A Little Overwhelmed

Chapter 2: From Rags to Riches

(tw: self harm mention)

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Lily drove slowly and carefully, not wanting to wake the small girl in the back seat. After a 15 minutes drive, they arrived at the Madison family mansion. The gate to the driveway automatically opened as Lily drove her SUV into the driveway. She pulled the car up next to the house, making sure to not brake too suddenly and wake Rosie, who was still fast asleep. Lily got out of the car, opening the right side door in the third row of seats. She unbuckled the small brown-haired girl, carrying her and her backpack into the large estate.

Upon entering the living room, the lights automatically turned on, greeting the girls. Lily walked up the nearby spiral staircase, keeping a firm hold on Rosie as she did so. Once at the top of the stairs, she carried Rosie into what used to be her own bedroom and laid her gently as to not wake her on the bed. Lily then went through Rosie's backpack and found the two stuffed animals and clothes. She placed the two stuffed animals next to Rosie on the bed, who still had a firm grasp on Muffin, her teddy bear and favorite stuffed animal. Lily then carefully removed Rosie's shoes, a pair of pastel pink sneakers with pastel light blue laces, placing them next to the dresser. She then removed Rosie's pink and white striped thigh high socks, revealing her pastel color painted toenails, as well as, more depressingly, cuts and scratches, looking to have come from a knife. "Could she have self harmed?", Lily wonders, shedding a tear in concern for this poor girl's well-being. Lily then puts the worn socks into the washer and puts the rest of Rosie's clothes into the dresser. Lily then lets the little girl rest and goes downstairs into the kitchen to make herself dinner. While in the kitchen, she childproofs the knife box, not wanting to risk it if Rosie's scars truly are from self-harm. Lily then starts cooking to get her mind off of it, cooking up an exquisite spaghetti and steak dinner. She finishes her meal in half an hour and then goes up to her bedroom, which used to belong to her now deceased parents, and puts on her pajamas, a pink fleece pajama set with rabbits on both the pants and the shirt. She falls asleep quickly, after both a long and exhausting work day and helping out Rosie.

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Rosie wakes up the next morning in an unfamiliar room, although it is painted in similar pastel colors to her old bedroom. Through the wall, she hears someone talking in the next room, something about not coming into work today. Then, she hears footsteps. She pulls the sheets back over her and cuddles with her stuffed animals in fear. The footsteps grow louder and the door opens, with Lily entering the room quietly. "Rosie, are you up? I heard something from in here.", Lily asks gently. Rose recognizes the voice slightly, but doesn't remember from where. She pulls down the sheets slightly away from her eyes so she can see, and in front of her eyes is Lily in all her beauty. "W-what happened?", Rose asks, stuttering and confused. The last thing Rose remembers is sitting in a cardboard box on a street corner and seeing a car pull up. "Oh, you poor thing, you don't remember what happened last night. Well, what do you remember sweetie?", Lily asks softly, not wanting to push the girl too much. "Well, I got kicked out of my parents' place after coming from my last day of high school. I went to the corner of my street and sat in the cardboard box they gave me. Then a while after, a car pulled up and I don't remember after that.", Rosie says. "So that's why you were on the street.", Lily says. "I'll fill you in on what happened after that. That car was my car. You seemed spaced out and childish when I approached you, you were holding that teddy bear like your life depended on it. I asked you your name and you told me it's Rosie, and when I asked your age, you only held up one finger. Saying you just graduated high school though makes a lot more sense for your size. That makes you 18. I asked if you wanted to come with me, and you agreed, but wanted me to tell you my name, so I did. It's Lily, if you don't remember.". Rose takes in what she just heard. "That makes sense, and I do vaguely remember the name Lily.". Lily nods, and says, "Well, this is my house. This room used to be my old room, and I sleep where my parents used to. This will be your room for as long as you want, okay?". Rose, after hearing that, is skeptical, and asks, "Really? What do you want with a scrawny, short girl like me?". "Rosie, when I say you on the side of the road last night, I couldn't just leave you there. You looked defenseless, and from what parts of your body I have seen so far, you're very skinny and malnourished. In fact, I even saw what look like cuts on your legs.", Lily says, concerned. Rosie flinches when she hears about the cuts, "Y-you saw the cuts on my l-legs?", she asks, mortified. "Yes, I did. Please be honest with me here Rosie, did you make those?

The question lingered in Rose's head. Wanting to listen like she always does, she comes clean, "No, th-they're from my p-parents.", she says with a soft, hurt tone."Your parents come up again.", Lily says. "What did they do to you?". Rosie's response was dark and ominous, "A lot, too much.". "A lot, huh? Where did those cuts come from, Rosie?", Lily asks, genuinely scared. "About a month ago, my parents didn't want me to walk at my class' graduation ceremony, s-so they cut my legs to make me not wanna go to the ceremony.", Rosie says, still clearly traumatized from the incident. Lily takes a deep breath to compose herself. "Oh my god, I'm so sorry Rosie. That's evil!", Lily says as she hugs Rosie gently. 

"So, what do you want with me?", Rosie asks. Lily sighs and says, "I'm lonely. Ever since my parents died 10 years ago, I've been a miserable mess. At work, I'm a stone cold boss that everyone else reports to. But that's not how I want things to be. I genuinely do care about people, hence why I helped you out yesterday. I just couldn't stand to let such a vulnerable girl be on her own. So, I brought you here, to my luxury home. I want you to be happy, Rosie. I want somebody to take care of.".