||
Bloom sat on the bed wide awake, it was almost five in the morning and it seemed like Zayn wasn't coming. Liz and Nicole were already fast asleep when she returned from the bathroom. She took a glance at the door and sighed. Did Taylor forget to tell him? Or maybe he did but Zayn decided not to show up.

She turned off the lights and pulled the white duvet to her body. She stared into the darkness imagining everything happening at the Valley House and the hospital. They would be looking everywhere for her.

Now she knew her father was a beast and he never cared about her. He was obsessed with power and would do anything to get it. She was ready to do anything to help the Antisam expose her father.

Even if she was surrounded by people that wanted her dead, she felt more safe and relaxed in the dangerous territory.

She closed her eyes and went to sleep.

||
Bloom put on the same sweatpants and hoodie Taylor gave her after taking a bath the next day. She waited in anticipation for Zayn's visit but only Taylor came.

"Where is he?"
Bloom asked Taylor after he shut the door.

"He woke up early to train, he said he will drop by later to see you."
Taylor said with a smile.

"Did he agree to do it?"
Liz asked from where she was doing the edges on her head with close scrutiny.

"Yeah," Taylor replied.

"Good, can we go now? I'm starving," Nicole said holding his arm.

"Me too, I skipped dinner last night. They served my worse food on the menu."
Liz said taking one last look at her hair in the mirror. Her edges were neat and looked like it was done by an artist.

"What would you like? They are serving burgers, waffles, coffee, milk, and pancakes for breakfast."
Nicole asked.

"I'm not hungry," Bloom said and laid on the bed.

"Zayn promised to come to see you, he is just busy at the moment."
Taylor said.

"It's fine, I don't have an appetite to eat anything," Bloom said forcing a smile to convince them she was okay.

"I will get you some snacks," Nicole said and she watched them leave the room.

She stayed alone in the room feeling disappointed. She expected him to visit last night, she needed to see him and just feel his arms around her to assure her everything was going to be fine and she wasn't alone.

Nicole returned with bags of potato chips, Doritos, and soda. The day went by quickly and Zayn never came.

She knew something was wrong. Didn't he miss her? Didn't he care anymore?

Taylor came the next day with the same excuse but he told her Zayn managed to get her an appointment with the Vice President on Tuesday.

||
Nicole gave Bloom her dress to wear as she got ready to meet with the vice president. Max banged on the door when he arrived to take her to the vice president. Bloom opened the door with Liz and Nicole behind her. Max looked like he wanted to strangle her and break every bone in her body.

"This way," he said with a stoic expression.

"Hi, Max right?" She said with a smile that made his blood boil.

"Surprise to see me alive?" Bloom snickered.

"I don't know how you managed to get here or how you succeeded in getting an appointment with Mr. Grayson but one thing is for sure, those traitors are involved."
He whispered as they walked together.

She was getting killer looks from everyone they walked passed, she could see some of them whispering and looking disgusted as they stared at her.

"You're lucky that Mr. Grayson gave instructions for no one to touch a hair on your skin, if not you'll be dead within a blink of an eye even your boyfriend won't be able to save you."
He told her.

"Why are you all dressed up? Hope you're not planning on seducing Mr. Grayson to let you stay? Your boyfri..."

She stepped on his foot with her pumps and gasped in fake surprise. "I'm so sorry, I didn't see your foot." She smiled and continued walking.

She heard him curse behind her and she smiled more. The four bodyguards guarding the large office let them in.

"Bloom," Mr. Grayson called, standing up from his seat.

"Hi, Mr. Grayson."
She said with a small smile.

"You can leave us now," Mr. Grayson said to Max.

Max gave her a dark look before walking out of the office.

"Please have a seat," he said to her and waited for her to sit first before he sat back on his leather swivel chair.

"Thanks for agreeing to see me," she said.

"I was glad when I got the news, Bloom. I'm happy to see you're doing fine, your Dad has every security agency looking for you but he doesn't want the media to know you're missing since you escaped on your own."

"So he is keeping it a secret?"

"Yes, but he is doing everything possible to find you."

"Are you gonna take me to him?"
She asked getting scared.

"No, no, no I would never do anything to hurt you. I know the type of person your Dad is, you're safer here."

"Thank you, Mr. Grayson."

"Sorry about your Nanny, I hope she recovers soon."

"It's his fault she is in a bad state. He doesn't care who he hurts in the process of getting what he wants."
She said feeling angry just thinking of what happened that night.

"That's why he needs to be stopped, I have watched your Dad kill and hurt families just for his selfish ambition. I had to reach out to this group and find another way to show everyone who he truly is. "

"I wanna help, I want to see him rot in jail for everything he has done not just to me but also for those people who have lost their lives and those suffering because of him."

"We need all the help we can get, it has not been an easy task. He has a way of buying himself out of trouble, I'm glad to know you're on our side, Bloom." He said and she smiled.

"With you here, we can achieve a lot."

"I'm ready to help anytime," she told him.

"You said you know your Dad's darkest secret that can cause his downfall. Tell me what you know," he said and leaned back in his seat.

She took a deep breath and tried to calm herself, it was hard talking about her mom's death. She told him everything she remembered and how he brutally wiped some of her memories away but she left Zayn out of the whole story.

She was in tears by the time she was done. Mr. Grayson moved the box of tissue next to him closer to her.

"I'm sorry you had to witness that and what he put you through. I will protect you from now on, I promise."

She nodded as she wiped her tears away.

"He will never find you and I will make sure your Nanny is doing okay."

"Thank you." she sniffled.

"Have you eaten anything since you got here?" he asked.

"Yeah, my friends sneaked in some snacks."

"Would you like to stay in the lodge?"

"Please don't give me any special treatment, treat me like the others."
She said and he laughed.

"I'm just worried about you, I have watched you grow looking so happy and worshiping your Dad."

"I was too blind to see the kind of person he is," she said looking away.

"Thanks for the information, it's surely going to be useful."

"Don't thank me, the people of this country deserve better."

"Your mom will be proud of you."

"I know," she said with a sad smile.

"Would you like a roommate or a single room."
He asked.

Tyra was going to come back, she couldn't stay with Liz and Nicole.

"Don't worry if you want a roommate I will make sure she doesn't harm you."
He said as she stayed quiet.

"Single is fine."

"Do you want it close to your friends?"

"I will love that," she replied with a big smile.

"Okay," he scribbled some words on a piece of paper.

A bodyguard walked into the room and went to whisper something into his ear. He dismissed the bodyguard and faced her.

"Sorry, I have somewhere else to be. We can meet up another time, I will tell Max to get your room ready."

"Thank you so much."

"Take good care of yourself, Bloom," he said and stood up.

Max walked into the room and the Vice President whispered some words to him and gave him the paper.

"Bye, Bloom."
Mr. Grayson said and left the room.

"I guess you succeeded in seducing him that he had to give you someone else's room."
Max snarled as he took her back to the room.

"Your perfect life isn't enough for you, huh?"
He said behind her.

She clenched her fist. She was holding back from punching him. She stopped walking when she saw Zayn walking toward them with four other guys with him.

Their eyes locked for a few seconds and he looked away. He walked past her with the others not looking at her or saying a word to her.

"Zayn!" She called making everyone in the hallway go quiet but Zayn didn't stop, he kept walking pretending not to hear her.

She watched him till he disappeared down the hallway. She heard Max laughing.

"Zayn is a smart guy, he knows the right thing to do. Sorry if you were expecting a hug and a kiss. Let's go, I have a training to return to."
He said grabbing her arm.

She pulled her arm away and shot him a glare. He smiled as they walked back to the room.

"Your room should be ready by tomorrow, your highness."
He said with a bow.

She ignored him and entered the room. Liz and Nicole approached her immediately they saw her.

"How did it go? You don't look happy, was it that bad?"
Nicole asked.

"It went great, he said I can stay and gave me a room."
She said and walked to the bed. She sat down and took off Nicole's shoes and the pretty necklace.

"Everything okay?"
Liz asked sitting on the other bed.

"Can you guys please be honest with me?" Bloom asked.

"Sure," Liz replied.

"Of course," Nicole replied.

"Is everything okay with Zayn? I have been here for four days and he hasn't paid me a visit and I'm tired of the fake excuses. I just saw him in the hallway and he acted like I was invisible."

Liz and Nicole exchanged glances before Nicole decided to talk.

"He...he made a deal with Mr. Grayson to protect you."

"What deal? Protect me from what?"
Bloom asked, getting frustrated.

"Bloom, we all know you'll be dead here if the Vice President didn't order for no one to touch you. Zayn promised to stay away from you till your Dad is behind bars or dead, sorry."
Nicole apologized for the last word.

"So, Mr. Grayson promised to keep you safe if Zayn puts all his time and effort into the last mission," Liz added.

"Protect me?" Bloom sneered.

"I can take care of myself, I don't need Zayn to be his puppet so he can protect me. Why didn't he mention anything about this during our conversation?"

"Trust me, you need it. We can't protect you without Mr. Grayson's help." Liz said.

"I'm sure it will be over soon and you can be together again."
Nicole said with a smile.

"I miss him, it's been so long."
Bloom said in a sad tone.

"He asks about you every day and he can't wait for this to be over."
Liz told her.

There was a knock on the door.

"It's open!"
Liz screamed.

Taylor opened the door and gave Bloom a soft smile as he entered the room.

"Zayn asked me to give you this," he held out a small piece of folded paper.

She collected it and kept it to read later when she was alone.

"Are you girls coming for lunch?"
Taylor asked.

"Yeah," Liz and Nicole replied.

"Bloom, are you coming?" Liz asked.

"Yeah but I need to change this clothe," she said pointing to the dress.

"Sure, go ahead and pick whatever you want. Taylor and I will wait outside."
Nicole told her as she held onto Taylor's arm.

Liz waited for her as she changed into a black yoga pants and a t-shirt. They met Taylor and Nicole outside the door making out.

"Can you guys keep your hands off each other for only a minute?"
Liz said walking past them while Bloom smiled.

The look they got from everyone when they entered the cafeteria scared her. They all looked like they wanted nothing more but to see her dead. The people at the food counter deliberately gave her a small amount of food, she got a stain on her shirt from one of the girls that served her some beans.

She could feel eyes on her as she took one spoon of her salad. She dropped her spoon noisily and sighed. She looked up at everyone and they all looked away.

"Ignore them," Taylor told her.

"It's hard to when a hundred pairs of eyes are throwing daggers at you."
Bloom said.

"There is a spot outside to eat, we can go out and eat there."
Nicole suggested.

"No, it's fine."
Bloom said with a smile and picked her spoon.

"Oh look, Tyra is back."
Liz said looking at the entrance to the cafeteria.

They all followed her eyes and saw Tyra walking toward them with a smile. Bloom gripped the spoon in her tight and her jaw hardened as she recalled what happened that day. She stood up, dropping her spoon. The sound of the spoon colliding on the concrete floor caught a few people's attention.

Tyra stopped on her track as Bloom approached her with a clenched fist.

"Hi, Barbie," Tyra said but got punched in the face. The impact made her fall on her butt.

A few ohh's and ouch's came from across the room.

"Bitch, what the hell was that for?"
Tyra asked touching her nose.

"You deserve worse," Bloom said to her and walked out of the cafeteria not looking back.

She returned to the room and stared at her blue knuckles, Tyra's nose ring left a small cut on the back of her palm. She sat on the bed and buried her face in her palms. She tried to calm herself. The anger coursing through her veins was starting to control her.

She had never been this angry. She was mad at everyone even herself. Everyone here hated her because she was the President's daughter, Aunt Matilda was still under life support and she couldn't even spend time with the one person she needed the most.

She broke into tears feeling worthless and helpless. She just wanted to be a normal 17-year-old, was that too much to ask for?

There was a knock on the door but she ignored it. She knew it was Liz or Nicole coming to check on her. The door opened and she heard someone walk in.

She felt movement in front of her, the familiar scent she missed made her put her hands down and open her eyes.

Her eyes caught the Nike shoes first, she remembered the bet from that night. She looked up and met his eyes, he gave her a small smile. He was sitting on the bed in front of her, he had on a grey shirt that had the Antisam logo on the sleeve.

He looked stressed, she could see the dark shadows beneath his eyes.

"What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be keeping your end of the stupid deal you made with Mr. Grayson?"
She said and wiped her tears away.

He didn't say anything but just stared at her like he was trying to remember every detail about her.

"Did they send you here? You can leave, it's not like your presence will change anything."
She said looking at him with cold eyes.

All she wanted to do was hug him and tell him how much she missed him but she was furious it took him so long to come to see her.

"How have you been?" He asked, his voice sounded foreign to her because it seemed like forever since she heard him speak.

"How have I been? Seriously? How do you think I have been, Zayn?"
She asked yelling.

She stood up ready to pour out her anger but he stood up and pulled her closer, bringing his lips against hers.

Every word she wanted to scream was forgotten as she returned every kiss. He put one arm around her and the other on the back of her head, pulling her closer like he couldn't get enough of her.

He missed her like crazy, no word could express that but his kisses did. His lips moved smoothly against hers igniting every nerve in his body. It felt like it's been forever.

Bloom remembered why she was angry in the first place, she placed her hand on his chest and pushed him away.

"You can't just walk in here like everything is okay. It's been four days, forgive me for being selfish but you could've at least stop by and wave or smile at me in the hallway."
She said breathlessly.

He stepped closer closing the space between them.

"Good to know I'm not the only one going crazy from being away from you."
He said brushing the leftover tears from her eyes away with his thumb.

"Why did you make the deal? I can protect myself."

"I know, sunflower, but not in here. I need Mr. Grayson's help one way or another to keep you safe till all this mess is over."

He took a glance at his wristwatch.

"I only have five minutes left before Max finds out I'm gone."
He told her.

"I can't mess this up, your safety is what's important right now. Soon things will be back to normal, trust me it's hard staying away knowing you're just a few feet away." He said holding her face with both hands.

"But I need you," she said holding onto his wrist that was close to her face.

"I'm always with you no matter the distance. If you need anything don't hesitate to tell the girls or Taylor. I promise to find a way to see you."

She nodded with tears glistening in her eyes. He brushed her tears off and pressed his lips to her forehead

He pulled her into his arms and she hugged him back inhaling his scent and relishing the warmth from his hug.

"Nice punch, by the way, I think you broke her nose."
He said and she laughed against his chest.

His timer beeped and he groaned.

"Sorry, I gotta go."
He said pulling away.

She frowned not letting go, he laughed and held her back.

"I will be back, I promise."
He said and pressed a kiss to her forehead.

"This sucks," she groaned.

"I know," he said putting his hands around her waist.

She pushed herself up on her tiptoes and kissed him, he smiled against her lips.

"Tempting but I have to go," he said with a throaty groan and pulled away.

"I hate goodbyes," she said when he opened his mouth to say something.

"I love you," he said and left the room before she could say it back.

She smiled at the door with red cheeks and slumped on the bed.

||

"How long is this gonna take? It's been four days, you can't track someone who doesn't know her way around the city?"
The President yelled at the computer geniuses in front of him.

"The facial recognition satellite only picked her face outside the hospital. The street camera caught her entering a black Porsche but after that, we can't find anything else." The young man with round glasses explained.

"Who owns the black Porsche?"

His fingers hit different letters on the keyboard and soon he had the information he needed.

"Damian Freeman, 27-year-old, currently unemployed, lives in 12763 Wintercreek street, Rockveill Apt. 45 and he lives alone."

"That son of a b*tch!" he snarled.

"That will do for now but keep looking. I should have put a tracker in her when I had the chance."

The President said and left the room.

He grabbed his phone and made a call. "Hello, Xavier, I have a job for you."

||

Bloom shared a bed with Nicole while Liz shared the other bed with Tyra as she waited for her own room. The next day they walked to the cafeteria together to have breakfast. Tyra hadn't said a word to her since the incident in the cafeteria and no one asked Bloom why she did it.

Bloom's room was ready but she wasn't sure she wanted to stay alone. Max told her last night she could move to the room but she asked the girls if she could spend one more night.

Taylor joined them at their table and pressed a kiss to Nicole's cheek. Bloom avoided the dirty looks she got from every angle and listened to Liz talk about her big brother. They were laughing at something Liz said when Max arrived with Zayn next to him.

"Mr. Grayson wants to see you," Max told Bloom not looking like his annoying and broody self.

"Is something wrong?" Nicole asked.

"Let's go," Zayn said taking Bloom's hand, she studied the expression on his face and stood up.

"What's going on, Zayn?" Bloom asked as they walked out of the cafeteria.

"Mr. Grayson has bad news, I need you to be strong."

Zayn whispered and gave her hand a soothing squeeze.

Was he sending her back to her father? Was it Aunt Matilda, was she okay?

She felt the pressure in her chest as they got closer, she tried to breathe when she saw Mr. Grayson.

"I'm right here," Zayn whispered to her.

"Max, you can wait outside." Mr. Grayson said looking away from the window.

"Is everything okay Mr. Grayson?" She asked.

He was quiet for a while, he took a step closer with a look on his face that scared.

"Damian was found dead in his apartment this morning with a bullet in his head, I'm sorry I thought you should know since you were very close to him."

She gasped in disbelief and shook her head in denial.

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