No Escape (luke hemmings au)

~part nine~

        Ashton told me the plan. Elisa was coming, too. I tried to take it all in and I listened as best as I could. There was a gentle breeze blowing through the tunnel. I could feel it tugging at my hair.

                “Are you sure you want to come?” Luke asked me when Ashton was finished. “Ash said the Finns don’t let anyone go looking for anyone. They don’t think it’s worth it.” I nodded. It was my fault we were here in the first place. I owed it to Calum.

                I don’t know how long we had been in the tunnel and I started worrying someone would notice we were gone. Ashton didn’t seem bothered so I convinced myself we would be fine.  Luke started walking along the side of the tunnel and looked at all the graffiti. It really was beautiful. I could never understand people who thought graffiti was anything other than art.

                I watched him walking. His hair was still damp and I could see the beginnings of sunburn on the peak of his cheekbones. He was playing with his lip ring, as he often did. I wondered why he bothered to keep it. There must be more important things than taking care of a piercing. Yet there he was with his black hoop and stunning smile. I wondered how someone could look so simple and so perfect at the same time.

                “We should probably go if we want to get this done tonight,” Ashton suggested. I didn’t want to leave yet. I wanted to stay in the tunnel in this peaceful silence for just a little while longer. But, I agreed nonetheless and followed Ashton down the tracks.

                The walk back seemed considerably shorter than the walk to. Before I knew it Ashton was holding open the fence for me again. The sun had already passed above us and was beginning its descent. It must have been at least three o’clock.

                Ashton aligned the wires and turned to face Luke and I. “Alright,” he sighed. “It’s now or never. I’ll see you later.” He winked and turned on his heels to launch his part of the plan.

                I looked at Luke, who was already looking at me. “Let’s do this, newbie,” he smiled nervously. I was sure I looked the same way.

                We headed off in our separate directions and I repeated what I needed to do in my mind. Ashton’s plan was pretty straight-forward, nothing too crazy. The little things we had planned for before dinner were easy. But our grand finale would be hard to pull off. I tried not to look suspicious.

                I walked towards the towel tent and, just like Ashton had said, Penny was there scooping dirty towels into her arms. I took a deep breath and walked up to her before I could talk myself out of it.

                “You need any help?” I asked. My voice was much smoother than I thought it was going to be.

                “That would be awesome, thank you so much,” she grinned. I knelt down and picked up the remaining towels. I discreetly snatched several soap pieces in the process.

                “Where to?” I asked.

                Penny nodded towards the river. “This way,” she said. She started walking through the camp and, just as I had hoped, she led me past my tent. I hung back a few steps and flicked the soap through the door along with three towels. I was hoping to grab four but I couldn’t risk staying back another second to finish the set. Penny hadn’t even looked back.

                I sighed and followed her along. I saw Luke standing by a different row of tents with a blanket wrapped around his shoulders. He was thanking someone for the blanket. He looked very convincing. Penny turned down the same path Elisa had led me down that morning for my bath. I looked around and saw that some towels had already been washed and hung to dry on low-hanging branches.