Locked Away

XXX

The music was loud, people dancing everywhere and you could hear laughter intertwined with song lyrics. For being in sweats, they kept the temperature down which I thought was nice so nobody was hot while they were dancing.

"Hey ladies," Our waitress beamed looking at Lena and Harlow. Her smile faded slightly when her eyes met mine. "Did someone break your heart honey?"

I shifted in the booth and bit the inside of my cheek and tears gently settled at the base of my eyes, "If you consider your husband getting brainwashed and now he's on a mission to kill you and doesn't care about the life you built with him - a heartbreak, then yes. My heart is very broken." My voice cracked at the end of my sentence.

The waitress just stared at me dumbfounded, her mouth opened partly like she wanted to say something, but was struggling to find the words.

"Two orders of mozzarella sticks, a tall Angry Orchard, a glass of red Moscato, and a Purple Rain. And a round of Apple Pie shots." Harlow interjected in a forced chuckle and patted my hands that were laced together on the table.

The waitress simply nodded and walked away, I clenched my jaw to try and prevent my tears from falling. I looked from Harlow's hands to her face, she gave me a hopeful smile and squeezed my hands.

"You want to talk about anything?" She asked, she was trying to get me to open up about how I was feeling. But I didn't want to talk about it. Talking about it or even thinking about it just made it even worse.

"What is everyone making for Thanksgiving?" I asked looking between her and Lena. Harlow's expression fell slightly before she leaned back in the booth.

"Loki and I will have the turkey, mashed potatoes, and we also have sweet potatoes. Don't forget we are hosting this year." Lena smiled excitedly. Every year we were on a rotation for holiday's and who hosted.

"I will make dinner rolls, and a couple pies." Harlow chimed in, she smiled at the waitress as she set our appetizer down. "Also me and Clint will have cocktails covered."

I pulled one of the baskets towards me and immediately took a bite. The greasy, cheesy distraction was what I needed. I sighed and savored it for a moment. The waitress was back a couple minutes later and passed our drinks on the table and nodded her head at me before walking away.

"I will make green beans, mac and cheese, and carrots." I concluded while swirling my straw in the drink.

"I love your mac and cheese," Harlow exhaled nodding slowly. I giggled at her while taking a sip of my drink.

I wanted to save a plate and take it to James if he was still at the compound. I hope he isn't, but from what we are looking at right now there's a good chance he will be there. Thanksgiving is only a couple weeks away, but if I can figure out how to get him back sooner he will be able to be with us. Is there something I missed? Am I being too sensitive about this whole thing? I have done this once before and it wasn't nearly as emotional. What did I do differently all those years ago? I remember how he would say cruel things to me..he used to tell me he hated that I wanted to help him. But I cannot shake that he called me doll. Years ago when I was trying to help him he would call me that constantly, he would taunt me and call me that.

I remember when I first met him in the compound...he refused to speak to me and would hardly look at me. When he did, it was in disgust and he hated that I was even in his line of vision. He once punched the glass that it slightly scratched, just to scare me. He wanted to try and make sure I would leave him alone, and not see him for the rest of his life.

"Emma," Lena raised her voice, snapping me out of my thoughts. I hummed as I looked up at her, she glanced down at my drink and I looked down noticing that it was gone already.