Okay I'm utterly obsessed with Until Dawn so it was only a matter of time before I wrote something. This one will be short and it's just cute and I like exploring these dumb teenagers bonding. AU where prank never happened.
Enjoy!
Autumn had settled into the mountainside at last.
The crisp breeze tickled Ashley's nose as she sat upon the steps to the lodge, a steaming mug warming her hands. She took in the scenery, savoring every leaf that drifted gracefully to join its brothers and sisters on the ground. More than once Ashley had observed chattering squirrels scrambling from tree to tree, scouring the ground for nuts to store for later. She'd hoped to see a deer or perhaps a fox, but she was not that lucky.
Autumn on Mount Washington was definitely magical to say the least.
A door behind her squeaked open as footsteps approached. A familiar body plopped itself down beside her.
"What's up?" Chris asked, his breath just barely visible. Ashley took a sip of her coffee before responding.
"Just enjoying the view," she shrugged, a content smile on her lips. "Taking in the sounds and smells - you don't exactly get this in L.A."
Chris nodded in agreement, though he wasn't huge on the nature stuff. Sure the mountain looked absolutely marvelous in Autumn, but he wasn't much of a nature guy. He was more than happy appreciating nature's beauty from the inside or from the other side of a computer screen.
"Well Josh and Sam want to play Uno, and I thought you might want to join."
Ashley took another sip of her drink, pondering the very simple invitation. Normally the red-head was up for a game of cards - especially if the game involved infamous black and white cards. However, the more she thought about it, the less appealing a card game sounded. It's not like she wasn't enjoying herself already.
"Thanks Chris, but I'm good out here," she shook her head, offering her friend a friendly smile. "Don't worry though, I'm all for whatever you two have planned for tonights shenanigans," she added with a sly grin.
Chris, true to his dorkiness, threw his hands up in mock exasperation. He feigned betrayal, even going so far as clutching his heart as if Ashley had stabbed him. "B-but...I thought we were friends!" He cried, earning a laugh from the girl.
"Lay off you drama queen!" Ashley huffed with a smile as she playfully shoved the blonde, who nearly fell over at the push. He adjusted his glasses and brushed off his sweater sleeves as if dirt dusted them. "Hmpf! Well I can see this "friendship" was all a sham. A fraud! An elaborate ruse!"
It took another shove from Ashley for Chris to finally stand to leave her be. Faces were made and tongues were stuck out before the blonde had closed the door behind him. Ashley resumed her previous position, sipping her dwindling coffee carefully. Her beanie helped keep her head warm, while the coffee and her finger-less gloves worked in tandem to prevent chilly fingers.
Eventually her coffee ran out and Ashley found herself wanting to explore. She'd taken a few pictures on the way up, but the amount she had on her phone wasn't quite enough. The fall aesthetic was a favorite of Ashley's, and even back in L.A. the teen was decked out in Fall fashion.
Another pair of squirrels scooted across the leaf-strewn yard, unaware of the red-head watching them amusingly.
"Alright you two, smile for the camera."
Phone out, Ashley lined up the shot and made sure the camera was focused before tapping the shutter. With a satisfying snap the picture was saved, the two critters frozen mid leap on the screen. It only took a few minutes for Ashley to finish editing the photo, making sure to adjust the brightness just so, and adding a filter that enhanced the the color of the leaves.
It was the perfect insta pic - if only the Washingtons had wifi on the mountain.
If they can buy a mountain, surely wifi can't be that expensive, Ashley pondered.
A door creaked open, scattering the romping squirrels. Leaning back, the teen tilted her head back to peer up at her visitor.
"Heya Mike," Ashley greeted, finding the class president's upside down face rather amusing.
A chuckle left Mike's lips, a friendly grin following as he towered over the red-head.
"Nice to see you too Ash." He moved past the sitting girl, stopping at the bottom of the steps, hands in his pockets casually.
"So what brings Mr. Munroe out of the funhouse and into the outside world?" Ashley queried teasingly, resting her chin on her free hand, bright green eyes fixed on the boy.
Mike shrugged at first, glancing around at the myriad of brown, gold, red, and orange foliage that had taken over the mountainside. "Felt a little cooped up. Wanted some fresh air and thought a walk would be good," he finally answered.
Truth be told, Mike did like the outdoors. Sure internet and TV were nice and definitely addicting - he'd just finished binge watching Friends on Netflix - but there was something about being outside that he enjoyed. Maybe it was the freedom the outdoors so generously offered, the opportunity to step away from the chaos of the "real world" - to breathe and collect his thoughts. Mike was a lover of the party scene - a true Californian at heart - but he always looked forward to their trips up the mountain.
"What? Can't a guy enjoy some fresh air and beautiful scenery?" He continued.
Ashley rolled her eyes. "Of course you can - I just know how much you love Josh's drinking games," she smirked.
There was a snort, leaves crunching under boots as Mike sauntered closer to Ashley, inclining his head in a way that suggested she wasn't wrong. "Be that as it may, I still reserve the right to enjoy this place as much as it pleases me."
Ashley merely shrugged with a nonchalant nod of her head, the conversation dropping like the leaves around them. The brief silence was comfortable to a point where neither teen noticed it very much. Mike made a noise in his throat before turning and heading down his original path, hands in pockets and gait relaxed. Ashley considered going in and grabbing her book, or perhaps her laptop so she could continue working on her little novel.
Josh and the twins would probably try to drag me into one of their games, she thought, already knowing it was a probable outcome. The trio were very persuasive when together, and Ashley had a feeling she'd end up participating one way or the other.
Before she could mull over alternate routes to her temporary bedroom, there was the familiar sound of decaying leaves crunching underfoot.
"Yo Ash, wanna join me?"
Mike had just about lost sight of Ashley as he'd headed down the leaf-strewn path, trees embracing him into their domain before he'd had a thought to invite the red-head. It was a spontaneous thought, one that Mike entertained for all of 15 seconds before turning back to the lodge. When the two had first met through association via their good friends, there had never really been much of anything between them. They were friends of course, but they were never particularly close like Josh and Chris or Sam and the Washington children.
It took a house party for the two to start forming their own bond.
Her purple beanie moved not an inch as Ashley's head popped up in surprise, both at the question and to see Mike had turned back.
"Through the woods?" She asked, head tilted ever so slightly as green eyes studied the class president.
Mike chuckled whilst nodding. "Where else ginger-snap?"
The nickname earned him a scowl, one Mike knew held no ill-will. "This better not be one of your god-awful pranks Michael," Ashley warned, failing to keep the corners of her lips from quirking upwards ever so slightly.
Hands held up in surrender, Mike shook his head. "No prank, just a friendly stroll in the woods." The dark-haired teen's smile formed into a more sincere one, brown eyes meeting green like the first leaf of Spring and the last leaf of Fall. "You can trust me Ash - no funny business. Scout's honor."
Ashley knew if she turned him down, a puppy-dog pout that could convince Death himself to concede would mar Mike's face until she finally said yes.
Smiling, Ashley stood and made a show of brushing off her leggings. "Alright, I trust you Munroe." Her smile morphed into a smirk. "But if you try to scare me I swear to god I will kick your ass."
"I don't doubt it."
A/N: Thanks for reading! Hope you all liked it! :D
The pairings will come eventually I promise. Also I don't know yet how many chapters this fic will have, but this will be short so we'll see.