Robbers

eighteen

{{ okay confession time I've had this chapter written for over a week now but I only just wrote the ending of it like an hour ago because I couldn't seem to get it right and it was making me angry haha. I'm really sorry about that but I wanted to make sure I was happy with it :/

anyway! I wanted to let you guys know that I've finally posted a cast list (even though i got asked for one like months ago). I picture Ella Jane as Chelsea Schuchman, she's the girl from the music video for Robbers by the 1975. And then Ryan is Taron Egerton, please don't laugh, he was in the movie Kingsman .. yikes. Just wanted to let you know! Haha there's pictures for both of them on the description and first chapter of the story :)

that's all! i really hope you like the chapter }}

// eighteen //

"Here's the thing," Ryan sighed, slouching further down in the driver's seat. "I don't think I can wait until the weekend to do it."

Ella exhaled through her nose, clutching the Styrofoam cup of hot tea in order to regain feeling in her numb fingers. It was Monday afternoon, and Ryan had driven them both to a Dunkin Donuts to get something warm to drink after school had ended. They were sitting in the parking lot of the store now, safe from the cold, wintry air within Ryan's truck. There were stale but warm gusts of air escaping out of the vents, washing over Ella's knees.

They were talking about when they were going to try getting more money. It was late November now – Thanksgiving Day was that coming Thursday – and Ella could see how anxious Ryan was as the days faded quickly. She had done the math last Sunday night, and it seemed he had until just before Christmas to get the entirety of the money.

"But how can we do it during the week?" Ella countered gently. She watched as Ryan drank from his cup of black coffee, and she saw the way his Adam's apple shifted as he swallowed, and the way he ran his tongue over his bottom lip in one smooth movement. Her cheeks felt hot, so she looked back down at her own cup. "The gas station is an hour away, at least. If we do it at three in the morning, we won't be back until 4:30. How will we go to school straight after doing something like that?"

"I'm planning on skipping." Ryan set his cup down into one of the holders between them, resting both his palms on the weathered steering wheel before him. "Tell your parents the night before that you don't feel well. Then you won't have to go to school in the morning, so all you'll have to do is sneak back in and go to bed."

Ella sighed with her lips parted, her warm breath puffing up a few strands of hair that had fallen in front of her eyes. She rubbed her forehead hard with her left hand, still clutching the heated Styrofoam with the other. This was all too much to think about, and it was giving her a blistering headache. "And you're sure this gas station isn't near any other buildings?"

"Ella," Ryan said. His tone wasn't condescending or impatient, just firm – and Ella appreciated him for it. "I'm sure. I drove by it over the summer. And we can't go check it out before we hit it, because then we'll be on the cameras twice. It isn't a good idea."

If the Ella from two months ago was to overhear what she was discussing with Ryan, Ella was positive her past self would keel over from the shock. She was planning to actually help rob a gas station. It was something that never, ever would have crossed her mind before she'd met Ryan Hunter.

"What do you think?" he asked cautiously, causing Ella to blink rapidly and turn to face him again. Ryan was looking her over carefully, one hand still on the wheel and the other lazily spinning against the plastic lid of his cup in the console between them. "I don't want to pressure you into this. If you're not comfortable, we'll wait until the weekend."