Page 88 of Heathens

Ugh. I’m not in the mood for this shit, not right now. But it could work to my advantage. Maybe he likes this whole Stockholm Syndrome thing. I let my face soften and watch his expression shift.

“I promisesir.”

He smiles.

“That’s my girl.”

It’s a small comfort when he unties my wrists, fluffing my pillows up for me before handing me a plate. He’s careful to sit on the edge of the bed, far away from me in case I try anything. I snort.

“What, you think I’m gonna stab you with a dull fork?”

“I’m not sure.” He looks so sad. I guess he wanted this all to just… work? To be fine? He’s more deluded than I thought.

“Look, I’m not an idiot. If I stab you you’ll just tie me back onto the bed, and I’ll probably get steak and asparagus all over the floor. It’s a lose-lose for me.”

Dominic nods and moves closer. He’s dressed more casually today, in a dark blue sweater and a pair of baggy black dress pants. I’ve never seen him look this domestic before.

I sit up a little, balancing the plate on a leg as I immediately start shoveling food into my face like it’s the last chance I’ll get. The meat is a little charred, but still flavorful enough.More than enough.

He looks up at the sound of my animalistic gorging as he swirls his own piece of steak around on his plate.

“Good?”

I don’t know if it’s just because I’m starving, or if he actually is a good cook, but the food is even better than it was last night.Looking down at the burned meat, I feel like it must be the former.

“Yes.” I pause for a moment. “Thank you. You didn’t have to do this.”

Dominic blinks and flashes me a little smile. “Well, you’d be useless to me if I starved you.”

Great, he thinks we’re getting somewhere.

Another long silence works its way between us, only interrupted by the sound of my fork and knife against ceramic. Dominic watches me, having put his plate aside after only a few bites. Meanwhile, I’m hoovering this shit down as fast as I can.

Once I clear off my meal, I look over at his plate with envy. The juice from the steak drips down my chin, and Dominic wipes it away with his thumb.

“Still hungry?”

I nod. I wonder if this is how they feel all the time, starving for more while it’s sitting right there, close enough to tear into if they only gave in?

He slides me his plate and I’m on it in seconds, moving my empty one to the nightstand.

“I think you could be happy here, Sofie. That’s what I want most.”

That’s rich coming from him. I want to say it, but I bite my tongue. Instead, I lean into the plan: Convince him I’m coming around, just enough to get him to leave me untied, and get the fuck out of here once he falls asleep. Hehasto sleep sometime.

“Is it?” I ask, with significantly less venom than I’d like.

Dominic’s eyes are bright, that manic look still swirling behind them.

“I can take care of you, just like I’m doing now.”

I flash him a bashful smile and bite my lip. There’s a flicker of confusion in his eyes, like he’s expecting me to bite back‌. I have to stick to the plan if this is going to work. He thinks I don’t trust him, and I have to start to build up from that fast. But I can fake Stockholm Syndrome, I’ve faked worse before.

How hard could it be?

“Thank you,” I whisper.

He looks bewildered, his eyes scanning my face for any sense that I’m lying. I stare right back, keeping my whole demeanor soft. I was shit in the school play, but now I’ve bullshitted my fair share of idiots who think they’re in love. The kicker is deep down, there’s a part of me that still wants him. That’s the part of me that wishes none of this shit happened and we were still in the feeding room, or back in his little lab.

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