A/N: This is unBETA'ed but I promised I'd put something up, I'll have the BETA'ed version hopefully soon. Thanks for waiting so long, this is for everyone who hasn't given up on this story and The Merry Band of MisFit Brushes.
Also, check out SpashleyU "dot" com for your Spashley vid fix, because who doesn't want to watch every Spashley scene with all the other distractions edited out for free? And share the site with everyone you know.
"Seriously, why didn't they get her some help? It's clear she had some serious issues going on." Ashley huffed at the TV screen. "No, instead they all just sit around laughing at her, still filming, making money off her."
"We can watch something else, we don't have to watch this…" Spencer tried for the fifth time to get Ashley to change the channel.
"No, I mean how can't you watch? It's like, because you know she dies it makes it all so much more tragic." Ashley continued staring at the TV screen while Anna Nicole Smith was complaining about her redneck cousin. Or at least trying to as she kept slurring her words.
"Would it make you feel any better to know that she's in a much happier place?" Spencer leaned back on the couch, tucking her legs under her. She felt her IQ lowering with each horrific reality show Ashley insisted they watch.
"Really?" Ashley finally turned her attention away from Anna Nicole's miniature poodle humping a pillow to look at Spencer. "Is she on the Higher Plane?"
"Nope, even better. She lives at the In Between's version of Disney Land with her son. You'd be amazed at how many people choose that for their final destination." Spencer couldn't keep the grin off her face at Ashley's disbelief. "She's Cinderella every night in the Parade, people love her."
"Seriously?"
"Truly"
"Cool" Ashley turned back to the television with a smile on her face.
Spencer ducked her head down, hiding the grin on her face as she continued to pretend to watch the television with Ashley. She could really care less about contrived "reality" shows but it seemed to be the only thing the brunette next to her wanted to watch.
Her own reality was more than enough drama for her to deal with. It had been a week since they had kissed. A week filled with longing looks, gentle and not so gentle flirting, a few stolen moments in Spencer's room filled with hot and heavy make out sessions that were getting more and more intense as the days went by.
Spencer knew it was only a matter of time before one of them slipped in public or someone found out and it was no longer just wondering whispers around the dorms. She'd caught Kegan and Brandi watching her and Ashley closely when ever they all were together, knowing looks passing between the two other Light Fates. She knew her best friends would never say anything but she still felt guilty hiding her feelings from everyone. Even though no one had asked her outright if they were fooling around, she still felt like she was lying to everyone.
Spencer didn't do guilt well.
In fact, Spencer Carlin was probably the worst person on the In Between when it came to dealing with guilt, which was why she was currently practicing something she was a bit better at, denial with a dash of avoidance. Hence the reason she and Ashley had been holed up in her room watching crappy reality shows for the last three days.
Spencer watched the brunette out of the corner of her eye. The last week had been one of the happiest she had experienced in a very long time. And that was saying something considering how long Spencer had been on the In Between. Her room was dark, the only light coming from the television. The shadows bounced off the walls, while giving Ashley's face a pale glow. Even in this lighting the girl was strikingly beautiful and Spencer couldn't help staring. The way her nose turned up just the slightest, the crinkle in the corner of her eyes when she laughed or smiled at something, those perfect pouty lips that now had a half smile on them, as if Ashley knew some secret and was only waiting for Spencer to ask before sharing it.
"Take a picture, it lasts longer." Ashley smirked, keeping her eyes on the television. Spencer blushed at being caught staring but then cracked up at the lame comment from the normally witty brunette.
"Take a picture, it lasts longer? Seriously? That's the best you got?"
"Um, didn't your mother ever teach you it's not polite to stare?" Ashley offered, her ears burning red at how very uncool she felt. In her defense, she found herself unable to think very clearly whenever she felt the blonde's intense stare on her.
Spencer busted out laughing, "Ok, that wasn't much better. Besides, how could I not stare when you're so beautiful?"
"Um, wow and you're making fun of me for my lame lines?" Ashley smirked, though inside her heart felt like it was melting at the corny sentiment from the blonde.
"Hey, that wasn't a line, I meant it." Spencer laughed while hitting Ashley with pillow from the couch.
"Uh huh, just like it wasn't a line when you said if I was a burger at Mickey D's I'd be the McGorgeous." Ashley laughed while trying to grab the pillow out of Spencer's hands.
"Oh, whatever, I only said that because you asked if I wanted fries with that shake when I was walking up the stairs earlier." Spencer blushed lightly at the extreme lameness they both had been displaying the last few days. Now that she thought about it, they were acting like a couple of smitten teenagers with their first crush.
Ashley successfully managed to get the pillow away from Spencer and hit the blonde back with it. Spencer lunged at the brunette and within a matter of seconds , she had the other girl begging for mercy as she relentlessly tickled her sides.
"Say it." Spencer choked out between laughs as Ashley squirmed under her, trying to get away from the persistent fingers.
"Ok…ok…Spencer Carlin is the Tickle Master…" Ashley exclaimed between gasps of air. Somehow, despite the fact she could barely breathe from laughing so hard and tears were running down her face, she still managed to roll her eyes while saying it.
"There that wasn't so hard, right?" Spencer smirked, still straddling Ashley on the couch.
"Do you realize how beautiful you are when you laugh?" Brown eyes turned soft while staring into blue ones.
The familiar heat that Spencer felt whenever the undecided Fate said anything remotely sweet spread over the blonde's cheeks. "Aww, Ash…"
"Ha ha, got you now, sucka!" Ashley exclaimed taking advantage of Spencer momentary distraction. She pushed Spencer off her and then straddled the other girl, reversing their positions. She wasted no time in repaying the Light Fate and started tickling her as mercilessly as she had just been tickled.
"Say it, Carlin, come on." Ashley demanded playfully.
"Alright…just stop…Ashley Davies rules…"
"And?" Ashley prodded the Light Fate.
"And she's the best thing since…since…Poptarts…." Spencer finished, breathing a sigh of relief when Ashley's fingers finally stopped their assault.
"And don't you forget it." Ashley teased while leaning down to place a lingering kiss on the blonde's lips.
"How could I, you're constantly reminding me." Spencer teased back, pulling the other girl more fully down on her. Their lips met again in an unhurried kiss, both taking the time to enjoy the others lips on theirs.
Spencer let out a low moan as Ashley's tongue ran along her bottom lip, followed by a playful bite. Their tongues slid against each other in a languid manner, neither fighting for dominance, just exploring the others mouth. Another moan escaped Spencer as Ashley brought her hands up her sides, under her shirt, the soft sensation causing the blonde to shudder.
Spencer was far from a prude, despite her goody-goody reputation, but in all her years she had never kissed someone that intuitively seemed to know exactly how to kiss her, how to touch her. They fit together as if they had been made for the other. She ran her hands through Ashley's silky hair, needing something to hold onto as Ashley's fingertips caressed the flesh of her breasts and her leg settled in-between Spencer's, sending her head spinning and her body humming to new heights.
Ashley moved her lips down to Spencer's neck, giving the blonde a chance to take a much needed breath. Even though she couldn't die from lack of air, she could still pass out and that wasn't something she wanted to do in front of Ashley. Somehow she thought that might ruin the mood.
Unfortunately for Spencer, she didn't have to worry about ruining the mood because the loud knock on the door did that quite well on its own.
"Spence? Hey, Spencer, you guys in there?"
Spencer didn't mean to push Ashley off with enough force to send the other girl flying to the floor in an ungraceful heap, but in her defense, hearing Aiden's voice calling her, from the other side of her flimsy door, startled her.
She shot Ashley an apologetic look as she sprung up from the couch, quickly smoothing down her hair and trying her best not to look like she had just been involved in a serious make out session while being groped by the slightly pissed off looking brunette ,who was still on the floor.
"Yeah, Aid, coming…" Ashley could only roll her eyes at Spencer's choice of words. 'We could have been…'
Spencer glanced down at Ashley and frantically motioned for her to stand up before she opened the door.
"Hey, Aiden, hi, what brings you by?" the Light Fate asked with forced casualness. She self-consciously smoothed down the front of her shirt.
Aiden smiled at his friend as he walked into her dorm room. "Hey, I haven't seen you guys around for a few days, so I thought I'd stop by and see what you were up to." Aiden looked over at Ashley, who was still a bit peeved at the unceremoniously way she had been knocked on her ass. "Hey, Ashley, how's it going?"
"Great." She replied with as little sarcasm as she could manage. Behind Aiden, Spencer was frantically motioning for Ashley to behave. With a slight sigh under her breath, the undecided Fate put on a wide, fake smile, "I'm really good, how are you?"
"I'm good, thanks." Aiden smiled again, looking between the two girls. "Um, I'm not interrupting anything am I? You guys weren't in the middle of something were you?"
'We aren't now that you showed up…" Ashley thought, suppressing the sarcastic comment on the tip of her tongue.
Spencer's eyes opened wide in surprise before she quickly tried to reassure her friend, "What? Interrupting? No, no, we weren't doing anything. Just watching some TV. Ashley loves our cable system…"
Ashley internally shook her head at the blonde's rambling attempt at acting naturally, she was a horrible liar. Ashley made a mental note to never have Spencer lie for her. "We were watching the Anna Nicole Show. I never got a chance to watch it before."
"Oh, she makes a great Cinderella." Aiden walked over to the couch and sat down. While his back was to the girls, Spencer frantically motioned at Ashley, pointing to the dark haired girl's shirt. Ashley gave her a look of confusion, not catching what she was trying to tell her. She looked down and turned a light pink, two of the buttons on her shirt had come undone. She shot Spencer a questioning glance, she didn't remember the blonde undoing her shirt.
'The girl has skills…' Ashley smirked as she quickly buttoned them up and sat down next to Spencer, letting her knee accidentally brush against the other girl's.
Spencer's over heated body shivered at the contact.
"Are you cold, Spence?" Aiden asked, momentarily distracted from Anna Nicole trying to talk her assistant into piercing her who-ha.
Spencer quickly glared over at Ashley, who only smirked in triumph. "Ah, yeah, there must be a draft or something, don't you feel it? Maybe I let some cold air in when I opened the door."
Aiden gave her a quizzical look, while Ashley cringed. 'Good one, Spence, a draft from outside, when it's at least 90 degrees out.'
"What have you been up to lately, Aiden?" Ashley asked, distracting the Gray Fate from thinking too much about Spencer's odd behavior.
"Nothing much, I've been working on some council stuff and hanging out with this new Muse, Nadia, who transferred in from Brighton. You both should meet her; she's an amazing Art Muse. She works with Sculptors. The artist she's been inspiring for years moved out here so she followed." While Aiden went on about the new girl he was hanging out with, Spencer and Ashley had found themselves in a heated game of footsies.
It had started when Spencer lightly shoved Ashley's foot for the intentional knee brush earlier. Ashley had retaliated by running her big toe along the instep of Spencer's bare foot. Which, of course, caused Spencer to giggle but not wanting to alert Aiden to what they were doing, she had to stifle it. She shoved the brunette's foot away from hers only to have Ashley shove hers back. From there it had jus escaladed until they were playfully shoving each other on the couch, oblivious that Aiden had stopped talking and was now staring at them.
"Ah, what are you two doing?" Aiden asked, finally getting their attention. Spencer turned bright red and tried to sputter out a response.
"She started it!" Ashley laughed, pointing at the Light Fate.
"Wha….Hey, I did not!" Spencer cried in disbelief.
"Oh, you so did, Light Girl…" Ashley laughed, poking at Spencer's side, making the blonde squirm on the couch.
"Umm, yeah…what is up with you two?" Aiden asked, his eyebrows brunched together like he was trying to figure out an algebra equation.
All movement ceased from the girls. "Up? What do you mean? Why would there be anything going on with us?" Spencer started rambling in panic.
"Hey, who's hungry? I'm starving." Ashley cut Spencer off, getting a grateful glance for her efforts. Ashley got up and started heading for the door. "Well, come one, aren't you guys coming?"
Aiden shook his head as he followed Spencer towards the door where Ashley stood impatiently, "Man, I just don't get girls."
Ashley reached over and grabbed a fry off Spencer's plate, earning a playful slap on the hand from the Light Fate. "You have your own fries."
"Yeah but they're too hot to eat." Ashley whined, earning an eye roll from the blonde.
"Did you hear that the Councils are meeting to discuss what to do about that Mick St. John? He refused to apologize." Aiden said between mouthfuls of cheese sticks.
"Really? No, I hadn't heard…" Spencer was mildly concerned about the news. If St. John refused to apologize what did that mean? The whole thing could escalate into people choosing sides and that wouldn't be good for the In Between at all.
"Yeah, it's getting pretty serious. I'm surprised you hadn't heard yet. What have you two been doing for the last week?" Aiden set his burger down, slightly surprised that Spencer hadn't heard considering she was usually on top of all the latest news.
"Well you know, I've been trying to catch up on all the trashy reality shows I missed. I can't believe how many I missed the first time around." Ashley supplied, not wanting to make Spencer think of an excuse given her lack of skills when it came to lying. "My Fair Brady? Wow, I can't believe they really got married! They are like toxic to each other."
"Yeah, the Dark Fates love those reality shows, they can usually get the people on them to do anything." Aiden laughed.
Spencer just scowled, thinking of the times she had tried to get some random Real Worlder or Surreal Lifer not to do something stupid. It was always a losing battle when cameras were involved, people insisted on doing the stupidest things that they later regretted after it was all over.
"Spencer!!" A voice called across the diner loud enough to even make Maude look up from her soap opera on TV to see who was yelling.
"Amy!!" Spencer jumped up and almost knocked Ashley out of the booth in her haste to get to the girl that had just walked into the diner.
"Who's that?" Ashley asked, pushing down the knot of jealousy she felt forming in her stomach as Spencer's eyes lit up while hugging the light brown haired girl.
"That's Amy, she's a Muse, her and Spencer go way back." Aiden grinned watching the Light Fate and the Muse talk animatedly to each other, oblivious that his words had caused the knot in Ashley's stomach to twist even more.
They both watched as Spencer linked arms with the taller girl and pulled her over to their table. Up close Ashley had to admit the other girl was cute, even pretty. She had blue eyes, though not as deep as Spencer's they held a charm all their own. Not that Ashley would admit that because she was too busy trying not to glare at the girl who still had her arm linked with her Spencer's.
"Hey, Aiden, how are you doing? Still sulking around?" Amy teased, smiling at the Gray Fate.
"Whatever, I was moody for like a short time, and you're still holding that over my head?" Aiden huffed, though a small smiled pulled at the edges of his mouth.
"A short time? Like three years!! Seriously, I told you she wasn't worth it." The Muse pointed at the guy, shaking her finger.
"Whatever." Aiden rolled his eyes, blowing off the comment. "What brings you back to La La Land? Aren't you supposed to be in London or something?"
"Well, Madonna had to fly out here to do a recording session and so here I am." Amy answered, shrugging her shoulders, as if travel all over, being Madonna's Muse, wasn't that big of a deal, though to her, it probably wasn't.
"Wait, Madonna? Like THE Madonna?" Ashley asked, momentarily forgetting her jealousy.
"Oh, I'm sorry, Amy, this is Ashley." Spencer let go of Amy's arm and placed her hand on Ashley's shoulder, sending a wave of warm through Ashley' body. "And, Ashley, this is Amy, she's a Muse. Madonna's Muse to be exact."
Amy looked Ashley up and down, a smirk curling her lips. "Nice to meet you."
"Yeah, you as well." Ashley replied, suddenly feeling like a steak being stared at by a hungry Texan. "You're Madonna's Muse? That has to be the coolest gig."
"Yeah, it is pretty sweet. I've been with her since the beginning, though, I had no part in naming her kids." She winked at Ashley. "What do you do?"
"I'm Undecided right now." Ashley admitted, yet again feeling out of place when everyone around her seemed so settled and sure about whom and what they were.
"Nothing wrong with that," Amy said, sitting down in the booth next to Aiden, "some of the best Muses I know had no clue what they were going to do when they got here and a few of the Fates I know still have no clue if they were put on the right side."
"It's a huge decision, and you're one of the lucky ones that get to make that choice before pledging allegiance to one of the councils because after that, things tend to get sticky." Ashley looked at Aiden, letting his words sink in. She had realized it was a huge choice but she didn't necessarily agree that she was lucky for being able to make it.
"But not impossible. Just the other day Kegan mentioned that girl, Carmen, had switched from being a Light Fate to a Dark Fate." Next to her, Ashley felt Spencer tense up at the mention of the former Light Fate's name.
"No, not impossible," Aiden conceded, "just really difficult, highly unusual, and it tends to causes a lot problems."
"Carmen's situation wasn't normal, or even right." Spencer spit out, shocking the others with the amount of venom in her voice. "She betrayed the entire Light Council and everyone who cared about her."
Tension sprung up around the four in the booth. No one looked at anyone else as the two Fates and the Muse seemed lost in their own thoughts at Spencer's words. Ashley shifted uncomfortably, not sure how she had upset Spencer but knowing she had hit a sore spot with the usually easy going girl.
"Well, that's because Carmen's an ungrateful bitch with her own agenda. " Amy reached across the table and unclenched Spencer's hand from the cup she was holding in a death grip. "And she didn't deserve a single person who cared about her because she was, and still is, only about Carmen."
Ashley was too busy worrying about Spencer and the past she seemed to share with Carmen to even get jealous at the fact that it was Amy, and not her, who seemed to be able to comfort Spencer and shake the blonde out of the scowl she's had on her face a moment ago.
For the second time, Spencer had gotten extremely upset at the mention of the Dark Fate's name. Ashley knew there had to be a lot more to the story between Carmen and Spencer than anyone seemed willing to tell her. And it didn't look like she'd be able to ask Spencer about it. It couldn't only be that Carmen had betrayed the Light Council, Spencer's reaction was too personal for that, Ashley reasoned. Ashley didn't care who this Carmen girl was, if she found out that she had hurt Spencer in some way she would make it her personal business to make sure she hurt Carmen back ten times worse. 'It's not like I don't have time, I have all of eternity now.' She thought with determination.
"Come on now, we've wasted enough time on that bitch. What are you all doing for the next couple hours?" Breaking through the tension and dismissing all things Carmen with a wave of her hand, Amy asked.
Pulled from her thoughts, Ashley noticed that Amy was still holding Spencer's hand across the table and rubbing the back of it with her thumb. Now, Ashley felt that rush of jealousy return.
"I've got to go meet with my adviser." Aiden looked at his Motorola Q and stood up, "Next time you're in town, let me know, I'll make sure I clear my schedule." Aiden said flirtatiously to the Muse then pulled her into a hug.
"Right, dream on, Emo Boy." Amy laughed, playfully shoving the Gray Fate. "But I will call you next time I'm in town. Or I could just follow the sounds of your manly crying."
"I swear, a chick sees you cry one time and they never let you live it down." Aiden muttered as he gave Spencer a hug good bye.
"Yeah, right, one time that didn't end for months…" Amy called out to Aiden's retreating form. The dark haired guy just shook his head as he left. "So what about you two, any plans for the afternoon?"
"No, no plans. Why, what were you thinking?" Spencer asked. Spending time with Amy was always a good time. The girl just had a way with making people laugh with her crazy ideas and witty retorts and with all the confusing thoughts going on in her head, Spencer could really use a stress free afternoon not spent thinking that what she was doing with Ashley was wrong. Though not wrong enough to make her stop because at this point, she didn't think she could if she wanted to. Ashley completed a part of her she hadn't realized was incomplete before the Undecided Fate came into her life.
Ashley groaned internally, watching Amy flirt with Spencer all afternoon was the last thing she wanted to do.
"I don't know, maybe some shopping with my favorite Light Fate and our new friend?"
"Yeah, Ash still needs to get some things for her dorm anyways, we've just been slacking." Spencer smiled as they walked out of the diner, waving bye to Maude who was still watching her Soaps.
"Great! It's been ages since I hit up the stores on the Boulevard." They all walked the few blocks to the shopping district Spencer had taken Ashley to before. Amy entertained them with the various stories she had of the happening in London, it seemed over there they had the same issues with snobby Fates and disgruntled Reapers, only their Reapers seemed more outspoken about it.
"They actually are talking about going on strike, which is crazy, it wouldn't do any good. The Councils would just bring in other Reapers from the surrounding areas until they reined them in." Amy was telling them as Spencer's Whiteberry went off.
A loud high pitch screech that sounded more like a fire alarm then a message indicator caused everyone around to look at them. Ashley jumped at the noise, dropping the shirt she had been looking at. Spencer quickly hit the button to turn the noise off, a mixture of embarrassment and dread on her face.
"I'm so sorry, Amy, I have to go…" Spencer started before the Muse cut her off.
"It's ok, you can't ignore a summons. And don't worry; I'll hang out with Ashley while you're gone." Amy smiled at the confused brunette.
"Summons?" Even though she didn't know who or what had summoned Spencer, she could tell it wasn't a good thing, especially since Spencer had seemed to pale considerable in the last couple minutes. She looked over at Spencer, her brown eyes filled with questions she couldn't ask out in the open in front of everyone, who was still staring at them, now whispering to each other.
"I'm sure it's not a big deal, Ash, maybe they just need a status report on how you're adjusting or something." Spencer tried to convince the other girl as much as herself.
"Then why didn't they just send you a regular message like they usually do?" Ashley asked doubtfully, wanting to believe it wasn't a big deal but not able to.
"You know how higher ups can be, always making things out to be bigger than they are." Spencer placed her hand on Ashley's arm to try and reassure her. She wanted to kiss her but seeing as they were in public, she had to settle for a simple touch, hoping that it wouldn't be their last one.
Ashley still looked doubtfully at the Light Fate. "Are you sure?"
There so were many hidden questions in those three small words. Questions that Spencer couldn't truthfully answer, so for the first time in her existence, Spencer lied with conviction.
"I'm sure, don't worry. Everything will be fine. I'll be back soon. I'll meet you at the dorms." She gave Ashley a confident smile and gently squeezed her arm.
The small gesture did little to slow the beating of Ashley's heart. Despite Spencer's brave words, she still couldn't shake the feeling that something bad was going to happen.
"So, how long have you and Spencer been together?" Amy asked with a knowing smirk after Spencer had left the store.
Ashley ripped her eyes away from the doorway Spencer had just walked out of and turned to the Muse, fear and shock swirling in her brown eyes. "Um, what do you mean?"
"Please, I've been around for a long time and I've known Spencer for most of that time. The looks you two give each other when you think no one else is watching would make Cupid proud."
Ashley took a deep breath, giving he Muse an appraising once over, she decided that she could trust her. "It's still pretty new, like brand new…Wait, Cupid is real?"
Amy laughed, a loud musical laugh, "You are something else. Too bad you're already taken. We could have had some fun while I was in town." She winked at Ashley, who was blushing a deep red, which only made the blue eyed girl laugh even harder.
"Ah, hi, um, I was summonsed?" Spencer approached the tall receptionists counter. The Light Council Receptionist held up a finger, indicating to Spencer that she would be with her in a minute. The waiting room for the Council Members Chambers and the various department heads was an intimidating place to be stuck waiting in. On the almost blinding white walls, portraits of all the Council members hung, in their White Robes and serious expressions, staring, unblinkingly down at all who were there. On the wall above the reception area large letters hung for all to see. White and blue flames eternally lighting the message of the White Council, Illuminate the Path.
"Yes, Ma'am, she just came in. I'll send her in right now." The receptionist turned to Spencer after disconnecting the call she had been on. "She's been waiting for you, go right in."
Spencer walked to the large double doors that dominated the other end of the reception area. A blinding white light poured out as they slowly opened. Spencer stepped though, blinking as she made her way down a long corridor. She stopped in front of a door, Department of Morality, stenciled on the glass. Taking a deep breath, she pulled the door open.
"Spencer, I've been waiting for almost 20 minutes." The tall blonde woman chastised as Spencer cautiously entered the office. "Sit down, we need to talk."
Sitting down, she looked up at the woman behind the large desk, "Hi, Mom, sorry, I got here as fast as I could."
"Spencer, you know how I hate to be kept waiting." Paula Carlin began, "and you've been avoiding me lately, young lady."
"What? I haven't meant to, I've just been busy…" Spencer cringed at her words, knowing she had just left herself open for one of her Mother's famous family first lectures she was so fond of giving her children. Despite how many years they had been on The In Between, they were still her children and she still treated them that way.
"Yes, that's what I wanted to talk to you about. How are things going with Ashley Davies?" Paula inquired, shocking Spencer by not delivering the lecture she was sure was coming.
"Things are going well. She seems to be adjusting alright. It's a huge thing to take in all at once but despite a few bumps, she's really starting to feel more comfortable, I feel." Spencer carefully chose her words, not wanting to tip her intuitive Mother on just how comfortable Ashley was getting, especially with the Head of the Department of Morality's daughter.
"I'm glad to hear that. I'm also so proud of you that the Council decided to entrust you as the Head Light Fate with the responsibility of teaching Ashley what it means to be a Light Fate, to uphold our ideals and principles." Paula smiled lovingly at her daughter, her blue eyes, identical to Spencer's own, shown bright with pride.
"Yeah, me too, it's an honor to be chosen." Spencer stared down at the spotless desk, twisting her hands in her lap, feeling guilty for breaking the trust that the Council had placed in her by starting any type of relationship with the Undecided Fate that was beyond a friendly mentor type.
"Spence…Is there anything you want to tell me?" Paula asked, drawing out the question, "Anything about Ashley or your time together?"
Spencer looked up in alarm, trying to figure out what her Mother seemed to be implying. Taking a few calming breaths, Spencer looked directly into her Mother's eyes, hoping that what she told her wouldn't change things but knowing that it was the right thing to do, even if Ashley wouldn't agree. Even if Ashley got upset with her and they were torn apart, she had a duty to her Council. She only hoped Ashley would forgive her when the fall out cleared.
"Yes. Ashley can communicate with the living and manipulate objects on the Mortal Plane."