Crushed

Chapter 2

"Mia," I whisper, gently nudging the sleeping girl beside me. "We're here."

She turns her head but her eyes remain shut. A flutter of breath leaves her mouth. I can't help but smile at the peaceful scene. I get out of the car and walk over to her side, the crunching of my feet on the gravel still not waking her. Although the sound of the car door opening is enough to interrupt her sleep.

"Huh," she mumbles tiredly, fixing her hair.

"We're here, come on," I urge softly, wanting to show her inside the house so I can eventually go to bed. The long drive was so quiet that I too am extremely drowzy.

"O-Oh...alright," she stutters, rather dazed by what I just said.

Unbuckling her seatbelt and exiting the car, I walk her to the front steps of the two-story house. At the door, I look at her as her left hand has gripped her right wrist nervously, hearing her gulp quietly. Oh, I'm an idiot. She has no idea where we are and what's going to happen to her. Her little heart must be beating right out of her chest.

"It's okay, you're safe," I reassure her before digging around in my pockets for my keys. Opening the door and stepping inside, we're met by music blasting out of the living room, light flooding out with it.

Growling in annoyance at the sudden change of volume around me, I barge in there, leaving Mia to stand at the door by herself. "Marcus," I spit, grabbing the remote and turning off the TV that's been playing random music videos.

"Bieber, you're back!" he laughs merrily, slumped on the couch with a beer. I roll my eyes and tell him to be quiet before walking back to a startled Mia. Giving her an apologetic look, I put an arm on her back and take her up the stairs.

"That's Marcus, he's a, uh, friend," I tell her, opening a door just ahead of the staircase.

We walk into the room which contains all that a bedroom would have: a bed, a closet, a desk, some draws, and even a bathroom. Mia licks her lips as she gives the room a glance and straight away looks down at her feet.

"This is your room," I say. "I'll be back, stay here." Leaving her in the room, without a word leaving her mouth, I walk down the hall to my room at the end. Inside, I take out a pair of sweats and a black shirt.

"You can wear these for pajamas," I tell Mia, handing them to her when I'm back in her room. She hugs them against her chest, looking down at them like they're the most interesting clothes she's ever seen. Her cheeks change to a light pink.

"Are these yours?" she asks, her hair curtaining her face as her head's tilted downwards, her eyes focused on the bundle of clothes in her arms. I smirk, wondering if she's asking because she likes me. That's why she's blushing, isn't it?

With a playing grin, I slip my hands into my jean's pockets. "Yeah, is that alright with you?"

"Wh-Yes, of course, I...I didn't mean that there was anything wrong, I just... I was just wondering because..." The way her words practically jump around each other as they leave her mouth has me totally amused. "Because you got them and...yeah." Her cheeks aren't light pink now, but more a rosy red. I chuckle lowly at it all.

"Well, you can put those on and get some sleep. I'll wake you in the morning." I walk to the door and grab hold of the handle. Looking back at Mia, she nods so I walk out and close the door behind me. I'm feeling rather refreshed after that. She's definitely not what I expected to come out of a kidnapping, but I gotta say, I'm not complaining. Her behaviour is so entertaining and I know I can have a lot of light fun with it...

Downstairs, I catch a beer that Marcus throws to me as he re-enters the living room. Rolling my eyes, I throw it back to him. Unaware of what I was doing, it hits his arm and drops to the carpet. "No, man. I'm going to sleep," I say. He dumps his body back on the couch, kicking his bare feet up, making me cringe. I draw my attention to the beer can lying on the floor.