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

Mike and Ashley- Selfless

     Looking around the group of friends, it might be difficult to see how they're connected at first. The personalities, behaviors, and interests of each person are unique to them for the most part. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, of course, but the differences almost seemed so extreme that it could be hard to see how any of them got along.
Such was the case for Ashley and Mike. Right from the first day they met, he had managed to leave a bad taste in her mouth. It had been Jessica who introduced Ashley to the others, and Mike almost immediately made some rather flirtatious comments. Needless to say, she was a bit uncomfortable.
     As time went on, she got used to it. It became clear to her that Mike was the type to flirt with anything that moved. He learned quickly, however, that she wouldn't put up with it. They sort of learned to respect each other in a way.
It had seemed like that respect was lost after the mountain. Ashley had been horrified when he aimed the gun to Emily's head, but then again, she had been demanding she leave. Of course, she herself had felt terribly guilty when the group realized there had been no need to do such a thing. However, she had no clue that Mike felt even worse. If Em had forgiven him, which it seemed like she had eventually, it was done in private.
In all honesty, she eventually realized that, in some sick way, it was admirable that he'd be willing to do such a thing to save the rest of them. Just as Chris had been willing to lay down his life for her, Mike had been willing to sacrifice someone he still cared about for the sake of the rest of the group. She never said it to his face, though. She didn't want anything she said to come across the wrong way. That was the last thing she needed.
Little did she know, Mike didn't feel admirable in the slightest. He had been just as horrified with his actions as the rest of them, and it took MONTHS for him to get Emily to trust him again. Once she did, they spent time together quite often.
It had been one of those times. Emily had been working on an essay for class while Mike mindlessly browsed his phone. It wasn't until she let out an annoyed sigh that he looked up.
"Son of a bitch!" She grumbled.
"Something wrong?" Mike asked, despite the fact that he knew the answer already.
"Something's wrong with the damn laptop." She replied. After spending maybe ten minutes fighting with it and cursing like a sailor, she groaned in defeat. "I'll call Chris." She said as she rose from the couch, cell phone in hand.
Soon enough, the nerd in question was at the door with a backpack slung over his shoulder. What neither Mike or Emily were expecting, however, was to see Ashley standing there as well.
"Oh, uh, you brought company..." Mike pointed out.
"Yeah, Sorry, we had been hanging out when Em called. Didn't wanna just leave her at my place since I'm her ride." Chris explained. Emily simply nodded and let them enter the house.
"Uh, I guess you can wait in here while we deal with this." She said as she gestured to the large living room.
"Okay..." Ashley said somewhat reluctantly as she sat down. Emily and Chris disappeared into another room as Mike sat opposite to Ash on the couch.
They sat in silence for a few minutes. Neither one knew what to say, since they had barely spoken at all since the mountain. Not that they had spoken all that much before that anyway.
"Are you... upset with me?" It was Mike who broke the silence.
Ashley seemed startled by him speaking. "W-What? No, why?" She asked, genuinely looking confused.
"I dunno. I just- I guess it's been weird, since... you know..." he stammered in response.
Ashley nodded. She knew exactly what he meant by that. Ever since that night on the mountain, none of them had been the same. Some of the things they used to do as a group just felt wrong now, like a piece of the puzzle that was their friend group was missing. Actually, three pieces to be exact.
"I get it. But no, I'm not mad or anything." Ash replied.
"You just seemed off is all." Mike said.
Ashley chuckled at that. "Haven't we all?" She asked. Mike nodded, and they both fell silent again. After another minute or two, she spoke up again. "I just don't get it..."
"Get what?" Mike asked.
"How could you do it?" She asked.
Mike's face fell. "How could I have shot her, you mean?"
Ash nodded. "I-I mean, there was a time when you loved her, and you could just off her like that?"
"Look, it's not like I-"
"How could you be that selfless?" She cut him off.
Mike's expression went from one of sadness to one of confusion. "Selfless?" He repeated. "How?"
     Ash seemed surprised by his confusion. "I-I mean, you love her, don't you?"
     Mike's face flushed a bit at that. "At one time, yeah..." he answered, managing not to stutter.
     "But you were willing to give her up to save us all. I-I know you didn't have to, b-but I know I couldn't have done it if-" she started getting worked up.
     He didn't exactly know why she seemed to be getting upset, but he didn't dare ask. Instead, he stood up and moved to her side and hugged her hesitantly, as if asking for permission. She was surprised by his actions, of course, since they weren't exactly close, but she didn't complain about the comfort.
"Look," Mike began, "I couldn't do it either, and I'm glad I couldn't. I don't know what I would've done if she was gone now...." he admitted.
Ashley nodded against his chest. "I know that feeling..." she said.
"Now, I don't exactly know what you went through, but from what I've seen it wasn't anything good. I'm not gonna ask what happened, but just know that if you need to talk about it... I'm here, okay?" Mike said.
Ashley smiled. "See? You are pretty selfless." She told him, a hint of playfulness in her voice.
Mike was about to reply again, but Emily and Chris entering the room cut him off.
"Finally, that damn thing is- uh... are we interrupting something?" Emily asked as she saw the two of them.
Mike let go of Ash and stood up, and she did the same. "Nope. I think we've said all we needed to." Ash answered before he could.
"Uh... Alright..." Chris said hesitantly. "You ready to go?"
And with that, Ashley followed him back outside to the car as Emily and Mike sat on the couch. At the end of the day, both of them felt a little better about their oddball friendship.