Roughers | an Ashton Irwin Fanfic

Chapter 8

 I glance over at Ashton who stretches his arms over his head, revealing half his forearms from his long sleeved shirt and making my breath hitch.

Along his right arm runs the tattoo all Roughers are marked with. The image of a rope windes around from his wrist up to his elbow, disappearing underneath his sleeve. That's what I forgot to cover. I fidget in my chair, my insides screaming. I squeeze my eyes shut for a moment, hoping, praying no one saw that. 

But it's too late. Cause when I look up, Zaria's eyes are locked on his arm and then slowly slide to me.

"We need to go." I say lowly to Ashton, reaching down under the table to grab my bag and avoiding his confused gaze.

"But we just got here." he questions innocently, his eyes following me as I stand up from my chair.

I stop, hardening my gaze at him, causing him to shift uncomfortably. I lean down slightly, ignoring his boyish glance down my dress as I do so. "If you do not get up and leave with me right now, we will both disappear from this city faster than you thought possible." I say, my voice only audible to him.

I watch him clumsily clamber up from his chair, mumbling a goodbye to an unknowing Bebe and a clearly vexed Zaria. He jogged to catch up to my fast pace, his hand lightly grabbing my arm and slowing me. "Harley," he began. But I stopped him before he could continue, my eyes still set on the path in front of me, trying my best to appear casual, very aware of the watchful gazes cast from the eyes of my two best friends.

"I will explain when we get farther away." I speak through clenched teeth.

He looks behind us, earning a tug on his arm from me. "You want to get killed don't you?" I spoke sarcastically, trudging forward into the park ahead of us. I knew we were out of ear shot by now, but my paranoid mind set pushed me farther, wanting nothing more than to have Ashton safe.

We walked on for 5 more minutes, Ashton's grumbling turning from child like noises into actual phrases. "Okay, Harley," he groaned. "I think we've lost them, for whatever reason."

I sighed, crossing my arms and cautiously glancing over my shoulder. "You do not get it Ashton," I say, my voice distressed. 

"Get what?" he breathily chuckled, slightly raising his arms. I shake my head, looking down at my feet.

"No, stop this is serious," I say, going into panic mode and beginning to pace. "They saw."

His eyebrows raised, watching me as I walked back and forth. "Saw what Harley, you've yet to form a coherent sentence about what we're here for." he said lightly.

My fingers rubbed into my temples, my head now throbbing in anxiety. "They saw your tattoo."

I watched the smile fall from his face, his cheeks now slightly paler as he shrugged up his sleeve, looking at the rope tattoo that marked him as a Rougher. An illegal invader of The Pure.

He stayed silent for a moment, clearly in thought. 

I suddenly felt the need to provide some comfort to him, scared I might have over exaggerated. "But I think we got away fast enough." I said nodding.

He looked to me, his expression resembling the one of a lost puppy. "Are you sure they saw it?"

My heart lowered in my chest and I sighed. "Zaria did, I don't know about Bebe."

There was no point in lying to him. If Zaria were to act on what she saw, then I'd have no explanation to give him.

His arms fell to his sides in frustration. "So now what." It wasn't so much a question as it was just something to say in his loss for words.

I shrug, running a hand through my tangled hair. I smiled to myself, imagining Mrs. Rylin's face if she could see my disheveled appearance right now. I could hear her screechy voiced lecture in my ear. "You are a Pure Harley not some Rougher girl." she would say.

I lean back against a tree, looking up into the leaves then back at Ashton. "Now," I shrug. "We wait."

He holds my eyes. "We wait?" Pause. "Harley we can't just 'wait'."

I look at him confused, unsure of his point. "What do you mean.." 

Now it's his turn to pace. He turns and stands in front of me. "You could get in serious trouble Harley. Because of me."

I push myself off the tree slightly. "Ashton, she might not even tell. Zaria is cool."

He shakes his head. "But you don't know that."

"And neither do you." I counter back fast.

He groans, wiping the moisture from his forehead with his arm. "Harley," he breaths. "I just want to make sure you're safe, okay?"

I hold his eyes, very aware of his close proximity. I hesitantly nod, slowly gaining my confidence back.

He turns away, pacing once again but calmer this time. 

"I can handle myself, you know." I stutter, standing up straight and raising my brows. 

He chuckles at me, delicately taking my hand in his and pressing his lips to it. "Yes princess, I know."

OKAY SO I KNOW THIS IS AN INSANELY SHORT CHAPTER AND IM SO SORRY BUT I HAVE SO MUCH PLANNED FOR THE NEXT FEW CHAPTER SO GET EXCITED -kenzie x