Ashley joins the rest

Ashley took one last look in the mirror in Chloe and Zack's room, making sure there were no signs of her earlier crying. It felt almost surreal as she opened the door and re-entered the world she had been hiding from for the last few hours. She moved slowly as she took in the scene. Chloe, Zack and Vicky were in the living room area chatting. Gavin was with them but had his nose in his phone. She noticed Chloe kept looking toward the kitchen. Was she that hungry... or maybe hungry for something else? In the kitchen she could see Heather and Brandon working together to get dinner ready. Looked like some kind of pasta dish. She noticed Kurt in the kitchen are with them, leaning against the counter, not really helping, just talking.

The sight of Heather and Brandon together made her pause. She took a deep breath, determined to hold it together. Brandon turned to her and flashed her that smile that always got to her and suddenly she felt stupid for worrying so much. "This is so dumb. Why am I suddenly so insecure," she thought. When Brandon turned back to his cooking her gaze went to Kurt whose smile was much less comforting. She looked back to the living room and saw Zack look up at her and smile. Vicky jumped up, ran to her and gave her a hug.

"I'm glad you are feeling better."

"What? Oh, yeah."

"Chloe told us you and her were chatting when you started feeling a little sick so you took a nap. She didn't have the heart to wake you up."

"Oh yeah, yeah. I feel, I'm much better now."

"Oh good, too much fun to be sick,"Vicky smiled, almost glowing.

"Yeah. Listen Vicky, I'm gonna go talk to Brandon."

"Oh of course"

The perky blonde bounced back to the living room. "What's got her so hyper?" Ashley thought. She took another deep breath and headed for the kitchen.