“Have I mentioned that you’re a terrible kidnapper?” Elena questioned as Nick walked her back from the bathroom. 

He took the makeup kit from her hand and stuck it in the pocket of his sweater and nodded though she couldn’t see him for the blindfold, “A couple of times yeah.”

“Well it’s true. You should be meaner or something.”

“Do you want me to be mean?” he asked and she shook her head negatively.

“No, it’s just hard to hate you when you’re being nice to me,” she admitted and Nick took off her blindfold as soon as they were back in the room. 

“It’s okay to hate me still, I hate me,” he made sure she was sitting on the mattress then turned on a high power flash light, illuminating the room, “This is for you,” he said, putting it on the floor so the beam hit the ceiling and spread.

“Why keep me here in the dark only to give me a light?” she wondered, looking at the bright blue light.

“It wasn’t my idea to keep you here in the dark, I think it’s stupid. Even if you see what colour the walls are, I doubt you’ll be able to identify us from it. I didn’t like the thought of you sitting here in the dark all day so I bought that. But,” he stressed, “Make sure the light is never pointed towards the door, and if you hear the door unlocking never assume it’s me so keep the light off.”

“So there’s more than one of you?” she asked. 

Nick groaned, frustrated that he had revealed more information to her, “Never mind, just do it. I’m not telling you for my safety, it’s for yours.”

“Alright,” she nodded, “Thanks again. Like I said, it’s getting sort of tough to hate you,” but not tough to know I’ll have you wrapped around my finger in no time, she thought to herself. 

“I also…I mean, I’m not sure if you like them or whatever and if you don’t it’s fine but I bought you these,” he tossed the Oreos in her direction, watching her face light up with a laugh. 

“You bought me cookies? Are you trying to fatten me up so you can eat me?” she joked.

Nick turned red, taking her words slightly different than they’d been intended, “No, actually you could use a little meat on your bones,” he slapped himself in the head, once again having spoken too much, “Just forget I said anything, it’s easier that way.”

“So I should just ignore you like your friends do?” she asked and Nick wondered just how much she really knew. He hadn’t revealed anything to her before, she already knew there were other people in the house.

“What do you mean?” he played dumb. 

“The walls in this place are kind of thin, it seems like it’s an old house. I know this is your bedroom, I know one of your friends bosses you around, and I know it must be annoying to have to listen to the two of them upstairs having sex in the middle of the afternoon. I’m not stupid; I’m paying attention to everything that goes on. I plan on getting out of here,” she said bluntly. She definitely had Nick worried, she could see from what little light there was that he was sweating. Sure he was trying to be sweet with the light and the cookies, but she would be more than happy to see him in prison for kidnapping her. 

“How did you know this was my bedroom?” he asked first of all.

“I heard you stuttering like a fool about a dog right outside the door. Maybe rather than a blindfold you should have invested in some earmuffs or something if you’re that concerned about me hearing things. You know, egg cartons work great for sound proofing a room. I learned that from my dad.”

Nick’s demeanour suddenly turned dark and he snapped at her, “I’m not a fool!”

“Right,” Elena said sarcastically with a nod, “You just let everyone believe you are! If you were smart, you wouldn’t let everyone walk all over you.”

“I don’t!” he challenged.

“What do you think I’m doing right now? Hell, I’m your captive and I’m telling you off and you’re letting me!”

Nick wanted to hit her, he really did. He had never wanted to hurt a girl as much as he wanted to hurt this one but she had a point no matter how much he didn’t want to admit it, “You can’t possibly understand what it’s like to be in my position.”

“Why not?” she asked curiously. 

Nick glanced around quickly then walked into the room, shutting the door behind him, “You’re rich. You’ve got everything you could ever ask for. You live in that mansion, with servants and cooks and shit. I have to struggle to keep my place around here. More and more I start to see them leaning towards getting rid of me. Not killing me you know, just sending me on my merry way. I don’t like people yelling at me, I don’t like people telling me what to do but I don’t know what else to do. I don’t want to make someone angry.”

“You’re not much of a people person are you?” 

He shrugged, “No, I guess not.”

“You know,” Elena leaned back on the mattress, wondering why she was going to give this loser advice, maybe she felt sorry for his situation more than she wanted to let on, “It’s not candy and roses for me. I have two parents who have very aggressive personalities and much like you found myself constantly being picked at and poked at, and I just learned to stand up for myself. You see the house and it isn’t mine, the cars which aren’t mine, the money, still not mine, and you assume my life is great. It’s not! I get told what to do constantly, just like you do. I get told what to wear, how to talk, my parents monitor everyone I talk to, everything about my life. I’m twenty years old and I have a curfew. What is so great about that?”

“It’s not great,” Nick admitted with a shrug, “I guess looking at your world we only really see the shell, and not what’s inside.”

“No one ever does,” Elena said sadly. 

“I really shouldn’t be in here talking to you,” Nick quickly grabbed what he’d brought in, and the pieces of the mug then opened the door, “I’ll see you later.”

“I’ll be here,” she grinned cheekily. 

Nick nodded then closed the door, locking everything back up. He knew he shouldn’t have talked to her for so long but it seemed like it was the first real conversation that he’d had in a long time. Sure, she’d called him a fool and essentially weak but it was a lot less than he normally got. She actually had some good advice, and he knew it. He should be getting stronger with every jab that Howie, AJ or Brian got in but instead he just folded to their demands. He never used to be such a pushover. Well, he’d always been a pushover, but never such a big one. 

Growing up Brian was Nick’s neighbour and despite their age difference they would play together after school and during the summer. Every time they would play outside it would be the same. Brian would tell him what they were playing, he would tell him what character he was going to be, how he was going to act it out, and what specific things he was not allowed to do. Rather than complain that Brian was bossy Nick went along with it. After all, he didn’t want to hurt his friendship with the older boy.

They didn’t start hanging out with AJ and Howie until Nick was in middle school. Every time Nick got beat up, he would turn to the other three to seek retribution for him. So for each time they beat up a bully who’d hurt him he would do something for them. Get them candy, give them his pogs or trading cards, steal from the grocery store and generally be subservient. It was now an old habit that Nick couldn’t get out of. He always felt like he owed them something and they always made it seem like he did. 

He didn’t though, he knew that. He needed to listen to Elena and stand up to them. If he had just done that in the first place she might not even be there. He might have been able to convince them that it was a bad idea. Instead, he’d gone along with it like he had done everything else in his entire life and now he was stuck; stuck in a position that could possibly have him spending the rest of his life in prison if it didn’t work out. 

Nick was in too deep and he knew it. He just didn’t know how he was going to get out of it without taking a stand. 

“Did you go through my purse?” 

Nick looked up from his daydreaming to see both AJ and Carrie standing at the living room door, “What?” he asked.

“You went through my purse!” she accused again and Nick subconsciously put his hand on his pocket where Carrie’s makeup kit was. 

“What are you talking about?” 

“My purse was open at the bottom of the stairs and the only person down here is you!” she yelled, noticing Nick protecting his pocket, “What’s in your hand?”

“Nothing,” Nick replied sheepishly but Carrie, who thankfully was now dressed, was quickly on him like a virus trying to pry his hand away from his pocket. They struggled but she eventually won after fighting dirty and bending one of his fingers back. 

“Ow! Fuck! Why would you do that?” he exclaimed, cradling his hand.

“Why would you take my makeup?” Carrie inquired, completely confused as to why Nick would need it. 

“You know how Nick is,” AJ said as he came over to them, “He was probably trying some of it on. Not really your colours though, buddy.”

Carrie glared at Nick, looking him up and down, “Freak. I told you he was gay,” she added to AJ then rushed from the room. 

“Thanks for defending me!” Nick snapped, pushing AJ’s shoulder. 

“Why did you have it?” AJ asked point blank. 

“Our little friend got her little friend and I kinda had to improvise,” he spoke in code but AJ seemed to understand. 

“Alright, but don’t do it again.”

Nick glared at his friend, “Don’t do it again? Why don’t you tell her to stay away from me? And how come she can get away with calling me gay and grabbing my dick and you don’t say anything?”

“Nick, get over it,” AJ rolled his eyes.

“NO!” Nick yelled and the smaller man was shocked to hear the blonde speak out. He had been expecting the next words out of his mouth to be ‘okay’.

“Alright,” AJ held his hands up in mock surrender, “I’m sorry. It won’t happen again,” something about the attitude of Nick’s voice made AJ realize that he was serious.

Nick was a few times bigger than him and although it had never happened, he didn’t want to fight him because he had a feeling he’d most definitely lose. He would give him the benefit of the doubt this time, but he needed to tell Brian about Nick’s sudden decision to be a man.