A/N: Meowser here. Happy birthday, Mariah! Is there a better present than us(me) FINALLY finishing MahF?
As usual when it involves me, it's eighteen months after when we *thought* we'd finish this, but hey, better late than never.
~Meowser
Ned went with her to Jason's; he wasn't going to be comfortable with her going alone, and she had to admit that it made her feel better. Melinda was more comfortable with this too; she'd already texted Katie multiple times that morning to make sure that Ned was accompanying her.
"Are we ready for this?" Katie wondered, leaning against the door of Ned's car. He'd wanted to go while on duty, dressed in his uniform, but she'd shaken her head and immediately vetoed that idea. That wasn't the note they wanted to start this on.
"I'm only ready if you are," Ned told her, arms folded over his chest, before they uncrossed so he could place his hands on her upper arms. "You okay, Katie?"
"Yeah," she said. "Sophie's here. I'm just ready to be done."
"Okay," he whispered, and leaned in, kissing her forehead. "Let's go."
She nodded, and followed him, holding her sweater tight around her even though it was a warm day for February. She should be used to this weather but Sophie was keeping her down, even though they could both tell the end was near.
Ned knocked on the door, after they decided that the doorbell was broken. They waited in silence, and finally the door creaked open. A man stood there, and he stared at them for a second before pushing open the screen door as well. "What can I help you with?"
"Jason Durham?" Ned asked, and he nodded.
"Can we speak to you for just a few minutes?" Katie asked. "It's about Sophie. Sophie Ferguson."
His face blanched. "I don't have anything to say," he mumbled. "It was a long time ago." He looked at Ned. "Aren't you that cop?" He said, started to back up.
"She's here," Katie interrupted, before Jason escaped inside. "Sophie is here with us. She wants me to tell you that cats are better than dogs, and that frogs are excellent swimmers."
She could feel Ned's confusion, but Jason's eyes were widening, and she could tell he knew whatever arcane conversation they referred to.
"So, you're like a psychic?" Jason asked, once they were inside. He was shoving clothes off of furniture, vaguely apologizing as he did so. "I guess you know what I did to her then."
"Pretty much," Katie began. "I don't use the word psychic though. To me, that denotes an intentional action to speak to the dead. I don't seek them out; the dead just come to me."
"So she's here," Jason said flatly, once they were all settled. "So I know this doesn't mean anything, but I have regretted my actions since the day she died. I wish I'd regretted the day before she died but I was young, and too selfish to think about anyone else. It's not an excuse, just the truth."
"Sophie wants me to tell you this," Katie said.
Sophie spoke now, and Katie relayed the message. "I was drowning, and you let me," she accused, making Katie shiver. "You let my friends think that we'd fucked, when that's not it at all. You took something from me that night, and I can't ever get that back."
Katie echoed Sophie's words, and Jason was staring at his hands.
"I've tried, you know," he said quietly. "To make amends. But it wasn't enough. I never felt like I could...move on, I guess. I never dared touch another woman, but I guess I got so drunk, none would have me."
"This isn't about you," Sophie cried. "This is about the fact that I am dead because of you, and my mom and my brother have to live with that."
"I have to live with it too," Jason yelled, after Katie told him what Sophie had said. "Like, this isn't easy for me."
"I'm fucking dead," Sophie bit out. "I don't feel sorry for the most popular guy in school who could have had anyone, but instead decided to rape me."
Now Jason deflated, his head in his hands. "You're right," he said. "You're right. It's never going to end if I don't make it right."
Ned made a call, and officers came to the house. Jason was read his rights and led away, and Katie stood outside, watching with Sophie as the officer held Jason's head down to get into the police car.
"It's not enough," Sophie said. "I think I'm supposed to feel grateful that he owned up to it, but I don't. I'm so angry."
"Let's talk to your mom," Katie asked gently.
"I don't want to hurt her by telling her what really happened," Sophie disagreed. "She can't know."
"She will as soon as the paper hears about Jason, this isn't staying covered up," Katie insisted. "Sophie, you won't be able to go into the light without speaking to your family."
Sophie was sobbing, and Katie could feel the energy drain from her own body. She couldn't deal with this ghost much longer. She was so much, and Katie could barely stand.
Ned was talking with one of the uniforms, and once the car pulled away then Ned jogged back up the lawn. He saw the look on Katie's face and immediately pulled her into his arms.
"Is she still here?" He wondered.
"She left," Katie managed. "But not into the light. She refuses to talk to her family about what happened and I don't think it'll be over until she does."
She could see the disappointment on Ned's face, but he tried to hide it.
"Babe, I can't bear seeing you like this," he said, pressing a kiss to the top of her head as she burrowed her face into his chest.
"I can't bear feeling like this," Katie replied. "I'm so drained, Sophie is taking everything I have."
"What can I do?" Ned wondered.
"Take me to Sophie's mom," Katie said. "I'm doing this with or without her."
They'd found the address online, from the obituary, and Katie thanked god that the online records showed it still belonged to Jamie Ferguson.
Ned and Katie walked up the front walk, and Ned knocked on the door. A middle aged woman opened it, probably a little older than Melinda. "I'm not interested in being converted or in buying something," she said. "So please just leave if those were your goals."
"They aren't," Katie said hurriedly. "We're here to talk about Sophie, if you can."
Jamie looked even more shocked than Jason had. "No," she said, backing away. "No, I can't. It's been twelve years, can't you people leave me alone?"
You people? Katie couldn't wonder what Jamie meant, she just had to make sure the woman didn't close the door.
"Jason Durham was arrested today," Ned said. "We thought you deserved to know."
He was a quicker thinker than Katie today. She was even more grateful he'd come along.
"Jason?" Jamie asked. "What does he have to do with anything? I know he was with her that night but we exhausted those avenues when it happened. It was a freak accident."
"Did they do a full autopsy?" Ned wondered. "Did it show anything that surprised you about your daughter's last moments?"
Jamie inhaled. "I know my daughter was sexually active," she said. "If that's what you're getting at."
"Jason raped her," Katie said, needing this to be over. She hated being so blunt, but desperate times called for total honesty. Ned stiffened beside her; she knew the cop in him had to be screaming at how she was breaking this news.
"What the fuck," Jamie replied. "How dare you come to my doorstep and tell me that the one fucking person who was there for our family after Sophie died abused her. Did you know that Liam become a coke addict after Sophie's death? He couldn't handle it so he turned to drugs. Right now, I don't even know where he's at or what drug he's on now. He's been so high and strung out since she died, and Jason was the one person who kept checking up on me."
"Guilt will make you do that," Katie said. "Jamie, I need to talk to you about this."
"I don't know who the fuck you are, or why you're here, but you need to leave or I'm calling the police," Jamie said, voice shaking.
"Sophie sent me," Kate said, the instant before the door closed. Jamie paused, a millisecond. "She wants you to know that the monsters who lived under her bed were named Pearl and Dudley, and that they weren't real."
The door slammed in their faces, and Ned grabbed Katie's arm, feeling her sway.
"Baby," he told her. "We need to let you sit down."
Sophie was next to Katie, and she was angry. "Why did you do that?" She screamed, her anger taking away anything Katie had left to give.
"Because this has to end," Katie managed, before passing out.
When Katie woke up, she was in bed at home, and she could hear Melinda arguing with someone. She rose up, slowly climbing out of her bed and walking up the basement stairs.
"My daughter is not a liar," Melinda said, and Katie wondered if she was right in thinking that Jamie stood on the other side of the door.
She pushed it open, and her mom whirled to face her. Ned was there too, and he jumped to his feet. "Katie," he exclaimed, but he didn't reach her before her mother did.
"Katie bug," she whispered, holding her daughter tight to her as they turned to face Jamie.
Jame's eyes were red, like the woman had been crying for hours. Katie glanced at the clock and it was past seven, so she'd been out for quite a while. "I need answers," she said. "That's why I'm here. I'm sorry for being so rude earlier, Katherine."
"I didn't handle it in the best way," Katie said, clinging to her mother. "Can we sit?"
She told Jamie the full story, and Jamie looked like she almost believed it. They were in the living room, and Katie wondered where Jim had taken the kids, but he had to have taken them somewhere since they were nowhere in sight.
"I believe you," Jamie finally said, drawing in a deep breath. "That's not easy to say, but I believe you. Um, is Sophie here right now?"
"She is," Katie said softly. "She's angry with me, though. I don't know if she'll speak."
Sophie was in the corner, and she seemed almost surprised that Katie had noticed her. "I'm sorry too," the ghost offered, and materialized to next to her mother. Jamie shivered, her eyes widening.
"Is that her?" She asked, voice filled with her, cracking with a sob when Katie nodded. "Oh my god, Sophie. I am so sorry I let Jason into my house."
"He changed," Sophie said. "Tell my mom I don't blame her."
"Sophie says that Jason tried to change," Katie said. "She doesn't blame you."
"I saw him, just now," Sophie told Katie, looking right at her. "I think he actually regrets it."
"She says she just looked in on him," Katie told Jamie. "That she believes he regrets it."
"God, I feel so naive," Jamie said. "You weren't the girl to sleep around. I should have looked into that more, found out which boy had touched you that night. This could have been over years ago if I hadn't been such an idiot."
"No, mom, don't beat yourself up," Sophie said.
"She doesn't want you to blame yourself," Katie told her. She was seated next to her own mother, and Melinda was staying silent, letting Katie handle the reins, but her mom's arm was firmly placed around Katie's shoulders; protecting her, keeping her close. Ned sat in a nearby armchair, and he was holding Katie's hand.
Sophie continued to speak, and slowly Katie was able to tell Jamie the whole story, through Sophie.
And then it was done. Jamie was crying and Sophie was finally at peace.
"It's time," Melinda whispered. "Sophie sees the light." It was the first time her mother had spoken, and Katie was grateful; she was drained.
"Find Liam," Sophie asked. "I'll be watching from above, mom. I'll be with you."
When Sophie left, Katie could breathe again for the first time in weeks.
Jim came back with the kids soon after; Katie had noticed Melinda texting him. Lana was strapped to his chest with a baby carrier, and Mack and Aaron were both holding ice cream cones.
Her dad gave her a hug after giving Lana to Melinda, holding her tight and kissing her forehead.
After her parents walked up the stairs, holding hands and whispering, Katie turned back to Ned, who she hadn't been able to talk to for hours.
"I can't believe how good you were today," she said. "That came out wrong. I am so grateful to you."
Ned moved to the couch to sit beside her, his arm sliding around her, and his lips touching her forehead. "Baby, I am so glad it's finally over," he whispered, and she tilted her head up so their lips could touch.
"Is there any food?" She asked, and he nodded. When she tried to get up, he held her down.
"Babe," she protested, but he kissed her, before getting up himself.
"I'll microwave it," he said. "Your dad had leftover chicken alfredo, specifically for you."
"So what happened?" She wondered. "Between me passing out and waking up."
"I took you home," Ned said. "I told your mom what happened, and we got you settled downstairs. Then Jamie showed up after dinner, I guess she talked to Jason at the jail and figured out who we were. She came in apologetic but your mom was pissed, and she let her have it. That was when you came up from the basement."
Katie followed him into the kitchen, and gratefully ate when he handed her a plate straight from the microwave. Her dad's chicken alfredo was always incredible.
"Are you okay, Katie?" He asked, kissing her hand as she ate. "I was so afraid for a few hours there. I didn't know what to do."
"But you did know," Katie whispered, feeling a tear run down her cheek. "And that's why I love you, Ned. I don't have to explain anything to you, I don't have to make any excuses. You know, you trust, you don't doubt. And when there's trouble, you're smart enough to get my mom."
He burst out laughing, and she joined in, feeling joy for one of the first times since Sophie had invaded her life.
"I can't believe it took me so long," he said, his voice almost catching. She glanced back up at him, and saw that he'd gotten quite serious. "You were always right there, not even out of reach, just there at my fingertips."
"I knew," she told him. "I always knew that Ned Banks was going to be my h-the one I ended up with."
"Uh huh," he told her, knowing what her slip had almost been. He again lifted her hand to kiss it, holding it against his face. "I love you," he told her, turning her hand to kiss the palm. "I cannot believe I almost missed out on this, missed out on you."
"You would have gotten there eventually," Katie teased. "But seriously, Ned. We always had some sort of bond, and I always knew that it would be magic between us. Magic was always right there, out of the corner of my eye...right at my fingertips. I knew it would happen, and I knew why. It's because you, Ned Banks, are a true believer. It's because you never doubted my mom, it's because you were always my friend, it's because even in your strongest douche bag stage, you never stopped believing in us."
"How could I stop believing in the woman who changed my life?" Ned asked.
Katie had finished the alfredo, and she held her arms out to him. "Take me to bed," she requested, and he lifted her with ease. Her legs wrapped around his muscled waist as he walked down the basement stairs with her, shutting the door carefully behind him.
He lowered her onto the bed, and she could tell he wanted to take it slowly, but she wasn't having it. Her lips met his, and she deepened the kiss immediately. She wanted him now.
He really didn't deserve Katie Clancy, and he knew that, but for some reason, she was his, Ned reflected, as his lips worked over hers, and his hands were at leisure to roam her perfect body.
They slid beneath her sweater to cup her breasts, and he moaned at the feeling. She'd been so off for the past few days due to Sophie, and he was so glad to get her back again.
He'd been in awe today. Literal awe. Obviously he'd always known what Melinda and Katie were capable of, but to see it like this, up close and in person, it had blown him away.
He didn't deserve her, and he intended to spend every moment of the rest of his life endeavoring to be worthy of this woman. He didn't know why she'd deigned to love him, when he'd done so many things that could have driven her away, and she'd have been right to leave.
She hadn't held any of his past against him. Not the sleeping around, not being a relentless asshole, none of it.
She just wanted him.
Her lips were begging for his, and he kissed her again, sucking at the plump lips as his hands wiggled her leggings off to cup her ass and bring her against his erection. She purred in agreement at the contact and he could barely keep his cool. He was going to lose it.
She kissed him deeply, as he delved inside her once their clothes were finally off. His body moved over hers, pinning her there, and she couldn't have been more pleased.
This was right here, right now, this was real. He was making love to Katie Clancy in her parents basement. Even a year ago, Ned would have told anyone who said this to him that they were crazy. That Katie would never have him after everything that had happened.
But here there were...right where they were always meant to be...together…
He kissed her once more, pounding into her. Maybe she was right. It had always been right there, like magic at their fingertips.
A/N: yeah it really took us four years to finish this! but we did, and the whole thing was a labor of love. ked means so much to both me and Mariah and it is a testament to the fact that our friendship has lasted this long.
love you boo ~ Meowser
