Always Love You: A One Direction Adoption Story

Chapter 5

Zayn POV:

The lads and I woke up early the next morning, ready to go. Truth be told, I hadn't really slept too well the previous night. I was more worried about what was going to happen. I hadn't even realized I was so invested, and I hadn't even met the girl yet. There was just something about the whole situation that just didn't sit right with me though.

~~~

"We know what she looks like, and we know where we've seen her. Now we just have to find her," Harry says over breakfast.

"And then what? We just let her go again if she doesn't want our help?" I say, still a little skeptical over the whole thing.

"I'm sure we'll figure it out as we go. You guys saw her - she didn't even have a jacket on! Something's not right," Liam adds, as Harry nods.

"The least we can do is try," Niall says.

I sigh, defeated, but also knowing that they're right. Don't get me wrong - I want to help her. But I thought it was a bit early to get so involved. However, the police wouldn't have much to go on if we handed this over to them, and then we'd have to sit around waiting to hear back from them. And I knew the boys would go even without me, so I might as well be as much use as I can.

We packed into the cars - Liam and Niall took his car to the street where he'd run into her before, while Harry drove Louis and I to Central Park.

We'd been scouring the area for hours, but we still had no sign of her. We even began asking people nearby if they saw her, but no such luck.

Liam and Niall joined us at a café across from the park to grab some coffee.

"It's getting hopeless," I sighed, taking a sip.

"We can't give up yet," Harry said, the most determined out of all of us. "You guys didn't see her like I did. When I was helping her up, her wrists were so thin, I thought I would pull her arm out of its socket just from the force of it. We have to keep going."

The boys all grumbled out excuses, and Louis placed a sympathetic arm around Harry. "Maybe we can just come back tomorrow? I mean, she's probably already at school by now, or maybe she took a different route. Either way Harry, she's not here."

"No," he shook his head. "I'll stay here all day if I have to, but I'm not leaving until we find her."

I exchanged glances with the other boys, and we sighed. Harry was the most stubborn person we'd ever met, but there was no way we would leave him out here by himself.

"Fine," I said standing. "Let's get back out there."

~~~

We had just entered the park again when we heard someone shouting out for help.

"Do you guys hear that?" Niall asked, and we looked at each other, concerned.

The voice became muffled but we could still hear signs of a struggle, and we began to jog towards the sound, alarm arising in us. Suddenly, we came across a young girl being pulled along by some older man.

"Hey, leave her alone!" Louis shouted.

"Get off of her, you creep!" Niall yelled, running towards them.

"What the hell are you doing!" Liam added.

Without speaking, Harry and I jumped into action. I was so enraged at this man trying to take advantage of this young girl, I saw red. My temper go the best of me, because the next thing I knew, I had punched him square in the jaw, and then again in the nose.

"Stay away from her!" Harry yelled after, as the perv scurried away.

"Hey, you good?" Liam asked me softly, as I held my arm. I nodded in reply. "I can't believe someone would do that in broad daylight. People are horrible." Liam chuckled a response. "You can say that again."

We headed over to a park bench where Louis and Niall had gotten the young girl situated. She was breathing heavily, still in shock from the whole ordeal.

"Hey, love, are you okay?" Harry asked her, and we all gasped when she looked up at us.

"No.."

"It can't be.."

"How...?"

"What a coincidence finding you again," Harry chuckled, squatting to meet her eye level. "You know, ever since that run-in yesterday, we've been looking for you."

Her eyes widened in surprise, and then fear. "I- I'm sorry sir."

"No, no, you don't have anything to be sorry for. We just wanted to help you. You seemed... are you okay?"

She nodded quickly in response. "Yes, I'm fine. I better get going," she said, standing.

"Wait, hold on. We didn't mean to scare you. We just wanted to talk to you for a moment. How about we start with introductions, yeah? I'm Harry, and this is Liam, Louis, Niall, and Zayn," he said, pointing to each of us. "We're best buds, and we just wanted to make sure you were alright. What's your name?"

She hesitated for a moment, unsure. "Umm..." she began. "Cady. Cady Heron."

The boys and I looked at each other, and Louis was barely stifling a laugh.

"Riight... Cady... Heron." Harry said. "Well listen, Cady, we just noticed you weren't wearing a jacket or anything yesterday, and you seem pretty tired. Not to mention how skinny you are - maybe we should get some meat on your bones. What do you say we take you out for lunch?"

I almost face-palmed. We barely knew this girl - we had no reason to trust her, or for her to trust us. But then again, I'd known Harry for years. And his instincts about the serious things were impeccable, so I kept my mouth shut. Plus, as my throbbing hand proved, I was already invested, and I was hoping she would say yes.

The air was tense as we waited for a reply.

"Umm... okay."