You Know I'll Be Your Life (1D)

Chapter 13: Can I call you Cupcake?

THREE MONTHS LATER

JAMIE'S POV

I walked home from school, as per usual. I had wrapped up my sprained ankle pretty well, but it still hurt to walk on it. I was cradling my right arm against my chest. I think Luca actually broke it this time. Did I tell you he's still beating me up, daily? And every once in a while, some other football players or Jake will join in, meaning I get twice as much given to me. As I walked up my driveway, I realized it was Friday. What does that mean? An extra-long Skype session with my boys. I quickened my pace slightly, hoping I was home before three forty-five.

I made my way up the steps to my room, leaning on the wall for support. I checked the time on the clock in my room. Good, I thought. It's only three forty. I made it. I grabbed my laptop and logged onto Twitter while I waited for a notification from Skype saying the boys were logged on and had started chat. Soon it popped up and I immediately clicked it, extremely excited for a whole hour-and-a-half laughing with the people who always seemed to make me feel welcome. Five smiling faces showed up, but all of them turned serious when they saw me. Was it that bad? I hadn't looked in a mirror, so maybe it was. I immediately checked my reflection in the mirror that was hanging on the wall across from me.

I had a bruise across the left side of my jaw, my hair was messy and knotted, and I had a cut on my lip. I reached for a brush, but with my right hand, and when I wrapped my fingers around it, white-hot pain shot up to my shoulder and I nearly screamed in pain. I dropped the brush, feeling tears leak out of my eyes.

"What's wrong? Jamie? Why are you crying?" Liam nearly shouted. I wiped my eyes on the edges of my long-sleeves, which I seemed to be wearing more often since I had turned to cutting when everything got rough.

"I- I think Luca and Jake broke my arm today. I went to grab a brush and I couldn't even pick it up. Liam, what's wrong with me?" I whispered.

"Jamie, nothing's wrong with you. You just," he was cut off by my mom screaming up the steps. I told them I would have to hide the laptop; I placed it under the bed and waited for my mom to come in.

"There you are! What happened to your hand? Oh wait, no one cares. Are you crying? That's good, wouldn't want you to be happy." All these comments made me cry even harder than I was. Then I felt a stinging on my cheek. She had slapped me. She left, leaving me to my own destructive thoughts. I remembered how all the boys were still on Skype, waiting for me. I picked up the laptop and forced a smile on my face. They all looked angry. Oh no, what did I do? I wiped my eyes dry and looked down at the keyboard, refusing to look them in the eyes.

"Jamie, look at me," Niall coaxed gently. I looked up to see all of the boys whispering about something, other than Niall, who was looking straight at the camera. See, they probably didn't even care; I was still a charity case. Then Liam looked up. He saw me and whispered to Louis. Louis looked up and nodded. Zayn spoke.

"Jamie, how would you feel if we, um, adopted you and homeschooled you from our flat?" Wait, what? They actually wanted to adopt me? I just nodded unsurely. If they wanted to be stuck with all my problems, then by all means, I missed them; I was looking forward to this. They all cheered and whooped until Harry interrupted.

"Wait, can we even do this if she's like, not up for adoption?" They all stopped and looked at me. I yelled for my mom. She came into my room, looking pissed as ever.

"How would you feel if One Direction wanted to adopt me?" Her face went from mad to happy in a second.

"Would that mean I could never see you again? Or pay for your school? Then of course they can adopt you! Bye!" I smiled sadly. She had loved me until she found out I had cancer.