And it keeps sucking, but surely not forever?

Ashley remains inconsolable. She spends a lot of time in her warren, sometimes alone and sometimes with Tibby or you. It's not that she's isolating herself, as she does seek out comfort and tries to engage with people when they come to see her (Annabelle, friends from before and after she became your pet, even some of the girls from the pet store come by to cheer her up), but it's like part of her has withdrawn into herself. Even when she's laughing, you can see the pain she's hiding from them.

Her dreams have been shattered and she doesn't know how to carry on. She's going through the motions of getting over it, playing along when people try to lift her spirits, but she's only growing more despondent. Her plans of a career, which she had worked so hard to bring into harmony with her desire to be your pet, have been torn apart before her eyes, never to be mended again.