See You in Hell

The Bar

When Christine got home from the store, she hid the books from Ash by putting them in her bedroom, where he wouldn't go. She tried to just have a quiet Friday night in, but Ash was there, as always, sitting on her couch with his books. He looked hot in his glasses. Christine bit her lip, trying to make the feeling go away.

"Hey," Ash didn't look up from his book, "How was work?"

"Um, it was fine." Christine said. "What are you reading?"

"Some studies on Dante's Inferno."

"Cool. Can I watch TV?"

"Chris," Ash began. He'd started calling her that a few days ago, which she tried not to think about. "This is your house. You can do whatever you want. I'll go downstairs."

"Thanks. But you can stay if you want to watch with me." Christine stuttered out, trying not to sound egregiously horny.

Ash smiled. "Sure."

As the credits began to roll on the movie they had just watched, Christine found herself unable to focus on the storyline. Ash was sitting awfully close to her, and she could feel the heat emanating from his body. The tension between them was palpable, and Christine didn't know how much longer she could resist the temptation to kiss him.

"Ash, can I ask you something?" She turned to face him, her heart racing in her chest.

"Of course, Chris. What's on your mind?"

"I was just wondering... why didn't you tell me you were a prince of Hell?"

Ash's expression darkened and he sighed. "I didn't think it was important."

"Didn't think it was important? That's a huge deal, Ash."

"It's not, and I didn't want it to change the way you saw me."

Christine sighed. "How could it change the way I see you? You're still the same person, Ash. You're still my friend."

"You shouldn't have looked that up," Ash scolded her, a hint of anger in his voice, "I don't want to be bound to any prophecy."

"What exactly is this prophecy?"

Ash rolled his eyes. "That I'm supposed to return to Hell and take my place on the throne with a Princess. Well, I'm not interested. My dad tried to make me marry my best friend! I mean, he is obsessed with this prophecy! I just want to read my books and hang out, you know?"

"Mhm," Christine said, silently feeling jealousy at his marrying someone else. There was definitely something he wasn't telling her. "Well, you don't have to do anything you don't want to."

"I know. I'm not going to. That's... that's why I ran away." he admitted. "I say I'm here to study, and I am, but I really don't want to go back."

"Well, I won't tell." Christine smiled. "Hey, it's Friday night. Do you wanna go out? Get your mind off all this?"

"Um, I've never really been to a human bar before. What do you do? Is it like a tavern?" Ash asked.

"C'mon, it'll be fun." Christine laughed, "It'll be like field work for you."

"That's true," Ash said. "But I thought bars were for fun, not suffering."

"Trust me, if people weren't suffering, they wouldn't be there." Christine said. "And a $20 cover is suffering enough."

"A what?"

"Cover. It's when you have to pay the bar to get in, and then you have to pay to buy drinks on top of that."