Resident Evil Series Fan Fiction ❯ Tenebrae ❯ Such Hope to Grasp ( Chapter 16 )

Funny how the mind dwelled in sleep on the things one might wish most to forgetyourollthroughthetunnelintoabrightwhitehorizonrememberthefieldsre member
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gunsomuch blood in her memories. She twisted from the rusty red images.

“Ashley, it’s okay.â€

It would never be okay again.

“You’re having a nightmare, wake up.â€

And she did.

The sheets stuck to her sticky skin, still damp with the all pervading sweat that follows the worst kind of dreams. Flailing in a moment of unreality, unable to shake the nightmare immediately, she rolled to a sitting position and frantically took in her surroundings.

The panic began to fade as she recognized the room- Leon’s bedside table, the television in its place of honor in the middle of his dresser, the enormous pile of laundry by the door that had been such a source of amusement for her on their arrival. Breathing out a sigh of relief, she slumped backwards to fall again on the damp bed. Embarrassment prompted her to pull the covers over her head. Her first night in his apartment and she ruined it with bad dreams.

“Oh God,†She moaned into the bedspread, mortified.

“You know, you said that earlier too.†She could tell he was smiling. “But I don’t think you meant it like that. Or least I hope you didn’t.â€

“Iâ&# 8364;™m sorry,†She sighed, her voice still muffled into the blankets. “At least I never did this in quarantine, right.â€

“What, get all sweaty? If memory serves me-“

“Leon!†Ashley tossed the covers off of her and sat up to glare at him. “I’m really embarrassed here and you’re not helping at all.â€

Leon pointed a finger at her, grin still in place. “And yet here you are, sitting up and full of anger, which makes you damnably arousing, by the way. I think it’s a vast improvement from hiding underneath the covers.â€

“I suppose,†She grumbled, slumping back down to the bed. She was unable to maintain her mood of shame under his constant teasing. “Next time how about you just give me a hug instead.â€

“I’m all hugged out,†He replied, but turned serious. “What did you dream about?â€

“Spain.†Ashley closed her eyes and tried to wipe the images from beneath her eyelids. “It’s not the first time.â€

“If it makes you feel any better, I had nightmares after my first few missions. It’s not the sort of thing you go through without being affected. Especially what happened in Spain,†Leon sympathized.

Impulsively she gripped his hand beneath the sheet. “It does, actually.†What was this ability he had to always make her feel better, she wondered. He cut through the nightmares and dispelled the fog of war in her head.

“Good. Let’s have sex.â€

That earned him a pillow towards the face. He easily blocked the blow with his battle experienced hands and tugged the pillow from her grasp. “Well that’s the last time I make a frank proposal to you, Miss Ashley.â€

“I believe the word you’re looking for is soliciting,†She said, making a grab for the pillow. “Which is illegal!â€

Leon laughed, moving the pillow off the side of the bed and out of her reach. “I thought you wanted to be a doctor, are you thinking about passing the bar now?â€

She gave up, flopping back onto her side of the bed. “Nope. I’m going to become an Agent. Then I’ll get promoted until I become your boss and make you fetch coffee for me all day. I’ll call you Coffee Boy. And you can paint my toenails while I work on important business.â€

“Ahh, a Coffee Boy. That’s the life for me.â€

Choosing not to respond to that, Ashley rolled over and wrapped one arm around him, pulling back down to the mattress and resting her head against his chest. Leon happily complied and a period of silence followed.

Ashley broke it. “So do they ever stop? The nightmares, I mean.â€

“Hmm? Oh, yeah,†Leon yawned. He tried to see the clock but it was obscured by his pillow. “It takes awhile. I guess it will be different for you. For me the nightmares went away through overexposure- you know, you become numb to that sort of thing if you do it enough.†He frowned. “But that’s not so much healing as it is desensitization. You should get over it naturally, with time.â€

“So you think my adventuring days are over?†She smiled into his sleeping shirt.

“If you consider being kidnapped an adventure, you’d better hope they are. I personally prefer to choose my adventures.â€

Ashley sighed, and dared then to voice the greatest question. “So where do we go from here?â€

Leon shifted uncomfortably. “What do you mean?â€

“I mean what now? Are we just going to sneak around sleeping together forever or what?â€

He hadn’t really thought about it that way. “Well I didn’t think we’d sneak around forever.. Your parents are gonna find out sometime.â€

“Okay. So do we plan the breakup? Move in together? Get married ASAP? Blunder our way through this? What do you want from me, Leon?â€

This was all happening awfully fast. He found himself grasping for answers. “Jesus Ashley. I don’t have a day planner for this stuff.â€

“I know,†She said softly. “I guess I just don’t really understand the direction we’re moving in. It hasn’t exactly been the most standard relationship so far.â€

Truth. “Maybe we should call it nontraditional. Or nonconformist, that sounds trendy.â€

Ashley met his eyes. “I don’t want to be trendy, I want to know what you think.â€

There was a time, Leon reflected, for absolute honesty, and this was one of them. He sat up against the headboard. Ashley mimicked his action, rising to sit opposite of him, cross-legged in the moonlight. Reaching down, he took her slender hands in his. “Okay. I imagine us dating for a few more months. Somewhere down the road I can hit up my boss for a promotion thanks to my excellent handling of the Spain situation, buy you a nice ring, and get around to proposing. Then we can be happily engaged for awhile before we get married wherever you want, since I certainly should have nothing to do with planning something like a wedding. Then we can buy a house, pop out a few kids, and I’ll move to a high paying desk job.†He nodded in satisfaction, thinking it over. “Yeah, that sounds about right. Maybe we should move out of D.C sometime too, it’s not what I’d consider an ideal place to own a house. Obviously, this grand plan is subject to future alterations,†He concluded. “How does that sound?â€

Ashley’s eyes looked as wide as the moon they reflected. Her mouth opened and closed several times in abortive attempts to speak.

Leon shrugged. “Hell I know it’s not perfect, but I thought it was a pretty solid foundation for the future. The details need to be filled in, there’s a lot of grey area there. But it’s workable.â€

“Yes!†Ashley gasped.

He frowned. “Yes it’s workable or yes it needs some more filling in?â€

“Yes I’ll marry you!†Ashley’s arms flew around him and her mouth clamped firmly to his. His muffled responses were firmly suppressed by her tongue.

When she broke for air he spluttered back to life. “What the- were you even listening? I don’t have the ring yet-†He broke off when he saw in alarm there were tears on her cheeks. “Ashley, why are you crying?â€

“Because I’m so happy,†She choked out, burying her face in the crook of his neck. He had a brief flash of déjà vu back to their reunion in quarantine.

“But Ashley, I didn’t actually propose to you yet-â€

“But you were going to,†She sighed happily.

“Well, yes. But the ring-â€

“Oh, you can get that later. What’s important is that we’re getting married!â€

Leon was feeling more than a little off balance. “You know, the benefit of my plan was the time to get used to the idea.â€

“I am used to it.â€

“That’s all well and good for you-â€

“Leon,†She was starting to sound miffed. “Did you want to get married or not?â€

“Well, sure. Eventually.â€

“Now, later, same difference,†She stated with a final sort of tone. “Either way we get married. What’s the point of waiting?â€

Try as he might, he really couldn’t think of any valid excuses. It had, after all, been his idea in the first place. “I suppose… My point was that.. Uh..â€

“Yes?â€

He sighed in defeat. “Nothing. We were going to get married anyway. But we have to be engaged for at least a month. That’s a rule.â€

She made a sound of disbelief. “Who’s rule?â€

“People’s. Don’t question it, it’s Agency stuff. It could mean your life to dig deeper.â€

“Oh, that’s your excuse for everything.â€

“But it’s just so convenient.â€

“Leon.†She sounded serious again.

“Yeah?â€

“Th is is what you want… Right?â€

So she wasn’t as impenetrably determined as it had first seemed. “Not exactly.â€

The look in her eyes was heartbreaking, and he hastened to finish his thought. “Meaning I still think we should take it a little slower. I think it would be good if we learned to live together first, before we get married. Under normal circumstances,†He added. “Quarantine wasn’t exactly what you can expect out of everyday house life.â€

“That makes sense,†She agreed. “But not too long.â€

“Certainly not.â€