Stockholm Syndrome

68: It's Still Going to be a Fight

68: It's Still Going To Be A Fight

"It's still going to be a fight." I murmured to Luke when I had stared at the blank TV screen for long enough. I felt his cheek rubbing across my head while he leaned against me.

"What's that?"

"I'm not miraculously cured from my anorexia." I told him. "I think I'm still going to be fighting you on it."

"What makes you think that's going to stop me?" He mumbled. "Didn't you like eating, though?"

"Luke, I'm scared."

"I'll be with you, honey. You aren't going through this alone anymore."

"Do you remember that conversation we had a while back?"

"Sweetheart, we've had a lot of conversations." He said.

"You said you would never leave me." He nodded. We sat up straight. We both had our backs against opposite corners of the couch. I was curled into a blanket, pushing it up to my skin, and Luke was playing with a throw pillow. "Why didn't you say you wouldn't hurt me?" I asked quietly.

 Neither of us made eye contact. I'm not sure if he tried but I was too busy counting the threads peeking out of the blanket to check.

"Madeline, do you believe I'm going to hurt you?" He spoke quietly as if it pained him to think that. I was silent for a moment.

"No... I don't know... But you always think through what you say. You always have a reason for what you say... and what you don't say." He rubbed his eyes, his fingers meeting on his nose.

"Yeah. I do. I guess." He thought for a moment. "That doesn't necessarily mean physical harm."

"Is that supposed to make me feel better?" If he was telling me that he could hurt me emotionally, I would actually prefer physical pain. That can heal. Sometimes there are scars left on the heart that just can't be fixed. No matter how hard you try.

"I suppose not." He decided. "It doesn't mean I'm going to try to hurt your heart." He told me. "It just means that... Madeline, I don't like using the terminology but, I kidnapped you. Abducted you, whatever you want to call it. That wasn't just a dare from some friends at a drunken college party."

"You told me you took me because I needed help."

"You did. It was a dangerous situation you were in. But normally people don't just see that and decided to take action in the way I did without good reason."

"Then what was your reason?"

"I told you that if you could look me in the eyes and say 'why am I here' I would tell you. That was our deal." I think he knew I still wasn't ready. But he sat there and gave me a chance for two hours before finally standing up and telling me he would be in the kitchen after he took a shower.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

There will be a total of 71 chapters in this book so it's nearly over...

But there will be a sequel and I'll give the title as soon as possible. :)

Thank you for reading my book. xx