final round - lrh

eighteen.

Ashton goes silent as he shuts his mouth and keeps a stern look on his face. The atmosphere has changed completely and I don't whether to keep walking or figure out what he means by this. What happened last time? 

Something tells me I don't want to know.

My heart drops at the thought considering just how serious Lieutenant Hemmings sounds and angry he is.

"You can't keep dwelling on that Luk-"

"If I don't, who will?" is all Lieutenant Hemmings says, before turning around once again.

I look at the frozen Ashton who seems to now have nothing to say. It's clear that he's shaken up by this and probably doesn't know what to say further. 

We approach the general cabins and I don't know whether to head towards my own or stay where I am in case Lieutenant Hemmings has anything else to say.

Luckily, he answers my silent questions as he continues, "Lila, I'm taking you back to your cabin. Let's go."

I open my mouth to protest but quickly shut it as I know the last thing I could possibly do right now is argue again Lieutenant Hemmings.

"Luke, If you lay a finger on her-"

"Go to bed, Irwin," Lieutenant Hemmings says, clearly only pissing off Ashton further as he won't let him get the last word in.

I'm sure it's a hard situation for the two of them. They are obviously friends but Lieutenant Hemmings also needs to be the serious one and run this place. The safety of this place has to come before their friendship.

"I'm serious, if she-"

"I'm not telling you again," Lieutenant Hemmings says. "You're only making it worse on the both of you."

Ashton sighs, hopefully not seeing a point in fighting anymore and for the sake of me, I hope he drops it. Luckily, he seems to intend to do so as he looks to me, seeming helpless.

"I'll see you in the morning, Lila," Ashton says to me with a look of softness in his eyes.

I just nod my head, not engaging in further conversation as I know it won't be good for me. I'm sure Lieutenant Hemmings doesn't want us to sit here and say goodbye to one another longer than needed.

Ashton shakes his head before muttering curse words under his breath and turning towards the general cabin. I know he must be frustrated considering Lieutenant Hemmings has the upper hand at the end of the day and Lieutenant Hemmings and he clearly are friends. Regardless, he has to listen to his orders no matter how much he disagrees.

I don't get a chance to dwell on it further as Lieutenant Hemmings walks towards my cabin with determination in his steps. I walk behind him shamefully, not wanting to do anything on the way there.

Maybe he'll take it easy on me? After all, he didn't do anything to reprimand Ashton.

Due to the speed in his footsteps, I highly doubt that he'll be taking it easy on me but the only thing I have left is hope. To be fair, he hasn't said anything to me yet. Maybe that's a good sign? Hell, who am I kidding? Of course, it isn't.

Even the back of him looks angry as he's clearly tense and ready to blow up at me. I feel sick to my stomach at the thought as I try to think of the ways he's planning on torturing me. I'm sure he's enjoying just the thought of it.

He leads the way towards my lit up cabin, making me want to slow down my footsteps to prolog this. However, I know that if I try to slow the two of us down, it'll only be worse for me.