Just For Tonight

Thinking Small.

"He just comes to visit me, when I'm dreaming every now and then."

Christian~

Alex, Nat, and Charlette were called pretty quickly after things settled, and Ashtyn was back asleep. Initially, Alex was blowing up my phone about it. Asking if he should come back, if she'd needed anything, said anything, and any question it seemed like he could think of. It was pretty easy to get him mellow him back out once I told him what Kiana had told me. That, and the fact that Ashtyn was only awake for ten, maybe fifteen minutes. The excitement of Ashtyn waking up makes it almost impossible to want to try and sleep, even though she is. 

None of this truly feels real or has even set in yet as I sit in this room with her. She's already got about half as many chords and other things attached to her than she had an hour ago. 

Kiana also mentioned that Ashtyn might not even remember the day, or days, leading up to her ending up in here. Which means there's a good chance she doesn't remember breaking things off with me. That's a whole new issue that I didn't anticipate having to worry about. Because regardless of how much of that was her, or the coke talking, if she doesn't want to be with me, I can't make her. I also can't let her feel like just because I'm here, she has to stay. That's another bridge we'll cross later, though. 

Some amount of time later, I do end up dozing off for a little while before I wake up to the meekest, raspiest, "Christian?" I've ever heard. Letting my eyes open, not truly believing that's what I've heard, I see Ashtyn, tears in her eyes, looking to me. 

"Hey," I say, standing up and making my way over to her. Crouching next to her, I meet her eyes and give her a small smile. "It's okay." 

She shakes her head, her tears pouring harder than they had, "I'm sorry." She chokes out, barely audible with how strained her voice is.

"Hey," I whisper back, "It's okay." I tell her softly, trying to make any of this better for her right now, "Can I touch you?" It's weird having to ask, but not knowing where we stand, I feel like I have to. Ashtyn nods, and I reach out and gently brush her hair back. She closes her eyes tightly, and a gush of tears flow out as I stroke her hair. However happy I am. Knowing she's okay doesn't take away any of the heartbreak of seeing her like this. "You're okay," I tell her, "Everything is okay." 

A few moments pass as I continue brushing through her hair with my hand before she calms again. She's gonna fall back asleep. Continuing on a few moments more, I pull my hand back, only for her to say, "Stay." 

Smiling slightly, I nod, "Until you tell me otherwise, I'm not going anywhere." Ash takes a deep breath before giving me the smallest nod. This time I continue brushing her hair for probably ten minutes before stopping. Glancing around the room, I find my chair again and grab it,  so I can sit next to her. 

Sitting down again, this time as close to Ashtyn as possible, I continue as I was, stroking her hair before standing up and leaning down to kiss the top of her head.

As opposed to waking up to Ashtyn, this time, it's my ear getting flicked. "Morning, Yeli."

"Alex," I reply, my eyes rolling slightly as I sit up. He hands me a cup before pulling up a chair next to Ashtyn and me. "Thanks."

"Anytime on a day as good as this," He says with a grin. "I miss anything else last night?" 

Shaking my head, I take a sip of whatever Alex brought me, "She woke up once more at maybe two this morning. It started with her saying my name. She sounded horrible but at least could kinda talk. Kiana didn't seem to think it'd be likely that she'd be able to."