With that being said, we leave the room. Though I said that I wouldn't try anything, I still had the urge to say something to the people passing by us as we walked to the parking lot. I bite my bottom lip as I head to the passenger side of my car, James takes notice to my nervousness but doesn't say anything.
After driving for about ten minutes, we find a large diner and pull into it. Me being desperate for food, I hurry up and unfasten my seatbelt soon as the car parks. Just as I reach for the door handle James calls out," wait."
Thinking that I did something to make him upset, I close the door and turn back to him quickly," Y-yeah?"
"I know you're hungry. There's no need to rush," he chuckles. He unfastens his seatbelt then reach over to my side. Before I ask him what he's doing, he zips up my coat for me then says," I don't want you getting a fever out there."
"Oh thanks."
We both exit the car and head for the diner. I notice that there's a lot of cars in the parking lot meaning that there's probably a lot of people inside. I fiddle with my coat sleeves as James opens the door for me," let's go."
Before I can thank him, a host with a deep country accent welcomes us," Good evening fellas. You two look like you've been traveling long, let's get you a table."
"A booth is more preferred," James says as he pulls out a hat from his pocket. Just like before he pulls it close to his eyes and leaves out a few strands of hair to hide his identity. The host directs us to a booth that's close to the entrance which James asked for specifically. The diner was big more like a huge restaurant than what I was imagining. There were lots of families here enjoying their meals and laughing together. Seeing so many people in one place made me anxious. After handing us two menus the host leaves off to the front where more people have come in.
James takes off his coat and places it to the side as he grabs a menu and starts browsing.
"Are you sure this is okay? There's so many people here tonight, we could've just stayed at the motel which you planned to do before," I ask him nervously.
Without looking up he says," I'm doing this for you, risking being caught. Besides you're skinny enough as it is, I can't have you starving to death on me."
I lean back in my seat, not sure if I'm supposed to be touched or offended by his words."
"Pancakes and waffles sound great, what about you?" He folds the menu and tosses it on the table, as he holds his head up on his hand, staring me down.
I avoid eye contact with him by browsing through the food they have on their menu. The pictures of all the food they had on there was making my stomach growl loudly. After looking for a while, I finally find something I like," I know what I want."
James raises his hand to alert a waiter over. A waitress around twenty-five years old comes over to us with a bright smile. As she takes our orders, she looks at me from time to time with a creepy smile.
'She probably is looking at my bruised eye,' I let my hair fall in front of my face so that I wouldn't have to see her staring at me. After taking our drink orders she finally leaves.
James takes out a cigarette from his pocket and light it as he scans the area.
"Is it okay to do that here?" I whisper to him.
He shrugs his shoulders saying," Shit shows like these usually never care."
"Oh okay..."
An awkward silence fills the atmosphere as we wait. A few minutes later, the waitress comes back with our drinks. A coke for me and a root beer for James. Before she leaves, I catch a glimpse of her smiling again. I ignore her by sipping on my drink but as I do, my hair keeps falling in my face. I have to tuck it behind my ears for at least five times before I'm able to see clearly.
"Your hair is crazy long."
"Yeah, I'll have to get it cut soon."
Don't cut it," his voice grows grave like he's serious about me not cutting my hair.
He clears his throat as he corrects himself," I mean it's just that your hair compliments you a lot."
"Maybe a trim then?" I tug on a strand as I think.
"Yeah......"
Another round of silence fills the air but this time it's not awkward. More like a nervous feeling like the next thing you say will leave you embarrassed somehow.
"Um... I have to go to the restroom," I say as I scoot out of the booth.
"Planning another escape?" He asks, raising a questioning brow.
"Escape from you? Oh that would be a dream," I joke.
"Just go," he chuckles.
I begin heading towards the bathroom. The diner was crowded with families left to right. As I passed by, some children would giggle to each other as they watched me. I hate being in a crowded place. I lower my head, trying my best to avoid awkward eye contact but I end up bumping into someone. The boy I bumped into was in a rush, but he made sure to tell me to watch where I was going before storming off.
The boy had long black hair and was dressed in all black as well, his appearance was so familiar to me for some reason. I watched as he walked over to a small table where a boy with long blue hair sat at.
Both of the teenage boys stood out way too much for me not to realize that they were the same boys who robbed me a few nights ago. I stand in the middle of the isle star struck as I watch them,' No way that's really them? Why here out of all places? '
I must have been staring for too long because suddenly the boy with the blue hair pointed me out to the other one. I shared a short glance at them before making my way into the bathroom.
'Shit, I hope they didn't recognize me. '
I enter the first stall I see open and lock it.
'Even if they did recognize me, they wouldn't do anything. They already got what they wanted for me, there wouldn't be any reason to bother me now,' I reassure myself.
Seeing them just now practically startled me to death. Now I don't have to use the toilet, so I flush it and head out. Soon as I open the stall door, I find both the teenage boys waiting for me. The boy with the black hair grabs me by the neck, pulling me out the stall and throwing into the concrete wall. My head hits it hard, making me fall to my feet.
"Sam stop it!" The boy with blue hair yells as the other one stands over me.
I feel around the back of my head, only to find blood.
My hands shake uncontrollably as I look up at them.
"Why the fuck are you here? Did you follow us?" The boy named Sam, yells.
"N-No I promise you I didn't. I w-was taken here against my own will. Can you guys maybe help me?" I stutter uncontrollably, hoping that they'd maybe believe me.
The other boy pushes Sam away from me and places a wet paper towel on my wound. I flinch in pain as he asks me," Slow down, what are you trying to say?"
"He is telling us bullshit Kyle don't listen to him," Sam said while cracking his knuckles.
I look at them with tears forming in my eyes as I say," You don't understand—"
But before I can explain myself, the door suddenly busts open. James walks in with a smile on his face, saying calmly," What's going on?"
The tears I was building up started to flow down as he walks over to me, pushing Kyle away as he helps me up.
"What's your problem old man?" Sam yells as he steps in front of Kyle.
James completely ignores him as he inspects my face. My head throbs violently, making my vision of him turn into three.
"Let's go," he says while interwinding our hands.
"Hey this isn't over," Sam blocks our path.
"You're right it's far from over," James says angrily. I couldn't tell if he was genuinely upset or not, since I was behind him. Honestly, I couldn't really focus on anything right now because of my injury.
Kyle tugs Sam to side the side, making a path for us. As we pass by I can hear him mutter," sorry," to me.
I followed James out the bathroom while holding my head. He pulls me back to our booth but then gently sits me down. Instead of sitting across from me like before, he sits right by me.
"Rest your head on my shoulder."
Our food and drinks were already on the table so I couldn't lay my head down on it. I slowly lean my head on his shoulder; he slouches down some so that he could be at my height level.
He picks up a fork and knife then slices through a piece of the blueberry pancakes I ordered and fed them to me. I part my lips subconsciously and eat them while he asks," Who were those kids? And why did they hurt you?"
He seemed really concerned so I answered truthfully," They're the ones who robbed me a few days ago. I never thought I'd see them again so quickly; they must've not gotten far since they left me my car."
James was unusually quiet as I told him everything, so I ask him," Are you okay?"
He feds me some more while saying," Just eat."
I eat all my food, but he doesn't take a bite of anything he ordered. My head is in too much pain for me to look up at him and see his expression. Though I could tell that he was looking at the boys who robbed me. I spotted them a little while ago soon after we came back to our seats. They were only a few tables away from us.
Once I was done eating, he began feeding me food off of his plate. I wanted to tell him that I can feed myself but stayed quiet. He seemed to be upset and I didn't want to piss him off even more so I just accepted his kindness.
When I'm done eating both plates he finally speaks up," Are you finished? Do you need anything else?"
I shake my head, saying," No."
He signals the waitress to us and pays the bill. As he helped me up, I noticed that the two boys from before were gone now. For some reason James walked quickly as he led us out the diner. No one took notice to his strange behavior.
The car ride back to the motel was quiet. He didn't even turn on the radio like he usually does, he just sat there focusing on the road as he drove.
The heat from the car was making me tired so I decided to shut my eyes for a bit, but I ended up falling asleep. When I woke up again, the car was parked outside of the motel with me in it. I look around and see a few people standing outside smoking. I try moving but realize that I'm tied up in the backseat with tape over my mouth.
'What the fuck? Has no one noticed me this whole time or is it that they genuinely don't give a fuck? '
As I look around, I notice one of the room doors opening, revealing James. He walks over to the car and opens the driver's seat. I try talking but only a muffle comes out.
Hearing this he looks back at me with widened eyes saying," Oh, you're up? Good, I have a present for you inside. But I'm going to need you to stay quiet, okay?" I nod.
He closes the door and opens the backseat. He undoes the rope around my chest and arms then rips off the duct tape from my mouth. I let out a gasp as I say," Did you really have to tie me up?"
He smirks as he helps me out the car," I couldn't risk you waking up and trying to tell anyone that you've been kidnapped. You already ran away before; I just know your planning another escape, so I have to be extra careful. Seeing you run away from me would hurt a lot since I love you."
I stop walking and look up at him," You......love me?"
He said it so carefreely like it was something he's said before. All my life, no one except for my brother has told me that they love me. Even when I said it to my Ex-girlfriend, she never said it back. There was a small thought in me that was disgusted by the thought of another man loving me but then I thought,' Love. Someone loves me. They want to talk to me and actually enjoy being in my presence?'
Is this what it means to be loved by someone?
"Come on," he says softly while reaching out his hand for mine. It felt like a flame started in my chest as our hands connected. After all this time of being around him, I was somewhat comfortable.
That was until he opened the door to our motel room that revealed two teenage boys tied up in chairs with their faces all bashed in.