Emotional Connection

shared coffee

"What weird shopkeeper lady?" James asked, looking curiously over to Ashley.

Sighing, she told him about the lady in the shop, and how she had such an adverse reaction to her whenever she walked in.

"It was as though she knew Ashley, though Ash is adamant she's never met her before." Jace shrugged.

James shrugged, shivering slightly as his hand brushed against Jace. He shoved that feeling away, telling himself he'd figure out what was going on later. "Maybe she knew your parents. Do you look like your mum?"

"Don't know, I hardly remember her, really, and dad never kept any photos of her after she left." Ashley sighed as they reached the edge of town.

"Come on, let's go to her shop. She does have some nice things."

James looked a little wary. "Nice things for a date, or just nice things?"

Ashley rolled her eyes, "there was a reason I asked for your help and not Jace's. He has no idea how to categorise 'nice'."

-

Two hours later and the three of them were again sat in the coffee shop Ashley and Jace had sat in before, talking about what was up with the weird shop-keeper.

"I still think she might be your mom," Jace said, warming his hands on his mug.

Ashley rolled her eyes.

"I thought you two might have been exaggerating when you said she acted strange but damn, she spent half her time staring at you and the other half completely avoiding you!" James leaned back in his chair, crossing his ankle over his knee. "Have you ever thought of just asking her what her deal is?"

Ashley rolled her eyes again, "I doubt she'd answer me. Besides, I'm not sure I want to find out."

James and Jace turned to stare at each other before looking back. "What the fuck does that mean?" James asked, leaning forward. Jace followed suit, grinning as though there was some gossip he was about to get in on.

Ashley refused to look at either of them. "I mean... what if she is related to me - to my mother. Then what? And if she is my mother, which, by the way, I still doubt, what in Merlin's name am I supposed to do then? Ask why she left? Fat chance."

"You wouldn't want a relationship with her if she was?" Jase asked, raising an eyebrow, leaning back again, drinking his coffee.

James stared sadly down at his empty mug.

"I don't know. I've never thought I'd meet her again, I sort of..." She trailed off, pushing her own empty mug to the side. "By the time I was twelve I'd written off ever seeing her again, so I never thought about what I would do if I did. And she did walk out on me, so I'm not sure I'd want a relationship with someone so willing to abandon me."

James looked a little lost in thought for a moment, looking down as Jace placed his coffee in front of him. "Wh- uh, what?"

"I won't finish that, you have it." Jace grinned for a split second before going back to Ashley, but James couldn't hear their conversation. He had no idea what was happening in his mind. It was nearly impossible for him to believe that after nearly thirty years, James had a crush. It was such a childish word, he thought, and one he wasn't sure matched his feelings. He'd never wanted to date someone before, hold their hand or anything. He'd never really found dating appealing. And here was Jace making him question himself all over again.

"James!"

Snapping out of his daydream, James looked up at Jace, who's just shoved his shoulder. "Yeah, hi, I'm here."

Laughing, Ashley said, "we're making a bet on who we think she is, whether she's related to me or not."

"I've said she's her mum, Ashley's said she thinks she's not related, though probably knew her mother, what are you saying?"

James stuttered for a second before arranging his words. "Probably like an aunt or something." He shrugged, "if you don't remember her at all, it's probably a more distant relation."

"If we're even related at all," Ashley wasted no time in pointing out.

James drank Jace's still warm coffee, refusing to let his mind wander all over again.

"Once you've finished your coffee, we'll go, Ash still needs to get ready." Jace nodded to the bags piled on the empty chair next to her.

James nodded, swallowing the last of it. "Ok, I'm good." He nodded, and they all grabbed their bags and headed out back to the sanctuary.

Ashley noticed he was a little more subdued now, but pushed it to the back of her mind to address later when her mind wasn't completely overrun with way too many thoughts about the date with Charlie in just under three hours.

-

Ashley stood in front of the mirror, still a little anxious about the date, but no longer about her outfit. She felt good, confident, so hopefully that meant things would all go ok on the date. She wondered where Charlie was taking her, but pushed that thought out of her mind when James finished doing her hair, turning off and setting down the curling iron.

"You look gorgeous." He smiled, making eye contact with her in the mirror.

"Nearly time, you ready?" Jace poked his head into the room. "Oh, that dress is so pretty on you! Damn, Charlie's jaw going to hit the floor once he sees you."

Ashley grinned, blushing slightly. "Thanks!"

"Now, do we need to have the safe sex talk?" Jace crossed his arms with a cheeky grin on his face as Ashley and James stared at him in horror.

"Not while I'm present, you don't!" James shuddered, making Jace laugh.

"Sorry, Jay. But seriously, I'm too young to have grandbabies, so," Jace pointed his finger and Ashley, giving her a stern look as the doorbell rang. "Go have fun, we'll lock up here."

Ashley thanked them, giving them both a quick hug before grabbing her blazer jacket and bag, rushing to the front door where Charlie was waiting in a pastel green shirt and black slacks, a blazer in his hand.
"Hi." She breathed.

He stared for a few seconds before finding his words. "you look... incredible. Wow, just..." He stood back to admire as she twirled with a small giggle. "You're beautiful." He planted a kiss on her cheek, just by the corner of her mouth, leaving her wanting more.

"Thank you. So do you." Ashley blushed, "I mean, not beautiful, not that you're not beautiful, but you look... you look good." She managed, looking away as Charlie laughed.

"Beautiful works."

She wasn't sure if he was teasing, but it was Charlie, so there was always a chance he was being deadly serious. "Come on, we'll be late."

Charlie held his hand out with a smile, and she laced her fingers through his, setting off towards the town.

Back at her apartment, the two men were cleaning up the cups in the sink from the numerous cups of coffee James had had (Jace wondered if his blood was just pure caffeine) and dinner they'd made themselves while helping Ashley to get ready.

"You've been really quiet since town, is everything ok?" Jace asked as they walked down the stairs, locking the doors behind them, leaving the key on top of the doorframe of the room that no one had known existed until a month ago.

James nodded, "yeah, just thinking some things through. Managed to stress myself out over them, but I think I've figured it out."
Lying had never come easily to James, he only hoped he was better at it than he thought, otherwise Jace would surely see through his poor attempt at even convincing himself he'd sorted everything in his mind.

Jace didn't call him out on it if he did know James was lying, at least not yet, which James was definitely grateful for. They walked back to their place in near silence, though neither really felt the urge to say anything, just enjoying each other's company and the walk.