A/N

This is my first story here.

First of all I´m german. So please excuse my English, mistakes will be corrected as soon as realized (I use a german betareader). If any native (US) speaker wants to take that job, feel free to contact me. Unfortunately, I´m really afraid of native speakers reading my story ;-) And I´d appreciate you marking my worst mistakes, so that I´m able to improve my English.

Title: Suddenly...

Author: Mrs. NiG

Rating: M

Category: Post 1.15, Romance, Drama, whatever...

Disclaimer: I own nothing except the storyline. All characters belong to CW.

I know that most of the Hellcats´ fans admire Savannah/Ashley Tisdale, but I´m watching the series solely because of Julian Parish/Gale Harold. This will be NO slash story at all.

Please join this petition for 2012 in case you´re interested ;-)

.com/1/queer-as-folk-convention-in-cologne/

Suddenly...

~ Prologue ~

After they have been discussed their new challenge, the students were about to leave class. Professor Parish wanted Marti to stay and summoned her to come back to his desk. She wondered, but got back and looked interested at her teacher. Sometimes she thought about his hidden allusions in between their conversations but then suddenly shrugged it off as weird illusion.

"You and Harry Potter are the best students I´ve ever had." He assessed with a smile on his face. "I want the two of you to help in some special case. It´s about a woman who attacked her husband with a knife after having been raped."

Marti nodded. "Did she kill him?"

"Not at all. He didn´t even get hurt. His lawyer pleaded guilty for mental cruelty and she got a six month imprisonment. Just because he let himself institutionalize." Professor Parish explained. "We have to prove that he was simulating. By the way, where is Potter?"

"I don´t know. So what would you like us to do?"

Julian smiled again. "You´ll take a look at the whole case, searching for something abnormal. Anything you´ll find will be good to think it over. Got it?"

Marti nodded again and he gave her the documents. "May I ask you a personal question?" She wanted to know.

"Let´s see whether I´m going to answer." He grinned.

"Do you relax at any time?"

That wasn´t the kind of question he had expected. "Well, I won´t suffer from burn out, don´t worry."

"I´m just wondering. You look exhausted." Marti murmured.

"Maybe it´s because of some Jet lag. I´ve been to Washington lately. Satisfied?"

She was totally embarrassed. "Sorry. I didn´t want to get too personal. It´s just that I saw you having breakfast at Starbucks this morning. Alone."

"So, who do you think should have breakfast with me?" He smirked.

Marti was at a loss of words. "I don´t know, your family?" In her opinion, this conversation turned out to become a really difficult one.

"I don´t have a family. Is that what you wanted to know?"

"Not at all. I thought you ... Doesn´t matter, I better go now." She blushed and turned around.

"Hold it!" He stopped her. She didn´t turn around again. So he went on speaking. "Miss Perkins, you can´t come up with those things and then you leave!"

Marti slowly came back to his desk. "So you don´t have a family. What about friends?" She dared to ask.

"Why do you care?"

"I don´t care. I just thought you needed a break."

"I´m a grown up. I know when I´m in need of a break."

"I´m a grown up, too. Maybe you should go and have some kids to see the difference."

He really hold his breath because of her answering back. If she only knew, he thought and reflected the best fitting answer. "I´m able to catch the difference very well. And just to make it clear: I do have a daughter." He turned around and left Marti agape.

She stared at his back and considered her answer. "You said you don´t have a family."

Julian sighed irritated. "You´re right." He admitted. "I´ve misspoken. I had a daughter."

Marti couldn´t believe that he told her some kind of childish excuse and got really angry about the fact that he assumed an air of importance, made himself consider mysterious. "I have to leave. Got to join the Hellcats' workout."

"Tomorrow will be her birthday." He stopped her again.

"Then you´ll have someone to have breakfast with, right?" She replied and went on towards the door.

Julian sighed again and turned around. "No, I won´t. She died five years ago."

Suddenly Marti turned around once more and watched him eyes wide open. There would never be an answer to such an opening. Finally she found out why he looked kind of sick the last days.

Julian stared at her in silence, waiting for release.

"I don´t know what to say..." She whispered.

He didn´t know why he told her his little secret but in some weird way, he was in need of an alleviative talk. His daughter´s birthday always made him feel guilty and therefore, in this period of time, he hasn´t treated his students well for years.

"Her name was Ally – Allison. She fell into the pool while I had to look after her. My wife had been at her mother´s house to care for her because of the flu. I sat on the porch and Ally played in the garden. Far apart from the pool. Then my phone rang and I went inside. I had to talk to my client. Just one single minute and your life can be ruined." Julian had to swallow his tears in memory of that horrible day.

Marti dumped down on a chair near her and had tears in her eyes. The professor tried to get back his demeanor and ran his fingers through his hair. He was completely overwhelmed by his own confession. No one had ever heard of his personal tragedy before. And he didn´t really know why he told Marti. Maybe because of her having asked?

"Listen... You don´t have to say anything. I didn´t want to snub you. And I beg you to keep that a secret."

"Tomorrow´s her birthday? What age would she be?"

"Seven. She was only two when it happend."

Marti remembered him having no family and speaking of his wife though. "What about your wife, her mother? How did she take it?"

"She blamed me. Divorce was final about three years ago."

"You blame yourself the most, right?"

He tried to smile. "Who wouldn´t?"

Marti nodded. "Who wouldn´t..." She repeated murmuring.

Julian packed up his stuff and sighed. Then suddenly his lips formed the words faster than his brain could erase their meaning. "Listen... You could do me a favor. I´m going to visit Ally tomorrow at the cemetery. It would be nice to have someone with me who knows about her and... the accident. So, would you mind...?"

The young woman didn´t expect him to ask for company to visit the grave of his little kid and turned pale all over. "Erm... Why not?" She said doubtful.

Julian wanted to escape the situation as soon as possible and added a time. "7 p.m. in front of the cemetery. I´ll be there."

"Okay... Gotta go now. The papers, you know?"

Julian nodded smiling and Marti left the class with an aching heart inside. That had been the weirdest experience ever for both of them. While Marti was on her way to her mum, Julian was sitting on his chair behind the desk and thinking about what he´d just done to her. Way too much responsibility for a young girl at her age. Disappointed about himself, he left Lancer University and went home to prepare mentally for the visit on his daughter´s grave the next day.

o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o

Marti sat in front of her Mum and searched for the right words to ask for her advice. She couldn´t tell her the truth, of course. So she invented a friend who had lost her sister in an accident and likes to take her with her on the cemetery.

"It´s her sister´s birthday, Mum, do you have any idea whether I should show up with a present or flowers or something else?"

"Let me guess... How old would the kid have been now?"

"Around seven."

"Well, you can´t bring her some kind of toy, that would be ridiculous. Flowers are for grannies. I believe you should do something to please your friend, don´t you think so?"

"Sounds good..." Marti was just imagining Julians face full of deep sadness and felt her heart beating faster again.

"What about some candles? Around seven. You can stick them in the earth and enkindle them to honor her birthday. Wouldn´t that be a good idea?"

Marti nearly melted away. "Mum, you´re brilliant! You know I love you, don´t you?" She kissed her on the cheek, slipped of the bar stool and ran away to buy some candles.