Ashley enjoyed every moment she could being in Tyler’s arms and pressed up against his body. Although their time wrapped around each other was coming to a halt, the blonde couldn’t help but look forward to the event being over and being able to go home with him to continue their reunion in the privacy of their own homes. Before she knew it, the panel was starting and Tyler was leaving her to take his assigned place on stage. Luckily she wasn’t too far behind him, entering hand in hand with Shay and taking her seat right next to her boyfriend. As she took her seat, Ashley couldn’t stop staring in the direction of Tyler. It felt so good to be with him once again. She had to mentally remind herself not to show too much affection while the audience was carefully watching their every move. There had always been rumors about their on screen chemistry transferring off of the screen as well. There were fans that were convinced they were dating and madly in love. Although they were right, the last thing Ashley wanted to do was to fuel that fire and put the attention entirely on them. After all, this panel was about the show that was coming to an end. For all she knew, this would be the last major event revolving around Pretty Little Liars, at least until the last half of the final season aired. They would have more than enough time in the future to drop the bomb about their relationship. Once the light dimmed, Ashley could feel Tyler get close to her, which cased the smile on her face to only light up even more. She grabbed a hold of his hand and gently ran her thumb over the back of it, allowing the small gesture to let him know how much she loved and missed him over the course of the past few months. Before she knew it, the lights were returning to their full brightness and she had to remind herself to stay professional. Of course, there were fans that had questions and comments relating around their chemistry and made the assumption that they were dating. Thank god that Ian had taken the reigns for them and diverted the attention away from just Ashley and Tyler. She made a mental note to thank him for that once the panel was officially over.
The rest of the afternoon went by in a sort of blur for Tyler, who in all honesty had stopped paying attention to anything beyond what was asked directly toward him. In particular, after reading as Spencer against Ian’s hysterical attempt at Aria, Tyler all about checked out mentally. It wasn’t that he was disinterested, but he was in his own little world. His own little world just with Ashley, who at one point had declared just being near one another had her in nothing but giggles. At some point, the two simply forgot their rules for the event, holding hands and laughing to themselves as their mics hopefully picked no part of their conversation up. The fans were busy cheering about Emison and yelling at Marlene about the NAT Club anyway. Though in this time, Tyler kept the conversation going with Ashley concerning memories from the set, whether the girls getting shit faced after wrapping, drowning their teas in alcohol, or that one time in the tent the raccoon scared the crap out of them both, or even the earlier topic of conversation about Tyler’s music picks for shooting the most intimate of scenes. The conversation was kept safe enough that in case a mic picked it up in their lack of attention they’d sill be safe.
In the end of the panel, the fans rushed the stage even after being advised not to do so. It was expected. Tyler reluctantly parted from Ashley, taking photos with fans, and signing autographs. He couldn’t help but laugh as he noticed Shay having to borrow Sasha’s leather jacket to keep herself in her top as she bent down to greet fans. He exchanged a look with Ashley, making light fun of their third wheel for her fashionable yet impractical choices in wardrobe. A good fifteen or twenty minutes passed before the cast were all finally able to head back stage, satisfied with how the afternoon went. As soon as they got back stage, Tyler removed his coat, leaving him in his white tee. His coat handing over one arm, the actor headed back for more food before finding Ashley among the bustling area. Of course, he found the girls all in the bathroom as some changed, and mostly gossiped. He waited outside for Ashley to walk out, immediately wrapping both arms around her in order to pull her close as she returned to him. “How about we go grab food, then head home?” by home he meant his place which was the closest, though he also offered the secondary option, “I can also drive out to mom’s if you haven’t picked up Ollie and Walter yet?” Although Shannon was probably around here somewhere, he wasn’t sure if she’d returned the pups to Ashley, who he was sure was missing her fur children.
