What We'll Survive Together (UD One-Shots)

Chris and Ashley- Day By Day

Ashley had always been a little jealous of a majority of her friends. Most of them were a year older than her, meaning that they had already graduated. At the moment, she truly envied their freedom.
At first, Ashley had been eager to go back to school. It got her a chance to escape her mother for most of the day, plus it served as a distraction to take her mind off of the mountain incident... at least, that was the plan. In reality, she was swarmed and bombarded with questions the second she walked through the door a few weeks later. Matt, who was in the same grade as her, did his best to keep the crowd away, but it was no use. It seemed that there was no way to escape her memories.
Once she returned home, Ashley ran straight to her bedroom and slammed the door. She threw her bag down with a loud thud and flopped over onto her bed, yelling profanities into her pillow. She did nothing to fight back the hot tears that stained her pillow as she sat up. As if on cue, she heard her phone buzz. She picked it up to see that Chris had texted her. She read the message, as well as the ones from the night before, and sighed. She answered quickly and shut her phone off, throwing it onto the bed next to her.

After a few minutes went by with no answer, Ashley laid back down and turned away from her phone. She hadn't seen her mother when she arrived, meaning that she might not be home until way later.
'At least I've got a little bit of time to myself...' she thought. She decided that a little bit of rest would do her some good, so she closed her eyes and allowed herself to drift off to sleep.
     Ashley wasn't sure how much time had passed when she woke up to a loud knock coming from her window. Her hand instinctively went for the revolver she kept tucked behind her headboard, but relaxed when she heard a familiar voice outside.
     "Ash? You awake?" She heard Chris whisper-yell from outside.
    Despite her still slightly red eyes and flushed cheeks, Ash couldn't help but smile faintly as she stood up and opened her window, allowing him to lean into her room.
     "So what happened- oh my god, Ash, were you crying? Alright, who's ass do I need to kick-"
     She couldn't hold back the slight giggle at his comment. "Nobody's. Besides, I'd say you're pretty harmless without a shotgun."
     "Ah, well, I could always get Mike to do it." He replied. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer. "Do you wanna talk about it?"
She sighed and rested her head on his chest. "Yes and no. I need to vent, but I don't wanna get worked up."
"It's fine if you do. I'll listen." He told her.
She pulled away from him and sat on her bed, patting the spot next to her. He climbed through the window carefully and sat next to her, wrapping her in his arms once again. "So what happened?" He asked once they were comfortable.
     "I was hoping to get away from what happened when I went back to school... instead I got crowded by people I don't even know... it was just too much all at once..." Ash admitted.
     "Well, on the bright side, you had Matt didn't you?" Chris asked.
     "Yeah, but he's not my bodyguard. I've gotta deal with this on my own eventually..."
     "Not necessarily. You can always talk to me, you know that. None of us are gonna have to go through this alone." He reassured her.
     Ash smiled faintly. "That's true... but how are we gonna move past this? It's been weeks, but I still get all worked up thinking about it..." she said.
     "I don't blame you. In all honesty, I still have nightmares sometimes..." Chris admitted.
     "What?! Chris, why didn't you ever say anything?" Ash asked.
     "I didn't wanna freak you out." He said sheepishly, scratching the back of his neck.
     "I could've helped you, you know." She said.
   "Well if you ask me, I think it's YOU who needs help right now." He retorted. "And I'm more than happy to do so." He added with a smile.
     Ashley rolled her eyes and smiled wider. "You're such a dork." She said, playfully hitting his arm.
     "Ha, there's that smile." Chris grinned as he hugged her tighter, causing her to giggle.
     "What can I say? You're good at bringing it out." She replied.
     "Glad to hear it... hey, is anyone else here right now?" Chris asked suddenly.
     "No, why?" Ash replied.
     "Because your mom hates me, and I technically broke in."
     Ash laughed. "No, she won't be back for awhile."
     "Great." He said as he laid back on her bed, pulling her down with him.
     "What are you doing?" Ashley asked suspiciously.
     Instead of anything dirty like she was expecting, he just grinned like a drunk fool. "Nap time." He said, sounding childish.
     Instead of protesting, she just went along with it, laying down next to him. She buried her face in his chest as he wrapped his arms around her contently. "Get some sleep. You've earned it." He said through a yawn.
     "Mhm-hm..." she mumbled as her eyelids got heavier. Soon enough, Chris could hear her snoring softly next to him. He couldn't help but smile down at her smaller form.
     "You'll get through this... just take it day by day..." he said before he kissed her temple, then allowing himself to fall asleep.