The Piano || 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘣𝘺 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘬

|56|

Periods were at their worst on the second day. Always.

Ashley could testify that when she woke up the next day due to a stabbing pain in her lower abdomen.

She groaned and slowly sat up, careful not to move rapidly. After getting up, she lifted the covers to check. There were no stains, thank God. Ashley scooted to the edge of the bed and quickly went to the bathroom to relieve herself.

After taking a long, warm shower, the almost hot water loosening her muscles, she dried herself and her hair until it was damp, inserted one of the tampons she'd bought the day before, and stepped back into the room, only wearing a towel – not expecting Colby to be sitting on the couch, staring mindlessly into the room. As soon as she appeared in his peripheral, his gaze snapped to her.

Her face flushed bright red, and her hand grabbed the towel tighter, willing it not to fall.

"Uh- good morning," she said, clearing her throat. 

How could she have forgotten that he spent the night on the couch, in case she'd have another nightmare?

"Morning," Colby said. Oh god, morning voice. Ashley didn't think it on purpose, didn't even notice it on purpose. It was nothing new, she'd heard it many times before. And yet, she felt her face grow even hotter, especially because she could almost feel his gaze burning into her skin. She knew she had thicker thighs than the average girl but not thick enough to draw eyes like that... right?

"Sorry, could you..." she said vaguely, but that seemed to snap him out of it, and he blinked rapidly.

"Shit, yeah, I'm sorry." Colby got up from the couch and hurried to his and Sam's room, closing the door carelessly.

Ashley relaxed as soon as he left the room, but the blush on her cheeks stayed until she was changed into her clothes. The same jeans shorts as yesterday, a plain T-shirt and her usual jewellery. She would never go out without any jewellery. Makeup could wait until later, though.

Checking her phone, she realised it was past ten pm already, and as if to confirm it, her stomach growled loudly. Ashley walked over to the door in between the rooms and knocked twice, only entering after she heard Sam's soft "yeah."

"So, you had a nightmare?" he asked. She quickly looked around for Colby, but he didn't seem to be there.

"Yep," she said a little curtly.

"Was it about... you know?" He gestured around the room.

"It was just the pent-up adrenaline and stress," she replied, well aware that it neither confirmed nor denied his question. Sam was happy with it, though, and went back to typing on his phone. Probably texting someone, by the looks of it.

Ashley settled down on the couch, pulling her legs up to her chest in an attempt to find a position that helped with the constant cramps in her abdomen. Colby most likely went to get breakfast; she'd take a painkiller afterwards, taking them on an empty stomach wasn't a good idea.

Just like she'd anticipated, he entered the room only a little later, carrying a tray with cups of coffee and a few croissants. He put it down on the coffee table and sat down on the couch next to Ashley. Before Sam could see it, he slipped his hand into his pocket and pulled out another small bar of chocolate. Milk chocolate and almonds. She smiled and didn't hesitate to take it.

"So... plans for today?"

"I need to see the footage Ashley got alone," Colby said without hesitation. "So I'd say we stay here. The town wasn't worth it anyway last time."

"Oh yeah, should we watch it now?" Sam said, already getting the camera. Then he reached into his bag a second time and pulled out a laptop, attaching the camera to it so they could see it on a bigger screen and with better audio quality.

The second he opened the video Ashley couldn't fight her grin anymore.

It started with a shaky sequence of the redhead setting up the camera and making sure they were all in the frame before she positioned herself next to Jerry – with her back to the corner.

The tension was palpable even through the screen, all three of them looking around with an obvious uneasiness. Especially Ashley and Sadie seemed nervous, the former playing with her bracelets. She hadn't even noticed when she'd started doing that again.

"God, is it weird that I love this so much?" Colby asked into the silence. Ashley chuckled and shook her head. "I mean, the way you guys are just standing there, you can literally see how nervous you-"

He got interrupted by video-Ashley whipping around and the real Ashley quickly reaching for the laptop to pause the video.

"That was the moment someone touched me," she said, going back a few seconds. "I need to check if you can see it..."

All three of them were leaning in closely, watching as she played the clip frame for frame. And again, slowly, one frame after the other, keeping her eyes on her back. But she was disappointed, the camera had caught nothing.

"Come on," she muttered under her breath, "I swear somethi- someone was pulling at my shirt, but you can't see it. It was right on my back."

The video continued in the normal speed again, but this time Ashley kept looking at Sadie, whose face was turned away from the camera as she looked behind herself. And then the moment came when she looked at Ashley and yelled, making all three of them flinch. She stumbled backwards, out of the frame, quickly followed by Jerry who was cursing under his breath.

"Why would you stay, what the fuck?" Colby laughed, leaning back on the couch and holding his hands in front of his face while staring at the screen intently. Ashley nudged his arm to silence him.

"Just watch..."

"Hello?" video-Ashley asked, refusing to look behind herself. She could remember the goosebumps crawling all over her body. "Ilse? Can you turn on the flashlight for me?"

It (or she) immediately obliged, and Ashley's hands quickly wrapped around each other, her fingers back to pulling at her bracelets.

"So... did you just touch me to get my attention?" she asked. Again, the reaction was immediate, and the room got visibly darker. "Okay, great, thank you. Do you want to tell me something?"

No reaction. The Ashley on the screen frowned while the present Ashley grinned and pulled her legs up to lay her chin on her knees.

"Nothing to tell me, alright... Did you just show yourself to Sadie?" The flashlight flickered on.

"Why?" Ashley immediately shook her head. "Dumb question. Did it have a reason?" The flashlight went off again, and a visible smile tugged at her lips.

"Did you want to scare Sadie?" She hadn't even finished the question before the flashlight turned on. Ashley's posture relaxed, her shoulders dropping a little while the grip on her wrist loosened.

"That's... not very nice of you," she stated, but her body language spoke against that. Now watching it, she wished she would've been less obvious.

The flashlight gave a weak flicker, and the Ashley on the screen laughed a bit. Before she had the time to ask another question, the door to the ballroom opened and Colby yelled her name, so she grabbed the camera and ended the recording.

Sam closed the laptop with an astonished expression. "Wow. Wow. That's actually crazy on a whole other level."

Colby stared at Ashley from the side, with an almost... admiring? gaze. "How the hell did you not freak out?"

"Oh, you know, Ilse and me. We're close like that," she joked to avoid getting flustered as he looked at her like that. "But I'll admit, I was frozen. I don't think I would've dared to move if you hadn't come to get me."

"Then I'm glad I was so quick," he sighed, running a hand over his face. His eyes shifted to the laptop again, looking pensive. "I'm being serious when I say that's one of the most insane flashlight conversations we've ever caught."

"I told you it was crazy!"

"I didn't expect it to be that crazy!" Colby defended himself. "Like, even the flicker at the end, after you scolded her?" He shook his head. "I'm honestly glad you stayed back."

"Me too," she chuckled.