The Heartthrob's Dark Obsession Part 2

Chapter 33

Chapter 33:

Nori looked in the mirror as Amy tightened the back of the ghastly white wedding dress. It wasn't ghastly because it was ugly, in fact it was quite flattering on Nori's small figure. It was something she probably would've chosen for herself. And it wasn't ghastly because it showed off the large branding on her chest. While she wanted to forget about it, she also knew that it was part of her, part of who she had become.

No, it was ghastly because she was wearing this dress for a wedding to the wrong man. And as she looked in the mirror she hated everything she saw. She was exactly the way Theo liked her, too skinny and too weak to fight back.

The sickly pale color of her skin was only rivalled by the bruised up look of Amy's skin.

"I think it's tight enough. Why don't you get dressed?"

"Are you sure you don't need any more help?" Nori knew Amy was putting off the moment where she had to wear the horrid dress Theo got from the thrift store. It was too big and despite being a lovely shade of blue managed to look all wrong on Amy.

"He wants us ready soon and I have to do my hair and put on some make up."

"Nori? Are you going to be okay?"

"What more could a girl want? It's just a forced marriage on my 25th birthday."

"At least it isn't legal."

"A small consolation prize," she sighed.

Amy glumly left the room and Nori grabbed the bag from the pharmacy Amy had previously worked at. Theo bought mascara, eye liner, a single eye palette, some blush, pressed powder, and a coral pink lipstick. There was also an assortment of make up brushes and various hair accessories.

Nori rarely wore make up. She wasn't bad at it by any means, she just didn't like how it felt on her face. As she put everything on, she vaguely wondered if the pharmacy employees simply assumed Theo was a cross dresser. When she lived with Derek everyone knew the two of them. The man who ran a bodega near their apartment thought they were the cutest couple.

But now, she would only be remembered as that girl who Theo Masterson kidnapped. The one he killed for. If that was the legacy she left behind then maybe this child wasn't the worst thing to happen. This child could carry on her story long after she was gone.

She absentmindedly pressed her hand to her stomach. In there was a child. No, not a child, a cluster of cells that would become a child. Maybe it would be just like Theo. Or it might be just like her, a victim in all this.

Nori let out a deep sigh and applied the make up to her face. It didn't take too long simply because she didn't have a million choices to make. She pulled strands of her hair and braided them back, securing them with a clip. Theo hadn't gotten her any Bobby pins. He probably couldn't trust her after she escaped the last time.

Amy popped back into the room, holding her ill-fitting dress up at the front. "Theo said he wants us down in 15 minutes."

"Okay."

"Would you be able to help me pin this dress?" Amy held up about a dozen safety pins.

"Sure thing."

Nori pulled the fabric as tightly as she could and put a few pins in. It still looked awful, simultaneously making her look washed out and making the bruises on her skin appear darker.

"I think that's the best it's gonna get," said Nori.

Amy turned to her with a cheeky grin. "How do you think Theo would react if you said no when I asked if you would take him to be your husband?"

"He'd punch you in the face for ruining his perfect day even if it was me who did it."

Amy laughed. "I can handle it. You want to have some fun today?"

"Just because you can handle it doesn't mean you should have to..." whispered Nori. Some days Amy was relaxed and making jokes and others, well, other days her depression spirals could put Nori's own to shame. That particular day was a joking day.

"I know. I just wanted to lighten the mood." Amy was a good friend, but Nori was so afraid that Theo would kill her in one of his rages, so of course she rarely did anything that could incur his ire. But, of course, he would randomly get extremely upset, and now that he had Amy he rarely hit Nori, instead choosing to punish the other girl for anything he felt like.

Only a few days earlier, Theo had strung Amy from the basement ceiling and used her body like the punching bag she hung next to all because  Nori talked back to him. And of course Nori was made to watch.

"I know you do, Amy. But please, be careful."

Amy gave Nori a weak smile, "I'll try."

"Now, do I look okay?" asked Nori, afraid that if she wasn't bridal enough Theo would throw a fit.

"You look beautiful."

"Is anyone even coming to this charade?"

"Well, considering I planned the menu of dinner for three, no."

"Cool, at least I don't have to pretend to be happy about all this." The two waited in silence until they heard Theo call for them. Amy handed Nori a bouquet of fake flowers that they two of them had made a few days earlier. "Time to face the devil."

Amy walked down the stairs in front of Nori. A bluetooth speaker sat at the bottom of the stairs playing music for their entrance. It was a song from Theo's movie The Pennsylvania Story. Nori took deep measured breaths. She just had to get through this.

Amy turned the corner into the living room and Nori followed. Theo stood with his camera and took way too many pictures of Nori as she came into the room. She looked up at him and felt a pit in her stomach. He looked incredibly dashing in the suit he wore. She felt all the old feelings she had for him bubbling up. The music from his first movie, the one she watched on repeat after her parents death, she feared that her emotions would get the best of her.

Theo took her by the hand and pulled her to an arch made of cardboard and dollar store flowers. As she looked at his chiseled cheek bones and his deep ocean-like eyes, she felt butterflies in her stomach.

Theo quickly put the camera on a tripod and pressed a button. He walked next to her and took her small hands in his. She looked up at him and bit her lip, trying to process the feelings she had at the moment. She tried to remind herself that this was just a natural reaction to the nostalgia from the music and seeing only him for weeks on end. Her only feeling for Theo Masterson was hatred.

Amy picked up a piece of paper and started the ceremony. Nori tuned out the words being said. None of this matter. It wasn't a real wedding. She kept repeating that in her head. It wasn't a real wedding.

Theo took the paper from Amy and read his part then handed it to Nori. She read her part. She tried so hard to ignore the butterflies in her stomach. She just focused on reminding herself that she was a prisoner and this was not something she wanted. It didn't matter if Theo was good at manipulating her emotions. She wasn't going to be fooled by his dashing good lucks and immeasurable charm in that moment.

Theo put a ring on her finger and she put one on his. Amy said the thing about Theo being her husband.

"You may now kiss the bride."

He kissed Nori. It was a passionate kiss unlike the others they had shared. It wasn't hungry or rough. It was gentle and romantic and reminded her far too much of the kisses she shared with Derek. As Theo broke away from the kiss she looked up at him nervously and he smiled at her in a way that pulled her insides into tight knots. Why did she feel like this? Why did she feel like she could be happy with this? What was wrong with her?

"Theo, I...I have to go to the bathroom, I'll be right back," she said, softly.

"Okay, darling, don't take too long," he said.

She walked to the nearest bathroom and looked down at the toilet. This had to be morning sickness. It had to. That's why her stomach was in knots. But nothing came. She went back out to the living room and looked at Theo, a big smile on his face and she could feel and equally large smile pulling at her face. Just for today, she'd let herself be happy with him.