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Summary: Ashley's Valentine looks ruined by an accident. Can Carlos's plotting cheer her up?
Valentine's Day Special 2007
Ashley sighed and stared out the window, tapping her pencil against her books ad nauseam. Fat droplets of rain splashed loudly against the window. Math wasn't her favourite subject in the whole world, but it was the only one she had to do her homework for still, or she'd be coped up in her room all weekend trying to figure it out.
She had another half hour to finish it, but she just didn't get the sum in front of her. Differential equations really weren't her thing. Andros seemed to be good at it, laughingly having explained it to her a thousand times before while helping her with her homework, happy to be able to help.
Suddenly she was startled out of her dazed by a large hand slamming down on hers and the pencil, but not hard enough to actually hurt her, just to still her motions. She looked up and sheepishly met two dark eyes, boring into her own rather annoyed.
'Sorry.' She mouthed, an apologetic smile momentarily forming on her lips.
The other shook his head and looked around for a moment, then tore a page out of his notebook and scribbled something down on it, passing it to her.
'Your thoughts seem to be off in space today.' She read and shrugged.
'Space is a large place, my thoughts haven't managed to cover it all just yet.' She wrote in reply.
'Oh, I was under the impression they had settled down on this little colony I know where a certain stripey ex-leader of us just happen to be at the moment. You're toying with your necklace.'
It was true, she realised and quickly dropped her other hand. She hadn't even noticed that.
'I can't help it, Carlos.' She wrote. 'He'll be there for another week. So I don't have a date for Valentine's, not that I'd want any other, and this sums aren't helping me get my mind of him either.'
'Differential equations?' Carlos guessed. 'I'll help you and if you want I could take you to the Valentine's dance, as friends. I haven't got a date yet either, but if you would just say something to him, I'm sure he'd be flying over to be with you.'
'I don't want to make it seem like a big deal, because it isn't. Thanks for the offers, I'll take you up on both.' She wrote back and grinned as her friend read the reply.
He scooted his chair over to be right next to hers and bowed down over the sum she was struggling with. Differential equations weren't his best, but at least he got the basics of it and trying to explain was better then having to listen to that annoying tapping for the rest of the time left.
"Does he even know about Valentine's?" Carlos whispered as the studied the sum.
"No." Ashley whispered back, almost sounding rather miserable. "I-I don't know if he sees us… like that."
"Ash." Carlos groaned softly. "You've been dating the guy for six months already and you still have no clue where you two stand?"
"Well, I think I do." Ashley shrugged helplessly. "But then again, this is Andros we're talking about. Can we just concentrate on this stupid sum and forget about it?"
"Fine, but I still think you should talk to him about it if you're confused and I don't mean about Math."
Ashley pointedly ignored him and turned her attention back on her Math. When the bell rang she quietly thanked Carlos for his help and quickly left, not needing another lecture about her relationship with Andros, or the lack of it, so it seemed.
Monday afternoon
Ashley was proud of herself, having been able to survive the weekend, struggle through the last few sums of her Math and avoid having to talk about Andros. She had managed to avoid Carlos for most of the day too, they could arrange the details of their 'date' later on, there was time.
Right now she watched him run across the field, in possession on the ball and ready to score. She shook her head and turned to the group of girls that had by now gathered around.
"Okay, listen up. The game is this Saturday and we have to support our boys, so we have to get this nailed as soon as possible so we can have perfected it by then." She spoke to her squad.
The girls nodded and they got to work. All were absorbed in their routine; they didn't hear the sudden yells of warning. Ashley jumped and as she landed there was something under her foot that shouldn't have been there. Her ankle doubled at the uneven ground she landed on and snapped painfully, refusing to carry her weight any longer.
Before she realised it she was down in the grass, her ankle throbbing painfully. Though her vision was blurry from pain, she could make out a guy in soccer uniform, holding, what looked like his knee, in pain. People were rushing over and she distantly heard the coach ask for an ambulance, something about a dislocated kneecap.
"Ash, are you okay?" Carlos's voice sounded distant and very concerned.
"My ankle." She moaned miserably, reaching out for it.
She cried out in pain when a hand gently reached to touch it.
"Sorry." Carlos offered. "Better make that two ambulances, I think her ankle is broken."
Three hours later
Ashley miserably limped out of the ER supported by crutches. Her left leg was wrapped up in a cast up to her knee. Carlos was holding the door to the front seat of his car open, still in his uniform.
"Broken in three different places." She grumbled miserably as he helped her into the car.
"Sorry your Valentine's dance is ruined." Carlos replied as he got behind the wheel.
"I'm more sorry I ruined yours, it's much too late to find a new date." Ashley sighed. "I'm really sorry about that, Carlos."
"It's not too late if the guy you landed on just happened to be taking a friend of yours and she's willing to go together since you've been friends since you were five anyway." Carlos assured her. "Don't worry about me. How long will you be stuck like this?"
"I checked with Deca, now we're not active rangers anymore… the power doesn't have to heal us as quickly anymore to be fit for the next battle. I'm stuck in this just as long as any other person. One breaking point would probably have healed fast, but three is over done." Ashley sighed, staring out of the window sadly.
"Hey, it will be okay." Carlos promised her, placing his hand on her knee briefly before putting the car in gear and pulling away to bring Ashley home.
They drove silently, Ashley in no mood to talk and Carlos plotting the whole way to Ashley's house. No matter what she might say, she would be miserable at Valentine's, now having to be coped up in her room forced to reading books, drawing sketches and basically keeping off her feet. And he knew just the thing to cheer her up.
Later
"She might not tell you or let it show, but she's miserable, Andros." Carlos sighed, watching his friend's reaction on the viewing screen.
"A holiday for couples…" Andros mussed. "Why didn't she tell me?"
"She didn't want it to seem like a big deal, and it's more like a holiday for love. She said she's not sure that's what you are."
"Are what?"
"Love, in love, whatever, she's just not sure what it is between you two. Are you a couple? Are you just two really good friends enjoying spending time together with an occasional date? Or are you love?" Carlos sighed his explanation.
"I love her." Andros sighed in reply.
"Does she know that?" Carlos inquired.
"I haven't told her… I haven't even kissed her yet." Andros admitted softly.
"You've been dating for 6 months and you haven't even first kissed?" Carlos exclaimed in surprise, not familiar with this side of Ashley.
"I… I'm not really sure what to do, Carlos. I've never been in a relationship before and I'd hate to do something wrong and push her away."
"Well, the Ashley I know would have kissed you ages ago. Then again, you aren't the most spontaneous person I know, I guess she's scared of the same thing; doing something wrong and pushing you away by it."
"What do I do?" Andros sighed miserably.
"Well… I got an idea…"
Valentine's Day
Ashley woke up rather depressed when she realised what day it was. She groaned and reluctantly opened her eyes. Her eyes widened when she noticed the single red rose lying next to her head on her pillow.
Curiously she picked it up, looking for a card of some sort, but not finding any. Her mind trying to wrap around the small gift, she clumsily got up and dressed. Carefully not to hurt the delicate flower, she took it with her downstairs and put it in a single-flower-vase.
"Did someone come into my room while I was asleep?" She inquired with her family.
"No, of course not, don't be ridicules, Ash." Her mother laughed. "Who should have come in your room?"
"I… I don't know. Never mind." Ashley sighed and set down for breakfast, every once in a while checking if her rose was still there.
After a while her brother got up and smiled at his sister.
"Come on, I'll give you a lift to school." He offered and Ashley shot him a grateful smile.
"Thanks, Jeff."
At school
Ashley clumsily opened her locker, one crutch against the lockers and using the other to lean on. She cursed when the other crutch slipped and fell to the ground as she pulled her locker open, deciding to pick it up later. She gasped lightly when she noticed something that hadn't been in her locker the day before.
"Hey Ash, I think you dropped this." Cassie offered, picking up the crutch for her friend.
Ashley didn't hear as she reached out and carefully picked up the small yellow teddy bear that was sitting in her locker, holding a small red heart with I 'heart' u sown on it.
"Hey, what's that?" Cassie asked, peering over her friend's shoulder. "Oh, you got a secret admirer or maybe it's Andros."
"How could it?" Ashley sniffled, suddenly noticing small tears were slipping down her cheek. "Andros is on KO-35 and won't be back for another two days."
"Who knows." Cassie shrugged.
"Andros doesn't do this sort of things, Cas." Ashley snob miserably. "And he doesn't even know what Valentine's Day is. Even if he miraculously decided to come back sooner, which I highly doubt, it still couldn't be him."
"Come on." Cassie sighed. "I'll help you with your stuff and then we'll get to class. Oh, and I'm carrying your bag and I don't want to hear anything against it."
Ashley nodded and soon they were in class, but Ashley couldn't keep her attention. She kept wondering who her secret admirer was. She silently hoped it was Andros, against all common sense, she desperately wanted it to be him.
It wasn't until after lunch that the secret admirer struck again. Some students had set up a Valentine's card delivery service and they barged in on Ashley and her classmates during English.
Ashley was pleasantly surprised by the dark red envelope being placed on her desk. Written in elegant golden letters was her name. With trembling fingers she opened it and pulled out the most beautiful Valentine's card she had ever seen. Inside she found the same elegant golden writing; 'To the prettiest, kindest, most loveliest angel I know. All my love.'
It wasn't signed, but somehow she hadn't expected it to be. He was, after all, a secret admirer.
The rest of the day passed in a daze. The sun was already setting by the time TJ dropped her off home. She had gone with her friends to hang out at the Surf Spot and generally forgotten time until Carlos's mobile alarm had told him he had to get changed to pick up Serena.
"You can get it from here?" TJ inquired. "You know it's no trouble at all to get you safely inside without braking any more bones."
"Yeah, I'll be alright. Bye Teej." Ashley smiled a painful smile. "Have fun."
"Thanks Ash, don't be too miserable, okay?" TJ asked.
Ashley watched TJ drive off before limping to the door. Once she got in she didn't feel like turning the lights on. Her parents were out to dinner, Jeff was out taking his girlfriend for a romantic torch-light picnic on the beach and she was stuck here… alone… with her boyfriend off on some distant planet, probably too busy to spare a fleeting thought for her.
She dropped her bag at the bottom of the stairs and clumsily made her way up, but not before she had saved her two new Valentine gifts. She just needed to know that at least someone cared.
She blinked a few times when she opened her bedroom door. Red and yellow flower pedals were sprinkles across her floor, bed, desk and every other surface in her room, spreading a sweet perfume through the air. In the middle of her floor a white-red blanket was spread out with a chandelier standing in the middle, three faint red candles spreading a warm glow around the room.
The blanket was set for two and she faintly picked up on the smells of her favourite foods. Awestruck she stood rooted to her spot, taking in the scene as tears filled her eyes. Only after a minute or two did she spot something shifting from the corner of her eye and she quickly peered into the dark to see what it was.
She gasped when two familiar hazel eyes met her own.
"A-Andros." She whispered softly.
He nodded and tentatively walked over. Amazed Ashley drank in the sight of him. He looked gorgeous in his black dress pants and shoes and handsome deep red button-up shirt, the first two or three button's undone. She suspected it was for his comfort, but she looked rather sexy that way. His hair was pulled back in half a ponytail and a slight blush had spread over his cheeks.
A small tear rolled down her cheek and quickly Andros closed the small distance still left between them, taking her into his arms and holding her tight.
"Happy Valentine's Day." He whispered into her ear. "My sweet angel."
"You." Ashley breathed. "You're my secret admirer."
"With a little help from Carlos and Deca." Andros admitted softly, his blush deepening.
"I guess I owe him." Ashley smiled, hugging Andros hard for a moment.
"How about I escort you to your seat before dinner gets cold? It would be a shame to Mrs. Valerte's cooking if we'd let it turn cold."
Ashley giggled and nodded, but suddenly gasped when Andros held out his hand to her.
"You're all dressed up… and I'm just too plain… that's not fair." She sputtered.
"Oh yeah… I almost forgot." Andros smiled sheepishly.
Ashley gasped again when a silk yellow spaghetti strap dress drifted over to her from her bed. She hadn't even seen it lying there. The material was soft to her touch and she felt tears press against her eyes once more.
"Oh Andros, this is too much." She sniffled.
"Nothing is too much for you." He assured her, gently ushering her into her bathroom. "You've got five minutes to change."
Ashley nodded and quickly closed the door behind her. True to Andros's words, five minutes later the door opened again. In the brief moment before the bathroom lights were turned off, Andros caught a good glimpse of Ashley. Her feet were bare (or rather her one foot) the silk dress flowed around her, fitting perfectly and gently showing the curves of her body. Somehow she had managed to pull her hair up in the short amount of time, a few curling tendrils hanging down to frame her face.
"Beautiful." He muttered as he walked over and offered her his arm again.
Ashley took it with a blush spreading up from her neck. She made a soft sound of protest when Andros pulled back immediately, but laughed when he scooped her up in his arms, bridal style, so she didn't have to limp to the blanket.
He carefully set her down on the ground and helped her sit before sitting down across from her. Ashley noticed the rose, the teddy bear and the card standing on the edge of the blanket and she had to smile. Even though Carlos had helped him, it was still undeniably sweet.
As they eat the undeniably delicious lasagne, they made small talk about what had happened during their time apart. By now Ashley could laugh about her silly accident and they both did so only too happily.
When they finished Andros put the plates aside and replaced hers by a desert plate, covered by a silver lid. Ashley looked at him questioningly.
"Don't you get desert?" She inquired.
"I get to watch you." He replied. "That's all I need."
Ashley carefully lifted the lid and gasped, tears yet again springing into her eyes as she set the lid aside and carefully reached out. On the plate stood an open box and she lifted it to study the bracelet inside more closely. Small gems were set into delicate silver, both red and yellow. Immediately she identified the yellow gem as being the same from her necklace and she looked up at Andros.
He was watching her with a faint smile, but looked more nervous then she had seen him all evening and it drew on her that this had not been planned out by Carlos, this was a spontaneous Andros thing.
"You've given so much already, Andros." She muttered, fingering the bracelet. "You shouldn't have, this is too much."
"I already had it. I was going to give it to you this Friday when I returned. Giving it today fits much better though." Andros replied softly, getting up and coming to sit down next to her.
He carefully took the bracelet from the box and clasped it around her wrist. Catching her hand in his as he looked up into her eyes he gently stroked her cheek with his free hand.
"You're worth this Ash. So much more then you'll ever know." He told her with a small smile.
Another small tear slipped down her cheek and Andros whipped it away with his thumb, continuing to cherish her cheek as he stared into her eyes.
"I should have told you so long ago. But…" He muttered shyly, swallowing. "I love you, Ash, so much."
Ashley gasped at his words, but before she could reply his lips were sweet against hers. Her eyes slipped shut as she savoured the long awaited taste of his lips pressed against her own. It seemed like an eternity before he broke away, but not pulling back very far, for she could still feel his hot breath on her lips.
"I love you too." She muttered, slowly opening her eyes to stare into his adoringly. "God, Andros, I love you."
Andros smiled and reached out, wrapping both his arms around her in a clumsy embrace, which Ashley all too happily returned, clinging to him. They stayed like that for a long time until Andros pulled back slightly.
"There's still two bowls of ice-cream in the freezer if you want desert." He whispered in her ear and she nodded.
Andros got up and left, moments later returning with a bowl of ice-cream in either hand and her schoolbag hanging over one shoulder. He dropped it down next to her door, before sitting down next to her again, handing her one of the bowls.
They ate their ice-cream in silence, every once in a while stealing a quick kiss. When it was gone Andros took Ashley back into his arms and they watched the flames of the candles dance happily, flickering every once in a while in the non-existing wind.
After a while Ashley yawned and dozed off against Andros's chest. He let her, not moving until he was sure she was sound asleep. Then he got up and carefully lay her down on her bed, tugging the covers over her and ignoring the rose pedals still laying on it. He brought the dirty dishes downstairs and placed them in the dishwasher before returning back upstairs. His three presents, he set down on her nightstand before blowing out the candles.
Then he kicked off his shoes, pulled off his socks and freed his hair, before bravely climbing over Ashley and laying down between her and the wall under the covers. He took her into his arms and smiled when she nuzzled against him in her sleep.
"Night love." He whispered, placing a kiss on her forehead and closing his eyes.
Neither had ever slept better then that night.
A/N: Hope you liked it. I put a lot of effort into this one! Review!
Happy Valentine's,
JAP