♡Chapter dedicated to ChrissyMReau81♡

"And soon we'll be learning and the lesson today is how to die." The Boomtown Rats.

Noah had never felt so ill in his life.

His head ached, pounding and throbbing in a deep tempo that reminded him of the bassline that had thrummed through the club last night. His throat felt like sandpaper, each time he swallowed was more difficult than the last. His stomach churned and sloshed, the nausea almost overwhelming all his other senses. He kept his eyes closed, unwilling to subject them to any form of brightness. His bed felt oddly uncomfortable; his body too sore to move.

Fuck, how much did I drink last night?

Hazy memories floated like fog through his brain as he tried to grasp any of them to make sense of the hangover that was currently raging through his body.

He vaguely remembered his girlfriend, Kayla, complaining that she wanted to go home, that it was past two in the morning, that she had had too much to drink and was sick of wearing her high heels.

He also recalled her brother, Ryder, attempting to hail them a taxi and narrowly avoiding stepping in someone else's stomach contents that littered the pavement, the red tip of his cigarette glowing in the dim light.

He clearly remembered the liquid brown eyes that he was powerless to, and the rough kiss in the bathroom. A secret contained by the four walls of the toilet stall. A small smile tugged the corners of his lips at the thought, quickly chased away by guilt.

But what was the last thing he remembered?

He was sure he had climbed into the taxi, but after that, everything was blank, like a light switch had gone off in his head. It was time to be a big boy and face his hangover head-on. He should probably call Kayla anyway, to make sure she got home okay last night, as if that would make him feel better for cheating on her.

Noah opened his eyes and immediately wished that he hadn't.

Instead of the familiar coffee-colored walls of his room, and his cream duvet, he was confronted with a harsh grey broken only by the fluorescent light that hung overhead.

What the fuck?

Glancing down, he realized that he was not in his bed at all, but a wooden chair. The arms were rough from age, tie down straps with a heavy brass buckle held his wrists and ankles in place. He tugged at the restraints, but the leather bit into his skin and sent the swirling in his stomach into a frenzy. He leaned over the side of the chair and dry heaved, not entirely surprised when nothing came out. The disgusting taste of bile clung to his mouth.

What did shock him though, was the image to his left, where Kayla was also tied to a chair. Her head was forward on her chest, blonde hair covering her face. She was still wearing her gold sequined dress from the club, although now her feet were bare. She had finally gotten the high heels off, but at what price?

Turning to the right he found Savannah, in the exact same position as her best friend. If not for the dark shoulder length hair and the caramel skin, he could have convinced himself he was seeing double.

Dazed, disorientated and confused as hell, Noah tried to make sense of the situation he was in. It didn't help that his head was still pounding, making it hard to concentrate on anything. It wasn't hard to realize though, that someone had taken them captive.

His confusion was quickly replaced by panic, coiling in his gut and rising inside him like a snake, snapping at his insides. Even through the haze of nausea, he somehow knew that this was no practical joke being played on them. No, this was something else entirely, taking five people hostage was no small feat. This had to have been planned.

Directly in front of him was Ryder, whose eyelids were slowly flickering open as he regained conciousness. But it was the person sitting in between Ryder and Kayla that captured Noah's attention, he would recognize them anywhere, even if their liquid brown eyes were still closed.

There was no mistaking the curve of Aaron's lips, or his soft curly hair that felt like silk as Noah dragged his fingers through it, the small freckle on the side of his neck that Noah loved to place soft kisses on was just visible over the top of his collared grey shirt.

Not him, please not him.

It shamed him that he didn't think that when he saw his girlfriend in the exact same situation.

It wasn't that he didn't love Kayla; he did, but his feelings for her could never compare to the overwhelming and consuming passion he felt for Aaron, the boy whose laugh set Noah's skin alight and his heart racing in the best way possible.

He was fire and Noah was ice, unable to stop himself from melting into a puddle at Aaron's feet.

"What the fuck!" Ryder's stringent voice broke through Noah's thoughts, and his eyes flicked away from Aaron, before his girlfriend's brother could catch him.

Grunts erupted from Ryder's mouth as he pulled against his restraints, determined to break free. His fruitless attempts doubled the second he saw his sister bound to her chair two seats away from him. "Kayla! Kayla! What the fuck! Kayla!" He caught Noah's eye and lowered his voice. "Is she..." he trailed off, unable to finish his sentence.

Noah watched the rise and fall of her chest for a moment, ashamed that he had not thought to check before now.

"She's breathing." His voice sounded a lot calmer than he felt. In truth, he had never felt so terrified in his entire life. Now that the shock of finding himself and his friends bound to chairs in a creepy room was wearing off, he could feel the hysteria beginning to take over, the panic still rearing its ugly head.

Noah took a deep breath, determined to try and stay calm but when he spoke, the edge in his voice revealed the terror that was currently running through his veins.

"Ryder think. What's the last thing you remember?"

"I don't fucking know, okay! We were at the club!"

"And after that?" Noah's voice cracked on the last word, and he knew it wouldn't be long until it crumbled away altogether.

Ryder continued to fruitlessly tug against his restraints, his ocean eyes filled with rage, his trademark smirk nowhere in sight, beads of sweat clung to his dark hair.

"We got in a taxi? I think. Everything's a fucking blank."

The taxi.

Something about the taxi was nudging at Noah's brain, nipping at his thoughts, telling him that it was important, but for some reason he couldn't pinpoint exactly why. If only the haze would wear off and allow him to think straight. If only the panic and hysteria would take a backseat for a few moments and let him try and think logically.

He glanced around the room, the concrete floor dusty, the paint on the walls peeling and chipped. A few metres behind Aaron's chair was a door, an escape route, a saving grace. But what kind of door didn't have a handle on it?

An automatic one? Or one designed to keep people in?

The latter option sent chills crawling up his spine, his stomach felt as though it had dropped to the soles of his shoes. Even if they could get the straps off, how would they escape the room?

He didn't have time to dwell on it as there was a feminine groan from his right.

"Kay, fuck Kayla, look at me! Can you hear me? Are you okay?"

"R-Ryder?" Her soft voice scared Noah more than the fact that they were clearly being held hostage, the pure fear in it almost caused him to lose his composure. "What's happening?" She tugged at the straps binding her arms, the sound accompanied by her heart-wrenching sobs.

"I don't know, but we need to stay calm and try not to panic." Ryder's words completely contradicted his earlier actions. He turned back to Noah. "Can you get out of the straps?"

Noah knew that he couldn't, his earlier efforts had proven that, but he tried again anyway, a small part of him hopeful that maybe, just maybe, he could loosen his arms enough to get them out of this.

All he got from his attempts, were painful welts on his wrists and that awful rolling feeling in his stomach again. He glanced up at Ryder and sadly shook his head, unable to tell his friend what he had already realized; there was no escape.

Ryder didn't even look surprised by this. Instead he leaned his head back and started shouting at the ceiling.

"YOU! Whoever the fuck you are! Let us out! Can you hear me? Let us out!"

His shouts went unanswered, but it did cause the other two occupants in the room to stir, slowly waking up. Savannah was first, confusion etched all over her face as she took in her surroundings. Her eyes caught Noah's and widened in fear as she looked over at Ryder, still screaming and cursing, Kayla still sobbing, Aaron just beginning to wake up, then back at Noah whose attempt at remaining calm had dwindled down until it was non-existent, the moment he saw the curly haired boy across from him lift his head.

Aaron.

Noah had one chance to look into those gorgeous liquid brown eyes, filled with terror as opposed to their usual warmth, before the lights went out and the room was eaten alive by darkness.