( gif by hazzawckd <3 )

Play 'fashion killa' when you see ( * ), it will help with the chapter

AUTHORS NOTE.
before I start this chapter, i shamelessly promoting my new book "200mph" i have been working on in the backgrounds thats a prologue before this. it will be what the reader was like back in washington (it takes place in westside la) with a few tweaks, it takes place in the same universe kind of this book. its set back in the 2006's so i guess it really isnt. so in a different reality, this is what you wouldve seen but its still the reader ! you will see ellie, the readers fc, you will see her with the illegal street racing, the drugs, the lifestyle she had before becoming the fashion designer. i hope you all are excited for it and i hope you all like it. ill start updating that soon, i, of course, am back to being able to update everyday now<3 anyway, enjoy. dont forgot to vote and comment, lets me know you love the chapter.

I opened the door with a long sigh after hearing two knocks, my suitcase in my hand and my backpack over my shoulders. Hobie stood on the other side, sunglasses on his face and a black band shirt on his torso, today it was Infant Annihilator. His hair was pulled back into a loose ponytail, the scent of coconut and vanilla flooded my nose, I guess he showered. I don't know how he showered and got ready that quick, he only left my room less than twenty minutes ago.

I stood there and watched him shove his hands in his pockets, popping orange flavored gum with nothing with him.

"Where are your bags?" I mumble in confusion, walking out with the door closing behind me.

"I have people who pack my shit and take it." He says back, sounding like a cocky douche without meaning to be.

I form my lips in a line and nod.

"We should go." I murmur to break the awkwardness.

He nods, turning to walk down the hallway.

I really didn't want today to happen, I was dreading the fact I had to travel with him all the way to Washington DC from here. I shouldn't have ever let him in my room last night, because if I didn't I would've had a normal tamed night and got up on time to get to the bus that I was supposed to be on right now.

I followed behind him, unprepared for what today would bring. I was dreading the fact I had to sit in a hot ass car with him for a couple hours, who knew how much we would fight. What if he would drive the car off a bridge? Or better yet, take me onto some dirt path and kill me . Maybe I could pretend to sleep, then he'd leave me alone.

We walked up to the elevators, dead silent. I felt embarrassed about snapping on him over the silly conversation we had, even when I yelled at him for getting annoyed about the same thing I yelled at him for back. Today was going to be awful, I had so many regrets. I'm sure he'll tease me about it more later on.

He clicks the elevator button, waiting patiently with his hands behind his back. I stood in the distance behind him, leaning against the wall and trying to think of anything else than what was going on.

When the elevator opens, he walks straight into it and I slowly trail behind him. He clicked the button when I was in front of the mirror wall on the left with my elbow resting in my left hand, tilting my temple against the cold wall and shutting my eyes.

It was still early in the morning, I really wish I was on the bus right about now.

"Are you being silent because of what happened?" He asks the minute the door shuts, an annoyed tone like usual.

"I'm tired. It's pushing six in the morning." I murmur, keeping my eyes shut.

He didn't answer, and honestly, I was glad. I don't want to talk about what happened between us earlier this morning when we were supposed to be getting ready to try and plead our way to the bus. I wanted to forget about it, so I kept my temple to the wall and tried to find peace in this moment.

The elevator felt like it was seconds faster than normal because we were already on the ground floor when the chime sung. I opened my eyes and saw Hobie walking out, I followed behind like usual while rolling my suitcase.

I drop the keys off at the front desk, making sure to not fall behind on the walking. Even though the lobby was very empty, I didn't want to lose sight of Hobie. For all I knew he'd leave without me and thee I'd be even more fucked. I can't imagine having to call Ares and telling her that I'm stranded three hours away.

Hobie walks tall through the lobby, my shorter legs straggling behind him to keep up. When he walks it looks so slow, yet I could barely keep up with him. He was actually walking quite fast despite human perception.. This man seemed like he had somewhere urgent to be but in the calmest way possible, he never really looked worried.

We walked right out the revolving door, squeezing in separate slots this time unlike yesterday when he pushed himself in the same one as me. I push in with all my baggage, inching my feet little by little to shuffle through. Once I get to the other side, Hobie is already walking down the grande front steps.

Immediately catching my eye was a grey convertible, a sports car sitting fire up but no one in the driver seat. A man in a black suit working for the hotel stood in front of it, making eye contact with Hobie as he walked down the steps.

"Hobie." He grins as the two dab each other up, holding the keys out after they exchanged a few hellos.

This is his car? He doesn't even live here.

I was permanently wide eyed, adjusting the sunglasses that I slipped out from my backpack to put on my face. I stood a few stairs up from the car, staring down at it. I loved cars, I hadn't seen one like this before in such a long time; it brought me back to a time in my life that I missed.

"Can I take your bags, ma'am?" The man turns to me, offering out his hand.

I step down a few more steps and smile, going to hand him my suitcase and backpack until Hobie reaches up between us and stops my exchange. I froze and looked at him to my right, his hand reaching out and grabbing the one with my backpack strap in it.

"That won't be necessary, I got it." Hobie rejects the man.

"Please, I insist." He pushes, but I sensed Hobie would push back ten times more.

"I got it." he says back more sternly, snatching it out of my hands and the handle of my suitcase.

"As you wish, man." He said back patiently. "You have a good day now."

"Thank you very much." I say with a smile, considering Hobie wouldn't say it himself.

Hobie holds my bags in his hands and shoulders while rolling my suitcase in his hands. He walks right up to the trunk as I followed.

"Why wouldn't you let him take my bags?" I whisper as he pops the thin trunk from the back.

"Because.." He whispers between his teeth before turning his head down to the now open trunk.

I looked down at him, immediately my heart stopped. In the trunk were two duffle bags, one of them having a giant ruffle gun barrel sticking out at the zipper opening. I gasped to myself, looking around to see if anyone saw.

"Well don't make it that fucking obvious now." He murmurs, taking my suitcase and throwing it in on top of the duffle bag.

"What's in the other bags?" I whisper, stepping right up to his side.

"Get in the car and stop asking me questions like you my opps." He murmurs calmly so I don't draw more attention.

Why the fuck would I want to get in this car now?

I listened and walked over to the passenger side of the roofless vehicle, ripping the door open and stepping in. The seats were black leathers, warm the second I pressed my back to it. I left all fidgety all of a sudden, probably because I know there is a duffel bag full of illegal weapons in the trunk and he wants to kill me, who else knows what else is in there.

Hobie eventually goes to the driver seat, hopping over the shut door instead of opening the door like a normal human being. He leaped into the seat as I put my seatbelt on, him on the other hand he did not.

The car was already running, so it wasn't long until he was shifting the gear into drive and we started ripping off into the street. The immediate speed caught me off guard, but that was the very last thing on my mind in this moment.

"What is in that other bag?" I turned to him once we were out of the city and down the road.

He chuckles, steering with one hand as the wind blows through us.

"Remember how I said I met with a human trafficker yesterday?" He starts, shades sitting on his face to shield his eyes.

"Oh my god!" My jaw dropped. "Is that a dead body chopped up in there!" I shout as we drive down the beach line of Atlantic City.

"What–No. It's a bunch of money and files on people, some cocaine and xanax for Opium." He portrays a cheeky grin, staring at the rear view mirror for a second. I could see his open eyes through the side of his sunglasses.

"What!" I threw my hand over my mouth.

"Oh relax, are you really still surprised at this point?" He shakes his head and furrows his brows.

"Oh my god, I need to get out of this car. I'm stuck in a car with a real life dark web nigga." I look around as we drive quickly down the road.

"You think I'm gonna get pulled over?" He smirks like this was all a joke. I don't understand why he never worries about the legal system. If police found what was in the trunk then we'd both be under investigation from the C.I.A. I don't even know where he got his hands on all of the extra.

"You think I want to be affiliated with this?"

"Well princess you don't really have a choice. We aren't going to get pulled over and strip searched, you can relax." He shakes his head, reaching forward to flick the radio on. "Besides, didn't you do something like this?"

"I had people doing that for me, I wasn't stupid to drive around with shit like that in the back of my car. Besides, how are YOU so sure we won't get caught?"

"Because," he finds a clear station, turning his head to me and smiling. "I'm a celebrity baby."

With that he cranks the radio so it dilutes any dialogue we were having, leaving me with his final cocky words and stupid grin. He smirks at me like this was all just a fun game to him, life was a game.

I look out my side of the car, trying to push the nerves down. We had to travel two hours with narcotics, files on missing people that the person he met probably took and sold, weapons in the trunk and just a crazy person behind the wheel. This was like deja vu all over again with my friend JK back in LA, us driving around the streets with the same thing, minus the files..

I needed to do something to distract myself.

I looked out at the empty beach we were driving past. It was only just a little before seven in the morning, the sun was still rising into the soft orange sky. I I shifted in my seat, turning so my body was pressed to the leather interior door. My armpits rested on the door, arms dangling on the outside of the car as I looked out into the beautiful scenery appearing in front of me. I smiled to myself, the only moment I felt like I was free.

The radio blared a song I didn't know, the breeze amplifying against my face. If we could go this whole time without talking, letting the music play and the sun rise over us I would be fine and the time would go by fast.

I didn't want to talk to Hobie, I was still flustered about what happened this morning. I would never expect anything like an apology, but I'm gonna need time to get over myself. He had taken our conversation personal and used me not having an orgasm as an excuse to try and get in my pants, a weird fucking dude.

I turned in his direction, seeing how his eyes were on the road as he sat back against the seat. His hair blew softly in the wind, the topless car giving us a serene amount of fresh air. It feels like I've been jumping from hotel to hotel and I forgot what the outside world feels like.

I really wanted a blunt right now, but I usually got them from my friends and the last one was from Hobie. Today has been a stressful day, an annoying day.

My eyes narrowed down to the cupholder, seeing there was already a rolled blunt sticking out. It was like it was meant to be there for him. I did not want to ask him to light it up so we could smoke it, so I'll just get my mind off of it. I shouldn't smoke anyway, it'll kill me faster than him.

I peel my eyes away from the blunt and look to the road ahead, placing my hands on my lap. I silently listen to the music, looking around at our passing surroundings. I don't know if he knows where we are going, there was no GPS or a map on his phone that gave him any directions. Atlantic City to Washington DC wasn't just a one road path, it had so much more turns to it.

I suddenly heard the sounds of a lighter flicking, my head turning to him again. To my luck he had the blunt sticking in between his lips, lightning it with his red lighter. He lights it and drops the lighter back down into the cupholder, taking a long drag from the blunt so his cheeks hollowed and his jaw sharpened.

I pull my eyes back to the windshield, cursing at myself for being a bitch and not asking him a drag of it. But my thoughts came to a halt when suddenly the blunt was held out in front of me to take.

I looked at him again in confusion of why he was hanging this to me after taking one puff.

"You wanted it, yeah?" He implies while still holding it out. "I saw you eyeing it in the cup holder."

I froze, realizing he knew what I wanted without me even asking for it. I literally glanced at the cupholder where the blunt was for less than a second, I had no idea he caught that. He wasn't even looking at me, but I wasn't look at him so maybe he was looking at me this whole time through the corner of his eyes. Do I take it? I want it but I don't want anything from him.

I trace my eyes from the blunt up to his arm and to his face, not knowing what to do.

"Take it." He insists, holding it close to me. "I lit it for you."

I huff and take the blunt from his fingers, sticking it in between my lips. He pulls his arm back to his side of the car the second I take it from him. I gently pull the smoke from the filter so it circles in my mouth. I gently blow it out to my side of the car.

"For someone who says they want to put their past behind them and not smoke, you sure do the complete opposite." He says regarding me taking a long drag of it.

"Well, I guess being around bad influences has that effect on you." I say out loud, looking out the side of my car.

"Why are you upset?" He states from my comment.

"I'm fine." I take another drag from the blunt, smoother now.

"Your knees are facing your side of the car door, you won't answer me directly. You are upset." He says like he knows me, a snarky tone in his voice.

"I'm fine." I repeat again, keeping my answer short.

"Fine." He says back, turning onto the open deserted road. We were outside the city now, going down a tunnel that led them under the water. It was just a long tunnel with no one on it, the sound of our car speeding up.

I kept smoking the blunt, shutting my eyes and feeling the calming wind within the tunnel and the debris go softly down my throat. It would just be better if we didn't speak, I plan to stay far away from him after this drive. I'll only be affiliated with him as his stylist through work and that's it, no more of him showing up on my doorstep with a bottle of hennessy.

A song I actually recognized came on the radio, and he must've recognized it too because he turned the radio up more. *

Fashion Killa.

I leaned on my propped elbow, looking out the mirror on my side. I finished up the blunt, tossing the remaining filter out of the car as the music started to blare.

"Her pistol go, (Bang-bang, boom-boom, pop-pop)" Hobie started to shout along the song abruptly, making me jump. "'Cause she a fashion killa, and I'm a jiggy nigga, uh!"

I whip my head in his direction, seeing how he was watching the road while shouting the lyrics to a song in a very playful way. He glanced at me and grinned while singing the song he seemed to know every word to. I turned my head away and tried to ignore him, the lyrics now making sense as to why they call me that.

I was their fashion killa.

"My bitch a fashion killa, she be busy poppin' tags. She got a lotta prada, that Dolce and Gabbana!" He continues to shout, I could see him bopping his head in my peripheral vision.

I hide my mouth on the back of my hand, spontaneously unbuckling my seatbelt and moving to sit up on my knees with my arms thrown up behind me.

I had a strong suspicion he was doing this to get a reaction out of me, and I can't lie. It worked. Whatever he was doing caused him to be in a state of joyous. Whether it was an act to get me to finally talk to him, it was entertaining. I've never seen him like this before, and I had a feeling I'll never see him like this again.

The minute his eyes opened again I turned my head back away so he couldn't catch me, my own squinting once we were out of the tunnel. I didn't want him to see any type of smile that he was causing me to have, not giving him that satisfaction.

Suddenly I notice the car start to swerve a bit but straighten back out, making me snap my head in his direction and fall back on my ass to keep myself from falling out of the car. I looked up and saw how Hobie didn't have his hands on the steering wheel and was driving with his knees against the steering wheel and his foot on the gas pedal.

"Hobie!"

"Smilin' is your treasure, you're so well put together!" He screamed the lyrics as the wind blew rapidly through his hair.

I looked ahead of us and was pleased to see the road out from the tunnel was still empty and straight for a long time, there was no way we could cause an accident unless he flew us off the highway.

He looks over at me through his sunglasses and gives me that smirk I could never find myself to trust, but continues to scream the lyrics to the song. I couldn't hide it anymore, I started to laugh loudly.

Although what he was doing was very dangerous, it wasn't something I never did but it freaked me out more because it was him doing it. He grins and keeps the position he was on the driver side, lifting his arms higher above his head if that was even possible. The music blared so you could hear it down this open road for miles.

He continues to sing as I take my phone out from my backpack and quickly take his picture. It was a moment he seemed like a man I've never met before. He looked like a free spirit, someone who wasn't a psycho behind closed doors, it was the total opposite person I've come to know.

I snapped a few pictures of him being a reckless driver with his arms out, it made me smile. When I put the camera away he turned to look over at me and held his hand out, gesturing me to grab it and stand up.

"Oh, nah." I shake my head and reject, keeping my hands out so he stopped from helping me up.

"C'mon. I wanna see the (Y/N) from her past, just for a split second." He says in encouragement, the music still blaring.

I gave a hesitated look, but said fuck it and undid my seat belt again while looking ahead of the road and then his hand, last time I did something like this when in the streets of LA when I went to visit for the summer. I wasn't used to being that girl again, the one I locked away for good; but for some reason I felt the need to show him I could be that girl again for a moment.

Once I stood up straight I grabbed the windshield for resistance, feeling the air blow all my braids back and out of my face. It was funny seeing how my eyes could barely stay open due to the fact I had nothing protecting them. I couldn't help the grin, never having this exhilarating feeling before. I stood tall in this roofless car, ripping down the empty road with Fashion Killa blaring through the expensive speakers.

Hobie didn't realize I was looking at him, because when he caught my eyes he turned back to look at the road quickly.

I turned back to the windy road, taking out my phone to record myself before I noticed a gas station approaching on the right, making me sit back down. When I sat down he slowed down and turned into the lonesome gas station that was on dirt gravel.

"Do you need gas?" I ask.

"Yeah, just enough to get us to Washington." He nods as we pull up in front of the pump, we were the only ones here. "Grab something inside? It's going to be a long drive and you might get thirsty and hungry. I want some cheetos." He hands me a fifty dollar bill before turning to the pump.

"Okay." I nod in agreement, getting up out of the car as he did too.

"I'll be in after I fill her up." He says as I make my way to the store.

Today has been strange, it started off heated, then silence, then happy, and now I'm just confused on how I feel. I'm still confused with my emotions and how I feel about Hobie, but that's more my problem than his.

I turned the corner to the snack aisle with my head dropped down below, squatting to grab some kit kats, swedish fish, a bag of cheetos and any other random snacks before standing back up to turn to the fridge area of the gas station to grab some drinks for the two of us. If he thought that by giving me this fifty dollar bill I would only grab three things, he was deeply mistaken.

I heard some commotion at the front of the store, voices speaking rather loud but not loud enough to hear what they were saying. I was in the back of the store behind a tall shelf, so I couldn't really make out their faces. I just knew it was two men. My heart immediately stopped when I noticed one of them was holding a rather large machete, their outfits were in a most medieval, vampire aesthetic with the cufflinks and all.

"Where is he!" One of the men shouted in anger at the elderly lady behind the counter.

"I don't know who you're talking about." She says in a fright, her hands holding up in front of her so she wouldn't get pulled between the divider.

"His car is outside! He's fucking in here!" They mutter, my heart dropping. We were the only car in the gas station when we arrived.

Were they looking for Hobie?

"No one is in here but a girl." She shouts in mercy.

My stomach knots as I bend down with the items tucked in my arms, my throat tightening.

"What girl? No one is in here" I heard them argue back with him as my heart races.

I place my hand over my mouth, my back pressed against the shelf in the back of the store. My throat was becoming hitched and my body started to tremble.

"Look for her." I heard one of them say to the other.

I widened my eyes and grabbed my stomach under the bag of cheetos, fearing what I should do. I had no clue why these guys were hunting Hobie, didn't they see him filling the tank up outside the store? Which makes me wonder:

Where the fuck is he.

I started to internally panic on what to do, where to go. The door was near the front and the only exit was right in front of me, I could see the exit clear as day. I just didn't know what to do, fear was choking me out.

I turned my head to look at the round glass that was tucked in the corner of the store to see where he was at, he was at the far side of the store looking for me, painfully making his way down each aisle like he knew he was about to run up on me. Right as I was about to take my next fearful breath, I heard the exit door open at a very quiet pace, for some reason it felt like only I could hear it.

Hobie was there, eyes wide like he was scared to see a dead body but instead he saw me, and they softened just a bit. He held a hand out to me, telling me to close my eyes but I shook my head; scared that if I did I would open them to see the man. But he insisted and told me to do it again, so I did.

In a quick motion I was suddenly pulled out of the store at a rate that I knew wasn't caused by me getting up to run. He pushes me against the back of the store, holding my hips tight and dipping down to press his forehead against mine in all one quick motion. I gasped out at the contact but he was quick to cup his hand over my mouth so I didn't make a noise.

He took his other hand and slowly raised it between us, sticking his finger and pressing it against his parted lips in a feature of silence.

"Shh."