Until Dawn; Epilogue: Chris and Ashley

At Last

~Chris
After reuniting with our families, me and Ash made it clear to our families that we were now dating, and we needed to stay together until we could at least bare the dark nights alone again. We were each others coping mechanism, leaning on each other for support and without one, the other would fall. So they gave us some alone time at my house.

We got into my familiar house and I took a deep breath. It was so nice to be back. It seemed like forever since I was here, yet in reality it was just one night.

"So, Ash. It's actually happening. We're not being tortured anymore, or being questioned. Are we really together?" I plopped down on my couch as Ash got comfortable.

"Haven't we been beating around this for so long? I mean, we should've done this two years ago when we first kissed." She chuckled, because she knew now that we are finally getting comfortable around each other.

"Oh, how I still remember that day perfectly. Why we didn't make a move after that, I don't know." I remembered that great autumn day.

~Flashback~
It was a cool autumn day, and all of us were doing homework at the Washington's house. Hannah, Beth, Josh, Mike, Emily, Sam, Matt, Jess, Ash, and I were all sitting at a table.

We all knew that we couldn't sit still for long, especially when it came to homework, so after 5 minutes, Beth got up to proclaim an idea.

"How about we play hide and go seek? Come on, our house is huge! They're are so many places to hide!" She got so excited.

Immediately, Sam, Hannah, and Ash agreed. They were all bored and needed some excitement, yet the rest of us were a little more hesitant.

"Come on guys, don't you think we're a little to old to play hide and seek? I mean we're 17." Josh said.

"Please Josh. For me?" Hannah begged him, knowing that his little sister was his weak spot.

"Fine, come on guys, we're playing hide and go seek. I'll be it." He got up and basically pulled the others out of their seats.

Me, being Josh's best friend, got up and joined him.

"Fine Emily, if you don't want to play hide and seek, then maybe you can just play go hide and never be found." I couldn't resist the urge, I just had to. Josh being Josh of course high-fived me afterwards.

"If you pricks want me to play so bad then so be it." She said getting up.

"I guess it could be fun." Mike said getting up as well.

The others followed. Josh went into the corner and started to count. We all ran and hid. I was lost for a while, but finally found the perfect spot behind a heavy curtain.

I stood as still as possible and heard footsteps come by me every now and again. Fifteen minutes in, Josh walked in and inspected the room. I was so nervous and I had no clue why. It felt as if I was being hunted down by a killer, hoping he wouldn't find me, for my life depended on it.

Thankfully, he passed and I loosened up. Not even minutes after, I heard someone run in and dart behind the curtain I was behind.

I looked to see the familiar stunning face of Ashley. She turned her head and was surprised to find me. Her eyes sparkled in the sunlight and her auburn hair fell perfectly along her cheeks and shoulders.

"Hey Ash, what are you doing here?"  I was surprised of course, but it wasn't such a bad surprise.

"Josh was just in the room I was in so I figured a change wouldn't be such a bad idea." She was smiling so brightly I just had to return it.

"Let's hope we can win." I said awkwardly, finally realizing how close we were, our noses practically touching. I could feel the warmth of her breath on my neck. At this moment I realized, I can do it. Nows my time, just push my lips against hers. It's that simple.

There was nothing complicated about it. No more thinking to be done, nothing more to do then to actually kiss her. I looked strait into her eyes, and pushed my lips against hers.

She was shocked, but it didn't take her to long to kiss back. Soon our lips were moving in sync as I got lost in her cool peppermint breath. It was an innocent kiss, figuring it was our first that we shared. Nothing more then gentle, rhythmic movements in tune with each other's lips. But that's what made it so special.

When our lips broke apart, we both bowed our heads trying to hid our bright read faces.

I thought I had ruined everything. Maybe she didn't feel the way I felt, but soon all of my doubt was crushed when she grabbed my cheeks and pulled me in for another kiss. This one, still innocent, yet more passionate, while we lingered longer biting on each other's lips.

I guess we lingered a little to long, because in the middle of the kiss, Josh had pulled back the curtain and was standing there smirking at us.

When we broke apart, we were unpleasantly surprised by Josh just watching us, as if he was waiting for this moment for so long.

"Having fun you two?" He crossed his arms while he chuckled.

We were both so embarrassed. Our heads stayed bowed because we were desperately trying to hide our bright red faces.

"Don't worry, I'll keep my lips sealed. Unlike you two." He always had a witty remark. That's what made him my best friend.

We never mentioned what happened after that to anybody, not even to each other, but Josh never let me off the hook for that one. We all pretended as if nothing happened, and that's how our friendship went on.
~End of Flashback~