Steps •asheiji•

•Chapter 6•

Ash POV

I woke up at around 4 AM sweating and breathing heavily.

Oh. It was just a nightmare.

It was still dark outside with flashes of light coming through the windows because of early morning traffic.

You know what they say: "The city never sleeps."

I found a pepperoni on my tank top and ate it because why not? I looked down to see a sleeping Eiji on my chest while a blanket is draped over us.

The bright television screen still showing our Smash characters bobbing left to right waiting for our command which wouldn't come for a while since the controllers somehow ended up across the room.

I lightly poke Eiji's cheek with my finger. He whines, shifting his position on my chest, then falls back into a deep sleep.

After a while of me playing with Eiji's hair in the television lit room, illuminating his features with a soft blue light, I carefully picked him up bridal style and carried him to our shared bedroom.

I placed him down on the bed while Eiji made grabby hands at me, still half asleep. He was wearing nothing but one of my plaid shirts and boxers.

I kiss his forehead, tuck him in, put on some pants, and left to go get some fresh air. Maybe I'll stop by the gang. We now use the abandoned train station as our base.

The early morning air was calming but chilly. I really should've grabbed a coat or something.

I'm usually not a morning person but everybody has those days where they wake up super early and can't go back to sleep right?

I round another corner and find myself at the train station.

"BOSS!" I hear someone yell as I walk down the steps. It was Bones.

"What are you doing here at ass o'clock?"

"What are you doing up at ass o'clock?" I respond sitting down on an upside down black trash can.

"Touché." Bones replies

I pull out a match, tossing it into the makeshift fireplace we made by pouring gasoline onto some newspapers.

The flames engulf the edges of the paper. Vigorously dancing until it finds a steady rhythm.

"Sing stopped by. He said he was looking for you." Bones says.

"After that bitch Lao tried to stab me? I don't want anything to do with that Chinatown gang."

//Meanwhile//

Eiji POV

I woke up at around 7 AM. I somehow ended up in Ash and mines shared bed which is weird because the last thing I remember was telling Ash he sucked at video games in the living room.

After a minute of just laying there, I rolled out of bed to go look for Ash and get some food.

I checked in the kitchen.

Nothing.

The living room.

Nothing.

The bathroom.

Nothing.

I wonder where he went? It's not like him to be up this early.

Assuming he just went for a stretch. I'll just make myself a bowl of cornflakes and watch Tv.

//Later//

I heard the door open and my beloved boyfriend walks in with sushi and chicken wings in his hands.

"You're back!" I say getting off the couch and walking over to him so I can kiss him. His cheeks are cold from outside so I kiss them some more to warm them up.

"How was your day Eiji?" He asks me as I take the food from his hands and place them on the kitchen counter.

"Pretty good. I just ate and watched cartoons all day."

"Oh yeah? Sorry if I wasn't here this morning. I went to the hideout, took a walk around the block, then realized that it was already 12:00 and I should probably get us lunch so we don't have to eat your cooking."

"I'll ignore that last comment." I say while getting the plates out. "Are you okay? You usually only take walks when something is bothering you."

Ash has always been good at hiding his emotions. Seriously he should get an Oscar or something. Of corse being the great actor he is says that he just needed some air to cool off. And maybe that's true, but I feel like there's more to it.

We ate in silence. Neither of us wanting to make small talk since we didn't do anything interesting today. To Ash it was probably comfortable silence. But to me, my mind was spinning in so many different directions to try and figure out what's wrong.

After we finished, Ash got up to wash the dishes and I went to our room and opened up my lab top.

Effects of rape/

I scrolled a bit. and on the long list some website gave me was

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or P.T.S.D.

Some symptoms were- flashbacks, fear, severe anxiety, mistrust, insomnia , or nightmares

I might be paranoid and overthinking this but if Ash does have PTSD, this could explain why he's been having trouble falling asleep or feels a little unsteady when we go any farther than making out.

Ash walks in and I quickly shut my lab top and place it next to me.

"I've had such a long day." Ash says as he climbs onto the bed and wraps his arms around me, pulling me down so that I'm now on top of him, my face pressed against his chest.

"Eughh, you smell like all of New York. Go take a shower."

"Noooo. I'm too tired."

"Well to bad. I'm not sleeping with you smelling like sewage. "

"How about you shower with me?"

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🍌x🐠

Another cliffhanger heuheuheu