By the time Ash reached the Busy Bean, she felt a little guilty for carrying out Dr. Ellerson's assignment in word but not intent. She knew Dr. Ellerson hadn't just meant for her to ask Zach a question and walk away without an answer. In reparation, Ash spent her whole shift talking to her coworkers and listening for what they did for fun.

Her coworkers were much simpler than Zach. They freely offered up information about themselves. Even when they didn't say what they meant with their words, Ash could pick up the underlying message from their body language.

Zach on the other hand felt much stickier. He had been a mystery before the kidnapping, and now they had the weird bond of being kidnapped together, but leaning into that connection felt strange and fake.

As Ash listened to her coworkers, she started a list of activities in her head. Most of the things her coworkers liked to do weren't surprising. They went to bars, parties, sporting events. They liked to shop and get their nails done. Some of them were really into fitness classes or finding new places to eat.

None of it sounded altogether that fun to Ash, but she made a list nonetheless. The only activity Ash could agree held any notion of fun was the sporting events. But even then, she went to observe the fans while her coworkers went to watch the players.

"Anything fun planned for tonight?" one of her coworkers asked as she clocked out.

Her usual sarcastic response of her awaiting homework and bed was on the tip of her tongue but she held them in. What was the point of going to therapy if she was going to continue to do what she had always done? Laying on the couch and dissecting her feelings could feel like torture and the pain would all be for nothing if she didn't make an effort beyond talking with Dr. Ellerson.

She turned to her coworker. "There's a basketball game tonight, right?"

"Yeah. We're playing NC State."

Ash nodded. She hadn't been to the bar to watch a game since the kidnapping. Her whole life for the last three months had revolved around school, work, and therapy with a side of talking psychology with Zach.

As she stepped out of the Busy Bean, she thought about seeing if Zach wanted to watch the game with her. They had done it before the kidnapping. But she decided against it. She had already treaded into murky waters that morning asking him about what he did for fun. While observing sports fans felt like it landed solidly in the realm of psychology she still felt hesitant.

"Maybe another time," she told herself as she walked towards the bar.

NC State was a popular rival team of Fayetteville State University and the bar was packed when Ash arrived. All the tables were full and the only spot the host could offer her was one at the bar. Ash preferred a back table with a better vantage point, but this whole week was about finding new ways to have fun.

Maybe sitting at the bar would add a new level of fun to her observation game. She found a seat near one of the corners that allowed her to view both sides of the bar and she started scanning the crowd.

Ash had found that busy nights at the bar were the most interesting. There was something in the atmosphere when you got this many people all cheering for the same thing. Their excitement and disappointment went exponential and turned into a gravitational pull, sweeping even the most casual observers into the excitement. Sometimes, it even affected Ash.

She scanned the faces around her, quickly cataloging the usual suspects then moved on to find someone more interesting. Someone let out a loud cheer from the left side of the bar and her eyes were drawn to a group playing darts. She zeroed in on them but after a few minutes her attention drifted to their game of darts and not their expressions.

She understood the basic rules of darts but she found herself trying to puzzle out why some throws would illicit victorious reactions while others brought on frustration. She focused on the board with its rings of circles divided into different number values.

Over the next half hour, she watched how the group played, more interested in the rules of the game than their behavior. When the group set down their darts and returned to their table, Ash felt like she was being pulled out of a hazy dream as her concentration was broken and the bustling atmosphere around her came rushing back in.

"This is from Sherry," the bartender said, as he placed a basket of chips and a side of nacho cheese on the bar in front of Ash. "Do you want anything to drink with that?"

Ash smiled. "Why not?" she said. She never got anything other than the free water but tonight was all about doing new things. "How about a Sprite?"

The bartender nodded and moved away to get her drink. Ash started eating her chips and looked back to the dartboard. There weren't any new players. The basketball game had entered the fourth quarter and everyone's eyes were glued to the TVs. But Ash's attention remained on the dartboard.

She felt like she had a solid grasp of the rules of the game, but she had learned that observing could only take you so far. Some intricacies weren't revealed until you put something into action. She wanted to put her observation to the test.

Before any of her logical doubt could creep in, she walked over and began pulling the darts out of the board. But as she wrapped her hand around the red and blue colored darts she found the one simple detail she had skipped over. Darts was a two-person game.

She was suddenly annoyed. She had ordered a drink, and she was thinking of playing darts. These felt like big strides towards something one might call fun and now she was running up against her lack of friends. She looked around at the tables filled with groups of friends.

She was the only one there alone she thought, until her eyes picked out a solo figure at the bar. It was Zach.

She wasn't surprised, even though she had scanned the entire bar when she had entered and hadn't seen him. After three months of having him just appear at a back table of the Busy Bean, she had gotten used to his appearing and disappearing act.

He was sitting in the back corner of the bar with his eyes on the TV, but she had learned that by the time she became aware of his presence, he was already aware of her. Generally, she found it annoying that he always seemed to be one step ahead of her, but tonight she decided to use it to her advantage.

She held on to the darts and walked over to where he sat.

"Play darts with me," she said. She didn't worry about a greeting, knowing full well that he had seen her coming.

He let the team on TV score before he turned to her. He forewent the greetings as well and looked down at the darts in her hand.

"I just observed a group of four people play darts for approximately thirty-five minutes and on average they showed enjoyment or amusement two times per minute," she added.

He looked thoughtfully at the dart board across the room for a moment then stood.

"Okay," he said, taking the set of blue darts out of her hand.

He led the way back to the dartboard and wrote their names at the top of the chalk scoreboard.

For the next ten minutes, Ash wasn't aware of anything other than the dartboard. As she had hypothesized, observing was very different from the actual doing. She tried her best to mimic the movements she had watched the other players do and managed to get her darts onto the board.

It wasn't until the seventh round that she managed to shift her attention from the board to Zach. She stepped back and watched as he moved to the throwing line. He placed his right foot forward and seemed to precisely position every part of his body, from his knees to his shoulders and wrists. He pulled his hand back and right before he threw the dart he let his wrist go slack.

Ash had been doing the opposite with her throws so she watched closer as he threw his next dart. He did the same thing. He precisely adjusted his body the exact same way he had before but let his wrist go slack before the throw. The dart landed on the board but it was a low score.

She looked at the scoreboard and saw she had also scored low on her last round.

Looking closer, she discovered that every round she had scored high, he had also scored high, and every round she had scored low, he had also scored lower. After seven rounds this wasn't a coincidence.

She turned her attention back to Zach as he prepared to throw his last dart and again watched him duplicate his stance like a machine. He threw the last dart but she didn't bother watching where it landed. It would be a low number.

Before he could move to retrieve his darts she stepped in front of him.

"You're throwing the game," she said.

"You're supposed to throw the darts," he said.

She grinned. He was too smart to have so blatantly misunderstood what she was saying. "You are purposefully playing bad."

"Some people might consider that a rude thing to say," he countered.

"It would be rude if it wasn't true. You are purposefully playing bad. Stop."

A small smirk appeared in the corner of his mouth. "I thought the reason we were playing this game was to try and have fun."

"And..."

"Most people don't consider it fun when they lose horribly."

"Wow. Cocky. Okay. One," she said holding up her finger, "since when am I 'most people'?" He gave a conceding nod. "Two, who says I am going to lose?"

His smile came quick and full before he reigned it back into a smirk.

"Fine. I will play to the best of my abilities from now on," he said, waving for her to take her turn.

"Alright," she nodded as she stepped up to the throwing line.

Her throws were messy as she quickly got her turn out of the way so she could watch Zach throw. She retrieved her darts and stepped back to observe.

Like before, Zach set his stance but this time, there was something in the way his eyes narrowed in on the board that made Ash think she and everyone around him had ceased to exist. This time he kept his wrist straight and without any hesitation he threw his three darts in quick succession. All three landed with heavy thuds in the center of the board. Ash stood in stunned silence as she stared at the darts until Zach calmly moved forward the retrieve them.

"I knew it!" she cheered as he walked back to her. "I knew it!"

He shrugged off her cheer like it was nothing.

"How?" she asked, her brain still trying to comprehend what he had done.

He calmly pointed to himself as he looked at her and simply said, "Spy."

The single word surprised Ash more than his three perfect throws and she burst out laughing at his casual admittance to his past. She couldn't control herself as her laughter took over her whole body and she sank to her knees. Her chest became tight but for a reason, she wasn't used to and she found it refreshing.

When her laughter finally died down to quiet chuckles, she picked herself up off the floor and found Zach watching her with casual interest.

"It's your turn," he said once she was standing.

She looked at him in amazement, similar to how she had looked at him the first few times they had interacted. She had spent her whole life analyzing people and quickly categorizing them in her mind, so she would know how to interact with them, but there was no category she could fit Zach into.

"Come on," he said, nodding her towards the throwing line when she didn't move on her own.

"Right," she said, jumping into motion.

She barely paid attention as she threw her darts. This game was no longer about who had the highest score. She was way more interested in finding out what Zach was capable of.

"Your turn," she sang excitedly as she stepped back for the best view to watch him throw.

This time he barely took the time to align his body before he threw the darts and all of them still landed directly in the bull's eye.

"Can you teach me?" she asked as she stepped up for her turn.

"You got a time machine?" he quipped.

"Yeah, but I left the keys in my other jacket," she answered smartly. He chuckled and she caught the smallest eye-roll. "Kidding. I don't have another jacket. But I'm serious," she continued. "There must be something you can teach me."

He looked at her like she was clueless. "I can throw like that because I've been training since I was ten."

"Wow. I didn't realize you took your dart game so seriously," she said, making her eyes go big. She laughed as his expression fell flat into an unamused look. "Yeah yeah," she said, waving away his look. "You have a traumatic past. I get it. Don't be dramatic. I'm sure there is something you can teach me, even if we can't go back in time."

He looked at her in stunned silence and it was the purest expression she had ever seen on his face.

She smiled as she was able to clearly understand what he was thinking for the first time. No one had ever made light of his past before. Well, that was her specialty, so he better get used to it if he was going to keep hanging out with her.

He looked around as if he wasn't sure if he was dreaming. Once he regained control of himself, he studied her for a moment. Ash smiled back and patiently waited for him to reach whatever decision he was trying to get to. After a moment, he motioned for her to step up to the throwing line.

"Put your right foot forward," he told her. "You always want your dominant foot forward." His tone was serious and she quickly obeyed.

"Don't plant your feet too firmly. You want to rest on the balls of your feet," he instructed her. "You want every part of your body pushing the energy forward."

She started to tilt forward as she tried to put his words into action but he put his hand in front of her to stop her.

"Don't lean forward. Keep your body upright." He came to stand next to her, his right foot forward and his shoulders back. "When you throw, you want all the energy from your body moving towards your target. Watch."

He pretended to throw and Ash could see his whole body moving behind his throwing arm.

"Try again," he said. She moved back into position and lifted her throwing arm. "Shoulder down," he said, lightly tapping her right shoulder. "Elbow up." He lightly tapped under her elbow. "Keep your arm at a right angle."

"Like this." He demonstrated with his own arm.

Ash looked and then tried to copy the shape with her own arm.

"Good," he said.

She looked over and smiled when she saw Zach had his hands behind his back. He was fully embracing teacher mode.

"Here." He handed her a dart while she continued to hold her position. "Now throw it."

She did as she was told but knew the instant the dart left her hand that it would be a horrible throw. She was concentrating so hard on her body position that all her muscles were tense and her throw was stiff. The dart only made it halfway to the board before it dive-bombed for the ground.

"Relax," Zach instructed as he placed another dart in her hand. She relaxed her muscles and he instantly tapped her elbow. "Elbow up." She lifted her elbow and he tapped her shoulder. "Shoulder down but don't drop your elbow."

Her second throw wasn't any better. Every time she tried to relax he would correct her position and her muscles would tense again.

"Shoulder," he said just as she went to throw her third dart. This time it didn't even make it halfway to the board.

She sighed as she looked at her three darts lying on the ground.

"I'm rethinking that whole time-machine idea," she said.

"I know," he said, as he moved forward to retrieve her darts.

**********************************************************************

Nacho cheese and chips!!

Why do I want to hold my hands to my chest and spin in circles with a giddy grin on my face? Tell me! Like, they are playing darts, that's it and YET! I feel my heart giggling at it all!

Okay, tell me, you have a giddy smile on your face or a giggling heart? Or thoughts in general? 🗯💬💭

I think I love it so much because as the rapper Suga once said "peoples' extraordinary is my ordinary and their ordinary is my extraordinary."

For two people who have been facing hell a lot of their life something as simple as playing darts to have fun is heartwarming. It shows that happiness can come from the smallest things in life. I don't know, I just feel like curling up on a chair, hugging a pillow and smiling at nothing.

I hope the chapter made you feel that way as well!

Also did you get the Gallagher Girl reference? What about the Hobi one?

I was definitely two for two but *hair flip* I'm amazing like that.

If you can hold in your happiness for two seconds then vote, comment, follow!