Disclaimer: Not mine

Ashley Hammond/Astro Yellow: Oh yeah, thanks for all your help with the last chapter. :P I thought all I promised you was that Ashley would kiss him and drive him crazy and then get mad at him. Oh well, it doesn't matter anymore. :P

Juzblue: Thank Marieke, that was her idea... as much as I wish it was mine. :P

Mz. Daydream: Because Andros is an idiot? I'm not quite sure why, either.

JDPhoenix: I know! I enjoy being sick and twisted, too:P

C.C.C: He's going to apologize, and Ashley's going to forgive him, since they now have a bigger problem.

Jenny: Half the time Andros is an idiot. The other half of the time, I just write inconsistently, because he's supposed to be an idiot all the time. :P

Chapter 22

Ashley did the best that she could to avoid Andros, but eventually, he found her. She was sitting on the floor of a small storage closet, huddled in a corner, making herself as small as possible. It was a good hiding place, but when the door opened and she saw him standing there, there was no other way out. She'd done her best not to see him at all, and it had worked quite well for the past two weeks. The only time that she'd seen him had been when they had sent Alana and Blaze back to their own dimension, and now that Andros was so close again, all Ashley wanted to do was break down and cry.

"Please don't hide from me," Andros begged her. "I just want to talk to you."

Ashley didn't answer, and Andros stood there, waiting for a reply. Finally, Ashley nodded her head. "Can I sit down?" he asked, just as softly. She nodded her head again, the motion so small Andros wondered if he hadn't imagined it. Ashley didn't look at him as he sat down beside her, although the space was so small that there was less than three inches between them. The light was dim, but enough for Andros to see that Ashley looked so fragile, sitting with her knees drawn up to her chin, and her arms wrapped around her knees.

"I'm so sorry," Andros said, keeping his eyes cast downward at the floor. "I'm sorry for whatever I've done to make you think that I stayed with you out of guilt. There's nothing that anyone could ever do to make me not love you, or to make me love you any less than I do now."

"I love you," Ashley whispered, the first words she'd spoken to him in two weeks.

He reached out to her, dropping his hand when she shrank back from his touch. Andros looked away, surprised to feel Ashley's arms around his neck a moment later.

Relieved, he pulled her into a fierce hug, holding her as close to him as was physically possible. Shaking with unshed tears, Ashley buried her face in his neck, feeling him rubbing small circles in her back, whispering softly to her, telling her that he loved her and that everything was going to be all right.

Andros said nothing when Ashley started sobbing, cradling her silently as she cried, feeling his heart aching for her, wishing that he could just take all her pain away. She'd been through too much already, most of it because of him. When Ashley managed to bring herself under control, several minutes of silence passed before she could work up the courage to say anything.

"Andros." She couldn't avoid it any longer; she had to tell him now. It would nearly kill her to lose him, but if that's what was going to happen, she might as well get it over with.

Ashley's voice was quiet, and there was something about the flat way that she spoke his name that told Andros that the nightmare was far from over. "What's wrong, Ash?" he asked, feeling the fear build up in his stomach.

The small space which had been ideal for hiding was now stifling. As the darkness became smothering, Ashley couldn't breathe, and struggled to her feet. She stumbled into the corridor, leaning her forehead against the bulkhead.

"Ash?" Andros grasped her arm as she began shaking again.

"Andros," Ashley said, her throat suddenly very dry. "Andros, I..." She choked on the words, unable to bring herself to say it. She swallowed, unable to look away as she said it. "I'm pregnant."

Her words hung in the air as Andros stared at her, his face completely void of emotion. Then, as her words registered, Ashley saw his eyes widen and fill with a mixture of fear and hope, the hope quickly replaced by sadness.

"How many weeks?" Andros asked, his voice choked.

"Six," Ashley whispered. "Andros, I don't know whose it is."

She saw Andros's eyes fill with tears that he let fall freely, making no effort at all to hold them back.

Ashley closed her eyes, her fear running too deep for tears. She was already too attatched to the unborn child to even consider killing it, and she knew that she didn't have it in her to give up the baby once it was born, if the father was Arrow. It was still her child, and no one was going to take it from her.

Then she felt Andros envelop her in his arms again, and she clung to him, afraid that if she let go of him for even an instant, he would be gone. Shaking, they held each other, his tears soaking her hair, each trying to work up the courage to say something to the other.

It couldn't possibly be his child, Andros thought sadly as he clung to Ashley. The baby couldn't be his, no matter how much he wished otherwise. Still, he just couldn't lose Ashley, and raising a child that had been forced on her was a small price to pay to spend the rest of his life with her.

"Marry me."

Ashley jerked back out of Andros's arms, staring up at him in shock. He looked stunned too, as if he hadn't meant to speak, but his hazel eyes bored into her own lovingly, and Ashley realized that the was serious.

"But Andros, the baby might not..." Ashley choked the words out, but found that she couldn't say it. "The baby probably isn't..."

"I don't care," Andros whispered fiercely . He raised one hand to her face, lightly caressing her scarred cheek, his hazel eyes bright with tears. "I love you, Ashley."

"But what if the baby isn't yours?" Ashley asked. "Won't you hate me?"

"I'd never hate you, Ash," Andros whispered.

"You did before," Ashley mumbled. It took Andros a moment to realize what Ashley was talking about, and suddenly, he hated himself more than he ever had before as he remembered his angry words to Ashley on that day months ago.

"You don't love me. I don't love you. I could never love you. In fact, I hate you."

"I've never been more wrong in my life," Andros said, wrapping his arms around her. "Ashley, I love you, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you."

"Andros, I can't let you marry me." Ashley could feel her heart breaking, but she couldn't let him marry her and find out later that the child wasn't his.

"Ashley, I am begging you, don't leave me. I can't live without you."

He really was begging her; she could see it in his eyes. All traces of his stubborn pride were gone as he stood there with tears in his eyes, pleading with her to stay with him, and to let him raise a child that probably wasn't his. There was so much love in his gaze that it made her want to die, before he realized how unworthy of it she was.

"Why are you so good to me?" Ashley whispered. "Andros, I don't deserve you."

The look Andros gave her then was heartbreaking, his tears staining her cheeks as well as his own. "And I'll this time I've been thinking that I don't deserve you." He kissed the top of her head, stroking her hair with one hand. Thoughtfully, he added, "Maybe we deserve each other, Ash."

Ashley leaned into his embrace, suddenly able to cry, and tears poured silently out of her eyes as she stood, shaking, still caught in Andros's arms. As she buried her face in his shoulder, she felt him slip on arm beneath her knees as he lifted her up off of the ground.

He started walking, using his telepathy to soothe her, sending a great wave of calm through her troubled mind. Exhaustion and relief slowly took the place of lingering pain and fear, and she heard Andros speaking to her as if from a great distance. She didn't hear any of what he was saying, but knew without a doubt that he would repeat the words countless times.

Andros set her down carefully in her bed, and drew the blankets up over her. He kissed her forehead gently and settled down beside her, whispering in her ear, "Sleep now, Ash, and don't worry, I promise that I'll be here when you wake up."