Always Love You: A One Direction Adoption Story

Chapter 21

Louis POV:

Roselyn was acting strangely lately. She was too enthusiastic, like she was trying to distract us from something.

Liam told me in the car about how he saw her come out of Zayn's room, but he thought nothing of it.

Just now, though, when we were following her up to her room with the paint to get started, she had lots of bandaids sticking out of her back pockets.

This worried me a little. I knew that she had cuts and other things from when her dad abused her, but it had been a week since she'd even seen him and I've been with her through every step of the way. If there were any cuts that she didn't let me help her with on that first day, I would have seen them by now. Right?

Zayn, Niall, and Harry are already in Roselyn's room when we get there, arguing about the layout.

"I think we should move the bed to be under this window," Harry was saying.

"No, I think it should be across from it. So that you can see the sun rise. This one faces east," Zayn shot back.

"It needs to be parallel to that window so that you can see out of it still," Niall argued. "Plus you can see the sunset out of this window over here, so you get both views."

"Whoa mates, relax," Liam said as we walked in. "It's not our room, is it? Let Roselyn decide."

Ro takes a few steps around the room with an observant look on her face. I can't get the bandaids out of my mind, but the other boys don't seem to notice.

"I think I like Niall's idea," she says finally. "It's kind of cool that I can see both, you know? Sunrise and sunset and all."

"Told ya!" Niall exclaims victoriously, while Zayn and Harry jokingly roll their eyes.

~~~

2 and a half hours later, Roselyn's room is complete. We unpacked all the clothes, furniture, and decorations we bought, and it seemed like she was finally getting comfortable with us. Like everything was going to be okay.

Her full size bed had a white duvet with colorful decorative pillows and a navy blue throw. We had added some matching pillows to the couch and a yellow beanbag near the window as well. 

Zayn and Liam assembled a white shelf that was empty for now, but we planned to fill it with books as Rose said she liked to read.

Instead of a vanity, Roselyn had just wanted a desk, and we placed a small succulent and a pencil jar on it to get it started. There was also another fake succulent by one of the windows, and a few other plants throughout the room to give it a touch of green.

We hung up the paintings Roselyn had chosen to brighten the space - flowers and landscapes and such - but made sure to keep the space above the bed clear.  We also added some lamps and ambient lighting to make the room cozier at night.

However, right now, there was lots of sunlight pouring in through the open windows, or as much as there could be in early winter in NYC. The curtains were a translucent pink, which contrasted nicely with the eggshell white Roselyn had picked for the walls.

Lastly, there was a new rug on the floor to give the space some dimension, and the colors coordinated nicely with Roselyn's theme for the room.

"Alright, time for a well deserved break," Zayn says, collapsing on Roselyn's bed. The rest of us lads sit on the couch, with Roselyn in the beanbag.

"I could eat a horse," Harry says, clutching his stomach.

"I could eat a Harry," Liam mimics, making us all laugh.

"Should we eat out or order in? I don't think any of us have the energy to cook right now," Niall chuckles.

"Definitely eat out. I'm craving an overpriced meal right now. And it would make Zayn have to get up and shower. I can smell him from here," Harry says, making a disgusted face.

"Hey!" Zayn replies, sticking out his tongue and throwing a pillow at him.

"I say we eat in. I am way too tired to deal with the hassle of going out right now. We'd have to call Ace and get the cars and all that," I say.

"We could just drive. It won't be as much of a hassle then," Liam says.

"But during rush hour? Half the city is on their lunch break right now," Niall replies. 

"Zayn, what do you think?" I say.

"Don't ask me," Zayn says, rolling over. "You lads needs to make a decision before I fall asleep. This bed is comfy, Rose. I might have to switch with you."

Roselyn giggles. "I think we should eat out. We haven't all gone out together since the mall, and I know you guys are worried after everything that happened there. But I promise I'm fine," she says.

"Okay, it's settled. I'll drive to somewhere nearby and we can get lunch," Harry says.

"Shotgun!" Zayn says, leaping out of the bed and running to his room. A few seconds later we hear the shower turn on and we all laugh.

"Well, he's awake now," Harry says. 

"Couldn't risk someone else getting his beloved front seat," Niall teases.

"Well, we'd better go shower too. Zayn isn't the only one who was stinking up a storm," Liam says, shooting me a side eye.

"Ugh, I'm hurt," I say, feigning a stab in the heart, which gets us all laughing again.

Eventually, Niall, Harry, and Liam leave, leaving me and Roselyn alone in her room.

Suddenly, the air becomes a bit tense as I clear my throat.

"Hey love, I just wanted to check in with you. Is everything okay?" I ask.

"Yeah, I'm good," she replies. "Why?"

"I, um... I noticed all the bandaids you had in your back pocket, and I gotta be honest... it made me a bit nervous. You know you can tell us anything right?" I say. "You can tell me anything."

"I know," Roselyn says. "Thanks. I just, um, have them in case any of my cuts reopen or anything like that. I promise I'm good."

"Oh.. okay," I reply, skeptical. Something wasn't adding up. She sounded like even she didn't believe her words. 

Still, I didn't want to push her too far. 

"Thanks for checking in on me. I should probably go shower or something.." she adds.

"Right. Yeah," I say, standing and heading out of her room.

We get dressed and decide to get lunch at a family diner. Of course the food was overpriced but their sandwiches were absolutely delicious. Ace ended up meeting us there anyway and we eventually had to get a private room because of the crowd that was forming.

I tried to secretly keep an eye on Roselyn, and she seemed to be doing okay. She barely touched her plate, but she was doing such a good job of keeping up conversation that I don't think any of the boys noticed. 

Normally I would have chalked it up to stress from the paparazzi and all the people about. This was our life - we were used to this  - but it was definitely all new to her. 

Still, she had been upset before this, so I knew something else was bothering her. I just wished she would talk to me about it.

I snapped out of my thoughts when we started getting up to leave. We tipped well of course, the whole time apologizing to the owners, but they seemed to be enjoying the extra business they were getting.

After lunch, we pile into the car. Harry is driving, with Zayn in the front seat. Me and Niall are sitting on either side of Rose, and Liam is in the 3rd row. 

"Can we stop by somewhere first?" Roselyn asks as we drive, Ace tailing us.

"Uhh sure love bug. Where to?" Harry asks, a bit confused.

"My house."