Ashes and Ghosts (Major Spoilers for Little Hope)

Epilogue

Boston, Massachuesetts

2020

It had been a few weeks since that fateful night in Little Hope, and Andrew and Beverly had officially started dating. The pair had even become roommates and gotten a little apartment together in a complex near the college campus.

The pair of them had been nervous at first, this whole experience of living together as a couple was a new one, but they were getting used to it. Beverly had been lounging round on the sofa, wrapped up in a blanket and watching the news, when Andrew came in carrying two mugs of hot chocolate. Joining her on the sofa, he put the drinks down on the coffee table.

He then got back under the blanket with her, wrapping an arm around her shoulder and giving it reassuring rub. Since they'd had no idea what became of Carter since the group left Little Hope, she'd been keeping tabs on the news a lot, mostly out of concern for herself and other people like her who could be targeted if the man had gotten away. "If those things haven't killed him, I'm sure he'll get caught before he hurts anyone else." Andrew assured her, kissing the top of her head before resting his chin there. Beverly snuggled into her boyfriend while he handed her a mug, leaving his own drink on the coffee table for now. 

"Funny you should say that, Andrew. They were just talking about his apprehension." She commented. "He got arrested and charged for multiple counts of sexual assault. Guess I wasn't his first victim..." She trailed off, and the fact that the man could no longer hurt anyone else had only made her feel more relieved. Andrew couldn't help but smile at the same thought.

Now he could truly focus on what mattered the most, time with her. "Now, was there anything in particular you wanted to do?" He asked her as he switched the news off. She took a sip of her hot chocolate before answering. "I don't really have any preferences. As long as I'm doing it with you that's all that matters." Beverly answered honestly. He went quiet while he was deep in thought, thinking of something they could do. Though he noticed she was quite content with just cuddling for tonight, factoring that into his decision. "You know what? Let's watch another movie." He suggested, pulling away from her and getting up so he could get one out.

Her gaze never left him, having some more of her drink before speaking up. "In that case, let's continue with How To Train Your Dragon and watch the second one." She smiled. He nodded in agreement, grabbing said movie out of the small selection they had. He made sure to set up the movie before heading back over to his girlfriend.

Sitting back down, he picked up his mug and settled underneath the blanket with her, then playing the movie once she'd gotten comfortable snuggling up to him. 

At first, the pair stayed quiet in order to pay attention to what was going on. Andrew draped an arm over Beverly's shoulder again, pulling her a bit closer to him and having a sip of his drink. Occasionally he'd look away from the movie and glance down at her, enjoying seeing her reactions to it. Sometimes she'd meet his gaze, pecking him on the cheek before returning her gaze to the TV.

Although, she had to admit, she did feel a little tired, the past few weeks had been long. She still struggled with nightmares about what had happened in Little Hope, which in turn meant she got less sleep than she would've liked to. He'd been in the same boat, but at least they still had each other. She brought him out of his thoughts with a small yawn. "You ok, Beverly?" He questioned her out of concern.

She took a moment to think about how to respond to his question first. "I'll be fine, Andrew, just tired. I haven't been sleeping well recently." She answered honestly, another yawn escaping her lips. He knew how that felt, to not be sleeping well. "I hear that, it's going to take a while for the nightmares to pass. But they will, I promise." He reassured her, planting another kiss on the top of her head.

And with that, the pair went back to focusing on the movie, a comfortable silence settling in between them. That silence lasted for a good while, having gotten through a good chunk of the movie when Andrew looked back over at Beverly.  She was so tired she looked like she was about to dose off right then and there. He pulled away and leaned forward a little for a moment, gently taking the mug in her hands from her and placing it on the coffee table. "Just making sure it doesn't get broken." He told her when she looked at him with a puzzled expression on her face.

The dark bags under her eyes from a lack of sleep were a lot more noticeable in this lighting. "Ok..." She muttered as he resumed his previous position before he'd moved. She leaned her head on his shoulder, trying to get back to watching the movie, though in her current state, it had been hard to focus on.

She had really been trying to stay awake for the rest of it, though he'd noticed how much of a struggle that endeavour had been for her in that moment. He paused the movie before looking down at her. "It's ok to sleep now, we can always finish the movie another time." He remarked, insisting that she focus on getting some shut eye instead. "If you're sure..." She trailed off, though she still felt bad. 

He nodded as he leant forward again, turning the TV off entirely and putting his drink back down on the table before leaning back. Beverly laid down so she was in a better position for sleeping, resting her head on Andrew's lap. He pulled the blanket over her so it was covering her body properly, leaving her as she was in the hope that his presence would help her sleep better.

"Thank you, for being so good to me." She thanked him as she closed her eyes, settling down in that position. He smiled down at her, gently pulling his fingers through her hair. "No problem, like I said, I've got you." He responded warmly, wrapping an arm round her waist. He sat still so as not to disturb her as she drifted off to sleep in his arms. He supposed that the one good thing about their experience in Little Hope was that they'd come out of it even closer together than they'd been before, their relationship all the better for it.