Happy Tuesday folks! I've not much to say, so I hope you enjoy this chapter!
Chris let out a sigh when he read the time in the bottom right corner of Ashley's laptop. It was already 3:48, and he should have already left by now, but with Ashley resting her head on his shoulder and the two of them warm and snug on her bed watching Netflix, Chris didn't want to move. The thought of leaving Ashley's warm embrace and going back into the frigid cold only made him want to stay even more. Chris' thoughts were interrupted by the music that came along with the end credits of the episode they were just watching.
"Hey Ash" he began, clicking the cancel button on the screen to stop it from auto playing the next episode. "Mh hmm" she hummed in response, tilting her head on his shoulder so she could look up at him.
"I really should start going" Chris said, waving his hand in the direction of the clock on her desk. Ashley quickly glanced at the clock, and then back to Chris once she had read the time. "Can you stay a little longer?" Ashley pleaded, looking up at him with the same puppy eyes she gave him in the bookstore. Chris instantly smiled and reached down to kiss the top of her head.
"You know I can't say no when you give me that look" he replied, making Ashley smile. "I'll stay a little longer" Chris said as he took his phone out and sent Sam a quick text that said he would be a little late. As he was on his phone, Ashley reached over and closed the lid on her laptop, to Chris' surprise. She gently moved the blanket off her legs and got up, carrying her laptop back to her desk. Chris finished texting Sam and pocketed his phone, looking up to see Ashley climbing back onto the bed with him. Although it might have been silly, he missed the warmth of being in her arms, even though she was only gone for a few seconds.
"Tired of watching Netflix?" Chris asked with a smile as Ashley leaned back to lie down in her bed. He followed suit and laid down next to her, wrapping his arm around her waist. Ashley wrapped her own arm around Chris and nuzzled her head onto his chest, snuggling up next to him. "I'll take that as a yes" he replied, the smile on his face growing even larger. Chris kissed the top of her head and reached for her blankets, draping them over the both of them, making sure Ashley was nice and snug. He saw her smile and slowly close her eyes, making him let out a small laugh.
"Are you already falling asleep?" Chris asked with a smile, watching her fall asleep. "Mh hmm" she happily hummed into his chest, content with being in Chris' arms. Chris felt her gently breathing against his chest, and looked down to see her peacefully sleeping. He smiled to himself and leaned his head against her pillow, letting out a happy sigh. Even though he already took a nap, being in a warm bed with Ashley in his arms sleeping peacefully made him want to sleep too. Chris let out a yawn and turned his head so he could face Ashley, making sure she was alright. As he heard the wind howl outside and whip against Ashley's house, Chris was grateful that he decided to stay. He carefully took his right arm out from underneath the blanket they were sharing and took his glasses off, placing them on the nightstand next to Ashley's bed. He put his arm back underneath the blanket and got comfortable once more, letting sleep cast its spell over him. Chris let out one final yawn and fell asleep contently, happy to be in Ashley's arms.
When Chris woke up, all he was greeted by was blurriness. Sometime while he was sleeping, he must have rolled his head the opposite way, since he was now facing Ashley's desk. Chris rolled his head to the right and saw Ashley was awake, but still resting on his chest. When she saw that he was awake, Ashley looked up at him with a smile.
"Hey" she said, reaching up to kiss his cheek. "Hey" Chris responded, smiling back at her. "How long have you been awake?" he asked, reaching over to retrieve his glasses from the nightstand. "About 10 minutes. But you looked so peaceful that I didn't want to wake you up" Ashley said the smile on her face growing. She sat up in her bed and began taking the blankets off of them and folding them back on the foot of her bed.
As Ashley neatly folded her blankets, Chris put his glasses back on and checked the clock, seeing that it was already 5:05. Sam was probably annoyed that he didn't show up, but Ashley really did mean everything to him. Chris stretched his arms before sitting up in the bed as well just as Ashley folded the last blanket.
"Thanks for staying" she said with a smile, turning to face Chris and lacing her fingers with his. He smiled back and squeezed her hand lightly, their love for each other evident in their eyes. "If I could, I would spend everyday with you like this" Chris responded honestly, a large grin on his face. He wrapped his arm around Ashley's waist, prompting her to wrap her own arms around him. They looked into each other's eyes for a few seconds, until Chris reached for a stray piece of Ashley's auburn hair and tucked it behind her ear. They both began to blush as Chris cupped her face and tilted his head to move closer to Ashley, the two of them meeting in a kiss. He could taste the little bit of vanilla lip gloss she must have put on this morning as their lips came together. It was a gentle, sweet kiss, with the both of them pouring as much love as they could into it. In the warmth and safety of being with each other, nothing else mattered. In that moment, everything was perfect.
Eventually, Ashley broke their kiss, and leaned her forehead against Chris', big goofy smiles on both of their faces. Neither of them said anything for a couple of minutes, opting instead to look into each other's eyes. "I love you" she said in a soft voice, the quiet stillness of the air adding to the romantic atmosphere. "I love you too" Chris responded, holding onto her tighter. Ashley quickly glanced behind him at the clock on her desk, and upon seeing it was 5:09, she turned her attention back to Chris right as his phone vibrated in his pocket.
"You have to go, don't you?" Ashley asked, gently separating from him. "Probably" he responded, ignoring the text message he just received. She fidgeted with her fingers for a second before stopping Chris as he was about to get off her bed. "Chris, I'm scared that I'm going to have another nightmare tonight" Ashley admitted, looking into his eyes for support. He immediately wrapped her up in a hug, making her feel safe.
"It's alright Ash. If you ever get scared, or nervous, just think about me. None of those bad things happened" Chris said reassuringly, holding onto her as tight as possible. Ashley felt a wave of relief wash over her as he comforted her. "And if that doesn't work, you can always text me. I don't care how late in the night" Chris added, gently pushing away from her to look down at her. Ashley looked up at him with a bright smile, prompting Chris to smile back. "Thanks" she simply said, giving him another quick hug before gently separated.
"I'll text you later tonight" Ashley said as Chris reached for his ankle brace and put it back on. "Not unless I text you first" he jokingly responded, rolling down his right pants once the brace was back on. "Sounds good to me" she said with a smile, reaching over to quickly kiss him on the cheek. The two of them then left Ashley's room and walked downstairs, where Ashley helped Chris collect his belongings. They both talked about visiting Jess tomorrow and how they thought she was as Ashley helped Chris put on his blue parka and snow boots. Once he was all set, Chris stood up from the couch he was sitting on and the two of them were about to approach the front door when Ashley's mom came into the living room, thanking Chris for the thousandth time about protecting Ashley at the lodge. He could only smile and insist he did nothing special, saying he would never let Ashley get hurt, making her blush.
After thanking him one more time, her mom left the living room, allowing Chris to leave. "Please drive safely" Ashley said as the two of them met in a hug in front of the door. "I will" he promised, smiling at her concern for him and planted a quick kiss on the top of her head. She opened up the front door for him and Chris walked out into the cold winter air, heading out to his car. Once he arrived at his car, which was parked right in front of the house, Chris turned around to make sure Ashley was alright, and a large grin came across his face. She was up against the screen door on her toes, peering through it to make sure Chris was alright himself. Ashley instantly blushed, a smile coming on her face and waved goodbye to him, getting off her toes. Chris returned the gesture, and Ashley closed her front door as he unlocked his car. He put his key into the ignition, turned up the heat, and drove home with a smile on his face as he thought of Ashley.
Once Chris got home, he immediately hung up his winter clothes on the coat rack near the front door and went to his room upstairs. Seeing that it was only 5:20 and dinner wouldn't be ready for at least another hour, Chris decided to go on his computer and play some video games until then. He browsed through his library of video games, and clicked on a Total War game. As the computer's screen shone to life with a loading screen, Chris took out his phone and decided to finally read the text he had received earlier.
Chris smiled as he saw that Sam had texted him four times while he and Ashley were sleeping, with the fifth text being when he was about to leave. He scrolled through the text messages, feeling a little guilty that he bailed on Sam at the last minute. Chris promised himself that'd he call Sam later tonight and, somewhat awkwardly, explain why he missed practice with her.
Out of the corner of his eye, Chris saw that his game was still loading up, and placed his phone next to him on the desk. He usually would've put his phone in the charge by now, since he spent most of the day with Ashley, his battery was at 62%, so there was no need to charge it. Chris sighed at the unusually long loading time of the game, and opted to take off his ankle brace while he waited. Luckily, his ankle seemed to be getting better, especially since he had really only been spending time with Ashley at each other's houses for the past few days. Chris rolled up the soft, elastic brace and swung around in his chair as he tossed it across the room onto his nightstand, landing it perfectly next to his lamp.
"He shoots, he scores" Chris cheesily said to himself, throwing his fist up into the air. He thought to himself that if Ashley were there, she probably would've sighed and rolled her eyes, but laughed anyway. Chris chuckled to himself as he thought that, and turned his attention back to his game, which had finally finished loading. He leaned back in his desk chair and began playing, ready for a relaxing night of playing video games and texting Ashley.
Thanks for reading this chapter! Although it goes without saying, I really appreciate the support you guys give me, whether it be through a review or just simply reading each chapter. I started this Chrashley story as something people could read and as a hobby, and it still is, but I'm honored that there's people willing to take time out of their day to read my story, so I really appreciate it. Anyway, I'll cya all on Thursday for the next chapter!