A/N Well, this is it. Over a year ago I started this story and I'm so happy that I was able to bring it to a conclusion. You guys have been great Thank you for taking the time to read this fic, I couldn't have done it without you :) I hope you enjoy this final part as much as I enjoyed writing it.
Epilogue Part 3
Spencer did not want to let Ashley out of her sight. Even with the brunette's assurance that she was feeling much better about things, Spencer still felt very protective over her. The two of them took a nap together, showered together, ate a snack together and were now cuddled together on the couch watching TV.
Not that Spencer was really paying attention to the screen. She was more focused on the girl in her arms. If anyone knew how hard it was to overcome emotional hang ups, it was Spencer. So even if took time, she was going to make sure Ashley understood exactly how amazing Spencer thought she was.
Ashley wasn't really paying attention to the TV either. She was thinking about dinner with Arthur later. There were so many potential ways that things could go wrong. She would have to do whatever it took to keep the peace in case things escalated. Hopefully it would not come to that.
When Arthur walked into the house, he felt considerably lighter than when he had left to go to his AA meeting. Now that he had the first one out of the way, he felt a lot better about what was going to be involved with keeping himself sober. While AA wasn't a magical cure, Arthur was going to do his absolute best to use their meetings to keep himself in check. Today felt like the fresh start for Arthur, one he had needed and wanted for a very long time.
"Hey, girls," he said when he walked into the den, groceries in hand.
Ashley's first instinct was to sit up and move away from Spencer. She had no issue with displays of affection but it felt different now that one of their parents was around. It's not like they were doing anything wrong, but it felt a little weird for Ashley. When Spencer didn't feel the need to move away from Ashley, Ashley decided to settle back down into her girlfriend's embrace.
"Hey, dad," Spencer replied. She had felt Ashley tense up, but then she felt her relax seconds later. It was also weird for Spencer to be with Ashley around her dad, but she was going to be comfortable in her own house and she suspected that her dad wasn't going to be weird about them just sitting on the couch together. "How'd the meeting go?"
Arthur smiled. "It went well." He didn't feel the need to go into detail and truthfully he was still going through everything in his head. "I hope you're staying for dinner, Ashley."
"There's not a lot of things in this world that could make me miss your lasagna, Mr. C."
"Excellent." Arthur was practically beaming. His first day back home was turning out so much better than he ever dared hope. "I better get started if we are going to eat before nine o'clock."
"Can we help you?" Ashley offered. She didn't see the weird look that Spencer was giving her.
"No, that's OK. I'm actually looking forward to cooking."
Once Arthur was gone, Spencer sat up. "Can we help you?" she repeated in mocking tone. "Gee, Ash, could you suck up some more?"
"Hey!" Ashley exclaimed while swatting at her girlfriend's shoulder. While Spencer wasn't being serious, Ashley wasn't going to take the teasing without fighting back. "Just because I want to make a good impression on my girlfriend's father, does not mean I'm a suck up."
Spencer chuckled. "That same father that you accidentally hit right between the legs when you threw a football at him. I think that ship has sailed."
"Oh my god!" Ashley squealed. "I can't believe you are bringing that back up. It was years ago. And it was an accident. And you know how bad I felt about that."
"Not as bad as he did," Spencer joked before dissolving into a laughing fit. She had locked so many bad memories away, she had forgotten about a lot of good ones that she shared with Ashley and her dad. "I don't think he could walk properly for a week after that."
"Stop making fun of me!" Ashley demanded. It was hard to take her threat seriously when she was also laughing. "I mean it, Spence, you apologize or else."
"Or else what, big shot?" Spencer asked. She was too happy with herself to see that Ashley was planning something.
"This!" Ashley yelled right before she pulled a pillow from where she was sitting and then proceeded to smack Spencer with it right in the face. "Ha! That will teach you."
"You are in so much trouble," Spencer said in a cool voice. She tried to steal the pillow away from Ashley, but Ashley put up a very good fight for it.
Spencer's cool demeanor was shattered by another laughing fit while she and Ashley wrestled for control of the pillow. Eventually they both rolled off the couch with Spencer landing on top of Ashley. When Spencer tried to get up, she got tangled completely up with Ashley – not that there was anything wrong with that – and before either girl knew what was happening, they were making out on the floor.
That is until they heard the sound of someone clearing their throat very loudly.
When Spencer and Ashley stopped kissing they found an amused and somewhat uncomfortable looking Arthur standing over them.
"Everything OK in here?" he asked. "I was trying to cook and then I heard what sounded like World War III going on. But I guess you guys weren't exactly fighting, were you?"
Ashley was almost sure she had never been more embarrassed than she was in this moment. She could barely look at Arthur, especially when she could feel her face burning up.
"Uh, sorry about that," Spencer mumbled. She was feeling a mixture of turned on and weirded out. "We'll, uh, make sure to behave ourselves."
Ashley didn't say a word, but she hoped she looked apologetic.
"Don't make me separate you two," Arthur teased. He started to walk back to the kitchen, but he had one more thing to say before he did. "You're right, Spence, Ashley's blushing is adorable."
"Oh my god!" Ashley exclaimed as her blushing intensified. "What did you say to him?" There was no way she was ever going to be able to look Arthur in the eye again. "Spencer!"
The sound of Arthur chuckling to himself could be heard by both Spencer and Ashley.
It was good to be home.
"Everything smells amazing," Ashley said after she had sat down at the table. A couple of hours after the den incident, she was not feeling as mortified by it as she had been initially. She might have overreacted just a little bit, but she wouldn't admit that to Spencer. "Thank you so much for cooking, Mr. C." Before Spencer could accuse her of being a kiss ass again, she shot her girlfriend a look that said, "I would tread lightly if I were you."
Spencer took warning to heart, but that didn't mean she wouldn't bring up Ashley's politeness later to tease the other girl. Ashley's freak outs - when they weren't about anything serious – were too cute for Spencer not to bring them up. "Yeah, thanks, dad, I can't wait to eat. I'm famished."
"Let's dig in, then," Arthur replied. He cut big pieces of the lasagna for all of them and then served them each a piece of homemade garlic bread. This food was so much better than anything he'd eaten in rehab or for a long time before then.
At first there wasn't much talking at the table. Mostly due to the delicious meal they were eating, but also because it was just a little awkward between the three of them. Everyone was trying to tread lightly and not do or say anything to upset anyone else. Eventually, as the conversation warmed up, pretenses were dropped and any discomfort present dissolved away.
"I was saying this to Spencer before," Arthur started, his attention turned to Ashley, "but I wanted to say it to you as well. I'm so proud of the way you guys handled things while I was away. I know you helped Spencer a lot and I'm really grateful for that. Thank you, Ashley."
"It was nothing," Ashley replied. She was sure she was blushing again, but this time for a very good reason.
"Somehow I don't think that's true," Arthur said, smiling warmly.
Never one to let things be serious for too long, especially with the day that she'd had, Spencer decided to speak up. "No, you should believe her, every weekend she wanted to throw wild parties but I had to tell her no, we need to be responsible and only have them every other weekend."
Arthur laughed. "Well, that is one way to be responsible."
Ashley rolled her eyes and shook her head at Spencer. She refrained from chiming in and encouraging the other girl.
"I only speak the truth," Spencer lied. She reached for Ashley's hand under the table but her girlfriend refused. "Aw, Ashley, don't be mad at me. Do you want me to tell my dad the truth?" Ashley had no idea what her girlfriend was up to, but she suspected she would not like it. "I will take your silence as a yes. The truth is, Ashley is like an old lady. She's always falling asleep early and she likes staying in most nights. The next thing you know she's going to be playing Bingo and going to eat at early bird specials like the other senior citizens."
"You are very lucky I love you," Ashley said to Spencer. "Because otherwise your attempts to embarrass me in front of your dad would be getting you in really big trouble."
"Aw, don't be like that, Ash," Spencer was very amused at how this meal was playing out. "You know I love you too, even if you are an old lady trapped in young body." Spencer almost added a crude comment but thought better of it.
Arthur watched Spencer and Ashley argue back and forth, very much amused. He wondered if they knew how much they sounded like an old married couple.
"You know what Spencer was saying to me before, Mr. C?" Ashley asked rhetorically. She wasn't the only one who could play dirty. "She was telling me that she would love to clear the table and wash all the dishes as a way to say thank you for cooking for us. She practically insisted on the point and made sure to tell me that neither one of us are allowed to help."
"Ashley!" Spencer gasped. She hated doing dishes and her girlfriend knew that about her. "How dare you!"
"Sorry, I think I'm going to have to side with your girlfriend on this," Arthur butted in. "You did kind of bring this on yourself."
"Et tu, Brutus?" Spencer wasn't at all upset. Sure, she was going to moan and groan about doing dishes loudly and often. But that didn't mean she wasn't also happy. "The two of you are on my list right now."
Ashley smirked victoriously. "Oh well, have fun doing the dishes!"
Spencer walked away from the table mumbling under her breath, but also with a huge smile on your face.
"That was fun," Ashley said to Arthur when Spencer had left.
"I'm so glad you stayed for dinner. It's nice to have this house filled with laughter and good times again." Arthur remarked. "I think you're really good for Spencer."
"Thanks," Ashley replied shyly. Hearing that from Arthur meant so much to the brunette—especially today. "She's amazing."
"I bet you're pretty amazing too."
Ashley felt embarrassed but in a good way. Never one to get much acknowledgement or encouragement from her own parents, she was soaking this up from Arthur. It wasn't only Spencer that missed having him in their life.
"I hope you're enjoying doing nothing while I'm working hard to get everything cleaned up." Spencer called out from kitchen.
"We are. Thanks for asking!" Ashley replied. When she and Arthur looked at each other, they both chuckled.
"Do you think we should help her out?" Arthur asked.
Ashley shook her head. "Absolutely not."
A few minutes later, Spencer stomped back into the dining room sporting a very pronounced pout. "I'm done, no thanks to the two of you." She walked back to her chair and sat in it very dramatically.
"Good work, Spence," Ashley replied gleefully. She was delighted to have paid Spencer back for trying to embarrass her in front of her dad. "I knew you could do it."
"You're not funny," Spencer told Ashley. But the corners of her mouth were fighting a smile. "I'm not talking to you."
Ashley quirked her eyebrow at her adorable girlfriend. "Really? Even though I told your dad I would stay for a bit so we could all watch a movie together?"
Spencer immediately forgot what she was pouting about. She was too happy that Ashley was sticking around for a bit. "All is forgiven."
Arthur stood up and patted Spencer on the shoulder. "Oh, Spence." It was easy to see exactly how much power Ashley had over his daughter.
"What?" Spencer asked but her dad just laughed in response.
"I'm going to make some popcorn. I'll meet you guys in the den," Arthur said.
"You're really cute, you know that right?" Ashley remarked as she walked hand-in-hand into the other room with Spencer.
"Of course I know that," Spencer replied with a cocky smile on her face. "Good looking and charming, I'm, like, a total package."
"Oh brother," Ashley rolled her eyes, "I think I'm going to have stop complimenting you so much. Your head is way too big for your body."
"Too big for my sexy body," Spencer corrected the other girl. "Plus, with my many emotional issues, you have to say nice things to me."
Ashley elbowed Spencer gently in her stomach. "You're incorrigible, Spencer!"
Spencer laughed. "And that's part of my charm!"
When Arthur returned to the den, he found Spencer and Ashley still bickering. "Don't make me sit between you guys during the movie," he warned.
Arthur let Ashley pick a movie – much to Spencer's annoyance – but didn't follow through on his threat to separate the two of them while they watched whatever movie Ashley picked out.
Because Spencer was acting bratty and also because she didn't Ashley to leave, she insisted that they actually watch a second movie of her choice.
By the time that movie was over, Ashley had fallen asleep on Spencer. At first Spencer thought that Ashley was just really into the film, but that didn't seem likely as she wasn't one for action movies. When she heard the sound of Ashley breathing heavy, she realized that her girlfriend was slumbering soundly on her.
"I guess your girlfriend really is an old lady," Arthur whispered after he had gotten up from his seat.
Spencer smiled. "Told you."
"You're not sending her home, Spence, she shouldn't be driving right now." Arthur saw his daughter was about to say something, so he quickly cut her off. "We have plenty of time to spend together, it's not going to make any difference if Ashley stays over tonight."
"Sir, yes, sir," Spencer said somewhat sarcastically. Truthfully she was glad she didn't have to send Ashley away just yet.
"I'll clean up," Arthur offered. "Sleep well, I'll see you in the morning."
Spencer said goodnight to her dad and then was tasked with the job of getting Ashley upstairs. It was not easy and by the time Spencer reached her room she was out of breath.
"What's going on?" Ashley asked in a sleepy and disoriented voice.
"What's going on is that you are very uncooperative and I think I pulled my back out getting you here," Spencer told the other girl. "I'm going to get you a something to wear to sleep, but you are going to have to put your pajamas on."
The benefit to having Ashley practically living at the Carlin house was that there were a lot of the brunette's clothes in Spencer's room.
"No, I'll just sleep naked," Ashley whined, her eyes closed.
Spencer didn't think there was anything wrong with Ashley's idea, but she suspected when Ashley woke up the next morning she wouldn't happy being nude with Arthur home. On the other hand, Ashley would be naked, so she would angry and without clothes. That didn't sound so bad to Spencer.
"Shit! No!" Ashley shot up in bed when she realized what was going on. "I have to leave, I'm not supposed to be spending a lot of time here. I have to go home!"
"Calm down," Spencer said. She had to stop herself from laughing because Ashley started running around her room looking for her keys, but she was still half asleep and her hair was all messed up. She looked adorable. "My dad insisted that you stay. If it makes you feel any better, we'll kick you out first thing in the morning."
Ashley was relieved not to have to drive home when she felt disoriented. She wondered if she should feel bad about staying over, but with both Spencer and Arthur telling her not to leave, she didn't. "OK, going to back to sleep then," she mumbled before flopping back on Spencer's bed and closing her eyes.
Spencer shook her head at Ashley, not that the other girl could see her. Seeing as she wasn't going to get any help from Ashley in the changing clothes department, it was up to the blonde to make sure that she put Ashley in pajamas. It was yet another task that left her tired and almost panting when she was done.
It was all worth it when Spencer climbed into bed herself after she had changed and brushed her teeth. Much like the night that Ashley showed up drunk, the brunette latched onto Spencer as soon as she got under the covers. "Man you're cute."
"I know," Ashley replied as she cuddled with Spencer. "I love you."
"I love you too," Spencer whispered. She kissed the top of Ashley's head and brought Ashley even closer to her.
Ashley draped her arm over Spencer's stomach and then she kissed Spencer's neck very gently. "Sweet dreams."
"Night, Ash." Spencer kissed the top of Ashley's head again. She felt her eyes getting heavy, it had been a long day, but good day.
Ashley sat down next to Spencer at their usual lunch spot. "I can't believe your dad packed us both a lunch."
"He said that he made my lunch because that's what dads do and he said he packed you a lunch because you drive me to school every day and you put up with me," Spencer replied, slightly miffed.
"I can't really argue with that logic." Ashley let out a hearty laugh and managed to snatch her lunch from Spencer's hand even though the blonde was trying to keep it from her.
"Whatever, like you're a peach to put up with." Spencer took a bite out of her sandwich all the while giving Ashley the evil eye.
"I know you don't mean that," Ashley said confidently. "Is Sean joining us today?"
Spencer nodded. "He said he was going to be a few minutes late, but he is coming."
Ashley was about to ask Spencer if she knew why Sean was going to be late when she noticed him walking towards them. "Well I'll be damned."
"Hey guys," Sean said nervously. He was trying to act calm and cool on the outside, but inside, his stomach was tied up in knots.
"Speak of the devil," Spencer replied. "We were just talking about your sorry-" Spencer stopped mid-sentence because she noticed that Sean was not alone. Now all of his odd behavior over the last week or so made complete sense. She was going to have so much fun with this.
"Uh, so, yeah, hey, uh…" Sean had to take a breath to get himself collected. "Guys, this is Chelsea. I, uh, invited her to have lunch with us today."
Ashley smiled warmly at Chelsea. She knew her from a couple of her classes and the Gay-Straight Alliance. Spencer eyed her a lot more carefully. She had seen Chelsea around but didn't really know her. She was wary of anyone who Sean might be interested in because she felt that there weren't a lot of people out there who would be good enough for her friend.
Chelsea waved at both girls. "Hi."
"Be nice," Ashley whispered to Spencer so only the blonde could hear.
"I am nice," Spencer whispered back. She moved so she was sitting right next to Ashley and then smiled at Sean and Chelsea.
Sean wasn't sure exactly what was up with Spencer. Her smile seemed genuine but there was something behind her eyes that scared him a little. He wondered exactly his friend had up her sleeve.
There wasn't really anything for Sean to worry about. Spencer was positively charming over lunch. She engaged Chelsea in conversation and even managed to get some light teasing in at Sean's expense without being a jerk about it. Sean was able to relax somewhat as they ate. When their lunch period was halfway over, Chelsea excused herself because she had an art project to finish.
Once she was gone, it was open season on Sean and Spencer showed no mercy.
"So, when exactly were you going to tell us you have a girlfriend?" Spencer asked, her arms folded across her chest. "I feel this is information we should have known, right, Ash?"
Ashley might have been looking out for Sean when Chelsea was around, but now that they were alone, it was a different story all together. "Right! That is just unacceptable, Sean. What do you even know about her? Is she good enough for you? We have to make sure she's good enough for you."
"I think we might have to do some digging on Chelsea's past," Spencer said sounding very serious. "I can't have my best friend dating just anybody."
"You two are not funny," Sean deadpanned. It's not that he didn't expect to be teased, but it didn't mean he had to enjoy it.
Spencer managed to look outraged. "We are being very serious about this. No one can date you without our approval. Sorry, buddy, that's just the way things are."
"I'm going to have to side with my girlfriend on this," Ashley said.
"There's got to be something wrong with her. I mean, she likes you," Spencer joked. The girls laughed but Sean did not. "Her judgment is definitely questionable."
"OK, get this all out of your system now," Sean ordered. "Besides, I don't even know if she likes me. We're just friends right now."
Spencer laughed even harder. "Oh, she likes you alright. And it's pretty obvious by the way you were practically drooling over her that you like her too. Maybe I should find her after school and give her a little warning that if she does anything to hurt you, she'll have us to answer to."
"You're an asshole," Sean replied, but even he had started laughing.
Sean endured more taunting at his own expense before he left Spencer and Ashley alone. He wasn't upset; he just had to get a couple of things done before his next class. Besides, there would be plenty of time for his friends to tease him relentlessly later.
"That was fun," Spencer remarked after it was just the two of them again.
Ashley didn't respond to Spencer's statement. Instead, she kissed the blonde. It still amazed Ashley that she could kiss Spencer whenever she wanted now. She loved that and loved that she didn't care what anyone else thought about what they were doing.
"You two are disgusting. Get a room."
Ashley sighed, while Spencer tensed up. Neither girl cared one bit that Madison still felt the need to comment on their relationship; it was more a nuisance than anything else. Ashley suspected that most of Madison's dislike of her wasn't really about her sexuality anymore. She was almost positive that it had more to do with the aftermath of what happened after Ms. Devereux caught Madison hurling slurs at Ashley in her classroom.
She was demoted as captain of the cheerleading squad and Ashley was immediately reinstated as a member. At first Ashley didn't even want to go back. It took convincing on Spencer's part to get her to rejoin the team. Sure, there was some selfishness on Spencer's part in doing that convincing – it was no secret how much she loved the way Ashley look in her uniform – but mostly, she reminded Ashley how much she loved it.
Plus, there was something very satisfying about showing up for the next practice and watching Madison's face turn red with fury. The best part was that Madison couldn't say anything to Ashley – not if she wanted to stay on the team. She needed the extracurricular activity for her college applications. Ms. Devereux had volunteered to supervise the practices just to make sure that nothing happened, which was another reason why Madison had to keep her mouth shut.
Spencer also came with Ashley to practice – at least in the beginning – just in case. She made a point of keeping eye contact with Madison the first few times she showed up to make sure the other girl understood that if anything happened to Ashley, something would happen to Madison.
But there was no need for threats like that, because nothing did happen to Ashley. Nothing bad anyway. Although she did get elected captain, which the entire team knew she had earned. Practices soon became much better under Ashley than they ever were under Madison, and that only provided Madison another reason for her seething hatred of Ashley and Spencer.
That didn't matter though. There was nothing she could do about it except make snarky comments when no teacher was around. Madison wasn't about to get in trouble again, not when she had nearly gotten suspended because of her hateful words. She pleaded for another chance and lied that she had seen the error of her ways. All in all, her senior year was turning into a mitigated disaster and she only blamed Spencer and Ashley for that.
Ashley never responded to Madison's comments. She didn't feel the other girl was worth her time and energy. Usually she just smiled and ignored her former friend. Being happy was the best kind of revenge and Ashley was happy—very happy.
Spencer, on the other hand, still delighted in trading verbal barbs with Madison. It was too much fun to stop and Madison got so pissed off that it gave Spencer joy. "Stop asking us to have a threesome with you, Madison!" Spencer shouted loud enough for everyone around them to hear. "It's never going to happen! So please stop embarrassing yourself and asking! It's sad how desperate you are!"
The sound of laughter stroked Madison's anger. She didn't respond to what Spencer had said because she couldn't think of anything to say. Madison stomped off without uttering another word to either girl.
"That is getting too easy," Spencer said. Now that Madison was gone she wanted to get back to kissing her girlfriend.
"When you think of the future, what do you see?" Ashley asked out of nowhere. Well, it wasn't out of nowhere in her head. College applications were due at the end of the week and that thought had been in the back of her mind the last few days.
"I see you," Spencer replied truthfully. Ashley wasn't the only one thinking of what was going to happen after high school. She was glad that they were talking about this and had been actually talking about it for the last little while. "No matter what happens after high school, I see you."
Spencer was going to stay in LA to go to film school while Ashley was going to be in New York for large chunks of time to purse her song-writing career. They had already discussed that they were going to do the long distance relationship thing. Neither girl was willing to give up what they had, nor did they think they had to. They had already overcome a lot to be together, they felt confident that they could overcome this.
They talked about traveling together when Spencer was done school before they had to settle down and actually become adults. They talked about what they wanted from their lives and they even talked about really far down the road and where they wanted to be headed.
It might sound like things that teenagers shouldn't be discussing, but for Spencer and Ashley it gave them comfort to know that they weren't finishing something when high school was over. They were going to be starting something else entirely.
"You have no idea how much I love you," Ashley said, her voice thick with emotion. She might get lost in Spencer's eyes a lot, but she found in those eyes the person she felt she was meant to be with.
Spencer's heart began to race. These types of moments with Ashley – when it felt like nothing else existed but them – never failed to blow her away. Things weren't perfect and without challenges, but that was life.
She felt like she had grown and changed so much over the last few months.
The difference between today and the beginning of the school year was hope.
Gone was the darkness and in its place was love.
Spencer got to her feet and indicated to Ashley that she should follow suit. "We need to get out of here."
Ashley knew exactly what Spencer was getting at. She stood up very quickly and made sure to grab everything of hers before she followed Spencer back into the school and to the one place that was still theirs.
The second that Spencer closed the door behind her, she was kissing Ashley and Ashley was kissing her just as hard back. They got lost in the moment and in themselves, like they would do for years to come.