Abused and Bullied (A One Direction Fanfiction)

Chapter 16

Louis, Niall, Zayn and Paul make their way into the other aisle. I notice Paul pushing a shopping cart which has curtains, some decor items, blankets, a wall clock and a Queen-sized comforter inside it. Some of the stuff you'd find in that cart look like they came straight off of Tumblr.

Seeing me looking at the contents of the cart, Louis looks at me sheepishly. 

"I Skyped with Eleanor last night and she gave me her account info from Pinterest. Me and Zayn spent the night figuring out a theme for the room and we think you'll really like it, based on the way you had your room set up." 

I smile at him, nodding my head. 

"If someone saw this cart, they would think that I had picked everything out myself. It's perfect; thank you guys so much." 

Louis and Zayn sigh in relief, smiling back at me. Paul clears his throat, speaking up. 

"Well, I'm gonna' go to the furniture store we saw across the street and buy a few things for the room and house. There was a sign outside that said we could have it delivered, which makes it a lot easier for us. It doesn't seem like this is a very populated area, so you guys don't have to really worry too much about getting swarmed, but still, call me if anything happens." 

We nod our heads, watching Paul walk away from us, towards the front of the store.

"Well, let's go check out and head over to Tj Maxx. El' said that there is a whole bunch of cool decor items and we can pick out some stuff for the kitchen there as well." Louis says, starting to walk towards the checkout.

We all follow him towards the checkout; sadly, I'm behind all of them. I try to move myself forwards so I'm closer to the cashier so I can pay for the stuff, but I'm stopped when Liam gently wraps his arm around my torso from behind. I turn my head so I'm looking up at him from over my shoulder.

"I'm still so sorry that I frightened you earlier. I promise, I didn't mean to scare you," he whispers towards my ear, gently laying his head on my shoulder. 

I move so I can turn around, completely forgetting about my attempt to pay for the items in the cart. I wrap my arms around his torso, feeling him put his head back down on my shoulder, his nose in the crook of my neck. 

"It's okay; you didn't mean to. I've just had those defense mechanisms built up for so long that I forgot I wouldn't be needing them." 

"You will never have to deal with anything like that, ever again."

I breathe in the smell of his cologne, the smell of the tea we had this morning gently lingering around us. For the first time in what feels like forever, I have hope for tomorrow.