Ashley laughed as she followed Kim into the restaurant. They had a great time this afternoon, just riding around in the city. Dominic and Kim had showed her all their favourite spots and now they were going to show her their favourite restaurant. And, as Kim had said, there would be a bit of a surprise there for Ashley.

Dominic walked in front of Kim and Ashley. He led them straight through the room towards a table in the back, which was somewhat concealed. There were already two people sitting at the table and they quickly got up as Dominic, Kim and Ashley approached them.

Ashley opened her eyes wide as she recognized them. "Oh my God!" she softly exclaimed. "That's Elijah Wood! And Billy Boyd!"

Kim smiled and Dominic, who had also heard Ashley saying this, quickly turned around. "What?" he teased her. "They get an exclamation, while all I got was a 'Dominic Monaghan, yeah I know' and a smile?" He winked at her before pouting. "You hurt my feelings!" Then he turned around again and walked straight at the table.

Ashley blushed as she looked him go, glad that he couldn't read her mind, for she was now thinking about her first reaction when she recognized him.

***

'Fuck me!' Ashley thought as she looked at the couple, not recognizing her. 'That's Dominic Monaghan.' "Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God." She closed her eyes for a bit and shook her head. This must be a dream. Then she opened them again and swallowed as she saw Dominic still standing there, holding her best friends hand. "Fuck me!"

***

"Are you coming?" Kim said, causing Ashley to look up at her.

"Huh? What?" Ashley asked her, feeling a bit confused. She blinked a couple of times and Kim let out a little sigh.

"Are you coming? They are waiting for us. And yes, I know that this must be a bit of a shock for you, but they are all just normal human beings you know!" She grabbed Ashley by the arm and pushed her towards the table. "Now go on!"

Ashley blushed as she walked towards the table, feeling a bit grateful that Kim thought she had been nervous about meeting Elijah and Billy. She could never know the truth. Kim wasn't supposed to find out that Ashley really liked Dominic Monaghan.

She sighed and swallowed as she looked straight into Dominic's eyes, and quickly looked away. This wasn't right. Then she looked at Billy and Elijah, and smiled.

“Helloooo,” Elijah said cheerfully, and Ashleys smile grew bigger. “Hi,” Billy added, with his Scottish accent, and Ashley felt her knees going weak. She loved Scottish accents!

“Hello,” she softly said as she sat down next to Kim.

She saw Elijah looking at her and looked up. He held out his hand. “I’m Elijah Wood,” he said and Ashley nodded.

“Yeah, I know.” Then she blushed as she realised that she hadn’t introduced herself. How stupid of her, forgetting such a thing.

Kim smiled as she saw her friend blush. Ashley seemed changed, but at times like this she could see that Ashley still was as insecure as she used to be. “Guys,” she said in Ashleys place, “this is my best friend Ashley, who is going to stay with us for a while.”

Elijah and Billy both smiled at her again. “Ashley,” Elijah said. “That’s a pretty name.”

“Thanks,” Ashley replied as she looked him straight into his big blue eyes. “Elijah isn’t that bad either.” They all laughed after she had said this and the ice had broken immediately.

After that they all enjoyed their dinners while talking about all kind of things. Elijah and Billy were busy giving Ashley the third degree about herself, while Dom wanted to know everything about her past and what she and Kim had done when they were little.

When the dinner was through they all decided on going home. “It was nice to meet you,” Billy said as he pulled Ashley in to give her a massive hug. Ashley looked a bit startled at this, but returned the hug nonetheless.

“It was nice meeting you too,” she replied, “I had a great time tonight.”

Elijah came up to her and looked her deep into the eyes before hugging her too, and Ashley couldn’t help but blush a bit. “Nice meeting you!”

Ashley smiled and nodded. “Same here.”

Then Elijah turned around and looked at Dominic. “Hey, are we still on for tomorrow?”

Dominic nodded. “Yup, 10 am at our place.” The two of them shared a hug too, as Kim and Billy hugged each other and Ashley smiled.

When they were all finished saying goodbye to each other, and had made their arrangements for tomorrow, they all went home. Ashley smiled as she followed Dominic and Kim to the car. She really had a great time tonight. They were all such nice people. She looked up as she heard someone asking her something.

Kim looked at her with a weird expression on her face. “Did you enjoy yourself tonight?” she repeated her question and Ashley nodded.

“Oh yeah. I had a wonderful time. Your friends are all very nice people.”

Kim laughed and nodded all-knowing. “Yeah, you really seemed to like Elijah.”

Ashley felt a blush spreading over her face as she saw that Dominic was now looking at her too. “Yes, Elijah’s nice. And Billy is very nice too.” She avoided Dom’s gaze and looked at Kim. “They were both very nice.”

“Okay, okay,” Kim laughed as they finally reached the car. “Now, let’s go home shall we?” Then they all got into the car and Dominic drove away.

**

Ashley yawned as she opened her eyes. Then she looked at the clock, which said that it was already 10.49. She quickly jumped out of the bed and took a shower. Then she got dressed, pulled a comb through her hair and walked downstairs.

As she reached the bottom of the stairs she heard a great noise coming from the living room and she sighed. She had forgotten all about Elijah and Billy coming over today. What would they think of her? She bit her lip as she tried to get rid of her feelings of insecurity. Then she took a deep breath and walked towards the living room.

As she entered the room, all the faces turned to look at her. “Goodmorning,” Dominic said as he got up from the couch. “did you sleep well?”

Ashley nodded as she looked at him. He was wearing jeans and a tight, but not to tight, shirt over that. He looked absolutely.. She quickly looked away as she realised that her mind started to drift and she looked around the room.

Elijah and Billy were both looking at her with smiles on their faces, but there were also four people she hadn’t met. They were also looking at her.

Ashley looked down to the ground a she nodded. ‘Yes thanks,” she finally answered.

Dominic smiled and nodded. “Good. Well, let me introduce you to all these people you haven’t met. Ashley, meet Orlando,” the guy next to Elijah nodded, “Viggo,” the guy standing in the middle of the room raised his hand, “Sean and his wife Christine.” The woman smiled as the man nodded. “Guys, meet Ashley, Kim’s best friend.”

“Hi,” Ashley said as she raised her hand. “It’s nice to meet you all.” She smiled as she walked further into the room, looking for a place to sit. She sat down on the couch next to Billy, who immediately showed her a big goofy grin.

“Hello,” he said, “we meet again.”

Ashley laughed and nodded. “Yes, we certainly do.” Then she looked at the guy sitting next to Elijah. “Sorry?”

Orlando laughed. “Are you staying long?” he repeated the question, and Ashley smiled.

“I’m planning on staying a month. I figured that was long enough to catch up with Kim.” Then she bit her lip. “Where is Kim, anyway?”

“She went out. She had to go to college,” Dominic said as he sat down beside her. “She’ll be back this afternoon.”

Ashley swallowed as she felt Dom’s leg brushing up against her own and she closed her eyes for a bit. Why was she feeling this way around him. She had only just met the guy two days ago. And most importantly, he was her best friend’s boyfriend. She wasn’t supposed to feel this way about her best friends boyfriend!

As she opened her eyes again she saw Elijah looking at her. She felt a blush spreading all over her face and she smiled to try to cover it up. Then she saw Elijah looking at Dominic before returning to look at her, and the expression on his face changed.

~

Ashley looked up as someone pulled at her sleeve. “Miss, we are here. This is the end of the line miss. You have to get out now.”

She blinked as she came back to the present and wiped the tears from her cheeks. Then she tried to smile to the bus driver, who was looking at her with a worried expression on his face. “Thank you for warning me,” she softly said as she got up.

The bus driver took her suitcases and helped her with getting out of the bus. “Will you be alright miss?” he asked her, and Ashley nodded.

“Yes, I will be alright. I have to.” Then she walked into the airport. As she got lost in her thoughts and memories once again.

He had always known something was going on between her and Dominic. Elijah had seen it happen. But even he couldn’t have predicted how it all would end. He only saw what Ashley tried to deny.

~

“No, no, stop it!” Ashley screamed as she tried to get away from the tickling fingers. It was the second week that she was here and already she had become such good friends with the guys. “No, please Billy, no!!!”

Elijah, Billy and Dominic all laughed as Ashley threw her hands into the air. “Okay, I give up!” she said, and Billy stopped tickling her.

She pulled herself up onto the couch, where she lay for a couple of minutes, trying to regain her breath. Then she sat up straight. “But women are still much, MUCH smarter than men,” she said as she stuck out her tongue.

Immediately the guys were standing again. “Okay, let’s get her! She’s really going to pay now,” Dominic yelled and Ashley screamed.

She jumped up from the couch and ran behind it. “You’ll have to catch me first!” Then she ran away, with the three guys following hot on her tail. They ran in and out the different rooms as the three guys tried to catch Ashley, but Ashley was to fast every time.

She quickly ran up the stairs, followed almost immediately by Dominic. As she reached the top of the stairs she heard him right behind her, and she laughed. “You can’t catch me!” she said as she ran into one of the bedrooms. But there she found out that Dominic was much faster than she’d anticipated, and he tried to tackle her.

Ashley let out a little yelp as she landed on top of the bed, with Dominic above her. “I can’t catch you, ey?” he laughed as he started to tickle her.

Ashley laughed and started to call for help. “Stop it!” she yelled as she tried to wriggle her way out from underneath Dominic. “Please someone help me!” She pushed Dominic’s hands away which kept on tickling her, all the while trying to wriggle her way out of there. “Oh no, stop it! Please!” she laughed. “Ow, please Dom.”

But Dom didn’t stop tickling her, and he looked down on her with a big grin plastered on his face. “Do you yield?” he said and Ashley nodded.

“Yes, yes I yield. Now please stop!!” She started coughing, because she had laughed to much and Dominic immediately stopped tickling her.

“I win!” he softly said and Ashley looked up at him. He looked back at her with a big cheeky smile on his face, and Ashley blushed as she realised how close they were. She swallowed as she looked away and tried to crawl out from underneath him. Only she found it impossible to do so.

She looked up again, and saw Dominic looking back at her with a weird expression on his face. Then his gaze shifted and she realised that he was now staring at her lips. ‘Oh my God,’ she thought, ‘he’s going to kiss me.’ She closed her eyes at this thought, but immediately opened her eyes again as she heard something.

“Ehem,” Elijah, who stood in the doorway, said. “So, did we win?” He looked at the two of them with a weird expression on his face, and Ashley turned her head away, blushing. She had almost kissed him. Her best friend’s boyfriend. How could she?

She felt Dominic getting up from the bed and sat up straight. Then she looked at Elijah, a guilty look on her face. He had seen it all. He knew.

~

Someone nudged her in the back and Ashley looked up. She was standing in front of the counter and apparently, she was up. “Can I help you?” the lady behind the counter asked her, and Ashley swallowed before answering.

“One ticket to New York, please,” she said and the lady started typing.

“You are in luck,” she said. “We still have some tickets left.” She took the ticket and gave it to Ashley after having done all that was necessary for her to give the ticket. “There you go! Your plane leaves in about an hour. Enjoy your flight.”

Ashley mumbled a quick thank you as she got out from the queue and walked towards a seat, where she sat down. There she wiped her hair out of her face as she remembered the horrible last days of her stay in L.A.

~

Ashley looked up from the book she was reading as the doorbell rang. “Could you open the door for me?” Dominic’s voice came from upstairs. “It’s probably Kim anyway, having forgotten her keys again.”

Ashley smiled as she lay her book down and got up from her chair. Kim had to go to college almost everyday and almost everyday she forgot to bring her keys with her.

“Sure!” she called upstairs as she walked towards the door. “No problem!” Then she opened the door, a big smile on her face. But that smile faded as she saw the two policemen standing on the doorstep. “Hello?” she said as she looked at the men.

“Hello miss,” one of the officers said as he looked at her, his face showing a mixture of seriousness and some other expression Ashley couldn’t quite make out. It looked like compassion. But why would his face show compassion?

Ashley blinked as she realised that the man had asked her something, and she slightly shook her head. “Excuse me?” she said, as she saw the other officer looking at her with exactly the same expression on his face as his colleague.

“Would you know someone by the name of Kimberly Sara Thompson?” the officer asked her again.

Ashley frowned as she looked back at the first officer. “Yes. She’s my best friend.” She shook her head. “Why?”

Ashley could see the first officer looking at the man standing to his right, before taking a deep breath, and she swallowed. “Has something happened to her?” she asked them, her voice slightly trembling out of fear.

The first officer looked at her and took a small step forward. “Miss,” he started, “we are very sorry to inform you that there has been an accident.”

Ashley looked at him, not daring to believe his words, and she shook her head. “I don’t understand,” she softly whispered.

The officer let out a silent sigh. ‘Your friend has been involved in an accident.”

Ashley blinked and looked away as she took in these words. “An.. an accident?” she softly said, not hearing the footsteps coming down the stairs. “Kimberly? But she’s alright though… right?” She looked at the police officers with a hopeful expression on her face.

The officer who was talking to her shot a quick glance over to Dominic, who was now standing only a few feet behind Ashley, before looking back at her. “I am so sorry, miss,” he softly said as he shook his head,” but I am afraid that she hasn’t survived the crash. Her car got hit by a truck, and your friend had died almost immediately during the impact.”

Ashley didn’t hear Dominic’s short exclamation of shock, nor his words: “Oh God no, please no. Please God, not Kim!” She also didn’t hear the officers trying to tell them how sorry they were. She just stood there, staring at them, her eyes opened wide out of disbelieve.

Within moments those same eyes filled with tears and Ashley shook her head vigorously. “No!” she said, over and over again. “No! I don’t believe you! It’s a lie!” She jumped forward and grabbed the officer who had spoken by his shirt. “It’s a lie!” she yelled. “You lie!” She began hitting the man against the chest, still yelling that it was a lie.

She screamed as two hands grabbed her by the waist and pulled her away.

Dominic took her into a tight embrace, holding her until her screaming turned into sobs and she began to shake all over her body. Then he faced the officers, without letting her go.

“We are so sorry,” the other officer, who had been quiet all the time, said, and Dominic nodded.

“I know,” he said, his voice raw from the grieve and pain. Tears were falling down his face, but he didn’t seem to notice them. “I know,” he said again, “but could you please leave? Please?”

The two officers nodded and they turned around, slowly walking away. Dominic watched them go, still holding Ashley in his arms. Then sobs began to break through his body, and he and Ashley fell to the ground. There they sat like a broken mess, holding on to each other as if they were holding on to life itself.