The Piano || 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘣𝘺 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘬

|74|

When Colby turned on the TV and selected Netflix, Ashley opened her mouth to ask him to choose Stranger Things. But the words died on her lips, and she shrugged as he turned around to look at her expectantly.

"Never mind, actually. What do you want to watch?"

"You weren't about to suggest The Vampire Diaries or something, were you?" he chuckled, flopping down on the couch.

"Oh, no, don't worry," she said with a laugh, sitting down next to him. Not too close, she took care of that. "Just... changed my mind. You suggest something instead."

"Oof, okay. Um..." His eyes were fixed on the screen as he scrolled down the front page. "We looking for something funny or serious?"

"Serious," Ashley replied without hesitation.

"Okay... horror?"

"Sure."

"A classic or new?"

"I have no idea."

"Classic, then. There. The Shining. Can't go wrong with that one." After grabbing the fast-food bag, he leaned back with a confident grin.

"I think I've heard of that one," Ashley noted absentmindedly while the movie started to play, and she reached out to take a few fries.

Colby sat up straight. "You think you've heard of it?" he scoffed. "You think?"

Ashley laughed, defensively throwing up her hands. "I don't watch horror!"

"No? What are you even doing, wasting your life like that!" he exclaimed with playful exasperation. "I'm shocked. Good thing you met me. I need to do something against an uncultured mind. Here we go."

Ashley found out quickly that Colby was a talker during movies.

"I've been to the hotel this was based on," he noted when it first came into view. "Twice, actually, with Sam. Got some good videos, there was this-"

"Colby," Ashley said, glancing at him. "Movie."

"Yep. Sorry." He pressed his lips together, well aware of the small laugh she let out at that.

Somewhat halfway through the movie, Ashley got her revenge. "It's interesting how everything is so bright, that's really unusual for horror movies..."

"Oh, so now you're the pro," he said before hesitating. "I've actually never thought about that. Do you think-"

Ashley grabbed his arm and made him look back at the screen. "Oh, no, no, no, I don't like this," she said, and Colby grinned as he realised what she meant.

"The twins," he said, "you know, Sam and I-"

"Colby!"

"Got it. Shutting up."

It was endearing to watch Ashley experience the movie for the first time. It had gotten a running gag between him and Sam, so he was used to watching it, or parts of it, every once in a while. This made him forget how scary the movie could be.

"Uh. Horror is not my thing," Ashley said as the movie's credits rolled.

"You've been ghost hunting twice and you did really fucking well both times," he noted, taking the two last fries. "Didn't think you were so easily scared."

"... that's different," she argued, "at least, when it's with you guys, I know nothing will happen. Movies are entirely different. Ilse won't harm me but Jack fucking Torrance will."

Ashley felt a slight shiver run down her back and raised a hand to rub her neck.

"Fair enough. So, next movie?"