'Achoo,' came Dave's loud yet somewhat cute sneeze. After rubbing his nose, he pleaded, "Could you please hurry with the tea?"

"Don't rush me. You were the one that wanted to make love under the rain."

Ashley got the sizzling kettle off the cooker and helped him brew the tea.

"Well, you loved it, didn't you?"

"I certainly don't enjoy you sneezing all over me when I am just trying to enjoy a fine morning."

Grabbing the filled and heated mug by its handle, she walked into the living room where Dave was seated, nose looking tired, you would think he just blew all the life out of it.

"Thank you, darling."

Ashley pushed away the bag in her way and once she had her seat, proper relaxation hit her system.

As though waking up to the sounds of Dave's sneezing and sniffing was not enough, she ended up packing their luggage. And since Dave strangely had a lot to pack, Ashley used more time and energy.

But Ashley knew that she sort of loved that moment. While she tucked his belongings into the hollowness of his bag, Dave kept complaining about having a meeting while he battled with his cold. But the entire time, his attention was on her and she loved that.

Properly sitting back, Ashley reached for her phone to check the time. At the same time, a few knocks landed on the front door and the duo shared a look, little frowns on their faces since they were not expecting anyone.

Ashley decided to get the door. Once she opened the door, her surprise grew and she instantly wished to slam the door. The details of the shitty evening she had the previous day playing in her mind, Ashley dug up her snarky side. With square shoulders, she moved forward to guard the entrance.

Then, she asked, "What are you doing here?

Mark Song let out a huge grin, "Hey, Ashley. I hope you are good." Ashley failed to see his apologetic side but she did not let his lack of common sense annoy her. She did not want some good-for-nothing person to ruin her mood. "I am here to see Dave," the man announced.

Ashley was about to tell him to buzz off, but she felt it wouldn't make sense to do that. So, she stood aside and glared at him as he walked past.

"Hey man," she heard him say as the door closed behind her.

Dave, who was holding a wet hand towel, set it aside and took a quick sip of his tea. Then, he faced his visitor who already sat down on an adjacent couch.

"Hi, Mark. How is it going?"

"I am actually here to apologise."

Ashley felt her head spin. What on earth was he doing?

"What for? Did you leave refuse behind my house again?"

After making a brief eye contact with Ashley, Mark said with a touch of surprise, "I thought you knew."

"Knew what?" Dave sniffled again.

"I thought you knew that something almost happened between Ashley and me ." Her head spun even more. And when Dave's eyes met hers, her breathing became uneasy. "I honestly thought she told you," Mark Song insisted, the gentle tone in his voice irritating Ashley.

Dave was still calm. "What exactly happened?"

"Well," Mark shrugged and Ashley felt the urge to kick him hard in the balls. "I was talking and all of a sudden, she got angry and said she didn't want me to talk. I reasoned that she wanted to make out, so I tried to kis..."

"Stop." Dave's voice was still calm. But this time, dangerously calm.

Ashley stood still where she was, not sure of what to do or say.

With that stupid innocence still embedded in his voice, the devil in Mark spoke further, "I am so sorry for dropping this in this manner. I honestly thought she told you. When I saw the both of you making out on the beach..."

"You were watching us make out?"

"Well..." The confidence in Mark that pushed him to do what he came to do vanished as Dave's voice carefully, yet threateningly asked his question. "I..."

Dave got up in a way that startled a still pondering Ashley. "Please leave my house."

"I..." Mark tried to explain.

Dave would not have any of it. His arm extended towards the door, he insisted, "Please, leave my house."

Thankfully, without a word more, the man left. But, unfortunately, the tension he introduced was still present.

After Dave closed the door, he stood by the entrance and stared at Ashley who was yet to say a word. And in absolute quietude, they both stood.

But the silence did not last too long.

"Dave..." Ashley called and made to walk towards him but he held up his hand to stop her. That motion made her heart ache because she had suspected that something like that would happen.

"Why didn't..." He heaved a heavy sigh, his head tilting to the side as though he was trying to clear his head of something. "We are leaving now," he said instead and walked into the living room, his arm lightly brushing hers as he walked past.

~

The ride back to Dave's simple abode was not what Ashley had imagined the previous night. She pictured both of them stealing kisses or laughing loudly at weird stuff on the road. Ashley was not at all prepared for the silent, and maybe the angry version of Dave.

After taking one more look at the concentrated man, Ashley sighed and looked out the window to fix her gaze on the passing cars and tall, attractively structured buildings.

But... Despite her efforts to distract herself, Ashley could not help but go back to thinking about Dave. As though in a slideshow, her mind replayed the memories she already had with him. And the fact that most of those memories felt like they were years old made her warm. It was indeed hard to believe that they shared so much within weeks.

Ashley delved more into the wonderful memories playing in her head and she got so engrossed that she failed to realise the moment they arrived at his mobile home.

"What really happened?" Dave's thick voice inquired after a few seconds of silence.

Ashley did not expect him to eventually say anything to her, so it took her a few seconds before she spilled her answer.

"Mark was talking so much about himself and that got me angry. The next thing I knew, he... he groped my ass. And, when I retorted, he started misbehaving, saying that he wanted me. He kept saying that he knew that I wanted him. Next thing I knew, he pulled me into his chest and started touching me all over."

Taking a break from her intense gesticulations and random explanation to catch her breath, Ashley looked into Dave's searching eyes. He barely wore any emotion, he just focused his attention on her.

And she continued, "I pushed him away. He got angry and I screamed at him to never touch me or talk to me. Dave, I swear that was all that happened. I..."

"Why didn't you say anything?"

"I... I just..." She sighed. "I didn't want to bother you with more problems of mine."

Turning slightly in his seat, Dave faced her fully. "You didn't want to bother me? Ashley, when will you understand that you are now my responsibility? What if Mark had forced himself upon you? Uh? Would you have kept that from me too?"

"I..."

Damn!

Like every other time, there was this concern, this care in his voice. This time, it carried a greater magnitude. It held a force she could not ignore.

"If you want to solve your problems yourself, I won't stop you. But please," he cupped her cheeks, "please understand that you are already part of me in a way that could hurt me. In a way that could hurt both of us."

Her lips slightly parted, and Ashley found that she wasn't entirely sure of what to make of his statement. But, it assured her, in the little way she could interpret it, of his concern.

"If anyone tries to hurt you, let me just freaking know. Okay?"

Ashley nodded in response.

"I need to go to my meeting now. Will you be fine alone?" Dave asked as he reached for a set of keys in the safe and handed it to her.

"Yes," Ashley replied quietly. "I will be busy with work."

"Okay. I will be back very soon."

Ashley reached for her luggage and got down but not before receiving a quick kiss from Dave whose smile assured her that he wasn't angry anymore.

"Bye," she said, closing the passenger door.

~

'You are already part of me in a way that could hurt me.'

It had been almost two hours since Dave drove out for his meeting and Ashley was yet to stay focused on the paperwork staring at her from her phone's screen.

Amongst other things she found weird when it came to Dave Scott, the fact that she recalled his words too vividly freaked her out. And it tasked her mind.

So, she began to think.

Could his statement mean that he felt the same way? Or was it just a casual statement?

Her phone's ringtone interrupted her train of thought. On seeing the caller's ID, a smile broke out on her lips.

"Hey you, how was your meeting?"

"Ashley Steve?" The voice was not Dave's.

"Yes?"

There was anxiety in the person's voice and that made Ashley a tad scared. "The owner of this phone just... uh..."

"Just what?" Now she was more scared.

"He just had an accident."