The Sanctuary✔️

13

"You did what all day?"

"Spent the day helping Gabriel." As Ashley sits in Danny's car on their way back to her home, she looks out the window as he goes into a rant about leaving her alone again and how dangerous that was.

She really didn't see his point as he talked so she started to shut his words out as the rain picked up. Watching each droplet fall and splash onto the glass windows of the car, Danny saw this and sighed heavily to get her attention again, or at least he hoped it would get her attention.

"Nothing bad happened Danny. I just helped him with paperwork because I couldn't sit at home." She explained to him, hoping her friend would understand and end his tangent.

"And was he mad?" He asked.

"Oh he was, at first. I started cleaning when I got there, but he didn't like that so I just helped him sort through his paperwork to make myself useful."

"And you just stayed there until the lawyer got there?" Danny persisted, furrowing his brows at her.

She nodded, "Yep. I kinda panicked because Gabriel thought I should talk to her, but I got a hold of myself thankfully."

"And what did you tell them?"

"I said I would try to talk to her. She seems nice. I told her to call me in a day or two when she was free and I would meet her somewhere. I think that I can try and talk about him."

"Good." Danny was silently dancing in his head that she would be up to talking...trying to talk to a lawyer about all of this. If she did they could take this case somewhere and he could be locked up for a very long time.

But at the same time he was slightly upset that Ashley had gone into work, it was dangerous in his eyes. He only planned on leaving for an hour or two at most but ended up staying with Jack for much longer. He needed a mental break and Jack was a person he could be free around other than Ashley some days.

When he had gotten a call from Gabriel's office, and Ashley was the one speaking to him, worry was coating every inch of him when she asked if he could pick her up. Turns out her phone had died at some point and didn't see the point in charging it if Danny could pick her up.

She needed him to pick her up because her car was taken to be fixed at a nearby shop seeing as it wouldn't start up and Gabriel didn't want her out in the cold at night trying to work on it.

"Gabriel said if I needed something to do tomorrow I could go in again if I stay away from cleaning. I think I was helpful." She said, a small triumphant smile on her face.

"If he said you could come in and help him, you probably were Ash." Danny assured her.

"Are...would you be alright if I went in again?"

"Of course, if you feel fine by yourself there. You don't have to ask me Ashley."

"I-I know that. I just didn't know if you needed me."

"I'm alright. I can just hang with Jack if you don't need me Ash. Did you want me to stay the night?" Danny questioned.

"Yes." It was her simpletest answer of the night that came from her. She didn't feel comfortable with the idea of being alone in her apartment, not yet, not after just one day.

When the two arrived at her apartment, Danny and Ashley were side by side until they got into the living room where both of them had laid down on the couch, kicking their shoes off on the carpet and sighing.

Staring at the popcorn ceiling for what seemed like minutes turned into hours as the both of them just laid there side by side.

Danny knew Ashley was thinking, he also knew what she was thinking about. Ashley knew what Danny was thinking of as well, yet neither of them spoke about it. There was no need to talk for them, not right now. For some reason they both just sat there in the silence with the rain hitting the window.