Ashley woke up to a parched mouth and a headache the next morning. Her room was completely dark, the only light coming from the gaps between the blinds. She closed her eyes quickly after catching a glimpse of it and didn't move for another half an hour.

That's why it took her so long to realize she wasn't lying in her bed alone. Another figure was lying on his stomach right next to her, breathing heavily.

Her first thought was, "Why is Colby Brock in my bed?"

Then, "What the hell happened yesterday?"

She slowly shuffled to the end of the bed. Due to it standing in one corner of her room and Colby sleeping on the free side, she couldn't just get off the edge, she had to move all the way down to the bottom of the bed. Colby slightly moved as she accidentally brushed against his leg but didn't wake up.

She managed to leave her room without tripping over the two stairsteps in the middle of it or the couch and realized that it was well past "morning" as she saw Jerry sitting in the living room.

"Hi," she mumbled, turning to her left to go to the bathroom. He had no time to react because she was quick enough to slip out of the hallway.

The lights in the bathroom were too bright, and she was tempted to shower in the dark. But that way, her unsure movements would probably get the better of her and she would end up hurting herself by tripping or something.

She wasn't wearing a bra, instead just an oversized t-shirt and shorts. Her go-to pyjamas. That was good, it meant she couldn't have been that drunk the day before. Only just drunk enough to forget everything that had happened after leaving the party. How drunk did one have to be to forget things?

Hurrying up with the shower, she did it without washing her hair and settled with quickly using mouthwash instead of brushing her teeth after drinking several cups of water. But as she looked in her mirror, she couldn't help but frown.

There was a hickey on her neck, almost hidden by her hair. When did that happen? And... did anything more happen? Clothed with only a towel, she glanced out of the door. Voices were coming out of the kitchen, good. Ashley quickly went back to her room, slipping on the simplest of outfits she could find before she took a deep breath and entered the living room with a smile on her face.

"Good morning," she said, ignoring Jerry's raised eyebrows. Colby sat on one of the bar stools in their kitchen, wearing one of her oversized t-shirts. She must have given it to him the evening before. Ashley sat down on the stool next to him and gasped in expectation as she saw what Jerry was cooking. A few eggs were being fried in the pan.

"Breakfast?" she asked.

"For you. Lunch for me," he laughed.

"Sorry," Ashley said sheepishly.

"No worries. I'd do this every day if it meant that you got out more often," Jerry promised. "Okay, maybe every few days. Or once every week."

"Jeez, no need to make fun of it," Ashley chuckled, rolling her eyes. "What can I say, parties aren't my usual kind of entertainment."

"They aren't?" Colby chimed in. "You seemed so comfortable yesterday, I thought you did it all the time."

"That's seriously an underrated talent," Jerry explained, pointing at Ashley with the spatula. "Bring her in any situation and she'll adapt in literal minutes."

Ashley blushed slightly, rolling her eyes a second time in lack of an appropriate reaction.

"I realized that, once we started the investigation a week ago," Colby said with a grin. "Did she show you the video? She just wouldn't stop. We almost had to force her to go to bed."

"It was not that bad," Ashley defended herself. "I just really wanted to find out what was going on. Get the full experience, you know?"

Colby sighed, shaking his head. "You hear that? She'd still be there if she could."

Jerry nodded and laughed while Ashley crossed her arms in front of her chest. "I would not!" she exclaimed. "The last morning was horrible. But why are we even talking about this, I want a fried egg!"

"Patience," Jerry said, brushing over her head as if calming down a child. She scoffed, slapping his hand away.

"Antsy much, today, I see. Here you go." Jerry carried the pan to the kitchen island, and handed both Ashley and Colby a plate and threw half of the egg on each. Ashley immediately pierced it with her fork and started eating. Colby hesitated a little, suspicious at the tons of spices Jerry had used. But after taking a bite, he nodded in approval, making Jerry grin widely.

Ashley's roommate turned to her, winking at her and mouthing, "He's the one." She blushed and immediately looked down at her plate, not wanting to keep eye contact.

After finishing the egg, she put the plate and her fork in the sink and went back to her room, Colby following her quickly.

"I think I'm going to leave soon; me and Sam will have to go over the video one last time," Colby said, picking up his jacket from the floor. Ashley hummed in agreement. "Did you have fun last night?" he asked.

"Oh, it was great. I just don't remember anything after we left your friend's house, but I definitely had fun." She smiled at him.

"I gathered that you don't go out often," Colby said.

"Yeah, not really. Parties and stuff like that are usually out of my comfort zone."

"You should've said something, we could've done something else, like just spend the night outside or something! You looked so comfortable and used to it, I didn't mean to pressure you-"

"Don't worry," Ashley laughed, interrupting him. "I wouldn't have said yes if I didn't feel comfortable. And I did, except for the moment with Derek maybe. But the time you were with me, I felt great."

Colby tilted his head. "You're an intriguing girl," he said. She rolled her eyes.

"I do have one question though," she then stated. "When did this happen?" She brushed her hair out of the way, showing him the hickey. Colby laughed out loud.

"When we arrived at your front door, I asked you if Ilse's hickey had actually been your first hickey," he explained, looking away as if he were embarrassed. He probably was. "You nodded, and then I asked if I could make your second hickey. You then said that hers didn't count."

Ashley hid her face in her hands. "Why do I see that happening," she chuckled. "Jesus. And then you just randomly gave me a hickey on my neck?"

"Basically."

"And then, why did you stay here? Not that I'm complaining, I was just a little confused when I woke up."

"You insisted on me staying. Because it was too cold outside. Then you announced that you were going to sleep on the floor if I was one of those guys that insisted on sleeping on the couch, and we agreed to sleep in the same bed." Colby laughed while talking about it, and Ashley sighed.

"Yeah, drunk me is just as embarrassing as sober me," she said, shaking her head. A weird silence erupted, and Colby cleared his throat.

"Alright, I'm going to leave now. Have a good weekend, I guess?" He laughed awkwardly, and she chuckled.

"Bye... I hope the video does well."

"Oh, it will," Colby promised with a wink. She grinned as he left the apartment. He was still wearing her shirt.