Title: Truth Serum is Legal With a Prescription
Rating: This chapter is probably only PG-ish for some slight language and/or sexual content.
Disclaimer: None of these characters are mine...I cannot claim them. They all belong to the hardworking people involved with South of Nowhere. Okay, Nikki, Aiden's girlfriend, is not part of the original cast of S.O.N. but that's all. I don't own I Love Lucy either, in any possible way.
Feedback: Yes please, I want to know what everyone thinks of this story so far.
Summary: This will be a Spashley story. Sequel of "Just Tell Me What You Want"
Author's Note: I really do appreciate any and all reviews that I receive. Thank you so much for those. So, yes, school has officially started, but thanks to a thing called a weekend, you get an update anyway. And, I wanted to update this story because I knew what I wanted to go on this chapter, so a few other stories had to wait their turn while this one got updated…Anyway, I'll stop rambling. Enjoy.
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"Mom, I need to talk to Ashley." Spencer glanced at her mother, hoping that she wouldn't push her to have to say anything more than that.
"You do not need to speak to her, Spencer. Leave her alone." Paula took one glance towards her daughter before turning back away. She knew that look in her eyes. She had known it for a long time. Paula wanted to believe that her daughter wasn't actually trying to date that brunette girl, but it was so obvious that she was, no matter how hard she tried to hide it.
Glen glanced at his mother and then over at his little sister. "What? Why? What did Spencer do?"
Paula was trying to eat her food, her slightly overdone food. But, it seemed she wasn't going to get her peaceful dinner after all. She carefully placed her fork back down upon the napkin, then turned towards Glen. "I know that you're not the one dating her, Glen."
Spencer choked on her water, and she coughed for a few seconds before the words would come out. "You what?"
Arthur had hoped that this kind of conversational topic would be avoided that night, but it didn't appear to be so. "You heard your mother."
Glen glanced at his father. His usually calm father looked a bit edgy. "You're right, but that doesn't mean that we understood her."
Paula snapped, "Glen, we were talking to you?"
"Well, he's sitting right here…It's not his fault." No one needed to talk to her man like that, even his own mother. For once, Glen had owned up to dating her, and Madison was going to make the best of it.
Clay noticed the look in his mother's eyes. Oh, if looks could kill… "It's not her fault either, Mom." Paula would be a mass murderer.
Spencer had been sitting there at her seat silently for a few minutes. Then quietly, "You knew this whole time?"
Whole time. The words registered in Arthur's mind, and he found his voice again. He tried to make it level for his daughter's sake. "Hold on, how long has this been going on?"
Clay suddenly realized the growing tension within his family. Madison and Chelsea were still there. No one seemed to notice, unless one of them spoke up, and they received a glare. Then was not a good time to be in the Carlins' house, especially if you didn't have to be there. If you didn't have to live there. He glanced at the two girls and at his brother. "Um, how about we go out and eat?"
"Sounds good to me." Chelsea smiled gratefully at her boyfriend. She was starting to feel rather uncomfortable sitting there at the dinner table while everything else happened. She had burnt food on her plate, and a family argument going on. She knew that Spencer was dating Ashley, and frankly, she didn't see the big deal. Love was love.
"Me too," Madison piped up. She didn't want to be around Paula any more than necessary. Enough said. She didn't exactly like Spencer, but she didn't hate her. Spencer did have a good taste in music anyway; that was something to say for the girl. She did not like Ashley in the slightest, and the two other girls were so obviously lesbians in love. She was a good Catholic, sure, and she would most likely make comments to the two girls for quite some time about being lesbians, but that was just who she was. Glen knew that. Everyone knew that. But your mother, your mother should support you no matter who you love.
Glen glanced at his family, and then he glanced at the two girls. He nodded, "Yeah, I'll come with you guys."
"Glen," Paula was talking again. She paused for a second before continuing. She wanted to make sure that she had his full attention. "Wait a second."
"Go on ahead," he nodded towards the door. He figured that if his mother wanted to talk to him now, then it wasn't something that his girlfriend needed to her. He smirked at Clay, "Take care of the ladies."
Paula waited until the front door slammed. The others had left. Good. "Glen, go talk to Ashley."
"What?" Spencer's head snapped back towards the conversation. "But you just said that…"
"I know what I just said." Paula was a few steps away from seething at this point. "Go tell Ashley that she is not to talk to Spencer."
Spencer wasn't fair behind her mother's seething point by now. "She's what?" Her mother was acting like Ashley was some kind of horrible person; she was going to consume Spencer's soul if she ever saw her again.
Glen shook his head. "I can't do that."
"You will do that." Paula pointed towards the door. "Now."
Arthur was tired of listening to his wife rant. He did not know that she was going to approach this point that night. Sure, he was vaguely aware of Ashley and Spencer most likely being more than friends, but really, you can't help who you fall for. She was still his daughter, and he loved her. "Paula, we should talk about this first. Not drop it all on her like this." He glanced at his wife. She was frowning. "Glen, go talk to Ashley now. She needs someone right now."
Paula ignored her husband's comments. He didn't understand. She was Spencer's mother. She knew what was best. "That's not why he needs to talk to her."
"Paula, you're overreacting."
"Mom," Spencer was ready to promise anything. She would bargain. Extra chores. Being grounded. Just let her see Ashley. She just wanted Ashley; she needed Ashley in her life. It was her mother, and she was supposed to love her. She just didn't understand why loving Ashley changed everything so much.
Paula bit her lip to keep her tone level. She would not yell. She would simply get her point across. Teenagers didn't know what was best. "Spencer, you're not to see Ashley."
Spencer was stubborn on this matter. "You can't stop me from seeing her."
Paula scoffed at her daughter's silly ideas. "I'm your parent. Your guardian. I will and can stop you from seeing anyone that I want you to stop seeing. I'm your mother."
Tears were filling the blonde's eyes as she shook her head. "My mother wouldn't stop me from seeing someone that I love."
"You don't love her." Paula was beyond seething now.
Spencer smiled sadly, "But I do."
"No, you don't. She's messed with your mind. There's places that we can send you. We can help you. It's not your fault. We know that." Paula was full of ideas. Spencer would be saved. She wouldn't let anything happen to her daughter. She would be okay. "But, in order for you to get help. You can't see her anymore."
Arthur burst into the conversation. Paula was doing it in the wrong way. They were going to lose their daughter if they acted like that, but his wife couldn't see that. "Paula, this is not the way to do this."
She turned her fury towards her husband for an instant. "I'm her mother!"
"And I'm her father and your husband. I do have a say in the matter."
Paula scoffed, "We'll discuss this later."
"You can't tell me what to do." Spencer was already backing up towards the stairs. She just had to get to the bathroom window. She could leave through the bathroom window.
"I will and can tell you what to do. And if you don't listen, then I'll take matters in my own hands to fix the problem." Paula looked towards her daughter. She just needed to understand that she was helping her. She was helping her the best way that she could, the only way that she could.
"Ashley is not a problem!"
"She's the problem."
Spencer had been in tears, but now she was simply angry, and the tears had stopped. "Don't call her that!"
"But it's the truth. You need to hear the truth, Spencer." Paula reached an understanding hand towards her daughter, but Spencer backed up. She was too angry to deal with that right now, both of them were actually. They needed a peace-maker.
"Paula!" Arthur was frowning at both of them. He was glad that Glen had left to talk to Ashley. One child witnessing her mother like that was enough.
"Go to bed," Paula whispered. "We'll discuss this later."
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"Paula, you can't treat her like that." Arthur and his wife were in the kitchen, discussing the matter at hand.
"I'm her mother."
"And you're my wife. You can't treat me like this." He looked in his wife's eyes, and took her hands in his. "We're supposed to be a family."
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"I'm sorry about that, you guys." The trio was walking towards a nearby restaurants. At least the hamburgers there shouldn't be burnt. "I mean, you ladies."
Chelsea smiled at her boyfriend, and looped her arm through his. "It's okay, Clay."
"It's not your fault." Madison thought for a moment. "Though, I do wonder where your brother went."
Clay glanced at both girls. They were obviously a bit shaken from the earlier seen, thanks to his mother. Great. What he needed was a story…a story about…Glen. Glen was a good topic for a story. "Glen? He'll show up. He's magic like that. Did he ever tell you about the time that a magician literally made him disappear and couldn't find him?" Both girls shook their head.
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"Ash?" Glen rang the doorbell again. Her mother wasn't home again. So, it was okay to yell. "You're lucky that I had to drive Spencer's ass here enough, so that I know where you live! Open up!"
"What Cowboy?" After a few more annoying rings from the doorbell, a worn Ashley opened the door. She looked as if she had been sleeping, or as if she couldn't sleep. One of the two.
"I need to talk to you."
Ashley rolled her eyes. "Because I thought you came over for some tea."
"You drink tea?" Glen noted the look on the brunette's face. She had been kidding. "Right, sorry. Look, Spencer loves you."
"Okay. Thanks. You can go now." The brunette tried to shut the door, but Glen put his foot there.
"Ashley! Come on. She just isn't too open about things."
"Obviously." She sighed and glanced at Spencer's brother's face. He was serious. "She acts like I'm a leper once your parents are around, and then forces me at you. No offense."
"Now that hurts me deeply." He tried to act wounded, and despite herself, Ashley smiled a bit at his cockiness. It was almost charming sometimes, because he was upfront about it. "See, you're smiling. Did you ever think that Glen, the stud on the basketball team, would be here at night, trying to consol you over his sister?" He batted his eyelashes at her.
"Yes, I knew it all along." She rolled her eyes again. "No, I didn't think of that. You're an ass."
"But you're smiling."
"You really are an ass, you know."
Glen eyed the brunette carefully. "Yeah, you're not always that pleasant yourself, you know. Rather hardheaded at times, you know?" Ashley shrugged, so Glen took that as a sign to continue. "My sister loves you, so I guess we're stuck together, might as well make the best of it."
"Cowboy, you're getting all sappy on me here." It was his turn to shrug. "And I highly doubt that I'll be seeing anything from your sister for a long time now. Let me guess. Your mother thinks you're here to ask me back out? Spencer sent you right to smooth things over?" She was ranting and she knew it, but she couldn't help it.
"No," he realized that Ashley had missed the whole conversation that night. Spencer was probably still being lectured at that point. "Ash, she knows. My mom. She knows about you and Spencer." That caught the brunette's attention. "She doesn't want you two together anymore." There was a fake laugh from the brunette. "Look, that won't change anything between you and Spencer. Believe me."
"Your mother thinks that she owns the world, Glen. If she doesn't want Spencer to see me, then I doubt that Spencer will do anything else than please her. I'm supposed to be her little secret remember?" Ashley smiled sadly and hit Glen's nose lightly with her finger. "I'm not a good secret if anyone knows about me. If anyone named Paula knows about me"
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As soon as she got the chance, Spencer had indeed climbed down the tree near the bathroom. Glen was probably home by now, but he'd understand if she wasn't in her room. She wasn't going to stay inside all night without talking to Ashley, who wouldn't answer her cell. The blonde had ended up walking to the brunette's house. She decided to try the cell again.
"Ashley? Come on. Answer your phone. Look. I'm standing outside your house. You're not going to answer, are you? Fine. I'll see if I can wake you up." Spencer hung up the phone and picked up a rock. She wasn't sure why she didn't want to ring the doorbell. It just seemed improper because, well, Spencer wasn't exactly sure why it seemed inappropriate to ring the doorbell, but she assumed that it had something to do with having to sneak out of her own house. She tried Ashley's cell phone again. "You know, you need a tree outside your house. One that I could climb. How about we plant one some day? Not for us, but for the future generations of people who live in your house. Wouldn't that be a nice present for them? It'd be a good deed for the day." She was rambling as she threw another small rock at the brunette's window. "Ash, you need more rocks by your house. That, or you need to wake up easier. I mean, come on. How many rocks can a girl throw?" Spencer hung up the phone and began searching for another pebble.
"Spencer?" The window to Ashley's room had been lifted, and the brunette's silhouette was visible now.
"Ashley!"
The brunette glanced down at the cell phone in Spencer's hand. The blonde had been calling her again when the window had opened. "What are you doing?"
"Talking to you." Ashley looked at her oddly. "Well, leaving you messages. You aren't answering your phone very well."
Ashley tried to force a smile, though she knew that Spencer probably couldn't see it from the ground anyway. "Because I don't want to hear what you say."
"Why not?"
She should know why, but Ashley explained anyway. "I didn't feel like you telling me that you can't see me anymore. That we have to avoid each other at all costs."
Spencer smiled at her, confusing the brunette even more. "Well, you know. If I get caught with you, then I'll probably end up at a center or at a boot camp, maybe boarding school. But, if you did something else wrong, then you're supposed to end up at a boot camp or a boarding school, aren't you?" Ashley nodded, wondering if she was missing the point. "I'm not leaving you." Oh. So that was the point…The brunette disappeared from the window. "Ash? Crap. Am I really supposed to be calling you back on your cell phone now?"
"Hey," the front door was open. Ashley had wandered downstairs to let the blonde into the house. "Wanna come in and talk?"
Spencer smiled, relieved. "It's a lot better than yelling up at a window."
Spencer walked up the short driveway to the door. She paused there in front of the brunette. Ashley looked at her girlfriend and bit her lip, curious. "So, she knows for sure?"
Spencer nodded. She wasn't sure how she felt about Paula knowing, but the truth was out there now. There was no way to stop it, nothing else to say about it. "She knows for sure." Ashley looked worried for a moment, perhaps wondering if saying such things would job the blonde's memory, and she would realize that she was supposed to run away then. She was supposed to leave then, but she didn't. The blonde saw the worry, and took the brunette's hand in her own, intertwining their fingers. They had matters to discuss, obviously, but something else was on Spencer's mind. "How do you climb up and down that tree all of the time?"