Stockholm Syndrome | Larry Stylinson AU

Chapter 15

He had convinced the police to let him go, because he had been sure this boy was nothing more than an unlucky standby who had been taken into custody because of, well, bad luck. He still wasn't sure if they believed him, but for as far as Harry knew they had done as he had asked - more like begged, actually - them to do.

His therapist had described the way he felt as something called Stockholm Syndrome, or capture-bonding. The victim would, as she explained to him, develop positive feelings towards his or her captor, sometimes to the point of defending and identifying with the captors. These feelings were generally developed in light of the danger or risk endured by the victims, who could mistake a lack of abuse from their captors for an act of kindness. A person who was the victim in a hostage situation like Harry had been could develop this, but also people who were for example in an abusive relationship, cult members, incest victims, and even concentration camp prisoners could depict signs of this Syndrome.

This syndrome had found its name in Stockholm. There, during a bank robbery, several bank employees were held hostage in a bank vault while their captors negotiated with police. During this standoff the victims became emotionally attached to their captors, rejected assistance from government officials at one point, and even defended their captors after they were freed from their six-day ordeal.

Harry thought back to when he first heard of this. He was shocked. Could his feelings for Louis actually be possibly described as this - as a syndrome? As a way for him to survive? He had been struggling with it a lot lately, as he had first planned to reach out to Louis after all of this would be over. However, if these feelings he were feeling were merely an act of survival... Would he have felt the same thing for Louis if they would've met in different circumstances? Harry would never know, and it drove him mad. Often, late at night when he was ready to fall asleep, he would imagine different scenarios in which they could've met each other. Perhaps they could've gone to the same school, or gotten adopted by the same family. Perhaps they could've been co-stars in a movie, or been two famous youtubers who would become best friends later on. Maybe they could've both been famous artists or met at a certain festival - there were so many options. However, for now Harry had to listen to his therapist and not reach out to Louis the way he wanted to. He had promised her he wouldn't get in touch with him, but that didn't mean he couldn't visit... Harry closed his eyes and thought back to last Wednesday.

"Bas, could you help me with something?" Harry had asked softly. He did everything softly now. He was still scared sometimes they would know where he was if he wasn't careful. And that if they found him, they would take him back.

"Sure thing boy, what's up?" Bas, his driver and bodyguard said.

"You know your way around London, right?"

Bas nodded.

"If I gave you an address, could you.. Take me there? And not tell dad about it?" Harry bit his lip. He knew Bas was to report everything peculiar back to his father, but he really had to do this. Just this one thing.

Bas had sighed deeply at Harry's request but then he smiled fondly. "Just for this once, alright? Tell me the address." Harry handed him a small piece of paper and gazed as Bas hopefully, frowning however when he saw the other one's smile falter.

"What's wrong?"

Bas licked his lips. "Why.. Why do you want to go here, son? This is a bad neighbourhood, I'm not sure if it's safe. Especially not with your father's car. We'll stand out too much."

Harry look at him, feeling quite hopeless. "But I have to go there! It's... I have to visit someone. See a friend." He bit his lip again. "We don't even have to take the car. We could take the tubes instead." He knew Bas' answer before he even heard it.