"Mmmm…" Ashley murmured into her pillow, her face snuggled into the soft cushion which muffled her voice as she tried to hide away from the day. Ever since what had happened at Blackwood Pines only a mere 2 weeks ago she, along with every one of her friends wanted to simply waste away the days in bed. Sleeping was one of the few ways they could all forget the horrors that had happened to them. That was of course, if they weren't tortured by nightmares that night.
The friends had been getting better, and one by one they managed to pull themselves out of bed each day, but they all faced a rough day every now and then. Today, was Ashley's day.
Chris was perched at the end of their bed wearing his jeans and no shirt which he held in his hands. His hair was ruffled from sleep as he had only just woken up and hadn't properly sorted himself out yet. Both Ashley and Chris had been impacted badly from the events that occurred so had made the decision to share a room with one another as they felt a lot safer and calmer. They enjoyed nothing more than the nights they spent together cuddling and talking to one another until they fell asleep. Chris and Ashley were ultimately in a relationship now, although no one had announced it officially. It had just happened. Time and occurrences had distracted everyone too much for anyone to care about confirming a relationship, yet all knew how Chris felt about Ashley, and how Ashley felt about Chris. After all, they had admitted it to each other during Josh's horrific torture like prank, and had even shared a kiss. No one had to announce the fact that they were together, it was out there for all to see.
"Come on Ash." Chris cooed softly, shaking her gently, his fingers tickling the tips of her shoulder blades. "Everyone is going down for breakfast in 20 minutes."
The police and doctors who had checked the friends over had insisted they all remain in a hotel for 3 weeks or so to ensure their safety and health, both physically and mentally. Each day, the friends would enjoy breakfast together before choosing what they'd like to do for the day. Sometimes they'd all venture up to their rooms again in groups, other times they would relax in the living room area of the hotel and on rare occasions the hotel would allow them to go outside for a walk within limits, to ensure they were all okay and accounted for.
Each friend had handled the horror differently. Chris and Ash became more attached to one another, spending almost every little moment together. Ashley was assigned to visit a doctor every 2 months to check on her mental health. If there were any signs of digression, further measures would be taken. Chris was mourning the loss of his best friend, Josh, who was never found by any of the police or rescue team, but he had regained his spirits as he was often seen cracking jokes and using his wits and sarcasm.
Sam was trying her to best to be strong, but it was evident she missed Josh, and she had been through as much as anybody else. Mike was in a similar situation, but he was too distracted caring for Jessica to care for his own feelings. Jessica had been affected the worst out of the entire group. She was being kept under severe surveillance and not many of the friends knew the exact full details of it other than Jess was likely to suffer for the entirety of her life.
Emily's arrogance had pushed her through the hard times, however she had softened a lot which caused her and Matt to finally become more 'normal'. Emily; still a little bitchy, had caused Matt finally was able to put Emily in her place as he wanted to ensure her safety and had uniquely gained confidence after having to care for Jess in the mines who he often checked up on as he was worried for her.
"Yeah, well, tell them I'm sleeping…" Ashley groaned, smothering her face into the pillow.
Chris chuckled. "Hey, I know you're super tired, we all are, and I'd love to chill with you all day, every day, but getting out of bed, and actually doing things is a lot better for us." He shuffled up the bed so he was sat at the top of the bed. He could see Ashley's shoulders peeking out of the top of her t-shirt as it became a little pulled down throughout her uneasy turning in her sleep. He lay down next to her and planted a couple of soft kisses onto her shoulder whilst running his hands through her hair, causing her to look to her right and smile softly at Chris whose face was so close to hers. She could feel his warm breath on her face and she blushed a little.
"Morning!" He grinned. "You ready to get up yet?"
"Just 10 more minutes?" She stuck out her lower lip pouting and pulling puppy dog eyes.
Chris rolled his eyes. "Awh, that's not fair, I can't resist that face. Okay, fine, 10 more minutes, but that's it!"
Ashley smirked and pulled herself close to Chris' chest which she cuddled into. "Chris?"
"Yes Ash?" He asked, bending his neck to give her a kiss on the top of her head.
"Thank you for being here these past two weeks. I know you've been through a lot too so it must've been hard for you to cope as well as look after me…"Ashley glanced up to see Chris' reaction which she was relieved to see was a soft and gentle smile.
"No worries." He looked down towards her. "You helped me too, you know. More than you realise. So, thank you also."
For the next couple of minutes they lay there intertwined with one another mumbling into each other's skin whilst Chris ran his fingers over Ash's arms as she liked the feeling which soothed her.
"How are you feeling?" He whispered into her ear.
"Good." She giggled. "Amazing for waking up here with you every day. Is it weird that although these two weeks have been horrible, they have also been sort of incredible and… enjoyable? I've loved spending all this time with you."
Chris shook his head. "Not weird at all. I feel the same way." Wrapping his arms around her, he smiled joyfully. "I never want to move from this spot, but we'll have to."
"Says who?" Ash perked up. "We could just lie here all day!"
Chris opened his mouth to say something, but Ash covered his mouth with her hand playfully, pulling herself up and into a sitting position which Chris followed. "I know what you're going to say, so don't bother." She laughed and threw her arms around his neck in a sudden movement and gave him a tight hug. As she let him go, her hands fell down and met his where they clasped together. Chris stared into Ashley's eyes and his stomach began doing knots. He never expected to fall this badly for someone, but he had. And he loved it.
"I love you." He whispered softly, it was almost too quiet to hear, but Ashley heard it perfectly and it filled both her heart and mind with joy.
"I love you too." She replied as Chris pressed his lips to hers to which she responded instantly. Their lips moving in sync as Chris cupped her neck with one hand which he had released from her grip. Ashley's free hand found its way around Chris' neck and there they sat, kissing, completely lost in their own worlds with each other until a crazed buzzing sound filled the air.
Chris' phone was violently shaking which was all down to the table and its wonky leg which Ashley had repeatedly pointed out and attempted to fix before giving up each time as Chris pulled her onto the bed for a tickle fight for a distraction.
Chris groaned. "Why now?" He winked at Ash before fetching his phone and answering with a simple tap. "Heyyy Sam!" He exclaimed excitedly, a pause following as he listened to Sam. "Yeah, we'll be down soon." Another pause. "In about ten. Sorry, we got caught up." Chris laughed. "Nooo, not with that, but, now that you mention it…" Chris turned to look at Ashley and wiggled his eyebrows flirtatiously.
Ashley rolled her eyes knowing what he was insinuating. "Maybe later." She smirked throwing a pillow at him.
"Ow!" He laughed before quickly returning back to the call with Sam. "Okay, see you guys there soon. See ya!"
Sam hung up the call which left Chris to throw his phone to one side. "We have 10 minutes to get ready and down there."
"Oh geez."
"Don't worry, 10 minutes is plenty of time. Just enough extra time for payback too." He smirked, rubbing his hands together.
"Payback?" Ashley frowned before noticing how Chris had picked up the pillow she had thrown at him. "Oh no!"
Ashley squealed as Chris leapt towards her and threw a pillow at her, tickling her, causing giggles and exclamations of 'Stop! Chris! I'm too ticklish! Noooo!' to fill the air.

Sam approached the door determined to drag the sleepy couple downstairs for breakfast, yet as she reached the door and raised her fist to knock, from inside she heard fits of laughter and squealing from both of the pair. A smile appeared on Sam's face and she lowered her fist, changing her mind. She was glad to hear the two were having a happy moment, less of those had been happening recently within the group. She turned away from the door to walk back to breakfast, content that both Chris and Ashley were happy in each other's company.