Chapter 5

   Ash buried his head in his hands as he slouched forwards on the couch in thought. The woman he had bumped into the other day was now in his apartment, having a mental breakdown in the front hall. To say that he didn't know what to do, would be an understatement.

   He groaned loudly as he leaned his head back and slumped against the couch pillows, shielding his eyes from the harsh living room lights and humming to himself as he continued to think of what he should be doing in this situation. If he simply let her be - crying and sitting on the cold wooden floor - he would feel like a terrible person. However, on the other hand, if he tried to talk to her and question what had happened, he would feel as though he was pushing her to talk about something that might have traumatized her. He sighed sharply, in an attempt to discard his thoughts, and jumped up from the couch. 

   He opened the living room door which led to the front hall of the apartment and looked over at the wall opposite the front door, noticing the woman was now sitting up and staring at the front door with wide eyes, clearly spaced out. Ash hung his head with a sigh before slowly taking his first step towards the woman sitting on the floor. Before he could make his way fully to the woman and attempt to talk to her again, the loud banging of the front door echoed in the hall. The woman's eyes grew wider and she scrambled up to her feet as her hands began to shake. 

   Ash glanced over at the front door before walking over to the woman and offering her a tiny smile in reassurance. "Go into my bedroom." He whispered before pointing at a door on the left side of the hall and pushing her inside before closing the door quietly and rushing over to the front door. 

   He cleared his throat before swinging the door open with wide eyes. Before the man on the other side of the door looked up, however, Ash plastered a confused expression on his face before leaning against the doorframe. "Is everything alright?" He asked loudly. The latter's eyes narrowed and he glanced over the smaller man's shoulder, looking around the hall in suspicion. 

   "Have you seen this woman anywhere just now?" The taller of the two questioned, pulling out his phone and flicking through his camera roll, shoving the phone into Ash's face once he landed on a photo of the woman who was hiding in his bedroom. Ash pretended to look at the face carefully before humming and shrugging with pursed lips. 

   "I'm afraid I can't help you." Ash clicked his tongue once before standing up straight and offering a fake apologetic smile. "Sorry." He finished before reaching for the door handle and slowly closing the door as the other male nodded and walked away with a curt wave. 

   Ash closed the door quickly and locked it with a loud sigh before collecting his thoughts and walking across the hall, standing in front of his bedroom door and slowly clicking it open, smiling at the woman who was seated on his bed once she looked over at the doot, eyes laced with worry. 

   "Was it him?" She asked fearfully, looking behind Ash's shoulder briefly before turning back to the man in front of her with furrowed eyebrows. Ash could only shrug at the question, not knowing the answer. He wasn't sure what she was scared of but, now that she had asked such a question, he could only assume what this was about. And it wasn't a pleasant situation to be in. "He's - he's a tall, buff man with black hair up to about... here? Tattoos on his arm and neck?" She asked, measuring a hair length going from the scalp to the shoulder. Ash looked away at the description and walked over, flopping onto his bed with a low sigh.

   "Yeah. It was." He answered bluntly and simply, fiddling with his fingers as he looked down. He didn't see why he would lie to her as this could put her in danger. "He was looking for you, but I didn't tell him that you're here." He reassured quickly after noticing the worry and fear bubble up in her eyes as she teared up. The woman sniffed and nodded slowly before hanging her head. 

   "I'm... I'm really sorry for all of this." She sniffed again, wiping roughly at her eyes before looking up at the man next to her. "I didn't want to involve anyone, but..." She cut her sentence off as she stared at the open bedroom door. Ash hummed in understanding before looking up, staring at the ceiling as he fell back onto the bed, letting his head hit the hard mattress. 

   "Don't worry about it," Ash spoke, closing his eyes and smiling to himself slightly. "It's not your fault." He finished, reassuring the sniffling girl. The woman hummed quietly, wiping her eyes and pursing her lips, staring at the man before sighing. 

   An awkward silence enveloped the pair as the ticking of the clock was the only thing that could be heard throughout the rooms of the apartment. Ash, still lying on his bed with his arm under his head, sighed out quietly before heaving himself back up and turning his body to face the woman. At the sudden dip in the bed and movement, the female looked over at the man before looking back down. 

   "You can stay here for a while. I don't think it's that safe for you in this building just now." Ash spoke, pursing his lips as he crossed his legs on the bed and watched the woman's reaction. She was unmoving and silent, with the occasional sniffle or soft sigh slipping through. She eventually nodded and moved back onto the bed, crossing her own legs but still staring down at her lap. Ash sighed quietly and cleared his throat. "What's your name?"