#chrisxashley

"I bet you I could down these five tabasco shots without puking my guts out." Chris declared and betted with Ashley for no apparent reason. Well not quite. The guy needed some cash and he figured why not.

--

Ashley sat, shivering despite the extra jacket Chris had draped over her, covered in a thin layer of blood and bruises. Along with the other survivors, she awaited her interview. Some of her friends looked shocked, the fire of the lodge still burning bright in their eyes. Others stared forward stoically, void of emotion and feeling. Ashley, however, clung to Chris’ arm for dear life, not entirely sure if she wanted to cry or curl into herself. She felt like a ghost of herself.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” He asked for what had to be the millionth time. “How’s your eye?”

“Hurts” was all she could manage to say.

Without hesitation, Chris ripped off a section of his shirt and filled it with snow for her. “Sit still,” instructed the blond as he moved to put the snow on her black eye.

“Ah, jeeze that stings.” Ashley reflexively swatted away the makeshift compress, jumping at the pain its freezing pressure inflicted. She was even more skittish than usual, even the softest noise or the slightest brush upon her skin making her flinch in fear. Every touch and sound felt like it could be her last.

Chris lifted the ice for a second to inspect the injury closer. Josh had really done a number on her eye; it was swollen and deep purple, still fresh from impact. “I know, I’m sorry.” Chris said quietly. “But you have to get the swelling down.”

Ashley groaned and took the ice compress applying it lightly on her injured eye. She winced once more as it touched her, causing her to lean into Chris’ arms. God, where would Ashley even be if it weren’t for him? Dead, or traumatized out of her mind probably. Just his presence now, his arms slowly wrapping around her, was enough to pull her back from the edge.

There, nestled into him, it stuck her how close she was to losing him. All this time, she had taken him for granted. She’d never took the time to appreciate the way he hugged her, how he always knew how to make her smile. Ashley couldn’t imagine being alone right now.

“I’m so glad you’re alive.” She whispered, gazing at him with the one eye she had uncovered. “I don’t care what happens after this. I don’t care where I go. I just want you to be there with me.”

Chris, as drained as he was, smiled weakly and gave a nod. “That’s good, because I don’t plan on being anywhere else.” He looked like he wanted to say something else, but before he could, a police ranger opened the station door, motioning for Chris to enter. Tightening her grip on Chris, her good eye widened.

“You broke myheart.”

The whirr of helicopterblades cutting through freezing winter air filled Chris’ ears. Wind stirredfrom the rotation of the helicopter propeller whipped Ashley’s russet hairabout her face. She didn’t seem to notice. All she could do was stare down atthe quickly vanishing dead forest of Blackwood Pines. Chris, on the other hand,turned his eyes towards the smoking, charred vestiges of the Washington Lodge.His gaze was empty, just like him.

“What?” Chris muttered.Technically, he heard what she’d said, but her voice seemed to fade away beforehe could fully register it. It was as if everything took too long for him toprocess. He was lost in his own head, shell-shocked and worn.

Ashley tore her eyesaway from The Pines. “I said, you broke my heart. When you pointed that gun atyourself.”

Chris let out a largeexhale. How could he form the words to explain to her why he’d stuck that gununder his jaw, or why, which shaking palms, he’d pulled the trigger? Chriscould hardly remember to breathe. How could he string together something thatwould convince her of how much she meant to him?

After a long pause,Chris finally spoke. “I didn’t have any choice.”

“I’m not gonnahurt you.”

Ashley reflexivelyflinched away from Chris he tried to put a comforting hand on her shoulder. Seeingher frantic manner, he stepped back and held his arms up in surrender.

A few minutes ago Chrishad snuck out of his bed to get ready for his first class. Somehow, he hadmanaged not to wake her as he clambered clumsily out of bed and dragged on hisclothes. He cast one last glance at her restful face as he made for his bedroomdoor. But, right as he was about to leave, Chris heard her grunting uncomfortablyand repeating the word no. At first,he thought he had woken her up. But when he turned to face her, he saw Ashley clutchinghis comforter with white knuckles, her visage pinched in horror. Quickly, heran to wake her from whatever nightmare she was having.

“Chris?” Ashley asked,her eyes still wide and panicked. She had unconsciously backed away to the veryedge of Chris’ bed in her attempt to escape the dream-bound threat.

Carefully, he triedonce more to approach her. This time she did not shy away, but rather leaptinto his arms with a sigh of relief.

“Oh thank god, it was justa dream.” She murmured to herself. Though Chris was taken aback by her suddenjump, he wasn’t surprised to find that she was having nightmares; Chris was notunfamiliar with the sensation of having woken up in a haze of terror. In fact,it was often Ashley who had to calm him down in the middle of the night. Thoughboth of them had escaped Blackwood without any physical damage, they sustainedscars deeper than any doctor or surgeon could heal.

Chris ran his handsthrough her hair, something that always calmed her down when she was stressed. Fora long while, he just stood there, letting Ashley clutch him to assure her thatshe wasn’t in any danger anymore. He was her tie to reality. They were eachother’s safe haven.

After a few minutes,she seemed to return back to normal. She reluctantly pulled away from him andsat helplessly on his bed.

“I’m making you latefor your class.”

Chris shook his headand threw his backpack on the floor. “What class?”

“You should go.” Ashleyinsisted, curling back into his comforter. “I’m fine. Really, just go.”

“No way. It’s justLatin anyway. It’s a dead language.”

She smiled and sighedagain. “Fine. But if you fail, it’s not my fault.”

I think there are two ways that the relationship could pan out. All of them are under the assumption that Chris did not choose to shoot Ashley. (There are a whole new field of possibilities that open up when considering an AU where Chris choose to shoot Ashley and she ended up not killing him.) 

To preface this, I think, and from what I’ve seen of the director’s commentary the directors also think, that Ashley’s unpredictability sprouts from the immediate trauma and psychological stress she’d experienced instead of a character trait that she has consciously kept hidden. The directors seem to be inferring that the extreme conditions brought fourth a vindictive nature in her that would otherwise be latent, and that this is more of a commentary on what stress can do to the human psyche. It is pretty unlikely that she would experience such physically and emotionally stressful conditions in her life after Blackwood, so it may be the case that such unpredictability and vindictiveness wouldn’t influence her actions in her day to day life. 

That being said, the first idea I had, and it’s probably not a popular one, is that Chris and Ashley aren’t able to make their relationship work. While it is clear that they have a crush on each other, there is no indication that their feelings for each other are strong enough to endure the stress that is put on it. And while it may be the case that shared stress can bring two people closer, it may also be the case that being together is merely a reminder of the pain and trauma they went through. Every time Chris see’s Ashley he is reminded of the dreadful feeling of having chosen to kill his best friend or the feeling of the gun digging into the skin under his jaw. Looking at Chris is just a reminded for Ashley of the rope burn on her wrists or the blind panic of being scared over and over again by someone she trusted. Blackwood happened before they could develop serious commitment to each other, so it’s just easier for them to drift apart. 

Conversely, it could be equally as possible that this ordeal was really what brought them together. They feel as though no one else understands what they went to together, so that shared experience just keeps them tied together. They lean on each other for emotional support, and when one of them is struggling, the other knows exactly what to say to make them feel better because they too struggled with the same thing. It easier to get over what happened because they have each other to pick up the slack when they are having issues.

Because couples costumes are great:

Chris and Ashley go as Link and Zelda. Because he gets so into Halloween, he drags her to a million costume shops to get it right. (Fic for them picking out costumes here.)

Josh and Sam go as Jack Skellington and Sally from Nightmare Before Christmas because it’s their favorite Halloween themed movie. Josh is really good at costume makeup, so he spends hours trying to get the sewed lines and stitches right.

Emily goes as Rosie the Riveter. Matt was going to go as something matching, but he ended up losing a bet to Chris, so he had to go as a sexy pirate. She never lets him live it down. (Fic about that here.)

(Thank you lovely! I hope you like it.)

Click here for more starters like this one.

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“Wait a minute. Are you jealous?”

Chris rolled his eyes and folded his arms dramatically. “Me? Are you joking? Of course I’m not jealous; I don’t get jealous.”

“Methinks the lady doth protest too much.” Ashley retorted smugly.

They had just been talking about Andy, her newest friend at college. They were practically inseparable. He lived right across the hall from Ashley, so they were always in each other’s room.

And this was the first time Chris was going to meet him. Sort of unconsciously, however, Ashley had spent the last ten minutes talking about how great he was, which was probably the cause of Chris’ weird behavior.

“Did you just call me a lady?”

Ashley giggled at his disgruntled expression. “Chris, you have nothing to worry about.”

“I know.” He replied, relaxing his shoulders but keeping his arms folded stubbornly. “And I am not jealous.”

“Yeah, okay sure,” Said Ashley sardonically, “whatever you say.”

“I’m not!”

She narrowed her eyes in uncertainty “Really?”

“Really.” Chris insisted.

“Alright then.” Ashley replied, still holding a smug smirk on her lips.

Chris was about to protest again, but was cut off by a man sneaking up behind Ashley. He lunged forward suddenly, cupping his hands over Ashley’s eyes.

“Guess who!” The man sung cheerfully.

Ashley pretended to ponder for a few seconds.

“Barack Obama?” She guessed jokingly. The man removed his hands from her eyes and revealed himself.

“Close.” He replied. They hugged and giggled for a solid minute before Chris cleared his throat to get their attention.

“Oh right. Chris, this is Andy.”

Chris had to physically stop himself from rolling his eyes. “Yeah, I guessed.”

“So this is the famous Chris!” Andy smiled amicably, holding out his hand for a handshake. “Ashley’s told me a lot about you. It’s nice to finally meet you, man.”

Just hearing him say the word ‘man’ like that grated at Chris, like they were already friends.

Chris returned the handshake a bit more forcefully than he intended to. “Yeah. Nice to meet you too.”

“You got quite a grip there.” Andy drew back his hand, wincing behind his charming smile.

“Sorry man.”

Chris wasn’t very sorry at all.

“So,” Ashley said to Andy, after shooting Chris the smuggest look he’d ever seen, “how’s Zach?”

Andy shook his head sadly. “MIA. I think he’s avoiding me. It so hard to find a good guy. They’re all either taken or straight.”

Chris’ eyes widened as he felt a hot wash of embarrassment cover his entire body. Luckily, Andy didn’t notice his reddening face before he excused himself to take a call.

“You didn’t tell me he was gay.” Chris whispered indignantly once Andy had left earshot.