"Nora?"
I slowly look up to see Aiden from school.
Tears stream down my face. 'No, no, no. He can't know about this.' I felt like I lost the last thing of my life. My pride.
He rushes to me. "Hey, are you alright." He says urgently. I cried even more. "Hey, hey, It's alright, I got you." He hugs me and looks at me.
"What happened," he says, holding my face and then looking at my bloody knees.
I can't speak because I can't breathe properly.
"Never mind, it doesn't matter right now. Where do you live, I'll bring you home."
"No!" I scream. "I can't go home! I can't, she'll hurt me, and I hate it there!" I say while holding his sweatshirt and crying.
I wait for an objection, a question, or judgement. But instead I get him taking his sweatshirt off and him giving it to me. Although, I gratefully accept it and put it on. I mean I was cold, but I guess I didn't care to notice. Without a warning he picks me up bridal style, and has my backpack on. I look up at him and he smiles. "I'm taking you to my house, so I can help you with your knees." He starts walking.
"I don't understand." I start, "Why aren't you asking me why I can't go home. Why aren't you forcing me to go home."
He looks at me and leaves a comfortable silence between us before answering me. "Because this isn't the first time someone I know doesn't want to go home because of an issue. If you can't go home, then why should I question your decision. Why should I force you either?" He says.
I wipe away my tears. "Oh… " I say. After a 20 minute walk we arrive at a beautiful big house.
He brought me inside, and walked to the kitchen. The kitchen had a big marble island in the center.
He put me on the counter, and wiped my tears. He gently smiled at me then spoke. "Give me a moment I need to get the kit." He left and soon returned. He got a towel and soaked it in water and put soap on it. Then he walked over to me.
"Pull up your sweatpants so I can clean your knees."
I do what he says.
"This might sting but bear with me." he says.
He brings the towel to my cuts and cleans them. I bite my lip and try not to scream. He eyes me and gives me a sympathetic look. "I'm sorry about this, but I don't want them to get infected." he says softly.
"I know," I whisper back.
He continues what he's doing and bandages up my knees. Then he puts a small band aid on my cheek, and smiles at me. I guess he noticed the bruise, I thought.
Then he looks at me seriously. "What did you do to your ankle? It's all bruised up, and looks like it's swelling ." He says.
"I don't know what I did to it." I say.
"How did it happen though," he clarifies.
I slightly hold my breath. "I um… jumped out my window, and landed on it," I say while looking away from him. He looks down and sighs.
"I don't think you'll be able to walk for a couple days," he says. "But I'll do my best to help it heal," he says. He takes more wraps of bandages and wraps my ankle making sure there's enough pressure on it.
I stare at him while he does it. "How do you know so much about.... medical stuff," I ask.
He chuckles, "When you live alone most of the time, I guess you kinda have to." He says.
"What do you mean," I question. "Wait," I realize, "sorry I don't wanna get in your business."
He laughs, " No, you're totally fine, don't worry your ass too much," he says while smiling. "Well my parents are always across seas on business trips, so I'm alone most of the year. They mainly only come for holidays, and stuff like that." he says.
"Oh…"
"But, now I have someone to live with in this big house," he says while giving me a cute smile. I smile back. Maybe one of the first genuine smiles I gave in a long time. But I mean I can't help it, his smile is contagious.
He then picks me up again, and brings me upstairs, to a room.
"This is the guest bedroom," he says before gently laying me on the bed.
"Thank you so much," I say before crying happy tears.
"Hey, what's wrong," he quickly says while hugging me.
"It's just that I've never felt this loved in so long," I say while taking breathy breaths.
"We'll now you have me as your big brother," he says while smiling.
I grin at him, "I love that," I say before hugging him again. He kisses my forehead.
"Goodnight," he says, "we won't go to school tomorrow. I'll inform the school. I want you to stay and rest and recover. We'll go shopping tomorrow for more clothes as well."
I smile, "Ok, goodnight Aiden." I say before shutting my eyes and falling into a deep sleep.
Aiden's Point of View
I quietly close the door and go downstairs to get my phone. I grab my phone and call my guys over. I call Tae, Greyson, Liam, Max, and Walker.
Timeskip Everyone arrives.
"Why did you call us up at 2 in the morning," says Tae.
I explain what happened earlier and that she's staying here for as long as she needs.
"Damn," says Greyson.
"Is she alright?" asks Max.
"She's fine and asleep upstairs," I reply. "It's just that," I continue, "I want her to relax and have some real friends around. She seems to have been going through a lot. I love her like a little sister. I don't know why I wanna protect her so badly, but she needs a lot of support right now," I say while sighing.
"Don't worry you're pretty little ass too much," says Tae, "she'll have me, and we all wanna help her out. We'll all help her out and make her happy." he says. Everyone nods their heads.
"She seems really nice, and I really wanna make her happy. She seems like she has been through some tough shit, and having friends around will help her be happy," says Liam.
"Yeah," agrees Tae.
"So we'll all go shopping together tomorrow with her and stay home from school with her," everyone nods and knows the plan for tomorrow.
"Ok, we should all go to bed, it's really late," I say.
We all head up and split up into rooms. Me, Tae, and Liam go to my room. And Walker, Max, and Greyson go to another guest bedroom.