Sinner

Chapter 16

Ryan's POV:

My arm reaches out towards Ashley but falls onto the empty mattress. My eyes shoot open at the realization of her disappearance.

"Ashley!" I call, scared she might have been taken again.

"Coming" her voice rings from the hallway outside her bedroom, relief flooding me.

She enters with two plates in her hands with eggs and toast on them.

"Breakfast in bed, yeah?" she smiles and sits beside me.

She looks at my face and frowns when she notices me staring at her.

"Are you okay Ryan?" she asks.

"I- I thought you were gone" I say.

"Ryan I would never leave you like that. Besides where do I have to go?" she says rhetorically.

"I meant gone as in someone took you" I explain.

Ashley carefully sets the plates down on the bed and hugs me, surprisingly calming me down.

"You'll show me how to defend myself and I'll be okay" she says comforting me.

"Okay" I offer.

She hums in satisfaction and holds up a plate.

"Try my cheesy scrambled eggs! I had a lot of time to practice cooking them since no one woke up early in my... err... previous situation" she commands.

"Alright" I say and smile.

I take the plate from her with my left hand and grab the fork laying on the plate with my right.

I scoop up some eggs and taste them.

"So much flavor!" I exclaim, expecting them to be dry and dull like how I usually cook them.

Ashley giggles at my reaction.

"Thank you" she says and starts eating from her own plate.

As we eat we discuss plans for today. I tell her for 2 hours we will work out, then I will take her to the outdoor gun range to practice long distance shooting.

"It's very rare that we'll need a sniper, but it's good to know if we have a prodigy on our hands" I say.

Ashley nods understandingly.

"I better get ready" she says as we finish.

I take that as my cue to leave and get ready myself.

"Okay, I'll be back in a half hour" I say taking her plate and stacking it on top of mine, then heading to the kitchen to dump them in the sink.

"Don't be late!" she calls, staying in the bedroom.

"Or else what?" I yell back, smirking at our inside joke.

"I'll be whining for the rest of the day" her voice is now faint when I'm in the kitchen, but it's enough to let me know I need to get a move on if I want this to be a pleasant day.

I laugh to myself and exit her apartment, wondering how our relationship suddenly turned so great.