Aaaaaaaaaand we're finally at chapter 40! I'm so amazed. That's like, a lot.

F/S = favourite sweets

~~~

Leon peeled off a heat patch and stuck it on your lower abdomen, where your menstrual cramps occurred. You laid flat on the bed, groaning in discomfort. It wasn't even a pain-relieving position; the only reason you were like this was because you couldn't move your goddamn legs. This was the crappiest you've ever felt for a long time.

Speaking of crap...

You stretched your arms out, telling Leon to carry you to the toilet. Leon pursed his lips, "T-This is the third time this morning. Are you sure you're okay?"

You ignored his question of concern and repeated your action. Leon sighed at your silent treatment and carried you to the toilet.

It's been a few days since Leon and Alec carried you out of the basement. You were determined to keep up your treatment towards them. Your little experiment with crying proved that your plan was effective. As long as you didn't cry loudly that much, because that would be too suspicious.

As you were plotting ways to act, Leon laid on the bed. The bed that you slept in. He sniffed the blankets. Oh, how he missed the days where he'd sneak inside your room. But that's fine because now he had the real deal. He should really buy the shampoo and body wash you used to use before you were brought here, though. Leon missed that scent.

He rolled off your bed, falling onto the mattress that laid next to it on the floor. The mattress was soft, but not as soft as your bed. The blanket was folded neatly and placed at the bottom of the mattress. This was where Leon slept last night. Because of your injured legs, he and Alec agreed that one of them needed to stay and assist you in case you needed anything. It was so blissful, sleeping next to you, even if you and him weren't on the same bed.

Well, Leon didn't actually sleep a lot. Once he heard you start to snore, Leon stayed up looking at you for a long time. It wasn't until he checked the clock that made him realize that it was nearing 3 in the morning. He fell asleep with good dreams.

A knock from the bathroom door snapped him out of his reverie. Leon opened the door and carried you back out, placing you on the bed again.

You reached for a high school textbook gifted from Alec and Leon and continued where you left off. Leon sighed and looked up. Now, you would go back to ignoring him. Staring at your expressionless face made him wonder how long it would take to regain your trust. Oh, if only you knew that he was doing this all for you.

'Ah right!' Leon was suddenly reminded of something he forgot to do. His mind had been so consumed by you, he totally forgot to shower himself!

"Uhm... Y-Y/N..." Leon said your name nervously. "I-I need to s-shower now so, uhm, please stay here."

You nearly scoffed. It wasn't like you were going anywhere with these broken legs. You probably couldn't even get down the stairs. You could also hear guards walking around downstairs. Even if you tried, it'll only result in you being locked up in the basement again.

Instead, you just continued to read you textbook. Leon smiled fondly at your compliance and kissed you on the forehead. He knows that he should give you some space but he's really been deprived of your touch for the past week. How he wished to squeeze your cheeks, make out with you, and maybe touch your bare skin.

'Leon!' He scolded himself, 'Stop with those dirty thoughts!'

He quickly hopped into the shower in hopes that the water will ward off any impure thoughts in his head. Leon ran his hand through his hair as water trickled down from his face to his body. Sadly, the shower didn't keep out dirty thoughts, as more suggestive images flooded his mind.

'Y/N in the shower with me, Y/N holding me as I bury myself in her chest, Y/N caressing my-" Leon slapped himself. What's with this pent up frustration? It has only been a week of not touching you intimately. A week isn't that long, right?

Well, it did feel pretty long to Leon.

He sighed for the nth time, trying to direct his thinking somewhere else. Where did Alec go again? Was it to visit his father or attend his business lessons? Whichever one it was, Leon forgot.

About 10 minutes later, Leon stepped out of the shower naked and wet, grabbing a towel to dry himself. That was when he realized...

...That he forgot to bring his fresh set of clothes in here.

This is what he got for thinking too much. Leon tied the towel around his torso and peaked out of the bathroom. You seemed to be resting now--you had one arm over your eyes and you were steadily breathing. You must've felt cold or something because you covered yourself with the blanket.

'Okay. If I just do this quietly, I won't wake her up.' Leon quietly opened the bathroom door and slipped out. He walked as silently as he could across the room and grabbed his fresh set of clothes from his closet. Although Leon was careful, the sound from his closet was inevitable. A loud click was made when he shut the closet.

You turned over towards the source of the noise, only to find a startled Leon facing you.

"Ah! D-Don't look!" His face turned red almost immediately and he dropped his clothes. Leon tried to tighten his slipping towel and cover his chest. You've never seen his naked chest before so this was a new sight for you. Leon had a lean, skinny body; his thin arms were more muscular than you thought as you looked at his firm biceps. He always wore loose clothes and long sleeves so perhaps that's the reason you never noticed. Even after all these months of dating, the two of you never got to second base.

It was kinda cute seeing Leon so flustered over something so trivial.

But you were still giving him the silent treatment so you stayed quiet and looked at him even though you told him not to.

Leon quickly bent down and grabbed the clothes from the ground and dashed back into the bathroom, pinching his towel together to make sure it doesn't fall off.

Once he finished changing, Leon exited the bathroom with a hand over his face to cover his tomato red blush. "Sorry... I should've prepared clothes beforehand."

You shrugged before completely ignoring him by reading your textbook.

For some reason, Leon was unsatisfied. Although that moment was embarrassing, he hoped that you would have a bigger reaction.

"Y/N." You continued to read your book so Leon earnestly clasped your hands with his. "Do you see me as a man?"

You knew that speaking would have a more serious effect on Leon this time, so you told him, "No."

Leon whimpered. "W-Why? Is it because I only know how to cook and clean and I don't do sports that much? Or is it because I'm too skinny? Too clingy?"

"Don't be stupid." You told him. "A man can do any of those things and still be a man."

"Then why?" Leon cried.

"Because you kidnapped 'the one you love' and kept her here here without asking for consent. You left her in the basement for days to traumatize her and now you're saying you love her?" You spat. "You're a not a man; you're a monster."

Leon trembled as you tore his confidence apart insult by insult.

"But, Y/N... My l-love. You just don't understand! This for us! They wouldn't understand this love, nor do they deserve to experience it. I'm only trying to protect you. How does that make me any less of a man!"

You knew that he wouldn't see from your point of view so there was no point of arguing. You sneered and pushed his hands away. "Leave me alone."

Leon whimpered but he didn't relent on his affections. "Y/N, please-"

"Get out!"

Tears collected in Leon's eyes, slowly streaming down his face. "Y-Y/N."

You gave him a cold glance and looked away.

Knowing that the situation is hopeless, Leon retreated from the room sadly.

He entered his parents' room, where he slept before your escape because you were occupying his room. Leon crawled into the covers and sobbed.

'S-She hates me.' He thought as he trembled. 'I don't d-deserve her. I'm not good looking, I make her angry, all I can do is cook, I'm worthless.' Leon's tears and snot wet the bed.

"W-Why can't she just love me?!"

It wasn't only Leon's heart that was broken; he started to feel his mind break too.

"Y-Y/N," Leon wrapped his arms around his body, "I need you."

"Y/N." He chanted again and again. "Y/N..."

~~~

You had fallen asleep after Leon left since you had nothing to do other than wait for him to come back and pick you up. At least one hour has passed already, right? You sat up against the headboard and tried to think of ways to entertain yourself.

'Let's try moving off the bed.' You gently moved your legs towards the floor. It kind of hurt when your feet settled on the ground but it was manageable. Next, you slowly slid off the bed, trying to use your shins as less as possible. Sometimes, you would accidentally push your feet down which made you hiss in pain. Still manageable.

You looked at the drawer. You kinda wanted to read Leon's diary entries since you never got to finish them.

You slid your way towards Leon's drawer and opened the one at the very bottom. But before you could take out the diary-

Tap, tap, tap.

You heard familiar approaching footsteps. Leon.

Quietly closing the drawer, you shifted backward to try to avoid suspicion. It was too late to go back onto the bed so you stayed put on the floor.

When Leon found you on the floor, his eyebrows furrowed in concern but also wariness. "W-What are you doing?"

You did the first thing that came into your mind. Something that would probably please him. Puffing your face out, you turned away. You called this the tsundere face.

"Well, y-you didn't come so I thought you were mad at me." You said this with a tone of anger, insecurity, and shyness. Then, you thought of something that made you unhappy and started to tear up.

Leon seemed to put the pieces that you had given together, his serious expression faltering. You must've waited for him to come because you were lonely! But when he didn't, you wanted to find him even though your legs were broken!

'My Y/N!' Leon cried in his mind joyfully.

Most of his doubts were washed away immediately after coming to this conclusion and Leon lifted you up, carrying you back to the bed.

"My Y/N! How could I have ever thought bad about you!" Leon started peppering kisses all over your face. "You need me too, don't you? I was depressed over nothing!"

Although your tsundere face sort of backfired, at least Leon wasn't mad that you shouted at him.

You kind of missed this feeling of being loved-

No. What were you thinking? They're your kidnappers now. Are you just going to accept their faulty love like that? Snap out of it.

Still, you unconsciously leaned into Leon's embrace, making him over the moon.

"Y-Y/N," Leon stammered, as he held you tightly, "I-I-I love you!"

You said nothing, but Leon took it as a sign of encouragement and hugged you even tighter from behind so that he didn't hurt your legs. You noted that you could use this tsundere face again in the future.

"Let's go downstairs and I'll help you study." He carefully carried you down the stairs and onto the wheelchair and went back upstairs again to grab your textbooks, but not before making sure that a guard was next to you.

Then, he brought his own notes and sat you down with him eagerly. "I will be explaining what you missed out on since you were gone. Alec should be coming back in a few hours so I have plenty of time to teach."

He started going through different subjects and the lessons that you were meant to study. It was no wonder that Leon was a straight A student. He knew all the information in the textbooks like the back of his hand.

The hours passed really quickly. Leon had given you some blank sheets of lined paper for you to write notes and you thought you were doing pretty well.

Like Leon said, Alec came home at around three to four o'clock in the afternoon. Alec grinned at the sight of you studying with Leon. It meant that they were making progress.

Leon's house was basically Alec's house as well. Alec placed his shoes to the side before entering and threw his jacket over a random chair. "My darling~! Now that we're all here, let's go watch some anime. Although I won't be watching because I have lots of work to do, but I'll still be by your side."

So all of you sat together on Leon's small couch once again. A blanket was draped over the three of you and Leon spent this time holding onto your arm tight.

It has been a long time since he was able to hold you so intimately. Leon stroked your arm delicately and rested his head on your shoulder, giving light kisses and smelling your scent. To Leon, this must be what euphoria feels like.

Alec, although usually very affectionate, didn't touch you that much. While re-watching your favourite anime series, he used on hand to hold yours, and the other hand to do the work on his computer. When you looked over at his computer, it seemed to you that he was writing up some kind of contract or document of some sort. You didn't know what it was, but you do know that it had something to do with LEARNEST.

It wasn't one of your big concerns anyways so you just continued to watch TV while eating the microwavable popcorn that Alec quickly prepared.

Within another hour or so, Leon had already fallen asleep, his head practically sliding off your shoulder. Even when he slept, he held your hand tightly. Alec was still up working on that document and you were the only one left actually watching the anime. Although sometimes, Alec would lift his head up for a moment to look at a short scene, then go back to work. He rubbed your hand soothingly as he worked. The soft clicks of his keyboard made you feel calm despite the situation you were in right now.

A little while later, you, too, fell into a light slumber. When you finally fell asleep, Alec stared at you and smiled gently. He let go of your hand and kissed your forehead before going back to work, this time in his full speed.

~~~

You felt like you've been sleeping a lot lately. You woke up on the bed in Leon's room but you swore you were downstairs on the couch...? You looked over to your side to see Alec talking softly with someone else. You didn't understand the terms he was using, but it was definitely about business. Alec must've been the one to carry you up here.

Alec, realizing you're awake, said a few more words to the caller and hung up. "You're awake."

For some reason, his expression seemed gentler than before. Alec scratched the back of his neck. "Y/N, there's something I want to tell you."

You stared at him with indifference, remembering to revert back to your cold persona again.

He knelt on the floor on two knees and clasped your hands as a sincere gesture. This was the second time they've held your hands like this, the first time when Leon asked if you saw him as a man.

"Darling, I just want to say that I'm sorry." Alec started, "I've been thinking about it for the past few days and I apologize for the pain I've caused you. I should've thought about an alternative way to discipline you. I see that I've traumatized the most important person to me and I'll take a million hits if that makes you happy."

You looked at him suspiciously. Alec had lowered his head while apologizing as if he was submitting to you. But it seemed to easy. "Then, will you heal my legs?"

There was a very short pause. One that you wouldn't even notice if it wasn't for the fact that it was Alec you were talking to. "Of course."

"Fix my legs. Now."

Alec looked away guiltily. "All in due time."

It's bullshit! Whatever he spouted was bullshit! You had gotten your little hopes up for nothing. Alec was probably sorry for hurting you, but knowing him, he probably wasn't sorry for locking you up. For some reason, every pent up emotion that you felt for the past few days started emerging. You felt anger, frustration, sadness, hopelessness.

"Fuck you," You screamed at Alec, "Why do you and Leon always take everything away from me? You've taken away my freedom, my ability to walk, and me from my family and friends. What more do you want?"

Alec came closer and reached for you as you continued ranting about your situation. "Y/N, I-"

You slap his hand away from you. Angry tears welled up in your eyes. "You said you'd take a million a hits right? Come closer."

Alec obeyed without a word, kneeling closer to you. He closed his eyes and braced for impact.

You slapped him hard on the face. "It was your idea, wasn't it? To lock me up in the basement."

Alec squeezed his eyes in pain but didn't make a sound.

"I'd kick you," You started to sob, "But you broke my legs. You broke my legs!"

You slapped him again, hoping to gain some satisfaction from hitting him. However, you didn't feel a single thing. By this time, red marks had appeared on Alec's face. His face contorted in torment as tears streamed down his face. Still, he didn't say a word.

"Fuck you and Leon! Who are you to decide how I live!" You yelled. You were finally past the breaking point, sobbing hysterically as you delivered the last blow to his face. You couldn't do it any more. Not only did you feel guilty when you shouldn't, simply being allowed to hit Alec was not something you wanted to do. You also didn't want Alec to become your punching bag.

You took some deep breaths and tried to calm yourself, occasionally hiccuping at times. Alec's face was definitely going to bruise an ugly purple later on, and you guess that was enough for now.

You stared at Alec who was still kneeling on the floor with his eyes closed and you cried a little bit more.

"Alec." You called shakily. He looked up with eyes that held some form of guilt and sadness.

"Come here." You felt bad. He's never hurt you directly. The only time he's ever hurt you was when you tried to escape, and as twisted as it sounds, after this moment, you're starting to understand a little. That Alec was just a guy who doesn't understand healthy love. Same with Leon. He just didn't have any experience with love, but still desired it very much. And, well, everyone makes mistakes right?

Part of you was saying to hate them, for doing this to you. To make their lives living hell.