A short authors note.….this chapter contains no spoilers, the storylines are completely my own.

GOOD THINGS COME TO THOSE WHO WAIT

CHAPTER 3: WHAT I MEANT TO SAY PT.2

Ashley parked her car across the street from the huge blue sided house, she sat for a moment and watched as Jimmy and another boy played basketball. She smiled.…still the superstar, she thought to herself as she walked toward the driveway.

Ashley clapped as Jimmy sunk a three-point shot. He immediately turned around. "Hey Ash, you're early", he grinned. "Actually, I'm late…it's ten after four", she chuckled, pointing to his watch.

Jimmy smiled. "Sorry, I got home late, must have lost track of time", he looked over at Derek. "Ashley, this is Derek….the Panthers star player and MVP this season".

Derek smiled and walked over to Jimmy. "I couldn't have done it without this guy, the best assistant coach in Degrassi history", Derek stated, patting Jimmy on the shoulder.

"Nice try man, but sayin' that is not gonna keep me from kickin' your ass", Jimmy laughed, trying to play down Derek's compliment. "I'm up fifteen points".

"Well then, I have some catchin' up to do", Derek challenged, grabbing the ball from Jimmy and making the shot. "Hey, no fair", Jimmy protested, then looked back at Ashley. "Go ahead, finish your game…I'd love to watch", she encouraged, with a nod of her head.

Jimmy wheeled back over to Derek. "So, is she your girlfriend?", Derek asked slyly, dribbling in front of Jimmy. "Yeah, she was.…my first girlfriend, actually", he answered, with a smile and easily took possession of the ball. Making the shot, he smirked at Derek.

Derek retrieved the ball and held onto it. "First the red-head and now her.…", he motioned to Ashley, who was sitting on the stone ledge on the far side of the driveway. "…man I wish I had your luck". Jimmy looked down at the ground and bit the side of his cheek. "Oh Jimmy, I didn't mean it that way…I just.…", Derek tried to explain, glancing at Jimmy's chair. "Forget it man", Jimmy sighed. "Let's just finish the game. Okay?". Derek nodded slightly and passed Jimmy the ball.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Ellie told me how good you were", Ashley said to Jimmy as they made their way up the front ramp of the house. "I'm sorry the basketball thing didn't work out".

Jimmy smiled as he opened the front door. "I'm not.…it was too soon, I wasn't ready for it. This gives me a chance to focus on school…on drawing", he replied, laying his bag down, by the door.

"So this is casa Brooks", Jimmy chuckled, waiving his hands. "It's beautiful", Ashley gasped. To her right was a giant staircase and to the left was a formal living room and dinning room that opened to a gourmet kitchen. Her heels clunked on the dark hardwood as they went from the kitchen to the massive family room.

"Is this your room?", Ashley asked, pointing to a set of French doors, identical to the ones on the opposite side of the room that lead to the back yard. Jimmy shook his head. "My room's upstairs", he replied. Ashley looked at him inquisitively, not recalling any stair lift at the front of the house.

Jimmy nodded to a closet door to her right, she opened it, revealing a single occupant elevator. "That's awesome", she laughed. "So that's the way to impress the girls.…show them your elevator?", he asked jokingly. Ashley playfully swatted him on the shoulder.

"No, this is my Dads way of saying, five days of physio a week isn't enough", Jimmy smirked as he pushed open the door to a large exercise equipment filled home gym. Ashley looked around the room. "Well that's, impressive?", she stated questionably , for lack of a better term. "It's stupid, I cant use half of that stuff anyway", he retorted. Jimmy ran his hands down his thighs.

"C'mon Jimmy, you cant give up hope", Ashley encouraged. "Hope? What hope, Ash?", he asked, raising his voice a little. "There was never any hope Ashley….never. The bullet…it severed my…" He stopped when Ashley gasped a little. "Jimmy", she whispered, her heart pounding and tears filling her eyes. Jimmy broke away from her and moved forward a few feet. Ashley stood frozen, next to the couch.

"You're the first person I've told, well Spinner was actually, but I don't think he really understood what I was trying to tell him, he was too busy feeling guilty…you're the first person to know the whole story" , he said quietly, his back still to her.

"You know, they kept it from me at first, for almost a month. My father had all these specialists flown in from everywhere.…they all said the same thing. But he couldn't accept it…probably never will. My mom finally broke down one day, told my dad, that they were hurting me by keeping it from me…so she told me", he continued. "I didn't want to disappoint him, so I put up a front. I kept it from you guys, my friends….let you all think that one day I'd magically stand up and everything would be alright…but it wont…I wont".

Ashley closed her eyes and took a deep breath, some of the tears spilling down her cheeks. "I'm so sorry Jimmy", she whispered into his ear as she came up and hugged him from behind. Jimmy sighed. "Is that why you kissed me?", he asked coolly. "Because you feel sorry for me?".

The question took Ashley by surprise at first. "Is that what you think?", she asked back, coming around to face him. "I feel bad for all you've gone through, Jimmy….for not being a better friend. But I don't pity you and I didn't kiss you because I felt sorry for you", she explained defensively. "I kissed you because I wanted to.…just like I do right now".

She leaned in and duplicate the kiss, this time holding it, just a few seconds longer.…until they were interrupted by the front door. "Anybody home?", Mrs. Brooks called from the hallway.

"Hey Mom, you're home. I thought your plane was coming in late tonight?", he greeted with a smile, giving his mom a huge hug. "I missed you baby, so I came home early", she said affectionately, kissing him on the cheek.

"Dad told me about the meeting yesterday, with Mrs. Hatzilakos…I'm sorry, honey, I know how much you wanted to graduate with your class", she said, cupping his face. "I'm fine.…it was a long-shot anyway, I knew that goin' in this year", he replied, up-beat.

Just then, Ashley came around the corner, Mrs. Brooks looked up. "Ashley….sweetie", she squealed and ran to hug her. "Oh, you look beautiful. Are you just visiting?", Mrs. Brooks, turned serious. "No, I'm here to stay. I mean, I love my dad and Chris and London was amazing, but I missed my home, my friends", she looked over at Jimmy and smiled.

"I cant believe your mother didn't tell me", Mrs. Brooks said. "Actually, she didn't know…it was a surprise, for everyone", Ashley admitted. "Well that doesn't matter, as long as you're home…let's go to the kitchen and catch up", Debbie said excitedly, putting her arm around Ashley's shoulder.

Jimmy smiled, his mother had always loved Ashley, and it wasn't because she was best friends with Ashley's mother, Kate, they just got along so well. He knew his mother tried to like Hazel, but she could just never warm up to her and he knew she liked Ellie, from the little time they spent together, but with Ashley, it was different.

Jimmy grabbed a bag of pretzels and took out some soda cans from the refrigerator and handed one to Ashley. He popped open the top and immediately flinched when a sharp pain shot through his wrist. "Your hand again?", Mrs. Brooks asked, raising her brow. "It's fine Mom", Jimmy insisted, hiding his hand in his lap. "Did your father take you to the follow-up appointment with the surgeon?", she asked, inspecting his swelling hand. Jimmy shook his head. "He had to work late that day…and besides, I told you guys I didn't want the surgery", he replied defensively.

Ashley sat in silence while Mrs. Brooks gave Jimmy a disapproving look. "Mom I cant. I have a job this summer.…a job drawing. There's no way I can spend six weeks in a cast", he argued. "So you're just going to wait until it gets so bad, you wont be able to draw at all…..or get around?", she asked, eyeing his chair. She didn't want to play hard ball, but it was the only way to get Jimmy to understand.

"This sounds serious Jimmy", Ashley stated, concernedly. "It's not that bad Ash, just a little basketball injury.…"

"That you avoided for too long", Mrs. Brooks interrupted, handing Jimmy the doctor's business card. "Please call, I'm sure they can work something out at the comic book company".

"Fine", he mumbled, taking the card. "Can I wash up first?", he asked grumpily. He didn't have time to change when he came home and he was still dressed in the jeans and t-shit he wore to school, his blue checked shirt, tucked into his chair. "I think you'd better", Mrs. Brooks joked, pointing to his sweat stained t-shirt.

Jimmy rolled his eyes and grinned at his mother, then looked over at Ashley. "It might be a while, so if you need to go.….". Ashley shook her head. "I'll wait", she smiled. "Can you stay for dinner, sweetie?", Mrs. Brooks asked. "Sure, I guess.…that'll be nice", Ashley replied, looking over at Jimmy, he nodded in approval.

"Elsa went to the grocery store today.…told me before she left for the day", Jimmy told his mother. Ashley looked confused. "Our housekeeper", Mrs. Brooks clarified. "Elsa….sounds intriguing", Ashley smiled, looking over at Jimmy. "Yeah, if you like sixty year-old, Swedish grandmothers", he laughed as he entered the elevator. Ashley laughed too and got up to help Mrs. Brooks with dinner.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"That was so much fun", Ashley giggled as her and Jimmy sat out on the backyard patio. Jimmy wrinkled his nose. "Dinner with my parents was fun?", he asked sarcastically. "Dinner with you was fun.…and yes, I've always liked your parents. I cant remember them ever being home in time for dinner, though", Ashley stated. "Yeah, getting shot really brings a family together", Jimmy chuckled, but Ashley became quiet.

"What are we doing here Ash?", Jimmy asked, out of the blue. She looked over at him. "Umm….eating ice cream?", she stated, as if a question. "No, I mean, what are we doing.…us?", he asked, waiving his hand between the two of them. Ashley smiled and scooted up in the patio chair she was sitting in, getting a little closer to Jimmy.

She kicked off her shoes and pulled her knees to her chest, she hooked her left arm through his right.…still holding on to her ice cream bowl. "We're catching up, rekindling an old friendship, creating a new one", she offered, blushing slightly. "And the kissing?", he asked awkwardly. "The kissing ? Um the kissing….."

Ashley was becoming flustered. She bit her lip and looked up at the sky. "Jimmy look", she gasped, pointing to a shooting star. "Hurry up, make a wish". Jimmy laughed but closed his eyes when she closed hers.

"So what did you wish for?", Ashley asked, opening her eyes and concentrating on her ice cream. "What? You're not serious Ash", Jimmy chuckled. She nodded. "Okay, more ice cream", he joked, looking into his empty bowl. "Jimmy", she groaned playfully. "You have to have at least one wish", she prodded, but cursed herself when he looked down at his lap.

"A wish, for me.…right? Not world peace or an end to starvation.…", he asked, seriously. Ashley nodded tentatively. "Okay, fine", he took a deep breath…."I wish I could forgive Spinner".

Ashley smiled, but Jimmy was still looking down. "Why don't you then?", she asked hesitantly. "I've tried Ash…I really have. I just cant...I've tried to talk to him and all this anger comes out", he admitted sadly.

"Every time I look at Spinner, I think of Rick…how we teased him, made his life miserable. I tried to be Rick's friend, he really wasn't a bad guy.….before….", Jimmy said, referring to the shooting. "But the worst part is that he died thinking I did that to him, that I humiliated him, that I just pretended to be his friend.

Ashley laid her head on his shoulder. "You've never been one to hold a grudge Jimmy and I don't think your problem is with Spinner at all, I think its with you. You're being way too hard on yourself", she stated. Jimmy laid his head against hers and she grabbed his hands, still cold from holding the ice cream bowl.

"Rick's dead, and I think wherever he is, he knows the truth…but no matter how you look at it, he pulled the trigger, so ultimately, he is to blame...not you, not Spinner". She felt Jimmy nod slightly. "Thanks Ashley", he whispered and kissed the top of her head.

Debbie Brooks could see the scene play outside from her place at the back door. She so wanted so desperately, not to interrupt the kids, but Ashley's phone was ringing. "Ash, honey.…your phone", she called quietly, holding out Ashley's purse.

Ashley got up and walked over to Mrs. Brooks. "Is everything alright?", she whispered. "I think so", Ashley smiled and nodded. She checked her message as she walked back over to Jimmy. "It's just El, she's having a fashion crisis", Ashley laughed. Jimmy looked up at her and smiled. "Go, Ellie needs you", he stated. "No, its not important Jimmy. I can stay….."

"Go Ashley, I'll be fine", he assured her. Ashley sighed, threw her phone back into her purse and slipped her shoes back on. She took hold of Jimmy's hand again. "Will you be at graduation tomorrow?", she asked hopefully. Jimmy nodded. "Save me a seat?", she said, squeezing his hand. "Of course", he replied, squeezing back. Ashley smiled and turned toward the house.

"Ash, what did you wish for?", he asked as he turned to face her. Ashley turned around. "It's a secret, if I tell you, it might not come true", she smiled, her eyes sparkling, as she disappeared inside.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A note from me to you…………..wow, that was loooooonnnnnnnnngggggggg! But I needed to set up some storylines. Okay, I based the character of Debbie Brooks on the two hospital scenes in Time Stands Still2, and in this story she is very close with Jimmy. Second, in Eye of theTiger, when Jimmy gets the trophy, he says something like...we'll go for MVP next year...then looks sadly into the crowd, like he knows it will never happen, but they don't...so I took that and put my own spin on it. The hand injury I took from I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For...when Derek throws Jimmy the ball and he sprains his wrist...that will continue in a future chapter.

To Kimberlli, thanks, I'll keep your suggestions in mind. Samantha, thank you for the review...I love them together too! And Rayla, thanks, I'm glad you like it. Please keep reviewing!

Neither Degrassi or 'What I Meant To Say', belong to me.