Warning-This will have extreme self-harm scenes right in the begginning. You've been warned.
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~Opal Oakley~
I could hear my parents screaming at one another, and a loud thud, probably my mother hitting the ground after my father began hitting her in his drunken anger. I pulled up twitter and saw that Louis had tweeted about something, but I couldn't bring myself to care. I wanted it to end. I knew after my father finished beating the shit out of my mother, he'd come up here to beat and molest me, and being tiny at only 5'0, I didn't have the strength or size to stop him. I had the razors ready in my bathroom, I wasn't going to let it happen again. I couldn't.
I'd gotten the boys to follow me back, so I sent a message to them, telling them to stay strong and keep writing songs, and that they were the entire reason I'd stopped myself until this point, and I told them what happened to me every night, and that I just couldn't handle it anymore. I told them goodbye.
I brought my phone with me into the bathroom and pulled up the sleeves of my ratty sweatshirt, and picked up my razor with trembling fingers. I brought it down on my wrist, pressing hard and wincing at the pain as blood bubbled to the surface and began trailing down my arm. I made two more deep cuts before my phone started binging like crazy, and I sighed, I'd already filled up half the bathroom sink with blood, but what the hell, I'll check my phone messages.
I scrolled through it until I found the source of the binging; Twitter. I clicked and was shocked to see 5 frantic messages from the boys, telling me not to do it, and that it wasn't worth it. I replied to all of them with, "when you have no one in your life to take care of you, it is worth it. sorry boys."
Louis replied immediately, and said "I can take care of you, Opal. Tell me you're address and your phone number. Don't commit suicide, I'm coming, love."
I bit my lip and said "I-I've already started, Lou. There's no point." I set my phone down and picked up the razor once again, but was interrupted by the sound of my father's drunken footfalls coming up the stairs. I locked the door, opened the window and grabbed a towel, tying it around my arm and grabbing my phone and razors, before climbing out the window and dropping to the ground just as I heard my bedroom door open with a bang. I ran as fast as I could before I began sobbing uncontrollably, and sat down on a nearby park bench. I pulled out my phone, and messaged Louis back, he'd sent five more screaming messages telling me the same thing; don't do it and to give him my address and phone number.
I bit my lip, then looked at the park name, and told him where I was and my phone number. Almost immediately, I got a call from an unknown number. "H-hello?" My voice was quiet and shaky.
"Opal, love, calm down and no more slitting of your wrists. Tie a tourniquet around your elbow and wait for me. I'm coming to get you and you're coming with me. No arguments. Where in the park are you??" This was the downside to living in one of the major cities in the U.S; One Direction visited.
I sighed, and said "I-I'm on a park bench. I-I tied a towel around my wrist but-but I'm losing feeling in my arm." My voice broke at the end. I bit my lip, pulling down my sleeves as I saw a old homeless man looking over at me.
"Are you near the dog field or the playset, love?" His voice was oddly comforting to me, even though I knew he'd probably only drop me off at a nearby hospital and leave. I tied the towel tighter, ripping a piece of my t-shirt off to tie around my lower arm as well.
I looked around, and said "I-I'm by the dog f-field. W-why are you helping me, Louis? You don't even know me."
"I'm helping you because no person deserves to be treated so poorly in their life that they feel the only way to get out is suicide. I don't want you to become another statistic, I've seen your tweets. You're very nice, and you care about the other fans. That, love, is a rarity. Turn around."
I turned and saw a black SUV come to a stop behind me, and Louis jumped out of the drivers seat and ran over, picking me up in his arms and running back to the SUV. He slid me into the passengers seat, leaned over and buckled me in, then ran around to the drivers side and speeding out.
He said "Ello Love. Nice to see you in person; now, I brought some towels, so you can switch out the bloody one. They're right here." He handed me three towels, so I untied the blood-soaked one from my house and winced as I saw how deep and how bloody the cuts were. I tied another two towels around it, and he said "Where do you want to go, love? Hospital or hotel? Fair warning the lads are bloody freaking out, but it'd be less of a hassle for you."
I shook my head and said "N-no h-hospital."
He looked over and said "Are you sure, Opal? That-that looks pretty bad, love." I shook my head and repeated, "No hospital. T-they'd call my parents. M-my mother is unconscious and drunk on the kitchen floor, and my father...M-my father was drunk and running up the stairs when I jumped out of the bathroom window. I-I can't go back." I was almost hysterical.
Louis reached over and squeezed my hand and said "Alright, love, no hospital." He drove for a bit longer until we were out of the suburban area and into the city, where he pulled into the back of a hotel and climbed out, coming around and picking me up before I could even try to stand up. He winked and said "Too much blood loss, standing is not a good idea, Opal." He carried me inside and up through the servants area until he reached near the top floor and cursed. "I forgot my damn room key."
The door in question opened and I stared as I saw the other four boys plus Paul and Preston in the room. Louis smiled and said "Thank you, Liam. I forgot my key." Liam nodded, but quickly said "We need to get her fluids to drink, and we need to stop the bleeding. Paul! How do we stop the bleeding??!"
Paul sighed and said "Most likely the best thing to do is a tourniquet and pressure. Pressure and lack of blood in the arm will slow the blood flow. Without the hospital she can't get stitches."
Liam checked my tourniquet, then winced and said "Love, this is going to hurt quite a bit, but I have to tighten the tourniquet."
I nodded and said "I-I was tying it one handed so-so it's not very good, I'm sorry.."
He smiled reassuringly at me, and said "It's quite alright, Opal. You gave us quite a scare. Before you ask us why we care so much, it's simple, really, you're a fan. We all follow you because we realized that you aren't a selfish person who just wants us to notice them and be able to brag about being followed by One Direction, you genuinely care about people, even people you haven't met. We care about you because you care about others." As he was talking he untied the tourniquet and grabbed a thing of elastic you see at the doctors, and cut off a piece and tied it tightly around my arm near my elbow. Louis came and grabbed another towel and pressed it to my arm, wincing as he had to apply the pressure necessary to stop the blood flow.
I whispered, "S-stop worrying about hurting me. Pain is nothing new, just do-do what you have to, please."
Louis nodded, and Harry came over and took my non-injured hand and gently led me over to a chair, and I sat down, making it a lot easier for Louis and Liam to apply pressure to my arm and stop the bleeding. Harry knelt next to me and said "So, Opal. What's your favorite color scheme?"
I gaped at him and said "C-color scheme?"
He grinned, dimples flashing, and said "Yes, love, color scheme. I'm quite curious about you. You never really tweeted anything so depressing that we thought you would-you would do this." I heard his voice break slightly, and I felt terrible. I shouldn't have said anything to them, I should have just done it. I felt I owed them that much, that I would tell them goodbye considering they've pretty much been my life these past four years.
I whispered, "I-I like electric blue, cobalt blue, and black, or-or blood red and black."
He nodded, and said "You're favorite animal?"
I smiled for once, and said "I love cats and dogs."
