Schoolbus graveyard ships

Heartbeat (AshxAid)

(Sorta angst and comfort)

Ashlyn gasped as she woke up from a nightmare. Sweat was running down her face and she could barely breathe. Her body felt like it was in a fight mode as adrenaline rushed through her veins. When she glanced on her side, she nearly jumped out of her bed as she saw Aiden sleeping soundly next to her. She completely forgot for a second that Aiden was here with her. He snuck out so that they could spend some time together as Ashlyn's parents were out for a few days.

They had a tough night in the phantom dimension so they were all exhausted. Not to mention the amount of homework that they had to complete before the next day. Things could have been worst, but it was still an annoyance to them.

Aiden wasn't the type of person to easily doze off so the fact that he was now fast asleep made it pretty obvious that he was beyond tired. He didn't even notice Ashlyn getting up from the bed. She wanted to wake him up, but she knew that if she did that it would take away the little time of sleep that he usually gets.

Ashlyn layed back down on the bed, hoping that she could get some sleep. She laid for roughly 20 minutes, but she couldn't seem to even close her eyes. She allowed another 10 minutes to pass but it resulted in her just endlessly looking up at the ceiling, remembering piece by piece about the nightmare she had. She was with Aiden, running away from phantoms. The others were killed and the both of them were the only ones left. She held his hand, trying to keep her grip as tight as possible. He couldn't run as fast as her, he was injured earlier on, making him alot more slower than usual.

Ashlyn ran with every inch of energy that she had left. It felt like the more she ran was the faster that death was approaching. She glanced over at Aiden who was bleeding out from the injure and was on the verge of passing out. He looked at her with an exhausted expression, then he gripped her hand and smiled. She was somewhat disturbed, but also relieved, however this was all a distraction. Aiden loosened his grip and let go of Ashlyn's hand. When Ashlyn realised what happened, she try to gain back her grip on his hand again, but it was already too late. He blurred out the words "I love you." to her as he stopped in his tracks making the phantoms swarm around him.

Ashlyn continued running, knowing that she had to attempt to survive. She didn't look back, she couldn't look back, she knew if she did she would never leave Aiden behind, making all of their months of efforts into escaping all go to waste. She ran with a blurry vision as tears was raced out of her eyes. She ran and ran, until a phantom came charging right in front of her from a tree. She was so distracted by the memories of the others that she was oblivious to it. The phantom was too close to her for her to defend herself. Everything felt like it was in slow motion and she braced herself for the phantom's attack. As the phantom was about to strike she woke up from that nightmare.

Tears welled in her eyes as she remembered what happened in the dream. She didn't want to remember the feeling of losing them. She didn't want to remember the feeling of losing him. She didn't want to remember any of it at all. Ashlyn laid there, trying to cry as quiet as possible, because she didn't want to wake Aiden up. Eventually, she got up and went to the bathroom. As she closed the door she rest against it and slid down to the floor as she let all the tears out. This was not just tears from the nightmare, this was tears from build up stress, frustration and anxiety. The phantom dimension, school and even new and old relationships were almost too much for her at this point. The was only her breaking point. She needed to let everything out of her system.

After several minutes of sobbing, she finally build up the courage to get up and try to go back to sleep. She opened the door and slowly walked back to the bed. She sat on the corner of the bed, looking down at the floor wondering what she could do to ease her mind. She didn't want to wake up Aiden but she also didn't want to stay up by herself. She knew that if she laid there again, trying to just sleep, her mind would be too occupied. Her train of thought was interrupted when she heard a little snore coming from the back of her. She looked back and saw that Aiden was fast asleep with his mouth wide open and his hand on Ashlyn's side of the bed. Ashlyn giggled at how silly Aiden looked as he was far in dream land. She looked at him with a soft smile before laying next to him. As she laid down, she had an idea of how she could attempt to sleep. She crawled up next to him to cuddle him. Though this made her less tense and more relaxed as she embraced him, Ashlyn wasn't satisfied with this act. So she scotch down to placed her head on more on his chest. She laid her head there for a moment and listened to Aiden's breathing.

His breathing was not rapid but not so slow either. It was just right. She laid for a moment, listening to his breathing then another sound gradually started to get
louder. That growing sound was his heartbeat. To be honest, it was always present, however she didn't pay much mind of it. Aiden's heart sounded exactly like the rhythm of a drum, but a strangely soft one. The sound was soothing and repetitive, making Ashlyn feel like she was drowning into the melody of his heart. Listening to her lover's heart beat soothed her own heart and mostly her mind. The bad thoughts melted away slowly but surely. The memories that she made with group and with Aiden were the ones that she could only think of at that moment. The memories of chatting in the school bus graveyard for hours not just about the phantom dimension but about random stuff, going out and working as a team for each upcoming night, chilling in Ashlyn's room in comfortable silence, going to the arcade to finally have fun as normal teens and even Ashlyn and Aiden's first date. All these memories came back, easing her troubled mind, all because of a boy that she hated then but loved now... his heart beat is what that's keeping her stable. She finally found a sense of peace for the first time in a while all thanks to him. She couldn't be any more grateful for his existence. The only thing that she wanted to hear was Aiden's heart, dancing on repeat over and over, reminding her of why she is able to reach this far in life.

Ashlyn was already dozing off to Aiden heartbeat when she suddenly felt a little movement coming from the side. That was the movement was Aiden's arm which wrapped over Ashlyn's shoulders to squeezed her into a gentle hug. When Ashlyn realized what was going on, she flinched at first, but then returned the favour by hugging him back. She then departed from the hug and looked up to see a usual smiley but tired Aiden looking back at her in confusion. "Why are you up?" He asked her curiously. Ashlyn took her gaze off of him and onto his chest. " I just....wanted to cuddle." She mumbled, feeling embarrassed since she felt somewhat childish for that statement. "I'm sorry for waking you up." Through it was dark, through her voice, Aiden could tell that she was blushing from embarrassment from the response that she gave. He found it very adorable so he gave her a little peck on her forehead as he couldn't resist her cuteness. "You could've just asked." He proclaimed while wrapping his arms around her neck snuggling her once more. "I wouldn't mind."

Ashlyn wrapped her arms around his waist as she buried her face in his chest. She wanted to tell him why she was up, but she knew that if she did, that would have been another set of minutes maybe even hours of staying up. So she thought that it would be best to tell him some other time. Instead of talking, all she wanted right now was to cuddle with the boy that she loved the most and fall asleep in his arms.

Told y'all I would surprise u😉✨