Once they were home Ash carried Mary Lynette's sleeping form easily through the door of his sisters house, shutting it softly behind him before gazing tenderly at his love, asleep in his arms. He felt whole, complete and more content than he ever had.
Kestrel appeared from the back door and was about to drown him in questions when Ash raised a finger to his lips in a 'be quiet' motion. She nodded and whispered "Is everyone okay? What happened?" then she took in his bloodied scarred shoulder "Oh my God, Ash! What happened to you?"
"I'm fine, Everyone's fine" Ash whispered back, shifting Mary Lynette's weight as she stirred in her sleep "Can you wait for Rowan and Jade to explain when they get back, I'm exhausted."
Kestrel just nodded, watching him carefully as he carried Mary Lynette upstairs
He took her to the one spare guestroom and laid her on the bed on top of the duvet, kissing her forehead softly before quietly making his way back down the stairs, not wanting to wake Mary Lynette.
He collected a set of clean clothes from his car and showered, washing away the blood and grime from his body. He stepped out of the bathroom, throwing his bloodied jeans in the trash before digging a blanket out of the linen cupboard and making his way back upstairs, spreading himself out on the floor beside where Mary Lynette was sleeping on the bed. He left the room again, in search of a pillow when there was a soft sob from behind him. He was back in the doorway in a heartbeat, looking in to see Mary Lynette sat on the bed, face in her hands.
She looked up as Ash entered the room, comprehension flickering on her face as she launched herself across the room and into Ash's arms.
"Ash!"
"I'm here, sweetheart. What's wrong?" he caught her and held her as close to him as he could as she rested her chin on his shoulder, having to stand on her tiptoes to do so. Her heart jumped at the nickname, whilst somewhere in the back of her mind she wondered when bad Ash Redfern had gotten so soft, not that she was complaining.
"It's nothing, just me being stupid." He looked into her eyes and a silent moment of communication passed between them, she could see in his eyes that he knew she was hiding something.
"I had a bad dream, that's all." She sighed "And then I woke up, and you weren't there, and I- I guess it scared me that's all." she lowered her eyes and Ash reached down and placed a finger under her chin, pulling her face back up to his.
"I'm here, and I'm okay, and I'm staying" she smiled brightly as he wiped her tears away from her cheeks with his lips, silently wondering at how much he had changed in the last year. He was no longer the cocky chauvinistic person he had been before, maybe it was being apart from his soul mate that had caused the change, or maybe it was the little too close for comfort near-death experience.
"Thank you" she leant up to press her lips to his and the kiss was tender and warm.
"Come on, you look exhausted. Back to bed" he picked her up in his arms again and she rolled her eyes. He set her back down on the bed but when he made to pull away she kept hold of his shirt collar.
"Stay with me, please" her eyes were pleading and Ash could easily read the terror in them.
"If you insist" he whispered in her ear, grinning as he lay next to her wrapping his arms around her.
She drowsily snuggled into his chest, curling up and fitting her body shape to his. He smiled contently before drifting off to sleep.
After they had buried Quinn's body with their aunts and cleared the clearing they headed home. Rowan entered the house quietly, listening for any sign of where Ash or Mary Lynette were. After a quick exploration of the house she found them sleeping soundly in the guest room, smiling as she saw how gently Ash held her, amazed and delighted at the transformation he seemed to have undergone.
She left them and went quietly downstairs. "Hey" she said as she walked into the living room where Jade and Mark had been explaining to Kestrel, not being able to take the grin off her face.
"What's got into you?" Jade asked smiling, glad to see her sister happy as she had been so worried about Mary Lynette and Ash she hadn't seemed to smile in months.
"Just come look" they all watched her curiously as she lead the way out of the room, putting her finger to her lips in the same motion Ash had used before, to make them be quiet.
They tiptoed upstairs and stood behind Rowan as she opened to guest room door, revealing Ash and Mary Lynette, her head on his chest and his arms around her, both sleeping peacefully.
"Awh!" Jade exclaimed in whispers, grinning at her sister "I'm so glad she's happy. They're so cute!" Kestrel rolled her eyes at her ever-enthusiastic sister. Then turned to Rowan.
"I'm sorry, I guess I was wrong, he has changed."
Ash was woken from his peaceful dreams by a steady hum that suddenly cut off. He rolled onto his back, keeping his right arm around Mary Lynette as she slept, putting a hand up to his face and rubbing his eyes blearily. As he dropped his hand he saw his sisters in the doorway and bolted upright into a sitting position, falling off the edge of the narrow bed in the process and hitting his head on the wooden bedside table as he went.
"Ash?" came a confused voice from the bed, Mary Lynette, who had been woken by Ash's sudden movement of his arm and his curses as he hit the floor, propped herself up on her elbows to see Ash, sprawled across the floor clutching his head. She leant over the edge of the bed to check that he was okay when she saw figures in the doorway. She jumped, letting out a squeak of surprise as she saw Rowan, Jade, Kestrel and Mark all doubled over laughing, falling over the edge and landing straight in Ash's lap.
"Your face!" Kestrel exclaimed, pointing towards her brother, an evil glint in her eye.
Ash sat up, still rubbing his forehead, and glared at his sisters, wrapping his arms around Mary-Lynette's waist as he sat up and pressed her back to his chest. He watched as Mary-Lynette's cheeks turned a beautiful shade of pink; like sunrise against rose petals, and kissed the back of her neck softly.
However his attention was drawn away from his soulmate when his sisters steady giggles came from the door.
Ash sighed, getting up before helping Mary-Lynette to her feet.
"What are you all looking at?" His voice was amusement tinted with annoyance.
"Are we really that interesting?" Mary-Lynette chimed in, staring pointedly at Jade, who was still giggling manically in the doorway, as she wrapped her arms around Ash's waist and leant her head towards his chest.
"Well, yeah" Mark grinned at his sister to let her known he was only teasing.
"Hmmm, well, shows over, you can all go away now" Ash turned from the door to loop his arm around Mary-Lynette's waist again, wanting to be as close to her as possible.
"Make me" Kestrels defiant voice came from behind the others.
"Hmmm, Mary-Lynette, I do think she has challenged us" Ash winked at her and she giggled.
"And seeing as they're not going to leave, lets give them their moneys-worth." He grinned at her, closing the distance between their mouths and gently moulding his lips to hers in a searing kiss. Mary-Lynette knew via the soulmate link what his plan was and decided to play along, besides, this was going to be fun.
Ash deepened the kiss, pulling Mary-Lynette closer to him by her waist as her arms reached up and her hands entwined themselves in her hair.
"Ewww! Ash!" Jade cried as Ash deepened the kiss further, running his tongue along Mary-Lynette's bottom lip as she opened her mouth to him.
Mary-Lynette smiled against Ash's mouth, imagining Kestrel rolling her eyes.
"Well, we're not planning on stopping anytime soon" Ash murmured against Mary-Lynette's lips. Mary Lynette could hear her own heavy breathing, before Ash deepened the kiss once more.
"Eurgh, seriously gross!" Mark exclaimed as they heard the door close and Mary-Lynette couldn't stop herself, she burst into giggles. Ash pulled away, grinning.
"You look so beautiful when you laugh" he smiled, kissing her on the lips again.
"hmmm, so do you" Mary-Lynette let go of his hair and brought her hands down so that they were at the back of his neck, her wrists wresting on his shoulders. She smiled against his lips- he was back with her, and she was in his arms- she was home.