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"Landon." I breathed out, staring straight at him in disbelief.

He gave me a soft smile and spoke. "We're going home baby blue."

"What?" Nathan and I said at the same time.

Before I could register what he had just said-- no, before I could register the fact that he was standing in full form right before me, Landon jumped forward and grabbed my arm, pulling me towards him before whipping out a gun and pointing it at Nathan.

"What are you doing!?" I exclaimed, shocked at the whole situation, my heart now pounding twice as fast, and this time it wasn't from the excitement.

Where the hell did he get a gun from?

"Saving you." Landon said softly, looking down at me with eyes filled with emotion.

Just as I was slowly starting to piece together everything, Tyler burst into the room with a gun in hand as well and stood next to Landon.

"Tyler?" I gasped, staring up at my brother in shock.

"It's okay Sky, we're going home today." He shot me a reassuring smirk.

"Max, take Dustin in the other room." Nathan ordered in a calm tone without taking his eyes off of Landon and the gun.

Max quickly picked up a shocked Dustin and ran to his room.

I felt like punching these two for scaring the kid like that.

"Alright, hold on. What the actual fuck is going on?" Nathan said angrily now.

"We're taking Sky back to her life which you stole from her you fucktard." Tyler spat out with venom, before walking closer to Nathan with the gun pointed at his head.

"Stop!" I yelled at them. They couldn't do this. They couldn't just walk in and play hero for me. I understood that they were doing this to save me but I was growing more and more aggravated with the way they kept pointing the gun at Nathan.

I obviously couldn't blame them since all they knew about the situation was that some random hottie swooped me up from the mall and took me away. But the situation was growing more tense and heated by the second and I had to do something.

"STOP! Stop it you two please stop!" I yelled, getting livid now as they both ignored me.

Landon tightened his grip on me and pulled me back. "It's gonna be okay Sky, it's over." He tried to soothe me but it did the opposite.

"NO!" I screamed as Tyler clicked the safety off the gun.

I struggled and finally came up with an escape plan. "Ow, Landon you're hurting me!" I cried.

He suddenly let go and looked down in concern but I kicked his shin and ran towards Nathan.

"Tyler stop!" I cried, placing my body in a protective stance in front of Nathan, meeting the intense eyes of my brother.

"Skylar are you insane!?" Tyler yelled at me, his brows furrowing in confusion and panic as his arm slackened and he lowered his aim, but still kept the gun pointed to the side. "Come back here!"

"You guys don't understand, he's not gonna hurt anyone!" I exclaimed. "Please put those away and hear me out!" I pleaded desperately, shooing away Nathan as he tried to move me behind him protectively.

"Skylar he's a kidnapper!" Tyler exasperated. "Did this sicko brainwash you?" He thought out loud with an incredulous look.

"What? No! He's done nothing but help me since I've been here!" I explained. "He's made it easier for me and hasn't even laid a finger on me." I spoke in a softer tone now, straining my voice to stay leveled.

"So you don't want to go home?" Tyler asked in disbelief, surprise still vivid in his eyes.

I looked down, not being able to meet his shocked and hurt gaze. I knew he had come in here to save me, and this was probably the last thing he'd expect. "I do." I answered quietly.

Nathan's posture went rigid and Tyler just looked more puzzled.

"But I can't." I added. "I can't leave Nathan. He needs me here." I spoke in a stronger tone now.

"What?" Tyler and Landon spoke at the same time.

"Lady, are you ins-" Landon started to speak but I cut him off.

"If I leave then the person that set this all up will murder Nathan and his family." I explained, my voice breaking at the end.

I wasn't sure if it was cool of me to just give out Nathan's business like that, but I was desperate to protect him and needed my brother and Landon to understand. Well, needed them to put their guns away at the very least.

I hadn't been expecting this, nor had I thought this could even happen. My two heroes showing up at the doorstep to save me...

Now that I was faced with this window of opportunity, it was too late. I had grown to care for my kidnapper and his lovely brothers, and I knew for a fact that if I walked out that door with them, it would all be over for Nathan.

I couldn't put his life on the line when he had done everything he could to make sure I was safe here. I couldn't leave until Nathan and his family's safety was secured.

"Well he shouldn't have done this in the first place, he deserves this." Tyler bit out. His eyes hardened as his gaze shifted over my shoulder, showing no mercy.

I took a step back until I felt Nathan's chest behind me. The small action made Tyler's expression fall, and his eyes filled with confusion and helplessness.

It hurt me to see that, but it'd hurt a lot more if they'd hurt Nathan.

"But his family doesn't." I tried to counter. "He did this for them, Tyler. Wouldn't you have done the same for me? Even if its twisted and all wrong, wouldn't you go to any lengths to save my life?" I felt my eyes water up. "He has a sister too, and she's in a way worse situation than I'm in. Please, try to understand. I know we can fix this the right way, just trust me." I pleaded my brother.

Tyler stared at me for a long while, his face slowly crumbling. He suddenly tossed the gun aside and started to walk towards me.

I felt my heart swell up and ran into his open arms, hugging him so tightly I had trouble breathing. It had been too long since I had seen him, and the embrace filled the longing and weakness I had been feeling since I had gotten here.

"I'm sorry Skylar." He whispered into my hair, squeezing me tighter. "I was so worried." He added, his voice breaking.

"I was too." I whispered back, feeling a few tears escape.

"Tyler are you serious!? We came here to bust out Skylar, not to listen and cry over some sob story to just walk away and leave her here to die!" Landon suddenly exclaimed, his expression a mix of hurt, anger, and determination.

"Nobody's dying here." Nathan pitched in, eyeing the trembling gun in Landon's hand by his side.

I let go of my brother and stared at Landon in surprise. I thought he'd understand me the most.

"Can't you see she won't leave him?" Tyler said in a small voice. "She stood in front of the gun for him Landon." He stated, looking at me with a hint of understanding.

I felt my eyes tear up more as I gave him a small grateful smile.

I knew it was a lot I was asking for and a lot to take in, especially in the midst of all of this. It hurt me that I couldn't just walk out with the two and resume my normal life, but I would never be able to live with myself if anything happened to Nathan and his family. Especially Dustin...

"So we just leave her here?" Landon yelled, his eyes red from anger and emotion.

"We'll figure something out." Tyler said half-heartedly, looking at me with a sad expression.

"Listen, this Abercrombie douche-face can handle his own problems I'm sure. This is your little sister man, if you're not going to save her, then I will." Landon scoffed, before raising his gun and moving to stand in front of Nathan in three long strides.

"Landon please!" I yelled, watching as he raised the gun to Nathan's head.

"Hey, it's okay. I'll fix this." Nathan turned to me and spoke softly.

"Don't hurt him please." I whispered back, looking to Landon who was staring at Nathan with daggers.

"I won't. I promise." Nathan looked in my direction for a split second, the promise, admiration and care pouring out of eyes, before bringing his leg up to kick Landon's outstretched hand in a flash.

Tyler quickly grabbed a hold of me and moved us further away from them as I watched the gun fly out of Landon's hands.

Landon just looked at the ground, then at Nathan, before an angry expression took over his face and he charged towards him.

Nathan turned away last second, dodging the hit skillfully, before latching onto Landon from behind and pinching his shoulder, causing him to go down without another word in an instant.

Holy-

"Fuck." Tyler finished for me.

He really was a ninja.

"He's okay, right?" I asked in panic.

"Of course, I only put him to sleep." Nathan stated as if it were obvious.

"You need to teach me that." I breathed out.

Tyler agreed by letting out a low whistle.

"Maybe some other day." Nathan chuckled at me, before bending down and throwing Landon's unconscious body over his shoulder.

"When is he gonna wake up?" I asked, concerned for my friend.

"In about an hour or so." Nathan explained, walking over to the washroom and gently placing Landon in the bathtub.

I looked up at my brother and suddenly felt puzzled.

Now that the situation had been deescalated, I finally had time to process everything and all the questions suddenly rose to the surface.

"How did you guys find me?" I asked my brother.

"That would be him." Tyler pointed at Nathan.

I snapped my head so fast towards him in surprise my hair probably whipped him.

Nathan simply gave me a small smile.

"Merry Christmas. Hope you enjoyed the surprise princess." He gave me a wink. "I know I didn't." He added, half-joking half-serious as he glanced at Tyler.

"You called my brother and Landon here for me?" I asked in shock.

"Well he called Landon and arranged for us to visit you, but obviously we weren't going to leave here without you." Tyler spoke.

"Why would you arrange something so risky?" I asked Nathan now in disbelief.

"I didn't realize there'd be risk involved." Nathan answered, eyeing the guns on the floor. "I made a deal with your wild friend Landon, but he clearly didn't hold up his end." Nathan shook his head.

"Well what did you expect? We'd just stop by to drop off some cookies and be on our way?" Tyler asked incredulously.

"No, obviously not. I was expecting a dispute, but just not on this level. Plus, you're right where I need you to be." Nathan pointed at Tyler.

My gaze lingered on Nathan as I stared at him with indescribable emotions bubbling to the surface as he spoke, wanting to say so much but that would have to wait.

I'd have to have a talk with the sly, sweetheart stripper later...

"The hell does that mean?" Tyler asked, anger lining his words now as he took a step closer to me protectively.

I looked to Nathan too in confusion.

"Well, Alvin was supposed to pick you up last night to hold you hostage here as well. But I knew his men would all be out hunting you down, so calling you here was the safest option." Nathan explained to my brother in a calm tone.

"Who the hell is Alvin? And why the fuck is he trying to kidnap me and my sister?" Tyler asked Nathan, his voice raising as he grew more angry.

"An evil chipmunk who's mainly responsible for me being here." I quickly dismissed, looking at Nathan. "You saved my brother from getting kidnapped?" I asked in a small voice, my heart melting as I realized what he'd done for me.

"Well I thought it'd be best to hide him out here, as its the last place Alvin would check." Nathan explained.

"You did that for me?" I asked now, still in shock that he had pulled this all off.

"Yes sweetheart. If I hadn't called him here, he'd already be locked up in some warehouse and no one would know where he'd be." He said.

"Nathan, that's--" I started to say, my eyes softening as I looked at him.

"So you're saying that a chipmunk named Alvin sent out a goon to kidnap me last night?" Tyler interrupted, looking at us frantically in confusion.

"Tyler he just saved your ass so shut up for a second!" I yelled, looking at my distraught brother impatiently.

His mouth shut as he interpreted my words and looked to Nathan, who was looking at me with an amused look.

"Thank you." I finally spoke, giving Nathan a grateful smile and feeling my eyes tear up.

"You're sticking around here to keep my family safe, the least I can do is return the favor." Nathan replied, giving me a small smile that brought warmth to my chest.

"Damn, I didn't know that." Tyler spoke up now. "I guess I owe you an apology for our... rude intrusion." He looked to Nathan sheepishly.

"Don't worry about it, it was actually quite impressive and I would have done the same had I been in your shoes." Nathan admitted, offering Tyler an understanding smile.

"But I'm still not catching on to the situation fully. You guys are saying a chipmunk orchestrated all of this?" Tyler asked us in confusion.

"Yeah, he's basically Alvin from Alvin and the chipmunks, except his real name's Ryland." I explained. "He could also very possibly be the long-lost fourth brother of the trio." I added.

"Have you been feeding her drugs?" Tyler asked after a long pause, looking at Nathan with a grilling look.

"Only the good kind." Nathan replied smoothly, smirking at my now enraged brother.

"Nathan!" I scolded, stepping in between the two before Tyler could start swinging.

"There's no chipmunk. The guy's just short and has a high pitched voice. And no, there are no drugs in this household." Nathan explained calmly, a hint of an amused grin on his face.

Tyler just looked between us a few times, before shaking his head and walking over to the couch. He seemed fed up and I couldn't really blame him. He came in here expecting to get his sister back, but instead had just walked into the safe haven of my kidnapper. It was pretty confusing and wild.

"Can you tell us why we're being hunted down like this? I don't understand, we have no one to pay our ransom, we've done nothing to piss off any drug dealers, at least I haven't." Tyler gave me a questioning look to which I scoffed at. "I appreciate you helping us out, but is this really the best option? I'm sure if I could just head down to the cops station we can sort this all out today and everyone can go home safe and happy." Tyler offered, looking up at Nathan.

Nathan opened his mouth to answer, but I saved him the trouble as he had already done a lot for us.

"Because they have Nathan's sister. The second the cops show up, they'd send out an order to have her killed." I explained. "And then it'd probably be him and his brothers next." I looked up at Nathan with a sad look.

"Is this true?"

We all looked up to see Max walk in, a pained expression on his face.

"Is what true?" I asked, since no one else made a move to reply. Especially Nathan.

"That they have Hana." Max spoke, staring at Nathan.

I thought that Nathan had told him this before.

"Max-" Nathan finally spoke up, taking a step towards his older brother.

"I don't understand..." He stated, looking at the ground in shock, then snapping his furious eyes up towards his brother. "How could you let this happen? I thought this whole mess was over?"

"It was, until our mother decided to go ahead and involve the cops." Nathan explained.

"Fucking bitch..." Max mumbled under his breath, before snapping his enraged eyes back to his younger brother. "Well you and her are both to blame! You drove us into this fucked up mess and you keep dragging more people into it." Max's eyes met mine with sympathy, before they turned back to Nathan with pure rage. "There is no escaping this madness, you already signed us all up for this. Who are you gonna pawn off next, Dus--"

"That's enough Max." Nathan's voice resonated throughout the entire room, his eyes holding anger mixed with anguish. "I didn't want to tell you because I thought I'd be able to get her back by the time you came home..." Nathan spoke in a softer tone now, staring up at his older brother with pleading eyes.

"How long." Max asked coldly, ignoring his brother's words.

"Max just let me-"

"How long has she been kept there?" Max demanded, his eyes red.

"Three months." Nathan answered quietly.

"Three mon-- Jesus." Max ran a hand through his hair. "You knew this for three fucking months!?" Max then exclaimed, looking very close to losing it on Nathan.

"No! I only found out she was back there a few days ago! Our own mother managed to keep it hidden from all of us for three months..." Nathan explained.

"I don't understand... How could she do that? Why would she do that?" Max asked in disbelief.

"I don't know Max, I haven't spoken to her since I found out and I don't plan to." Nathan spoke coldly.

Max silently took it all in, looking lost, angered, and helpless.

"What did they do to her? How do we know that they... that they haven't--" He spoke up, his voice cracking at the end.

"They haven't." Nathan cut him off before he could say it. "I saw her a few days ago." He added after.

Max opened his mouth to question it but his brother quickly continued.

"That day you arrived here and I was gone, that was when I went to the old building to see her. They let me visit her once a month, it was part of the deal." Nathan stopped, looking pained as he reminisced his trip. "I came back early though, I couldn't handle what I saw." His eyes slightly glazed over with unshed tears.

I felt the need to reach out and comfort him in any way, but this was between the two brothers.

"Nathan." Max spoke sternly, causing his brother to blink back the emotions and face him again.

"What did they do?" Max asked hesitantly now, his voice almost a whisper. There was so much fear and pain in his eyes.

"Since the day they took her, they told me they'd train her just like they trained me. They said they'd turn her into a monster. Just like me." Nathan looked away, his tone cold and holding no emotion.

"I couldn't do anything about it or they'd kill her, so they trained her. They didn't hurt her, only a few times when she'd resist the training." Nathan stopped, clenching his teeth. "I pleaded with Ryland, I offered everything and anything, even my own life, but he wouldn't listen. I tried to save her but I couldn't." Nathan's voice broke near the end and he stopped to take a breath, his fists shaking. Somehow he managed to continue on.

"A few days ago, I walked into that room. The girl sitting on that bed was not her Max." Nathan closed his eyes for a brief second. "The girl sitting there was a creation of theirs. An innocent little girl who they'd turned into a ruthless killer." Nathan ran a hand through his hair, letting out a shaky breath.

"Then we have to get her back." Max stated instantly.

"It's too late Max, she thinks she's one of them now." Nathan spoke in a broken tone. "I couldn't save her in time."

"But we can still save her! We have to try at least. She's our sister for fucks sake!" Max yelled in anger.

"We can't! I saw her kill a man right in front of me Max!" He suddenly yelled, causing the room to grow dead silent and thick with tension.

I let out a small gasp and stared at Nathan.

He was breathing heavily, his chest rising and falling, the suffering in his eyes now fully vivid.

My heart broke. He didn't deserve this. He never deserved this.

"I had to watch our baby sister, point a gun at someone's forehead. I had to watch her pull the damn trigger without any signs of hesitation. And worst of all, I had to watch the look of satisfaction that came over her face once she had done it." Nathan got out, not looking at anyone.

Max just stood there in shock, unable to form words. It hurt to see their expressions. Max stood there for a second, opening his mouth to speak but at a loss for words. He finally turned around and walked off down the hall, but not before leaving a deep hole in the wall.

I turned to Tyler who I had forgotten was still next to me, and placed a hand on his shoulder softly. His sympathetic eyes which were watching Nathan's deteriorated posture moved to mine.

"Hey, can you go check on Dustin, the small kid you saw. He's in the room to your left at the end of the hall." I whispered softly.

He stared at me and nodded, understanding that I needed to go to Nathan.

I watched as he got up, placing a small kiss on the crown of my head, before leaving Nathan and I to ourselves. I got up too now, slowly making my way over to Nathan.

His gaze was still on the ground.

I crouched down in front of him and took his clenched fists in my hands, but his gaze didn't move away from the floor.

"It's all my fault." Nathan whispered, his shoulders sagging, before they started trembling slightly as he held back sobs.

It pained my heart significantly to see him like this. He probably hadn't had time to face what had happened on the trip. He was so good at bottling up his emotions and problems and placing them deep inside to suffer alone just so he could be there presently for everyone around him. Now that he had spoken it aloud, it was probably settling in tenfold.

I stood on my knees and pulled his hands to my sides, before embracing his trembling and tortured body in a tight hug.

He froze for a second, before his tense posture deflated and he responded by wrapping his arms around me tightly and resting his head in the crook of my neck.

"I don't know what to do to make you believe that this isn't your fault." I thought out loud.

"I don't know why you're trying." Nathan replied, pulling away from me slightly, but keeping his arms around me.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Why do you want to help me? I can't make you happy or do you any good." Nathan said, giving me a sad smile. "I'm a dysfunctional criminal with no future. I sold my soul to this mess and I have to face worse and worse consequences each day. I appreciate your compassion and your strong, empathetic, beautiful soul." He smiled softly as he tucked a strand of hair behind my ear, his sad gaze lost in the action. "But what I've done, and what I keep attracting are dangerous and horrible things. It hurts me to keep you locked up like this, and now your brother and friend too. But I'm helpless and this is all I can manage to do. To make the blow the least painful." His hand softly rested on my cheek now, holding my face in place as his heavy burdened eyes gazed into my soul. "I don't know how this is going to end, but I can't have you give up your life for me. That would only cause me more suffering."

My eyes teared up at his words, feeling a heavy weight in my chest. Every word he was saying was right. Except I interpreted his actions a lot more differently. Maybe I held too much compassion, or too much empathy and maybe this would end up pulling me down. But I could not allow myself to think like that.

How would the boat sail if both of us were sinking?

"You're looking at the picture all wrong." I stated, smiling slightly as I felt a tear roll down my cheek. "You know where I would be without you?" I asked, my voice shaking slightly. I continued before he could say anything. "Locked up. Beat. Harassed. Starving. Broken." I listed off, looking upwards to keep the tears at bay and forcing my voice to stay coherent and not broken.

"Instead I'm here celebrating a beautiful Christmas with the most compassionate and caring company to be around. Nathan, I am so grateful you came into my life, as fucked up as it sounds." I laughed slightly. "Because I would not have been able to hold on to my true self had it not been you. I would have turned into something else. I would have lost all those qualities you see in me, my brother would be going through something much worse, and then it would probably lead to a dead end. So yes you could look at you signing up for all of this as the biggest regret in your life, but there's always something good that comes out of destruction. And I see you. Your perseverance, your willpower, your strength to keep the rest of your family members safe, your optimism, the fact that you could tend to such little things and make me happy when you have so much on your shoulders yourself. You could have let this all destroy you, and most people would. But you didn't break, and I know that this doesn't end here. I know that no matter how this ends up going down, you ended up saving me, my family, and your own family." I stopped to take a breath and Nathan reached up to wipe away the tears that had escaped softly.

"And I'm so sorry you had to see what you saw." I added, placing my hands around his neck and holding him close to me. "But you can't blame yourself. I know that's what it feels like, but you can't stop people like Ryland and you can't let him win and get inside your head. People like him will continue doing these fucked up things, and sometimes you can't do anything. He's got your hands tied and missiles trained on you and your brothers. You can't blame yourself for your mother's mistake, you can't blame yourself for the cruel intentions of lost and wicked people like Ryland, and you can't blame yourself for the way the universe works. This isn't me being compassionate, this is me speaking the truth. It's easy to get lost in the suffering and take on the blame, but I know you're so much stronger. I know that no matter what, you'll be there for me doing the best to your abilities to keep me safe, to keep everyone around you safe. So please don't feel helpless, don't blame yourself for the cruel doings of other people, and don't let the evil in. The purest intentions always come out in the end, and I don't know how, but I know we can fix this."

By the time I was done my words, I saw Nathan had a few stray tears rolling down his face, and the intensity of his eyes shook me. He looked at me with pure vulnerability, understanding, and other intense emotions I couldn't figure out.

"Wow." He breathed out. "Never have I felt any sort of words give me such release and calm in such an instance like that." He mumbled, his vibrant emerald eyes trained on me. "Thank you."

My heart melted and I felt fresh tears well up, but let them fall freely this time as I smiled up at him. "Every word is true, and I know you don't deserve any of this. I want you to realize it too and let me be there for you." I whispered.

His face broke into a relieved, grateful smile, before he took hold of my face and leaned down gently, letting his lips meet mine.

I quickly responded by bringing my arms up around his neck and kissing him back. He pulled me closer to him and our kiss intensified, our emotions being brought to the surface and fully expressing themselves through our embrace. It felt like sparks were bursting out and a connection was being strengthened between us; an understanding.

I didn't want the moment to end, but eventually he gently pulled away, keeping the distance between us minimal.

"Skylar." Nathan called softly.

"Yes?" I responded, still in a haze from that electrifying kiss.

"I know this isn't the right place or the right time, but I don't know if I'm going to get the opportunity to ask you this ever." He spoke, his eyes passionate and electric.

My heart suddenly sped up again. I held his arms which were around my waist, giving them a small squeeze to go on as I matched his vulnerable and verbatim gaze.

"I don't know if I'll ever get out of this mess, and I don't know if I'll ever get to see you once you're gone. So I need some reassurance, some label I guess, to remind me of this." He stopped, closing his eyes for a second and taking a deep breath. "Skylar." He spoke gently, before opening his sharp, brilliant eyes. "Will you be my girlfriend?" He asked.

Did I hear that right?

I wanted to scream, jump around, and cry all at the same time. I was shocked he had asked, but it only lasted a while until I felt some sort of relief and an opening to something much more. I had been shoving all those thoughts and feelings away given everything about our situation, but all those feelings came rushing out, and I let them finally come up for air instead of holding them down and burying them. I knew this was insane of me to do, but I couldn't explain it. Then the word came to me, which broadly covered every emotion and feeling I was experiencing.

Could it really be?

Yes. I think it was, at least to some extent. I was feeling love for him.

The thought of dating your kidnapper was insane and would probably be seen as super unhealthy and deranged. But I was pretty certain that real love came creeping up on you when you least expected it. Cupid's arrow certainly did pinch my arse when I was least expecting it. Real love wasn't dependent to your surroundings and situations. It was something that formed between two souls. It was loving someone regardless of their past mistakes, overseeing their flaws, and willing to let them lean on you to balance each other out. He wasn't just some guy who was forced to kidnap me and chose to treat me well. No, he was a guy who had a broken heart, yet he still made me feel worthy, made me feel special, like no one else ever had. Even if it wasn't under the best circumstances and at the worst time, it was the most perfectly unexpected thing to occur and something that gave hope and potential for a better future; something worth fighting for.

"Yes." I answered, a huge smile on my lips. "I'd love to be your girlfriend."

Nathan gave me a beautiful, genuine smile that was contagious, before pulling me to his chest and hugging the life out of me.

I giggled as he lifted me up and spun us around, before placing me down and holding my face gently.

"Let's seal the deal princess." He spoke with a small grin.

I grinned back, before reaching up and kissing the living daylights out of him.

We pulled away as soon as we heard footsteps coming and stepped away from each other, my cheeks still heated and a satisfied smirk on Nathan's lips.

"L.S!" Dustin cried, running towards me with a scared expression.

I bent down just in time as he engulfed me in a hug.

"What is it Dustin?" I asked with concern.

"That bad guy came into my room." He spoke quietly, his lip quivering.

I looked up to see Tyler walking towards us with precaution, eyeing Dustin.

I let out a small chuckle and ruffled the kid's hair. "That's not a bad guy Dustin, that's my brother." I explained gently.

"Really?" He asked, pulling away from me. "But he came in with guns." Dustin stated.

"Oh that? That was just a joke, see they had toy guns and they wanted to pull a prank." I said with a large smile, feeling horrible for lying. But I knew that a kid like Dustin should never know about these horrible violent things, even if his brother deals with them.

"But why was everyone else scared?" Dustin asked again.

I stared down into his confused wide eyes and smiled. "Because we didn't know they were joking." I explained.

"Oh." Dustin said. "So he's not a bad guy?"

"No, that's just a new friend." I said, looking up to see Tyler staring down at the two of us with a small smile. "Tyler, meet Dustin. Dustin, meet Tyler." I introduced, standing up now and giving Dustin a small encouraging push towards my brother.

I watched happily as the two started talking and became engaged in a conversation about dinosaurs.

I let out a small gasp of surprise as I suddenly felt Nathan's hands grab my hips and pull me backwards into him, but quickly relaxed at the contact.

"Thanks." He murmured, his warm breath hitting my neck.

"For what?" I asked softly, a smile creeping up my lips.

"For everything." He said back, before nuzzling his head in between my shoulder and head, making me giggle.

I let out a small sigh of content and enjoyed the moment. I noticed that Dustin had dragged Tyler to his room, probably to show him his toys.

"What the hell happened?" I jumped at the sound of Landon's voice and quickly stepped out of Nathan's hold.

The last thing I wanted was another fight going on.

I looked up to see Landon stepping out of the washroom and walking over to us, before stopping dead in his tracks.

"It's fine, I'll handle this." I said, turning to Nathan.

"You're the best girlfriend ever." He grinned, pinching my cheek.

I felt my cheeks become slightly warm and turned back to Landon before he could see my blush.

I heard Nathan's retreading footsteps, now leaving Landon and I in the room.

"Landon." I spoke, staring at his happy/confused face.

"Baby blue." He spoke, a smile lighting up his face as he started towards me.

"Do you remember what happened?" I asked cautiously after a while.

"I can't remember my name for some reason." He replied with a frown.

I felt my stomach drop along with my jaw.

Before I could start freaking out, he burst out chuckling.

I closed my mouth and stared at him confused.

"Landon are you serious right now?" I snapped, after realizing he was joking.

"Sorry, I just had to cut the tension." He muttered, sobering up and giving me a small smile.

I shook my head with a small smile myself, realizing just how much I missed this boy.

"Wait hold on, what the fuck does your shirt say?" Landon stopped dead in his tracks, his smile wearing off.

I looked down in confusion, only to realize I was still in the shirt that Max had gifted me which read 'Max is my BFF' with a picture of his enlarged face in the middle of it.

"No! It's not what it looks like!" I quickly defended, crossing my arms over the words.

"Who the hell is Max?" Landon yelled out now for the entire house to hear.

"Not fucking available right now!" Max's angry yell came from one of the rooms.

"No fucking swearing in this house!" Nathan's voice boomed from somewhere else.

"Shut up you idiots and Tyler give Dustin your headphones!" I yelled down the hall, causing silence to finally ensue.

"Forget I asked." Landon raised his hands up in defense.

I rolled my eyes at the idiot. Regardless, I had missed the idiot.

"Babe, when Nathan knocked me out, I woke up as soon as he rudely dumped me in the bathtub." Landon started explaining. "I was about to attack him but I heard you guys talking, so I decided to stick around and hear what he had to say." Landon scratched the back of his neck. "I uh, heard his story and I could tell how much you cared about him, with the whole heart to heart thing." He shrugged at the end.

I just stared at him for a while. "So you're not mad?" I asked finally.

Landon chuckled and shook his head. "How could I ever be mad at you?" He asked with a glint in his eyes.

A huge smile took over my face as I suddenly tackled my best friend into a hug.

"I missed you." I whispered, a tear escaping my emotion-filled eyes and rolling down my face.

"You don't even know what I went through." Landon replied with a shaky breath.

I squeezed him tighter and he did the same.

I finally felt whole again. My other half was right here and that just made everything seem better and more balanced.

After a while, Landon pulled away. "So what are we gonna do?" He asked me with an expectant look on his face.

"What do you mean?" I replied.

"Well we have to come up with some plan to get you and your lover boy out of this whole mess safely." Landon stated with a smile.

My eyes widened and I gave him another bone crushing hug, a large grin on my face.

"Hold on." I said, putting up a hand and motioning for him to not move. "I think I know."

He chuckled and sat down on the couch. "Are there any--"

"There's sugar cookies on the counter in the kitchen." I cut him off, already knowing what he needed.

"Thanks sweets." He winked, then stood up and ran off to go to the kitchen.

I laughed at the little man-child, before turning and walking down to my first destination.

I knocked on the door labeled 'Dustin', before opening it and stepping in.

"Tyler, can you go wait in the living room with Landon and Dustin, also can you go find some paper and pens and bring them to the living room?" I asked.

The sooner we got this fixed, the sooner I'd be relaxing with the people I love.

"Wait, why? For what?" Tyler questioned, standing up and walking towards me.

"Just trust me on this." I said, turning back to give my brother a pleading look.

"Don't worry, she knows what she's doing." Dustin stated, causing Tyler to stare down at the genius kid.

I smirked at my older brother, before leaving the two and making my way to Nathan's room.

I stopped in my tracks as I could hear loud voices coming from his room.

Maybe walking in on a fight between the two brothers was not a good idea...

The door suddenly banged open before I could turn around and I watched a pissed off Max storm past me.

I turned in shock, before looking back in the room and slowly walking in to see Nathan sitting on the ground with his head down in his arms.

I walked over to him and bent down, gently placing a hand on his shoulder.

He abruptly looked up, startled, before relaxing after seeing it was only me.

His appearance startled me. His face was slightly red, probably from yelling, and his cheek had a freshly forming bruise, indicating someone had punched him. My guess would be Max.

"What ha-" I started, before he cut me off.

"Not now Skylar." He turned his head away from me.

I felt hurt at his action, but got up and turned to leave. If he wouldn't fix this, then I would.

I made my way to the living room to see Dustin, Tyler and Landon sitting on the couch and talking amongst themselves.

I felt their expectant stares as I walked in, but I was too busy looking for a specific face.

"There." I turned at Landon's voice to see him pointing towards the balcony.

I loved how well he knew me. I gave him a grateful smile, before walking out to the balcony.

I closed the door gently behind me as I stepped into the chilly Christmas air. I walked over to where a hunched over Max was leaning over the railing.

I suddenly started having second thoughts as I slowed down in my tracks. Maybe he also needed some time alone.

"What? Did you come out here to tell me that Dustin's a spy now?" He spoke, his voice holding venom.

I stepped forward and leaned on the railing, making myself visible to him now.

"Oh, it's just you." He spoke quietly once he saw me.

I just stayed silent, not knowing what to say.

"You know blaming your brother doesn't solve anything." I finally stated in a confident tone. That confidence suddenly dissolved once he turned to give me a cold hard stare.

"This is unsolvable. No one can fix this. There's no way I'm gonna get my sister back." Max stated.

"You can't say that unless you've tried to get her back." I responded softly.

"But they've brainwashed her. They infected her good heart and turned it into something dark and twisted. If we show up to save her, she'd get mad and probably stay." Max spoke in a defeated tone.

"But she's your sister. I'm sure she still has a place for her siblings deep down." I spoke with confidence.

"But if we do bring her back then she'd only revert to what she's been taught. If they've trained her brain to kill, who knows what she'll do." Max argued.

"Don't forget she's only a young girl." I spoke softly. "What she needs right now is unconditional love and support, whether she sees it or not." I said with determination. "I know through the support of her family, through therapy or psychologists or whatever the best option is, there is hope."

Max stared at me silently, thinking it over.

"But how the hell are we gonna get past their security and into the building?" Max asked slowly.

A small grin took over my face. He was starting to think positively. "That's where my genius plan comes in."

Max just gave me a look, before sighing. "Why are you so determined to fix this mess?" Max asked with pure curiosity.

"Because if we get your sister back, we can bust Alvin and his chipmunks, get your family to safety, and all live happily ever after and so on." I explained quickly.

"But what's in it for you?" Max asked with a raised brow.

"The happiness of Nathan." I said with a genuine smile.

"God you two are so cheesy." Max said playfully, chuckling at my angry expression.

I couldn't hold the face any longer, and broke out into a grin, happy to see Max laughing.

"Well let's not waste anymore time, come along now." I said strictly, grabbing Max's arm and pulling him back inside.

I walked in to see Tyler, Dustin, and Landon all sitting around the dining table, paper and pens in front of them.

I almost laughed at how serious they looked.

They all looked up expectantly and I smiled. "Man I feel so in control right now, it's amazing." I gloated, grinning at the four boys.

Landon and Dustin rolled their eyes, Max scoffed and acted offended, and Tyler simply raised a brow.

Well I'd like to see them round up three emotionally unstable men and a mastermind kid in under five minutes.

"Okay, let's get started." I spoke, pulling out the chair at the head of the table.

"Since this is pretty much a conference, and it's Christmas, would you mind getting us all some lattes?" Max spoke up, the other two idiots nodding in agreement.

"And a chocolate milk for me please!" Dustin added with a polite smile.

"Seriously? Get your own damn drinks, I'm not your maid." I huffed, going in front of the chair to sit down. "And Landon go pour Dustin some chocolate milk." I added.

"Come on, we all listened to you even though we had no reason to. I think we all deserve at least that." Tyler said this time.

"No." I said stubbornly, crossing my arms.

"Come on!" Max whined.

"Please?" Dustin pouted.

"I'm your older brother so you have to." Tyler stated obviously.

"Don't make me tickle you." Landon threatened.

I stared at the loud boys and sighed in exasperation. "Alright, okay! Fine!" I exclaimed, causing them to all shut up.

They all smiled cheekily up at me and I just huffed, gave them a hard glare (except for Dustin), and stomped off to the kitchen.

Just as I stepped in, I felt an arm wrap around my waist and a hand come up to cover my mouth, muffling my scream.

"Shh, it's okay it's just me." Nathan whispered, turning me around to face him.

I relaxed as I realized that I wasn't going to die soon, and stared up into his amused eyes.

He slowly took his hand away from my mouth and brought his finger to his lips, motioning for me to be silent.

I watched with a small frown as he grabbed my arm and pulled me out of the kitchen.

He pressed himself against a wall and watched the rest of the boys cautiously.

I rolled my eyes.

Then quickly, when no one was looking in our direction, he pulled me down the hall and into his bedroom.

I pulled away from him and crossed my arms, facing him as he quickly shut the door.

"Why?" I asked simply, raising a brow.

"Because." He spoke, staring at me intensely as he stepped towards me.

I bit my lip in anticipation and stared at him expectantly.

"I wanted to show you my ninja skills." He said with all seriousness.

I just stared at him like he was a five year old kid that had just told me he had found a leprechaun.

He finally cracked a grin, causing me to grin too and start laughing at the stupidity of the situation.

"Well I've seen better." I shook my head.

"Really? I bet you've never seen a ninja do this." He murmured as he leaned in to steal a quick kiss. But I had seen it coming and quickly dodged him with a smug smirk.

He pulled back when he realized he was just kissing air and stared at me in shock.

"Like I said, I've seen better." I smirked at him. "Look, there's a very important conference meeting which awaits my presence so if you'll excuse me." I said, waiting for him to move.

"Wait, I pulled you here for a reason." Nathan started.

"Yeah, to show me your ninja skills which are non-existent." I rolled my eyes, causing him to shoot me a glare.

"No, I wanted to apologize." He spoke softly, looking guilty.

"For what?" I asked, cocking a brow.

"For being a jerk." He explained, causing my confusion to grow.

"I know I shouldn't have snapped at you when you came in to check on me earlier." He said, gently taking a hold of my hands.

I stared at Nathan for a moment, entranced by him, before realizing what a silly thing he was apologizing for.

"Nathan, I know you didn't snap at me on purpose, I understand." I said with a small smile.

I watched as his expression softened and he smiled back.

"Now, let's get you some ice for that lovely bruise and make some drinks for those idiots so that we can go on with our little conference." I gave him a charming smile.

Nathan just raised a brow at me.

"And what exactly is this conference about?" He asked.

"You'll see." Was all I said, before grabbing his arm and dragging him behind me to the kitchen.

I crossed my fingers that he'd listen to my plan and actually consider it. I knew he had lost hope for his sister when he had gone to see her last, but I still wasn't giving up on him. Call me crazy, but I was determined to pull Nathan and his whole family out of this mess. And not only his family, but mine as well, Landon included.

I was determined to get to that scrawny sick chipmunk and shake him down from his tree. I knew that all of us combined could conquer his pathetic ass and fix this mess once and for all. Well, actually... I didn't know that. I just hoped. But I knew for sure that putting all my hope into this would pay off, in one way or another.

I, Skylar Jones, will make it my job to fix as much as I can for my amazing, sexy, kidnapper/boyfriend.

Oh, and I've gotten over the fact that I've completely lost it.

_________________________________________________________

A/N

I'm such a bum.

So I know it's been a while and I hope you guys know how sorry I am, it's just been quite hectic and busy the past few weeks and no, nothing serious happened but I've just been so busy with school and I get one and a half hour of wifi each weekday which is bearable (now) and my parents left a couple of days ago and they're gone for a month so it's just me, ma bro, and my odd cat. So I apologize for the wait but here it is!

I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter... ARG THIS IS TOO FORMAL AND SERIOUS. Ok. Taking away all seriousness and formality now.

OMGGG THEY SAID THE L WORD! Was not expecting that to come up, my fingers just typed it out unexpectedly and I hope it was the right time :P

And also, you guys are all smart, you all figured it was Landon at the door, hehe..

Ok moving along, zee dare winner is.............. @trotOn who said:

"So I just did the dare at the local supermarket and the amount of weird looks I got.. It was hillarious! I guess it happens when you start shaking your head and tsking and then saying "That's a really odd place to put a piano".. In the fruit section!

People are so gullible it's hillarious!"

AND ALSO shouting out @definelovemaybe I liked her dare too, GO ASK HER IF YOU WANNA KNOW, but everyone else had amazing dares and they were all funny, THANKS FOR BEING DAREDEVILS GUYS !

NEXT DARE: go stand in the middle of some random spot holding a small stuffy(I'm sure you all have at least one from your childhood or from a smaller sibling) and when someone tries to move past you, say something like "POKÉMON GO GO GO!" And throw the stuffy at their feet. Then go "it never listens to me." And pick it up with a sad expression and walk away as if nothing happened.

This ones a long description but the more random stuff you say, the funnier their reactions are ;) GO OUT AND BE DAREDEVILS MY LOVELY READERS ! hehehehhehe...

It's late, I'm meowing at my cat, and I might never stop typing. Tis my cue to leeaaavve!!! GOODBYE!

Love you all, hope this satisfied, and sowee.. :(

P.S: since I updated my app, I CAN WRITE IN BOLD/ITALICS :'D thank you wattpad! But anyways, would you guys prefer my a/n's in bold, or no bold. Bold? Or no bold. Bold..? Or not. BOLD. OR NOT. Sorry I just wanna give you guys a little taste of bold. Even though I'm pretty sure you've all seen it.. SO BYE

LOTS OF LOVE

~Ghostface