Title: Damaged
Summary: Everyone is damaged, she explained, but not everyone is broken. Ashley never thought that going back to Baltimore with Kyla would bring her face-to-face with the one person who made her feel like she wasn't broken.
Disclaimer: I don't own SoN. What I do own is a computer and the amazing ability to not do what I am supposed to with my time.
AN: Sorry this took so long, my life is just madness right now and it's not showing any signs of getting better. But I did want to get this out, if just for one person who was a serious boost to my ego when I needed it. Danke.
Just so you know, I take my MCAT in less than two weeks so until that's done I'm giving up my computer and, apparently, my social life. I hope all is well for you all out there and to everyone who's going back to school: good luck!
Ashley felt like the world tilted once more to the left and she wavered a little in her stance, "You're saying that-"
"I'm saying that Spencer's an orphan, her parents died in a car wreck like ten years ago."
Ashley rocked back on her heels like the news had come as a physical blow. Her head whipped around to glance at where the blonde was standing with Aiden and gave her another once over, as if looking for some obvious sign of tragedy, but could see nothing different about the girl.
Beside her, Kyla tipped her head to one side and waved the two athletes to join them. "It's not like it's a huge deal, Ash," she shrugged and caught her sister's eyes, "I'm just saying."
Then, like she was used to switching rapidly between emotions, Kyla's face split into a smile just as the other two joined her and Ashley. The young fashionista talked animatedly about one thing or another as they watched the sun set on the city and then as they left the building, but her sister found the conversation didn't quite hold her attention and instead choose to stand a little ways back and just observe. If her behavior was noticed or found odd, it was not commented on, but Aiden had sent her several confused looks.
They made it back to the parking lot and piled into the Jeep, but before they were able to leave the area Kyla noticed that she was nearly on empty and pulled into a gas station before they hit the Interstate. As she slid the Jeep into park next to a pump she eyed the shady looking boys on skateboards hanging out around the entrance and pouted at Aiden until he volunteered to accompany her inside.
Kyla twisted in her seat as the boy was slipping out of the Jeep and addressed the two girls in the back seat with raised eyebrows, "Want anything from inside?" Spencer opened her mouth to respond but was cut off by a flip of her friend's hand, "I know what you want, hun, I was talking to Ashley."
The brunette in question glanced between the two of them with her lips drawn in a line. Without meaning to she caught the matching smiles on their faces, even though neither was looking at the other, and shook her head slightly, "I think I'm good."
With a bob of her head, Kyla jumped out of the car and followed Aiden into the station's small mart with a skip in her step. Her sister watched until they were no longer visible and then turned to find Spencer's bright blue eyes staring at her intently. "Jesus!" she jumped, pressing a hand to her heart as the blonde's head tilted slightly to the left. "You really need to stop that," the girl admonished.
But Spencer chose to ignore the statement with a small frown. "What happened?" she asked softly, looking away slowly to watch the boys attempt tricks in front of the store.
Ashley blinked as the other girl appeared almost shy, something she had never even thought to connect to the blonde from the first moment they'd met. "What?"
"You keep looking at me, like you think I'm going to break. You weren't doing that earlier. Something changed and I would like to know what it is," Spencer requested, somehow sounding both resigned and exasperated.
The brunette drew back, just a bit embarrassed that her behavior had been that obvious. She felt her eyes travel the profile of the blonde, and felt like even though she'd been looking at her the entire day this is the first time she saw her. The sky in the window behind the other girl was darkening rapidly and the iridescent lights of the gas station made her appear pale and sad resulting in a weird clenching sensation in Ashley's stomach that she's never experienced before.
There was a moment where Ashley thought very seriously about ignoring the information that had been playing on repeat in her mind since the moment she'd received it and going back to the way things were less than an hour ago. She considered the facts that she did not know this girl, did not owe her any piece of herself and certainly did not care about the tragedies of the blonde's life. She recognized in that moment that this girl was no different that the countless ones she'd left behind in LA, whose stories were their own and meant nothing to Ashley.
But then Spencer turned those big baby blues on her, and the brunette found is suddenly hard to breathe and near impossible to lie. "Kyla told me about your parents," she confessed with a cringe, fully aware of how hollow it sounded in the backseat of Kyla's Jeep.
Blue eyes narrowed at the same time the corners of her lips quirked down, "What exactly did Kyla tell you about my parents?"
Ashley resisted the urge to draw back at the flat tone of her voice. "She told me, uh," she faltered then as she realized she had never had to vocalize the misfortunes of another's life. She backpedaled in her own mind, synapses firing to find a safe way to change the topic, but it was the shade of blue that had the brunette continuing in a small voice, "that you don't have any."
Spencer stared hard into Ashley's chocolate brown eyes as if searching for something tangible and, after a second that felt so much longer, she broke eye contact and waved a hand. "Of course I have parents," she replied in a flippant manner that didn't quite fit the subject matter.
Ashley jerked and slid her gaze sideways to follow Spencer's line of sight, both watching the storefront to look for their companions but only one set stayed there. "But Kyla said…" the brunette drifted off, trying to organize the thoughts and information in her head.
Hadn't Kyla said -? Had Kyla lied to her?
"Everyone has parents, Ashley," Spencer explained in a manner the brunette was tempted to call condescending as she slumped into her seat. "Mine just," she sighed and there was a flash of that heartache that Ashley was looking for earlier, "Mine just aren't here anymore."
"Oh," Ashley reddened a little for no reason that she could understand except that she had just met this girl and she already felt like a fool.
Beside her the blonde sighed, causing some of her hair to flutter and catch the artificial light. She then bit her bottom lip in thought and rolled her neck to look at her companion without having to turn her shoulders, "Kyla told you I was an orphan?"
"Yeah," she breathed in response, wanting to bury herself in the soft material of her hoodie, "Are you upset that she did? 'Cause, I mean, I know that we just met and it's really not any of my business-"
She waved her hand dismissively much like Kyla had done to her earlier, "I'm not upset. It's a matter of public record and not something that I try and hide."
Ashley felt she must have had some sort of amusingly confused look on her face from the way Spencer started to laugh. "I'm not upset," she repeated as she reached out to pat the brunette solidly on the knee for reassurance. "I'm just surprised," she explained, "Kyla's pretty protective of me and tends to play the tragedies of my life close to her vest so. To hear that she trusts you with this, it's big and I was just surprised. Okay?"
The brunette was more than a little distracted by the way the girl's fingers tapped an unconscious beat on her knee, warming her entire leg even through her jeans. Somehow she was able to nod once, "Okay."
It wasn't hard for Spencer to see how Ashley's attention was effected and she smirked, quite proud of herself. Slyly she leant in a little closer, squeezed Ashley's knee once, and spoke quietly, "There must be something incredibly special about you, Ashley Davies."
Ashley forced her attention from the hand on her knee to the smile on the girl's lips and then to her eyes. She recognized the glint in them, acknowledged that it was probably familiar to her own eyes, and felt her gaze lower once more to wear the fabric of the blonde's shirt pulled tight, perfectly visible from the position they found themselves in.
Click-click
Ashley jerked back as the automatic locks went off and Spencer's laughter filled the space of the car. Her jaw dropped when she finally looked at the other girl's face, split openly in merriment. "You did that on purpose!" she accused. Reaching across the space she shoved the blonde on the shoulder, which only got her laughing harder. Ashley found herself starting to grin widely and when Spencer looked up to wipe at her eyes she began to laugh as well.
They settled into silent chuckles by the time Kyla opened up the driver's side door and gave them both a very clear 'what the hell' look, "Do I even want to know?"
"Probably not, baby girl," Spencer grinned as her best friend offered her a large can of some energy drink. Ashley looked away and out the window behind her to find Aiden giving her a look similar to Kyla's as he pumped the gas. In response, she rolled her eyes and flipped him off.
Back on the inside of the Jeep Kyla had reached across the center console to pop open the glove box and grab the cell phones from inside. "Ready for the results?" she asked Spencer as she handed the girl one of the two devices.
The blonde groaned even as she took it from the brunette, "Yeah, might as well get it over with." She tapped a button on the side of Kyla's phone and lifted her eyebrows, "Four missed call, two from your mom, one from Val and one from Isaac, and three texts, all from Scott."
From her seat, Kyla frowned, "Why is he texting me?"
"Dunno," she shrugged, "Want me to beat him up?"
"Oh yeah," her friend rolled her dark eyes skyward, "'Cause that worked out so well last time."
Ashley lifted an eyebrow in question, which Spencer caught and flushed slightly but did not expand on the obvious question. "Moving on," she set the phone back into Kyla's purse, "What's the verdict?"
Kyla slid open the phone in her hand and let out a low whistle, "Oh you definitely win." She clicked a few buttons and laughed almost humorlessly, "Twelve calls, nine from Juliet, one from my mom, and two from Chris and seven texts, one from 'Ris, one from Donny, one from your coach, and four from Juliet." Spencer grunted once and smacked her head against Kyla's headrest which caused the girl to snort and slap the phone into the blonde's waiting hand. "Possessive much?" she groused.
"Don't remind me," she replied, tapping the phone lightly, thinking about texting back, but ultimately deciding against it as she shoved it into her back pocket.
Kyla twisted in her seat to fully face her friend and caught Spencer's eyes for a moment as Aiden finished outside and opened his door. "Where to next?" he asked unaware of the tension that had risen in the Jeep.
The brunette in the driver's seat sighed as she turned and started the car, "Back to the house, I guess. Spence, you want to call my mom?"
Spencer nodded with a tight smile as she pulled her phone out once more and held down the number 4. Kyla changed the radio station and seemed entirely prepared to drop the matter, but Ashley, who had never done well with not being in the middle of things, was rather inclined to know what the hell was going on. "Not to be rude or anything," Aiden snorted in the front and Ashley kicked the back of his seat, "But who's Juliet?"
"My arch nemesis," Kyla deadpanned, but then sighed at Spencer's pleading look and amended, "and Spencer's girlfriend."