SPOILER/TRIGGER WARNING: SUICIDE

!

Ashley couldn't leave Chris alone even after they had gone their separate ways from Josh's funeral. As soon as she entered inside the blue walled hallway, the brunette threw a brief greeting at her parents while she bee-lined for the stairs. Her mother and father only had seconds to reply before their daughter disappeared at the top. They decided to try again later when she was ready.

Once Ashley burst into her room and snatched her mobile phone from her tidy desk, she scrolled through her contacts and pressed Chris' name. She held it up to her ear as she reclined on her once perfectly made bed. Her free hand fidgeted with the white duvet cover with pink and blue flowers arranged in a neat pattern until she heard him say her name.

"Hey Chris. Sorry for calling you like this. I just wanted to make sure you were okay," Ashley apologized and moved her hand to the tips of her long hair.

"Yeah, um… could you hang on a sec? I was just getting a drink."

"Sure," The girl nodded and listened to the background noise at her boyfriend's kitchen. From the sound of the spraying and splashing in a glass, she guessed he was getting water from the kitchen sink. The pitch rose the more he filled the glass, before the sudden turn of the handle stopped its highest pitch from reaching its climax and spillage. Ashley's ears pricked at another set of approaching footsteps.

"Hi mom," Chris finally spoke although it was quieter than when he was talking to his girlfriend.

"Hi sweetie. Are you talking to Ashley? Hi Ashley!" Ashley imagined his mother's smooth and gentle voice radiating in motherly love. She knew she cared for Chris a lot, especially after what happened up on the mountain.

"Hi Mrs Wenhaston," Ashley said before wincing at the sound of Chris scraping his phone across the worktop.

"I'm gonna head upstairs," He said in a subdued tone. There was a small pause until his mother spoke again.

"All right. Just make sure you bring the glass back into the kitchen after you're done with it."

"I will."

Ashley could tell he left the kitchen since she no longer heard his feet tap across the tiled floor. The footsteps turned into soft thumps up the carpet stairs until the door (to what she believed to be Chris' room) squeaked open and clicked shut seconds after.

Ashley assumed her boyfriend flopped onto his bed, though she picked up the sound of many clacks in some kind of plastic container. "You've got Pop Mints?" Despite herself, the girl let out a small giggle. He loved those sweets.

"Wow. You caught me," Chris laughed down the receiver. It was faint but Ashley heard the white capsules fall onto the blue duvet cover with a whoosh. There was a small pause until Chris finally spoke. "So were you just checking up on me," His voice sounded muffled before he gulped, "or was there something else on your mind?" Ashley twirled her hair in between her fingers and focused on the ends.

"I just…" She sighed and tried to find the right words to say. "I guess I wanted to just hear your voice. I know it sounds dumb but I feel… I don't know."

"You feel like you can't not talk about the funeral with me, is that what you're saying?" Chris interjected. He wasn't making an accusation but stating a fact. As much as Ashley wanted to deny it, it was the truth. It was hard not to talk about that and Josh's disappearance.

"If you want, I could leave you to let things settle and-"

"It's fine. I think we should talk it out any way, get things off our chests," Chris said before he finished with another gulp. Ashley propped her head on her hand as her elbow planted itself on her knee.

"So… what did you think of the service?" She knew asking her boyfriend whether it did Josh any justice was a mockery of everything that happened to them. It was bad enough that Chris saw at least one person die before his eyes, although the circular saw slicing through the dummy Josh's body came a close second. The whole incident from the cruel prank to the fight for survival provided him with enough nightmare fuel for his dreams. Ashley waited for Chris' response after listening to him swallow twice.

"I think it was okay. Could have gone a lot worse."

"Well that reverend certainly made Josh out to be the victim. If only people knew how much of a psycho he really was," the agitation rose in her voice until she realized who she was talking to. "Sorry. I'm just… I didn't like it when he hid the truth from everyone else. I know Josh was your best friend-"

"Josh could still be alive. No one's found him yet," Chris gulped twice again after.

"I really don't want to say this but Josh would have froze to death if those things-" Ashley suddenly stopped when she heard her boyfriend's breathing and swallows quicken. She stayed silent until it sounded like Chris calmed down before she continued. "There's a very slim chance that he's still alive on that mountain, that's all."

"Ash…" Chris' voice strained. He took another gulp along with some deep breaths. "Do you know what the butterfly effect is?"

Ashley was unsure and confused by the change of direction their conversation was taking but he sounded so vulnerable that she was willingly obliged him.

"Does it have something to do with cause and effect?" she replied. It sounded more like a question than an answer.

"I was just thinking… what if the prank last year never happened?" His voice croaked before he swallowed. "What if we never played that prank on Hannah?"

Ashley raised her eyebrows. She didn't expect to hear Chris' slight sobs and sniffling.

Why was he talking about that of all things? "Chris…"

"Hannah wouldn't have run outside, Beth wouldn't have gone to look for her and both of them wouldn't have died. They'd still be alive and Josh wouldn't have been depressed. He wouldn't have had to take pills or go to the doctors. He wouldn't have planned those horrible pranks…" Another gulp interrupted his cries.

"Chris, that's all in the past," Ashley grew more concerned, her knuckles turning white as she gripped her mobile phone.

"Maybe we could have done more to help him. I could have done a lot more... I thought I helped him out the best I could but Josh was right… I am pathetic… I let him down…"

"No, Chris. You've let no one down. Josh did that himself. And you're not pathetic. You're anything but that." Ashley struggled to suppress her own pain in her voice.

"I know you don't want to remember this but back at the saw mill… with the gun… I meant what I said about spending time with you… none of it was wasted… it was all I wanted to do…" Chris' voice trembled. He also sounded exhausted.

Ashley wiped the streaming tears from her cheeks with the heel of her hand. She never imagined Chris would confess his feelings for her in such grim circumstances. "Chris…" she stifled a sob. The girl wanted to tell him both of them would get through this, that they'd both be okay. Everything would go back to normal and they'd both be happy together.

"Ash… I…" Chris exhaled down the receiver. Ashley waited for the end of the sentence when she winced at a thump down the speaker. That worried her.

"Chris?" She timidly whispered and waited more. No response. Panic welled in her chest. "Chris!?" The girl yelled until she heard the creak of the door on the line.

"Chris I've been calling you for several-" The last thing Ashley heard on the phone was a woman screaming for help.

!

A/N: I'm so sorry. I know I said this was going to be dark but this was originally going to happen a lot later on in the story. I just thought the story would develop more if this happened earlier on, even if it has to be on the second chapter. It reminds me of episode three of Puella Magi Madoka Magica (laughs).

In all seriousness, I've tried to make this chapter emotional yet respectable enough to the issues at hand. I just hope I've achieved that balance between the two.