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: My life is turning upside down and this makes me happy.
Ashley sighed somewhat petulantly and leant back further into the backseat of Kyla's Jeep. In the front seat, Aiden and her sister were having a conversation that was mostly drowned out by the music pouring from the radio but appeared to involve a lot of light touches and shy smiles. She opened her mouth to ask them, in a manner that was likely to be crass, to crease with such behavior, but Aiden's shoulders were relaxed in a manner that was not often seen and Kyla's smile was just enough to force the musician to bite her tongue for now.
Besides, it would be a little hypocritical of her to get angry at her sister's and best friend's flirting when all she wanted to do was flirt with her sister's best friend. That option, however, was currently closed to her.
Almost as soon as she'd finished talking to Kyla's mom Spencer received a text that had her rolling her eyes and ducking under her friend's inquisitive gaze. This lead to a fast paced texting conversation that had the blonde scowling and slouching more with every one received, and Ashley had to content herself with silently indulging herself on Spencer's looks alone.
For the moment she was okay with this.
With a low groan that came out almost growl-like, Spencer slid her phone shut and braced her forehead with her free hand, like she was warding off a headache. Her shoulders were tight even in the way they were slouched forward and it was painfully obvious how upset this person was making her. Ashley didn't know what to do, seeing as she hadn't been in a position like this since she'd been friends with Madison Duarte. Comforting people was not her strong suit.
Sensing her discomfort, Spencer turned to offer Ashley an apologetic smile. "Sorry I-" but whatever she was going to say was cut off by the device in her hand lighting up and vibrating. She groaned once more, slipped further down the seat, and opened the phone.
Ashley figured she should be more pissed off, considering she was being virtually ignored by all people in the car, but she bit her tongue once more. She cast her eyes around for something to distract herself but was continuously drawn back to the girl sitting next to her.
It was because she was hot; Ashley tried to convince herself, not because the way her lips pouted made her want to brush her thumbs across them. Her blue eyes were stormy and dark and Ashley didn't even know that so many shades of blue could exist, but she was convinced that the blonde's eye covered the whole fucking spectrum.
She blinked heavily, trying to force herself to stop those thoughts before they could even get started, and looked at other places that tended to inspired not so poetic thoughts. The blonde had slipped down the seat in such a manner that her shirt had ridden up, revealing a thin strip of tanned stomach that proved to be a perfect distraction. Curiously, she noticed that on the front of Spencer's right hip were several dark spots that disappeared under the line of her jeans and Ashley found herself frowning as she tried to piece out what they could possibly be.
Spencer, on the other hand, was completely over the conversation she was trapped in. With a kind of finality that had been the feel of every conversation with her girlfriend over that last week and a half she tapped out a message with her thumbs.
For the last time you know that's not true. She's my best friend. And, oh yeah, she's straight.
She felt the fine hairs on her arms stand in a way that often meant she was being watched and turned slightly to find Ashley staring intently at her lap. The back of her next grew hot with a blush until she looked down herself and realized what the brunette was probably staring at. Smirking, because the other girl seemed to bring it out of her, she turned her hips just slightly so the waistline dipped a little more. Ashley's throat moved in a swallow and Spencer felt her heart beat a little faster at the very subtle compliment.
Her phone went off again, but her attention was already firmly taken from the argument. Absently she flicked the message open.
Is that the only thing stopping you?! What if she wasn't? Then what would you do??!
Ashley looked up to find Spencer's blue eyes shining in amusement and realized she's been caught staring. She fought hard against a blush and forced herself not to turn away in embarrassment; in stead she raised her eyebrows in a challenge. Spencer's answer was to widen her grin, tap out a quick reply, and put her phone away.
Keeping eye contact, the blonde slid her thumb into the waist of her jeans and winked, "I'll show you mine if you show me yours."
The brunette's eyes flicked down to see that the dark spots weren't spots at all, they were the tops of several shaped etched into Spencer's skin. Her answering smirk easily matched Spencer's, "Is that a tattoo?"
Some miles away, another girl was glaring angrily at her own phone. Her face was flushed and her heart beat a pattern against the inside of her ribcage, but this was no euphoric feeling. She took one more look at the words on the screen but they didn't change.
You need to get over this stupid jealousy and just trust me. I'm done talking about this.
She clenched her teeth to stop herself of crying in frustration and dialed a different number with shaking hands.
!!
Less than fifteen minutes later they pulled into the driveway of a two story house that was definitely not the one that they had left from earlier in the day. Aiden eyed the two cars in the driveway and four more in the street before asking the obvious question, "Whose house is this?"
"The fo-rents," Spencer quipped, her mood having improved dramatically during the last leg of the drive.
Ashley unfastened her seatbelt and exiting the car as everyone else did, "Fo-rents?" She had directed the question at the blonde but it was Kyla that answered.
"Spencer's foster parents," she smiled weakly, snaking an arm around her best friend's waist in a supportive manner as they walked to the front door. Her smile strengthened as Spencer moved to rest her own arm across the dark haired girl's shoulders.
Aiden looked at the three girls he was with but quickly realized he was the only one who was one step behind in the story. "You live in a foster home?" he asked, speeding up his steps to fall in line with the others.
"Yeah," the blonde glanced at both California natives over the top of Kyla's head as she answered the boy's question, "My parents died when I was young and I was sent here to live with my Grams, but she passed a couple months ago and because I'm only seventeen I have to live in a foster home until the courts can decide what to do with me."
"Oh damn," he caught her eye briefly, but could tell she didn't want to hold the look for too long, "I'm sorry to hear that."
She shrugged and hugged Kyla a little tighter to herself, "Thanks."
Aiden felt his fingers twitch and he slowed his steps just a tad to fall behind the girls, but they didn't seem to notice. He watched them for a moment, confused, and then jogged to step through the front door with them.
A small boy with dark hair rushed quickly through the foyer they found themselves in, wriggled between Kyla and Spencer, and hid himself behind the blonde's leg, "'Tect me, Spinner!"
"Dominic, what the -?" but she cut off when another boy, only slightly bigger, hurried in after him.
"Give it back Dom!" he shouted, pivoting to try and get around Spencer but at the last second she reached out and grabbed him around the chest, lifting and turning his kicking legs away from the others. "Let me go, Spencer! Tell him to give it back!"
"Take a breath, Jacob," she instructed, tightening her grip marginally as he kicked out one more time. He quickly figured out that he wouldn't be able to break her hold, though, and forcibly relaxed his body. "Tell me, without shouting, what the heck is going on."
"He took my monkey," Jacob grumbled, sounding embarrassed to have to say it aloud, especially to the older girl and her friends.
She set him down then, but did not let him go, choosing instead to rest her arm across the front of his collar, "Is that true?" she asked the younger boy.
The boy in question, Dominic, realized that all eyes were on him and glanced down at the stuffed toy in his hands, instantly his lower lip trembled and his eyes grew bright. "But I can't find my Bunny!" he shouted, gasping the monkey to his chest.
Spencer sighed and the other teenagers could see the weariness around her moth and eyes. She gave Jacob one gentle squeeze, silently asking him to back off, before she knelt before the other crying little boy. "I understand that you're upset, Dom, but you can't just take things that don't belong to you. This monkey is important to Jake, like Bunny is important to you, and when you take it away from him it makes him very sad. You don't want to make him sad do you?" she spoke very gently to him.
He clenched his jaw tightly but looked both Spencer and Jacob in the eyes before looking down and shaking his head 'no'.
"Okay then," she stood back up and reached to set a hand on each boys shoulder and nudged them to come face to face, "Dominic, give Jacob back his monkey and apologize."
With his chin to his chest the smaller boy held out the toy and mumbled, "Sorry, 'Acob."
Jacob snatched the object from his hand and held it close to himself, looking relieved to have it back. He was content to let the encounter end at that but was prompted by Spencer's stern look and raised eyebrows to pat Dominic on the shoulder and offer, "I can help you look for Bunny if you want, Dom."
This brightened the younger significantly and together they ran out of the foyer and further into the house. The blonde girl set her hands on her hips and blew out a breath.
"Not bad, kiddo."
Spencer nearly jumped out of her skin, and then flushed brightly at the looks she was getting from Ashley, Aiden, Kyla and the new woman.
"Je-sus, Chris, you scared the hell out of me!" she hissed, hand clutching the front of her shirt.
From near the doorway Ashley sniggered unhelpfully which prompted Spencer to flip her off with a grin and Kyla to glance confusedly between them. Chris pinched her face into a disapproving look but a smile was very clear in her eyes, "Watch yourself, girlie."
The blonde swung an arm around the older woman with a laugh, "You got it fo-mom."
Chris rolled her eyes good-naturedly and poked Spencer in the side, "Why don't you introduce me to your friends, fo-daughter."
Spencer gestured to the shorter girl, "I'm sure you remember my best friend, Kyla?" The woman nodded a hello and the blonde girl motioned to the other two, "And this is her sister, Ashley, and friend, Aiden, from LA."
Spencer's foster mom was a good looking woman with light brown hair and dark green eyes, barely taller the Spencer herself she had a smile that lit up her entire face and an energy that made her whole body vibrate. She shook hands with Spencer's guests and then turned to face her foster child, "Don't stay up all night, okay? And don't be late for your game. Do you want me to call you in the morning to make sure you get up on time?"
Spencer shook her head, "I'll get Kyla's mom to wake me up."
"Ok then," she hugged Spencer briefly, "Good luck tomorrow and I'll talk to you after the game. Marissa's upstairs in your room with Valerie and you should say goodnight to Dom and Andrew before you leave." The girl nodded and Chris grinned at Kyla, Aiden and Ashley once more, "It was nice meeting you all."
They all said their goodbyes and she walked to the left of the nearby staircase while Spencer led them to the second floor, down a hallway and into a room located on the right hand side.
There were two beds in the room, one neatly made with a half-packed duffle bag and lacrosse stick on top and the other occupied by the small, dark haired girl from earlier surrounded by several books. Marissa looked up from her notes and nodded at them, "Hey Ky, Aiden, Ashley," and with a smile she winked at the blonde, "Mary."
"Annie," Spencer faux-collapsed on her bed, right over her open books, and sighed, "I'm getting tired of those ones, let's come up with something new. Where's your girl?"
Marissa tilted her head to a door on the other side of the room, which Ashley assumed lead to a balcony of some sorts, and replied, "She got a call about twenty minutes ago." Spencer raised her eyebrows but Marissa just shook her head, "I didn't ask."
Spencer frowned but pushed past it with a wave of her hand around the room, "Take a seat, guys, and make yourselves comfortable."
The three guests found various places around the room and made small talk with Marissa while Spencer gathered up some clothing and miscellaneous items and placed them into the bag on her bed. For a moment Ashley was so caught up in the surreality of the moment, sitting there talking and laughing with people she barely knew that she almost missed the sliding of the door as Valerie wobbled into the room to join them. But nothing could have stopped her from noticing the way the blondes immediately snapped to look at one another, the way Spencer glanced evenly at the phone in Val's hand, or the look of distaste they shot at one another.
Yet Ashley must have been the only one to notice, because the injured girl smoothly inserted herself in the conversation with a laugh and no one said a word about it. Spencer, on the other hand, just grew quite and just finished packing.