Taken by One Direction

Chapter 22: Stockholm Syndrome

When I awoke the next morning, Louis refused to speak to me about what had happened the night before. It was almost as if nothing had happened at all, but there was an air of awkwardness every time we looked at each other.

Luckily, the boys had their first concert that evening, kicking off their tour, so I was alone for most of the day. They left me handcuffed to the bed in the back room. Of course, I was able to get out of these and break the lock on the door. I didn't try to escape, though, I was too scared.

Around lunchtime, Liam came back to get me food. When he left, he reluctantly handcuffed me to the bed again, and locked the door behind him. I got out before Niall came back to give me dinner. I felt apprehensive at first, but figured the boys wouldn't send him to be with me alone if they weren't sure that he wouldn't hurt me.

When he left, I was left in the back room with handcuffs on. I managed to maneuver out of the handcuffs, but decided not to break the lock again. Instead, I just fell asleep on the comfortable bed.

At about midnight I heard the boys come back in, but I was too drowsy to wake up fully. I heard someone come into the room and sigh as he stood over me. Whoever it was picked me up in his strong arms and carried me into the room with the bunks. I was placed on one of the beds softly. I curled up against the wall and didn't dare open my eyes. I didn't want to know who had held me or whose bed I was sleeping in.

A few minutes later I felt the bed dip next to me as someone climbed in. I felt a hot breath on my face just as two cold fingers brushed hair off of my face. I didn't open my eyes to see who it was. I was too afraid.

"So beautiful." I heard someone mutter in a sleepy and worn out voice. I was almost unable to identify the rough voice because of the obvious strain it was put under from the concert. Almost.

I had heard this voice so much over the past week that I was able to pin it on one of the boys. Louis.

I didn't open my eyes to look at him, but I felt my body loosen up. For some stupid reason, I felt safe with Louis. I felt at ease. Too bad he didn't return the feelings.

The next few days passed the same way; it had almost become a routine. We would wake up and drive for a while. I would usually remain quiet and stay close to Louis, keeping a special distance between Zayn and Harry.

The boys pretty much left me alone and didn't interact with me too often. I knew it was because they were afraid I would freak out.

Whenever the boys left me, they didn't bother to handcuff me to the bed; they would just lock the back door. I often found myself with nothing to do, so I started to fantasize about escaping. I would imagine calling my parents and get through a whole conversation without an argument. I imagined getting a real job, one where the boss wasn't a complete ass. I imagined going back to school, even.

These fantasies were the only things that helped me get through the days.

We had been going through this routine for about a week or so. Some days I would barely see the boys; they would have back to back concerts and interviews. Some days I would never get alone time; they would hang out in the bus all day. It was the most annoying thing ever.

I still switched beds with the boys, but I no longer had to share a bed with Harry. Liam had said that was 'out of the question'. Thank God.

Louis was the one who've I had the most interaction with, even though it was often awkward between us.

I didn't talk to Zayn much, but when I did, we were polite and friendly to each other. I always associated Zayn with discipline, since that was the role he had taken with me. I behaved as best as I could around him so that I could avoid getting punished.