Colin's posts

The boys were then silent for a moment as they heard that, and looked at each other briefly.

"...okay then." Lindsay replied.

"I... yeah, we'll... remember that." Ashley told her.

"Very useful information." Lindsay then added, as the two finalised everything, said they'd be back soon enough, and then started to excitedly head back into the woods again.

And she saw they were VERY happy.

"Sun sets on the third day, got it." Lindsay replied.

"Yep. Got it." Ashley confirmed.

"We'll head out and do that research!" Lindsay then exclaimed happily.

"We'll get all we can." Ashley promised.

"By the way, did you know there's a small cave near here?" he then asked Anya.

The boys responded by practically pouncing on her and giving her hugs.

"Thank you!" Lindsay said.

"This'll be awesome!" Ash commented.

"We get to properly camp out and have fun and everything!" he said further.

"And we can start NOW?" Lindsay asked her, as they let go and started to gather the packs.

The boys were silent for a moment, but then nodded.

"Okay, I'll do it." Lindsay said.

"If Lindsay will, then I'm on board as well." Ashley told her.

"When should we start?" he asked.

"Probably really soon?" Lindsay interjected.

The boys looked super excited about the prospect of being able to sleep outdoors in 'proper' equipment, while still having the option to go back to a home whenever they wanted to... but were then confused by her last statement.

And a little concerned.

"...huh?" Lindsay asked.

"Wh-what do you mean?" he stammered.

"That doesn't sound very good." Ashley then commented.

The boys looked at each other, before rushing over towards her, not saying anything until they were close enough to just talk to her at normal volume levels. They slowed to a stop and looked at her.

"Yes?" Ashley asked.

"What is it?" Lindsay asked her.

"...are we in trouble for exploring?" he then asked. "Did we go too far or something?" he inquired, obviously concerned that they might have done something wrong now.

Ashley paused for a moment, thinking about it.

"I..." he stammered. "Not leaving without telling you won't be an issue." he told her. "Just... for various reasons, I don't see it being a problem at all." he mumbled.

His voice sounded almost guilty as he said that... but it was easy to guess that the thought of him doing so to her now was... well, it was unsettling to him. It was a stark 180 from how he'd previously been, but... it seemed that her caring for him while he was injured and truly vulnerable had been what was needed to get him to see things for how they were here.

"And I'll eat anything." he then said.

"If it's food, I'll eat it. If it's something I can eat and will make me not hungry, I will eat it." he stated.

"...at the moment, I'm not going to ask." Ashley sighed.

"Anyway, I just... wanted to say all that." he said.

"And not have Lindsay hear it. I don't need THAT weighing on him." he reasoned.

"But now that I've said it, I feel a lot better." he admitted.

"Thanks for listening."

"O... oh..." Ashley stammered.

"Yeah. Yeah, that... that IS a good reason." he said.

"On that note, Lindsay is already really good at the violin." he told her.

"Already he plays really well." he said further.

"You must be a REALLY good teacher."

"...StoneFire Cats, huh?" Ashley asked.

"Yes." Anya confirmed.

"I will be on the lookout then." Ashley told her.

"And I'll tell Lindsay as well." he continued, pausing again.

"Also, what's wrong with downstairs?" he asked her.

"Why are we not to go there?"

"Yeah." Ashley responded. "I do." he said.

He then paused for a moment, before thinking about something. He looked like it was legit serious, but he then seemed to just dismiss it. And then he thought about it AGAIN, before sighing.

"By the way." he mumbled.

"Just want to say I like how your home is right near some forest." he told her.

"Are we allowed to explore it?" he asked.

Ashley nodded his head, even though it was buried in her side.

"Okay." he replied.

"No basement. No burning." he truncated back.

"We can do that." he assured her.

"..." he was then silent again, before he quivered slightly, and withdrew himself from the embrace, using his arm to wipe across his eyes.

"Please don't tell Lindsay about this." he told her.

"It might make him worry."

Ash didn't say anything in response, but he did lower his head a little, just enough that she couldn't see his eyes. He sat there for another moment in silence, but before she could potentially say anything more, she saw them; a pair of tears that feel from his face, landing softly on the floor.

Then, he just turned to her and wrapped his arms around her, burying his face in her side.

She heard muffled soft sobs for a few seconds, and then he spoke.

"Thank you." he said.

"Thank you." he repeated, as he held onto her like his life depended on it.

Ashley just sighed.

"It's something I worry about daily." he said.

"my survival... Lindsay's..." he admitted to her. "I just... I don't want him to worry. I don't need him panicking and being worried about me and stuff." he told her further. "So... I needed to be fine." he said.

"I needed to be confident. I needed to be able to care for the both of us." he went on.

"...guess, in the end... I couldn't..." he lamented.

"But... I don't feel like I need to be that way HERE." he then told her.

"I feel... like I can... relax a little..." he finished, and Anya could see that Ash had been forcing himself to be the 'grown-up' between them in so many ways, and for so long.