Chapter 24- Friend Zoned
When Rae and Skye came downstairs, Stuart was holding a bouquet of flowers in his hand as he talked to Myrtle.
Skye hurried down the stairs and crashed into his arms. "Oh, Uncle Stuart, I knew you'd come!"
Stuart hugged her tightly. "I was so sad when I found out you left. But it made me so so happy you're staying in Pine Valley."
"I didn't want to leave you, Uncle Stuart. But I had to get away from Daddy."
He frowned. "Sometimes Adam can be just plain mean. But he loves us, Skye. He really does. He'll always be my safety and I'll always be his heart. He's just a big ding-dong. But he's my brother and you're my niece, and I… I love you both! I know I'm not very smart, but I do know that you are so very special, especially to me." He handed her the flowers.
"Trust me, you are so much smarter than Daddy in all the ways that count." Skye smelled the flowers. "Are these…?"
He beamed. "Daffodils and daisies and tulips. I had them specially put together at the—the florist. Do you remember when you were little, and we used to steal armfuls of them?"
Skye smiled. "Do I? It's one of my earliest memories."
Stuart giggled and pointed to the bouquet. "Daffodils and daisies and tulips. The gardener used to chase us."
Rae smiled with tears in her eyes. "Sounds like your uncle Stuart was your partner in crime, Skye."
Skye nodded. "The tulips were my favourite. I kept them in a jar up in the treehouse you built for me."
"Yeah, we had such fun," Stuart said. "And then we'd make daisy chains in the summer, remember? We can do that again, Skye. Now that you're back in Pine Valley. We can do all those things again, this summer. We can teach Myrtle and Rae how."
"You must stay for lunch, Stuart," Myrtle suggested. "Soup's on and there's lots for everyone."
Stuart frowned. "I wish I could. But I have to meet with Barrie."
"Barrie?" Skye raised an eyebrow. "Daddy's lawyer?"
He nodded and started to cry. "Marian wants a divorce."
"What?" Skye almost dropped the flowers. "How dare she!? I mean I always knew you were too good for you, but how dare she choose to leave you?"
"Skye, try to calm down," Rae said.
"Don't be angry with her," Stuart said sadly and ran a hand through his hair to mess it up a bit. "She found someone else. I want her to be happy, but I'm sad that she's leaving me."
"Let me get this straight," Skye said. "She's having an affair and yet she has the audacity to divorce you?"
Stuart shrugged. "It's okay."
"No, it's not okay! I'm going to give her a piece of my mind!" Skye headed towards the door, but Rae stopped her.
"Skye, let your Uncle Stuart do this the way he wants to," Rae said.
Skye groaned. "At least the silver lining is you'll be free of her."
Myrtle cleared her throat and changed the subject. "Stuart, why don't you show Skye what else you brought for her?"
Stuart's eyes lit up. "Oh, yes. I noticed Adam accidentally asked Winifred to throw this out, but it was in your room, so I rescued it for you." He lifted the Whac-A-Mole from the couch.
Skye smiled. "You saved my Whac-A-Mole."
The phone rang and Myrtle left to answer it.
"Don't hate Adam," Stuart said. "He doesn't know no better. He does love you. We all do. E-even Colby said your name this morning." He laughed. "At least it sounded like you. She said Guy."
She moaned. "I told that brat I don't know how many times that it's Skye!"
"Maybe can get some dinner this week," Stuart suggested. "Wouldn't that be nice?"
Skye smiled and nodded.
Myrtle returned from her phone call. "I have some news."
"What is it, Mama?" Rae asked.
"That was the Port Charles Police Department. Lorenzo Alcazar was arrested for locking Skye in the boathouse."
"Good," Rae said, but she turned to Skye. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah…" Skye sighed. "I just can't help but feel like this was partly my fault."
"Don't say that," Rae said. "You aren't at fault for his criminal behaviour."
"I guess."
After Stuart left, Myrtle, Rae, and Skye sat down for lunch, but Skye really wasn't that hungry. She excused herself and went to use Myrtle's phone. Luckily, she had memorized Jax's phone number. She twisted the phone chord around her finger as she waited for him to answer.
"Jasper Jacks, how can I help you?" his muffled voice came through.
"Jax, hi!" Skye's voice came out a little higher than she anticipated. "It's Skye. Skye… Chandler."
"Skye… how are you feeling?"
"A lot better. I never got to thank you for rescuing me."
"I'm just sorry I didn't get in to visit you at the hospital. It's just…"
Skye sighed. "It's okay."
"And once you were out, I couldn't get a hold of you. I heard your phone was destroyed. I did talk to about you though and he filled me in…"
"You were trying to call me?" Skye asked.
"Yes, I wanted to make sure you were okay."
"Jax… I'm sorry about Lorenzo…" She suddenly started talking very fast with no pauses. "I didn't even want to go out with him I'm just really struggling right now having found out I was adopted but not even really adopted but stolen from Rae Cummings and that Alan is my father and when I saw him run upstairs to protect the daughter he loves from a mobster I wanted to know if he'd be like that with me so I needed to date a mobster just for him to notice me but I didn't do it to hurt you in fact I thought you were too good for my anyway so I figured let you go before I hurt you but I had no idea he would lock me in a boathouse to freeze to death I'm just really sorry and I won't blame you if you want nothing to do with me but I really like you and I hope you'll give us another shot because I want to try harder and be a woman you will respect and that you deserve—"
"Skye, it's okay," Jax said. "Alan filled me in a bit. I understand where you're coming from. I really would like to see you again, but I think it would be best if it was just a friendship."
Skye's heart sank. "Oh."
"Just for now, then see where it goes. You're dealing with a lot and I think you need a friend not a lover right now. I really like you too and I see potential between us. That's why I think to save any chance of something good between us, we need to be friends first."
Skye sighed. "I guess I could live with that."
"So, how about some bowling next week?"
"I've never bowled before, but there's a first time for everything."
