Cooper's Children's Home // BradGa

T H R E E

Stefani groaned when the curtains were pulled open, the sunlight shining into the room and almost blinding her tired eyes. She pulled the thick blanket over her head and glared at Bradley when he pulled it away from her again.

He grinned down at the sleepy beauty. Her hair was a mess, sticking into all sorts of directions, her eyes still puffy from sleep or the lack of it and the little pout she gave him was absolutely adorable, but in no way enough to let her sleep. He'd seen it plenty of times and the kids kept trying it. "Rise and shine, superstar." He said.

"I fucking hate you, Cooper. I've been here for a month and you couldn't manage to let me sleep for longer than 7am. Not once!" She complained.

He chuckled and fully pulled the blanket off of her body and out of her grasp. His eyes wandered down her toned, exposed legs and then snapped back up again. "We have to prepare breakfast for the kids. It's one of the rules." He shrugged. "So get up and meet me downstairs."

She sat up and watched him leave the bedroom. She couldn't help but give his ass another look. She'd definitely noticed the lingering looks he'd given her sometimes. The way he'd stare at her from across the room, the way he didn't take his eyes off of her until she'd left the room. And she'd definitely stared at him too, not that she liked to admit it.

Bradley Cooper wasn't the type of man she thought she liked. At all. He was a smartass, very annoying and a goody two shoes. Or at least that's the only side of him he'd shown her so far, but she caught herself liking him a lot more than appropriate. He had a fine ass after all and if she had to stay here for another two months she'd make the most out of it.

••••

"Hannah, Bree, Anna, Lukas, Taylor and Valerie!" Bradley growled at the group of kids who all looked up at him with wide eyes. "When I tell you to go and get ready for bed, what do you do?" He asked them, crossing his muscular arms in front of his chest.

Anna swallowed hard. "We go upstairs, help the little ones first and then get ready ourselves." She said.

Bradley nodded. "And why aren't you doing that right now?" He asked. The kids all looked at each other before they finally made their ways up the stairs to get ready for bed.

Bradley let out an exhausted sigh and finished cleaning up the kitchen when Stefani entered the room. He turned around to look at her. "Where were you all day?" He asked. He'd tried to get her out of her room the entire time, but she'd disappeared right after breakfast and locked herself in her room.

She simply grabbed a bottle of water out of the fridge, not looking at him. He rose a brow at her and before she could leave the kitchen again he grabbed her wrist in his hands, stopping her. She looked at his fingers that were tightly clamped around her arm and then up at him. "Leave me alone, please." She said.

Bradley hadn't heard her voice sound so fragile before and it worried him. She was usually loud and sassy, especially with him. "What's wrong?" He asked again, loosening the grip he had on her a little.

She rolled her eyes and let out a groan. "I'm fine. It's none of your business." She snapped at him. There she was again, the bratty superstar he disliked.

"You're clearly upset and I'm not letting you go until you tell me what's bothering you." Bradley said in a stern voice.

Stefani glared up at him and ripped her hand out of his grasp. "I'm not one of your kids, Cooper. I don't owe you any explanations." She crossed her arms in front of her chest.

"You do, if you want to keep your little superstar life. Remember who the boss is." He spat back at her.

"I don't give a flying fuck about who you think you are! I don't have to talk to you!" She said, starting to walk off. Before she could leave he slammed the door of the kitchen shut, making her turn around to yell at him, but her breath got hitched in her throat at how close Bradley was. His chest was inches away from her own, their faces close and one of his arms next to her head, his palm holding the door shut. "Let me go." She said.

"Listen, I've had enough of your attitude. I may not be some upper class, rich asshole or whoever you surround yourself with, but I won't let you disrespect me again. If I didn't accept your little stay here, your team would've dropped you immediately because guess what? No one else fucking wanted you! I was Bobby's last chance and I am your last chance as well, so you better work with me here. You can't lock yourself up in your room for a whole day like that. It's against the rules and I could call Bobby and tell him all about it, but I won't." He explained in a low voice, his minty breath hitting her face.

Even though her body tried to betray her by tingling at his touch and how close their bodies were, her ears still worked perfectly fine and so did her brain: no one else fucking wanted you! The sentence ran marathons inside of her head, making her tense. She placed her hands on his chest and with all of her strength she pushed him away.

Bradley didn't expect her to freak out like that, so when she pushed him he stumbled back a bit and let her go.

"If everyone hates me so much, then why am I even fucking here?" She asked, angrily wiping a fallen tear off of her flushed cheek with her fingers. "Stay away from me!" She croaked out and ran out of the room and upstairs. She locked the door of her own room, plopped down onto the bed and finally let the tears flow out freely. Her face was buried in the white pillow and she cried so hard she felt dizzy. Stupid Bradley Cooper with his blue eyes and rules and those kids. She surely didn't need him or his kindness in her life. If Bobby wanted to drop her, then fine. Maybe it'd be for the best anyway.

••••

"Stefani." Bradley let out a heavy sigh. "Open the door, please. We have to talk about it eventually." He said. It had been over a day and she didn't come out unless she had to go to the bathroom and she'd somehow managed to sneak out without him noticing every time.

"I don't have to talk to you at all. Fuck off." She said. She was sat on her bed with crumpled up pieces of paper on the bed, her notebook and pen on her lap. She'd tried to come up with lyrics for a new song for hours now but nothing she wrote down seemed to be good enough. It didn't feel right to write a happy song for the new album when she was anything but happy.

"Okay. You don't have to come out." He paused. Stefani sighed and looked at the door where she knew he was stood behind of and put her pen down. "But I'm sorry." Bradley groaned, letting his forehead rest against the wooden door. "I didn't mean to upset you and I realize that what I said was out of line." He stayed quiet for a moment to listen in on her but she didn't move an inch so he continued. "Of course people like you and want you around. You're not the worst company ever and I want you here." He finished in a soft tone of voice.

Stefani didn't move even though all she wanted in that moment was to open the door and hug him. She wanted to be close to him for some odd reason and just by the tone of his voice she could tell that he really was sorry. A rarity in her life, usually it was her who had to apologize over and over again. She stayed quiet and when she heard him step away from the door after a while she rushed towards it and unlocked it to reveal Bradley already at the stairs. He stopped to look at her. "I was hiding in my room all day yesterday because I found out about my fiancé cheating on me through an online magazine." She said, making his expression change from curious to angry in a second.

He couldn't believe how any man could have the audacity to cheat on their girlfriends, let alone their fiancée. He felt bad for Stefani but he was mostly just angry that he'd upset her even more than she already was. "I'm sorry." He said.

Stefani nodded and grabbed the door again to be able to close it. "I'll see you tomorrow. Good night." she said before locking herself into her room again.