Random imagines/one-shots/etc

One Day at a Time

"I'm looking for Penelope?" My voice breaks.

"Mami!" He yells and lets me in. The lady rushes over and guides me to the couch.

"Ashley are you okay whats wrong?" She asks. I explain what happened hours ago. When I finish the story, I look to see her own eyes tearing up. Then I notice two other women at the dinner table. The girl looks about my age and the woman looks about 60 or 70.

"Why don't you stay for dinner? You can stay the night if you want. I'll sleep on the couch, you can have my bed." She offers. I hug her tightly.

"Thank you so much Penelope." She hugs back and guides me to the dinner table. There's a couple seconds of silence before I'm introduced to the family. The boy is Alex. The girl is Elena. The woman is Lydia. I thank all of them for letting me join.

"This is truly an amazing meal. I think the best meal I've ever had. Thank you so much." I tell Lydia with a smile. She tells me it's a secret recipe and dramatically explains its origin.

That night, Elena lets me borrow a pair of her Harry Potter sweatpants.

"I love Harry Potter. I'm a Hufflepuff." I smile and immediately regret it. That must've sounded so stupid. She doesn't care. She probably hates that I'm here.

"Me too!" She high fives me and laughs. Either it wasn't a stupid thing to say, or she just pity's me.

"Thanks again. I can wash them tomorrow morning if you want." I offer. She shakes her head with a laugh. Oh god I did something wrong.

"No it's okay! Don't worry about it." She smiles again. We talk a little about music and the posters on her walls. She talks about her "Syd-nifigant other." I love that gender-neutral name it's amazing.

"I'm pansexual" I blurt out randomly. I can feel a panic starting. That was such a dumb thing to say why would I tell her that? She smiles

"Thats awesome. Do you have a significant other?" She doesn't even miss a beat.

"No. If my dad found out he'd quite literally kill me. You're the only one I've told but I've known for two years. Sorry."

"Why are you sorry?" She asks. I shrug. We say goodnight and I go to change.

Before bed I clean up the kitchen and do the dishes.

I wake up with a start to loud music coming from the living room. My eyes fill with tears as soon as they open and for a second I forget where I am. That's the best sleep I've had in a long time. I look around to see my clothes from last night aren't there. I make the bed and walk into the living room where Elena and Alex are eating breakfast.

"Ashley would you like toast and eggs?" Lydia asks.

"Oh no I don't want to be any trouble." I smile and stand there awkwardly.

"Don't be silly! I accidentally made an extra egg and toast come eat!" She winks at me. I know she's lying but there's already a place for me at the table. Her thick accent makes me smile. My mother was from Guatemala. I didn't know her very well but she had a very similar accent. I sit at the table and start eating slowly and quietly.

I see my clothes from yesterday folded neatly on the couch. It looks like they were cleaned.

After Alex and Elena leave, Penelope asks me to sit with her on the couch to talk. She explains that the police can't do anything without proof. She tells me to come over for dinner whenever I can and I can stay over whenever I need. She tells me she talked to Schneider but there's nothing he can do either. If my father hits me again, she wants me to go to Schneider or come over here until we can work out a way to get real help.