Emotional Connection

a dragon tamer's heart

Charlie knew he needed to talk to Ashley. He just couldn't find the words to say. He knew he wanted to tell her he was in love with her, but there wasn't a good way to say it. He wasn't the sappy, romantic kind of guy. He was always the dragon guy, but now he couldn't help but be in love with the girl who would put up with his dragons. She even loved them in her own way. So how could he tell her?

It is because of his lack of romantic intuition, that he found himself pretending to confess his love for Ashley when in reality, he was talking to James, who was wearing a towel for a wig.

"Come on man, you need more passion. " James encouraged, hoping to get the two most oblivious people in the world to realize they both loved each other. The wig was just a bonus, he liked the way it felt on his hair. "Tell me you love me," he continued in a high falsetto, clearly attempting to sound like Ashley and ultimately, failing miserably.

"I don't know, James. At Bill's wedding, when I tried to bring it up, she did not want to talk about it. She wouldn't even let me say the word 'letter' without interrupting." Charlie complained.

"Look, I know you want your knight in shining armour, but at some point, the princess needs to fight for her knight too," James stated, gaining a confused look from Charlie.

"What? Okay, that's what Pete and I figured her nickname should be, since you're always getting hurt and she keeps you from dying and calls you princess- It makes sense!" He defended but Charlie ignored him and just sat back in his chair. His head rested in his hands and he couldn't help but just wonder, where did I go wrong? He knew where, and that's when he leapt to his feet and left the hospital, thanking James for his help.

"What was pretty boy doing, James?" Taylor asked, peering into the office of the hospital.

"Figuring out how to confess his love for a knight," James teased before looking down at the paperwork in front of him.

"Is Ashley coming in today?" She wondered, noticing James' dismay for the paperwork. His eyes brightened as he nodded before taking off the towel and exiting the office, Taylor in pursuit.

"I can't believe she didn't finish the paperwork," Abi complained to Taylor as the two of them tended to the few dragon tamers in the hospital.

"Well, she did just finish moving in, Abi, and I don't know, she seems nice to me. A lot nicer than my old boss who would shout at everyone but watch the girls in a creepy stalker way." Taylor responded, writing down the vitals of the patient.

"Well, any boss is better than that, Tay. But have you seen how she avoids people, it's like she doesn't even want to help them." Abi persisted. She did not like this girl, especially since she hadn't seen her work since that one time the hospital was flooded with patients.

"Abi, you know she's only avoiding one person. You're just jealous. She's nice, hardworking, and gave me a job. I'm not too picky about how she avoids Charlie. Plus, it makes our days interesting." Taylor added, she herself loved the gossip, but Abi was beginning to get on her nerves. Ashley hadn't done anything wrong in her mind and Abi just didn't like that someone else had a guy's attention.

"We work at a dragon sanctuary! Our days are already interesting!" Abi growled.

"Well, maybe you should do something about Charlie if this makes you that mad!" Taylor argued finally leaving Abi alone. She walked out of the patients' room and down to the office where she saw Ashley enter.

"Hey, Miss Ashley?" Taylor knocked on the frame before leaning in the room.

"Hey Taylor, oh and drop the Miss. We're the same age, you know."

Taylor's blushed before thinking about how rude Abi had been. "I was just wondering if there was anything I could do to help? I already checked the patients' vitals upstairs and recorded them. I know James left you a massive pile of paperwork. I could help you, if you'd like?"

Ashley smiled. "I'd like that very much. Thank you, Taylor." The girl sat down and together they began to make their way through the paperwork.

Charlie was being pulled into the hospital against his will with James wheeling him in when the girls finally left the office.

"Oh, well, James make sure he gets treated. " Ashley stated before turning to leave. James declined, before going back to the entrance where a few others were waiting.

"Abi, Taylor, you two come with me and let's go get the others at the entrance." He grabbed medical supplies and the two girls followed him out, Abi grudgingly.

"Hey, Ash." Charlie started but was cut off by her grabbing medical supplies and shushing him. She examined him before finding that his sock had been burned off, bubbles already forming on the skin.

"What were you doing this time?" She couldn't help but wonder aloud.

"What? No 'shut up princess'?" He joked before receiving a glare.

"I'm inviting you to speak, do you want to? Or not?" She pulled his leg up a little bit, stacking pillows under it before grabbing the burn balm.

"Small pesky dragons really like my socks. Mango's gotten big enough to be in with the other dragons but still rather small." He explained, expecting a stern expression. Instead, she gained a soft smile as she thought about the memories with Mango while treating his ankle. He had a feeling this would be the best time to talk about what had happened between them before she lost her good mood. "Remember how many times you used to come over a day? Mango used to curl up next to you when you fell asleep on the couch from long shifts. " He had moved to sit up and brushed a hair out of her face.

"I remember. " Her expression hardened. She finished wrapping his ankle before leaving the room.

Charlie had to do something. "No, wait!" He called, but she didn't respond. So, being rational as ever, he stood on his hurt ankle and in an act of love, promptly fell to the ground.

She rushed back and helped him lean back on the bed, before getting him to lay down, pain preventing him from speaking.

Once it passed, she had begun to walk out of the room again.

"Ashley, what did I ever do to you?" Luckily he was in the farthest bed so she had a while before fully exiting the room. His question made her stop twenty feet away before she ignored him and kept walking. "Why do you shut me out? Why did you shut everyone out? What are you so afraid of?" Ashley got to the door, barely able to hide the tears from him. She twisted the handle as he asked, "Why won't you say you love me like you did?"

He barely heard her whisper and before he could respond, she was gone. Her words on repeat in his mind.

"Because that hurt too much."