Wow. Thank you all for the reviews. Glad that everybody enjoyed a look into the mind of Spencer. I had a hard time with that chapter so to hear you all enjoyed it made my day.

bobo02- Thank you and you're very welcome. I will try my hardest to keep up the good work :)

LoLo06, lisarichie, Sgarc12, ashleyss27, momo0424, Acurcura, Alana0906, emking3- THANK YOU. You're reviews mean the world to me. Glad you are enjoying the story.

naranga87- I am only a writing machine because you guys inspire me to be. Spashleyness is ahead but you ARE going to have to wait my "Lady Friend" ;)

noodles307- Sorry I am turning you into a "pathetic sap" . It was not my intention but I am glad that my story has affected you that way.

itswhatever- Yes as I said I was worried. Soo glad I worried for nothing. Thanx.

Charlee- Glad you enjoyed it and Son-in-law is an awesome movie. One of my fave's too. "Can I please widdle wood with you?"

drummergirl- Sorry that you had a bad day. Hope you are feeling better. *Hugs and a kiss on the cheek* for you too my dear. I knew you would say longer chapters ;)

tbplrbear1- You're so right. Ashley and Spencer need to work on themselves first before they can be together. And graduation is just around the corner. Hello Spashley!

oneliner- You are partially right. Spencer did acknowledge..to herself..that she hurt Ashley but she did it so that she wouldn't give her hope. Probably should have gotten more into that. Thank you for the comment.

CoolGay- I am in the North American Eastern time zone. I believe you are about 6 hours ahead of me. I usually write my chapters in the early morning and post them whenever I get the chance. Sorry I can not always give you your bedtime story :(

Okay so here is my question for you all: Would you rather have...

A- Short chapters every other day.

or

B- Long chapters every 5-7 days.

Chapter 19

I own nothing but my good ol' imagination

I reluctantly pull away from my dad. I look at his tear stained face. His eyes telling me two things. I'm sorry and I love you. I rest my head on his chest and breathe in his smell. I haven't felt this safe, this warm, this happy in ..well never. I pull back again and smile through my tears.

"What are you doing here? How? Where have you been?" I have so many questions for him.

"Easy there Princess. One at a time." He lifts both of his hands and wipes my tears with his thumbs. He holds my face, leans in and kisses my forehead.

"Where have you been?" I need answers.

"Nowhere as important as here. I'm sorry I haven't been here for you Princess." He frowns. "How about we get out of here and go get some ice cream sundaes. Then we'll talk. I will answer any and all questions you have."

"Sounds good dad." I grab his hand and we head for the door. I can't believe he is here right now. I want to pinch myself. So I do. Ouch!

We are almost to the door when he stops. He looks back at the stage.

"You were amazing up there Ashley. Definitely got that Rock star blood flowing through ya."

I give him a cocky smile. "You ain't seen nothing yet Pops."

Spencer and Miranda are standing outside by her car. Miranda has her arm around Spencer. As we can approach them I see Spencer wipe her eyes again.

My dad is the first to talk. "Spencer Thank you. I appreciate what you have done for me and my daughter. And you.." He grabs Miranda's hands. "You must be Miranda."

She nods and smiles.

"Thank you Sweetheart for being such a good friend to my daughter." He pulls Miranda into a hug and I get a bit choked up. He really has no idea how much of a good friend she has been.

I look over at Spencer and she is looking at me. I can tell she wants to say something but she doesn't. Her eyes are red from crying and I begin to wonder why this has affected her so much. What part did she have in my father being home? My thoughts are interrupted by my father.

"So why don't we all go get some ice cream sundaes? My treat." My dad, always the generous one.

"No. That's okay. You should go spend some time with your daughter." Spencer finally speaks.

"Oh, it's okay. Really. Hopefully.." I look at my dad when I say the next part. "He will be here long enough for us to have a looooong talk." I smile at my dad and he smiles back. I have missed his goofy smile.

"Really Ashley. It's okay. We should get going." Not so fast Spencer. I want answers from you too.

"Oh hush. Let's go. You're driving Teach." I smile as I grab my dad's hand. We both get in the back. Miranda gets in the passenger seat. Spencer is slow to get into the car. I guess she really doesn't want to come. Too bad.

I held my dad's hand the whole way and caught Spencer's eyes on me once again in the rear view mirror. She didn't look away once she had been caught. And again I am left to wonder what that woman is thinking.

We all sit down in a corner booth of the nearly empty ice cream shop. Dad and I had ordered ice cream sundaes. Miranda just ordered a chocolate cone and Spencer ordered a small banana split. We were all joking around and laughing. Well all except for Spencer. She just sat quietly eating her banana split. Smiling here and there at random things.

Leave it to my dad to put you on the spot "Hey there Blue Eyes. Why ya so quiet? You were anything but quiet when you were cussing me out on the way here." Oh really now. Spencer was cussing out my dad. Interesting.

"Oh really. So dear old dad what is it that my wonderful teacher here had to say?" I never take my eyes off of Spencer. She scoops up a banana with her spoon and brings it to her mouth.

"Oh ya know. Just that I'm a shitty father and that you deserve better. Something like that." Spencer puts the spoon in her mouth and holds it there while she raises her eye brows.

"She's right though. I am a shitty father and you do deserve better." I finally look away from Spencer and to my dad. His head is down. I squeeze his hand and he looks up.

"Make it up to me then." I give him the Davies signature break hearts smile.

"I plan to Princess. I'm all yours." We press our foreheads together and I have to hold back my tears.

"Can you excuse me for a second? I have to use the ladies room." Spencer says suddenly. Then she is out of her seat and walking towards the other side of the ice cream shop.

"Is she okay?" My dad asks.

"I don't know. Let me go check." Miranda starts to slide out of the booth.

"No. I'll go check. I have to use the bathroom anyway." I lied.

"Okay. That's fine. I wanted to ask your dad about some embarrassing moments from your childhood anyway. Take your time." Miranda smiles wickedly.

"Ask away. Nothing could be more embarrassing or shameful than the things you already know about." I shrug and step out of the booth.

When I get to the bathroom Spencer is washing her hands. I walk in all of the way and lean up against the wall. She looks over at me through the mirror. Her expression is one of both fear and anxiousness. She dries her hands, turns and starts walking towards the door. It seems as though she is going to just walk out the door but she stops just before it and throws her paper towel in the trashcan on the other side of the door. She doesn't move after that.

"I don't know exactly how it happened but I have a feeling I should be thanking you. So….. thank you." She looks up at me with her lips pursed.

"You're welcome." That's all she says and then she reaches for the door.

"Spence wait." It's out of my mouth before I can even render a thought.

She stops. I can see the wetness forming in her eyes.

I slowly move closer to her. She doesn't back away. So I grab her hands and hold them in mine.

"Thank you. Really. You don't know what it means to me seeing him, talking to him, being in his arms. This is all just so surreal." Those tears I was holding back are starting to push through. I don't know how much longer I will be able to keep them in. My voice is quiet and my hands are shaking. "You keep doing things like this and I don't know how I am going to be able to keep walking away."

A lone tear drops from her eye and I instantly without thinking wipe it away with my thumb. I drop my hand back to my side. The other one still holding hers.

"Thank you for caring enough about me to do this for me. I owe you one. Which is why I am going to …walk away again." I look away from her beautiful, sad eyes and then turn to open the door. Our hands are still linked and she pulls me back towards her. She lets go of my hand and puts her arms around me. I hesitate for a second but then reach mine around her. I was lost for a second. I couldn't believe what was happening. I was in Spencer's arms. Her warm, loving arms. They were tight around me and I was sure I was imagining it. My head was in the crook of her neck and I couldn't help but breathe her in. Her scent was amazing. I couldn't describe it if I tried. It was just Spencer scent. I always imagined what being in her arms would feel like but I never imagined this. I never imagined it to feel so innocent. It felt natural. And there was nothing sexual about this embrace. It was all about comfort. Nothing had ever felt so right. At that point I lost it. I let go. Tears flowed like a river. Down my face and onto my shirt and probably hers too. I didn't care. I wanted this so badly. No..I needed this so badly. I needed to know she cared. She held me tighter and whispered reassurances in my ears and then I felt her warm lips on my forehead. I closed my eyes and tried to memorize the way I felt in this moment so I would remember it forever.

I lifted my head off of her shoulder and away from her warm neck. My brown eyes met her blue and I couldn't look away. No words needed to be said. Everything I needed to know I saw in her eyes. She wanted me but she couldn't be with me. She needed me but she but she couldn't say it. She had feelings for me but she couldn't show them. It killed me but I understood. Of course I wanted more but that wasn't possible. Not yet anyway.

"I'm sorry that I keep hurting you. That is not my intention." She looked away trying to hide her own hurt. Pulling back she let go of the grip she still had on my arms.

"I know. I'm sorry too."

"You have nothing to be sorry for Ashley." She lifts her hand to my face and wipes away the remainder of my tears.

"We should get back out there before they start wondering." She dropped her hand from my face and I immediately felt the loss of warmth.

"Yeah. Okay."

When we stepped out of the bathroom we immediately heard Miranda. She was laughing hysterically. Great! My dad must have remembered a good one.

We reach the table and they both stop laughing. But Miranda can't hold it in. She busts out laughing again.

"So you thought that since you were dressed like Wonder Woman that you could fly huh?" She pursed her lips together and started giggling eternally.

"Ah. Good one Dad. Yes, if you must know I thought I had super speed too. Took off from one end of the roof with my super speed and flew off the other side of the roof. Luckily for me there was a pond behind the house and I knew how to swim."

They were all laughing now. Even Spencer had joined in.

"Laugh it up guys. Ha ha ha. Ok jokes over can we ..go now."

"I got more stories even better than that Sweetheart. Just come on over to the house soon and we'll talk some more." He says to Miranda and she nods.

"Sounds like a plan Mr. D."

We all walk out to the car. I can't help but smile. This night has been amazing and ...very emotional.

Spencer drove back to the club so that Miranda could get her car. I got out with Miranda and walked her to her car. She stopped at the door and turned around.

"I love seeing you so happy. It makes me happy." She grabs me and pulls me in for a hug. I seem to be getting a lot of those tonight. And strangley I didn't mind one bit. I pull back and smile at her.

"Thank you Miranda."

"For what?"

"For being such an awesome friend. For being happy that I am happy. For being you. For …whatever part you had in my dad being home." I breathe in the cool night air and look up at the sky.

"Ash?" I look back at her.

"You're welcome. For all of it. And thank you for being such an awesome friend too." She rubs my arm and then squeezed my hand. "I'll see you tomorrow….Wonder Woman." She giggles and then gets in her car. I guess Wonder Woman is better than Goob.

The drive back to our house was quiet. Our house. My dad was home. I didn't know for how long but I was happy with whatever time I could get. When we pulled up my dad turned to Spencer.

"Thank you again Spencer. My daughter is lucky to have you in her life. I hope I get to see you again soon Blue Eyes." He kissed her hand and got out of the car.

"I'll let you girls say goodbye." Thanks Dad.

I got out of the car and walked over to Spencer's window. I put my elbows on the open window and rested my chin on my hands. I looked at Spencer and smiled.

"I know my dad and I have probably overused the words tonight but Thank you. I am so happy right now you have no clue."

"I'm glad that you are happy Ash. You deserve to be. And you're welcome. Again. It was truly my pleasure." She reached up and tucked a piece of windblown hair back behind my ear.

She looked so beautiful in the moonlight. She literally took my breath away.

"Forgive me." I say as I lean into the car.

"For wha.." She tried to say but I cut her off with my lips.

It was a brief kiss but a powerful one. The butterflies in my tummy fluttered about uncontrollably. The touch of her lips on mine sent a shock throughout my entire body. The taste of her lips was intoxicating. I don't know how I pulled away but I did. Her eyes were closed and she opened them just before I pulled back out of the car window.

"Goodnight Spence." I said with a sly grin.

"Goodnight Ashley. See you in the morning." She shook her head and smiled back.

Oh right..school. I almost forgot about that. Actually I did forget.

Dad and I sat up and talked to nearly 1 in the morning. Our conversation was quite the emotional rollercoaster.

We went from just talking….

"So how are things in school?"

"Good. For once I actually don't mind going?" I laugh.

"Does that have anything to do with your beautiful, blue-eyed teacher?"

"A little." I grin.

To me yelling…

"A month Dad. How could you not try to get a hold of me? I tried for weeks. Didn't know where you were. If you were okay. Were you not worried about me?"

"I tried to get a hold of you Princess. I guess I just didn't try hard enough. I let your mother lie to me. I let her make me believe that you were too busy out having fun with your friends and didn't need me. I'm soo sorry Ashley. I didn't know things were so bad."

"You could have called ME dad. I have my own phone." I hold up my phone at him.

"Ash. I got a new phone and didn't remember the number. That's when I called your mother and she told me not to bother. You were too busy for me. I know I shouldn't have listened to that bitch but I was stupid. "

To him crying…

"I'm sorry baby. I'm here now. And I wanna make up for it all." Seeing him cry made me cry. I couldn't handle it.

Too both of us laughing…

"You called her that? She had to love that."

"Yeah and she told me that I was just like you. I think she thought that it would bother me." We both giggled like little school girls.

To him yelling….

"I can't believe she hit you Ashley. If you couldn't get a hold of me you should have told someone. Anyone. She had no right to do that. When I get a hold of that scrawny twit I am gonna ring her neck."

To me crying…

"I was just so lost and I didn't want to but it made me feel better instantly. Thank God Miranda showed up the next morning or who knows what would have happened."

I had never cried so much in my life. Luckily my dad was there give me a shoulder to cry on and to catch all the tears.

My dad was still officially married to my mother. But I had a feeling that after everything he had heard tonight it wouldn't be long until he filed for divorce. He didn't want to give her anything but he didn't want her in our lives more. He would lose a lot of money and possessions because of the divorce but he didn't care about that anymore. He wanted her gone and he knew the moment she had a full bank account..she would be. Fine with me. Sayonara Christine.

I was in my bed ready to fall asleep when he came in.

"Hey there Princess. Want daddy to tuck you in?" He smiled big.

"No thanks Dad. I think I can manage. I'm almost 18 after all."

"Oh right. My little girl isn't so little anymore. I've missed a lot." He looked sad again.

"You have. Dad…how long are you going to be here?" I asked nervously.

"How long do you want me to be here?" Uh forever.

"I want you here for as long as you can possibly be here. I miss you Daddy. I need you. Please don't go yet." My voice cracked and the damn tears were threatening to spill again.

"I'm not going anywhere just yet. I've got some things to take care of. One being you. The other being your mother. You're stuck with me for a while."

"I don't mind. I like being stuck with you." My little girl voice came out and it was like I was 7 years old again begging my daddy not to leave.

"Goodnight Princess. See you in the morning." He kissed my forehead. "I love you Ashley."

"I love you too Daddy."

Reviews please. As much as I loooove the good ones. I will take the bad too :(