Fiction: Shattered Reflection chapter 4
Title: Shattered Reflections
Chapter: 4
Author: Jailynn
Word Count: 2528
Couple/Show: Ashlee and Rocky, Guiding Light
Disclaimer: Not mine at all
Summary: Ashlee moved away from Springfield after Coop's death and Rocky came back. What if Rocky was Coop's twin? What if Ashlee didn't know that? What then?
Warning: Not beta'd
Type: Angst, romance
Acknowledgements: Thank you to Jenny for the beautiful banner.
Feedback: Please I love and need feedback! I'm not afraid to beg... *begs* Please!
Rating: PG... so far
==4==4==
Rocky worked thoughtfully for the rest of the day. His eyes strayed to the door every time it opened. There were two people he wanted to see, Ashlee because he liked watching her pale cheeks flush with anger or was that excitement, and Daisy because he wanted to find out more about Ashlee. The hours ticked by without either making an appearance at Company. He really couldn’t say he was surprised that Ashlee didn’t show. She seemed pretty annoyed by him earlier. He stopped wiping down the bar and smirked. Her blue eyes held fire and that set his blood pumping through his veins faster. Rocky loved women that were feisty and from what he saw, Ashlee definitely qualified.
Daisy not showing up shouldn’t have really shocked him either. She was doing a lot of cramming lately for her college finals. The petite woman spent hours rushing between the college campus and the library, only stopping to work at Company occasionally or sleep. He had to say he was proud of how she turned her life around after Coop’s death and Grady’s arrest. His young niece took the realization that Grady was the one that kidnapped Lizzie really hard. Especially after she spent a year telling everyone he had changed. Rocky had only met him three months before Grady was handcuffed and put into prison. In those three months that shaggy-haired jerk did not make a good impression.
He was one of the many people sitting in the court room the day the verdict was handed down. Daisy didn’t shed a tear, but he could tell she was devastated by everything that happened. One of the few traits that Coop and he shared was their protective nature, especially when it came to the people they loved. Rocky hated seeing Daisy so broken and really wanted Frank to give him five minutes alone with Grady. Just so that he could teach the bastard a lesson about messing with the Coopers. Frank, of course, being the good police officer he is, only let him have two minutes while he went and got coffee. Rocky laughed silently. Two minutes was enough and the day and a half that he spent in jail for it plus the community service he received, was worth every punch he got in.
A couple of months after Grady’s arrest, Daisy enrolled at Springfield University. She seemed to be thriving on the pace, and hasn’t attempted to date much. Instead she focused on school, diving in head first. Rocky wished she would loosen up a bit. Heaven knows there were enough serious Coopers in the family, but Daisy was in lockdown. On her twenty-first birthday, one of the only nights he got her to actually leave the books, she confessed that she didn’t think she had very good taste in men. Of course she was extremely drunk at the time. Rocky made sure of that. You only turn twenty-one once and he was determined that she was going to enjoy herself. After she made that comment, he decided to find out why she felt that way. It didn’t take a lot of digging for him to realize that he missed out on a lot of drama while living in Europe.
The door to Company opened behind him and he turned toward the sound. A smile pulled at his lips when Doris walked into the restaurant. She stood in the doorway for a second, looking around her and moving her purse strap higher on her shoulder. Rocky noticed her eyes seemed tired and her body was slightly bent. He licked his bottom lip, wondering why she appeared so drained. Her head slowly turned in his direction and the weariness evaporated from her face to be replaced with annoyance. He grinned internally. This Doris he could handle, he even admitted to himself, he liked her balls- to -the- wall nature. He honestly thought she brought out the best in his dad. When he arrived after Coop’s death, Buzz was only half a man. No one could reach him. Not Lillian, not Frank, it hurt Buzz to see Rocky because of the resemblance to Coop, Daisy was dealing with her own mess and Marina was going through a rough patch with Mallet. The only person that broke through the wall was Doris and that was because she basically pushed him to save his restaurant so hard he couldn’t do anything but fight back.
So for that he will always be grateful to her…it didn’t stop him from pushing her buttons though. Doris’s attraction to his father made it so very easy. “Well, Miss Wolfe,” he grinned, picking up the white rag he was using to wipe down the bar with and twisting it around his finger. “What can I do for you, pretty lady?” Most women would blush a little at his flirting. He was coming to understand that the Wolfe women weren’t like most. Doris’s ice azure eyes narrowed. Rocky bit back a laugh and placed the cloth back on the bar.
Doris walked up to the bar, staring at him like he was her next kill. “You need to stay away from my daughter.” Rocky’s smirk dropped from his face and his eyes narrowed into slits. He hated people telling him what to do. Buzz was the only person he let do it and that was because he was his father. Doris had no right. “I can see you don’t like me telling you that. It might even make you chase her more, but I’m telling you that would be a huge mistake. Ashlee isn’t one of your toys and if you treat her as one, I will make your life a living hell.”
Rocky straightened his back and leveled her with a glare. “I’m sorry I was under the impression Ashlee was an adult. If she wants me to leave her alone, she can tell me herself. Until she does though,” he shrugged. “It’s really none of your concern.” He started to walk around the bar but stopped when her hand gripped his forearm. He looked at her hand then into her eyes, shocked to see them soften just a little, need bleeding through the light sapphire orbs. His ire lessened slightly.
“She is an adult,” Doris admitted quietly. “But she’s also angry and hurt and still getting over Coop’s death. If you play with her, with her emotions, I don’t know what she will do. It took me over two years to get her to come back to Springfield,” she dropped her hand from his arm and took a step back. The weariness that graced her features before came back slightly. She rubbed her right hand over her left one. Doris seemed to zone out for a moment before she continued softly. “I need her to stay.” She shook her head and all at once the tired expression was hidden behind a mask of confidence.
“If it makes you feel any better Doris,” he sighed then smiled slightly remembering the fierceness of her daughter’s reaction to him. He didn’t see much of Doris in Ashlee when he saw them in the boarding house room together. Doris was brunette, Ashlee was blonde, their noses didn’t match neither did their mouths, they shared the same color eyes, but that’s all he could find. Now he saw where mother and daughter matched…it was their spirit. Both were strong and both Wolfe women held fire in their bodies. Passion simmered under the pale skin. He shook his head. “If it makes you feel any better, I don’t think Ashlee wants me around her. She made that quite clear this morning.”
“You saw her,” Doris asked with her eyebrows arched in surprise.
He nodded. “On my way here. She was walking Moxie and I,” Rocky shrugged, trying to hold back his smirk. “Decided to say hello. Like any neighborly person in Springfield should do.” Doris rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest. “Anyway,” he continued. “She made it clear I’m not like Coop, so she will probably make her feelings about me known soon.”
“Why push it,” she responded in a hiss. “Just leave her alone.” This earned her another glare. One she returned just as intensely. A throat cleared in the middle of restaurant and both of them turned to see who it was. Buzz stood there with his hands on his hips.
“Is everything okay,” his father inquired coming toward them.
Doris nodded, looking back at Rocky. “I think so. What about you, Rocky? Think everything is fine?”
“Just peachy, Dorrie,” he grinned at the way her eyes sent a cutting glower in his direction. “Now if you’ll excuse me,” he pulled the apron from his waist and tossed it to his father. “I need to go find someone.” He walked out of Company and climbed on his bike. If Daisy wasn’t going to come to him, he was going to go to her. He turned the key and backed out of the parking lot, his mind going in circles.
==4==4==
Doris moved to follow him out the door, but Buzz grabbed her arm to hold her in place. “Let him go.” She turned to stare at him. “He isn’t going to find Ashlee. I think he is going to find Daisy. I told him to leave Ashlee alone and if he wanted to find out more about her to ask Daisy. Rocky is probably going to do that. He is reckless but not stupid.”
She stood still for a moment then nodded. He saw her body sag slightly and led her over to one of the booths. Sitting she looked up at him and smiled thankfully. Buzz went to the bar; pouring her a glass of water then took it over to her. Her hand shook a little as she took the drink from his hand. He waited anxiously for her to swallow, slowly sitting across from her at the table. Her blue eyes closed and she exhaled a breath. “Thanks,” her voice was barely a whisper.
“I assume you haven’t told Ashlee why you really wanted her to come back,” Buzz watched her sag even further. “You have to tell her soon, Doris. She’s going to find out and it’s better if it comes from you than someone else. You can only keep this type of thing a secret for so long.”
“I know,” she dragged a hand through her hair. “Right now isn’t the time though.” He opened his mouth to protest, but she held up her hand stopping the words from being spoken. “I’ll tell her. But at this moment she’s so filled with rage, I just,” she took another sip of water before continuing. “I can’t tell her. She just found out Coop didn’t tell her about Rocky. What do you think her reaction will be when I tell her that I’ve been hiding something from her as well?” Doris leaned forward and he was immediately struck by the dullness of her eyes. He was the only one she let see it though. It was a secret, a burden he carried for her because she trusted him. And because he loved her, not that he’s told her that. “Buzz,” her voice pulled him out of his reverie. “You should have seen her this morning. Her rage was,” she shook her head, her brown hair falling over her shoulder. “I have never seen her like that before.”
Buzz took her hand in his and squeezed her fingers. “She’s upset, but she will get over it. Ashlee loves you and she’ll forgive you for not telling her right away.” He sighed, looking at the table underneath their hands. “But you have to tell her soon.”
Doris nodded then sighed, drawing lines in the condensation on her glass. “I know. Trust me, I know.”
==4==4==
The stones were the only thing she could see as she walked through the field of death. After dropping Moxie off back at the mansion, she felt like she needed to visit this place. It was one stop she knew she would have to make once she returned to Springfield. Ashlee lowered her head, staring down at the marker that bore his name. It looked so wrong carved into the gray marble. Henry Cooper Bradshaw- loving son, uncle, brother and friend. She knelt down, reaching her fingers out to trace the doves next to his name. Tears filled her eyes and she pressed her palm over his name.
Her other hand came up to cover her mouth, so that her sobs weren’t so loud. Warm water slipped down her cheeks in twin rivers. Taking a deep breath, she removed her hand from her mouth and licked at the salty tears that were on her lips. “I miss you, Coop,” Ashlee whispered. “I wish I could ask you all the questions I have. Why wouldn’t you tell me about you and Beth, before you died? Why didn’t you share with me the fact that you had a twin? Why didn’t you trust me enough to let me in? Did I hurt you that bad?” She looked down at the grass and laughed bitterly. “I guess I did. I hurt you so much. I’m sorry Coop. I’m sorry about everything that happened that summer, about the break-up and Grady. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you I still loved you before it was too late. I’m sorry I wasn’t what you needed. God I wish…” she stopped, wiping at the water still on her face. “I wish for a lot of things. I miss you, every day, I miss you.” She kissed her finger tips and touched them to his grave stone. “Goodbye, Coop Cooper. I’ll come back again. And this time I’ll bring you some flowers,” she laughed.
Taking one last look at the grave, Ashlee stood and walked slowly out of the cemetery. There was still so much conflict going on inside of her. She didn’t know what to think anymore.
==4==4==
Rocky pulled into the apartment complex parking lot and looked for Daisy’s car. He climbed off his bike once he found the compact red car in her assigned spot. Taking the stairs two at a time, Rocky knocked on his niece’s door. He rocked back on his heels while he waited for her to answer the door. She called that she was on her way then opened the large panel a second later. Her curly brown hair was pulled from her face in a high ponytail and she had a pencil stuck between her teeth. Rocky grinned, “What can you tell me about Ashlee Wolfe?”
Her mouth dropped open and the pencil fell out. “Why are you asking me about her?”
“Well,” he pushed inside and smiled at the books spread out all over the floor. “Because she is back in town and I’ve been told by both Doris and pop not to bother her, so,” he flopped on her couch and looked up at her as she slowly closed the door. “I decided to ask you. What can you tell me about your former BFF?”
She sighed.
End Chapter 4…
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