Abducted By Styles [IN RE-EDITING]

• T H I R T E E N •

SONG FOR THIS CHAPTER- HONEST by KODALINE (put it on replay if you need to)

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C A R O L I N E

After breakfast, I find my archery trainer on the military training field for my lessons. Several targets are lined up horizontally, a few meters away from me. Archery is my favourite lesson- well, right after fencing.

"Good morning, Luke." I greet him, silently taking in how he looks today. Luke has his blond hair in the usual quiff, and is wearing black sweatpants and a grey tee shirt. His vibrant blue eyes glance over at me, lips curving into a warm smile, bringing my attention to the black lip ring near the corner of his mouth. Luke's dressing style is similar to Harry's, but not quite.

"Hey Caroline. Ready for today's practice?" Luke asks in his Aussie accent, beginning to set up person shaped cardboard cutouts in front of the target boards.

I nod my head, taking the wooden bow into my hand. In archery, it's extremely important to stay concentrated and patient- and to be honest, I slightly lack in those traits. Adjusting the strap of the bag of arrows on my shoulder, I reach for one and position it straight and horizontal against the middle of my bow. Shaky breath, squinted eyes. I aim for the chest of the cutout, but pierce through the arm instead.

"Nice!" Luke exclaims over enthusiastically. This causes me to narrow my eyes and shake my head. I know from the fake plastered smile on his face that he praised me just because.

"I aimed for the chest, though." I fire back furiously, getting more upset by the second. Why does everyone have to treat me like a little child taking baby steps? Why would they lie that I'm progressing in something, even though I'm not? "Tell me the truth, Luke."

Luke gives me a small smile and takes the bow from my hand, laying it down on the soft bed of grass beneath my feet. I look down at my knuckles and they are nearly white from grasping onto the bow so tightly. Seconds later, I find myself forced to look up when Luke cups my cheek.

"To me, you're doing excellent. In anything you do." He says silently, a look in his eyes that has me fearing him at the moment.

"Luke..." I trail off confused, quickly pulling myself away from him. He looks almost hurt when he puts his hand back down to his side. I'm not sure if he's telling me this as a casual compliment, or just as a motivation, but it makes my stomach churn.

Luke chews nervously at his lip ring and finally exhales a deep, rigid breath. "Dammit. This is impossible, Caroline. I've been trying to keep it to myself, but every time I see you or talk to you, it just gets harder and harder to hold in.   What I'm trying to say is, ever since I walked into this prestigious castle and first laid my eyes on you, I wanted you to be mine. I...I love you, Caroline."

My eyes go wide and my stomach does a double backflip. It feels as if I might spill out all the contents of my breakfast. I furrow my eyebrows, shaking my head vigorously, "I think you're just confused Luke, it's not-"

"I do, Caroline. I love you." Luke insists. The desperation in his eyes is almost violent.

"Stop it! Just stop saying that, will you?" Even I am surprised by my sudden outburst, but nevertheless throw my bow to the ground and toss my bag of arrows beside it. My heart thuds so hard inside my chest and my vision starts to get a little fuzzy. I am angered for reasons I can't explain.

My legs feel the need to run.

To run away from Luke- whom I only thought of as merely a trainer. He claims to be in love with me, but it seems so absurd to think of it. Every time he placed his hands on my hips to position the arrow right, he actually enjoyed it. When he said he was just moving a piece of hair from my eyes, it wasn't for me to see better.