Harley glanced towards the ground as he walked at the front, leading the rogues back towards the gates as Hope remained far behind with Ace, both talking animatedly about the things they liked and the things they didn’t, sadly enough for Harley, the two had so much in common than he had with Hope.
For example, Harley doesn’t really like the extra powder sprinkled on top of freshly baked buns whilst Hope loves even just the thought of it.
Harley hates the sound of rain whenever he had to go to sleep, mostly because it gave him anxiety since he couldn’t hear the outside but just the mere splattering of rain against the metal roof. Hope on the other hand loves the idea of rain in her sleep because she felt as though the rain was there to protect her and not hide anything dangerous inside it like Harley thought. Hope thinks of the rain as a shield whilst Harley thinks of the rain as a mask for predators.
Harley hates swimming whilst Hope loves it. Harley loves the night time while Hope loves the day. Harley hates the summer and but Hope hates the winter. Harley loves beef more than chicken, whilst Hope loves chicken more than beef.
Hope hates carrots, Harley loves carrots.
Hope doesn’t really love sweet foods and Harley has a massive sweet tooth.
Despite being so different, they still had some things in common. They both loved to spar and test their strengths, they both loved the out doors, they both loved the same movies, the same books…. But there weren’t as much as Hope had in common with Ace…. So he noticed.
“So what’s your favourite season?” Hope asked as she laced her hands together and glanced up at Ace who smiled down at her whilst they walked behind everyone else.
“I like summer better, it’s more refreshing, plus the hot day at the beach with all the fun swimming and not to forget the ice cold drinks.” Ace sighed out admirably at the mere thought of the feeling he would always get in the summer.
“I know right!?” Hope squirreled in excitement as she clasped her hands together and grinned out. “Summer is like the best season but Harley hates the heat.” She pouted her lips as she glanced at Harley who didn’t turn to them but rolled his eyes. “He likes the winter because he doesn’t get too tired when he’s training. I personally hate the coldness and the fact I have to sleep in a suffocating jersey all night.” She sighed out as he chuckled out.
“Looks like we have more in common than your best friend.” Ace pointed out, slightly louder than he was previously talking. “How are you two that close anyway?” Harley tensed and clenched his fists at the mockery in Ace’s voice.
Harley knew for a fact that Ace’s mission was to separate him from Hope. Whether he was aiming to replace him as beta or become something more with Hope, Harley just couldn’t quite put his finger on it.
He was probably aiming for both the options.
“How did Harley and I become best friends?” Hope repeated the question and Ace nodded his head with a polite smile, though grinning inside his mind as he hoped Harley was listening. “Well it’s true Harley and I have lots of things we aren’t on the same level with. But maybe that’s what brought us so close in the first place. Like I said, we’ve known each other since we were young.”
“Since you were young?” Ace raise his brows and clicked his teeth. “But you know, best friends don’t last forever…. The older you get the more you see how different you are and I’m pretty sure you two are becoming more and more different than you used to be. I mean… You’re much stronger, you’re much smarter, he’s always over protective while you’re an open person. He’s more closed off and you’re like a glowing star. Don’t you think you two are just together now just because you still believe you’re best friends?” He asked, pulling a fake worried glance as he watched Hope glance away in confusion as she thought about it for a moment.
Harley clenched his jaw, trying not to butt in in their conversation when he knew Ace was anticipating on that. Waiting for Harley to snap and attack him in any way.
“Are there moment when you could stay in the same room, just the two of you and end up not talking to each other for nearly an hour?” Ace asked with raised brows and she nodded sightly as she glanced up to remember.
“Even to three hours, there was this one time we were watching a movie and we just had nothing to talk about.” She nodded to herself. “Then another time for an hour when we were waiting in the hospital lounge for Ronan, since he was getting a check up for his tooth.”
“You see?” He asked as he smirked down at her. “Best friends don’t need to last for-”
“We’re here!” Harley hissed out as he announced to everyone. He stepped back and signaled with his hands for them to walk into the open gates. “Proceed.” He instructed and the rogues slowly stepped into the compound with their belongings. Hope quickly rushed up ahead.
“Going to get my father. Stay with them.” She smiled at Harley who nodded before watching as she ran off to the mansion.
“I know what you’re trying to do, Ace, but it won’t work.” Harley clenched his fists when he sensed Ace getting closer.
He shifted his gaze from the distant Hope to him who smirked down at him.
“You’re little stupid ‘best friend’ game will eventually come to an end, because an alpha doesn’t need a ‘best friend’ when running a pack. They need a partner. Not someone they would eventually stay up playing video games.” Ace said lowly as his expression flattened.
“Don’t forget, you weren’t born here. You found us, we didn’t find you.” Harley hissed out lowly as his eyes shifted to the piercing yellow eyes, on the verge of transformation. “You have no right to dictate how we run things here. You’re just part of the crowd, you don’t stand anywhere special than you did. But I can see why you got banished by your ‘best friend’ if that’s what it was. Merely because you’re just too annoying to keep around. I would do the same thing, the only difference is that I wouldn’t even have let you try to become alpha in the first place.” He smirked as Ace’s face grew dark. A smirk spread across Harley’s face, knowing he won this time.
Knowing he touched a sensitive spot on the ‘all strong’ Ace.