I've Fallen to Pieces part 3

That night showed neither girl mercy as Spencer kept finding herself reliving the moment Aiden turned on her in her nightmares and Ashley trying to keep her friend from thrashing herself off of the bed. She whispered soothing words in the blonde's ear to help calm her back down as she wiped the tears out of the frightened girl's eyes.
At the end of this long night, they woke up with Spencer wrapped in her best friend's loving embrace. She felt ill from the physical and emotional stress of the last twelve hours and untangled herself from the protective warmth of the brunette's arms.
Painfully, the blonde made her way to the bathroom and splashed her face with cool water and slowly looked up into the mirror of the medicine cabinet. With a gasp of surprise, she saw the angry purple bruises across her left cheek and the right side of her jaw, her lip split where she was punched. She closes her eyes and turns her head away, disgusted with herself. Before she could even help herself, she was violently throwing up the contents of her stomach and sobbing. Everything hurt and she didn't know what to do with herself.
Ashley had gotten up moments as she felt Spencer leave and she stood up to find out where the younger girl went. As she came closer to the bathroom, she heard the sound of the other girl emptying her stomach. Without even knocking, she opened up the door and kneeled down by her friend, stroking her hair and rubbing her back. She hadn't yet realized that she was crying too.
When Spencer stopped heaving, Ashley wrapped her arms loosely around Spencer's waist from behind as the blonde leaned back into her. They just stayed like that until their legs began to fall asleep. Then, after getting her cleaned up, she sat leaned back and brushed some hair out of the blonde's face.
"Did you want me to fix you something to eat? Something to drink? Anything?" Ashley asked, wanted to feel like she was doing more than sitting around helplessly.
"No," the blonde whispered as she shook her head.
"Are you sure there's nothing I can do?" She asked, making sure that the girl wasn't in need of anything and Spencer shakes her head. "Did you want to try and get some more rest?"
"Yeah," the younger girl replied with a slight nod of her head.
Being ever so careful, Ashley helped the girl back into a standing position and led her back to the room and helped her back into bed. She stood back up, only to be held back as a small hand took a hold of her own.
"Did you want me to stay?" Ashley asked, unsure.
"Would you mind?" Spencer requested softly. "You don't have to, but I-"
"I'd love to," Ashley cuts in as she leaned down and planted a light kiss on the blonde's forehead before climbing back in next to the vulnerable girl.
They laid like that for an indeterminable amount of time. Both were on their sides and facing one another. Ashley had one arm draped over Spencer's waist to keep her body close and she used her other hand to run her fingers through her friend's hair.
"I love you Ash," Spencer whispered quietly, breaking the rhythmic sound of their breathing.
The brunette paused, causing the other girl to open her eyes and look at the shorter girl, afraid she'd said something wrong. "I love you too Spence," she admitted at seeing the other girl's expression.
At the admission, Spencer moved slightly closer to the dark haired girl and rested her head against Ashley's chest. The older girl just held her close and knew that just being there was a big help to her best friend. The only good coming out of this whole ordeal was that the two were brought infinitely closer to one another.

One Month Later
"Spencer, Honey, are you okay?" Paula asks as she knocks on the bathroom door. She hates the fact that, on one of the few days the girl has been at home, she locked herself in the bathroom. She knows that she has no right to be upset with her daughter, the trial had been hard on everyone, especially Spencer.
"What's going on?" Ashley asks as she walks upstairs, not knocking before entering the house.
Paula looks over at the girl gratefully. "Thank God you're here," she says, causing Ashley to raise her eyebrows. "She's locked herself in the bathroom," she explains quietly to her daughter's best friend.
Ashley is perplexed about the whole situation as she knocks on the door. "Hey, Sweetie, is everything okay?" She asks softly. At the sound of the other girl's voice, Spencer unlocks the door and opens it for the other girl to come in. "What's going on Spence?" The brunette asks as the blonde goes and sits back down on the lid of the toilet.
"Look," Spencer responds as she looks over at the bathroom counter.
Cautiously, the older girl walks over and looks at what she was motioning to. Her eyes widen as she turns and looks at her friend in surprise. "You're pregnant?" She asks, trying not to say it too loud. Spencer nods. "This isn't conclusive though," she points out reasonably, hoping that this isn't true.
"It's the third one I've taken and the third one to come out positive," Spencer sighs as she rests her elbows on her knees and places her head in her hands. "I don't know what to do Ash. I thought things would start getting easier once they shipped Aiden off to prison, but now this," she tries not to cry.
Ashley silently curses the gods for doing this to someone so good and pure. "Have you told anyone else about this?" Ashley wonders.
"No. You're the first person I've told. God, why is this happening?" She asks no one in particular.
Ashley hugs the other girl close and struggles with a question of her own. "Are you going to keep it?" She asks after several agonizing minutes.
Spencer pulls away slightly to look into the brunette's eyes, slightly hurt. "How can you even ask that? Of course I am," she responds, appalled at the very idea of trying to get rid of it.
"It's okay, I understand. I wanted to make sure," Ashley responds, never intending to have offended the younger girl as she gently wipes a tear from the other girl's cheek with her thumb.
"You aren't, like, disgusted are you?" Spencer asks self-consciously at how it must sound to want to keep a child that was the product of rape.
The brunette smiles softly. "Of course not Honey. I intend to be there by your side during this whole thing," she states seriously.
"Really?" Spencer blurts out in surprise.
"You won't be able to get rid of me," Ashley smirks before going soft once more. "I love you Spencer and I'm not going anywhere," she replies earnestly.
This time, Spencer doesn't just remain still, she leans forward and captures the other girl's lips with her own. Ashley, initially caught off guard, returns the tender kiss, pulling the girl closer to her. Their tongues meet briefly before they pull away for air. Spencer rests her head on the shorter girl's shoulder, trying not to think about what lies ahead.
"You're going to have a baby," Ashley repeats in awe as she looks into the beautiful blue eyes she's become so familiar with.
Spencer thinks about that for a moment. "No, we are," the blonde replies as she realizes that Ashley is going to constantly be there as much as, if not more than, a real dad should be.
Ashley grins brightly at the statement. "We'll get through this together Sweetie, you and me...no matter what," she promises the girl still wrapped up in her arms.
"I like the sound of that," Spencer sighs, feeling like things may be all right after all.
For now though, they'll just try to make the most of this moment before they are forced to leave the bathroom and enter back into the real world. As far as Ashley is concerned, she makes a vow to keep protecting Spencer, as well as her baby, and to show them both the love and attention that her parents never gave her.
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Author's Note: There is a sequel currently in the works. It will be posted when it is nearing completion.