Abused and Bullied (A One Direction Fanfiction)

Chapter 15

Liam and I walk into ShopKo. I lead him towards where the furniture and bedding will be; we don't have to go far before we can hear the boys' booming voices coming from an obvious direction. 

Liam rolls his eyes and we continue walking, coming upon the boys and Paul who had most likely come inside to ensure that they don't cause too much trouble. 

All of the boys had taken off their hoodies and I see Liam visibly stiffen, making me frown. 

"Why do you guys have your hoodies off! We could get swarmed!" Liam exclaims. 

I jump at the sound of his angry, booming voice, taking an involuntary step back. Harry, who must have noticed me jump, quickly walks over to me, ushering me into the next aisle over. 

I feel my muscles involuntarily clench and I take a step away back, a defense mechanism I have learned over the past few years. I hear Louis whisper-shouting at Liam, reminding him what I've been through in the last 24 hours and that he had scared me.

"Hey, look at me," Harry whispers softly. I take a few deep breaths, finally diverting my eyes from a random item on the shelf to his eyes. 

He opens his arms, ready to embrace me in a hug. I quickly walk forwards, letting his arms envelope around me, bringing my face into his chest. 

Harry lightly rubs his arms up and down my back as I breathe in deeply, calming myself down more quickly than I am usually able to. 

"I'm sorry," I whisper into his chest, "I didn't mean to react like that." 

"You're alright, love. You don't have any control over how you reacted. You used to have to react in that way in order to protect yourself, but just know, there will never  be a need for anything like that, ever  again."

Someone clears their throat from the end of the aisle. I turn my head, seeing Liam standing there, a sad expression on his face. 

"I'm so sorry I scared you! I wan't thinking; I didn't mean to make you scared." 

Liam continues to babble on and on about how sorry he is, tears welling up in his eyes. I let go of Harry's torso and move towards Liam, pulling him towards me in a hug. He stays placid for a moment, most likely surprised that I made the first move in hugging him. 

Normally, if the boys want to hug me, they have to open their arms and let me be comfortable enough to hug them. I didn't even think about it this time; I just did it.

These boys really are saving me, one step at a time.