NATHAN'S POV

A ghost of a smile took place on my mouth as the lonesome apartment building came into view. Despite the twisted events I had recently experienced, I felt the slightest bit better knowing that I'd have someone to come back to and hug. And Dustin. After seeing the tragically gut-wrenching things that I had in that building, I knew that I must keep him safe and close; now more than ever.

The car came to a stop and I was the first one out, refusing to stand another second within that sick man's presence. I could have easily lashed out at him at the several opportunities I had came across, but I knew that would only lead to insufficient satisfaction and me never being able to see her ever again...

"Think about what I said." Ryland spoke gravely, staring at me with those demonic beady eyes.

I ignored him and stormed off to my apartment, carrying my luggage with me as if it were weightless. Had I looked at his putrid face a second longer I would have my fists endlessly pummeling into his face until--

I stopped my violent train of thoughts which were progressively getting worse as I finally reached my apartment. I took a few seconds to relax my breathing, clearing my head of the past two days for now.

I had to act like everything was fine as soon as I stepped through those doors, because it was all on me to keep not only Dustin safe, but Skylar as well.

At least my other brother was out safe in college...

As I unlocked the door, all that time spent on breathing exercises flew right out the window as I stepped in. I felt my luggage slip right through my hand as my eyes landed in the middle of the living room. Large bursts of confusion, shock, and most of all rage swirled around inside.

As if that trip hadn't been bad enough...

SKYLAR'S POV

I stirred as I heard the door opening. I slowly blinked my eyes but quickly sat up once I heard footsteps heading my way. Stealthily grabbing a pillow as a shield, I prepared myself for this sorry intruder.

I dropped the pillow when I saw a very enraged looking Nathan standing there.

"You're back early." I stated dumbly, breaking the thick tension.

"Clearly you weren't expecting me." He bit out, his flaming eyes moving over my shoulder before grabbing his bag off of the ground and taking off to his room.

I stared after him in confusion with squinted eyes seeing as I still hadn't fully woken up. What the hell was that all about?

I turned to look behind me and jumped. A very shirtless Max had been soundlessly sleeping this whole time through all the ruckus.

I pushed off the blanket that Max must have thrown over us this morning after dropping Dustin off to school and stood to my feet. Why he had come back to sleep on the floor with me and more importantly, why he hadn't woken me up and left me to suffer sleeping on the hard floor was a complete and utter mystery to me.

"Hey!" I yelled and ran down the hall after Nathan.

He was just about to swing the door closed before I made a quick dive and did a little ninja roll, landing on his rug just as it slammed shut.

Damn I didn't know I could do that...

He just stared down at me in shock mixed with a bit of amusement, before rolling his eyes and turning to grab his suitcase.

"What's gotten your panties in a twist? Aren't you happy to be back early?" I asked him, sitting crossed legged on his floor now.

I watched him as he unpacked his suitcase angrily, yet still managing to do it neatly.

"I was until I saw my brother sleeping with my-" he started in an aggravated voice before cutting himself off.

"With your what?" I asked, hiding a small smirk. Was he about to call me his? Wait, he was about to call me his... I will not be a possession to my kidnapper!

"With my... Friend." He finished, sounding unsure.

A grin took over my face. "We're friends!?" I exclaimed.

"No, more like acquaintances. Yeah, acquaintances." He corrected.

I rolled my eyes. "Whatever. So do you not like your brother or something?" I asked with curiosity, trying to understand his aggravation.

"Yes I like him but I don't like it when he sleeps around with girls. Especially in my house." He said, forcing his voice to stay calm.

My jaw dropped. Then I burst out laughing, causing him to stare at me in confusion.

"Yeah, real funny." He mumbled, going back to his bundle of clothes.

I managed to contain my laughter at the absurdity of his words and assumptions, then turned to face him with a small smile. "Last night, I got pissed off at your brother because he wouldn't shut up and let me watch my movie so I started yelling at him. Anyways, he threatened to tickle me so I urged him on and that bastard actually did, and we ran around your apartment for half an hour and then got real tired so we ended up dropping dead on your floor and passing out. Don't worry, I only kissed his arm-pit, and that was only by mistake because he shoved it in my face like a disgusting animal." I explained, giving him a smirk at the end.

"I see." Was all he said after a while. "Wait, why is my brother here?"

"I don't know, ask him." I shrugged. "And it hurts me that you think I'd be the type of girl that would have sex with a stranger." I said, clutching my heart dramatically.

"Shut up, you sound like a retarded whale." He dead panned, causing me to stop in the middle of a sob.

Again with the rude animal jokes...

I glared at the back of his head as he continued packing obliviously. Perfect target...

I got up silently and started making my way towards him, breaking into a run as soon as he looked up and tackling his large frame as he was off-balance.

"What the fuck!" He exclaimed from below me.

I leaned back and shot him a victory smirk.

He tried to shove my face away but I quickly dodged his hand.

"I win you lose, now you get a big bruise!" I screamed in his face.

Damn that day spent with Dustin really did affect my offensive comments...

I finished it with smacking my fists onto his chest as hard as I could.

"Jesus women!" He cried out, wincing in pain.

I stared down at him and suddenly remembered our promise.

"Hey remember our promise?" I asked with a sweet smile.

"What promise?" He said all too quickly.

I glared at him. "That promise we made before you left, saying that you would tell me your little secret once you got back." I said slowly, forcing my voice to stay calm.

He sighed in defeat. "Skylar, now's not the time-" he started.

I had had enough of this. I was getting tired of being kept in the dark around here so if I had to force my answers out of this guy, then so be it.

I was kidnapped, what else was there to do?

My hands grabbed onto his wrists and pushed them down into the carpet by his sides.

"Tell me." I demanded, towering above him.

"No." He rolled his eyes.

"Tell me!" I yelled, leaning in closer.

"What if I don't?" He challenged.

"I will-" I cut myself off as I realized the only harm I was doing was sitting on him and holding his wrists. I didn't really have anything planned after this...

"You will..." He trailed off, a dangerous glint in his eye.

"I will..." My eyes roamed around his room and suddenly settled on my new-found target.

Not wasting any more time, I quickly jumped off of him and dashed my way to his suitcase, pulling out the first item of clothing.

"I will rip this." I stated, holding up his shirt in my fist with full confidence.

"Alright." He shrugged, sitting on his bed now comfortably.

"I'll ruin this perfectly good shirt!" I reiterated, shaking my fist violently in the air.

"I have other shirts." He said in a bored tone, putting his hands behind his head.

I glared at him. He had to eventually crack.

I grabbed two ends of the shirt and pulled with all my strength until I heard the satisfying ripping noise of the fabric.

I looked at him to see he wasn't in the slightest bit concerned.

So I took out another shirt and tore it in half. Then took another one and did the same. Next, I found a pair of black denim jeans and decided to spare those because as much as I hated to admit it, he looked damn good in them; especially his behind.

I took out another shirt and tore it, keeping it going until there was a huge pile of shredded shirts at my feet.

I finally looked up to see him with a blank expression on his face.

"I could do this all day." I threatened, looking at him with crazy eyes.

"Whatever makes you feel better princess." He shot me a lazy smirk.

Before I could grab another shirt, a searing pain rapidly grew in my thigh and shot down my whole leg.

I couldn't stop the loud scream from escaping my throat as I suddenly collapsed onto the floor, grabbing my leg which currently felt like it was on fire.

"Skylar!" Nathan exclaimed as he rushed towards me and grasped my arms.

"Your leg! Don't you have some sort of injection for it or anything?" He questioned, his tone drenched with worry.

"It's fine. I just need a minute, I'll be fine." I assured him, trying not to wince too much.

"No Skylar, this is the second time this has happened. Obviously you have something for it and I don't want to wait a third time for you to tell me." Nathan pressed.

"Okay fine I'll tell you where you can get my injections from." I said, the pain starting to subside.

"Really?" He asked, relief washing over his hard features.

"As long as you tell me where you went." I said with a devilish smile which quickly fell as I scrunched up my face. There was another wave of searing pain, before it slowly faded away and left completely.

"Skylar, don't. You know I can't tell you." He said in frustration. "This isn't safe for you."

"If you cared so damn much about my safety we'd already be discussing your little secret that you think I can't handle." I said lethally.

"Skylar I'm your kidnapper not your best friend. I have a job which is supervising you, not telling you all about my day. That's something you don't want to hear and you're just too naive to acknowledge that there are horrible things out there that you should stay far, far away from. So stop digging around and drop it." He snapped, his cold outburst taking me by surprise.

I glared back into his cold conservative eyes. "You heartless asshole." I spoke, my voice breaking at the end. "You took away my entire life. You act and treat me like some loyal dog thinking I won't abandon your lap. Well I haven't enjoyed a single second spent here, because I'd much rather be back home with the people I love." I expressed, tears welling up in my eyes. I stood up abruptly with blurred vision. "I'm not your fucking dog. I don't care how many times that squirrely-little bastard will torture the answers he wants out of me, at least it's better than putting up with this fake shit." I finished, turning around and walking as fast as I could with my messed up leg. "You don't own me." I spoke in a grave tone.

"Sky!" He called out.

"Don't." I threatened, before exiting his room.

"Hey what happened-" Max started asking as he started coming out from the kitchen.

I ignored him and made my way to the balcony. I stepped outside and shut the door behind me, the last strand of control slipping away now as the tears streamed down my face more freely.

I blamed Nathan for this. He had been the one who had ripped me from my friends, and then he fooled me into his charades of caring for me. He had been the one to get so close to me that I had walked away from literally a window of opportunity to escape; all for his grouchiness. I had been kind enough to consider his life and strong ties to his mob-boss and decided to work with him, and yet he was pissing all over my kindness.

I froze as I slowly lifted my head from my hands and took in my surroundings.

Snow.

I ran to the railing and looked all around now. It was utterly breath-taking. The trees all around were blanketed by a thick coat of pure-white glistening snow. I felt a feeling of ease wash over me as I appreciated the beauty around me.

I stepped back into the apartment after a while and called out to Max, forcing my voice not to break. "Hey Max? How many days till Christmas?"

"Umm... Two." He yelled back.

This just fueled my anger towards Nathan even more now.

I stepped back out and shut the door, trying hard to stop more tears from forming.

I missed home. I missed my brother, my friends, hell even the mailman. But most of all, I missed Landon. He was the only one that entirely understood me. He knew exactly how I thought, what I felt, and did nothing but encourage me and stand by my side. Funny how he sounded like an ideal boyfriend, except we both knew that that was something universally impossible. We just weren't attracted to each other.

I heard footsteps approaching from behind me and kept my back turned.

"I'm sorry I broke our promise." I heard Nathan's deep voice from behind.

I kept still, the cold stinging my eyes and tear-streamed face as I continued to stare off into the distance.

"I want to tell you, because it's not easy keeping this all to myself. But that would be selfish of me if I did." He admitted. "I know if I tell you, you won't see things the same, and it might just ruin everything."

I could hear the sincerity in his voice and the heavy weight his words held.

"Skylar, I don't see you as a lapdog." He let out a small laugh. "I see a beautiful, smart young woman." He said in all seriousness now, making my clenched white knuckles on the black railing loosen. "I just know that once I tell you everything, it will be like inviting a dark and destructive presence which I know will end up sucking you in and destroying your life."

I could tell that he meant every word, as I had never before heard him speak in that tone before. He sounded so certain and defeated. And at that moment, I felt a small wave of guilt wash over me. He was right, I guess I was being pretty ignorant and inconsiderate about his whole ordeal. I had demanded answers from him and I only found it fair that he told me everything if we were to grow any closer. I refused to stay in the dark about this whole scheme if Nathan expected us to get along and live in harmony. But I had failed to consider his emotions and past in any of it.

I stayed silent so he kept going.

"Before I kidnapped you, I was at a helpless place in my life. I was barely keeping my brothers-- let alone myself alive and was desperate for any opportunity. So of course I jumped at it, not taking a second to think over the consequences and blindly believing that it would solve everything. Then I realized the grave mistake I'd made.

When I was assigned this task, all I was told was that you were just some girl who owed a mob boss money. So I expected to be watching over some scared and helpless girl, but man was I wrong. Since I brought you here you've been acting like you're the one in charge. I've never seen a girl as strong, wild, passionate, and smart as you, especially being able to function like that under these circumstances." His compliments seemed to be naturally gushing out, filled with sincerity and admiration. "Skylar, I can't tell you my nightmares because I don't want them to become your reality. I think you're a very strong and compassionate person, and I won't keep all of this potential be tainted or ruined. And while I can't give you all the answers as to why you're here, I can promise you that I will do whatever it takes to get you back home once this all blows over."

I was left speechless by the end of it. He hadn't given me answers to my questions, but he had given me his reasons, which was far more striking than any other reason he might have given. I thought he saw me as some annoying brat that made him crack a few smiles from time to time. But hearing him say those nice things about me had stripped my mind of words. Hell, my own kidnapper promising to drop me back home was enough to leave me stunned.

"Skylar, say something." He spoke gently after a long silence.

I opened my mouth in an attempt to form a sentence. I froze though as I felt his hand rest on my shoulder, then found myself turning to face him now.

"Please don't cry anymore." He whispered, placing his hands on my cheeks and wiping away the fresh set of tears with his thumbs.

"I'm not crying... because I'm upset." I started, my voice coming out shaky.

He looked at me softly and remained quiet, his thumb gently brushing my cheek.

"I just never knew someone saw those things in me the way you do." I admitted shyly, starting to turn my cheek away from him. His hand on my cheek stopped me though, holding my face in place and meticulously studying my face.

I couldn't hold off the urge any longer; I had to hug him. So pushing away his hands from my face, I snaked them around his strong build and buried my head into his chest.

He wasted no time in collecting me in his arms and holding me in the exact way that I needed to be held at the moment.

I was suddenly scared of all the feelings which were surfacing at the moment. All these mixed emotions swirled in my mind as I clutched onto the only stable thing around, which happened to be Nathan's perfectly sculpted, wholesome and secure body. I didn't want to think about the sudden pull I felt towards him, or the way I instantly melted into his touch, or the fact that my heart was racing. All these thoughts were just too damn intimidating all at once.

Falling for your hot Abercrombie model acquaintance is acceptable, but falling for your hot Abercrombie kidnapper model acquaintance is simply ridiculous.

Well these were simply temporary thoughts drawn from confusion, vulnerability, and a bit of helplessness. So there would be no problem in clearing these thoughts out and never inviting them in again... right?

"So do you forgive me?"

I tilted my head back to see Nathan leaning back and looking down at me with a playful smile.

My heart melted at that.

Wait, no.

I grinned back. "I don't think I heard a proper apology."

Sliding his hands down to my waist, he looked me straight in the eye. "I sincerely apologize for being an asshole and a jerk, please forgive me ma'am."

I held back a blush at how he had called me ma'am. There was something sweet in the way it rolled off his tongue.

"You forgot to add douche-bag." I said with a mischievous smile.

"Don't push it princess." He warned, shooting a wink at me.

"I forgive you." I whispered, giving him a soft smile.

"You really are crazy." He said softly. "Crazy for getting this close to your kidnapper. Most girls would be attempting to throw me down the balcony. Actually, you're the only girl that would do that. Wait, are you feeling alright?" He asked now, feigning concern.

I laughed at that, pushing away from his chest but not making it very far with his arms still around me as I remained captive in them.

"I think it's the Abercrombie Fierce perfume you're wearing." I said just as I breathed in his amazingly scented cologne.

Nathan gave me an amused smirk, before pulling me into his chest and closing the little distance that was between us.

Hearing footsteps come closer, we both pulled away and turned our heads to see Max walk out onto the balcony, shivering at the cold.

"Sorry for interrupting but there's a short guy with a hella squeaky voice in our living room that's pissed off and wants to see the two of you." Max told us.

Nathan groaned and I laughed at Max's description of Alvin which was as accurate as you could get.

"Like Alvin from Alvin and the chipmunks right?" I asked him excitedly.

"Yeah." He trailed off in amazement.

"Well, let's go face the beastly chipmunk then." Nathan said in a dry tone.

I laughed again as we both walked past Max's confused face.

"Sit." Alvin ordered as soon as we walked in.

I shot Alvin a hot glare as I followed Nathan to the couch across from him and we both sat down, an inch apart.

"Time to give me answers Skylar." He grilled me.

"But I haven't had breakfast." I complained, trying to fuel some energy into me before he started harassing me.

"You really think I care?" He scoffed, shaking his head.

"Yeah I do, considering how you have to keep me in good condition since I'm your number one source to your revenge. Let's face it, you're nothing without me." I leaned back with a smug look.

Nathan let out a long sigh of frustration from my left.

"I don't care if you're bleeding to death, you're coming with me now you little imbecile. I've had enough of your bratty little attitude." He spat.

"Fine, I'll go. But don't get angry when I can't answer your questions correctly because I feel lightheaded and can't think clearly." I shrugged.

"You'll answer each one of my questions exactly correct." He ordered, raising his voice now.

"Not if I don't eat my breakfast I won't." I retorted.

"I don't think you're getting it." Alvin sighed. "I don't give a fu-"

"Why don't you both just discuss whatever the hell it is you need to over breakfast?"

We all turned our heads to see Max standing there with a frustrated look.

"Max." Nathan warned.

"I'm in the middle of something important." Max countered, looking at Nathan almost pleadingly.

I looked up to see Alvin shooting Max an intense glare, before moving to stand up.

"That's a great idea let's do it!" I exclaimed before he could do anything dramatic like go up to Max and slap his face or something.

I shot up from my seat and made my way to the kitchen, hearing them shuffle around and follow reluctantly behind me.

None of us complained after that, so we found ourselves sitting around the kitchen table. I was relieved when I saw Max had already set two plates of pancakes for Nathan and I.

"Nathan. Can I we talk in private please?" Max asked, looking at him pointedly as he leaned against the wall with his arms crossed.

I had no doubt he was about to grill him on what was going on.

Nathan looked between me and Alvin, before shooting me one last parting look of warning to not poke the chipmunk, before getting up and following his brother down the hall.

I picked up my fork and knife and began eating the delicious pancake. Wow, these exquisite cooking skills clearly ran in the family.

"Now, lets begin." Alvin sneered. "First question."

I gulped down my second bite. I didn't like that look on his face...

"How much do you really love your step father?" He asked with a sinister look in his eyes.

This was going to be a long interrogation...

______________________________________________________________

A/N

HEY GUYS, *incoming self promoting* CHECK OUT MY NEW BOOK ACE OF SPADES, HERE'S A BLURB:

Adrian looked away in frustration and I saw a lot of repressed anger flicker in his eyes, but it was gone in an instant when he returned his gaze back to mine.

"I really need a partner working alongside me Aria, and I truly believe that I won't find anyone better than you." Adrian stared at me with a fiery look.

I simply stared back at him with my mouth stuffed with chips, unsure of what to say.

"That's really sweet of you." I finally settled with. I reached a hand over and patted the top of his head awkwardly. "There there. I'll help you fix your gang."

It's a badass book with some quality jokes n stuff. More spicy and savage than MSK;)

The last dare winner goes to........ @butheyfish17 (awesome username) who said:

'Ahaha! I like this dare!!!! I walked up to my mom sipping my Kool-aid and stared at her for like 20 seconds then was like, "Ghostfaceee. Is coming." Then creepily backed into my room. And she goes. "Dont fall and spill." Then went back to her computer!!!! LIFEMAKER!'

Comment, vote, and my next dare is: Go up to anyone and ask "Can I kidnap you?" If they say no then run away. Just run.

BANNER TO THE SIDE BY ANNA LANA----------------------->>>>>

~Ghostface