The Piano || 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘣𝘺 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘬

|33| This is a bad idea, but who cares?

Author's note-
> One hundred THOUSAND views, what the fuck, guys?? This is so insane, thank you so much!

> I combined this part and #34 to delete some things, please read this even though you'll feel like you've read it already <3

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Ashley was back to normal.

Her activity on social media was back to normal, a little bit at least. She herself wasn't feeling quite right yet but she knew that it would take time to get better. She was recovering, even though she still didn't know what from.

Her smile felt good again. It was real. Jerry noticed too, making her laugh more often, as if he had missed it. They worked up their streaming schedules, finally getting to adapt to each other. Both streaming four times a week was enough for at least two streams together and one alone. The fans loved it.

They were back to normal. Even better than normal, actually; Ashley and Jerry got to spend most of their time together. She joked about finally being able to call him her best friend and not her roommate.

From time to time, she would stare at the yellow Post-it on her wall. She had never got to do the video with Sam and Colby.

The fans had taken it surprisingly well, worrying about her and wishing that she would come back soon. Of course, there were people cheering that she and Colby weren't together anymore. People saying that she didn't deserve him. She ignored those, as she always did.

Getting motivation was difficult still, but it got better. Ashley forced herself to get out of bed early, go running, and then work on her projects, eat something, and then rest from two to four before she would go back to work.

A lot was different now, especially since her content began to change. She installed cameras on her motorbike and filmed a few clips of her just driving around. She got a labret lip piercing and vlogged the whole thing. She couldn't quite express what she wanted to do or who she wanted to be, not even to herself. Gradually, her clothing style changed too, her editing style, everything seemed to be wrong.

She let herself do things in new ways, knowing that getting caught up in old ways wouldn't do any good. Ashley needed to reinvent herself. A lot of fans said she wasn't herself anymore, and she agreed with them. But it wasn't necessarily a bad thing. Finding new interests made her more confident.

One evening, right before the sunset, Ashley drove to the forest. No camera, no phone, no nothing with her. Just her bike and the forest. It was silly, and she couldn't help but call herself nature-girly in her head all the time, but the moment she reached the edge of the forest, she felt calmer.

Underneath the motorcycle gear, she was wearing her running clothes. So, she ran. Through the forest. One mile. Two miles. Around and around, in laps, following the path covered in leaves. She saw a friendly old woman who waved to her and a young father with two kids. They were playing, throwing the leaves around, looking for bugs. The father greeted Ashley as she ran past, and she nodded at him in response, too out of breath to form any coherent words.

After checking her watch and seeing that she'd been here, running at a comfortable pace for at least half an hour, she stopped, instead walking the path, slowly following it deeper into the forest. The sounds of the leaves crunching beneath her feet and the last birds of the day singing in the trees were the only ones accompanying her as she followed the hiking trail. No one was here anymore.

The sun was kissing the horizon. Time was passing without Ashley noticing a thing. She walked and walked, nothing rushing her, nothing stopping her. Slowly, the sun delved behind the row of trees, and Ashley noticed the goosebumps crawling over her skin as a coldness overtook the forest. Still, she walked.