Luke's POV
I tossed another beer bottle into the trash can before I approached the kitchen area. I let out a sigh as I reached for the refrigerator and peered inside to see what there was to eat. The television was on in the living room where the rest of the boys sat, listening to the news.
I grabbed a pre-made burrito from the fridge before I shut it and slowly approached the guys, wondering why they were watching the news. "Hey did you hear about the Wolves territory? Apparently some guy tried to raid the whole place and he ended up getting brutally murdered. What an idiot." I said as they all focused on the Tv.
"How did your work go?" Ashton asked, remembering that I didn't go with him and the Sabers yesterday for a business round.
"Fine. It's finished. How were the Sabers yesterday?" I asked before I took a bite of the burrito.
"Good, Harry wasn't there though." Ashton replied as I narrowed my eyebrows.
"What do you mean Harry wasn't there? He's their leader." I stated.
"Don't know. Must of been with his new girlfriend." He shrugged as I frowned.
"Something doesn't sit right with those two. They don't look like they belong together. Am I right? She looks way out of place." I said as Ashton nodded his head.
"Yeah there is something odd about that." He agreed.
"I have a feeling they're forcing her to be with them. Something about the look in her eyes and on her face just screams she's uncomfortable." I said as the news began talking about a missing girl.
"Could be. Or Harry wanted to change up his game and date a hot innocent chick. Don't know why he'd scare her by bringing her along to his jobs, but hey, I guess she's into bad boys." Ashton chuckled as he sipped his beer.
My eyes narrowed as the reporter began talking about a girl who had gone missing from CarryBurg College University. She was explaining how she had been missing for weeks now and they're assuming she had been kidnapped.
"If you find Payton Myers anywhere near you, please report it to the officials immediately." The reporter said as a picture of a very familiar girl appeared on the screen.
My eyes widened in shock as I approached the tv and examined the girl carefully. "Hey that looks like Harry's girlfriend." Calum pointed out as I began putting the pieces together.
"Dude, I think that is her." Michael said as I looked into the girl's eyes and immediately recognized her.
So they were lying about her. She isn't Harry's girlfriend. She's Harry's victim.
But why on earth would Harry kidnap her and expose her to all of us?
Payton's POV
I pressed my thighs tightly against each other as my left hand squeezed in between them to keep warm, while my other hand kept my head up. I was staring out the window, admiring the beauty of the earth as Harry continued to drive to a place I wasn't aware of.
We kept silent almost the whole time, just making small talk here and there. I kept my distance as I blinked outside, wondering if I would ever be able to go out again. I did show my trust didn't I? I didn't attempt to run away nor did I do any funny business to make him think I was. I remained as loyal to him as possible. That should earn me a few extra points of freedom trips.
"Do you like burgers?" He asked as he pulled into a very lonely drive-thru. I widened my eyes as I glanced at the old diner, realizing how cute it was. I've never seen this place before.
"Yeah." I answered as he smiled at me.
"Good. What do you want?" He asked as he slowly approached the large lit menu.
"You're fine with this?" I asked, referring to a possible chance of being noticed.
"I trust you." He said as I gulped. Do I trust myself?
"Okay." I responded nervously as he looked at the menu.
"Get whatever you want. But tell me first yeah?" He said as I squinted my eyes and leaned closer towards him.
"I can't see anything I'm half blind." I sighed before he chuckled.
"Do you want a normal cheeseburger with fries and a shake?" He asked as I raised my eyebrows.
"That actually sounds freaking delicious." I smiled widely before he laughed.
"Alright, I'll get you that." He said before he rolled down his window.
"Well what are you going to get?" I asked as I realized how close I was to him. I was practically leaning on the glove box.
"The same thing." He smirked as I started to grow excited.
"God I'm so hungry!" I groaned before he quickly hushed me. It felt really weird being in a drive thru with the guy who kidnapped me. But it was even more weird how I was okay with it. Why did we treat this so casually? This was wrong, wasn't it?
"Welcome to Patty's, what can I get for you today?" A manly voice said through the speaker.
"Hey Darren how are you doing?" Harry said as he stuck his head out the window.
"Harry! My man! You just made my day! I'm doing fine I'm doing fine, how about you?" He chuckled.
"That's good man. I'm doing just fine. Hey can I get 2 orders of the number 3." Harry smiled as I looked at him curiously.
Wow, he was actually really nice to others.
"2 cheese burgers , 2 fries, and 2 milkshakes?"
"Yes sir."
"Okay what kind of flavor would you like?"
Harry then glanced at me before I mouthed vanilla.
"Vanilla please."
"Alright, you got it man, come at the window and it'll be ready."
"Sweet, appreciate it." Harry grinned before he pulled away from the menu and started driving towards the window.
"You should probably crawl in the back." Harry suggested as my eyebrows raised. Harry suggesting instead of rudely commanding? That's new. I can get use to this. Wait no! No no no. I shouldn't get comfortable with him! No. No Payton.
"Oh right." I said before I quickly crawled in the back while he drove. He suddenly stopped as I was still trying to squeeze through the seats, causing me to fall to the ground. I squealed as I fell, causing Harry to laugh.
"Whoops." He chuckled as I frowned.
"You so did that on purpose." I huffed as he chuckled.
"Cute underwear." He commented before I gasped and looked behind me to see the sweater lifted up and showed half of my butt.
"Oh my gosh." I gushed with embarrassment as I quickly pulled the sweater down and covered my baby blue panties.
He laughed quietly before I heard the window open up.
"Harry, it's been forever since I've seen you." Darren said through the window as I hid behind the seat, glaring up at him.
"Hey Darren. I've missed you man." Harry smiled as they did a secret hand shake.
"Where you been? It's been a while."
"Oh I've been super busy, but I'm still loyal to your burgers."
"Best burgers in town."
"Always will be."
"Well it's on the house."
"No... I have money."
"Don't worry about it. I got you man."
"I owe you one. Thanks buddy. You're the best."
"Take care man, I love you bro."
"Love you too. Say hi to Kelsie for me."
"Will do will do. You take care yourself! Stay out of trouble!"
"Alright." Harry chuckled before he pulled out of the drive way and left the restaurant.
Did I just hear Harry have a normal conversation with a genuine person? And they were friends? I'm sorry, what? Who is this guy?!
"Alright you can come back now." Harry said as he scrunched up the paper bag.
The savory aroma of food filled in his car as I slowly got up and peeked around. "You're not gonna try anything are you?" I asked, referring to what happened earlier.
"No, I promise." He chuckled before I climbed back into the passenger seat.
"Holy crap that smells so good." I said as my stomach rumbled while I eyed the bag.
"Here hold it for me. I know a spot."Harry said as he placed the warm bag on my lap.
"Wait we're not just gonna eat it in the car?" I asked as he continued to drive.
"No, great food deserves a great scenery." He stated as I gasped.
"I'm literally gonna eat both my meal and yours. I'm so hungry." I said as he grinned and shook his head.
"It won't be long. Just snack on some fries." He said as I quickly opened the bag and smelt the fries.
"Oh my gosh. These look so good." I gasped as I pulled out 3 fries and shoved them in my mouth.
"You know, they weren't kidding when they said cold water speeds your metabolism." I said as Harry laughed to himself.
"What's so funny?" I asked as I raised my eyebrow and glanced at him.
"Nothing." He smiled as he drove with one hand on the wheel.
"No come on. Do share with the lady and french fries." I said as I began munching on more.
"It's just.... When I took you.... I didn't realize you had such a personality till now." He said before it grew silent. Oh? So he's noticing my personality now?
"Did you think I was some dumb dirty blonde or what?" I asked before he shook his head.
"No no it's just. It's not what I expected." He replied.
"In a good way or bad way?" I questioned.
"Good... definitely good." He smiled.
"Well you're not too bad yourself. You know, once all the tough guy act is watered down, you're pretty cool." I said as I sprinkled invisible dust on him.
"Yeah?" He asked as I nodded my head.
"Yeah. So does that guy know about you?" I asked.
"You mean Darren?" Harry looked over at me.
"Yeah, does he know you're a criminal?" I questioned as I started eating more fries.
"No. I keep my profile low. Hardly anyone knows who I am actually. And I like to keep it that way. It's easier cuz I don't have to constantly hide. I can still be me when I go outdoors but I can take care of things when I have to go do business." He explained as I listened.
"That's why you were so afraid of me ratting you out. Cuz you're so low key huh?" I realized as he glanced over at me while narrowing his eyebrows.
"Yeah." He said as he looked at the road again.
"Hmm. I get it now. Well don't worry Harry Styles, if Darren the burger flipper approves of you, I guess you're quite alright." I waved off before shoving more fries in my mouth.
He chuckled as he looked over at me before he snatched the bag from my lap and began digging for french fries.
"Hey!" I whined with my mouth full.
"You're eating them all!" He said as I frowned.
"Well excuse me, but I haven't had breakfast yet." I defended.
"You'll be fine. Stop complaining." He said as I slouched in my seat.
"So are you kind to certain people only or what's your story?" I suddenly wanted to ask as I glanced over at him.
"What?" He asked as he munched on fries.
"I noticed how nice you were to that man. How come you're not like that with others?" I watched as he began to think.
"Well Darren is a great guy. He was always kind to me so I found no reason to be mean. He's a really nice genuine guy. He's kinda like the father I never had." He answered as I felt my heart melt.
"And for the other people?" I asked as he sighed.
"There's just some people you meet who you don't want to be a part of your life. So keeping conversations short and not paying any mind to them kinda seals the deal. Plus in the gang life, your reputation is based off of how mean you are to others. No softies are allowed." He replied as I nodded my head.
"So you don't want me as a part of your life?" I wondered as he looked at me quickly.
"What makes you say that?" He asked.
"You always kept conversations short and didn't pay any mind to me. You act like you hate me." I shrugged as he looked completely confused.
"Oh..... it's just... a habit." He said slowly.
"A protection?" I answered for him as I stared at the window.
"Yeah..... yeah I guess it is." He breathed as it suddenly grew silent.
"You know I never pictured hanging out with my captor. It's definitely not something on my wishlist." I said to break the ice.
"I never pictured hanging out with my hostage either." He chuckled back.
"Yikes, is that what I still am to you?" I asked as I pretended to look offended.
"Duh." He said before I gasped.
"No.... it's not really like that anymore." He said quietly as I nodded my head.
Then what is it Harry? What am I to you? Why are you treating me like a normal human being all of a sudden? What changed? What snapped? What broke? What felt? Why are you opening up to me? I've never gotten this much from you before. What does this mean?
I never felt more confused in my life as I tried my best not to invest too much on it. I can't grow feelings for Harry and I can't have him grow feelings for me. This isn't how this works. He needs to return me back home so we can go back to our regular lives. Our routines.
But based off of how we're treating each other right now, I'm not too sure when I'm going back home.