AN: AHH! I feel horrible leaving it on a cliffhanger, but then again that just makes updating more fun! Thank you so much for the reviews! You guys are so awesome!

Also, this story takes place before the musical just so certain…. characters are present. Hehe

Lot's of love!

Charlie

Chapter 6:

"What?" Ashley asked, confused.

"Shawn. You don't know that. It's not possible!" Gus argued, clearly getting anxious.

"Gus, think about it! Game of opposites… Yin and Yang! The drive-in! Think Gus! Think!" Shawn yelled as he slammed his hands down on the desk.

Ashley had no idea what they were talking about. Who were Yin and Yang? It sounded vaguely familiar. But she had been on the other side of the world for the past twelve years and not exactly in the loop.

"What are you talking about Shawn?" Ashley insisted.

"Yin and Yang. The worst serial killers Santa Barbara has ever seen." Shawn said shaking his head.

"Shawn, that's not possible. Yin is dead!" Gus said as he crossed his arms in determination.

"Ugh! Well there has to be some sort of explanation for all this! It leads right back to them Gus!"

"Okay, well could it be Yang?" Gus asked.

"No, no. It's not Yang. It can't be. She never killed anyone but Yin. You know that."

Ashley looked rapidly from Shawn to Gus, "I'm sorry. First their tag-team murders now one of them killed the other? Who are these people Shawn!"

"They killed Mary and tried to kill Juliet and Abigail!" Gus exclaimed.

"Who the hell is Mary? And Abigail?"

"Not to mention, your mother!" Gus added.

Ashley whipped her head around to stare at Shawn, "What!? Shawn, what the hell!"

"It's not my fault you fled to England Ash' and cut yourself off from every single person you know!" Shawn yelled.

"Excuse me!? I'm not the only one who fled from the family Shawn! You freaking hypocrite! How could you not tell me someone tried to kill mom!"

Gus stood nervously as many heads were turning toward the siblings.

"If I told you every time one of our parents was in danger of death, you would have been getting a hell of a lot of phone calls! Like you cared how many times dad was in danger in the last couple of years!"

"How dare you Shawn! Who was the one who stood by dad in the divorce? Certainly not you! You don't get to act like the favorite child when all you ever did was take mom's side of everything! And maybe dad wouldn't be getting in so much danger if you let him stay retired and quiet instead of dragging him into all you newfound 'psychic' adventures!"

"If you're so appalled by my psychicness then why are you helping me with this case! Why are you even here Ash'? Why don't you just go back to England. You seemed so much happier away from everyone you ever knew!"

Ashley stared at Shawn for a moment. She couldn't come up with any words and felt the stirrings of tears forming in her eyes. She couldn't do this. She had to get away. Her and Shawn rarely fought like this. Whenever they did, it never went well and lasted forever. She didn't need this right now. Ashley turned around and walked out the door of the police station. Realizing she could get no where without Gus' car, she opted to just stay outside and let things cool down. She was still worked up far too much though, so she sat down on the steps.

How could she have been so ignorant and oblivious to everything going on in her family. But she also couldn't stop her anger at Shawn. He could be so insensitive and selfish sometimes! Ugh! How could he demand she go back to London! She wanted to forget about London, not go back. She was pulled from her thoughts however when she heard someone clear their throat behind her. Turning her head she found Carlton standing a step behind her. Hesitantly he sat beside her.

"Um, everything alright? I saw you walk out, you looked upset."

Ashley sighed, "Yeah, yeah, it's just… Shawn. He's so…"

Carlton interrupted, "Say no more. It's Spencer, I get it."

"No. He's not usually like this. We got into a huge fight and… he brought up London and…"

"London?"

Ashley laughed, "I never told you did I? I moved here from London. I'd been there for the last twelve years."

"Doing what? Why did you move?"

Ashley stared at the ground, "I wanted to be a journalist. It was my passion. I loved writing and I had gotten an offer to work at one of the best media outlets in the country, there was no way I could turn it down. My dad eventually told me I had to take it because he knew it was my dream. So… I left. I left and started a new life."

"I'm not understanding then, why come back?"

Ashley turned to look at him, "It wasn't all it was cracked up to be honestly. Everyone at the office was a stuck-up asshole. And then I started dating this guy, he seemed great at first, then he turned out to be an asshole too and I…" Ashley tried to get her hands to speak for her, because she suddenly couldn't find any words to say. She felt tears begin to escape her.

Carlton looked unsure of what to do, slowly he began to pat her on the back awkwardly. However, after a moment, when he realized how upset she really was, he put his arm around her and laid his head on top of hers. Ashley sighed as she laid her head on his shoulder.

"What happened?" Carlton finally asked.

"Hmm?"

"With you and the guy?"

Ashley hesitated for a second, "He became so controlling. He wanted to know where I was at all times. He wouldn't let me see anyone. He just kept asking me questions, like he wanted to interrogate me or something. He had this weird obsession with wanting to know everything about my family, my friends. He got more violent and finally I said enough."

Carlton nodded along with the story, "So, that's when you left?"

"No. I stayed a bit longer. I hoped that with him out of my life, things would get better. But work got even worse and everything just felt so… wrong. So then I left. I wanted to start over again here and forget about everything in London. But then Shawn had to go and bring it up and we were arguing so much, I just… Ugh!"

"What got Spencer so riled up?"

Ashley sat up, removing her head from his shoulder. She started fumbling with her hands, "He said something about someone he suspected for the case."

"Who was it?"

"I think it was, Yin and Yang." Ashley said staring at her hands. When he didn't respond, Ashley turned to look at him. He had a stone cold expression on his face and raised his eyebrows in confusion or fear. Ashley couldn't tell which.

"You're sure that's what he said." Carlton asked, his tone dead serious.

"Yeah."

"I'm so sorry, but I may have to cancel our dinner plans for tonight."

Ashley sat on the couch in her old home, watching TV. She was currently absentmindedly playing with her spoon in her ice-cream bowl, not eating, just staring.

Henry walked into the room and sighed. When Ashley called him to come pick her up, she hadn't said anything about what happened. Henry knew better than to ask her too many questions when she got like this. So instead, he offered her some ice-cream he found in the back of his freezer and gave her a little space. However, that was an hour ago. Still nothing from her. All she did was twirl her spoon in the now melted ice-cream. Worried, he went to sit next to her.

"What're you watching, kiddo?"

Ashley sighed, "I'm not depressed."

Henry looked taken aback, "I never said you were."

"You were thinking it. Remember, Spencers are good at reading people."

Henry laughed, "Then you would know that I'm very good at reading you. So let me guess, you and Shawn got into a big fight?"

Ashley sat up, "I hate when you do that."

"Do what?"

"The whole 'being right' thing."

"It's my job. What was this one about?"

"The case. London. Mom. You name it."

"Your mother?"

"Yeah, apparently, I'm not a good daughter."

"Hey! Don't. Don't do that."

Ashley stared at him, "Do what?"

"Let some stupid fight with your brother make you feel like shit. He shouldn't let that happen to him either. You guys are so alike it's scary."

"What do you mean, we fight. We're nothing alike." Ashley said, crossing her arms as she put her bowl of melted ice-cream down.

"You guys fight because both of your insecurities come out at the same time and you take them out on each other. You guys would fight about stuff because you were both feeling the same emotion you would yell at the other for. You claim you're not a good daughter, I bet Shawn feels like a crappy son right now. I'm not saying he's right. I just know you both. You both work up these feelings and you take them out on each other. You have to stop because neither of you are going to get anywhere if you keep doing that." Henry finished. He got up and walked to the kitchen without waiting for her to reply.

Ashley sat dumbfounded. Her father always did that. He turned everything in you that you weren't sure what it meant and gave it an explanation, a meaning. He was always the logical one and always there to hear your questions because he just simply knew all the answers. Ashley knew she had to talk to Shawn and get this stupid fight out of the way. It was pointless and if Shawn was right about this serial killer thing, it sounded a lot worse than some stupid fight.

Ashley quickly pulled out her phone and walked to the porch. She was going to call Shawn and straighten things out. However, when she opened it, she saw one missed call. At first glance she assumed it would be Shawn trying to do the same thing. But when she saw the name below it she froze. The screen read: Logan. Her ex-boyfriend from London had tried to call her? What could he possibly want. She hadn't heard from him since they broke up. Suddenly, she got a text. It was Logan. It said:

Call me. I really need to talk to you.

Ashley wasn't sure she should answer or not. What could he want. They didn't exactly end on good terms. Is it an emergency? But she's in another country. But off course, he actually doesn't know that. She finally decided to ignore him for now. She really needed to talk to Shawn. She didn't need anymore drama for today.

AN: So yeah, this chapter was a bit more serious. But don't worry more of the Spencer antics and romance like stuff will be coming soon!