Friends?

Thomas opened his eyes slowly, and avoided looking at the bright light to his left. His head throbbed and his entire body ached but he forced himself to sit up slowly. He was shirtless and wearing only the cargo pants he wore the night before. He ran a hand through his hair and felt that his forehead was bandaged, as were his ribs. He groaned. What did I do last night? His head pounded painfully as he tried to remember.

His eyes flitted around the room he was in. It wasn't his. Thomas felt a momentary panic well up inside him but immediately pushed it down. Whoever had picked him up off the street must have taken him somewhere and tended to his wounds. He breathed deeply, trying to remember what put him in this situation when a soft voice spoke from behind him.

"Oh, you're awake."

He turned quickly, a mistake. Pain stabbed his skull and he involuntarily groaned before falling back onto the pillows. The person who had spoken moved swiftly to his side, barely making any noise on the carpeted floor.

"Sorry, sorry, I shouldn't have snuck in like that. I thought you would still be sleeping." She said sheepishly.

Thomas answered with another groan and cracked his eyes open to look at the woman. Her own brown eyes stared back and were filled with concern. Her shoulder length hair was a crimson color, almost deep red and was damp as if she had just washed it. It framed a smooth, round face that was covered in freckles. If Thomas had been standing, he would have towered over her small frame. She finished assessing the damaged she caused by sneaking up on him, and deciding that he would live, walked back to the door.

"I'll get you some water and an aspirin for your headache." She said then turned and pointed at him. "Don't move." Thomas grimaced.

"I wasn't planning to.''

She was back in moments with a pill, that he swallowed, and a glass of water, which he drank gratefully.

"I'm Ashley, by the way."

He glanced up. "Thomas."

She nodded. "I got that much from your drivers license. Sorry about the shirt but I couldn't wrap your ribs with it on." She pointed to the bandage. "It's only bruised not broken so that's a relief and I'm guessing you have a minor concussion but it was hard to tell because you were unconscious." She rambled on about his injuries but Thomas tuned her out. He could already feel most of them anyway. Instead he focused on figuring out how he had been knocked out. He didn't remember meeting anyone on the way home from work yesterday.....unless.....he had? His head hurt from thinking but something Ashley said brought him back to the present.

" - saw those guys beat you up I didn't know what to do." She shrugged. " you were basically right outside my apartment so I had my roommate help carry you upstairs and put you in here. I wrapped you up and here we are." She smiled. "Any questions?"

Thomas nodded. "About the men, the ones that beat me up," he hesitated, "what did they look like?"

Ashley looked surprised. "You don't remember? Man they must have hit you hard!" She shook her head. "They were all pretty big, wore black jackets with a logo on the back."

Thomas sat up straighter. "Did you see the logo?" He asked.

She gave him a weird look. "No, they were moving too much for me to see." Thomas looked disappointed but perked up when Ashley spoke again.

"I couldn't see any of their faces either," She looked angry. "They were all wearing clown masks like circus freaks." Thomas spoke so suddenly and with such intensity that Ashley took a step back.

"You're sure they were wearing clown masks?" His eyes bore into hers, searching for a lie. She gulped and nodded quickly.

"Yes." She squeaked, then straightened up and said confidently, "yes, I'm sure." Thomas nodded and relaxed. "Alright, did they see you?"

She shook her head. "No I waited till they left to help you." After a moment she realized how bad that sounded and hurried to correct herself. "I mean I would have helped you before but I-" Thomas held up a hand to stop her and said firmly, "No what you did was right. If they had seen you...." He didn't dare finish that sentence.

A moment of silence passed.

"Who are they?" Ashley asked, barely whispering.

"Dangerous people." Thomas had an edge to his voice now as he met her eyes. "A rival gang. My boys and I have had some trouble with them for a while now." He shook his head disdainfully. "They're a small group, only about ten members, but I wasn't expecting to get attacked alone." He gave a dry laugh. "My fault for walking through their turf."

Ashleys eyes were wide and her mouth opened but nothing came out. Finally she managed, "you're in a gang?"

Thomas sighed, he got this reaction a lot. "Yes, but it's not as bad as it sounds. we're not a bad grou-"

"That's awesome."

His eyes met hers again. "What?"

Ashley steadily returned his gaze. "I think it's cool." She repeated.

Thomas's mouth hung open in disbelief. "Really? Usually people aren't very keen on the idea." He admitted.

Ashley giggled. "I can see why."

Thomas looked her over once again then looked at the clock. "Shoot, it's late." He looked back to her and said, "I would love to stay and chat about why you're ok with a gang member in your apartment but I really have to go."

Ashley also looked at the clock. "Oh! It is late. I have to get to work." She glanced at him. "But you shouldn't walk around by yourself in your condition."

He waved her off. "I'll call one of my boys to come get me." Ashley looked relieved and hurried out of the room to get ready.

It barely seemed like minutes had passed before Thomas's associate was at the door and he was limping down the hallway with Ashley waving from the entrance. Before they had gone too far Thomas turned back. "Hey Ashley!" He yelled. "Thanks for being a friend and helping me out."

"Friends? Really?" She yelled back.

He grinned. "Anyone who saves my life is a friend!"