chapter thirteen

tatum quietly and carefully placed the lock onto his brothers room, not before taking a glance at his lydia, though. she was sound asleep on the bed that was placed in the middle of the room, and she looked rather peaceful. he had purchased some additional things to add on to the old room so that lydia was secured and could not get out without himself granting her access. his plan never included drugging her, but he had things he needed to do that lydia could not come along for.

he had made the decision to keep her at home while he went back to her house to collect the car and some of her belongings from her bedroom. he planned on taking an uber there and taking her car back. tatum felt extremely smart for this, and you could almost hear it in the way he talked to himself in his head.

the notification in which said that his uber had arrived made its way onto his phone and he sighed. taking his last glance at his little, he walked over to her and kissed her on the forehead. it felt absolutely wrong to leave her alone like this, and yes, his heart was screaming at him to stay, but for them to have a peaceful time together this is what he needed to do for the both of them.

"i'll see you soon little"

-

when he had arrived at lydias house he immediately exited the vehicle with a quick "thank you". the entirety of the ride was spent on him thinking about her, and strictly nothing else but her. he felt a tugging feeling in his chest in which could only be fixed by being around his lydia. he shook his head at the thought, he was already thinking so highly of her, he was already so attached. he knew now more than ever that she would never leave him. he wouldn't let her. he needed her.

punching in the code to the pad lock on the front door, it smoothly popped the lock in which granted him full access to the home. he was worried he didn't memorize the passcode correctly from when she put it in, so he was very grateful for the doors cooperation. he quickly walked upstairs and into lydias bedroom, not even bothering to lurk around and examine the rest of the house. the sweet scent of his little overtook him as he entered the room, which only made him go faster.

he grabbed a suit case that was neatly placed in her closet and began to fill it with her clothing items. she had so many clothes, he didn't even know where to start. so instead of grabbing whole outfits, he just grabbed whatever he could possibly get his hands on. while doing so, he realized how much he liked lydias choice of clothing. everything she owned would look beautiful on her, and he felt as though he could absolutely not wait any longer to see these outfits on her in person.

after filling the first suit case, he moved onto the next. and by the end of his journey, he had filled three suit cases to the brim with lydias clothes. he took them down to lydias kia, before realizing that he didn't have her car keys to unlock it. he left the cases by her car and made his way back into her house and to her room to begin his search for the keys. he checked multiple drawers, until he stumbled across a personal drawer. it held all of her personal work that she had created. her journal, her drawings, and little trinkets that obviously meant something to her. and on a whim, he decided to take her journal and her drawings. she wouldn't need them anymore, anyways.

when he had finally found her car keys underneath her pillow, he chuckled to himself. she thought she was so smart, and no one would find them, huh? tatum always finds everything.

after going back down the stairs and to her car, he fumbled with the keys to unlock it. he placed her belongings in the trunk and headed back for the front door. he left lydias room decently neat and tidy, almost as if he was never there in the first place. and with the front door locked and shut tight, her parents would never suspect a thing. he sighed to himself and placed his body in the drivers seat of her car. he was proud of himself. starting the car and reversing out of the driveway, he was gone. and this neighborhood would never see him or lydia ever again. and he would be sure of it.

-

no she won't be driving me home, i took my car to go and meet up with lily at her house after the fair. i didn't want to cancel on tatum so we just waited until tatum and i left :) but anyways, goodnight mom love you and dad very much

tatum felt content with the text that he had constructed and hit send. he was about three minutes from his home, and he had never been so excited to see someone in his entire life. well, lydia was now his entire life, anyways. his brain was traveling in so many different directions his entire ride home and it began to be too much to try and keep up with. he eventually resulted in turning on the radio in an attempt to muffle his brain, but to no avail.

tatum pulled into the driveway of the home rather quickly, placing the car in park right beside his own. he wondered if lydia was awake yet, and if she was, what could she possibly be thinking about? she's alone in a random house and has no easy escape route. but this being said, tatum loved when she was confused. he wanted to be the one to simplify small things for her, because this would not only gain her trust, but make her depend on him. he wanted her to depend on him so bad.

before even thinking about taking the luggage inside he quickly walked to the front door, unlocking it with his childhood house key. upon opening the door the house was completely silent. no sounds whatsoever, and it made him a bit nervous. there's no way she could've gotten out, and if she had, surely he would know about it. the house was equipped with an alarm system that would beep and send a message to his iphone whenever a door or window was opened. he had installed this alarm system originally due to the fact that he never visited the home, which made it prone to some break ins in the past. he was grateful for it now, though.

tatum quietly made his way to his brothers room, immediately going to unlock it and disarm the alarm system. swinging the door open, he was relieved to see that his little was still in the exact position he had left her in about two hours ago. in her presence, he felt like he could breath again. there was no more anxiousness, no more worry, no more panic. she calmed him down immensely and she didn't even know it.

"my little," he said with a smile, walking to her small body and scooping her up.

he led them to the master bedroom in which they now shared together, and placed her onto the bed. he needed to unpack lydias things, but he didn't want to be away from her. he simply brought her with him so that he could be in her presence while he did so. her presence was comforting. it was all he needed.

when tatum had returned to the bedroom after grabbing lydias things, she was not where he had left her. he began to panic, but was quickly put at ease when he heard a small voice come from the corner of the room.

"t- tatum?"