Come Here to Forget | Ash |

[Dakota King]

Dakota smiled to herself as Ash sat down in bed next to her and put his arm around her shoulders. She cuddled into his side as she wrapped her arms around him as she got comfy. "Good," she muttered as she looked up at him with half-hooded eyes. "I like you too much for you to not be around." Those were maybe words she would regret in the morning along with the other things she said earlier, but she really didn't care at the moment. She was in Ash's arms and things seemed to be completely alright in the world for once.

She adjusted herself to get slightly more comfortable before her eyes fluttered shut. She really didn't realize how tired she had gotten until she was completely comfortable, because it wasn't long before she was dozing off in his arms.

[Ashley Bates]

Ash stayed awake for a long time after they had laid back on Dakota’s bed. He didn’t know if she would remember this in the morning, didn’t know if anything they had discussed would stick but if it didn’t he would be there to remind her. For now he just wanted to enjoy this as long as he could. Dakota in his arms, snuggled against his body and looking peaceful and content while she slept just felt so right and even if she didn’t remember he would.

Eventually Ash did fall asleep holding her closer than he ever thought he would get the chance to again and when he did it was the pleasant dreams of what they could be that came to him. There would be challenges in the morning he had no doubt but maybe they could face them together…maybe. It may have been foolish to hold out hope but hope was a good thing, perhaps the best thing and it would satisfy him for the time being.

[Dakota King]

It was one of the best nights of sleep that Dakota had in a while, despite the fact that she was sleeping off the alcohol as well. She was perfectly content as she was cuddled up next to Ash as they both slept. However, that content feeling went away as daylight came. As Dakota was drifting in and out of consciousness, she could feel a pounding headache start. She tried to sleep it off, but the stupid thing was causing her to become more awake than she wanted to be.

She groaned as she cuddled into Ash before she froze a bit. Ash was in bed with her. Her memories were a little foggy from the night before, but she remembered what their talks, their kisses, their cuddles. And he was here in bed with her and she had no doubt in her mind that he would want to talk things out more now that she was sober. Well, as sober as a hungover person could get. She groaned a little louder as she cuddled into him more and squeezed her eyes shut as she tried to fight off her headache without wanting to move away from him.

[Ashley Bates]

Ash felt the girl beside him begin to stir but it was her groans that really brought him back from his dreams. Those didn’t sound like good groans. The Apollo boy slowly opened his eyes and blinked in the morning sun. He didn’t have to as he could still feel Dakota moving against him but he looked down anyways just to see with his own eyes that last night hadn’t been a dream. Fortunately for him it wasn’t. Ash let his eyes drink in her figure again knowing that this moment wouldn’t last forever but then Dakota made another one of those groans and tried to bury herself deeper in his arms.

She was obviously in discomfort but Ash wasn’t really sure what to do with her. He had never dealt with a hangover himself so he didn’t really know what it was supposed to like besides a major pain. Dakota would probably know better what to do but as of yet she wasn’t doing anything. That didn’t give him much hope for fixing the situation but he would help if he could. “Dakota.” He said softly not wanting to wake her if she was still asleep. “What’s wrong? Can I get you anything?”

[Dakota King]

She had woken him up. Great. Absolutely great. She really didn't want to deal with him after everything that had happened, but there they were. And it didn't make things better that there was a throbbing headache currently taking over her head. "Shit..." she muttered as it felt like a dagger was going through her temple. "Headache..." she muttered as she scrunched up her face as she tried to think of what to take to somewhat fix it. "I need... water and pain pills..."

But she wasn't expecting him to get them for her. She reluctantly pulled away from his arms and tried to sit up in bed to grab them herself. However, as soon as she sat up, she was hit with a wave of nausea. She groaned as she fell back in bed and covered her eyes with her arm. "And probably some anti-nausea too," she muttered. "They're in my dresser. Top drawer."

[Ashley Bates]

Ash listened as Dakota began rattling off her symptoms and what she needed. He was a little surprised when she tried to get up though. Apparently it didn’t work as well as she had thought which was good because it didn’t look like she was in any state to be getting up and about. ’Stubborn girl.’ He thought and smiled a bit in spite of himself and the situation. He could get what she needed she just might have to deal with him moving around for a moment.

"You don't need to be going anywhere right now. Just try to relax and I'll get it." He disentangled himself from her gently as he got up from the bed and then crossed the room to open the top drawer of her dresser like she had said. It took him a moment of digging around and reading bottle labels but he eventually found what he was looking for. Leave it to a nurse to have pills for every situation laying around and waiting to be used. Now all he needed was some water. He spotted a little mini fridge in the corner and when he opened it up sure enough he found a few bottles of water being cooled inside. He grabbed one and came back to the bedside. “Here, give me your hand.” He said as he unscrewed the tops of the medicine bottles. “Hold your head up and we’ll try to do this as quickly as possible.”

[Dakota King]

Maybe it was a good thing that Ash had spent the night with her. Dakota never drank this much before so she had no idea what kind of disasters were going to hit her with the hangover. At least she didn't have to embarrass herself in front of her siblings as they took care of her. She already embarrassed herself enough in front of Ash, so maybe it was better off this way.

She groaned a little bit as Ash left the bed to rummage through her drawers before she moved the bury her face into the pillow. Maybe it would be more humane for Ash to just kill her now. That way she could numb all the pain she was feeling and avoid talking to him about last night. However, murder seemed to be last on Ash's mind as he came over with the pills she requested. She picked her head up from the pillow as she squinted at him and gave him one of her hands. "Let's get this over with," she muttered as she just wanted to take her medicine and start feeling better.

[Ashley Bates]

Ash nodded at her statement. He wanted to get this over with too. If only making her feel better was that easy. Still, she rolled over and offered her hand willingly enough. Ash shook a few pills out into her hand letting her swallow them before handing her the water bottle as well and helping her if she needed it. That accomplished he covered her back up knowing he couldn't do much more for her. "I imagine you need sleep more than anything else. Can you think of anything else you need?"

He watched her for a moment realizing that he didn't really have any place to go. He didn't want to leave her like this but what more could he do for her besides let her sleep off the effects of the alcohol and talking to her at this point while she was obviously sick would not only be counterproductive but likely annoy her too. Not to mention that he was probably in pretty bad shape himself having slept all night in his clothes though he supposed Dakota was in no shape to notice or care. “Don't suppose you've got a private shower around here do you? Might as well make myself presentable while you sleep.”

[Dakota King]

Was sleep all she really needed right then and there. Dakota could think of other things she needed and they were standing right in front of her, but that was a completely bad idea, especially with how miserable she was feeling at the moment. Besides, knowing him, he'd probably want to talk about their feelings or whatever and Dakota was really not about that right now. She rested her head on the pillow as she watched Ash for a little bit. A private shower? She did have one of those. She moved her hand to point to the door that was directly behind Ash.

"That door there," she muttered before she put her hand down. "Blue bottle is shampoo and green is conditioner. You're welcome to use both if you want." Did she really just invite him to use her shower products? She really didn't care at the moment since her headache was just throbbing across her forehead. "Towels are in the cabinet underneath the sink," she added before she rolled over in bed and tried to sleep off her hangover just as Ash suggested.

[Ashley Bates]

A shower really might be the best way to go at this point. Dakota wasn't going anywhere and he didn't really want to either. Thoughts passed through his mind about the girl he would like joining him in that shower but Dakota wasn't really in any condition. If only she hadn't drunk herself sick...but there was nothing for it now. At least there was a chance she might be feeling a little better after he got out even though he wasn’t even sure where they needed to go from here. In any case he guessed he would find out one way or the other.

Ash left Dakota to a hopefully restorative nap while he made his way into her bathroom in search of the shower. He found it without trouble and hopped in for a little restoration himself. As it turned out the shower was actually a good place to think. A lot had happened in the past few hours and he needed a little time to process everything. Last night had gone a long way to rebuilding some trust and even giving him some hope but considering the current situation he didn't know how Dakota was going to react to him when she wasn't under the effects of alcohol. He hoped they would be able to move past this but a lot of that depended on how much of last night actually sank in. He supposed there was only one way to find out so after what was probably a longer shower than usual he headed back out into the bedroom feeling much cleaner at least.

Unsurprisingly he found Dakota where he had left her. He supposed she might still be asleep but he was just checking on her. "Are you feeling any better?" He asked as he came back in still rubbing a towel through his wet hair. He wasn't too concerned whether she would answer him of not. If she didn't then he would let her sleep but if she did hopefully at least some of the side effects would be through with her. "I can get you some more water if you want. To help clear out your system."

[Dakota King]

Dakota was out as soon as she heard the bathroom door shut behind Ash. She wasn’t sure how long as she was out, but she knew she slept long and hard which hopefully gave the medications some time to kick in fully so she wouldn’t wake up with a headache or nausea like she did the first time around. But she was drifting in and out of sleep after a while when she heard the bathroom door open again and Ash step out.

She decided to slightly wake up as she heard him talk to her. She rolled over in bed and opened her eyes just as he ran a towel through his hair. Dakota tried to remain very emotionless over it, but she liked what she saw a lot. “A little bit better, yeah,” she answered as she just laid there and watched him. “And water would be good… pretty sure it’s one of the suggestions of how to deal with a hangover.”

[Ashley Bates]

"Good. I'm glad the medicine is starting to kick in" Ash finished drying his hair only to notice that Dakota had rolled over and was watching him from the bed. He gave her one of those little sideways smirks not really knowing what had caught her interest but glad that the headache seemed to have faded enough that she could focus on him. It was also nice to feel like the tension between them, at least the resistance he had felt on his side, easing a bit.

Ash nodded as she confirmed his guess about the water and went to get her some. "Seems like a smart thing to do." He said as he brought the bottle back and handed it to her as he set down beside her on the bed. "Thanks for letting me borrow the shower. I guess being cabin leader has its perks." He brushed at her hair as she drank and continued. "Suppose now I smell like a bed of roses with all those girly shower products in there."

[Dakota King]

Dakota's heart fluttereda bit as Ash smirked at her as he finished drying his hair. She still remembered what they talked about last night and Dakota wasn't denying her words, at least, not now. Maybe the alcohol helped a little, even if it was a pain in the ass to deal with afterwards.

She sat up in bed fully as Ash handed her another bottle of water. She thanked him as she sipped on it and watched him out of the corner of her eye. She smirked a bit when he said what he probably would be smelling like. “Not roses,” she said as she lowered the bottle from her lips. “Maybe more like cinnamon.”

[Ashley Bates]

“Cinnamon.” He said thoughtfully. “Not too girly after all.” Ash leaned against her resting his head on hers now that she was sitting up. “Makes sense why your hair always smells of cinnamon. I like it.” This was nice. It had been so long since they had a quiet moment to themselves that wasn’t overshadowed by everything that was going on. Now it was almost as if all that had been stripped away and it was just the two of them, the way it always should have been.

He continued leaning against her and closed his eyes to just enjoy the moment. “You probably didn’t get the chance to enjoy it last night but I liked having you beside me.” He offered honestly. “It was nice and I’m glad I didn’t go.”

[Dakota King]

"Nah," Dakota said between sips of water. "I can't stand being a walking flower garden. I'll let the rest of my siblings do that for me." But Ash rested his head against hers and she felt her heart race a bit. It had been so long since it was just the two of them without any tension or crap between them. And it was nice for once. And for once, Dakota wasn't scared, much. Maybe this could work even if she wasn't looking for a serious relationship in the first place.

She closed her eyes along with Ash as he started talking. She chuckled a bit as she smirked slightly. "I remember a little bit of it and it was nice... very nice..." But then she felt like she needed to clear the air between them once and for all. Yes, she said things when she was drunk, but she needed to confirm them while she was sober. "Ash?" she said quietly as she opened her eyes to look up at him. "You know that saying, drunken words are sober thoughts? That was true for last night. All of it."