ten
"Let's go, we have to be out of here in an hour," he mumbled while looking down at his phone. I nodded my head and stepped out of the car. I shivered slightly. Ashton pulled his flannel off of his body and handed it to me. "You look cold," he said softly. I nodded my head and took it from his warm hands. We were in the car for about two hours before reaching this place somewhere in Washington. I slipped the button up onto my body. It was warm, smelt of cigarettes and cheap cologne like usual. It smelt like Ashton.
We began walking down a narrow sidewalk. Ashton pulled out a cigarette and lit it with the small black lighter he carried in his pocket. I stayed quiet.
"What? No lecture on how unhealthy smoking is?" He chuckled. I shook my head as I felt the corners of my lips tug upward into a slight smile. "Well, I'm starting to like you Shannon Montgomery," I chuckled.
"Well I'm starting to like you too Ashton Irwin," he nodded his head and brought the cigarette back to his mouth. A cloud of smoke escaped his plump lips.
We continued to walk until we reached a small building. My eyes widened. Ashton took my hand when he noticed the fear in my eyes. I shook at the sight of the two men, clearly body guards standing at the front entrance.
"Name?" A man with a deep brown beard snapped. I raised my head.
"Ashton Irwin. I'm here to see Arnold."
"And the girl?" The other one said deeply.
"Doesn't matter," Ashton's voice raised in annoyance.
"She can't come in with you," the man with the beard said slowly. He took my arm and quickly tried to pull me away from Ashton.
"Don't touch her!" I cringed at the sound of Ashton's voice. "She's just here to translate," he said softly. The entry way fell silent. "Either she comes with me. Or Arnold doesn't get the money."
The men huffed and rolled their eyes. I stumbled into Ashton when the man pushed me away.
"Watch it man!" Ashton warned.
"I still need her name?"
"Shannon Montgomery," I swallowed hard. They nodded their heads and opened the small rusted door. The two of us stepped inside. There was a long hallway leading to a shabby wooden door.
"You could have left me out there," I said slowly as we walked.
"No, I wasn't going to let you get hurt, I was the one who got us into this," he mumbled. "I need you too, these guys may speak French." I nodded my head. We finally reached the door. Ashton stiffened as he pushed it open.
"Ashton, your back?" a man scuffed. He was very muscular, he looked about 25 but I wasn't sure. He wore all black, his tee-shirt hung tight to his chiseled features. His jawline was very prominent, just like Ashton's.
"Arnold, I thought you quit using after your wife left you," Ashton smirked. I stayed quiet in attempt to not be noticed by any of the men here. Arnold stood up from the dingy couch he laid on.
"Who is this?" He snapped. My eyes lowered when I realized he was talking about me.
"This is Shannon, she's my translator," Ashton said quickly. Arnold approached me slowly. He brought me closer to him by gripping my waist tightly.
"So you wouldn't mind if I did this?" He said slowly into my ear. My breath hitched when I felt his large hand grip my ass. I looked at Ashton to see anger fill his soft eyes.
"She's my girlfriend," Ashton said quickly.
"That's what I thought," Arnold smirked. Girlfriend? My eyes widened. Ashton looked at me quickly his eyebrows raised while trying to tell me to go along with his plan. He was just trying to protect me. Arnold pulled away from me and walked back to the dingy couch. I ran back to Ashton and clung to his arm tightly like I did before. He didn't seem to mind knowing I was completely frightened.
"So are we gonna get this over with?" Ashton snapped.
"Yes, yes, did Brett give you the money?" Ashton nodded his head and held it at eye level. I stared at the cash for a moment. That must have been at least a thousand dollars but I wasn't sure.
"I need the pills to take to Jamie," Ashton's said with a stiff ring to his voice. I looked around the room and observed it quickly. The couch Arnold sat on was in the middle of the dingy room, there were no windows, but men standing at each corner, clearly guards.
Arnold pulled a small bag out of his pocket.
"Jamie speaks French, remember that," He spoke up.
"Ashton ne comprenez ce que je veux dire?" Arnold's French was great. He had been asking me if Ashton could understand what he was saying. I shook my head. The fact that Ashton needed me hear with him showed he didn't know a single word of French. Ashton looked confused but Arnold smirked at me once Ashton took my hand and pulled me up to meet Arnold at the couch. He handed Ashton the bag and mumbled something to the man next to him. I examined the small bag of pills. They looked like ecstasy from what I could tell. My father had shown me a pill back when we lived in France. He was working on a patient that had a large amount on him. The hospital had taken them away and showed me the remains. It was a small red pill with a figure on it. I couldn't make out exactly what it was but I was surprised to see it in front of me in the first place. "You speak French?" The man next to Arnold spoke up.
"I was born there," I mumbled. He nodded his head.
"Ah, hope to see you around," he smirked. Ashton pulled me toward the door.
"I'll see you soon Irwin, tell your mother I said hi," Arnold chuckled. Ashton tensed up. I looked at him with worry in my eyes. His face grew angered. He pulled me out the door and down the hallway. Once passed the two guards on our way out he huffed.
After a few minutes of constant walking. We finally reached the end of the sidewalk. I checked the time. 12:36 am. We reached the truck and stood outside of it for a moment. Ashton's head fell down to meet the side off the car. He grunted. I stared at him for a moment.
"Are you okay?" I said softly.
"No, I'm not." He mumbled. "Why do you ask so many questions?" I remained silent for a moment.
"Do you want to talk about it?" I asked. "Was it your mother?" I tried to make myself sound as understanding as I could.
"No! Just shut up!" He shouted. He lifted his head from the car. His eyes filled with anger.
"I'm sorry," I mumbled.
"Just stop talking." I jumped at the tempered ring to his voice.
"Ashton, maybe if you talk about it, you'll feel better?" I touched his arm lightly in attempt to calm him down.
"Don't touch me, don't look at me, just shut up!" His voice boomed in my ears. He quickly shoved me up against the car. My arms were pinned tightly to the windows. "You never mention my mother ever again!" He yelled. His grip became tighter with each breath he took. I looked into his face filled with pure anger. I bite my lip to try and hold in the pain.
"Ashton, please stop, it hurts," I said softly.
"No! You have no idea what my parents are like so don't ask!"
"Let go," I whispered. His grip continued to tighten. "Ashton!" I yelled. "Let go." He immediately snapped back into reality. His eyes filled with sadness. He let go quickly and brought me to his chest. He hugged me tightly, the warmth of his muscular body grasped mine. I inhaled sharply in fear.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-"
"I-It's fine," I mumbled. I shoved his body away from me slightly.
"Shannon?" He said softly. I flinched when he brought his hand to mine.
"L-Let's go, you need to get to your next stop, p-please just take me home first," I was shaking. He nodded his head. This was something I was used to. My father was just like Ashton a few years back. He stopped drinking a few years ago. That's when he stopped hitting my mother and I. Ashton was bringing back these memories right in this moment.
"Shannon, I'm s-sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you! I-I don't know what I was thinking," He said quickly. He walked closer to me. I backed up immediately. He clearly noticed how scared I was. The look in his eyes changed. Guilt washed over his face once again. Just when I thought Luke was wrong. Ashton was dangerous. He was right. Luke was right.