Stockholm Syndrome ✔

Chapter 3 - Denial

After Harry had realised that the window wouldn't help him escape, he had went back to the bed, and, surprisingly, fallen asleep.

When Harry woke up, he momentarily stared at the ceiling, flexing his body and thought about getting breakfast after having a shower. Then he remembered. Oh, right.

Harry didn't even know what day it was. Judging by the darkness outside of the bedroom window, it was quite late, but it didn't help. For all he knew, he could've been there for days already. Be realistic, Harry's subconscious snapped. Harry took a deep breath and sat up. He looked around thoughtfully.

Okay, so it had been past midnight when he was walking home. Or his mother's home. At that time Harry hadn't slept in 44 hours. So when he got kidnapped, he might have been out even for a day or two. And when he had woken up on that bed, there had been still light outside. He had fallen asleep about one or two hours later, and now it was dark.

Harry rubbed his eyes. For all he knew, he could've been missing about two or three days. How long will it take before his parents or friends realise that he is missing? Probably weeks. Groaning Harry got up, and stood for a moment.

His headache was gone, and he didn't feel tired anymore. He felt quite good, although he was hungry. Really, really hungry. Harry noticed the water bottle on the floor where he had apparently dropped it earlier. He picked it up and drank enthusiastically. It didn't really make the hunger go away, but at least he wouldn't die to dehydration.

Suddenly the door opened, and Harry flinched. He turned to look and saw Lou.

"Thought you might be hungry", he said, and threw McDonald's hamburger to Harry.

Harry barely caught it. He stared at the hamburger in his hand with wide eyes.

The door was slammed shut again, but Harry didn't care. He just kept staring at the hamburger, and his hands started shaking.

"This isn't happening", he whispered. "This isn't happening. I'm not kidnapped. This is not happening."

Harry snuggled into the bed, and started eating the hamburger. "This is not happening... This is not happening", he repeated, time after time.

He stayed like that for hours, not moving anywhere. He just hugged himself and stared nowhere, repeating the same words over and over again. When Harry finally moved, it was because the door opened.

"Do you need anything?" Lou asked.

Harry shifted and pulled the blanket on him, and hid his whole body and head under it.

"Really?" Lou asked with amused voice. "You are ignoring me?"

Harry closed his eyes, and mumbled, "I can't ignore something that doesn't exist."

He heard Lou walking closer, but Harry didn't move, he stayed hidden under the blanket.

"Excuse me?" he heard Lou's voice asking.

"You're not real", Harry half-whispered. "I'm not really here. None of this is real."

It was silent for a good two minutes until Harry heard Lou's voice again, this time right behind his back. "Oh, I get it. You can't handle this situation so you are denying it. Very common self-defense mechanism. Simple, but effective."

Harry didn't answer. His breathing quickened. Lou was behind his back. If he was quick... Without hesitation Harry threw the blanket off, and jumped out of the bed. The blanket hit Lou in the face and the guy stumbled a few steps back.

Harry ran towards the door which was slightly open. His heart was beating fast, and adrenaline filled his body. He reached the door and swung it open. He was two steps out, when Lou took a firm grip of his arm and yanked him back, kicking the door shut.

Pain ran through Harry's body when Lou smacked him against the wall and pinned him there. Harry stared at Lou with wide eyes. "This is not real. This is not real. This is not real. This-"

"Shut up!" Lou exclaimed, and Harry snapped his mouth shut, his knees weak. "Listen me, you idiot. I am real. This is real. You are here and everything is really happening. The look on your face when I slammed you against the wall? It hurt, didn't it? Yeah, it did, I can see it in your face. Funny thing about dreams, Harry. You see, when you are dreaming, you never really feel the pain. Never." Louis paused and leaned closer, his face deadpanned and eyes cold as ice. Harry gulped, and inhaled sharply. His eyes glanced at Lou's lips which turned to smirk at him. "So tell me, Harold. Do you still think this is just inside of your head?"

Slowly Harry shook his head, keeping his eyes locked in Lou's. Harry couldn't speak, and he was quite sure that his knees would give up at any moment. Lou was intimidating, and when he tilted his head, Harry gulped. Lou was smaller than Harry, but hands down, much stronger. And Lou had the home ground advantage.

"Don't try that again, okay?" Lou said, stepping away form Harry. "You can't beat me. I'm faster, stronger and smarter. Try to understand that, so I don't have to throw you against the wall every day."

Harry exhaled slowly and noticed that his heart wasn't beating so fast anymore. He took a step and barely managed to stay up. He balanced himself and saw Lou staring at him.

"You okay there?" he asked, but not friendly. More like mocking.

Harry narrowed his eyes at Lou, and walked back to the bed with weak legs. Now when the adrenaline was no longer there, he felt numb. Harry slumped down on the bed, and stared at the ceiling. 

He knew Lou was right. There was no point denying it. Harry was here. Lou was real. Everything was real. He was trapped in some stranger's bedroom, and that stranger fed him every now and then a fucking McDonald's hamburger. 

Harry kept his gaze on the ceiling, but he knew Lou was still in the room. "Let me go", he whispered.

The door creaked when Lou opened it, and Harry sat up, staring at him.

"Please, let me just go."

"I'm sorry", Lou said, turning his eyes away from Harry's and closed the door.

Harry leaned his back against the bed and lifted his gaze back up. "No, you're not", he muttered.