Agency

Sauntering into the kitchen, Ashley folded her arms over her chest as she leaned back against the counter, watching Kurt as he turned to face her, still livid. His eyes flickered with fire as he opened his mouth, the words to describe his anger eluding him so he shut his lips tightly again, forming a thin, frowning line. She waited, rolling her eyes impatiently, as Kurt struggled to find the right words to express the depth of his frustration at Ashley. He wasn’t at all worried about hurting her feelings, but no known word of the English language seemed to convey the utter outrage he felt. After the fourth for fifth attempt, Ashley stepped in.

“For fuck sake, Kurt, just tell me what happened,” she demanded with a click of her tongue. “Did Vicky **** someone and somehow it’s my fault?”

“This isn’t a joke,” Kurt growled, baring his teeth. “After what you did last night, after what you said to Victoria, she’s refusing to go to the police.”

“And that’s my fault?” Ashley asked, shaking her head.

“You’re her best friend. Of course, what you say matters to her, even if it is in anger or criticism. She took what you said about this all being her responsibility to heart, and now she doesn’t want to go to the police and tell them about Shawn’s manipulation and lies because she thinks they won’t believe her,” Kurt explained, animating the words with his hands. “Because you didn’t believe her.”

Ashley rolled her head to one side and grunted wearily. “Maybe because it’s the truth. I’m not saying Shawn’s not a piece of shit who mislead Victoria and played on her feelings, but after that, there were things that she did completely voluntarily because she wanted to. You say I’m her best friend, and if she’d come to me like a best friend, I’d have been there for her. Instead, she wanted to fuck around with my boyfriend and my relationship.”

“And meanwhile, Shawn gets to prey on other girls. How long until he truly hurts someone, worse than Victoria? How long until someone isn’t swayed and really resists, and he doesn’t care?” Kurt asked pointedly. “That animal doesn’t deserve to be on the streets.”

“Maybe so, but we can’t fabricate a reason to put him behind bars, and we can’t **** Victoria to do something she isn’t comfortable with,” Ashley replied, glancing into the living room.

“I can’t, but you can,” Kurt corrected, staring at her. “If you apologise, and tell Victoria that she should go to the police and tell them how Shawn lured her to the apartment and tricked her into fucking him, she’ll listen to you.”

“One, I’m not apologising. I don’t regret anything I said,” Ashley argued, raising her hand and extending her fingers as she counted. “Two, Vicky isn’t that dumb. She’s smart enough, even in her current state, to be suspicious if I suddenly change my mind like that. And third, you can’t take away her independence like that. Victoria’s decisions are her own, for good or ill.”

“So, Shawn just gets to be free? Unharmed and unpunished in any way?” Kurt asked incredulously.

“I guess so,” Ashley admitted with a shrug.

“Don’t you care about the fact that Shawn might come after her?” He continued, his anger becoming almost pleading. “You wanted me to find out what happened to her and now I have, you don’t care what happens to her, if it happens to her again?”

“If he comes for her, you can catch him then. Or if she goes with him of her own free will, then we’ll really know where her loyalties lie,” Ashley countered. “But we can’t **** Victoria to do something she’s not comfortable with. Maybe it’s not the smart, conscientious choice, but it is understandable that she might not wanted be paraded before a panel of people and called out on every little mistake she’s makes her look as guilty as hell. Perhaps she’d like to hold on to whatever little dignity she has left.”

“Dammit.” Kurt clenched his fists at his side. “I have to do something.”

“Then you’ll have to figure out some way of doing it that doesn’t involve Victoria or what happened to her.” Ashley noted, raising her finger as a warning. “And since people, myself included, have had a habit of going behind people’s backs lately, trying to do the right thing, let me tell you this, Kurt; if I find out that you do anything to report Shawn when Victoria expressly said that she didn’t want to, Shawn won’t be the one you’ll have to worry about.”

“Huh,” Kurt laughed breathily. “You almost sound like her best friend.”

“I say this as a woman, for all women.” Ashley clarified, eyes unwavering. “Respect her decision. Find another way.”

The small blonde stared at him for a moment longer, far more intimidating that her stature should have allowed, before she turned and swept from the room, believing that Kurt had gotten the message.

And he had. Not that he had any plans to report the incident behind Victoria’s back anyway. Victoria had only just begun to trust him, he wasn’t going to break that trust by forcing her to do something she didn’t want. If he did that that, he’d be no better than Shawn. Even if he did, his word would be nothing but hearsay without Victoria’s testimony. He had hoped that Ashley might have been able to convince her, but it was clear to him now that catching Shawn would have to be done without Victoria. Letting her anywhere near Shawn again was probably a terrible idea anyway.

His mind briefly flickered towards the gun downstairs in storage. He dismissed it almost as soon as it entered his head. He wasn’t that **** yet. Not to mention that he didn’t even know if the gun worked. But no, he wasn’t done exploring other avenues to justice yet. Though, admittedly, he was at a loss of where to even begin. This wasn’t like with Hannah where they had family connections, knew where she was and knew what she wanted. Shawn was chaotic, enigmatic and almost entirely alone.

And then, almost like the ping of a light bulb, there was a knock at the front door.