Stockholm Syndrome |n.h

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(Plz read authors note! Contest!)

I wake up to the smell of bacon. I look up to an unfamiliar ceiling and sit up quickly, making my vision go blurry. This is my bedroom. I have to remind myself. I take a deep breath. I'm home now. Well it doesn't feel like it.

"Ev, breakfast!" Dad calls from downstairs. Why is he home? He goes to work at five.

I walk downstairs in my shorts and am surprised to see my dad cooking. "Why are you home?" I ask as I sit down on a bar stool.

"I took some time off." He tells me as if it is nothing.

"What? Don't you have that case about-"

"Evanna." My dad puts the spatula down and turns around to face me. "I know I haven't been here as much as I should. I know that when your mom left, I distracted myself with work and it became a natural thing to do." He hands me a plate with eggs and bacon on it and a glass of apple juice. "I am your father and I want to start acting like it."

My dads confession confuses me, but I'm getting my father back and that's all that matters. If Niall wouldn't have taken me, this wouldn't have happened, my dad wouldn't have even bothered to wake me up so I wouldn't be late for school.

There is a lot I have to thank Niall for but there is a lot I have to tell him off about, like how I feel like a guest in my own home.

"Are you going to want to go back to school soon?" Dad asks me as I take a bite of bacon. I shake my head.

"Everyone will just ask questions." I say quietly and look down. I really do feel bad about lying to my dad, but this part is the truth. Probably the only truthful thing I've said to him in the hours that I have been home. I don't want people to stare at me and ask questions that I won't be able to answer. Everyone is going to feel bad for me. Everyone is going to pity me and I don't want that.

"Okay. Why don't you finish your breakfast and we will go out and get you a new phone, huh?" My dad suggests and smiles as he takes his seat next to me.

"Dad?" I ask as turn on the stool to face him, he turns too and before he can say anything, my arms are wrapped around his neck tightly in a hug.

"I love you too Evy." He says into my hair. "I love you so much."

-

I am so happy that I actually am able to make myself look like a girl now. After I shower and get dressed into skinny jeans and my choral sweater with a white tank top underneath, I head to my vanity and start on my makeup.

I put my hair up and use a headband to keep the loose strands away from my face. I start with foundation, not too much of course. Then the eye shadow, eyeliner and mascara. A little powder to top it off.

It feels weird wearing makeup after not using it for so long but I'm glad I am actually allowed to wear it now. Niall will be pissed but whatever. It's my face not his.

I let my hair down and brush through it before getting my curling iron and heating it up. Once my hair is curled, I look at my reflection in the body mirror that hangs on my door. I lost weight. I notice it right off the bat. I used to fill this sweater completely but now it hangs off of one shoulder. I don't know if this should be a good thing or a bad thing.

"Ready when you are!" I hear my dad yell from downstairs.

"I'm ready!" I call and head down the staircase, counting the step as I go, something I would do as a kid.

"Let's go then." He gives me a warm smile when I get to the bottom of the stairs and puts his hand on my back, leading me out the front door.

As soon as the door swings open, I am nearly ripped away from my dad by the reporters. They have doubled in numbers overnight, eager to get a word from me, or my father.