A Dreamy Birthday Kidnapping

My high school boyfriend opting to break up with me via a basket of cookies made with almonds that didn't disclose the almonds became the catalyst to my self-isolation and misery.
And, no, "I knew almonds were important for some reason," is not a viable excuse for almost killing me. Over the three years we dated, my mother, my brother, my brother's friends, and I all told him that almonds and anything made with any derivatives of almonds could kill me.
At one point, my mom even had me convinced that simply touching or being near anything containing almonds could kill me. I now know that to be false, but at the time? I fully believed it. That misguided belief led me down a lonely and resentful path for a long time. Though, it also provoked an interaction that ultimately proved to me that not all guys are careless, self-obsessed assholes like my ex. Not even my dear older brother who didn't have to live his life under the restrictions our mother placed on me.
I get that she exaggerated the risk because she worried I'd underestimate that risk. She loved me and her intent was to keep me safe. I'm sure if she had thought it through a little more, she would have realized how isolating the restrictions were. But, at the same time, if she hadn't told me that lie, and I hadn't isolated myself so severely, maybe I wouldn't have ended up as happy as I did.
The day of my mother-approved kidnapping was my nineteenth birthday. Mom banished me from the house as I'd been sulking for six months following a week-long hospital stay because I tried to eat a breakup cookie. It wasn't even a good cookie!
Anyway, my mom hired my older brother and his best friend to handle me for the day. I was lying on the couch eating a cherry jam sandwich when my dear brother, Wyatt, and his best friend, Ash, ran into the room and grabbed me without warning. I broke free at first, falling back onto the couch and scrambling to get away but Ash got me on the floor and held me there.
Wyatt leaned down and grasped my chin, lifting my head as his best friend lay across my back with my wrists pinned between us, "You're coming with us, so don't even bother fighting it."
He's my brother, of course I'm gonna fucking fight him on it. I kicked Ash and scrambled to Mom for help but she just stepped aside, "Kaya, enough's enough. You need to leave the house for a little bit. They are going to take you out all day for your birthday. Suck it up and go have fun."
"I don't want to," I yelled as I kicked at Ash while Wyatt came up behind me. My brother got his arms around mine and pulled them roughly behind my back. I screamed and leaned back, trying to knock him off balance and lift my feet to kick at Ash. Instead, Ash grabbed my ankles and I was no longer standing on my own feet.
The crying was fierce, my struggle irritated both guys as they fought me to keep hold of my squirming and twisting body. Wyatt dropped my arms near the front door and I tried to twist free as I fell but he quickly recovered and grabbed my wrists before I hit the ground. They dragged me out of the house, completely ignoring my frantic protesting.
Our neighbors looked on as mom stood on the porch and waved at us with a forced smile on her face, as though we were all laughing and carrying on instead of the tortured screams and struggling actually happening. I clawed at Wyatt's forearms but he was able to hold me in a way where not much harm could be done. I kicked at Ash and he almost dropped me, but got his hands under my knees and pulled himself forward, making it more difficult for me to kick.
The boys forced me into the back row seat of my brother's van as I continued to protest the disregard for my right to mourn my relationship however I saw fit. Ash straddled me and pinned my arms down as my brother struggled with my seat belt.
"We should've brought rope and tape," Ash said as I nearly kicked him in the groin.
I scowled as he put his knee and most of his weight on my upper thighs and held my wrists down to my left side. The belt clicked and my brother climbed over the center seat and continued forward to the driver's seat. He sighed and Ash still struggled with me as I screamed, "You're hurting me, Ash, stop it! Let go!"
"I wouldn't be hurting you if you'd hold still," he retorted.
I was crying and my face burned red with a mix of anger and frustration as I heard my mom say to the neighbor, "I swear it's nothing nefarious, they're taking her to putt-putt for her birthday," with a sigh.
I kept pulling and struggling as Wyatt pulled away from the curb. Tears streamed down my cheeks and I pouted as I looked Ash over. Under normal circumstances, all I'd have to do is bat my eyelashes at him and he'd cave to anything I wanted. But he was refusing to look at me as I twisted my wrists and grasped his forearm, "Ash..." I whined and he kept looking toward my brother in the front seat.
"Ash, please?" I tried to maneuver myself in his line of sight, but he glanced away.
He'd learned my tricks, the bastard. I played his heartstrings in another Magosa Escort way. My wracked sobs made him frown but he didn't turn toward me and tightened his grip on my wrists as I continued to whine, "I don't wanna go. I just wanna stay home. Is that so bad? It's my birthday..."
My brother yelled back, "Don't listen to her, she's trying to play you."
I huffed and Ash tried not to smile as he glanced out of the corner of his eye toward me, "Ash... Please? You're hurting my wrists. It really hurts," I tugged against his grip and he moved closer to me, putting his leg over mine to keep me still.
My back arched and I tried to pull harder but his grip tightened, "Owww," I whined with a sob punctuating the end. I was playing hard to appeal to his heart.
But, the motherfucker proved he didn't have one by sighing then completely ignoring me. "We're picking up Mike and Book too, right?" He asked my brother while he easily countered my weakening struggling and dismissed my pleas.
Wyatt was smiling as he looked at me in the rear-view mirror, "Yeah. Libby, too."
Tears trailed steadily over my flushed cheeks and I leaned my head back on the seat, relaxing my arms as my struggle ceased. Along the way I leaned over onto Ash's shoulder and, with soft, hiccuping sobs, I cried myself to sleep.
I drifted in and out. I heard Mike get in and Ash shush him. Ash's hand still gripped my wrists tightly, but his leg moved off of mine. When Book started to loudly yell something upon opening the back sliding door, whatever it was died down as he turned and shushed Libby before they climbed into the middle seat in the van.
Ash released my wrists and his hand began to stroke my hair as I remained just between awake and asleep. I was aware enough that I could've gotten loose and made a run for it, but my head was comfortable against the chest of my brother's best friend and his hand running down my long auburn hair was soothing.
It was a mean trick to play, using a comforting gesture to calm me against my will. I wanted to be angry and hurt. I wanted to feel betrayed. I'd been with my boyfriend for three years, I didn't think six months of grief was too much to ask. But, my ex-boyfriend faded from my mind as the sobs that still escaped in my half-asleep state died down.
Ash smelled nice, too. Not like cologne or aftershave or anything like that, but like spices and herbs. I fought a smile as I lay there, still pretending to sleep with my head against his chest. Letting my hand move to his thigh as I shifted made him tense up. His fingertips curled over my side and he didn't move again until I seemed to settle.
With his hand caressing my hair, the whispers in the van faded, though I'm not certain how long that quiet darkness lasted. The world seeped back in as Ash's fingers pushed my hair behind my ear.
I heard Ash laugh and felt the weight of his hand on my shoulder, "Yeah, you guys go ahead. I'll wake Kai, clean up the dried tears and get her to come in. You know she's going to want a purple ball so get her set up."
He waited until doors slammed then gently grasped my shoulder, "You can stop pretending to be asleep now, they're all gone."
I was pouting as I sat up, "How'd you know I was faking?"
"I've been stroking your hair since you fell asleep, but you tensed up when I pulled your hair out of your face," he said as he looked me over. "You used to like having your hair stroked when you got upset. I thought it would help."
"I still do. Only I wasn't expecting you to do it."
"Why not? I was the one sitting with you and it's not the first time I've sat with you while you cried."
He was right, it wasn't. I looked away and he grasped my chin, turned me back to face him and pulled out a package of makeup wipes, "Libby gave me these, do you want to clean up the tear streaks and snot, or do you want to go to your forced birthday party looking like we've kidnapped you?" A slight smile lingered on his face as he looked me over.
"You did kidnap me," I shot back.
"Yeah, but you don't have to look like we did," he said as he pushed the package into my hand.
I pulled out a wipe and climbed up into the front, sitting in the driver's seat as I pulled the vanity mirror down and started wiping away the dried tear streaks over my cheeks. Ash climbed out of the back of the van and stood by the driver's door, opening it as he watched me, "How about this: If you beat me by at least five strokes by the final hole, I will do whatever you ask me to for a week. If I beat you by five or more, you have to do whatever I say for a week."
"What's the catch?" I asked, a suspicious tone to my voice as I narrowed my gaze at him.
"You have to stop being such a fucking killjoy for the rest of the night and enjoy your birthday with us. If you don't at least try to enjoy it, then win or lose, you have to go to any outing I say you do for a month. You've been worrying your mom and Wyatt. Neither one feels right leaving you home alone so they adjusted their lives around Kıbrıs Escort you staying holed up in your room for months and barely even eating. You've gotta stop, Kaya," he said.
I sighed, "I make no promises, but you know what might encourage me having a good time?"
"What?"
"Fucking with my brother by flirting with you. He'll hate it and we can have a blast joking around about it."
He smiled and held his hand out to me as I threw the makeup wipe into the trash bag by the front console, "Deal."
I took his hand, he helped me down out of the vehicle, and we met up with my brother and their other friends in the lobby. Wyatt handed me a purple ball and a putter and handed Ash a hot pink ball. He frowned and looked over at Libby, who sported the pretty dark blue ball as she smirked with pride.
"Seriously?" He said as he looked around at everyone's choices, Wyatt had yellow, Book had orange, and Mike had green, "Y'all did me dirty."
I smirked and gave him the purple ball and took the pink one for myself, "Crybaby," I said under my breath.
He hit my ass with his putter, "Takes one to know one, brat," he replied with a smarmy grin.
I smiled, pretty sure it was the first time I'd smiled in months. Before that people were lucky to get a smirk out of me. I grabbed Wyatt's hand and pulled him out the door as the attendant motioned to us to start our group on the path.
"How are we deciding tee order?" I asked.
"We'll go by birthdays, starting with yours and circling back around, so You, Book, Libby, Me, Mike then Ash," Wyatt said.
I set up my ball and made a hole in one on the first putt. Ash scowled and I smiled as I walked over and retrieved my ball then waited for the rest of the group.
Ash took three putts on the first hole and I smiled bigger as I leaned up and whispered to him, "No half-assing it when you clean my bedroom."
I took three putts on the second hole and Ash sank it in two. The gentle ribbing and teasing between us as we moved through the course didn't go unnoticed by my brother. Wyatt pulled me aside while Mike was putting on the sixth hole, "What's going on with you and Ash?"
"We made a bet and it looks like I'm winning for the moment."
Wyatt looked over at Ash, who was staring at the course and working out the little twists and curves along the path and the various obstacles, then my brother glanced back at me, "And what did you wager?"
"The loser has to be at the winner's beck and call for a week," I said with a smile.
Wyatt ran his hand through his hair and looked to the ground, "I'm not sure this is a good idea, Kai--" he started, but I interrupted him.
I looked Wyatt in the eye, "Oh, I don't plan on losing. Have you seen my bedroom? It's in desperate need of cleaning and I sure as shit don't wanna do it." I caught myself biting my lip as I looked over at Ash. He teed up and sank the shot in one hit. My jaw dropped, a six-point lead dropped in one stroke.
He smirked and ran over to us, leaned down and whispered to me, "Don't worry, I won't make you do anything unladylike, little sister."
Wyatt grabbed his friend's arm and dragged him away from me while I shrugged off the tingles going down my spine from the way he said those last two words. The only time he ever called me that was when he was trying to piss me off. He knew I hated it when Wy said it and it irritated me more when it came from his friends.
It felt so diminutive and insulting.
I watched Wy and Ash exchange some apparently heated words as I set up on the next tee. I choked as Mike and Book seemed to take notice of the argument between their other two best friends. My ball hit a sloped wall and rolled back to me, settling about a foot from the tee. Fuck. By the time I sank the ball, my lead was down to zero.
Wyatt stormed to the tee when it was his turn and he sliced the ball as it cleared the ramp we were on and took a hard right to the next hole. He ran over and retrieved his ball, embarrassed at his display on that tee. He teed off again and took a deep breath, this time sailing the ball through the course with ease. Ash came over to me and smiled. He watched Wyatt get all worked up again when he saw us standing beside each other, not even talking, just standing there.
We played through the course with Ash and I taking little potshots of innocent, yet not innocent-looking, banter on the sidelines between putts, within a couple more holes, I was laughing and my brother sulked. Wyatt kept putting himself between me and Ash. Immediately nipping any flirting in the bud. He became the killjoy as we amped it up to heighten his misery.
Ash stood behind me and leaned down, whispering, "If you blush and look away your brother is going to go ballistic," as he wrapped his arm across the front of my chest.
I did something much worse to my brother and lifted my eyes to his best friend, "This is such a mean joke to play on him. I love it."
My brother fumed as, with my head lifted and Ash leaning down, Lefkoşa Escort my lips were dangerously close to those of his best friend. Wyatt came over and pulled his friend away from me, "Don't fucking encourage her," he said as he looked back at me.
A smirk crossed my lips and I tipped my head, "Who says he's the one encouraging?"
At the next hole, I took my putts then ran off and grabbed Ash's hand while Wyatt became preoccupied with something Mike was showing him about the scores. Ash and I hid behind a nearby bush, watching my brother from our hiding spot.
"This might be taking it too far, Kai," he said as he watched his friend lift his head and glance around before Mike caught his attention again.
My gaze shifted to Ash, "I guess that nixes my plan to unfasten your jeans before we reveal ourselves so he sees you zipping them back up?"
"Are you trying to ruin my friendship with your brother? I'm pretty certain he would punch me, if not kill me, on the spot."
"You told me I had to try and have fun. Torturing my brother is the best time I've ever had."
Wyatt lifted his gaze from the scorecard again, "Where's Kai?" he said, drawing our attention from each other and back to my brother's impending breakdown.
"Didn't see her," Libby said.
"I think Ash was with her," Book said.
I stifled a giggle as my brother's fists clenched. A quick glance at Ash surprised me as he wasn't watching my brother's reaction. His gaze was on my face and he was smiling. "Wait a few minutes before coming out," I said as I mussed my hair, pulled my jeans down on my hips and unbuttoned two buttons on my top, revealing a peek of my bra beneath.
Ash reached out to me and I have no doubt he was going to try and stop me, but if they demanded fun of me, I was gonna have my kind of fun. I walked through the bush, causing a few leaves to get caught in my pocket and in my hair. My thumbs hooked into my belt loops and I sighed happily as my brother turned to see me emerge from behind a bush that was slightly taller than myself. My top was partially off my shoulder as I pretended to be fastening my jeans again.
I do believe my brother saw red as he fumed over to the bush and grabbed my arm, twisting it and pulling it behind my back, "We have to talk," he snapped as he pushed me over behind a small shack.
He let go of my wrist and I almost fell, "What the fuck, Wy? I thought you wanted me to have fun for my birthday?"
"Yeah, little sister fun not--"
"I'm nineteen!"
"And he's twenty-nine! You're in a different world from him, Kai."
"Jealous he'll start coming around more for me than he did for you?" I retorted, unable to hide my smirk.
Wyatt looked back to the bushes and saw Ash step through, not adjusting anything on himself, just looking around for my brother and me. My brother sighed and looked me in the eyes, "Tell me you aren't just doing this to hurt me for making you leave the house?"
My brow furrowed as I glanced over at Ash, "Doing what?"
"Fucking around with Ash," he snapped.
"Why would that hurt you?"
"Because he's my best friend and I don't want him to get caught up in my tarty little sister stringing him along."
I smiled, "And here I thought it was me you were looking out for. Don't worry, he's a big boy. I'm sure he can handle your tarty little sister using him for a night."
"Dammit, Kai!"
I walked away from him and made my way back to Ash as my brother took a moment to sulk.
"You were right," I said with a sigh as I looked at Ash, "I took it a little too far."
"Is he going to be okay?" Ash asked.
I nodded, "Yeah, and for the record, he's not mad at you, he's mad at me."
Ash laughed, "No, he's definitely mad at me. He said, and I quote, 'This isn't the kind of fun I meant. Keep your goddamned hands off my little sister.'"
My gaze drifted back to the building as my brother walked out from behind it, "He told me I was a tart just leading you on."
The last hole had me ahead of Ash. Before I set up my ball, Ash came over to me, took the pink ball and gave me the purple one. I glanced at my brother as I grasped his best friend's wrist before turning my gaze back to Ash, "How about a kiss for good luck?" I asked.
He smirked and shook his head, "I want to win, fuck that."
"You want to win and fuck what?" Wyatt snapped.
I laughed, "That is not what he said. Chill out or we're going to end up in the ER with you having a heart attack because I'm actually having fun now."
"It's the last hole," Ash said to Wyatt, "she should have the ball she wanted since it's her birthday."
Wyatt's cheeks reddened as I shouted loud enough for the rest of their friends to hear me, "Hey Ash, how many strokes do you think it would take me?"
"Two," he shot back with a grin.
Wyatt clenched his fists and I smirked, "This is what you get for kidnapping me. Deal with it."
I took the purple ball and sank the shot in two hits, feeling pretty proud of myself. Wyatt watched, practically biting his fingernails as he and his other friends took their tees before Ash came up to tee off. One hit and the ball circled the edge of the cup then curved outward at the last moment. Ash looked sure of himself and took another swing, hitting it a little too hard as the ball bounced in and back out.