Harry’s POV
Louis and I were washing the dishes after dinner. We were joking around and talking, but there was one thing I couldn’t get out of my head. Loren had some sort of bandage on her arm that I hadn’t noticed earlier, and she was wearing a short sleeve shirt earlier so I would’ve noticed something like that. I decided I would bring it up with Louis.
“Did you notice a bandage on Loren’s arm earlier?” I suddenly said.
“Not that I remember,” He looked at me quizzically, “why?”
“Well, I didn’t either. But she was in the bathroom a long time, and when she came out I saw a bandage on her arm. And she was trying very hard to hide it.”
“Wait,” he stopped washing and turned to look at me, “Are you saying . . . you think she cuts?”
“Well that’s what it looks like.”
“Shit,” he mumbled.
“I mean, we have to talk to her don’t we?”
“I don’t know, but we can’t just act like we didn’t see anything.”
“Should we tell the guys?”
“Tell the guys what?” Niall asked as he walked in, probably looking for more food.
I looked at Louis as if to ask if we should tell them.
Apparently he knew the answer because he took deep breath and said, “We think Loren cuts.”
Niall looked at us in disbelief, “Why do you think that?”
“Well, she went to the bathroom for a really long time and when she came back there was a bandage on her arm that definitely wasn’t there before. She was also trying really hard to keep her sleeve over her left arm, or to keep her arm hidden all together.” I said looking at the ground.
“Wow,” Zayn muttered.
“Should we talk to her about it?” Louis asked.
“I don’t think we should,” Liam answered, “she doesn’t really know us yet. I think we should get to know her and she can grow to trust us. And then we’ll talk to her about it when she’s ready.”
Liam had a point, so we all agreed to wait to bring it up. The guys were sleeping over that night so they went back downstairs to get ready. I went upstairs to change and grab some pillows and blankets. When I walked past Loren’s room I glanced inside and saw that she was asleep. She wasn’t even completely under the blankets and the lights were still on. I quietly slipped into her room and pulled the sheets completely over her. I looked down at her and felt bad for what I said earlier. The guys were right, I didn’t know what she had to go through, and I hopefully never will. The best I can do right now is let her in and give her a chance. I leaned over and placed a quick kiss on her forehead then turned the lights off. I closed her door on the way out and made my way back to the basement where the guys were waiting.
Loren’s POV
The next morning I awoke in somewhat of a panic. It took me a minute to remember where I was and why. I took a few deep breaths and was able to calm myself down. I walked out of my room and downstairs to the kitchen to find out that the guys had apparently slept over. Niall was sitting on the counter eating cereal right out of the box. Harry and Louis were doing some weird thing with the tea, so I knew not to drink that, and Liam and Zayn were watching television. I decided to go over and talk to Niall.
