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.
A little more revealed, a lot more questions. Where entering the final quarter here folks.
Thanks to everyone reviewed, there were many happy dances :D Also, this is pretty much a rough cut, but I was doing so well with the updating that I wanted to keep it up.
Ashley faked a smile for Kyla's benefit as the approached the obnoxiously large house on a lane filled with dozens of other obnoxiously large houses. This one differed in the fact that its long arching driveway was filled with cars as was most of the street in front and the shouts of teenagers being heard from round back. A nap and some aspirin had rid her of all but the dregs of her headache, but this party already had the earmarks of something that was not going to help with it at all.
She had actually, surprising even herself, seriously considered Eileen's offer of tea and a quite movie night but she knew it would be rude to Kyla, who had been looking forward to introducing her guests to her old way of life on the East Coast. Maybe even as a way of connecting the way she partied to the way Aiden and Ashley did at Grey's back in LA. Plus, the more Ashley thought about it, the more she figured she owed Spencer some kind of apology. Not that she planned on taking the whole of the blame, as she'd said in Kyla's room there were two of them involved, but Ashley shouldn't have pushed as hard as she had, shouldn't have advanced when Spencer was on the phone. There was just something about the blonde, something in her voice, in her touch or her smile that just made Ashley feel safe. And feeling safe wasn't something she was entirely used to so when it did happen, she tried to latch on as hard as she could.
So no, she wasn't the only one at fault for that little scene, but she'd be damned if she was going to leave it at that.
Kyla was practically vibrating with excitement, which was making Aiden grin goofily from his place on her right, and Ashley to roll her eyes at the pair of them. The East Coast native rung the door bell, which echoed through the buzz of music and voices audible from behind the front door.
The noise increased exponentially as the door swung open to reveal Scott dressed in khaki shorts and a light blue polo. "Kyla!" he shouted excitedly, surging forward to pick her up around the hips and hold her there. "Come in, come in! Don't stand there on the porch like a bunch of losers!" he waved his free arm at Ashley and Aiden, offering the girl a wink. He turned and carried Kyla inside the house, "Hey everyone! Ky-Ky's here!"
With the smaller girl's laughter still being heard over the din, Aiden turned to his oldest friend, mood change evident on his face. "I'm not going to enjoy this all that much am I?" he asked her petulantly.
Ashley punched him lightly in the shoulder and grinned, "Probably not, but I might now."
!
They wondered through the expansive house following Scott, who had finally set Kyla down. He pointed out the way to the basement which was blasting music and flashing multi-colored lights at random and told them if they were into dancing then that was the place to be. He also walked them through the kitchen where an expanse of snack foods and pizzas were laid out and gestured towards a door on the far end that led to the backyard where a couple of kegs where set up.
"There's also a pool out back and a game room down the hall, but feel free to wander, mix and mingle. We're all friends here, some closer than others." He waggled his eyebrows at Kyla making her flush and giggle.
He grabbed a beer from a cooler on the back porch, offering some to his guests who all accepted one but none opened them, and led them back into the house and to another room where most of the people Ashley had met in Baltimore were situated.
"Okay, okay," Donny was waving his arms, "I got one." He raised a glass in the air, "Never have I ever kissed a member of the same sex."
Val groaned from her seat on the end of the couch and shared an eye roll with the three other girls in the room that were in said same-sex relationships. Marissa reached back from her spot on the floor in front of her girlfriend and pinched her leg above the cast, both taking a sip from their respective cups.
"Lame," Spencer groused, shifting from the opposite end of the couch where she was pressed between the arm rest and Juliet, but took a sip at the same time as her and one or two other people in the room. Then she smirked, "Never have I ever been strip searched at the mall."
"Extenuating circumstances, Spencer!" Donny shouted over Val's bellowing call of: "Drink up, JD!"
"Hey!" Scott shouted over the resulting laughter, fully ushering the other three into the room, "Look what sexiness I found wandering about in the cold."
Juliet opened her mouth but before anything could come out, Spencer clapped her hand over the other girl's mouth and instead it was Marissa's voice that rang out, "I know Aiden's pretty, Scott, but I really don't think you're his type."
Scott guffawed louder than anyone and nudged Aiden with his elbow, "You going to take that, man?"
"Take what?" Aiden shrugged and threw Marissa a wink, "I just got called pretty, I'm cool with that."
"Respect, man," Val nodded raising her cup before taking another sip.
"Ignore her," Spencer piped up, "She's drunk."
Juliet leant forward from her place against the blonde and ruffled Val's hair, "Doesn't take much, does it, lightweight?"
"Ah lay off, you degenerate," she slurred, swiping at the offending hand.
"Big words, definitely drunk," Scott stage-whispered to the newcomers. He wandering further into the room, "Whelp, come on in if you're coming in or you know," he waved his free hand about in a general manner. They all made their way in and found a free spot on the floor, Scott made a round of general introductions before taking a spot next to Kyla, "So what have we learned so far?"
From the corner of her eye Ashley saw Spencer tense when Juliet resumed her place against her, her blue-eyes watching the three of them subtly. There were a few inputs from people giving out highlights, like some girl named Amanda had made out with a teacher, but Scott shook his head, "It's no good, we know too much about each other." He laughed and raised his drink, "I say we make new ones. Juliet, truth or dare?"
Ashley hid a smirk behind taking a sip because Spencer reacted the same way she had the night before at the suggestion of the game. "What is your obsession with this game?" she asked launching the closest pillow at his head, but her aim was hindered by the body against her own and it fell a couple feet shy.
Scott stroked an imaginary beard and put on a mock-thoughtful expression, "I think it spans back to sophomore year when Jules had to give me a lap dance and I damn near bust a nut."
It was the dark-haired girl that threw the next pillow and with her dominate hand free her aim was that much better, smacking him in the face and muffling his laughter, but not that of everyone else in the room. "Truth, you jackass," she finally responded to his initial question.
"Something we've all been dying to know, what is your favorite position to have Spencer in?"
The blonde's face lit up brightly and she moved to hide it behind Juliet's back, "I really fucking hate this game." Ashley was beginning to understand why.
!
It didn't take five minutes for the California-born girl to figure out the focus of the East-Coaster's game. By half an hour there was enough skin and sex-talk in the air to remind her of any club from back home. It was all sex and humiliation with these people and if you could get both in one shot then it was just a bonus. Surprisingly, because Ashley seriously was looking for more reasons to hate the girl, Juliet wasn't the ringleader of this circle of depravity.
It was nothing obvious, but Ashley had spent years as the head of the social hierarchy\along side Madison so she knew to recognize the signs for what they were. Angela Marco, the girl from the game, sat in the place of honor, a loveseat at the far end of the room, where she could watch the proceedings with limited interference. No one laughed before her, and there were several looks of people seeking approval passed to her. She pulled the strings like a puppet master and apparently she had it out for Spencer.
"Alright, Spencer, I've got one for you," Angela leant forward dramatically with a dangerous smirk on her face, "What did Jamison Kelley actually say to you before you went ape shit on him?"
Kyla suddenly sat up straighter catching the quick glance Spencer shot her, "Wait, what? Jamison came back?"
"For a visit, a couple days after you left for LA," Scott filled in, the easy smile that had graced his features all night beginning to look a little forced.
"And Spencer beat him up?"
"Kicked his ass all over Troy Derr's front lawn," Val threw in, sounding a hundred percent proud and holding up her hand for a fist bump.
Juliet shoved it away, "Resulting in three split knuckles, a bruised rib and a black eye. It's not something to be proud of Valerie."
"Fuck that," she grumbled, falling back into her spot, "Someone needed to smash his smug little face in."
Kyla kept her gaze on Spencer, a sense of morbid curiosity peaked, what had caused such a violent reaction in her normally laid back best friend? She knew what was likely to have caused it, but as far as she was aware the issue had been laid to rest for almost two years.
The blonde, on the other hand, was resolutely avoiding her looks. "Consequences?" she asked instead, indicating that she wasn't going to answer.
"You have to tell us where you really were for that month freshman year."
Spencer went completely still. Juliet swung wide eyes to Angela, proclaiming "She's not going to answer that" at the same time Kyla rocked to her knees to face the blonde calling out "You don't have to answer that." They turned to glare at one another.
The blonde in question turned a heavy frown and a dark look to the girl who was putting her on the spot, "Christ, Angie, pulling a fucking punch every once in a while."
"Your choice, Spinner," the dark girl replied, smugly leaning back into her boyfriend.
"Just tell her what Jamison said, Spence, it can't be that bad," Kyla implored. But Spencer was looking down, jaw clenching and unclenching, Juliet leant away from her so that she could touch her shoulder with the tip of her fingers. The blonde shook her head quickly and stood, waving off her girlfriend's attempt to do the same.
Her eyes landed quickly on Ashley before tilting her head to the side to watch the way Val and Marissa watched her. "I was in a, uh, reparative therapy camp," her eyes were screwed upward making Ashley think she was repeating something she remembered hearing rather than talking straight. Marissa hissed in surprise and Val lurched forward in her seat, "For sexual re-orientation." She turned a humorless smile onto Angela, "You know you can be a real bitch sometimes, Ange."
"It's just a game, Spencer," the girl pouted, "No need to be so hostile. Your turn, babe."
The blonde's fingers twitched around the red cup in her hand, "Someone else can have it. I'm going to get myself something else to drink."
She left the room in a stunned silence without a backwards glance. After a tense second Scott snorted, "Never have I ever stormed off, diva style, from a game of Truth or Dare." Angela and Donny laughed first, followed by everyone else in the room sans the three sitting next to him and the three girls by the couch. Kyla stood quickly. "Chill out, babe," the sandy-haired boy frowned up at her, "It's cool. No one here cares about that shit. Sit down and play, she's fine."
"That's not really the point, babe," she shook her head and smiled, "I know she's fine, it's just getting a bit cramped in here. I was going to check out the basement. Ash? Aiden?"
The two stood up and shuffled out after her. Ashley was beginning to wonder if any one else noticed the force behind her smile or the fake quality of her upbeat voice, or if they did if they even cared. Scott stood up to follow after them, but a dark look from Aiden and Angela's voice stopped him.
"Sit down, Scottie, we're in the middle of a game."
Once in the relative privacy of the hallway Ashley rounded on her half-sister, "Okay, seriously, what the hell was all of that?"
But Kyla's eyes were focused further down the hall and she was wearing her worried face. "'Don't worry about it' she says, 'Just some stupid drama in the group' she says," Kyla mimicked under her breath. She sighed heavily and rubbed her temples with the heels of her hands. Quickly she turned wide, apologetic eyes on her guests, "God, I'm so sorry, guys. I totally forgot how bad they could get, especially when it involves, I mean," she shook her head and went back to looking down the hall.
"Especially when it involves what?" Ashley wouldn't be swayed.
Kyla shrugged, her eyes filled with bland acknowledgment of the situation, "It's just the politics of the group, Ashley, I'm sorry you had to see all of that. I just wanted you," she looked over to Aiden as well, "both of you, to have a good time."
Ashley wanted to say more, but Aiden over-stepped her once more, "We can still salvage it. Let's just go find Spencer and split." He received a grateful smile in return and they split up to find the blonde part of their group.
As luck would have it, Ashley found her in the first place she looked, sitting on the side steps of the wrap-around porch. She was facing away from the brunette, swirling the contents of the red cup in her hands. "Hey," she called out softly, "You okay?" Immediately she wished she could take it back because it was a stupid thing to ask after all that. Spencer didn't respond, so she tried again. "Your friends are kind of assholes."
The blonde nodded once, "Yep." She took a sip from the cup.
Ashley frowned at the general lack of response, "You probably shouldn't drink when you're upset, or that's what Aiden tells me anyway."
Without looking back Spencer waved an arm indicating the other girl should come closer. When she complied and was within reaching distance, the athlete raised the cup for her to take. Ashley gave the contents a cautionary sniff, frowned and took a sip herself. "It's Dr. Pepper," she stated in surprise.
Spencer had shifted to watch the brunette on her customary tilted axis, "I tend to do stupid things when I drink, like take on a guy that's got three years and fifty pounds on me."
"Jamison Kelley?" she guessed, handing her back the cup and taking the seat next to her.
"Jamison Kelley," Spencer confirmed.
"Who the hell is Jamison Kelley?"
Spencer just shook her head softly, "Just some douche we used to go to school with."
"Did he deserve it?" Ashley asked. She watched Spencer's face darken as the blonde nodded. "Well, okay then."
Her neck swiveled to regard the girl next to her who was now staring straight forward, "That's it?"
Ashley shrugged and let the semi-awkward silence settle over them. She thought back to Eileen and Kyla and what they did when Spencer was locked away in her own head, but couldn't think of good way to divert the obvious topic. So she didn't, she was Ashley Davies after all, and Ashley Davies didn't shy away from a fight. "So, anti-gay camp, huh?"
"Yeah," the blonde drew out the word cautiously.
"Do you get your money back if they can't make you straight and boring? And oh! Was RuPaul your counselor?" she asked, as if the thought just occurred to her. She knew there was so much more to it than that, that this was seriously thing, but it was neither the time nor the place. So Ashley did what she was comfortable with, she went with jokes and making light of things, making it bearable.
Spencer's lips twitched like she was fighting a smile when she recognized the reference, "No and no. It was Father Fitzpatrick."
Ashley huffed as she visibly deflated, "That's seriously disappointing." She reached across to pluck the cup from Spencer's hand and took a drink.
The blonde regarded her with a small, fond smile, "You're kind of a dork, you know that?" Blue met blue as the brunette raised her eyebrows in a look of mock indignity. Spencer held her thumb and forefinger about a centimeter apart between them, "Just a little bit."
Ashley repeated the gesture in an attempt to confirm and scoffed when Spencer nodded. Leaning over she bumped her shoulder against the blonde's, "Whatever, you know you like it."
"Yeah," the other girl agreed softly, the brightness of her smile turning up just a touch as she took her cup back, fingers brushing fingers gently.
A blush took residence on Ashley's face, but she was saved from having to respond by a familiar voice ringing out like a bell.
"Spencer?"
The blonde's good mood evaporated immediately and a stony look replaced her contented smile.