Stockholm Syndrome

44: House to Home

44: House to Home

Luke unlocked the door, held it open for me, then walked in after I did. I relished the fact that he didn't lock the door. He hung the keys up on the shelf by the door. I spun on my heel and turned to him quickly. It was sudden and I surprised him, his mouth was in an 'o' shape and if I hadn't been looking up, my face would have collided with his chest.

"Do you still have my phone?" I asked him. He nodded.

"It's in the lounge." I appreciated that he skipped the stupid 'whys' and 'do you want its.' We both knew that I wouldn't be asking about it if I didn't want it. 'Why' was my business. Luke walked into a room that I had titled his 'man cave' but I guess he preferred to call it a lounge.

He walked out with my purse and handed it to me.

I thanked him, took the purse and sat on the living room couch. Luke busied himself in the kitchen, finding food for the endless pit that he called a stomach. How he managed to stay in such good shape, I don't know. I knew he exercised but he also ate just as much.

While he was in the kitchen, I googled what I had been wanting to google for a long time.

'Stockholm Syndrome.'

'Feelings of trust or affection felt in certain cases of kidnapping or hostage-taking by a victim toward a captor.'

I nodded, exiting out of the google page. That pretty much summed it up.

After about half an hour of sitting and staring at the news play on TV, Luke came over and placed a plate with a sandwich and cheez – its on my lap. He had an identical plate. He sat on the right corner of the couch – I was in the middle – and slid the remote into his hand. As he made his way to Netflix he spoke.

"Stockholm Syndrome, huh?" He grinned at me. I'm pretty sure my eyes grew two sizes bigger. He laughed at me. "My phone gets an alert on what my internet is being used for whenever someone else uses it." He explained.

"Good to know." I said quietly. He laughed, flicking on a horror movie.

About an hour and twenty minutes into the show he had chosen, I was terrified out of my mind. I covered my eyes with the blanket for the hundredth time as another scene made me freak. I let out a scream because even the sound effects were horrifying.

"Alright! All lights on if we're finishing this!" I yelled over the sound of whatever murder was playing on the screen now. Luke laughed, his nose crinkling again.

"You've got your eyes buried in that blanket so much you won't have a clue if the lights are on or off." He protested lightly. I glared at him. "Alright, how's this? The lights go on but you have to watch the rest of the movie. No more blanket hiding." He dealt. I weakly agreed.

"Fine." Luke chuckled, leapt up to turn the lights on and then sat back on his corner of the couch. He played the movie and I had issues forcing myself to stare at the screen without flinching. Luke watched me more than the movie.

When I looked over at him, he waved his head and patted his hip, silently telling me to come closer to him. I curled closer to him and he took my hand in his, rubbing it reassuringly.

I took a couple deep breaths before the next scene came on and I nearly jumped off the couch.

Luke laughed and wrapped his arm around my stomach, pulling me closer to him. This was the most I had ever heard him laugh. I don't know why I liked it so much but it was music to my ears. It was probably because this was one of the first times we were together without strings attached.

He wasn't holding me against my will and I had... accepted, staying with him as my best option. I blamed it on the Stockholm Syndrome but simultaneously, tried to convince myself that I didn't have it. I didn't want my relationship with him to be based off an intellectual illness.

Once the movie ended, I went into the kitchen and splashed my face with cold water to get my head working right again. But when I nearly shrieked at the sight of my reflection popping into the window's reflection, I knew it would be a restless night. Luke found me in the kitchen, set the popcorn bowl on the counter, and reminded me that it was past eleven at night. Time for bed.

He pulled me up the stairs even though I didn't appreciate how dark it got at the top. I pressed into his side as we walked down the hallway and he finally pulled me away from him when we got into the bedroom.

 Even though he had gotten me a few pairs of pajamas while he was shopping, I changed into one of his shirts instead. Luke glanced at me when I came out of the bathroom but didn't say anything about my apparel, just grinned, shaking his head. He grabbed a few pillows and blankets from the bed as he spoke.

"Since for now this is the only bedroom, I'll sleep on the couch so you can have the bed." He told me, swinging me into his arms and placing me in the bed. I shook my head as he walked away.

"No, this is your house. Let me sleep on the couch."

"I'm not making a lady sleep on a couch." He chided. "Its fine."

"No." I persisted. "Just stay." I pried. He gave me a look. "Please, I don't want to be alone, that move has got me scared out of my wits." I made an excuse, giving him an innocent smile. He shook his head playfully.

"I'll leave the lamp on."

"That too." I retorted. He chuckled.

"Let me go change." He decided. I nodded. He was in the bathroom for maybe three minutes and walked out with a toothbrush in his mouth, changed into gray sweatpants and no shirt.

While he brushed his teeth, he flipped the main lights off and made his way over to the lamp and flicked one light on. The dim light was soothing. He finished up in the bathroom, and put the pillows back in their rightful place on the bed.

Then he crawled onto the bed and lay facing me on his side. His hands were by his side.

I laid down too but before I knew it, I was pressed into his shoulder. My head rested in the crook of his neck before I had time to scold myself. I didn't have time to correct myself before our chests were touching and I couldn't go back now because he was so warm.

 I could feel his heart thumping for a while before it went back to its steady pace. He ended up resting his lips on my ear, his breath from his nose trickling down my neck. He was a bit taken aback at first by the contact, as was I, before he wrapped his arms around my waist and held me there.

"That must have really been a bad movie." He teased me. Even though he jibed at me, he didn't move. He stayed pressed close to me, whispering sweet nothings into my ear every so often. That was how I fell asleep. And that was how Luke transformed this house into a home in one night.