Unlikely Romance

CHAPTER NINE

The words repeated over and over in my head. I love you. The hooded man had confessed. He had given me back to my family and put me back into my happy life because he started to care about me. I hid the note in my bra and cried. I cried and cried so much that when we arrived home, my family just held me.

After I calmed down, my older brother asked me what was wrong. I shook my head blankly. I felt empty. "I'm just really sorry."

"Why did you feel like you needed to run away?" My father asked. My mother was patting my hand and my younger brother simply watched the whole scene as if in a daze.

"I don't know dad I just..."

He interrupted me. "I gave you everything. All I asked for in return was your communication. You told me you wanted to go away to university and your mother and I told you that you would go. We gave you everything you asked for and you DISOBEY US?" he started yelling.

I started crying again, and my brothers left. My mother started on him. "This isn't the time to scold her, John."

"No, he's right... when people treat you nice... or, specifically, men, they think you're obliged to them," I said bitterly and emptily. I had a flashback of when Brian said the same thing to me. I give you everything... AND YOU DISOBEY ME?

I stood up, fists clenched, and walked off. But my father was mad. He seemed to have snapped. Because he yanked me back from the stairs, not seeming to notice that I twisted my ankle, and shook me as he scolded me.

My mother tried to calm him down, but he had her stay quiet too. Men. Always acting violent to feel like they're the right ones. My abusive exes, my brothers, father. Their egos are so fucking huge. But, I thought, Except Brian. He's half demon and he tried to change.

I was quiet, thoughts swirling in my head, as my father called me an ungrateful brat. I screamed as he grabbed my shoulder. It was, apparently, still a bit hurt. "I gave you everything, but you ran away for almost three months? You're just a too-happy spoiled brat. You are going to that room, and you're not coming back out until you learn to behave." I had another flashback to when Brian said that to me.

My father yanked me up the stairs, my ankle in pain, and he threw me into my room. He even threw my blanket at me. And slammed the door. I heard him and my mother arguing, and then I heard him slap her. He'd really done it this time. I heard my mother scream at him, and then heard them go to their room, quarrelling.

I curled up on the floor and sobbed. I just got back home, and I was treated like this. My father said two things to me that Brian had said to me when he was abusing me. And it was ironic... Brian was the forgivable one because he actually tried to change. Plus, he nurtured me. My father barely gave me the time of day. And he had my mother like his puppet. My brothers were usually doing their own thing, but sided with the father.

As I inspected my ankle, I heard my window slide up. I gasped as I saw a gloved hand, and I stared as Brian came in. He was wearing his yellow hoodie and mask. As he kneeled by me, I flew onto him, my ankle buckling and making me fall into him. I wrapped my arms around him tightly, crying.

He rubbed my back. " My father..." I sobbed.

"I followed you. I heard." Brian held my face. "Where do you want to be?"

As I thought, looking at the red frowny face on his mask, my mother came into the room. She was about to scream, but I shushed her. "Wait! This is... this is... my..." I trailed off and looked at my captor turned crush.

"Your what? He looks like a criminal!" she exclaimed. "Who are you? Why are you in her room?"

Brian stood up and bent his head. "I apologize, Mrs. Beaumont. I captured your daughter, and I-"

I cut in. "He took care of me, mom. And..." I held his hand. Brian seemed to freeze up. "And he's different. He's been shunned by society. He needs blood transfusions to live, and that's why he took me. And mom... I love him."

Brian squeezed my hand a bit and kneeled back down to me. "I love her too," he said quietly. I smiled up at him. My mother was just staring at us.

After a few minutes, she held her head and sat on my bed. "You didn't run away... he took you... he loves..." she sighed. "This is Stockholm Syndrome, Elizabeth," she said to me. "This man has manipulated you!"

"Mom... you wouldn't believe what he and I went through. And... he put me in that blanket in the woods because he cares about me and he realized that kidnapping me wasn't right."

"Why did he follow you and break in again then?" she asked. She turned to him. "If you think you can steal my daughter, you're wrong."

I shook my head. "He heard what dad did. He was making sure I was fine. But after that... he came to ask me where I preferred to be."

Brian stood up and kneeled at my mother's feet. "I owe you for taking her." He took off his hood and mask in front of her, and she gasped, covering her mouth.

"What... what are you..." she whispered.

I told her. "Not what, mom. Who. He's Brian. He's sort of possessed... like a half-demon, and he needs human blood transfusions every two days in order to survive. Brian also has epilepsy. Please mom... he took care of me and he never violated me."

My mother looked at me, and then back at Brian, who was looking at the floor. She softened, and put her hand on his face. "You poor boy..." she said. I smiled, the scene bringing tears to my eyes.

But then footsteps came closer to my room. Brian disappeared in a flash, escaping through the window. I told my mother to shush as my door opened to reveal my father. My mother ran to him. "You've acted rashly for no reason. The poor girl didn't run away. She was taken!"

"Mom!" I started.

"Ah-ah! Hush." I sighed and obeyed. My father looked at me, and then her. She continued. "The man who took her was just here. Elizabeth told me everything."

"He took care of me, dad. And he cares about me. That's why he brought me back. But he saw how you treated me and... he wanted to ask where I wanted to be," I told him.

But my father seemed angrier. "You were with a man?" He turned to my mother. "Claire, you believe her bullshit?!" My mother recoiled, and he stormed to me. He laughed bitterly. "You run away with your waste-of-time boyfriend, he decided that he couldn't handle you, and he put you to be found in the forest." He scoffed. "You're staying grounded." With that, he took my mother and stormed out the room.

Brian came back in. He took my backpack, and I watched with surprise as he packed my necessities and some clothes in it. He even stuffed two teddy bears into it, and I grinned as he put my nail polish and bath salts too. All this he did without a word, and I didn't protest.

I was going to leave with the hooded man.

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A/N: He's just so wholesome sometimes. Well, we've reached the end. Click the button below and you'll find out how Lizzy and Hoodie were able to live happily ever after!