Caught in the Crossfire

Pulling her hair back into a ponytail, Ashton gave herself one last look over in the mirror, before slipping on her running shoes. At that moment, all she wanted was to feel the wind whipping against her face and her feet pushing through the sand. Getting her blood pumping would be the only thing that could calm her nerves and the fact that it would help her stamina only made it better.

Ashton tiptoed down the hallway, hoping to make it to the door without Harry noticing. As she slipped around the corner, her body collided with Harry’s, startling her twice as much as it had him. Her hand moved to her chest and she silently cursed herself for not knowing he was there. What good was seeing the future when it didn’t prevent assholes like Harry from sneaking up on you?

“Going somewhere?” Harry asked, as he pressed his hand against the wall. He sunk into it, leaning his entire body comfortably against it, as if he didn’t have a care in the world. The smug look on his face made her want to cast him into next Tuesday, but she couldn’t let him know that.

“Just off to the store,” Ashton lied. “Your little girlfriend needs some wax for her mustache.”

Harry let out his wild laugh that practically announced to the world that he thought he was better than everyone else. It still amazed her how someone who cared so little could do so much for others.

“Oh, good one, Ash. Eddie Murphy tell you that?”

Pressing her hand against Harry’s shoulder, Ashton pushed quickly past him. She wasn’t in the mood to have another pointless back and forth with him. They never ended in her favor.

“Wait up, love.”

His words didn’t even reach her ears. She was in ‘ignore Harry mode’ and nothing he did could grab her attention then. Her hand gripped the door knob, immediately sending a vision flooding to her mind.

A blonde girl with glasses walking up a hill – their hill – with a handsome boy beside her. Worried looks painted on their faces, but Ashton didn’t know why.

Harry took notice of her pause and walked quickly over to her. “Someone here?”

Just as Ashton nodded her head, the buzzer began ringing, signaling someone was on Harry’s property. The house went into an uproar in its announcement of the uninvited guests. It didn’t happen often, so every time it did it caused Ashton to jump out of her skin. The noise was completely unnecessary and the flashing lights were a tad overdone. But for Harry, it was normal.

“Power down,” Harry announced, causing the house to go back to its normal state.

This time, when the buzzer sounded, it was soft. The noise signaled to Harry and Ashton that the guests were at the door, just feet away from them, separated only by the thick wood of Harry’s large doors.

“Well, open it,” Harry said, eyeing Ashton up and down.

She groaned in his direction, her voice soft. “We don’t know who it is.”

Rolling his eyes, Harry pushed her out of the way, sending a single vision of Harry’s laugh running through her head. His hand pulled against the doorknob, as he opened the door to reveal their guests.

On the large stone porch stood the girl and boy from Ashton’s vision, who both had soft smiles on their faces.

“Hello,” the boy said, holding out his hand. “Are you Harry Styles?”

Next to him, the blonde girl shot him a glare, which he returned with an encouraging smile. Harry held his hand out and shook the boy’s quickly before shaking the girl’s.

“I am,” Harry said, “and you are?”

“Liam Payne,” the boy said, before pointing to the girl. “And this is Penelope Powell.”

Harry was a busy man, constantly working to properly control his large fortune, so he didn’t usually entertain people out of nowhere. Ashton knew the only reason he was doing it was because the pair looked so odd that there was bound to be something interesting to come out of a conversation with them.

If it were up to Ashton, the pair would have been sent on their way the second they arrived at the door, but Harry had other plans. Holding out his hand, he motioned for them to step inside. He guided the pair to a sofa in the foyer, while Ashton followed sluggishly behind them with her arms folded across her chest. Her run would have to be pushed off, just so she could make sure Harry didn’t get into any trouble.

“What can I help you with?” Harry asked, as he took a seat on the sofa opposite the pair. Ashton stood next to him, refusing to take up the same sofa space as him. It was a small win, but she would take it.

“I think Penny can best explain that,” Liam said, turning to the shy girl next to him.

She gave him a worried look, as she adjusted her glasses at the tip of her nose, before speaking.

“I guess I should start with something simple,” Penelope said, looking back to Liam for reassurance. The girl really needed to learn to speak without his help. “You are very careless with your spending, but I’m sure you know that –“

Harry held up his hand, cutting her off. “Now, I’m not looking for any business ventures.”

“This is the farthest thing from a business venture,” Penelope said, speaking only when she was sure Harry was done. “I know about all of your wild purchases. I’ve been tracking them for about a week now. You bought a submarine, 12 tons of scrap metal, and a couple million euros worth of old computer parts. Now, either you’re eccentric or you’re exactly what I think you are.”

The blonde girl was speaking only from fact, her voice as technical as the words she spoke, but there was something about it that Ashton didn’t like. What they were wasn’t any of her business, and if she really knew, she wouldn’t be talking to them the way she was.

“What exactly are you getting at?” Ashton said, speaking for the first time since the pair arrived.

“We’re not going to tell anyone,” Penelope said, ignoring her question in the most subtle of ways. “We need your help.”

Ashton and Harry locked eyes, before looking back at the odd pair sitting on their sofa. Ashton hoped that Harry was thinking the same thing she was – that they needed to get rid of them as soon as possible – and when he spoke, she knew that he was.

“With what, exactly?” His tone was sarcastic, back to the normal voice Ashton was used to him speaking in.

“There’s been a series of fires.” Liam spoke for Penelope, who was clearly not up for the task. “Deliberate ones. The guy’s good. He leaves no clues, no evidence, and absolutely no evidence. The fires are getting worse, and he’s only going to keep escalating until he takes down the entire city.”

Harry let out a loud laugh, the one Ashton had seen in her vision. “You came all the way out here, bothering me in the middle of the way, for a couple fires. You must be mad if you thought I’d even entertain the idea.” Harry moved his gaze to Penelope. “You said you saw it, love. You know exactly how much money I have and how I spend it. Do you really think I use that kind of artillery to stop a couple fires?”

Liam stood up from his spot, marching directly over to Harry. “Don’t talk to her like that. She was only asking for your help, and your response was completely unsolicited. Apologize.”

Laughing again, even louder than before, Harry stood up, meeting Liam’s eyes. “Are you going to make me?”

In her mind, Ashton could see the thousand different results of the situation and none of them were good. Nine times out of ten, the house ended up destroyed, and more often than not, the blonde girl was killed. It was not going to end well.

Penelope stood next to Liam, grasping his hand with hers. She tugged at it gently, pulling Liam back towards her. The small girl leaned up, whispering in his ear something Ashton couldn’t hear.

Turning on his heel, Liam clutched onto her arm, successfully sending all the endings out of Ashton’s mind and replacing them with new ones. These endings were happier, but far less eventful. You win some, you lose some.

When the pair had shown themselves out of the house, Harry looked back to Ashton with a smirk. “She’s lucky she had a nice arse or I’d have snapped her little boyfriend in two.”