I looked up to see my kidnapper staring at me with his jaw slightly unhinged.
« Wow. » He said finally.
Wow ? Wow as in 'this story touched my heart' or wow as in 'you had a rough childhood' ?
« Skylar, shit I'm sorry ! Fuck… » He said in a stressed way, looking kind of cute. I look up to see his wide eyes staring back at me and his hand running through his yummy hair.
Well I definitely wasn't expecting an apology after telling him my story.
« What. » I said stupidly after a while, staring at him with a blank expression.
« I shouldn't have tackled you…twice ! I probably fucked it up even more now… » He said, looking heavily burdened with guilt all of a sudden.
I stared at him, then couldn't help but burst out laughing.
What ? He's not the only one that can surprise you with random laugh attacks…
After I composed myself, wiping away an imaginary tear and all, I looked up at his confused face.
« What ? » He asked, now he was the one puzzled.
« Sorry, and it's fine, you didn't know. » I gave him a small smile, feeling bad when I looked at his apologetic guilt-ridden expression.
« What ? » He repeated, curiosity burning in his eyes.
« It's just kind of bizarre that the big bad kidnapper is apologizing. » I said, smiling softly in amusement.
Although it was sweet, he's the one who came out trying to look like and be a badass, but inside he was a deep softie…
« You know what ? I take that back. I was trying to be nice and what's bizarre is you laughing after telling me your life-altering, traumatic story. » He said, his expression confused mixed with a hint of concern.
« No ! It's a good thing. Most guys aren't like that. » I said softly. « And yeah I guess it is strange. But it's not an easy story to tell and I guess laughing afterwards is my way of shattering the aftereffects in here from my morbid story. » I shrugged.
He gave me an understanding nod, his intense eyes fixated on mine. But they were filled with sympathy…
I had to look away because that look of pity was the last thing I wanted to see right now. I hated that look.
Somehow, I think he understood that, and thankfully moved on.
« So what makes me different than most guys ? » He asked, a ghost of a smile on his face.
« The fact that you're a kidnapper. » I said automatically, causing him to scowl at me.
« I'm leaving. » He growled, standing up and turning to leave.
« No wait ! I wasn't done. » I yelled, grabbing his arm and tugging him back to the couch.
As soon as our skin made contact, I felt tingles on my hand. That's definitely not normal…
Then again, stopping your kidnapper from leaving and complimenting him isn't either.
He took a seat across from me again and stared at me expectantly.
He must've been expecting me to say some more mean things, considering the shock in his eyes after I was done.
« Most guys that would be in your position would be treating me a lot worse. » I said with a frown, staring at my lap.
« For whichever reason you decided to kidnap me for, » I started off, trying not to roll my eyes in frustration. « You're kind of a chill kidnapper. Yeah you were rude and stripped me from my life and whatnot, but you let me argue and talk back to you. And you were sweet earlier when I was opening up to you, and it made me feel better somehow, telling you my story. Maybe it was because of the fact that you're a stranger, or maybe I just saw something in you that had invigorated me to be slightly vulnerable around you. Yeah this whole situation is pretty messed up but I haven't fully found out the reason for all of this, and for some reason I believe that you're not the real bad-guy here. Or maybe you are and you're going to kill me in the next five seconds. Who knows ? The point is, I could be getting starved and beat while being here, but I'm not. So thank you for letting me use your Axe shampoo and not being some cruel prick. » I shrugged casually afterwards.
« Wow. You didn't have to say all that. » He finally spoke. « It was sweet but I know don't deserve to be seen like that. Especially not from you. I stripped you from your life regardless Skylar… » He trailed off, his voice getting thick with emotion. My heart felt something when I saw the tortured look in his eyes.
« I know. » I sighed finally. « And I'm hoping I can figure out the reason for all of this soon. » I looked back up at him and studied his frame. « I'm not that stupid. » I said with a small laugh. « Look at you. You should be in school or something. You have a nice place, a cute little brother which I don't know where you're hiding but I hope you feed him well, » I gave him a look. « You seem smart and sweet, and I can't see you doing this for your own motives, because I can't see any. So once I know what's truly going on, I guess then I can make my own proper judgments. » I shrugged.
He stared at me for a while.
I started to get nervous when he didn't speak for a long time.
« What is it ? » I couldn't help but blurt out.
Had I said too much ? Would he laugh at me and lock me in a dungeon saying that it was all just an act ? Had I made a fool out of myself ? Did that even matter ?
« I think you're an incredible person. » He finally spoke, saying the last thing I would have expected.
He noticed my shocked expression and let out a small laugh.
« I don't think you know how much it takes in someone to be able to say things like that. To be able to see things from an unbiased perspective like that. I should be the least deserving of your empathy, but yet you offer that to someone who just stole everything from you. » He finished off sadly.
« First of all, it's not empathy, it's just me not stressing about things out of my control until I can get control. I guess I just have a very lax attitude towards a lot of things. » I said nonchalantly. « And like I said, I know you have a bigger reason for doing this and I will find it out. » I looked at him pointedly.