Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters except Darcy. L.J. Smith is
the rightful owner of: Quinn, Ash, Mary Lynette, Rashel, Rowan, Kestrel,
Jade, etc.
Author's Note: Thanks everyone for reviewing my fic, I love you all! Happy reading!
The Call Chapter Two: Advice From A Friend
"Ash, you look like hell," Quinn offered his sympathy in a style all his own.
With a slap on Ash's back Quinn flounced onto the bed, a smile quirking his lips up at the corners. There was just something about seeing his friend, who was normally so together, falling to pieces over something as simple as love. Never mind the fact that if he ever had to experience the same thing he probably wouldn't take it nearly as well. He thought of Rashel and all of the strength and support she yielded so openly to him and then tried from there to conjure up a mental sketch of this Mary Lynette character. She had to be strong and patient to put up with this idiot Quinn mused. No doubt she was pretty and undoubtedly had a cynical sense of humor if she stood any chance with his hardheaded friend.
It was Thursday morning and the sky outside the rundown room was bright and clear. Ash sat, slumped in a frumpy chair angled next to a beat up desk where an open book laid promising solace. Across the room the hotel's only modern convenience rambled on in a monotone voice. Just then Ash remembered how much he hated television. He hated everything right now.
"Is that all? And here I thought that you were going to say something mean," Ash sneered but his tone was missing that cutthroat edge it normally held.
"Well, okay then if you say so. Here goes---you look horrible. You need, I think, to take some time out for Ash. If you want to get her back stop thinking the way you always do when you want something," the humor Quinn's voice had contained seconds ago had vanished and the need to patch up his friend's love life took its place.
"And how is that?"
"Like you know for sure you're going to win her over like some hero in a comic book. Those things impress girls, but if you want a woman you need to giver her something real to believe in, to want, to hunt. I'm not sure that made sense. Here, simple, be yourself. Relax and do the things that feel right to you. Don't let this Mary Lynette control you and how you think. You want her to love you and come after you right?"
A nod.
"Okay then, you need to be your own man, not some trained pet. Be Ash, it's as simple as that," Quinn nodded his own head as if to conclude the discussion.
"I'm not really sure who I am anymore," Ash dejectedly complained.
Ash rose and looked at his mirror self. The Ash looking back at him had the same eyes but he wasn't sure what laid behind them. How was he supposed to win anyone back without understanding himself?
"Will you stop sounding so whimpy! Where is the weird, twisted sense of humor? The careless attitude? The cocky grin? You need to stop this lovesick shit because you are starting to stink up everybody around you!" Too late Quinn realized the irony in what he was saying but decided to ignore it.
"Yeah, you are right as you always think you are. I guess I could try to be a little more like myself. It is just that sometimes I-I guess I just want to bang my head against something hard to clear it! I'm not very good at this whole emotional thing and right now I am swimming in feelings! I suppose that I do sound pretty dumb lately. Thanks for the advice even if you are a no account jackass," Ash smiled a real smile for the first time in days.
* * *
Darcy was gone. She had left for North Carolina State University last week and wouldn't be back to visit until Spring Break. With a pain in her heart she realized that she was really going to miss her.
The town was asleep, everyone tucked neatly into their beds. The grass below her feet crumpled and the air around her clouded. November was such a pretty month. Above her the sky twinkled with stars like a sheen of diamonds.
College was coming back into session and she was going to have to leave her hometown for a busy campus soon. Mary Lynette had chosen the university for its low student population but even on the best of days she felt choked and crowded among strangers. Not like when she was home.
She had her brother and parents. A nice house to relax in, where she could sleep in until noon or shave her legs in the bathtub after dinner. That family now included three new sisters: Rowan, Kestrel, and Jade. The four of them together were a sight to behold. Remembering some of the better, more legal, things they had done brought a flush and a smile to her face. She had her other friends from last year and new ones this year, but something was missing.
"I'm sorry Ash. I truly am. But I-I just can't do this! This isn't some romantic fairy tale you know. There is no guaranteed happy ending. You need to grow up! You want me to come away with you. Come away with you where? Didn't you say that the whole night world would hunt me down if we were together? What about that? Wh-What you are asking of me is unreasonable. Neither one of us is secure enough to embark on something this big together. I have dreams, goals. One of which is to marry and have kids but not right now. Could we even have children? What would happen to them? There are too many questions that you can't answer," Mary Lynette had begun her tirade with power and strength but the sound of her voice decrescendoed to a pitiful sob. She recalled placing down the receiver in response to his silence.
Even now it brought tears to her eyes. The words were meant to hurt and yet somehow she hoped that they might end the pain. Only the former had happened. She hadn't left with her soul mate, now she was bonded to a school she didn't care about and a dream she was no longer interested in.
"I thought that I might find you out here," it was freezing outside but Rowan Redfern climbed the hill without even a sweater on.
Rowan's pale skin eerily glowed in the moonlight, her hair a shiny swirl of shadow. She had always been closest to Mary Lynette they were so alike in many ways.
"Am I that predictable," Mary Lynette gave an un-ladylike snort.
"No, but sisters always know these types of things. I figured you could use a friend and some hot cocoa," Rowan held up her hands, a steaming mug in each.
"I just watched you coming up and didn't even notice that you had anything in your hands. Am I that out of it?" a strained smile stretched her face.
Both girls laughed and settled down next to each other on the frigid earth. A shiver ran down Mary Lynette's back.
"The stars look pretty amazing tonight, huh?"
"Yeah, they do. There is just something about the cold that makes the stars look so crystalline. It is times like this that I really miss having my telescope packed up in my dorm," Mary Lynette gave a small shrug and resigned herself to enjoying the warm atmosphere in contrast with the low temperatures.
"You are so strong. Look at you. I really admire how you handled the situation with Ash. You made him grow up and I think that he needed that. You can't do everything you know. You know what your capable of and what you want and you seem to know the same of Ash. I-" Rowan was interrupted.
"I thought that love was supposed to flood your sense and make you wild with no inhibitions. How can I be sure this is love if I try to apply logic and reason to it all of the time?" Mary Lynette rested her tear- streaked face on the other girl's shoulder.
"I don't know, but I think we might just find out. Find out soon," Rowan rested her head on Mary Lynette's. A circle of love and friendship.
Author's Note: Thanks everyone for reviewing my fic, I love you all! Happy reading!
The Call Chapter Two: Advice From A Friend
"Ash, you look like hell," Quinn offered his sympathy in a style all his own.
With a slap on Ash's back Quinn flounced onto the bed, a smile quirking his lips up at the corners. There was just something about seeing his friend, who was normally so together, falling to pieces over something as simple as love. Never mind the fact that if he ever had to experience the same thing he probably wouldn't take it nearly as well. He thought of Rashel and all of the strength and support she yielded so openly to him and then tried from there to conjure up a mental sketch of this Mary Lynette character. She had to be strong and patient to put up with this idiot Quinn mused. No doubt she was pretty and undoubtedly had a cynical sense of humor if she stood any chance with his hardheaded friend.
It was Thursday morning and the sky outside the rundown room was bright and clear. Ash sat, slumped in a frumpy chair angled next to a beat up desk where an open book laid promising solace. Across the room the hotel's only modern convenience rambled on in a monotone voice. Just then Ash remembered how much he hated television. He hated everything right now.
"Is that all? And here I thought that you were going to say something mean," Ash sneered but his tone was missing that cutthroat edge it normally held.
"Well, okay then if you say so. Here goes---you look horrible. You need, I think, to take some time out for Ash. If you want to get her back stop thinking the way you always do when you want something," the humor Quinn's voice had contained seconds ago had vanished and the need to patch up his friend's love life took its place.
"And how is that?"
"Like you know for sure you're going to win her over like some hero in a comic book. Those things impress girls, but if you want a woman you need to giver her something real to believe in, to want, to hunt. I'm not sure that made sense. Here, simple, be yourself. Relax and do the things that feel right to you. Don't let this Mary Lynette control you and how you think. You want her to love you and come after you right?"
A nod.
"Okay then, you need to be your own man, not some trained pet. Be Ash, it's as simple as that," Quinn nodded his own head as if to conclude the discussion.
"I'm not really sure who I am anymore," Ash dejectedly complained.
Ash rose and looked at his mirror self. The Ash looking back at him had the same eyes but he wasn't sure what laid behind them. How was he supposed to win anyone back without understanding himself?
"Will you stop sounding so whimpy! Where is the weird, twisted sense of humor? The careless attitude? The cocky grin? You need to stop this lovesick shit because you are starting to stink up everybody around you!" Too late Quinn realized the irony in what he was saying but decided to ignore it.
"Yeah, you are right as you always think you are. I guess I could try to be a little more like myself. It is just that sometimes I-I guess I just want to bang my head against something hard to clear it! I'm not very good at this whole emotional thing and right now I am swimming in feelings! I suppose that I do sound pretty dumb lately. Thanks for the advice even if you are a no account jackass," Ash smiled a real smile for the first time in days.
* * *
Darcy was gone. She had left for North Carolina State University last week and wouldn't be back to visit until Spring Break. With a pain in her heart she realized that she was really going to miss her.
The town was asleep, everyone tucked neatly into their beds. The grass below her feet crumpled and the air around her clouded. November was such a pretty month. Above her the sky twinkled with stars like a sheen of diamonds.
College was coming back into session and she was going to have to leave her hometown for a busy campus soon. Mary Lynette had chosen the university for its low student population but even on the best of days she felt choked and crowded among strangers. Not like when she was home.
She had her brother and parents. A nice house to relax in, where she could sleep in until noon or shave her legs in the bathtub after dinner. That family now included three new sisters: Rowan, Kestrel, and Jade. The four of them together were a sight to behold. Remembering some of the better, more legal, things they had done brought a flush and a smile to her face. She had her other friends from last year and new ones this year, but something was missing.
"I'm sorry Ash. I truly am. But I-I just can't do this! This isn't some romantic fairy tale you know. There is no guaranteed happy ending. You need to grow up! You want me to come away with you. Come away with you where? Didn't you say that the whole night world would hunt me down if we were together? What about that? Wh-What you are asking of me is unreasonable. Neither one of us is secure enough to embark on something this big together. I have dreams, goals. One of which is to marry and have kids but not right now. Could we even have children? What would happen to them? There are too many questions that you can't answer," Mary Lynette had begun her tirade with power and strength but the sound of her voice decrescendoed to a pitiful sob. She recalled placing down the receiver in response to his silence.
Even now it brought tears to her eyes. The words were meant to hurt and yet somehow she hoped that they might end the pain. Only the former had happened. She hadn't left with her soul mate, now she was bonded to a school she didn't care about and a dream she was no longer interested in.
"I thought that I might find you out here," it was freezing outside but Rowan Redfern climbed the hill without even a sweater on.
Rowan's pale skin eerily glowed in the moonlight, her hair a shiny swirl of shadow. She had always been closest to Mary Lynette they were so alike in many ways.
"Am I that predictable," Mary Lynette gave an un-ladylike snort.
"No, but sisters always know these types of things. I figured you could use a friend and some hot cocoa," Rowan held up her hands, a steaming mug in each.
"I just watched you coming up and didn't even notice that you had anything in your hands. Am I that out of it?" a strained smile stretched her face.
Both girls laughed and settled down next to each other on the frigid earth. A shiver ran down Mary Lynette's back.
"The stars look pretty amazing tonight, huh?"
"Yeah, they do. There is just something about the cold that makes the stars look so crystalline. It is times like this that I really miss having my telescope packed up in my dorm," Mary Lynette gave a small shrug and resigned herself to enjoying the warm atmosphere in contrast with the low temperatures.
"You are so strong. Look at you. I really admire how you handled the situation with Ash. You made him grow up and I think that he needed that. You can't do everything you know. You know what your capable of and what you want and you seem to know the same of Ash. I-" Rowan was interrupted.
"I thought that love was supposed to flood your sense and make you wild with no inhibitions. How can I be sure this is love if I try to apply logic and reason to it all of the time?" Mary Lynette rested her tear- streaked face on the other girl's shoulder.
"I don't know, but I think we might just find out. Find out soon," Rowan rested her head on Mary Lynette's. A circle of love and friendship.