Home Sweet Home? (fK&C fanfic)

Chapter 8 - The Party (cont.)

37 Days Since We Left Home:

Luke Smallbone's POV:

    Brooke turned extremely red and I laughed lightly. "Luke!" came a sharp voice. I turned around and saw Joel looking irritated and slightly angry. 

    "What?" I asked, confused. 

    "Joel, it's fine. I know he's teasing." came an almost inaudible voice. I turned back around to see Brooke looking up from the ground to Joel. Joel sighed and ran his hand through his hair.

    "Come with me for a second?" he asked me. I nodded and followed him outside. Joel, for several seconds, just stood there in silence. Finally, he said, "You shouldn't have been teasing her in the first place, but what if she hadn't known you were kidding around with her?" 

     Guilt made me silent for a while. Shoot, I hadn't meant to-

    "I'm sorry, Joel. I didn't think that she could have taken it like that. I really was only teasing her, not making fun of her." I said, my guilt creeping into my voice.

     Joel sighed again and said, "I know you weren't but you need to be careful. Around her specifically. She's struggling with moving and loneliness, but refusing to admit to it. Only tease her if she feels comfortable to tease back." 

     I nodded then said, with a small smile, "You sound like a dad, chiding an older brother for teasing their younger sister." Joel rolled his eyes but also smiled. "Except you aren't older than me-"

    "Taller, though," I added, following Joel back inside. Joel laughed this time and shook his head. "I will never admit to being shorter than you," he replied. 

Brooke Keye's POV: 

    Luke followed Joel outside and I felt a bit sorry for Luke. I hope Joel wouldn't chide him too bad... 

    "You okay, Brooke?" James asked, a hint of worry in his tone. I rolled my eyes and faced him. "Why wouldn't I be? I mean, besides the embarrassment of the moment, I'm fine." James still looked worried and I tried to make my fake smile look more real. 

     "Even if I wasn't okay, it wouldn't be because Luke FREAKING Smallbone was teasing me," I said lightly. Hint hint, nudge nudge... James laughed and didn't continue the conversation. 

     He didn't push back. Sadness threatened to overwhelm me. "I'm going to go outside for a bit," I said, my voice cracking towards the end. James' worry returned but I just shrugged him off. I wove in and out of the crowd, being even more careful to stay out of everyone's way. 

    I pushed open the nearest door and as soon as it closed, began running. My breath became hurried and when the stitch in my side became unbearable, I stopped. When I was breathing normally, I stood up and screamed into the air. I collapsed onto my knees and finally released my emotions from the cage I had put them in. 

     Sobs racked my body and I pressed my palms into my eyes, trying but failing to stem the flow of tears. Why can I never be satisfied in the moment?! Why can I never calm my mind down?! Why can I not be happy when I'm in the company of every person I've ever wanted to meet?! I hugged myself tightly and tried to calm down. This is why I should never bottle up my emotions because then they always  find a way to explode out, not caring if I was at Luke Smallbone's house or not. 

     "You okay, love?" came a voice I didn't recognize. My head snapped up and I saw a man carelessly leaning against a nearby tree. He was dressed causally: wearing a white t-shirt and a dark pairs of jeans. I stood up quickly and took several steps away from him. "Who are you?" I asked, suspiciously. The man cocked his head and said, "I don't really think that's important right now." I am totally going to get kidnapped... 

    "My dad's nearby so I'm going to go find him now..." I lied. The man's eyes glanced around the clearing, proving that he was worried about that. "Why are you leaving so soon?" he said and then darted towards me.

    I screamed and tried to run but he caught my arm and shoved me to the ground. "Your dad's not nearby, is he?" the man asked in a low tone. I didn't reply, just tried to get away from him. He rolled his eyes and pressed his hands against my shoulders - making it impossible for me to get up. "Leave me alone!" I screamed into his face. "I can't do that, love. You're the one who decided to lose yourself in the nearby forest," he said irritably, then started to scan the landscape, never once releasing the pressure on my shoulders. A car engine came into hearing and the man smiled, "Ah, just on time as always!" 

     The car stopped nearby from what I could hear and a different man called, "Another package?" The man holding me down shouted back, "Did you doubt me?" He turned back to me and released me for only a second. I took advantage of it and darted back up. I took off running, saw a small, green car, and went in the opposite direction. However, I only made it to the edge of the clearing until a gunshot sounded out and pain exploded on my left leg. I screamed again and fell. "I didn't want to hurt you... however, you'll soon learn that disobedience means pain." the man whispered, standing right above me, a gun in his right hand. "Greg - give me a hand will you?" he called to the car.

    Soon, one of them had my arms and the other my legs. My vision wavered in and out but I found myself in the car's trunk, my arms bound to something nearby. The pain in my leg finally overwhelmed me and my vision turned black. 

A/N: PLOT TWIST!! This chapter also surprised me, lol. I thought this book was going to be some sort of normal, everyday setting where the main character does not get kidnapped, but in the moment it seemed like a good plot twist. I mean, she freaking ran away to who-knows-where ALONE so... 

Thanks for reading + Happy Holidays!!