This was about answers, and his body was nearly vibrating with need as he realized the possibility of the answers he had always craved, answers for his family and why they were so strange.

Was this it? Was this the answer?

He had to know.

Drew looked up the institute and left immediately, following the directions till he reached the fairly large building and his breath caught. He stared at it, his limbs shaking and was surprised to feel his body back away slowly without his consent. Before he knew it he was shaking like a leaf in the wind, his eyes wide as the knowledge filled him that this could be the answer to so much. But the idea was scary. He… didn't want it to be the answer. Immediately he wondered what this would say about him. And… Drew swallowed, trying to calm the thoughts in his head without success. Before he knew it the building was behind him and his walking had turned into running, and he was going he didn't know where, not stopping till the buildings had faded to small shops and he was breathing so harshly he hurt. He stopped, hand on his chest. Looking around he recognized that he was in the quieter part of town, the part where Ash lived and wondered if his feet had run there instinctively or if this had just been the fastest route away.

Either way…

Did want to talk to him? He couldn't deny now, after so much time talking to Victor before all of this confusion, that he needed something, some kind of outlet. He didn't know what to do, and while he didn't exactly love the idea of telling Ash anything about what he was going through, a part of his mind relaxed with the idea before he could help it, like he had already released some of the stress in his chest.

He let out a shaky breath and tried to turn his head off, turning in the direction of Ash's house and doing everything he could to distract himself so he wouldn't loose his nerve and turn around to drown in the thoughts again.

Would Ash even understand?

Ash blinked. "Drew. Hi." He shook his head to rid himself of the surprise and smiled. "Come in."

He stood back and Drew's heart clenched, his palms sweating. Ash frowned when Drew didn't move. "Are you here to… come in? Or…"

Drew swallowed what he could of the nervousness and passed Ash silently, heading straight to the couch without a word.

Ash watched warily then quietly followed and sat across from him.

It felt like so long ago that they had all sat on these couches and laughed and Drew was hit by the thought of how long he had been struggling with this alone. It seemed so crazy now, but then… He looked at Ash and wondered, was it a worse idea to talk to him or to keep it secret?

Ash frowned and his eyes became serious. "What's going on?"

Drew stilled, his still sweaty hands clenching on his pants. His throat grew thick and he opened his mouth, struggling to speak. He didn't know what would've come out, but he couldn't speak through it. Tears of discouragement pricked at the back of his eyes and he shook his head, taking a deep breath and finally forcing what he could past the block. "I have to talk to someone."

Ash blinked, thoroughly shocked that that 'someone' was him. But he swallowed the surprise in favor of not scaring Drew away and nodded. "Go ahead."

Drew's hands were shaking. He shut his eyes, only realizing as he was about to speak the toll that all of this had been taking on him. He was struggling not to fill with emotion, not to break down.

Ash patiently waited, worried till Drew finally said. "I… I don't understand-" He tried to go on, but couldn't.

"Don't understand…what?" Ash asked, trying to keep his tone calm.

"I…" Drew raised a hand to cover his eyes and took a deep breath. "I… don't know how to explain this. It'll sound crazy."

"I've seen crazy before. You're not crazy."

Drew stilled and blinked, suddenly remembering little bits and pieces about Ash that had always brought up questions for him. Things like Ash telling him he looked like he was having a withdrawal, and the way he would dance around his very young childhood. Drew raised his head. "Have you?" he asked.

Ash stilled, his expression blank but not calm. Finally looked away and nodded. "You're not crazy," he repeated.

Drew's eyes narrowed, desperation clawing at him. "How?"

Ash looked back to him.

"How do you know that?"

Ash blinked. "I just do. I can tell. The way… The way you can tell when someone's being honest." He shrugged. "I've seen it before. You're not crazy."

Drew blinked. What did that mean? How do you know when someone's being honest? Finally he marked it off as an Ash thing, as he had done in the past and sighed, letting the fact that Ash didn't think he was crazy wash over him.

Not yet.

"So what's going on?" Ash asked. "You've been… off, the last few weeks."

Drew frowned at his lap. "You might think I'm crazy in a minute."

Ash didn't say anything and Drew let out a deep breath. "My psychologist has multiple personality disorder."

The room was silent. Drew didn't look at him.

After several long moments Ash whispered, "Seriously?"

Drew looked up and saw that Ash didn't look disbelieving, rather he looked disturbed. Drew didn't know if that meant he actually believed him. Drew didn't think he would if their positions were switched but he swallowed and nodded anyway, his blocked emotions coming out like a flood.

"He… He seems fine. I mean… he doesn't seem dangerous. I talked to my old counselor, and he said the disorder wasn't dangerous. And he's still helped me. But… But I don't know what to think."

Ash was staring at him alarmed. "Drew, someone with that disorder shouldn't be a psychologist, he should be on the other end of the table. Are you sure?"

Drew wasn't sure what to think but nodded. "I'm definitely sure. He has a different name."

Ash's eyes widened. "Like… his other personality?"

Drew blinked, thinking that was fairly obvious, then realizing it must just be taking Ash a bit of mental preparation to wrap his mind around it. "Yeah."

Ash, raised a hand to his rarely hatless hair, eyes widening as he ran a hand through it. "Wow," he muttered. "That's…"

Drew nodded.

"Have you told anyone?"

"You."

"Anyone else?"

Drew shook his head.

"Why not?

Drew bit his lip. He didn't know how to explain everything that was going through his mind. Why ruin Victor's life if he was really doing no damage? On top of that, Jackson had threatened him. Victor could say anything. Would anyone believe him?

The last sounded like a sound argument. "Why would anyone believe me?"

Ash stopped to stare at him and dropped his hand. "Going to counseling doesn't make you crazy. They should at least look into it."

Drew blinked. The placating tone was in the first sentence. He looked away, surprised as he realized that that was exactly what he felt like. "But… he's not a counselor."

Ash rolled his eyes. "That doesn't mean he can't act as one."

Drew's eyes narrowed. "The… The other personality doesn't want anyone to know. …He threatened me."

Ash paused. "Oh. …That explains why you've been so quiet. How long have you known?"

Drew shrugged. "A few weeks."

Ash nodded. "Does May know?"

Drew stilled, remembering May, at home now. His thoughts became further troubled. "I… No." He decided not to tell Ash his assumptions. Especially considering the fact that they could be wrong. He would seem even more insane if he brought up things that might not be issues.

Ash frowned, watching him war with himself and sighed. "Do you have any idea what she's been going through? She doesn't even respond half the time. When you're not here, she's not here. She's… too busy worrying about you."

Drew could hear the reprimand in Ash's voice and tried not to be annoyed. He was well aware of the way Ash looked at her, like a little sister. He was fiercely protective of all of his friends. Drew realized then that he was right in not telling Ash about what had happened with May. He didn't need an overly worried Ash on his hands on top of everything else. Instead he simply nodded, and Ash sighed again. "Well, at least it makes sense now. What are you going to do about it?"

Drew shrugged. He felt that a great weight had been lifted from his shoulders. It helped that Ash was so calm, not judging him for it. Now that it was out, he realized it had been the thing that had been bothering him the most. His other worries were worse, intertwined with the problem, but could he even voice them without sounding insane?

Ash watched Drew reach up to rub an ache out of his forehead. "Drew?"

Drew blinked, finally looking up to him. "What?"

"What are you going to do?"

A weight instantly settled in his stomach at the question and he swallowed. "I don't know." He thought of Natalia and forced himself to speak. "A girl… One-One of his old patients approached me." Ash's interest instantly peaked. "She told me… to be careful." Worry entered Ash's eyes at the words. "I don't know how to find her to ask more about it. That was all that she told me. I don't know… how to find out if I should really be worried."

Ash paused. "Why don't you… stop going?"

Drew blinked. It was so simple. Then he frowned. "Jackson likes me to go. I'm not sure how he would take to that." Ash's confused expression caused him to explain. "His other personality."

Ash swallowed and winced but nodded. "But… what does that matter? If you're not there, what can he do about it?"

"Well… he can do whatever he wants."

Understanding entered Ash's gaze. "But… what about Victor? Wouldn't he…" His expression twisted. "Would he realize something was off…? Or-Or would he not…" He paused, a frustrated expression on his face. "How does that work?"

Drew shrugged. "It depends."

Ash looked at Drew with a dubious expression, as if confused by how Drew knew that. "So how would Victor react if…"

"Jackson."

"…if Jackson said you were… sick?"

Drew paused. "I… I don't know." That was a good question. "My old counselor said that the other personalities are there to… like comfort the main personality or something. To protect them from what they don't want to deal with. …Or what they can't deal with. So… I guess… it depends on if he even knows if it happened?"

Ash and Drew stared at each other for a few long moments before Ash finally stated, "I see your problem."

Drew let out a light bitter chuckle.

"So quit and take me with you. I'll say whatever needs to be said."

"But we don't even know what that is."

Ash raised an eyebrow. "You just need someone there to say you're not crazy. And you're not. I have no problem saying that."

Drew thought of his mother, of the institute, and swallowed.

Was that true?

Ash saw him still and backed away slightly. "What is it?"

Drew swallowed. "I…" He bit his lip, stared at his shoes in deep concentration and whispered fateful words. "My old counselor… he… he said it was… hereditary."

Ash blinked. Drew's hands were shaking.

"What's hereditary?"

"…I… I found…"

Ash watched Drew's shaking increase and couldn't deny the nervousness that grew in him at the action. Drew was scared, and it was obvious. But scared of what?

"You don't… have to tell me if you don't want to."

Drew's gaze became troubled. "I need help," he whispered, and knew the truth of those words even as they slipped out.

Ash swallowed and nodded. "Okay."

Drew bit his lip.

"So tell me," Ash stated in a calm tone, no hint of the nervousness inside him.

Drew whispered. "I… my dad has some old tapes… of my mother. One of them was at La' Rouse Institute. It's-"

"I know what it is."

Drew looked up. His heart stopped and he instantly became silent.

"Go on."

Drew couldn't. Not with that expression looking back at him with his admission. Ash realized he probably was making Drew nervous and closed his eyes, trying to let his surprise fade with the words. When he opened them he was calm. "Go on," he repeated. Drew swallowed, but didn't speak. Ash sighed mentally. "I'm sorry. I was just surprised. Look I… I won't…" Ash sighed and ran a hand through his hair again. He realized that Drew needed this admission. He had never told anyone, but Drew was doing everything he could to tell him what he was. He could do the same. "When… When I was little I used to visit there."

Drew's eyes widened. "Why?" came the hushed whisper.

Ash's lips pursed. "My friend was there."

Drew sat still. "Why?" he asked again, unsure of what else to say.

Ash sighed and looked up at the ceiling. "I have no idea," he admitted. "They never told me. His father was there too, some friend of my dad's. I think that's how I met him, but I can't remember. It didn't matter to me. My dad used to take me and he... My dad used to take me."

Some tension left Drew's shoulders without him realizing it. It wasn't the same, not by a long shot, but at least Ash had an idea of what it was like to have someone you knew in an institute. Ash raised his head to find Drew still. "When I got older I looked into it," Ash admitted. "I wanted to understand it. I understand now. A bit. Being in an institution doesn't make you abnormal, or unfit to or have a job or anything. It's just a place for people to go while they work through whatever they're working through. Sometimes it's hard to do alone."

Drew thought of his mother in the video. "What if they don't want to get through it?" he thought to himself. But the words did help. It wasn't like old horror movies made it out to be. Like the people going there were being locked in cells and tortured. Drew calmed a bit and nodded.

"Worried you've got whatever she did?"

Drew shrugged. "I…I don't think I have anything like that," he wasn't quite ready to say what the disorder was. "But… I…"

Ash nodded. "The worry's still there," he finished.

Drew winced minimally.

Ash paused. Drew didn't say anything else.

Ash swallowed and tried to figure out the right way to go about helping Drew. If he had known everything Drew probably would've been right in his assumption that Ash would do something rash, even if that "rash" action was the right one to take. As it was, he didn't know everything. And there was the possibility that Drew was right in his worries.

Drew couldn't get the institute out of his mind. He had been desperate for answers his whole life and felt a lot of closure when Victor had told him what the problem his mother had was, but there were still so many more. And this was possibly the answer to the rest. The fear when he thought of going overcame him, but the desperation to know didn't leave. Maybe… With Ash…

"Can you…" Drew's eyes narrowed. He tried to think of a way to not sound quite so pathetic with the request. "I want to go to the… institute and… ask some questions. Will you…"

Ash saw the wince and immediately understood how he felt. It was the same reason he had never told anyone everything. He knew he was alright, but a lot of people judged quickly. It was sad to think that Drew was worrying about what he would think, but understandable regardless. "I'll go with you."

Drew blinked and looked up at him. Rather than thanking him, he gave a quick nod and stood. Ash blinked and stared, his eyes wide. "Wait. Now?"

Drew paused, then shrugged. "Why not?" His hands were shaking with eagerness and restlessness. He tried to hide it, keeping his expression calm, but couldn't stop his actions from speaking for him.

Ash glanced around the room then offered a shrug with an expression of resignation. "Well… alright, I guess." Then blinking up at his hair and glancing down to his messy clothes, he muttered, "Give me a minute."

The feeling he had before when facing the institute didn't go away because Ash was with him, though he had hoped it might. Instead his stomach just sank further till he felt cemented in the concrete outside.

Ash paused a few paces ahead, and it was only his expectant expression that got Drew moving again, trying to hide his shaking and hating every moment. Overwhelming the irritation with himself was the anxious, nervous feeling that he might get some answers.

When they walked in Drew blinked in surprise. He had expected something… darker, maybe. Instead he was met with what looked like a large home. A mansion in a mansion. There was a desk, a huge spiraling staircase ran to the left behind it, leading up to a hallway that went two ways with rows of rooms. A hallway beneath the staircase had more doors on either side and led to a glass door through which Drew could just make out was a large backyard looking very much like a garden. A room to their left was a sitting area, though welcoming in the way a home would be rather than a waiting room. There were people sitting in the chairs, most modestly dressed and minor few in robe like clothing, very much like his mother had dressed in in the video.

Drew realized that Ash was already at the desk and moved quickly to catch up, still glancing around the building as he did.

The woman at the desk was old, older than Drew was used to seeing a classic receptionist. She had a name tag on and Drew wondered if she were a nurse as well. Somehow she gave off that feel, with all of her hair pulled back and no makeup. When she looked up Drew blinked. She looked familiar, but he couldn't place her. She was looking at Ash though and not at him. She smiled. "I used to see a little boy that looked a lot like you," she stated to Ash with a small smile that bordered on teasing.

Ash couldn't resist the contagious smile that came from hers but looked slightly confused.

She smiled and laughed a bit, looking down to the desk. "I remember faces, it's a habit of mine." Looking up she smiled and narrowed her eyes, then nodded with finality and a smile. "Alice's grandson. Delia's son. That's it."

Ash's eyes widened. "Y-Yeah."

She smiled. "Don't feel bad, sweetie. I remember a lot of people who don't place me. And you were so small at the time. It's a miracle I remember your face. Now, what can I do for you?"

Ash did what he could to move on, despite his surprise and slight discomfort that someone remembered him being there.

"My friend-"

She turned to look at said friend, and cut Ash off as her eyes widened and she took him in. She blinked. "You're… Who are you?"

Drew froze, panic coiling in his stomach. Why would she ask that?

Ash quickly jumped in. "His name's Drew. He wanted to ask you some things. You… might be the perfect person to ask."

She didn't look back to Ash, gaze wholly focused on Drew, who couldn't help but stare back just as intently. "What's your last name?" she finally asked.

Drew swallowed. "Hayden," he muttered on a breath.

The woman blinked and sat back in her chair. She crossed her arms over her chest, eyes wide in disbelief. "Hayden?" She asked, far less jovial then moments ago.

Drew swallowed and didn't answer.

She brought her hand to her chin and traced her mouth while she stared at him.

Ash was surprised when he felt the tug on his jacket and turned to see Drew staring at the woman suspiciously. "Let's go."

Ash blinked. "Go? But we just-"

Drew didn't say anything else to convince him, turning on his heel immediately. The woman jumped to her feet. "Wait!" Drew's feet stopped on the carpet, his hands clenching in an effort to quell the nervousness.

For several moments he stood quietly, then glanced back. He saw Ash look watching him with concern. He nodded, and without words it was obvious that he was asking to leave.

Ash glanced to the woman, gave her a polite and at the same time nervous smile, and backed away from the counter. Drew waited for Ash to reach his side, and with him headed straight for the door.

The woman's hand remained outstretched as the two left the house.