A/N: The beginning part of the italicized paragraphs is just a prologue leading into Ashley's dream and right after the dream there's a following summary as well. So basically it's one big thing from the past. AND credit goes to Edwin McCain, Savage Garden and Art Garfunkel for the lyrics.

Rating: PG-13

Part 3

Ashley's POV

Two days later

I'm preparing to take a long, revitalizing walk through the park. I just need a breather from being in the house all day.

Well, that and Spencer hasn't contacted me since Asher's birthday party. Maybe I really didn't make an impression on her and all that was a complete waste…

And that's why I need to take a walk. I need to clear my head of Spencer, for now, to regain my sanity and come up with another sneaky plan. If that plan fails, I will lose the love of my life.

And so will she.

The weather is a bit overcast, but there's a good chance nothing will come of the clouds because they don't seem too heavy for any percipitation. I start pacing down the sidewalk towards the park. I've decided to walk to the park, walk or run around there a bit and walk back to get more exercise, and because I don't have a car. Simply because Kyla took the set of keys to the other car and I really don't feel like jumping her car.

So that's how I got to walking to the park. It's not even that far, just a few blocks down. I've just been too lazy to walk over there. But that's besides the point.

I continue on at a nice, even pace and as soon as I get to the park, I get a good glimpse of Spencer. I stop dead in my tracks, trying to figure out what I should do.

She has her back turned to me right now so if I fled, she wouldn't even notice. If I leave will I ever get a chance to talk to her again, considering we haven't said a word to each other in the past three days?

I shuffle across the woodchips of the playground area slowly. I don't want to startle Spencer like the first time so I greet her calmly and with a little pep in my behavior, "Hey Spencer."

She picks up her head and turns to glance back, "Hey Ashley." She pauses and then continues with a simple hand gesture and politeness, "Take a seat."

I feel every part of my body shaking due to my extreme nervousness. I don't want to jump down her throat and tell her everything that's on my mind because, quite frankly, I don't think it'll swing well with her. I start off simple, "How have you been?"

She answers with a grin, "Really well actually." She takes another quick break. "I can't thank you enough for what you did the other night at Asher's party."

I assure, "It was my pleasure really. I had the best time at that party."

"So did I," she faintly expresses right before biting her bottom lip.

I fold my hands together to sit like a school girl in class. My thumbs twiddle with each other as I take in a deep breath to begin my little speech, "Spencer…I wish I could find the—"

Asher runs up from the distance, screaming, "Mommy, mommy! I felt a rain drop!" All three of us look up at the dark, extended clouds in the sky.

Spencer responds with a hurried voice, "Alright go get your toys so we can head out." He runs off within a second as Spencer turns to ask in the meanwhile, "What were you saying Ash?"

I stare into her eyes and become intimidated for some reason. I lie right through my teeth, "Nothing. It was stupid."

"Are you sure?" she questions with an interested face.

I keep my eyes looking at my hands as I slowly nod my head. As soon as I open my mouth the slightest bit, a loud, roaring clash of thunder occurs. The ground shakes as the waves tear through the area and simultaneously, I feel like my relationship with Spencer is shaking as well.

Asher races to Spencer while the tail end of the rupture happens. Spencer and I both stand up quickly. I utter the only thing that comes to mind, "Well, hope to see you around sometime again." I pause quickly, "And don't get caught in the rain guys." I walk hastily around the bench, preparing to race back to the house.

Spencer yells, "Wait!" She grasps her son's hand so he doesn't run from her. "Can I give you a lift at least?"

I make an excuse, "No, the house is just a few blocks away. Just get home before the rain becomes torrential." And like clockwork, or something magical, the rain pours down on the area, drenching everyone and everything immediately. "I think I'll take you up on that offer now." Spencer grins slightly as we hustle to her car,

Spencer unlocks her Jeep from a distance. I glance into the car quickly to find where Asher's car seat is. Once I do, I open up the passenger door for Spencer to swoop in and comfortably place him in his seat. I wait as Spencer situates Asher to close his door and hop into my seat.

I run my hand through my hair as Spencer makes her way around the vehicle to the driver's seat. She puts the keys in the ignition to start the engine, instantly causing the radio to turn on.

I'll be your crying shoulder,

I'll be love's suicide…

Spencer's eyes bug out, as well as mine as we scan each other's faces that second. I watch her intently as she slams her hand onto the power button, haulting the music from continuing.

I assure, "You didn't have to do that."

"It's a stupid song anyway," she doesn't give two cents about our past as she smirks with a petty-like voice. Spencer briskly buckles herself into her seat.

My heart shattered into a million hearing that from her. "That's our song…," slowly passes through my lips.

She turns the wipers on for them to clear the windshield precisely and promptly. She keeps her full attention on the road, but whispers on the side of her mouth, "Was our song."

My face muscles weaken, almost losing full control as my jaw decides to droop down. I raise my voice, "It still is our song!" Spencer continues down the street.

"You're wrong. We didn't make it, so we can not call it our song," a snippy comment leaves her mind.

"You damn well know what I meant!"

She sharply turns her head and takes her attention off the road. A vigourous hand comes at me to trap my lips from movement. "Don't curse in front of him! It's bad enough that I'm even allowing you to be around him right now."

I rip away her hand then yell, "I never did anything to him!"

"Stop yellliiiiinnngggg!" comes from behind our seats. We both turns our heads to see Asher tightly keeping his ears shut with his hands. Spencer returns to concentrating on the road and cars in front of her as I slowly process his simple, yet wise remark.

There's no reason for us to be yelling at each other, especially over a song, nontheless.

I turn the radio back on slowly to hear the song continue. I recognize a cd is playing rather than just the radio. Jesus Spencer, you still have the cd, don't' you?

My finger triggers the "seek" button to go and the next songs starts within a few seconds. The music fades in with a slow drum tap along the way.

I'll be your dream
I'll be your wish
I'll be your fantasy
I'll be your hope
I'll be your love
Be everything that you need
I'll love you more with every breath
Truly, madly, deeply do

I cock my head back towards the passenger side window to see Spencer's reaction. Her face is shrugged and her eyes aren't even blinking.

I skip to the next song and wait impatiently for some notes to play. A guitar is strummed quickly with each single note. And I can tell by the tone and rhythm of it, that it's yet another song I put on that CD for Spencer…years ago.

Longer than there've been fishes in the ocean
Higher than any bird ever flew
Longer than there've been stars up in the heavens
I've been in love with you

My hand slams down on the power button like previously by Spencer. The tension between us right now is unbearable and I can't stand it anymore.

A wave of laughter crashes into me and I can't help but let it out. "HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" I slap my thigh in my fit of laughter.

Spencer looks at me, flabbergasted at what I'm doing. She asks in a snippy tone, "What is so funny?"

I wait until I can catch my breath to answer. "You know, this whole time I was so worried that you hated me and regretted ever having anything to do with me, but yet you still have the mix CD I made you...way before hell broke loose." I pause slightly. "Oh man. I just worried for nothing."

Spencer is at loss for words, once again. She knows I'm right and that's killing her inside. Then she starts shaking her head, "You're unbelievable Ashley. You really are. You haven't changed one bit in the last five years."

I listen to her little speech, and how convieniently, we're right in front of Kyla's house.

She unlocks the doors and says sharply, "Just get out of the car. And please, do us both a favor by not coming back in five years."

My jaw drops, but I keep my mind shut of letting anything out. I know Spencer doesn't mean any of that…right?

I mind my own business by getting out of the car and walking slowly to the front door. Spencer's tires slurp the water as she races off into the distance.

My feet squeak and squish as I walk into the foyer of the house. Kyla yells from somewhere in the house, "Better wipe your feet!"

I remove my shoes and leave them by the door. Because of my dead weight clothes, I shuffle into the laundry room to struggle to remove my clothing. I strip of everything and put the clothes into the washing machine. I grab a clean towel from the basket and wrap myself with it.

I walk up into my room to find some clothes to wear. I scatter through all the drawers to only find some undergarments here and there, but no tops or pants. I throw a bra on the floor then scream, "Kyla!"

"Whaaaat!" a bit of whining is present in her voice.

"Where'd all my clothes go?" I ask, frustrated and concerned.

She answers me in a snarky way, "In the hamper."

I exhale a big sigh and smack my head due to my stupidity. I whisper, "I forgot to wash my clothes."

I yell downstairs a few seconds later, as I stand up, "Kyla, can I borrow some clothes for you while I wash mine?"

"Yea. You know where everything is."

I shuffle along the carpet to Kyla's lair. Ha, I get to snoop through her drawers, but this time I have permission. She better not have any dirty things I don't want to see in here. I start with the top drawer, but there's only bras in there. Second drawer just has panties. The next, solely booty shorts. Come on Kyla, I know you wear appropriate things.

The fourth drawer, which also happens to be the second to last one, is only filled with skimpy tank tops. I don't feel like running around the house half naked, freezing my bum off while my clothes wash and dry.

I take in a deep breath before opening the last one. I open it slowly and instantly feel relief when all I see are sweatpants and old "I love Ashley Davies" shirts I sent Kyla way back when I first started. I grab an unmatched outfit and head back to my room to dress myself.

Before getting comfortable, I make sure all my clothes are in the wash so I don't forget later.

I snuggle up with blankets on the couch right after starting the fireplace. It's such a cozy scene when the fireplace is roaring and when the rain is doing the same as well. I rest my neck back onto the pillow, but my serenity is quickly disrupted with a phone call.

I answer it without looking at the front screen, "Hello?"

An off-tone voice responds, "Hey Ash. Where are you?"

I jump internally, "Hey Ethan. I'm still in Ohio." I smack my head because I forgot to call him.

"When you coming back to L.A.?" he asks rudely.

A few seconds pass and then I give him complete honesty, "I'm not coming back Ethan."

He practically jumps through the phone and down my throat, "What! What do you mean you're not coming back?"

I explain, "L.A. has a lot of things and opportunities, but it doesn't have Spencer."

He scoffs, "Spencer's not the one whose gonna be getting you record deals and the big bucks…you're making a stupid mistake."

I raise my voice, "Spencer wins my heart in other ways, not through money. And if you want to keep your job as one of the best agents in L.A., you will leave me alone and stop pestering me about not going back. Goodbye Ethan." I hang up the phone without any regrets of how I acted or my decision to stay.

Now I can take that pressure off my shoulder for now, until I really have to go back and sell my mansion because I need to be back in Ohio. Everything that means anything, is here and I'm such an idiot for not realizing that before.

But for now, I'm just gonna sit back, relax and enjoy the peacefulness of the fire crackling.

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Spencer and Ashley went out with each other for a solid, blissful year and a half and then high school graduation was just five months away, which caused chaos. Bickering at each other was just the start of it. Pretty soon yelling, prudeness and constant disagreement took over their relationship. They were stuck at what they were going to do with themselves for theirfutures and where they needed to go to do that. Spencer's main concern was where Ashley was going to go after graduation and Ashley's main concern was based on keeping Spencer and her together, no matter where they were going to end up.

The fighting got to a point where they both couldn't take it anymore. Ashley and Spencer wanted nothing but to figure out what the future was going to consist of, but all the while, they were making their lives harder than they had to be. Both felt the best thing to do was to not be together, then they didn't have to worry so much where either of them were going.

In addition to that, they both agreed to see other people, Spencer actually took advantage of it, but of course she didn't find another girl, but a boy.

Kenny Vinton was the name. Often sweet, caring and polite, he was everything a girl could ever want in a guy. His maturity level was higher than most of his age and his personality was based on respecting those around him, especially if there was that special girl in his life, or so everyone percieved.

Everything was going perfect for Spencer and Kenny, but Ashley was the outsider. Ashley and Spencer maintained their friendship, but it was never the same. Ashley was nothing more or less than the third wheel around the love birds. It killed Ashley to just be friends with Spencer, but she didn't want to lose her completely.

So three months into Spencer and Kenny's relationship, they made love, which two or so months later, they found out it actually made a baby.

When Spencer first found out, she was devastated, to say the least. She spent days crying and distraught that she had made such a stupid decision that was going to ruin her future. Despite all the upset the pregnancy caused and what was expected to cause, Spencer was going to keep the baby because she could never live with herself with the other two options.

When she could figure out how to tell him, she stopped over at Kenny's house and told him upfront what was going on. All Kenny could do was yell over and over again, "How the hell did this happen!" and "What the fuck are we supposed to do now?" and the one that hurt the most was "You better get rid of that thing because I'm sure as hell not taking responsibility!"

The second she heard that come out of his mouth, she left, frustrated that she was able to fall in love with such a prick. And at that second, she realized she had to go to the only person that would be there for her.

Before Spencer could call Ashley, Ashley called Spencer, practically begging for them to meet somewhere.

Just under ten minutes later, the two of them were in Spencer's room, locked away from everyone. Spencer allowed Ashley to speak first because she looked like she really need to get out whatever it was. "Spencer, I can't take it anymore. I can't stand to see you Kenny. It's killing me thinking about how I screwed it up for the both of us. It was ridiculous for us to fight over where the other one was going. It doesn't matter to me where you're going because I still love you and no matter how far you are from me, those feelings won't change. And I'm sorry for putting all this on you like, but I just really need you to know that I'm either going to be your girlfriend or be nothing at all," Ashley proclaimed with just a few breaths.

Spencer tries to analyze as much as she can, considering a lot is on her mind. Spencer murmured, "Well, I don't think I'm gonna be worrying about going to college anytime soon."

Ashley looked into her eyes, "What? Why?"

Spencer bit her lip and hesitated a few moments, "I'm pregnant."

Ashley's jaw dropped and she sat for a while, stirring up the perect answer. "Did you tell Kenny?"

She responded, "Yea, he freaked out and told me to get rid of the baby."

Ashley put her hands on her head and rubbed her face hard. She breathed through her hands, "I'll help you raise the baby."

Spencer said sincerely, "No. I will not let my mistake let you ruin your future."

Ashley was quick with an answer, "I won't. I'll go to county college for two years and then some local college. I'll be here for you. I'm not going anywhere."

2 weeks later

Ashley was in the process of her music getting know well before finding out Spencer was going to have a kid. Nothing was being done or said for a a few months, but then she got a call from a guy named Ethan.

If anyone wanted to be in the music business, Ethan was the person you wanted to get a call from.

After a few minutes on the phone, Ashley found out she was going to get a record deal with one of the top companies in the country. She never dreamed of something like that happening, as usual and she swore to herself that if any big opportunity like that happened, she wouldn't let it slide…but she didn't know Spencer was going to be a factor in the decision.

***

"Spencer, it's the best thing for me right now," I express hesitantly.

With a shocked face, Spencer responds, "How can you be so selfish right now?"

I defend myself the best I can, "I'm not being selfish. I'm doing this for us. If I get this record deal and it goes well, we'll be rolling in money. We'll have enough money to get a house and raise this baby right."

She folds her arms and shrug, "That's what they all say. They all get too wrapped up in their lives to remember those who matter."

"I won't do that to you. I'm going to make this record and then I'll be back," I plead.

Spencer shakes her head a couple times, finding it really hard to believe my intentions the future. "I hope you're right."

I step close to her to put my hands on her forearms to assure her, "I will be right. I promise you."

***

Unfortunately, like Spencer said, Ashley got too caught up in the fame and the fortune to remember anyone who cared about her back home, especially Spencer.

Spencer was lucky enough to figure that out before it was too late. She had to find the courage to tell her parents before they could figure it out. And to her surprise, her family couldn't have been more supporting than they were. Once Spencer had the baby, her parents took most of the responsibility of Asher so Spencer could work full-time to save up enough to support the baby. Spencer already had her own place because as soon as she turned 18, she moved out of the house, but it wasn't suitable enough for a new born. Without her parents help, her and Asher might just well be on the streets of Ohio right now.

Spencer didn't have to do much to keep her distance from Ashley because Ashley didn't take much time to see how things were or even to say a simple "hello." It was like once Ashley got on the plane and flew away to L.A., so did her promise.

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Diiiiing!

The beep from the washing machine both startles me and alerts me to take the clothes out. I throw the heavy blankets from keeping me glued to the couch. I rub my eyes along the way to the laundry room, thinking about the dream I just had a few moments ago.

Not once have I ever had that dream, now all of a sudden I have a flashback of when I made the worst decision of my life? Maybe that's a good sign. Maybe it means I still have a chance to make things better because I've realized my mistakes.

I stop short in my tracks, turn around to head out the door. I notify, "Kyla, I'll be back later! And yes I'll finish my wash when I get back. Don't do anything funny to my clothes!"

I take one last step, one that's just about five feet away from my car and realize something. I utter through my teeth, "Keys would help." I race back into the house, grab the car keys to make my way to Spencer's apartment.

…

A quick knock-knock on her door and I'm standing here, shaking my left foot and rattling keys in my hands. Butterflies are fluttering around in my stomach like crazy and I'm pretty sure my palms are sweating.

Five bucks says she slams the door in my face the second she realizes its me.

Spencer opens the door quickly and like I presumed, she quickly shuts the door in my face without even giving me a chance. I knock one more time, but this time I don't even deserve getting the door opened for me. All I get is a simple yell from Spencer, "Go away. I don't want to speak to you."

"You don't have to talk. Actually I don't want you to talk," I raise my voice to make sure the sound waves go through the door and into Spencer's ears.

She scuffs, "Oh that's very nice."

"No, I didn't mean it like that. I mean I want to apologize to you for being so selfish and not realizing how much my actions affected the one person I love with all my heart, but I don't want you jumping down my throat every single second as I try to explain myself, "I pause to take a breath and wait for a response, but even after giving her an adequate amount of time to talk, she decides not to. "Okay I'll take that as a 'continue'."

I put my back against her apartment door and slide down, having my knees at the same level as my neck. I pull my hair to the front part of my body so it doesn't get caught in between me and the door. Staring blankly at the well-decorated wall in front of me, I begin my "I'm sorry" speech, "You're not gonna believe this, but I've changed so much in the last five years. I've learned to set my priorities straight and be responsible about everything." I chuckle, but only to break my monologue. "You're probably wondering why I just up and ditched you…practically. And I really don't have any excuse for that. I got caught up in my music and forgot everything back here. Simple as that I guess."

I turn my head to the right a little to look at the door crack, hoping for Spencer to swing it open. "And just to let the cat out of the bag, I absolutely hated the fact you and Kenny hooked up. Yea, we weren't together, but it just killed me to hear you gave him that ability to be with you that intimately. We both thought that kind of connection was very important to us and we were going to wait for that special, unique moment and then it would happen, and I guess we did have those kind of moments, but we never…what could have been so special about Kenny that you let him in your pants just three months after you got together? You just let him screw you…literally." I catch someone out of the corner of my eye walk through the hall with a weird-looking face. "Hi, how are you?" I mumble as the girl scurries away from where I'm positioned.

I pull away from the door to stand up. I whisper into the door, "Can you please just open the door and let me in? I don't want to scare any more people out of this building."

I wait as a few, long moments pass by. I decide to leave because Spencer is going to be even more stubborn, if that's possible, than before. My feet shuffle along the carpet, through the obviously quiet hallway.

Just a few seconds later, a miracle occurs. Spencer offers, "Asher just went down for a nap. Why don't you come in?"

I snicker as I slightly turn my body towards her then answer wisely, "Depends. Are you going to beat me with the latest issue of the Parenting magazine?"

She demands playfully, "Just get in here." I rotate my entire body to start walking. Spencer looks directly at my shirt, "Oh yea. You're definitely not self-centered anymore."

I glance down at my shirt and immediately realize how wrong this shirt was for the occasion, but I couldn't help it and I couldn't help but laugh as I present my excuse, "I forgot to do my wash and this was all Kyla had for me to wear."

She holds open the door for me, watching me as I enter, "AND you're not even responsible enough to remember to wash your clothes. You're off to a really great start."

Gazing around the my surroundings, I utter, "Yea, yea. Keep babbling."

I hear a slight snicker in the background as a procrastinated shut of the door follows. Spencer grabs my hand from my behind me and quickly gets my attention and I spin around to glance into her eyes. Spencer pulls me in close to her and brushes my hair to the side of my head. She glides her hand down to my lower neck and moves in closer with her lips. Her lips slightly graze mine, but I quickly move in further to kiss her harder, more passionately.

Involuntarily, our bodies are moving like a pack in one direction and its towards Spencer's bedroom, I presume. She starts to rip off her zip-up jacket from her torso while still staying very connected to my lips. We both kick off our shoes at the same time, but immediately put our focus back on each other.

Just a few more steps from her bedroom and then we're in it. Spencer lightly pushes me onto the bed as she sheds my shirt off of me, leaving only my bra on my upper body. I grab her arm and take her onto the bed slowly, ending up with my right on top of her.

I pull back all of her hair with her face. I ask quietly, "How long has it been?"

Spencer answers a few seconds later, expressing hesitation in speaking the truth, "Five years."

I express my shock, "Five years?!"

She laughs but quickly suggests, "Shh! Keep your voice down. I don't want Asher waking up anytime soon." She straddles my hips and slowly pulls me in towards her.

I bite the side of my mouth, "Sorry, but five years?!"

"It's called having a kid at 18. It makes you lose your sex drive…for a very long time. Why? How long has it been for you Miss Pefect?"

I scratch my head, "Uh well…I…who's counting really?" I laugh from my own nervousness.

Spencer smirks and makes a remark, "Yea that's what I thought."

I hold my hair back as I lean in for a kiss and say at the same time, "Oh shut up and just kiss me."

And she did, so intimately that I regret not doing this the first time I was with her. But things didn't necessarily go as I planned. I mean everything went just fine, excellent even, but we sorta had to rush everything in the event Asher woke up early and found us in action. I didn't feel like scarring the kid for the rest of his life so we kept it short, but ever so sweet.

And afterwards, we got dressed and ended up cuddling on the couch, watching tv, just taking in everything that's happened recently, well that's what I did at least. We're still on the couch right now, but sitting in front of the fire, listening to the crackling of the blaze in front of us.

Spencer's head is against my shoulder and my right arm is wrapped around her shoulders. She starts to make small circles on my stomach as she opens up to me, "You know, it's not going to be easy being together."

I put my head against hers and reply, "It can't be any harder than being without you for five years."

She stops the circles. "I'm serious Ashley. You're going to be on tour and Asher and I will be stuck here, as usually…when he's home from school, but during the school day I'll be at work…as usual. It's gonna be like you aren't even with us."

I explain, "Well let's just say we don't have to worry about me being on tour anymore. And you won't have to work full-time anymore."

"How's that?"

I blurt, "I quit my job."

She lifts her head, "Why would you do such a stupid thing?! Music has always been your dream."

I further explain, "And I thought so too, but I realized none of it was as important to me than you and Asher. I told Ethan I'm done and that I need to be here with you guys."

Spencer lies her head back onto my shoulder. She murmurs, "But I'm still going to have to work. There's no way we can pay the bills or even get a house without me working."

"Believe me. I have made so much money from my music. All the merchandise, albums and concerts I've done will supply us with more than enough money, "I assure.

She asks, "But what about Asher and what if we want to adopt down the road?"

I put my head back against hers and reassure once again, "Don't worry about it. We'll be just fine, even if we do adopt."

Asher comes screaming and running from his room, "Mommy! Mommy! I had a nightmare." He runs right into her arms as she craddles him comfortably against her. "When's daddy coming home? I want him to read me a story before I sleep so I don't get a nightmare."

I ask confusedly, "Daddy?"

Spencer refuses to look at me at all cost.

I ask Asher, "Does your daddy live here Asher?"

Before he can answer, Spencer takes him away and brings him back into his room.

I utter, "Spencer's back with Kenny…You've gotta be kidding me."