Disclaimer: We both know it's not mine, so don't sue; it's not nice.
Rating: Forgot to include one, but due to mature subject matter, let's call it PG-13
Another Author's note: Not entirely sure where I'm going with this, but I have most of it mapped out, so we'll see. I'm not really happy with like, 58 of this update, but what do you expect at like, 3:40 in the morning, which is when I started this part. So sorry if it's suckish, especially towards the end. Um, phone dialogue is in italics if you don't pick up on that. Feedback is love.
Ashley buries her face in Spencer's neck, nuzzling the skin until she hears a giggle. A pink tongue darts out to meet the dip in Spencer's throat. She's kind of sucking and almost nipping when Spencer has to warn her to be careful. Ashley smiles and drops a kiss on Spencer's bare shoulder before pulling back to look at her.
She pushes a strand of blonde hair behind a tiny ear and Spencer leans into her touch, pressing her lips to Ashley's hand. Ashley sighs and crawls out of Spencer's lap, standing, she offers Spencer a hand and pulls her up from the ground. Ashley is brushing of the seat of her pants when Spencer asks her, point blank.
"Do you love me?" Ashley looks up and Spencer looks down. "I know you'll say yes, but I need to hear it. I mean if... I just need to hear it. Do you love me?"
Ashley nods, "Already." Ashley wants to say more. She had this whole speech ready when she had left Aiden with her car and sprinted back to the Carlin house. She wants to tell Spencer just how much she loves her and how happy she knows they can be and how messed up this whole situation is but it's all cut short because they can both hear heavy footsteps padding up the stairs and Spencer's mother calling her name. They both react and Spencer ushers Ashley pretty quickly back towards the trellis she crawled up. "Meet me tomorrow?"
"What? Ashley, you have to go!"
"Meet me tomorrow," Ashley insists. She won't leave until Spencer agrees, and Spencer knows this.
"You know I can't, I'll figure something out. All right? Now go." Spencer is practically shoving Ashley down the side of the balcony and Spencer's mom is getting closer.
"Now say you love me." Spencer checks over her shoulder before turning back to Ashley. "Say it or I'm not leaving."
"I love you, okay?" And she leans over and kisses Ashley quickly before she can ask for that too. "Now go!"
Ashley shimmies down the trellis and she can just hear voices from the balcony as she tiptoes through the darkness. She pulls out her cell to tell Aiden to come and get her, but he's still parked down the street. She climbs into the passenger seat and she knows she's grinning like an idiot and Aiden looks at her like she's grinning like an idiot. Aiden mumbles something about how Ashley owes him, but Ashley's still smiling, her eyes on the window where she can almost make out Spencer's silhouette.
Ashley feels like she did when she was five, on the pier and spinning in the Tilt-a-Whirl. Happily dizzy and just a little nauseous. She rests her head against a tinted window and lets her eyes fall closed. She tells Aiden she's going to need another favor, but she doesn't have to beg. Why not, he says, let's make sure I'm completely whipped. And Ashley smiles as they continue down the 15.
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Spencer had just barely managed to pull the balcony doors closed when her mother had burst into her room. Has she never heard of knocking? Paula Carlin had gone on about what a success the party had been, despite the crashers. So Spencer sits at her vanity combing out her hair and thinking about Ashley while her mother continues.
"Spencer?" she asks, pulling Spencer out of an almost-daydream. "What's that on your neck?"
"Nothing," Spencer insists, her hand immediately flying up to cover what she's sure is a hickey. Then she mentally scolds herself because an innocent person wouldn't be so defensive, but dammit, she'd told Ashley to be careful.
"Is that…?"
"It's nothing, mother." Paula rises from her place on Spencer's bed and crosses the room to where Spencer sits.
"Then you had a good time with Kelly?" Paula asks Spencer's reflection.
Spencer has to think for a second what the hell her mother is talking about. Oh, yes. Kelly. The one who had pulled her into the restroom in the first place. The daughter of one of her mother's very influential friends. The girl Paula insists would be a "smart match" for Spencer. Too bad Kelly was a vapid whore with a bad habit of picking up girls and taking advantage of them in bathroom stalls and cars on lookout points.
"Look, mom--"
"Relax, sweetheart. You don't have to explain. I was young once, too. I remember." Okay, ew. Spencer pushes herself up from her seat and tells her mother she has to get to sleep, it's late.
Spencer slips into the hall once her mother has disappeared into the master bedroom, and she steps quickly to her brother Clay's door. She has to knock a couple times before he answers and lets her in.
"What's up, Spence?" Clay asks as he seats himself at his desk. Spencer leans over to wrap her brother in a hug from behind.
"I need a little favor from my favoritest big brother. Help me out?"
Clay sighs and spins his chair promptly so he's facing his sister. He eyes her for a second because he can guess what this is about and he wants no part in it. But Spencer's pouting and it's really hard to say no to her when she's pouting.
"What do you want?" he says, crossing his arms.
"Okay, first I know what you're going to say when I tell you, but you're just going to have to try to understand."
"Then this is about Ashley Davies?" Spencer sighs and her eyes drop to her feet and that's answer enough for Clay. "Spencer…"
"Look, I know, okay? I know how crazy it is and I know what you're thinking. I know that we shouldn't, but--"
"No, Spencer. It's not that you shouldn't, it's that you can't. She's a Davies. It's completely unfathomable. It's-it's deplorable, even. It's just--it's impossible," he trips over his words, he's so incredulous.
"You don't understand, Clay. You have no idea what I feel for her."
"You don't even know her!"
"Yes, I do!" Spencer stands up and fights to keep her voice low. "Maybe I don't her favorite color or her middle name or if she's right or left handed, but I know her. I know what she sounds like when she's laughing. I know how her eyes change when she smiles or when she doesn't. And I know that she loves me."
Clay scoffs at this because the idea is so completely ridiculous. They were together maybe ten, fifteen minutes and Spencer thinks she loves her. Ridiculous.
Spencer watches as her brother shakes his head at the mention of "love" and she kneels down in front of him, he has to understand. She needs him to understand. She needs him to tell her that it's okay for she and Ashley to be together.
"What if it was you? You love Chelsea. If somebody told you that you couldn't see her, that it was wrong, that would destroy your family because of some stupid feud over nothing, you would still love her. Wouldn't you do whatever you could to be with her?" Clay looks away from her, like he's really considering and Spencer reminds him that if he won't help her, she'll just find someone else who will.
"What do you need?"
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Ashley buries her toes further in the sand. Aiden is getting antsy beside her. She feels bad, she dragged him out her around dawn to wait with her, and he's been pretty patient so far. She wasn't sure what to expect but she had to make sure she was waiting in case Spencer showed up. Aiden had to make sure that Ashley would be okay.
"Excuse me, Ashley?" And Ashley and Aiden both turn around. The boy is kind of standing in the sun so they can't really see him until they stand. "I have a message for you from Spencer."
"Is she here?" Ashley asks the dark boy.
"No, but she wanted me to give you this." He hands Ashley a cell phone, it's pretty cheap looking so Ashley guesses it must be disposable and untraceable. She thinks it's a little over the top, but she takes it anyway. "Just hit redial and it'll connect you to Spencer's phone."
Ashley does and steps away, leaving Aiden with Spencer's brother, which, in retrospect, probably isn't the best idea. But Ashley doesn't care. She doesn't care about anything except hearing Spencer's voice again.
Ashley, Spencer breathes.
This is pretty Charlie's Angels of you, Spence, Ashley says, smiling.
Clay's idea. Listen, can you get away tonight? Spencer sounds almost desperate. My parents have a some benefit thing, they'll be pouring themselves into bed around dawn.
What are you thinking, sleepover? But Ashley's not joking.
Nine o'clock, but Ashley can hear the smile in Spencer's voice. You can get up the balcony, just make sure not to trip any of the camera sensors along the wall. Clay has a list, ask him for it.
Okay, babe. I'll see you tonight.
Can't wait, and Ashley hears a click as she and Spencer are disconnected.