Review Section
MistyRiver17: I'm sorry to hear that you've lost your voice. Hopefully it'll come back soon and you can cheer me on.
Justlikeyou: You know as well as I do that if it weren't difficult, it'd be a pretty dull story. And those are never fun to read.
Author's Note
As usual, I would like to thank my beta reader, NatitaluvsSmV, for all of her help. There's not really much else to say about this chapter. Yeah.
Not Where We've Been
Chapter 3
By Persephone's Nautical Nun
My heart was beating wildly in my chest as Ashley pulled up to my house. I had never dreaded being home this much in my life. What I was about to do, I couldn't even think of anything that compared to how scared I was for what I was about to do.
Ashley must have noticed my hesitation because I felt her take my hand. I looked over at her wide eyed, and she brought my hand up to her lips and kissed my palm, whispering "It'll be okay."
I felt a little better after that, but how could she promise the outcome? How could she sit there and tell me that it would be alright if she didn't really know?
Ashley wanted to be there when I told my mom about us. I tried to tell her that it would probably make matters worse, but she just didn't care. She said my mom was less likely to make a scene if some one other than family was in the house.
Ashley still doesn't know my mom very well.
With a heavy sigh I opened the door to the car , and started walking up to my house, Ashley following silently behind.
Mom wasn't home when we got there, so we headed up to my room to wait for her. Ashley laid sprawled out on my bed, cool as ever, while I paced the length of my room. She did try to calm me down, though.
"Spence, don't worry about it. Don't even think about what you're going to say now. Because in the heat of the moment, all your practicing is going to fly out the window."
I knew she was right, but I was still scared. I stopped my pacing and sighed for the fiftieth time in the past half hour.
Ashley got up from her spot on the bed and approached me very slowly, almost as if she were afraid that she would break me if she came at me too fast. I really must have looked like a mess. She closed the distance between us after what seemed like hours and brought her arms around me, wrapping me in a tight, yet gentle embrace. And I drew from her. I don't know what I drew, but with that hug, I felt stronger than I have felt in a long time.
And that's when we heard the front door open and close.
"I'm going to stand in the background, okay?" she whispered. "I need to be in the background, but I need to be here none the less."
I don't know why, but I understood. I understood why she couldn't stand next to me while I did this. This was something that I had to overcome on my own. Plain and simple.
We went downstairs and found my mom in the kitchen, starting dinner. Ashley stood in the door frame, her arms crossed over her chest, a small frown settled upon her features. I walked up to my mother. "Hey, Mom."
She looked up from her cutting board with a smile at me. "Hey, Spencer." She noticed Ashley behind me and her smile faded, and she greeted Ashley with much less enthusiasm. "Hello, Ashley."
"Um, Mom, can I talk to you?"
She went back to her chopping and said offhandedly, "Sure, Honey. You know you can talk to me about anything."
The fingers of my right hand fidgeted with the nail on my middle finger of my left hand. "You might not want to say that so soon..."
She snapped her head up and looked at me with a concerned look on her face. Her eyes flew over to Ashley behind me for a second before they rested on me again. She knew. She knew, but she was still going to make me say it. "Spencer, what is it?" Her face slowly changed from concern to anger.
"Well, Mom, it's just that..." I lost my voice for a moment. Then I looked behind me at Ashley and she gave me the tiniest of nods to continue. "Ashley and I... are in a... relationship." Surprisingly enough, the last word came out the strongest. Like I was sure of myself, even though I was standing in this incredibly frightening situation.
Mom set her knife down and stared at me for a moment, her lips pulled into a tight line. I noticed her eyes settle on the small scar on my lip. "I see." She was quiet for a few more seconds. "So, Ashley's the reason you got attacked."
This is exactly what I was afraid of. I didn't want anybody blaming Ashley for what happened to me. "No, Mom, Ash didn't do any..."
Mom waved her knife in Ashley's direction. "I was right about you. I knew you were bad for my daughter."
I tried again to stand up for her. "Mom, listen. Ashley didn't do anything."
"Oh, yes, she did. This never would have happened if you hadn't met her. This never would have happened if you had listened to me the first day when Glen told us she was gay. Everyone's corruptible, Spence, even you."
This time it was Ashley who spoke up. "With all due respect, Mrs. Carlin, I don't think you're being fair to either one of us right now."
"Well, with all due respect, Ashley, you don't have a right to talk right now." my mom told her in the most condescending tone I've ever heard her use.
"Oh, no, Mrs. Carlin. I think I have every right to speak because you're hurting Spencer. Can't you see that? And I don't like it when Spencer's hurt."
I was at a loss. Here I was, standing in my kitchen, watching my girlfriend and my mother battle over me. I couldn't handle this. I did the only thing I could think of doing at that point. I grabbed Ashley by the wrist and pulled her out the front door, getting in her car, hoping she would take the hint that we needed to leave.
My mother yelled at me all the way out to come back.
And for once, I didn't listen.