Disclaimer: Not mine!

Ashley Hammond/Astro Yellow: Ashley's his girlfriend because the producers didn't know about us. :P

Alacrita: I will, don't worry.

Melissa: Actually, he doesn't have a house. Yet. :D

Mz. Daydream: Of course she's gonna say yes! And yes, we all want a guy like Andros. :P

Jessica01: Actually, the ship is too big for both of them...

Just Jill: The ending isn't going to be happy, but there's going to be a sequel that picks up right where this one leaves off and that one will end all right.

Chapter 4

"Let's go through this again," Cassie Chan said, shaking her long raven hair out behind her as she stared at her best friend. "I went away for one weekend and in that time you slept with Andros, your parents kicked you out because they don't like Andros, and Andros asked you to live with him."

"Yeah..." Ashley shifted uncomfortably and tried hard to laugh. "Fun weekend."

"Ash, I didn't mean..." Cassie sighed and shook her head. "I wasn't teasing you... it's just a lot to take in."

"Definitely a lot to take in," Ashley said dryly. Her voice now more pleading than Cassie had ever heard, she added softly, "Please help me."

"Ash, it's gonna be all right," Cassie assured her with a confidence she didn't feel. "One thing at a time, okay?"

"Okay," Ashley whispered, letting out a lungful of air. "What's the first thing?"

"Finding you somewhere to live," Cassie said immediately. "Look, you're more than welcome to move in here if you need to, but... what do you want? Do you want to live with Andros?"

"I don't know," Ashley admitted, fiddling with the ends of her hair. "I love him. I love Andros more than anything, but... well, it seems awfully fast."

"That's because it is," Cassie said with a frown. "But you love him, and I know he loves you, Ash. It wouldn't be easy, but... I think you guys can make it."

"You do?" Ashley asked hopefully. "Really?"

"Really," Cassie said firmly. "It would take a lot of work, but as long as the love is there, I know that you'll be fine."

Ashley hesitated, the hope slowly fading. "My mom, she said that love isn't always enough."

"For some people, it is," Cassie said with a shrug. "But, Ash, you and Andros aren't most people."

"Yeah..."

"Look, Ash," Cassie continued. "If you think moving in with him would be a mistake, then don't, because it would become a mistake. If living with Andros is what you really want, then just do it."

"It's what I really want," Ashley whispered, visibly torn. "But we've only slept together twice..."

"Forget about that for a minute," Cassie advised her. "Is moving in with Andros what you want? What you really want?"

Ashley nodded slowly. "But - "

"You've only slept with him twice," Cassie finished. "I know."

"I just... don't want to do anything to mess this up," Ashley said softly. "When I'm with him, everything's just so perfect, and I can't help thinking that we're going to ruin it somehow if we go too fast."

"Tell him that," Cassie urged her. "Ash, do you really think you could say anything that Andros wouldn't respect?"

"No," Ashley admitted, exhaling. "I don't. And that scares me sometimes."

"Ash?"

"I don't think there's anything Andros wouldn't do for me," Ashley explained, her eyes darkening. "And I'm afraid that someday, he'll get tired of... of..."

"Of loving you?" Cassie finished softly. "Ash, I've seen the way his eyes light up whenever you walk into a room. He loves you. Not the kind of love that goes away after a few months. He really loves you."

Ashley smiled wanly. "I know he does," she said. "But it's possible to love someone and hate them at the same time."

"Ash, there is nothing you could do to make him hate you," Cassie said firmly.

Ashley nodded slowly, her eyes beginning to shine again. "I really have to talk to him," she said. "But... I do want to live with him, Cass. I'm not sure I can live without him anymore."

"I know," Cassie said with a quiet laugh. "You were about to run back to him when he showed up on the Megaship and told Deca to set a course for Earth."

"Yeah..." Ashley admitted quietly. "I was."

"So you're really going to live with him?"

"Yeah," Ashley said softly. "I think I am."

"And now that that's settled," Cassie said with a wicked grin, "we can move onto more important things."

"Like?"

"What's it like?"

Ashley blushed slightly, the color fading from her cheeks as a dreamy stare took over her face. "It's... nice."

"Nice?" Cassie snickered. "Ash!"

Ashley laughed, zoning back into reality. "I've never felt anything like it before. It's like... like there's nothing in the world besides the two of us. And Andros... lots of people have told me I'm beautiful, Cass, but when Andros tells me, I really believe it."

"How much did it hurt?"

"Kind of a lot, actually," Ashley admitted. "But it was only for a minute and after that, I forgot about it."

"I'll bet you did." Cassie laughed. "So he's good, then?"

"Yeah." Ashley grinned, blushing again, the dreamy vacantness returning to her eyes. "He's amazing. He's... just Andros, but he wasn't holding anything back. I could see everything he was feeling in his eyes and he... he just... I love him."

Cassie laughed, the sound tinged with an envy her best friend didn't notice. Her best friend had a boyfriend, no, her best friend had a lover, and here she was, half in love with an intergalactic warrior she hadn't laid eyes on in a nearly a year, not to mention the little problem of being half in love with one of her best friends.

Still... Ashley was her best friend, and she couldn't be jealous of her for long.

"So go talk to him," she urged. "He's gonna want to know that you've decided."

"Probably." Ashley grinned and flung her arms around Cassie's neck. "Thank you."

Cassie shook her head. "Anytime, Ash."

---

"Hey."

Andros had been laying on his bunk, half dozing, but when Ashley's voice shattered the silence, his eyes snapped open and he sat, staring at her in poorly hidden apprehension.

"Hi," he said nervously, offering her a tentative smile. "Ash, I..."

"We need to talk, Andros," Ashley told him seriously, settling herself cross-legged across from him.

"I..." Andros stopped and swallowed, his throat very dry. "Ashley, when I said - "

"Let me talk," Ashley pleaded, interrupting before he had the chance to say anymore. "Please?"

He nodded, not sure whether to be anxious or relieved when Ashley smiled.

"I love you," she said softly, reaching out to clasp his hands in hers. "If you really want me to live with you, there's nothing that I'd like more."

Andros breathed a little easier, his heart nearly stopping as Ashley continued with, "But..."

"But what?" he blurted out before he could catch himself. "Ash, I really want you here."

"I know you do," Ashley assured him, giving his fingers a reassuring squeeze. "But Andros, if we really move in together, we need to talk about some things first."

"Okay," he agreed readily. "Like what?"

"Well..." Ashley hesitated, her eyes flickering to Deca's eye. "Andros, living on the Megaship wouldn't really be practical."

"Oh," he said quietly, his eyes dropping down to where her hands rested on his.

"So I was thinking..." Ashley paused, biting her lip. "I was thinking... maybe we could, you know... find a house..."

"A house?" Surprise written all across his face, Andros could only stare at her. "But don't we need money for that?"

"I have some," Ashley told him. "When my grandma died, she left both me and Jeff some money. It was kind of a lot, and it's been in the bank for ten years... It might be smarter to use the money for school, but I think it's enough for a down payment on a house, and then if we both had jobs, then we could make the payments..."

Andros let her babble on, not speaking a word until she'd finally paused for breath. "I don't really understand what you're saying," he admitted, offering her a sheepish smile. "But you've thought this through, haven't you?"

"Well... as much as I can think it through in four hours," Ashley said with a hesitant smile. "Look, I know we need to think it through a little more, but do you want to?"

Andros stared into Ashley's shining brown eyes, wondering if it was even possible for him to not want to. "Yes," he said slowly, his smile spreading. "I do."

Ashley's eyes lit up and she flung her arms around his neck with enough force to knock him back into his pillows. Andros grunted as she landed on top of him, but she didn't move. A moment later, she felt his arms go around her as well and she grinned into his pillow, wishing that he could be this close forever.