~Natalia p.o.v
"H E L L O," I say. Seriously, Natalia? That's the best you can come up with? I face-palmed myself mentally. "Hey, love," Dariel said smiling. "Yo wassup Natalia," Ash says, smirking. I chuckle and look up at Mason. He stares at me for a moment before dropping his gaze. I see a light coat of pink colour on his cheeks. Aww, he's so adorable. Zane clears his throat, which causes me to look up at him. "Why did you leave yesterday," he asks angrily.
"I- why do you care?" I ask, anger starting to seep into my tone. "Because... I do," he responded. I scoffed. "Really? Do you care about me-" "Can't I just care about someone, cupcake?" he asks, feigning hurt. I chuckled. "Look, I-" "Just answer the goddamn question," he snarls. "Bro, chill. It might be too personal," Dariel said. "How can bruises be personal?" Ash asks.
"You want to know why?" I snarled softly. "I have scars all over my body, visible and hidden. My mom died on my birthday two years ago, and my dad blames me for it. That's why my dad abuses. He hits me with a belt or anything that he thinks would hurt me. Every single night, this happens, and because he found out that I was in the hospital, he beat me worse than ever before. Every night, I fall unconscious, and today, it was so bad that I could barely move a single part of my body."
Why the hell did I just tell them that? I don't even know them!
Their faces wore expressions of anger, sympathy and shock. "WHAT!" Zane yelled. He punched the locker... again, and again, and again until there was a huge dent in the middle of it. I nervously placed my hands on his chest. "Calm down, Zane," I said as soothingly as I could. His hands, which were covered in blood, shook in rage. If looks could kill, I would have been long gone. I held his hands in mine, rubbing my fingertips over his palms. He stared into my eyes, and at that moment, it was just us two. It was peaceful and beautiful.
"As much as we would like for Romeo and Juliet to continue their glorious moment, we need to deal with this situation," Ash said, snapping me out of my daze. I looked around and saw that the entire school was staring at us yet again.
I ducked my head, a blush rising to my cheeks. "She's so adorable," Dariel said, making me blush harder. "You're not staying with your dad anymore," Zane said. My eyes widened in shock. "But I can't-" "You will be staying with us." He looked over at the other guys and they nodded their heads in approval. "Guys, as amazing as this sounds, I can't do that. I would get into major trouble and I don't even know you-" "Don't argue with me," Zane said in a commanding voice. "You will be staying at our house and that's final."
I laughed. "And how do you expect me to do that? Huh? All of my belongings are at my dad's house-" "We'll just buy you whatever you want," Daniel replied. My mouth fell open. Why were they being so nice to me? "Why would you guys do that for me?" I asked, still in shock. "Because we care about you," Dariel said softly.
"But you just met me..." I said, trailing off. "It doesn't matter, Natalia. You're staying with us and we'll buy you new clothes, accessories... anything you want," Dariel said, smiling. I burst into tears and wrapped my arms around him.
"Thank you so much," I said, feeling better than had in years. Dariel placed a soft kiss on my forehead which caused me to blush.
"Hey! I want a hug," Ash pouted. I laughed and hugged him in a deep embrace. "Mmmm, that's more like it," he said into my hair. I chuckled and went over to Mason. He blushed as I hugged him tightly, snuggling into his warm body. Then I went over to Zane. He didn't look like the type of person who hugged people, but I didn't care. I wrapped my arms around him and buried my face into his neck. Slowly, his arms wrapped around my waist, which caused me to yelp in pain.
He immediately dropped his hands and walked behind me. I felt my shirt begin to rise. A soft whimper escaped my lips, causing him to stop. I felt a part of my back exposed, a soft wind blowing against my back, which caused me to sob. Ash swore. "This is much worse than yesterday," Dariel said angrily.
"Well, no shit, sherlock," Ash said, anger laced in his tone. "Natalia." I turned around and looked at Zayn. "Which part of your body doesn't hurt?" he asked softly. "M-my bum," I said, ducking my head. And before I knew it, I was being lifted into the air. I peered up and realized that it was Zayn carrying me. "Can you wrap your legs around me, cupcake?" he asked. I nodded and encircled my legs around his waist. My arms slowly snaked around him and buried my face into his neck. He smells so good. "Thank you," Zayn said, smirking. My face reddened as I realized I had said it out loud. Ash and Dariel chuckled while Mason walked behind them, a slight smile forming on his lips.
I felt something warm running down my back. I started to see black dots around me, and it was a battle to keep my eyes open. "Stay with us, cupcake," a familiar voice said, but I couldn't. The last thing I felt was someone trying to wake me up as I slipped yet again into unconsciousness.