Michael

"Now, listen to me." I stand in front of Luke, Ashton, and Calum to give them very important instructions for how to act, what to say, and what to do from now on. "No one - that means none of you - talks to Daniella about the attack. Do you understand me?" I point at them. "The awards are not too far away. I do not want people looking at her funny because they know the real story. She will be shamed on live tv. I need to make up a story believable enough to cover the real story for now."

"Michael, we can't do that-" Luke begins to protest.

"No. Listen to me! Let me finish!" I shake my head. He is being very rude right now. "No one brings it up at all. Even if she is not around. And If she brings it up, change the subject. I need her to be able to relax a bit before she really has to face the reality. If we can avoid it at all costs, even better. She does not need to face this right now."

"Michael, we need to go to the police." Ashton shakes his head at my plan. He does not agree with me.

"No. I told you. No police. I did horrible things last night. The last thing Daniella needs right now is for any of us to be ripped away from her. She needs all of us to be by her side right now. We need to wait before this news breaks to the public. I will figure something out." I listen as the water upstairs turns off. Daniella is done with her shower. I need to end this conversation quickly before she hears us.

The three of them nod slowly, not wanting to agree but all knowing they have no choice but to give in to my demands.

"Okay. We will wait to tell anyone." Luke speaks for the group.

"I am glad you are taking responsibility and looking out for her so well. You are really maturing." Ashton adds. "And I am sure Daniella appreciates it as well."

The three of them disperse from the room to do their own things.

Ashton walks upstairs. Luke and Calum walk towards the kitchen.

Daniella just needs some time to recover. That much I know for a fact.

If we bombard her with the truth right now, she will surely breakdown and won't know what to do with herself. She will start to do reckless things and get herself in to more trouble.

I am trying to avoid that.

Daniella will forever be scarred by this attack. I want to make sure she is in the right mind when she learns the truth about last night. I want her thinking about it with a clear mind.

She is scared right now. I want to protect her for as long as I can.

I will wait until sometime after the awards have come and gone.

I am afraid she will be looked at strange if the media knows of her attack and the gruesome details. Cameras will follow her around.

Daniella is not used to dodging questions and avoiding making herself look worse when it comes to paparazzi slamming her.

I want her to have a good time at the awards. I do not want her to have to worry about someone coming up and asking her what happened. It will be rough enough on her with the giant mark on her face.

I have a story for that. Well, maybe. I am still working on that.

*Flashback*

I park the car and walk around to the back seats to lift Daniella out.

At this point, the sobbing and screams of pain have stopped. She has fallen asleep.

The hardest part of that ride was not getting her home. It was listening to her begging me to leave her to die.

I wanted to rip my heart out for how her words made me feel. They hurt me in ways I do not understand.

I lift Daniella out of the car, her body flopping around as I try to get a better grip.

I push the door open with my foot, I must have left it open when I left to find Daniella.

I carry her inside, glaring at Abby as I pass her, to the den area and clean off a space on the couch to lay her down.

"Oh my gosh what happened?" Luke asks, abandoning Abby's side to come see Daniella.

I set her down on the couch, on her stomach so I can clean her up a little. I grab tweezers from the bathroom and begin picking glass out of daniella's back.

Once she is all cleaned up, I grab a shirt from the oversized pile of laundry on the edge of the couch and struggle to get it on her.

She is out cold. Not even an earthquake could wake her up at this point.

"What happened to her?" Ashton asks, joining Luke and I in the room.

"Yeah, what happened." Calum adds, standing next to me.

"Ask Abby. She is the one who dumped her in pedophile hunting grounds."

"What? You- she's hurt do you see this? You should not have let her walk!"  Luke shouts at Abby.

I look over as she shrugs. "She walked home. It's not my fault she got attacked or whatever. That is completely on her." Abby defends herself. Poorly if I might add.

Anger grows on Luke's face. He is about to blow.

"Get out. We are done." Luke points towards the door.

"Luke," Abby protests, a nicer voice coming out of her.

"Go. Don't come back. Lose my number." Luke turns away from her. "You cheating on me should have been the last straw. But I ignored that. I can't ignore this. Go." He sighs. "What can I do?" He asks, looking down at Daniella.

"Warm wash cloth. I need to clean all the blood and dirt off of her before anything gets infected." I nod, a washcloth is good. That will help her.

Luke leaves the room to get what I asked him to. He walks back in and hands the wet cloth to me.

"I killed them." I mumble under my breath, wanting to get it off my chest.

"What?" Ashton asks, not hearing me clearly.

"I killed the men who attacked her. They are laying behind a building. I had to get her out of there." I stand and stare out the window into the blackness.

I am no better than them.

"Michael- they are really dead? You really killed them?" Calum asks, shocked.

"What was I supposed to do? I had to protect her." I try to defend myself, although I know it was wrong to do that to them. They deserve to rot in jail, not rot in the ground.

"What are we going to do?" Luke asks, rhetorically. "We have to go to the police."

"No. I don't trust the police. I am not going to jail because they all suck at their jobs and never solve anything. No police. I have an idea."

*End flashback*

Author's note:
Do you guys like flashbacks? I think they help tell the story. Be honest please! :)

Also, any predictions for what is to come?

thanks for reading!!