Is This True Love? (DNF)

Chapter 74: Locked

George POV.

I stumbled away from the door after having tried the handle a dozen times. It was clear that I wasn’t going to be getting out of here and I could feel my breath growing uneven. Clay had locked me in his room… I was thinking that maybe I was overreacting but then he locked me up like I was some kind of animal.

My entire body was tense, fists balled up tightly enough that my knuckles turned white. Part of me wanted to punch something but I doubted that that would do anything good. Perhaps if I was strong enough to punch through a door, but I wasn’t. All that I’d do was hurt my hand and then move to cower in the corner.

This bedroom was also on the second floor. I wouldn’t be able to climb out of the window without hurting myself especially since there were no trees, ledges, or vines that I could climb out of. All that I could do was sit and panic, like a trapped rat.

After what felt like both an eternity and a second the door opened. Clay stepped in carrying some food and gave me a smile as I stood in a corner. He didn’t ask or seem concerned about why I was in the corner and clearly in the middle of freaking out. I managed to keep myself away from falling into a panic attack by taking deep breaths and clutching at the carpet.

“I’ll have to go shopping later to buy some more stuff.” He simply rambled as he walked around the room. “All that I have left is junk food and we can’t exactly live off of that, can we?” The way he was moving, setting up a blanket on the floor as I watched him made it seem as though he was setting up a picnic for us.

When he’d spread the blanket out and set the food down he looked over at me, tilting his head with a smile. It felt as though he was examining me as I sat there. “Do you want to join me?” He asked, motioning over. I glanced towards the door, once again considering making a run for it, yet I didn’t. He’d be able to outrun me and knew the layout of the house so there was no point.

“Could we take the picnic outside?” I asked, slowly moving towards him. Every second spent in this room made it feel smaller and smaller. “Please?” I tried to hide my desperation. He shook his head though, gaze down as though he felt sad for having to turn down my offer.
“I’m sorry George.” He hummed. “We don’t want people to see you here.”

“Oh.” I tried not to sound too disheartened, settling on the blanket in the corner so that there was some distance between us. I was unsure why he even wanted to do a picnic, just not being in the mood to complain or ask anything of him right now.

The blond seemed as though he wanted to move over to comfort me, yet he stayed where he was on the other side of the blanket. I didn’t try to eat or even look at him, instead just keeping my gaze down on the bland navy blanket beneath me. “I’m sorry.” Was all he said, and I spared a glance as he spoke.

“Why are you sorry?” I asked, since there were so many things that I was thinking about, so many things that he could apologise for. Firstly he locked me in his room just a minute ago, causing me to completely freak out. Secondly it felt as though he was a brick wall, not wanting to interact with me earlier this morning. Oh, and the fact he was friends with Jimmy Donaldson.

“Just that you are unable to go outside.” He said. “You probably won’t be able to for a while at least.” My eyes widened with shock. “You’ll have to stay in here, but I’ll make sure you have a good life. Just you and me.” I continued to grow tense.
“Clay… I can’t live inside.” I pointed out.

“It won’t be forever.” He moved around the blanket, moving to sit beside me and wrapping an arm around my shoulder. “Just until the search for you lets up… the search for both of us. Nobody knows my address, not even Jimmy.” He began kissing at me, kissing my neck and the side of my face. “This is to protect you.”

“Well if by ‘protecting me’ you mean treating me like a prisoner, then perhaps I don’t want to be here.” I pushed him away from me, standing up and beginning to walk to the door.
“If you leave you could end up being taken back. You are the most famous person in the world, both you and I. Do you want that?”

“I don’t know what I want.” I admitted, keeping my voice quiet as though it was a secret, which I guess it was. Or perhaps it was the irrational fear that this was all still being filmed.
“So you want to go back? Go back to a life where you were feeling miserable? I’ve been watching you your whole life, I could make you happier than you ever were on that show.”

“You locked me up just like they did… just now.” I reminded him, taking a half-step back in order to create some much needed distance. My eyes narrowed and I watched as he opened and closed his mouth a few times, attempting to think of something to say but before he could I continued. “I tried to open the door and it was locked.”

He didn’t respond and I crossed my arms. “I had thought that I loved you Clay. What I had wanted was to be with you, but you lied to me and you locked me up. The people on the news were saying that you were friends with the guy who had kidnapped me.”

“You are making a big deal out of nothing. I just want to take care of you George.” When he tried to approach me I turned to the door, attempting to open it but it was locked. I wasn’t even sure when he had locked it, which was the thing that truly scared me. The blond’s figure moved behind me, and a hand moved to my shoulder, making me jolt.

“George, just sit down.” He instructed. “You are making a big deal out of nothing.” As he repeated his words I tensed up, sending a glare back at him. My hand was still on the door handle before his own hand moved to grab my wrist. He managed to get me to let go before leading me back down to the blanket. “Let’s just enjoy a nice meal.”

I didn’t make eye contact, going back to my old reliable strategy of keeping my head down. He attempted to keep making conversation yet it was clear that I wasn’t in any mood to respond to him. “Would you like something to eat?” He offered. I just shook my head, wanting to be anywhere but here.

Eventually Clay sighed. “Y’know, I’m trying to be nice.” He hummed, and I finally looked up at him. “I am trying to treat you to something. I know how much you love picnics…” He stated.
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1248 words

Is Clay just trying to be nice?