Notes: I stole one quote from Will and Grace for this, so be warned, and don't sue me. A little N/CC stuff thrown into this, but not much. Sorry for the wait! Big thing happens in this chap.

December 8, 1995

Ashley stumbled drunkenly up the pathway to her building. She smelled heavily of beer, and was laughing uncontrollably. The doorman gave her a disapproving look as she walked in. She punched the elevator button six times, until it finally opened and she stepped in. She pushed the button for her floor, and slumped to the floor. She hugged her knees until the elevator dinged for her floor. She fished her key from her pocket, and opened the door. She saw her father look up from the kitchen table, and she wasted no time in running to her bedroom. She locked the door and pushed a chair against it as her fathers yelling started to surface. She kicked off her shoes and crawled into bed, and within a minutes time she was sleeping.

December 10, 2005

"Where is Cinderella!" Maxwell boomed, staring at all the other actors on stage. Fran rubbed his shoulder reassuringly.

"She should be here any minute" Fran mumbled, tapping her foot impatiently.
Suddenly, the theater doors opened, and Ashley came in running towards the stage, holding her bag with her costume in it on her shoulder. "I'm soo sorry" she said breathlessly, and took a moment to pause.

"You should be damn well sorry, you brat!" Maxwell shrieked.

C.C., who had been fidgeting nervously stood up. "Maxwell! Surely she has a good excuse!"

Niles looked at C.C. strangely. "Uh…yea…my dad couldn't take me today. I had to take the subway." Ashley choked out. C.C. knew she was lying, but Ashley shot her a warning glare. All the actors looked at Ashley quizzically. Ashley stormed back to her dressing room. The reason she had been late was that Mitch had been at her apartment trying to reason with her. She told him absolutely not and called him a sick bastard, and he threw her into the wall. When she gained consciousness, she had to wash all the blood off of her face. Soon after that, she realized she had a dress rehearsal at the theater.

She grimaced angrily as she changed, her cover-up wasn't working very well on her face. She slathered some more on, and when she seemed satisfied, she walked onto stage. Her performance was outstanding as always, but she couldn't ignore C.C.'s questioning stare.

After rehearsal was over, C.C. came to her dressing room. She knocked. Ashley had already changed back into her jeans and sweatshirt, so she opened the door calmly. Her hair was hiding part of her face, so she figured she looked fine. She was hoping it was Kyle, but grimaced when her eyes met C.C.'s.

C.C. placed her hands on her hips. "Excuse?"

Ashley glared at her, and prepared to slam the door. C.C. caught it with her hand, and backed Ashley up into the dressing room. "Excuse?" she asked, a little hint of anger in her voice.

"Excuse you" Ashley retorted, and turn around. C.C. grabbed her sweatshirt sleeve.

"What the hell?" Ashley snapped, "let go!"

Her struggling got more intense as C.C. tightened her grip.

"Let go, please?" Ashley snapped.

"God!" C.C. cried, releasing her sleeve, "you really are a piece of work, aren't you?"

"Shut up you little snitch" Ashley hissed. C.C. looked at her strangely, then drew her hand back, and slapped the girl across the face. Hard. Ashley looked up at her angrily, though she was clutching the side of her face.

It was silent for a moment, then C.C. grabbed the young girl and hugged her. Ashley was stunned, and her arms hung loosely at her sides.

Once C.C. realized there was no point, she released her. "I-I'm sorry. I- don't- I don't know what came over me…I just-"

"Get. Out." Ashley hissed, her eyes burning with anger.

"Ashley, wait-

"GET OUT!" she screamed, and C.C. backed away. The dressing room door slammed in C.C.'s face. She stumbled away, dazed. She turned and saw Niles coming down the hallway.

"Hey, ghost of Christmas passed out." Niles said.

C.C. smiled weakly and turned around.

"How's Ashley doing?" he whispered. She shrugged her shoulders and walked with him down the hallway.

She yawned and placed her hand on her forehead, leaning against the wall. "Niles, something is happening to her. And it bothers me that I can't figure out what it is!"

"Well, you were never could with children…considering you ate them all…" he said, trying to lighten her up.

She chuckled softly and rolled her eyes. "Not tonight, Hazel."

"You want to get a cup of coffee….I know you don't normally drink it…but…"

"Yeah, yeah. Lets go. There must be a Starbucks around the corner."

Ashley sat in her dressing room, clutching her costume bag close to her chest. She was still trying to process what had happened. She buried her face in her hands, and willed herself not to cry. "Big girls don't cry!" she yelled, staring at her mirror. Without thinking about it, she pounded her fist into her reflection, and watched as shards of it flew everywhere. One of them sliced her cheek, and her hands were cut numerous times. She dropped to her knees, and fell on her face amidst the sea of broken mirror.

Kyle heard a crash come from Ashley's dressing room. He quickly pulled on his sweatshirt, and ran down the hallway from his room to hers. He put his hand on the doorknob and jiggled it. Once he realized it was locked, he kicked the door so hard it flew open. His eyes got huge when he saw Ashley, sprawled on a blood and glass covered floor. He whipped his cell phone out of his pocket, and dialed 911.

C.C. sipped her coffee, looking at Niles intently. They had been there for quite a while now, and Niles jolted when he heard the ambulance sirens.

"I wonder what happened" C.C. said, watching the large vehicle whir by. Niles shrugged his shoulders, and they continued talking.

Ashley opened her eyes, and stared up at white ceiling. She heard doctors screaming orders to one another, but their faces were all blurred. Finally, her wounds were bandaged, and she was sitting upright in her hospital bed, looking at Kyle.

"What happened?" she asked hoarsely.

"You were in your dressing room, lying down on broken pieces of mirror. You almost bled to death. I called the ambulance, and me and Maxwell rode over here with you." His expression was hard to read, but Ashley noted there was definite anger in his voice.

"Kyle….I'm sorry…." She whispered, looking at her bandaged arm.

"Yeah. Me too." He stood up, kissed her on the forehead, and left the room. Millions of thoughts ran through her head. She had no idea whether he hated her or was just shocked. She saw Maxwell sitting in the hallway, and he cast her a glance. Their eyes met, and Ashley read an apology in his eyes. She watched Kyle and Maxwell walk down the hallway, and turned to her left. A tall woman with blonde hair smiled down at her.

"I'm Doctor Connor" she said politely, and sat down next to her.

"Hello" Ashley said quietly, looking down at the floor.

"Are your parents coming to pick you up?" the woman asked kindly.

"No, I'll take a cab."

"I would usually call for a psych consult" Doctor Connor said matter-of-factly, "but it was an accident, the boy, Kyle, said the mirror fell on top of you."

Ashley nodded, a lie she would never regret.

The Doctor nodded, and sighed heavily. "I do, however, have some rather shocking news."

Ashley looked up, all her attention captured.

Doctor Connor sighed.

"You're pregnant."