Bittersweet Sundown

After drinking some coffee with no sugar or milk, Brian went to take a shower. Ash landed back on the couch, going through channels, trying to find something worth to watch. She left some music channel on and turned her gaze out of the window. It was an amazing view from there. She enjoyed it until her phone went off.

“Hi Matt,” she answered it, seeing his name on the screen.

“Hey Ash! What’s up?” he asked quite happily.

“Nothing much. Just watching some TV,” Ash said, turning her gaze back to the small screen.

“Oh. Will you just wait a moment?” Matt laughed at the other end. “Sorry about that, Val is being impatient. When are you coming back?” his voice was still full of laughter.

“In a couple of days, day after tomorrow probably. Why you ask?” Ash smiled, hearing Val’s distant murmurs over the line.

“Well girls here are planning some wild night out and she wants to know if you’d make it,” Matt explained, ignoring Val’s demands to tell her. There was some rustling heard and Matt’s ‘hey!’, now sounding much farther away from the phone.

“Hey, sweetie, when the fuck will you get your cute little ass back to Huntington?” Val’s impatient voice came next, making Ash laugh.

“Probably day after tomorrow,” she said with a wide grin.

“Oh, perfect. Make it quick, okay?” Val huffed before tossing the phone back to her husband.

“She just grabbed the phone out of my hand. Can you believe that?” Matt’s voice came back on.

“Actually I can. It’s Val we’re talking about,” Ash said while turning the volume of the TV up a bit. One of her favorite songs came on MTV.

“How’s your trip going? Everything good?” he asked, his voice full with interest.

“So far so good. Oh my God, you’re on TV!” she screamed at the next moment, turning the volume up even more.

“No shit,” Matt laughed at her.

“No I mean, it’s not Avenged song. It’s The River by Good Charlotte. It has been one of my favorite songs for a long time and I’ve never realized that you’re in it too,” Ash beamed, bouncing her leg to the music.

“Brian is there too, just keep watching,” Matt was still laughing, hearing the song through the phone.

“I can see that,” she said, not so enthusiastically ‘tho. She remembered that Matt didn’t know yet they made truce with Brian.

“Talking ‘bout Haner, how’s he been treating you?” Matt asked, surprising Ash with his question.

“Um, what do you mean?” Ash asked a bit unsure. How could he know?

“I know he’s with you. I mean it’s suspicious that you two took off at the same time. And Jimmy may have mentioned something,” he didn’t sound angry or anything, just stated the fact.

“I’m not totally sure it’s the same Brian I knew before. I think some aliens abducted him and replaced with this good behaving clone,” Ash smiled, looking up just to see Brian leaning against the door frame.

“If he goes back to his normal being then let me know, okay? I’ll kick his sorry ass if he hurts you again,” Matt went to a big brother mode, meaning every word of it.

“I will. Don’t worry. I’ll kick his ass myself if he stops being a good boy,” Ash smirked, looking straight to Brian’s eyes.

“Okay. Tell Haner that he has to answer me if he’s not taking good care of you,” Matt said, seriously hoping that his friend would behave this time.

“I will. And tell Val that there’s no way I would miss a night out with her and the girls,” she ended the call, and set her phone back to the coffee table.

“You really think you could kick my ass?” Brian smirked, pushing himself off the wall.

“I don’t think, I know,” Ash smirked back, remembering their little fight a few weeks ago. She intentionally ignored the fact that Brian was drunk then.

After a trip to the local store for some food and a lunch at a diner, they spent most of the day lounging in the sun and enjoying peace and quiet around them. There wasn’t any other cabin near by, so they were all alone. No one came to disturb them. Ash could see how much Brian relished it. She had never seen him so calm before. They didn’t talk much, only few words now and then. It was relaxing, just being with somebody without worrying what do say or do.

A bit after midnight, Ash jumped up from her bed. She saw a lightning splitting the sky right outside of her window and a loud boom followed, forcing every single hair on her body to rise with fear.

“Oh, no. Not now,” she begged, knowing it wouldn’t help anyway. Another bolt flashed, followed by another rumble through the mountains. The echo from the mountains made it all sound even worse.

Ash ran out of her room, shutting the door behind her. She quietly shut Brian’s room door too and sat down against the wall. There were no windows in the hall and this way she didn’t have to at least see the lightning flashing in the dark. She pulled her knees up and hid her face behind her arms, wishing this storm would be over soon.

The door to Brian’s room opened and a sleepy figure stumped out. Ash didn’t notice Brian and he didn’t notice someone sitting down in the dark hallway. She let out a scream when he stumbled over her and fell down to the floor.

“What the fuck?” Brian mumbled while sitting up.

“Sorry,” Ash managed to whisper, trying so hard not to shake when another rumble rolled across the sky.

“Ash? Why are you sitting here?” he asked while dragging his butt next to hers.

“I couldn’t sleep,” she was still whispering, waiting for the sky to growl again. When it did, she couldn’t stop the shivers going through her body.

“Come here. There’s nothing to be afraid of,” Brian pulled her close. He was fighting with a yawn. This thunderstorm had woken him up and he’d got out of bed only to get a glass of water. He didn’t expect to find Ash sitting alone in the dark.

“I know. I can’t help it. I’ve been afraid of thunder as long as I remember. And after Kyle’s death, it’s only getting worse every time,” she said, thankful for his presence.

“Because he’s not here to hold you,” Brian understood, hugging her even closer.

“And because thunder is the reason he’s dead. There was a really bad thunderstorm that day he died. It was pouring down and he was in a hurry to get home, to me. And then it all happened,” Ash was whispering again, feeling suddenly cold. Brian leaned his chin on her head and just held her.

“Come with me. I know how I can make you feel a bit better,” he said after a minute or two, standing up and pulling her with him. He dragged her to his room and helped her on the bed. Then he quickly pulled the curtains closed and hurried back to Ash.

“Onto your stomach, lady,” he commanded gently. “And take off your shirt:”

“Why?” Ash asked, confused. How was this supposed to be making her feel better.

“Just trust me,” Brian helped her roll on her stomach and then pulled her shirt off. Ash quickly fell flat on the bed with her arms around her chest. She didn’t have anything under her shirt.

Brian started to massage her shoulders and back, secretly enjoying the feeling of touching her soft bare skin. He could feel her relax slowly but with every rumble from the sky, she tensed up again. So he decided that she’ll need a bit more distraction. He leaned down and started to apply kisses to her shoulder blade.

“Bri?” Ash whispered, raising her head up and turning it to the side a bit. Her heart was thumping fast but not because of the thunder anymore.

“Mhh,” he mumbled, not stopping what he was doing. Instead he moved to her neck and towards her lips, giving her plenty of time to turn away. She didn’t and their lips met in a kiss, sweet and gentle at first but it was heating up quickly. Sensing that Ash was in an uncomfortable position, Brian leaned on his back and pulled her on top of him, all the while he kept kissing her.

“You know we can’t, Bri,” she broke their kiss when she felt something hard against her tight. She wanted him so bad but it was wrong. She had no rights to be with him like this.

“Oh yes we can. I know you want it too,” Brian said. She had moved her lips aside but she didn’t pull away, leaving her neck for him to kiss.

“It doesn’t matter. I’ve made the mistake of sleeping with a married man once, I’m not gonna do it again. It’s not worth the guilt. Plus I’m not gonna be a home wrecker like my mom,” she muttered, gathering her strength to pull away.

“We’re divorcing. Michelle gave me the papers already, I just have to sign them. It’s over for us,” he admitted. Another thunder made way over the mountains and he felt Ash tense up again. Not ready to give up yet, he rolled them over once again, so now he was on top. Ash felt the need to hide her breasts but the room was pitch black, he wouldn’t be able to see anything anyway.

“It still feels wrong,” she sighed, fighting with the pleasure his lips brought.

“Not to me, babe. I want you so bad, I’ve never wanted Michelle or any other woman as much as I want you. You drive me crazy,” Brian muttered with a raspy voice, laying kisses on her neck between his words.

It sounded cheesy but hearing him say that made Ash feel hot inside. For a second, she allowed herself to believe he really meant it.

“Fuck you, Brian. Sometimes I really hate you,” she grabbed his head between her hands and seriously looked at him, ignoring the fact that she couldn’t actually see his face. But she could sense that Brian was confused.

Smirking, she pulled him down and kissed his lips with everything she had. Everybody keeps telling that you have to take your chances, right? Well, she was sure taking hers now. At least she’d have something to recall when she’s old and lonely.