Stockholm Syndrome

43: Starbucks

43: Starbucks

Luke stared at me for a moment after he started the car. I glanced up at him but didn't attempt to hold his gaze. He finally pulled out of the parking spot and made his way out the incredibly long driveway. As I stared at the window, attempting to figure out exactly where we were, he let out a deep chuckle. I looked over at him, watching out the window from the corner of my eye.

"What?" I snapped.

"I just think your determination is cute." He answered, not one bit disturbed by my grumpy tone.

"What does that mean?" I asked, losing the angry exterior of my voice, asking a genuine question.

"You set your jaw, take a deep breath, sit up all determined and stare out the window like you're going to see a big sign that says 'welcome to such and such city.'" He explained, his nose wrinkling a little as he laughed. It was kind of adorable. "You could just ask me where we are." He took his eyes off the road for a split second, glanced at me, then looked back out the window.

"That didn't work out too well last time." I responded. My tone wasn't sour but it definitely made a point.

"This isn't last time." He gave me a look that said 'try me.'

"Where are we?"

"North Carolina." He answered instantly.

"What city?"

"Greenville." He answered, glancing at me again. "Greenville, North Carolina." I nodded, not knowing what to say after that. I continued staring out the window and Luke laughed at me again.

We made it to Starbucks in about twenty minutes. To my surprise, Luke parked the car and walked me in instead of going through the drive thru as I had expected. My palms were sweating and I wiped them on my pants.

Luke almost grabbed my hand to comfort me but he seemed to stop himself as if thinking it would look like he was trying to keep me from running away. When that thought went through my mind, I wondered why I grabbed onto Luke's hand instead of bolting. He looked down at me like he was thinking the same thing but I tried to ignore it.

After we both ordered, Luke found a table in the corner and we sat down. He took a drink of his coffee and stared at me, waiting for me to make a run for it. We sat for about twenty minutes, silent.

"Can I come back to the house with you?" I asked Luke, looking down at my drink. I couldn't bare making eye contact. It was a hard question to force through my mouth. Luke nodded.

"If you tell me why you're asking me that instead of having a police officer read me my rights." He responded, twirling the cup around on the table. My eyes went down.

"Why haven't you done anything to hurt me?" I murmured quietly.

"Answering my question with a question." Luke said thoughtfully, his voice husky. "Because, when I took you, my intent was not to bring you harm."

"Then what was your intent?" I asked. Luke let out a sigh and I knew he wanted me to look him in the eye before he even said anything. I did. "What was your intent?" He nodded in respect to me meeting his gaze.

"I saw your situation where you were back home and I didn't like it."

"But how did you even find me in the first place?" I asked, fighting hard to maintain eye contact.

"Some answers are better left unspoken until another day." He ended the questioning with that statement. "Now I'll ask again, why haven't you run from me?" He said quietly.

"You just answered that question yourself. I don't know why I believe you aren't lying but I do. And I don't understand everything about how you found me and why you brought me here. But I think I'm ok with that." I told him shakily. "There's just a gut feeling that I haven't been able to get away from ever since the first time I looked you in the eyes."

"I kidnapped you."

"And I slammed multiple doors in your face and ground my heel into your foot twice." I reminded him. "And if you really were more dangerous then you're letting on, you would've lost your temper during those moments. But you didn't. You stayed calm and let me throw a fit. That's why I believe you when you say you aren't out to hurt me."

"That and that gut feeling." He teased gently, lightening the mood.

"That too." I smiled.

"So, should we go home?" Luke asked. I nodded.

"Yeah... home." I wondered if I should really be calling Luke's house home.