Disclaimer: Not mine, not mine, not mine!
Ashley Hammond/Astro Yellow: The world is crazy... but so are you. :P
Chylea3784: I can promise you that they'll be happy by the end of the sequel. This one maybe not so much.
Jeanka: Not for awhile, around chapter ten.
Jessica01: Nope, we don't need to. :P
Melissa: There chapters are a lot shorter than the one's from Saving Angel, but there going to get longer.
Juzblue: Thanks
Chapter 2
The air was cool enough, but the room seemed stifling warm to Ashley as well as Andros, who kept his eyes from darting towards her only by some unknown force of will. Although he would have appeared perfectly composed to an outsider, he couldn't quite manage to conceal his anxiety from her, but Ashley was fairly certain that her parents had no idea how nervous he was.
"Ashley, honey, see if Andros wants some more chicken," Mrs. Hammond urged. Her daughter somehow managed to refrain both from rolling her eyes up at the ceiling and pointing out that her mother could have just as easily asked Andros herself.
"Andros, would you like some more chicken?" she asked, turning to him with a cheery smile pasted on her face. Andros allowed himself to meet her eyes for one of the few times that evening, and slowly shook his head.
"No, thank you," he said softly. "Dinner was delicious, Mrs. Hammond."
"Thank you, Andros," Ashley's mother said, a faint look of surprise written across her face. "That's very kind of you."
Andros smiled and nodded briefly before carefully averting his eyes and concentrating hard on his now empty plate. Silence settled over them again, broken by the occasional soft chink of silver against china. The door opening temporarily relieved them from their discomfort.
"Jeff!" Ashley exclaimed happily the instant she spotted her older brother. "What are you doing here?"
"Do you really think I can cook for myself?" he asked with a grin, giving his mother a hug. "Think, Ash."
Ashley grinned back. "Jeff, this is Andros. Andros, this is my brother, Jeff."
"Hi," Jeff said. "So you're the guy who's dating my little sister? Kidding!" he added hastily, inching away from Ashley's glare.
"Jeff, would you like some food? There's plenty."
"No, it's all right, Mom," Jeff told her, quickly taking in the expressions of everyone seated at the table. "I've got to go soon, anyway. I'll just make myself a sandwhich."
"Oh, don't worry," Alice Hammond said. "I'll make it for you. I need to talk to Ashley in the kitchen for a minute anyway."
Ashley grimaced slightly and stood, her hand brushing against Andros's shoulder for just the briefest second as she passed by him, but he knew that it had been a deliberate touch; a silent encouragement.
With a sigh, Ashley follwed her mother into the kitchen. "Well?"
"Ashley..."
"Mom, just say it," she all but shouted. "You don't like him."
"I don't hate him, Ashley," Alice was quick to say. "But I'm not impressed by him."
"Just give him a chance, Mom," Ashley insisted. "He's really sweet."
"I don't doubt that he is," her mother said after a moment. "But anybody can be sweet."
Ashley exhaled slowly, finding that silently counting to ten did nothing to pull her temper back into check. "Mom, you've known him for less than an hour! You can't judge him so quickly. I've-"
She stopped speaking abruptly as it dawned on her that she was practically shouting now. The kitchen door was still wide open, and she had no doubt that her words had carried as far as Andros's ears. She groaned miserably, leaning forward onto the counter to let her face hide itself in her hands.
"Ash? Should I go now?" Andros spoke to her telepathically, his voice much more subdued than was normal, even for him.
"No," she told him quickly, feeling sharp pangs of guilt for the unease she heard in his voice. "Everything's fine. There's just dessert now, and then we can go."
"All right, then," he said dubiously, obviously uncomfortable saying any more than that. "If you're sure it's all right."
"It's fine," she assured him. "Really."
"Ashley..."
"Mom, just trust me," she pleaded. "Andros is really important to me."
"Ashley..."
"Mom, I'm eighteen," she said, her temper reaching its breaking point. "If I want to be with Andros, then you can't do anything about it."
"Maybe not," her mother said stiffly. "But I don't have to like it."
"Mom," Ashley said helplessly. "Just give him a chance, please."
"Go sit down, Ashley," Alice said. "We'll talk about this later."
Swallowing down her scream of frustration, Ashley turned on her heel and stalked back into the dining room, forcing a sunny smile onto her stormy face as Andros caught her eye.
His face was still calm, but his normally soft hazel eyes were blazing with fury. Ashley opened her mouth, intending to demand to know what her father had just said to her boyfriend, but her anger subsided as Andros glanced up at her, the urge to break down and cry replacing it. Behind his own anger, his eyes were filled with a deep hurt that, in her opinion, was there far too often.
"Is everything all right?" Daniel Hammond asked his daughter.
"Everything's fine, Dad," Ashley said quietly, on the verge of tears. Under the table, her fingers groped blindly for Andros's. He seemed hesitant to touch her, the result of her father's unnerving stare, but the look in Ashley's eyes prompted him to squeeze her fingers for the briefest moment before quickly dropping her hand.
"What did he say to you?"
"It doesn't matter, Ash," he said quietly. "Look, maybe I should just go."
"But..." Ashley sighed, knowing that she had no right to beg him to stay. He was already uneasy enough, and she doubted that the evening would improve even marginally. "I'll come later."
"I'm sorry," Andros said quietly, standing up slowly, deliberately avoiding everyone's eyes. "I have some work to do. Thank you for dinner."
Neither of Ashley's parents made a reply of any sort. Shooting a healthy glare at both of them, she jumped up from her seat, slipping her arm through Andros's as he headed to the door. She felt him tense at her touch, as if he feared she would turn on him without her parent's approval. Her fingers tightening gently over his elbow, she walked him to the door, following him out into the cool night air of early September.
"I'm sorry," she said, her fingers reaching up to stroke his cheek. "I didn't know that they'd be like this."
"It's all right," he said stiffly after a short pause. "You don't have to apologize for them, Ashley."
"Then let me apologize for bringing you here," she insisted. "Andros, I feel so horrible."
"I know you do," he said, sighing. "Good night, Ash."
She shook her head, offering him a tiny smile. "I'll be there just as soon as I say good night to my parents."
Andros relaxed at her words and pulled her into his arms, hugging her close for as long as he dared, knowing her parents were eyeing him warily. "I'll see you later, then."
"I love you," Ashley whispered, tilting her head up to brush her lips lightly against his.
He gave her a slight smile before vanishing in a flickering stream of red light. Ashley sighed heavily as he left to return to his safe haven of the Megaship, drawing in a deep breath before turning to face her parents, who had moved to the doorway the moment Andros had gone.
"I don't care what you think," she told them bluntly, not moving further into the house than the threshold. "I love Andros."
"We can see that," Daniel said cooly.
"Dad, I'm eighteen," she reminded them. "I don't need your approval to date Andros."
"Ashley, you turned eighteen the day before yesterday," Alice protested. "You're not old enough to understand these kinds of things."
"I'm old enough to understand that you have a problem with the man that I love," Ashley snapped. "Did you even try to like him?"
"Of course we did," Alice snapped back, defensively. "But Ashley, wouldn't you be happier with someone... more like you?"
"Someone from Earth, you mean?" Rage burned through Ashley's eyes as she glared at her mother. "Is that it?"
"Part of it," Alice admitted. "But Ashley - "
"No," she shouted. "You've always taught me to accept other people, Mom, no matter what their skin or religion. How's this any different?"
"Ashley, this isn't about skin color," Daniel interjected. "Is he even human?"
"Is that what you asked him?" Ashley demanded, completely aghast. "No wonder he left! Do you know how hurt he was?"
"He didn't even care enough about you to stick it out," Daniel said trimphantly.
Her mouth hanging slightly open, Ashley stared at her parents, dumbfounded, tears welling up in her eyes. "If it means anything to you, I told him to go," she informed her father quietly. "You obviously hate him, and there's no reason to subject himself to that when he would rather be somewhere else."
"Subject himself?" Daniel repeated, outraged. "Why do you keep taking his side?"
"I love him," Ashley shouted back defiantly.
"Ashley, stop being such a silly, stupid girl," Alice snapped. "You might love him, and he might love you, which I doubt, but love isn't always enough. It takes more than that to make it."
"I don't care what you think," Ashley cried. "I love Andros. Andros loves me. That's all that matters."
"Where do you think you're going?" Daniel demanded as Ashley began backing away to the door. "Don't tell me you're going to him!"
"I am," she snapped.
"You're sleeping with him, aren't you?" Daniel accused her. "Ashley, what's wrong with you?"
"He'll just use you," Alice was quick to add. "Once he's gotten what he wants, he'll leave you."
"He hasn't yet," Ashley shouted, wincing inwardly, realizing that she'd given away more than she'd meant to.
"You are sleeping with him!" Alice breathed, glaring at her only daughter. "I thought you knew better, Ashley."
"Mom, I fought back to back with him for almost a year," Ashley said quietly, still pleading with them to understand. "If I can trust him with my life, I can trust him with anything else."
"Then go trust him," Alice told her icily.
"But don't you ever come back," Daniel finished. "Choose. Us or him."
It was an instant decision, her choice made even before her father had finished speaking. Turning on her heel, Ashley stormed from the house without a backward glance or parting word. As she disappeared into a streak of yellow light, she thought she heard her mother's voice calling after her, but it was too late for that.
Ashley knew where she belonged, and she wasn't turning back now.