[[[all of your flaws]]] [[[part i]]]

10.

I watched her eat timidly. I knew she must've been starving but was being too polite to dive right in. With burrito in one hand and my phone in the other, I searched for homeless shelters. A few in the area came up, but when I entered their websites, they were all fully booked up. I began searching further afield until I found one across London. I rang them up and made sure they'd save a place for Lily. I told her the good news and I could see the weight lifting from her shoulders. I then began to look for how she'd get some money coming in.

'It looks like you'll need to go to the job centre and start signing on. All you need is a home address, national insurance number and some ID.'

'Oh.' She looked worried.

'Well, you can put my address, that's fine. National insurance number and ID?'

'I don't know...I've never worked before and I don't have a passport or driving license.' I was shocked. I began to wonder how old she was. I thought she was around my age, twenty three or so. How could she not have had a job yet?

'We can fix that. Don't worry too much.' I tried to assure her, but I wasn't too convinced. Those things could take weeks to arrive. And she'd need her birth certificate. 'Do you wanna get in touch with your parents? You can use my phone.' I handed it to her but she didn't take it.

'I don't know their numbers.' The burrito was placed down and now ignored.

'If you've got their address, we can find their phone numbers.'

'I...erm...' I could see her getting upset.

'You don't have to. But I'm sure they'd want to know you were ok.' Gosh, was there more to this than an abusive boyfriend?

'I dunno about that. Besides, they might've moved away or anything.'

'Ok, we'll sort it.' But how? I wasn't surprised she'd been so scared on the train. Whatever had forced her into this position was obviously horrendous.

I paid for a taxi across London and we arrived at the shelter. Immediately, I knew I couldn't let her stay there. There were three men sat on the steps outside the front door, bottles of cider lying all around, not a full set of teeth between them, and I was sure I could smell them from the safety of the taxi.

'Actually, can we go somewhere else?' I called to the driver. She kept her head down and didn't acknowledge what we'd seen. 'Come stay with me until we find you somewhere decent.' I told her.

'I don't know if that's a good idea...' She looked nothing short of terrified.

'I know it's not the best, I'm just some guy you met on a train an hour ago, but it must be better than that.' I pointed behind us as we drove away.

'Its not you I'm worried about. What if I'm lying to you? What if I steal from you? I could be anyone and you're just inviting me into your home.'

'You know what Lily, that's a chance I'm willing to take.' She cracked that smile again and it was as though all her worries were washed away.