Stolen

Chapter Four:

It was shortly after noon two days later when Sora finally woke up again, this time he was not disoriented and weak from blood loss. He lay in bed, thinking of the bizarre dream he had just come out of. Sora stretched out his legs, but to his surprise, his movement was severely restricted. He sat up letting the unfamiliar sheets fall from his body and pool at his hips. Upon trying to remove the rest of the sheets, Sora noted with shock that on both of his hands, his fingers were wrapped up, making it impossible for him to move them.

“What the hell?” he gasped, examining his hands further. They appeared to be covered in a layer of packing tape over the cloth that was tied around all his fingers. He also noticed the bandages around his wrists and the IV stuck on the inside of his elbow.

It was then that he heard noises coming from another room before a man appeared in the doorway, the man from his dream. After a moment of shock, Sora let out a curse under his breath. It wasn’t a dream, he realized in horror.

“Just what the hell is going on?” Sora demanded louder this time, his panic rising. “Where am I?”

The man simply lifted up the bowl of soup he was holding a little higher into the air and walked slowly into the room. “I thought you’d be hungry,” he said ignoring Sora’s questions. “You haven’t actually eaten anything in a few days.”

“I’m not eating that,” Sora replied automatically in disgust. “You could be trying to poison me or something.”

The man only smirked and sat down on the bed beside him. “Poison you?” he repeated and Sora could hear the subtle hint of amusement in the stranger’s voice.

Sora tried to put as much space between them as possible, but since he was tied up, it was difficult for him to move much. His legs were bond together and tied securely to what Sora assumed to be the footboard of the bed. He realized that his hands were constricted so that he wasn’t able to untie his feet and make an escape.

Upon seeing Sora shift uncomfortably his captor continued in a more serious tone. “If I was going to kill you, I would not have saved your life,” he said evenly gesturing to Sora’s wrists.

“What do you want with me then?” Sora asked, still not convinced that he could trust the stranger, but he was also sure that he didn’t have much of a choice.

The man only stirred the warm liquid in the bowl he held and lifted the spoon up to Sora’s mouth. “Eat,” he said, “I have no intention of hurting you.”

Sora’s eyes narrowed at the man’s words. If he wasn’t going to hurt Sora, what the hell was he doing there? Sora looked at the spoon then his attention was back on the stranger. “What’s your name?”

“Squall,” he replied. Sora watched as Squall sighed and his expression changed to an annoyed one before slipping back to unreadable as the man continued speaking. “Now will you eat?”

Sora didn’t say anything. After a moment of studying Squall, he accepted the spoonful of chicken soup.

~*~

“I have no intention of hurting you.”

Right, Squall thought, remembering what he had said twenty minutes ago. Sure, I won’t hurt the kid, but I’ll sell him to someone who certainly will. After feeding his hostage, he changed and cleaned Sora’s injured wrists and removed the IV from his arm, putting the needle and leftover medicine in a safe place to give to Kairi to be properly disposed of. The whole time he was spoon-feeding Sora, he was mentally kicking himself for accidentally giving the kid his real name as opposed to his street name. Squall hadn’t been thinking and when Sora asked, the question threw him off and it just slipped out.

There’s no point in worrying about it now, he reasoned with himself as he set the empty bowl and spoon into the sink to be washed later. He still had three days until he had to give Sora up, he’d worry later.

Squall left Sora alone in his bedroom until supper rolled around. With a tray of food in hand, he entered the plain room and once again joined Sora on the bed. The teen was resting on his side and when Squall entered, Sora sat up as much as he could. From hours of not being able to do much besides lounge on Squall’s bed, Sora’s hair now resembled a bird’s nest; his brown hair tangled and messy. It made the teen look younger according to Squall.

“It’s boring here,” Sora said, stretching his arms up into the air and Squall’s eyes automatically lowered to the section of abdomen that was revealed. Sora didn’t seem to notice and he flopped his hands down on his lap as he continued quickly. “Not that I really mind, I mean, Seifer never let me do anything.”

Squall had been about to pick up on of the sandwiches he had made to feed Sora but he paused to study Sora for a second instead. He figured that Sora was only talking now to fill up the silence. “Seifer,” he pressed further, already knowing the answer to the question he was about to ask. “Your uncle?”

Once again Sora seemed oblivious. “Yeah,” he said. “The guy took me in after my parents and brother died. He’s the only family I have left.” The teen trailed off at the end, looking away. “I miss them.”

“Miss your uncle?” Squall asked as he finally held up the sandwich for his prisoner to eat.

Sora took a bite and shook his head. “My family,” he explained when he was finished. “I used to have a picture of them. It was the only thing I had left of them.” Sora’s voice took on a hint of sadness and his face fell as he trailed off again.

“I’ve seen the picture,” Squall said, munching on his own sandwich. “You had it in your hands when I found you. How did they die?”

Sora paused in chewing for a second and he looked at Squall briefly, then quickly turned away again. “I don’t know,” he replied at last. “Seifer never talked about it.”

They continued to eat in silence after that. After they finished their meals, Squall left to get rid of the dirty dishes, placing them in the sink next to the disregarded bowl from lunch. He sighed, turning his attention to the picture of Sora’s family that he had set on the counter after washing the blood from the wooden frame two days ago. Squall felt a tinge of guilt wash over him as he studied the family. It bothered him that for some unknown reason he made the effort to bring the picture with him and he was clueless as to why he didn’t just give it back to Sora now.

He let out a frustrated breath and let his gaze wander again, his eyes coming to rest on the knife rack he kept on the other side of the kitchen. Squall slowly made his way over to it, lifting his fingers to brush the handle of one of the knives. Making a quick decision, he pulled out the knife and returned to the bedroom with the kitchen utensil gripped loosely in one hand.

Sora had been staring out the window, lost in deep thought. At the sound of his Squall’s return Sora seemed to snap out of it and he turned his attention to the approaching man. Squall could feel Sora’s eyes study him for a moment before they lowered to the object he had brought back with him. Squall watched as Sora’s sapphire eyes widened and he tried to back away as far as he could, struggling against the bindings.

“I thought you said you weren’t going to hurt me,” Sora squeaked.

Squall paused mid step and looked down at the sharp implement in his hand. “Sorry,” he apologized, only now realizing what it must look like to Sora. “I don’t own any scissors,” he offered weakly.

“What?”

“I’m going to untie you,” he clarified, moving closer and climbing onto the bed with his squirming hostage.

“What?” Sora repeated, his eyes narrowing in suspicion. “Why?”

Squall successfully pulled Sora closer to him and caught one of his struggling arms, much to the teen’s horror. Being careful not to disturb the teen’s wrists, he was victorious in cutting loose the hand he captured before he answered. “I was going to let you take a shower,” he explained. In an attempt to lighten the mood, he added, “Unless of course, you’d rather have a sponge bath.”

Sora’s cheeks flared up a dark red as he blushed at the implication and he stopped struggling at once. “A sh-shower would be fine,” he replied and offered up his other hand to be cut freed.

Squall smirked at the flustered teen. He enjoyed how easily it had been for him to embarrass Sora. Grey eyes took in the adorable pout of the rosy bottom lip Sora unconsciously stuck out at him.

Cute, Squall thought before he could stop himself.

Frowning at himself he paused. His were hands resting on the bindings around Sora’ ankles. He made sure to make eye contact with his prisoner as he spoke. “As I stated before, I don’t want to hurt you,” he said making sure Sora understood the seriousness in his voice. “But if you try anything stupid, I won’t hesitate in … restraining you by force if I have to.”

Sora nodded in comprehension. “Yes sir,” he replied out of habit.

After Sora’s legs had been freed, Squall pointed to the small bathroom that was connected to his bedroom. “You’ve got ten minutes. If you’re not out when the time comes, I’ll go in and get you,” Squall warned. “There’s a towel on the sink for you in there.”

He watched as Sora cautiously stood up from the bed, testing the strength of his legs, after all, he hadn’t used them for a few days. When he was satisfied that they would hold his weight, Sora took small careful steps to the room that Squall directed him to.

“And Sora,” Squall said just as the teen was about to close the bathroom door.

Sora paused and curiously stared at Squall from behind the door. He said nothing and simply waited for the man to continue.

“Leave it unlocked,” Squall commanded after a moment.

~*~

Sora nodded. He pushed the door shut; his fingers were itching to lock it, but he knew better than to disobey a direct order and he desperately wanted a shower. Though once inside the small bathroom, Sora suddenly became aware of how badly he needed to pee. He wasted no time in making his way to the toilet to relief himself.

Sora felt awkward stripping the borrowed clothes from his body. His cheeks reddened at the thought of Squall changing his clothes; Sora remembered that he didn’t bother to change out of his school uniform the night he tried to commit suicide and when he regained consciousness, he was wearing clothes that didn’t belong to him.

He pushed the thought out of his mind as he turned on the water to warm up. After a moment of waiting, he climbed into the hot shower and stood under the soothing water. Sora did nothing but enjoyed the feeling of water roll over his body for a minute before he remembered about his time limit and quickly got to work scrubbing and washing himself.

Slick and squeaky clean, Sora turned off the water and stepped out of the shower a few minutes later. He grabbed the towel left for him on the counter hoping he still had enough time left over to dry himself off before Squall came in to get him.

Feeling satisfied that he was dry enough, Sora’s actions came to a halt; he realized he had not been given anything clean to wear. Sora briefly considered putting back on the baggy clothes he had been wearing earlier, but decided against it, scrunching his nose at the pile of forgotten dirty fabric at his feet.

Not knowing what else to do, Sora wrapped the now damp towel around his waist, holding it securely in place with one hand. He took a deep breath to steady his nerves before placing his hand on the doorknob and twisting it to cautiously pull the bathroom door opened.

At first he thought Squall was elsewhere in the apartment, but when the door was opened further, Sora quickly spotted the man standing by the window.

“There are clean clothes on the bed,” Squall said in an unreadable tone without bothering to turn around.

Sora’s eyes shifted to the bed and he left out a loud gasp, almost dropping his towel. The picture frame holding his family sat on top of the pile of clothes. “You brought my family too?” Sora asked, making sure he wasn’t just imagining it.

Squall turned around at that moment to study Sora for a second. “Yeah,” he replied. He looked back out the window as he continued. “I thought you’d want it back.”

Sora felt tears of joy well up in his eyes. He choked back a sob as he made his way to the bed and picked up the photograph, stroking the glass fondly. Sora only put the lay the picture down for a minute while he hastily pulled on the clothes that had been left out for him.

Sora was vaguely aware of Squall shifting around in getting ready to tie him up once again. He felt himself being pushed gently towards the bed and Sora let Squall move his legs closer to the footboard. Only when Squall had finished securing his legs to the bed did Sora hear the older man speak.

“Are you crying?” he asked.

Sora seemed to be brought out of his trance and his eyes shifted to meet Squall’s grey ones. Sora lift a hand to his cheek, his finger tips instantly becoming wet as he felt tears staining the skin there. He had barely noticed what was going on but now that Squall had pointed it out, Sora suddenly flushed with embarrassment. He furiously wiped his hands across his eyes, trying to rid his face of the extra moisture.

They sat in silence for a moment and Sora began to squirm under Squall’s intense gaze. Sora picked up the picture of his family and placed it carefully on the bedside table before offering his hands to Squall. “You can tie me back up now,” he said, a little shocked at his own actions and words.

Squall raised an eyebrow at Sora, but he said nothing as he worked at wrapping his prisoner’s hands up, then securing them with tape.

~*~

Another two days had passed and Sora found himself actually happy for once in his life. Sure, he was being held against his will, but Squall had not once done anything to hurt him. Sora had the picture of his family back and he was, for all he knew, miles away from his abusive uncle. What else did he need?

Even worse, he was starting to actually like the man who kidnapped him. And not just in a friendly way, Sora realized that morning in horror. He had developed a crush on Squall! A crush on the man who saved my life and stole me away from my personal hell, he rationalized. Anyone would fall for that kind of knight in shining armour.

Sora accepted another bite of the homemade pancakes that Squall offered him.

A ridiculously attractive knight in shining armour, a little voice in the back of Sora’s head added. He sighed loudly, frowning at himself.

The action didn’t go unnoticed to Squall. The man stopped cutting off a chuck of pancake and he looked up through his bangs to Sora. “What’s wrong?” he asked after a brief moment of analysing the teen’s behaviour.

“Nothing,” Sora replied quickly. Realizing that Squall would never believe him, he tempted to cover up his mistake. “I just was thinking how I wouldn’t mind being able to feed myself,” he continued, sighing again. “I kinda feel like a baby.”

Squall’s intense stare never left Sora’s face, but his expression had changed from concerned to contemplative. He seemed to come to a conclusion about whatever he was thinking about and Sora watched as Squall set aside the plates of food and left the bedroom, heading in the direction of the kitchen. He returned a few moments later with the knife in his hand.

“Can I trust you?” Squall whispered, hesitating in the doorway. He looked down at the object as he twirled the sharp metal utensil between his fingers.

Sora’s face lit up at the possibility of being given a little bit more freedom. He figured Squall’s question was rhetorical, but he decided to chance giving an answer anyways. “Yes,” he said. As an after thought, he add, “I’ve got no where to go.”

His answer seemed to please Squall and the man moved to sit back down on the bed with Sora. “Exactly,” he said, picking up Sora’s right hand carefully by the back of his wrist. “Because you know that if you went to the police, you’d only end up right back where you were with your uncle.”

Sora nodded as his hand was freed. It felt weird to be able to move his fingers again, but he was thankful he could. “Yeah,” he agreed when his other hand was cut loose. “And he’d probably be really mad at me too.” Sora suppressed the shudder at the thought of what might happen if Seifer ever got a hold of him again. “I don’t want to think about that.”

Sora was surprised that Squall also untied his feet from the bed. It almost felt like he was free; after all, it was more freedom and kindness than Seifer had ever given him. Sora stretched his legs then brought them close to sit cross-legged on the bed. He picked up his plate of half eaten pancakes and set it gently on his lap and continued to eat in silence with Squall.

If this isn’t happiness, Sora thought to himself. I don’t know what is.

~*~

AN: Look, I'm updating! And it only took a week. Aren't you proud of me? I'm very excited because everything is happening smoothly in the story. But I do hope that is doesn't look like their relationship is too unrealistically.

I love all my readers, hope you enjoy this chapter and drop a review to tell me what you think of it.