21 21 | When He Gained Her Trust

____ 𝐀𝐃𝐑𝐈𝐀𝐍𝐍𝐄

"Adrianne?" 

I looked up at his silhouette, "Yeah?" 

"Hold onto me, we're going out." 

My eyes widened and the rapid beating of my heart had returned. He clasped my hand tightly as we wove through complete darkness. I ignored every sound that crept around us, every figure my imagination conjured that appeared before me. Resisting the urge to scream, I grasped his arm with both hands. He patted the wall as if looking for something. Finally, he found the doorknob and the sound of him twisting it and opening the door sent relief through me. 

Even the halls were unlit and gloomy. 

"Sebastian?" I called him. I didn't know where he was. Whether he was in front of me, behind me, or beside me, I didn't know. 

"Hm?" 

"Where are we going now?" I asked.

"To my car, entire city is out of power." He inhaled. "Everything will be okay, just ignore everything." 

He grabbed his phone, turned it on and momentarily, there was light. A faint light that shone upon his face. A light that defined every feature of his face. He tapped on the screen of the device in his hand and instantly, the brightness heightened. "Battery's low, can't turn on the flashlight," he told me, smiling softly. 

I just nodded my head and grasped his hand as we walked through the halls of the Plaza Hotel. We arrived at the lobby and there was a crowd of people there, voices overlapping the other. 

"Find a way to get the power back on!" 

"Sir, it's really hot, please fix this." 

"Isn't there a generator?" 

We passed by them and headed out. The rain was still pouring hard. Thousands of liquid globes splashed on the concrete. He opened his umbrella and we walked towards the parking lot. I felt relief and safety engulf me as we saw Sebastian's car not too far away. We bolted to his car and he unlocked it with the press of a button. He opened the passenger's door and sat me there. He rested his hand on my knees as he panted. 

"Thank you." I gulped, "For being there. I wouldn't know what to do if I was all alone. I would've probably panicked to death." I forced a laugh. 

He rubbed my legs back and forth. "Why were you so scared, Adrianne?" 

I stiffened and before I could answer his question, he said, "You're not obliged to answer it, though. I don't want to force you to say something you don't want to. It is your choice." 

A lump was forming in my throat and, somehow, I felt compelled to tell him. After all, he technically saved me there. "I-I'm scared of the dark because..." I gulped.

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to," he told me. 

"I feel like I owe you an explanation as to why I freaked out in there." I looked him in the eyes. He nodded for me to continue. "I'm scared of the dark because...I was kidnapped when I was a child. When I was around eleven or twelve. They kept me in– in a dark room. My captors...would scare me with noises and shadows. At times, they would..." I trailed off. 

"They would?"

"Hurt me. They would beat me up in that dark room so I never really knew what they looked like," I answered. Tears formed in my eyes and I sniffled. I turned my head away from him, covering my face with my hands. "I hate crying," I mumbled. 

"It's okay to cry, you've been strong for too long." He pulled me into a hug, letting me sob on his shoulder. "I'm sorry that happened to you..."

I felt thankful that he was here. 

Apparently, I fell asleep in his car and he talked to one of the managers from Adairs. He left the air-conditioner on and the radio as well so as to keep me distracted. He came back immediately after he finished discussing some preparations for the fashion show and something regarding the power outage. 

I woke up to seeing him leaning against his seat, eyes closed. I didn't want to wake him up as he seemed...tired. His eyes were shut closed, his lips in a thin line, his chest rising and falling as he evenly breathed. I still didn't like the guy, nonetheless, he was there for me and I'm grateful for that. 

"Adrianne?" He asked when his eyes fluttered open. "Are you okay?" 

"Hm? Y-Yeah, I'm fine." I lied. I was still, somewhat, terrified from all of this. And it was still dark. 

He sighed. "Is the power back?" 

I shook my head. "Do you want to go home?" He adjusted his seat. 

"Could we get candles or something to light up the house?" I fiddled with my fingers. 

"Yeah, yeah we'll do that." He put the key in the ignition and twisted it, the engine coming to life. "Adrianne, you're sweating," he stated as he wiped my forehead. 

"Oh, don't worry about that. Look at you, you're sweating." I gazed at the sweat trickling down his head to his neck and into his turtleneck. 

"Don't mind this." 

We started driving off and into the gloomy roads of the city. I shut my eyes as we passed by dark tunnels and unlit roads. It seemed like a scene from a horror movie. Those scenes where murderers chased people or whatever. We passed by a grocery store and luckily, it had light that illuminated the walls of the store. We decided to do some grocery shopping because we also needed to buy food. And all this time, he held my hand tightly and I didn't protest.  

We got hungry so we decided to go to McDonald's nearby after we debated on which was better to eat at. We both agreed on McDonald's as it was an all-time favourite. Who doesn't love McDonald's? 

__________❇__________

Not long after, we arrived at the house. It felt so long since I've been here and I had mixed feelings about it. There was that feeling of being happy to finally be back but then I felt scared. Scared of what might jump out of the unlit corners of this house. Sebastian fished the candles out of the bags of food and other things and grabbed a lighter we bought as well. I grabbed another candle and another lighter and headed to the kitchen. 

"Boo!"

"I didn't know she was such a scaredy-cat." 

"That was a bit satisfying."

"He is going to enjoy hearing about this."

"Just disappear already," I mumbled, lighting up the candle as the thoughts diminished. 

Sebastian called, "Come here, let's hang out here while we wait for the electricity to come back." He patted beside him. 

"So we're going to sit on the floor?" I asked, sitting. 

"Yup, as a kid, I used to prefer this over chairs." He smiled as if he was looking at some faraway scenery. 

I smiled. "I did too." 

He took a deep breath and turned his head to face me. "So, uh, you were kidnapped?" 

My lips curled downward as I remembered the time I was taken. "Yes." 

"How long was it? I mean– do I seem...too nosy?" 

"It's fine, everybody gets curious, it's just they sometimes don't know when they've crossed the line." I fiddled with my thumbs and took a deep breath. "I was there for three days. Yet it seemed to be longer than that for me. Everything was torture."

He leaned against the wall. "How did...they find you?" he asked. 

"Who? The police? Those men were messy in their work, leaving a ton of evidence. The police only took a while because I was hidden in a place that was far and abandoned," I explained. 

"Are you okay? How did you hold up especially after that?" 

"Well, honestly? Pretty shitty. Nightmares plagued me every night. And then there's me panicking each time there's a guy I don't know in the house or in the same class as me." I forced a laugh. "I always thought they were associated with those who kidnapped me." 

"You shouldn't have gone through that alone. Why didn't you tell your parents? " His forehead creased. 

"I assumed that they soon got tired of listening to my problems and seeing my cry." 

"No, they're your parents. It hurts them seeing you cry but it hurts more if they don't know what you're going through," he said. 

"Wow, says the person who is 'childlessʼ," I mocked. 

"Hey! I know what I'm saying." He playfully hit me. 

I laughed. "Yeah, sure." 

"It's true, I know what I'm saying."

"If you say so." I covered my mouth, letting out a yawn. "I'm sleepy." 

"You haven't eaten anything. Eat something first." He tapped me. 

"Just wake me up when there's food," I said sleepily. 

"Okay." 

He slid closer to me and moved my head so that I would be resting my head on his shoulder. "Rest now, you're safe here." 

"Thank you." 

__________❇__________

"Hey Adrianne, the power's back." I felt him tap me. 

My eyes opened and saw him with an arm draped over my shoulders and was smiling softly at me. "I'll go sleep...I can't stay up– stay up longer," I said in between breaths.

He grinned and nodded. "Go on up then, I'll follow after you."

I never knew we'd get along and I don't understand why I want to remain in his embrace. But I know for certain that when he needs me, I'll be there.