Rosefort Rehabilitation Centre.

"Full on grinning."

Ashton, 2013.

Despite Ashton's ability to convince himself that Rae's most recent injuries were his fault and not the result of any outside influences, he was enjoying his birthday so far. Rae was still curled up in his bed, fast asleep and dreaming of who knows what, and he was sat in the chair next to his bed, reading his favourite book and glancing up at her every so often. Just to check she was still there, and he hadn't been dreaming. The fact that she had chosen to come to him, instead of going to the nurses on duty had made Ashton feel quite... warm inside.

It was still odd for him, to be experiencing these... feelings. He had never shown nor received affection before, so having somebody like Rae currently lay in his bed, proving that he was the one who she trusted more than anybody else, made him smile.

That's right. Smile.

And not even one of those pathetic little half smiles that he usually faked.

Full on grinning.

His face was split from ear to ear as he looked over to the young redhead, admiring her every curve, her every flaw, her every freckle. He knew that his body was releasing chemicals that had not been released much before, but he still hadn't figured out why. And this scared him. A lot. But he also realised that the chemicals being released in his body were due to the small redhead before him, and he had slowly began to realise that these chemicals were making him feel good. And they were slowly but surely affecting his brain chemistry and making his thought processes alter.

He felt like he was becoming normal. And this was quite the issue for him. Becoming normal had never really been an option that he thought possible until Rae's arrival at Rosefort, but hey, it appears that everybody gets a second chance once in a while. Even bad people.

Upon realising that it was almost midday, and nobody had come to disturb the pair, Ashton decided it would probably be best to wake Rae and head to the common room. And so, with a soft sigh, he set down his book, and awoke his princess gently.

"Rae, doll, you should get up, we've missed breakfast. Which is unusual... Esther's usually in here at 7:30 with her bloody voice and loudness..." Came his soft, low voice as he spoke to her. Honestly, Ashton could have watched her sleep all day and not have gotten bored. The way her chest rose and fell slightly as she breathed, and the way she had this one lock of hair that kept on falling over her face as she slept.

These things made his heart happy. And although that terrified him, he remained with her. Because she was his princess, and he needed to keep her safe and sound.

As she awoke slowly, Ashton decided upon donning a simple sweater and some jeans. Hey, he might as well make a slight effort. And so, his sweatpants were thrown into the hamper behind the door, and the honey blonde placed one of his flannel shirts beside Rae on the bed, suspecting that she may want it to wear that day. Averting his eyes as she dressed herself, the tall honey blonde simply continued to smile, and upon her exclamation that she was dressed, he held out his hand for her to take, and entwined their fingers together.

The first real moment as a couple that they would have.