The moment Ashley left the interview room, she searched for the one person who survived all of that night's events with her. Her heart briefly skipped a beat when she didn't see him right away, but a door opening nearby drew her gaze.
"Chris, Chris, Chris," she said, rushing over and throwing her arms around his shoulders before she could over-think and back out.
Chris tensed up, his fear response kicking in before realizing it was just Ashley that was moving towards him. He wrapped his arms around her shaking frame. Or maybe it was him that was shaking?
"It's over. It's all over now," Chris stated, trying to soothe Ashley.
"B-But Mike, and Jessica and Sam and oh my god," Ashley sobbed out, burying her face in Chris's jacket to catch her tears.
A couple tears fell from Chris's eyes and he sniffled. "Hopefully the mountain's safer now, with a few less of those things hunting around," he commented, though it was a hollow victory after everything they'd been through.
Once they got back to California, Chris felt like he was just going through the motions. Go home, tell his story a million times, eat, sleep, wake up, tell his story to more questioning relatives, and repeat. He didn't have the motivation to do much else, deciding he needed to feel like himself before he could try socializing again.
The third night after getting back, however, Chris was woken up suddenly by his cell phone ringing. He groaned as he picked it up, not even trying to look at the screen without his glasses before putting it to his ear.
"Hello?" he answered, sleep still heavy on his voice.
"Oh, my god, Chris," Ashley's voice came spilling out the receiver. Suddenly Chris was a lot less tired. He sat up in his bed and reached for his glasses, throwing them on.
"Ashley, is everything alright?" he asked, worry evident in his voice.
Ashley was breathing heavily. "Yeah, I mean, I'm sorry," she replied. "It's stupid. I just had a nightmare."
"It's not stupid, I've been getting a lot of those," Chris replied with a sigh. His adrenaline rush was wearing off and he laid back down in his bed.
"In my nightmare, you died too and I was so scared, Chris," Ashley said. Chris could hear the tears on her voice and wanted so badly to hug Ashley and make her fears go away. But all's he could do was talk and listen. "When I woke up, I knew you were safe, but a part of me wasn't sure and I just had to call to make sure and I know it's stupid, I'm sorry for waking you."
"Hey, Ash, it's okay," Chris stated. "To be honest, I've been wanting to call to check in with you, but I wasn't sure if you needed more time. I'm glad to hear from you, even at-" he checked the clock on his phone, "Three twenty-two in the morning."
"I should let you sleep," Ashley conceded with a sigh.
"Hey, if you need me to stay up and talk with you until you go back to sleep, I will," Chris stated.
"I can't ask you to do that," Ashley replied, her voice nearly at a mumble as she spoke. "If the last couple nights are any indication, I, uh, I won't be able to try to sleep again until it's night again."
"You should try, you need sleep. I can sing you a lullaby," Chris offered, a hint of his trademark humor finally showing itself.
"Oh gosh, please no," Ashley begged. It sounded like a serious request, but Chris smiled a little, recognizing a hint of Ashley's own deadpan humor to her tone. "Thank you."
"For answering the phone?" Chris asked.
"For making things seem somewhat back to normal for a moment," Ashley replied.
"How about a little more normal? My schedule isn't exactly full, why don't we meet up in the usual place in a few hours, say one?"
There was a moment of silence, and Chris wondered, not for the first time, what went on in Ashley's mind. "Sounds great," she finally replied. "And I'll try to get a little sleep in between then and now, Mom."
Chris gave a small chuckle at the teasing name. "Good night, Ash," he said, before hanging up his phone. He set both it and his glasses back on the bedside table to try to take his own advice. Of course, sleeping wasn't very easy when you see Wendigo faces every time you close your eyes.