Noah has been surprisingly nice to me today and helps me out all the time. It's now my last class before lunch and Noah sits down next to me. He smiles at me and I softly smile back. Confused at his change of mood towards me all of a sudden. I focus on my teacher when I suddenly feel a kick on the back of my leg. I can barely hold in a scream. My face scrunches up in pain and Noah looks concerned my way. ''Are you alright?'' I nod and look behind me. My bully smirks. I raise my hand in the air. ''Yes Lexi?'' The teacher asks. ''Can I go to the toilets please?'' He nods so I stand up. My bully has other plans and tackles me to the ground. I fall and he stands up. He starts kicking me and I quickly hear Noah scream. He sprints towards us and pulls Nick, my bully off of me. I just lay there holding my tummy which hurts badly. Noah then comes to me. He squats down next to me and helps me sit up. ''I'm going to carry you, is that okay with you?'' I nod. He lifts me up on his hip and takes our bags with him. He walks out of the classroom after getting our teachers permission. ''Want Jacob.'' I whisper. He nods and starts walking somewhere. When I see Jacob I reach out for him. He hugs me tight and I clung to him. I start crying. ''Want Flufs.'' I say in between my cries. ''Noah, can you take her stuffed animal out of her bag?'' He asks. Noah quickly searches in my bag and pulls it out. He hands it to me and I hold it tightly to my face. I cry and cry until there's no tears left in my eyes. That's when the bell rings, signalling it's lunch time. Jacob sets me down and I wipe my tears. ''You're alright Lexi. No one's going to hurt you anymore. Stay with Noah for the rest of the day okay?'' I nod and reach for Noah's hand shyly. He smiles and grabs it. With Noah's hand in one hand and my stuffie in the other we start walking. When we get to the canteen, we sit down at a table. I don't get why Noah, the guy who's so popular, would want to sit with me. But I like him, he's nice to me, so I don't mind. ''Aren't you going to eat?'' He asks. I shake my head. ''No, I had a really big breakfast this morning so I'm not really hungry. Thanks for asking though.'' I smile at him so he would believe me. He doesn't, but he also doesn't ask further.

.•°**°•. .•°**°•.

I get through the day without anyone hurting me anymore, thanks to Noah. I walk out of school, looking for the boys. Noah has detention so he isn't with me, but I'm already thankful for what he's done for me so far. Louis waves and I smile. There's quiet a crowd around them, I didn't realise they were this famous. I start walking to them and I almost reach Harry when someone pushes me to the ground. ''You're not worth them.'' She spats. ''Hey!! Leave her alone!'' Harry walks to us and helps me up. ''Are you hurting somewhere?'' He asks concerned. Yes, I am, but not in the places he expects. I shake my head but he doesn't believe me. ''Can I carry you to the car? Just to make sure no one hurts you any more.'' I nod my head and he lifts me up in his arms. I lay my head on his shoulder while he walks to the rest of the guys. ''let's go.'' He says. They all start walking to a black car that looks very expensive. I feel so out of place with these guys. They all wear expensive clothes and here I am, with dirt all over me and worn out clothes. There are only five spots in the car so I have to sit on Niall's lap. He smiles when he sees I wear his jacket again. It just feels so warm and it's the only piece of clothing I have that isn't ripped or smells bad. I lean back on Niall and he wraps his arms around me. After a 5 minutes car ride we arrive at their house. We all get out of the car and walk to the front door. Liam opens the door and we walk inside. The boys all take their jackets off but I keep Niall's on. It keeps me warmer than I've ever felt. We walk to the living room and sit down on the couch. "Can I look at your wounds?" Liam asks carefully. I immediately shake my head. Then he finds out what Rick does. "We,.. We already know about the abuse Rick does." I look down. "We're so sorry, but you have to know that we would never ever judge you. We only want to help you. Can you accept our help?" Zayn asks. I think for a moment. Do I trust them? Maybe.. I've only known them for a day. Why do I let my guard down around them? They just make me feel so safe, as if I'm a part of their family. Like they actually care about me and love me. They still haven't touched me in any way and they haven't hurted me. "Just give us a chance." Louis says. "And why should I do that?" I ask. "Because we've never had one." Harry pipes in. That makes me quiet again. They're right. I can at least try. So I nod. Liam lays me down on the couch and carefully lifts my shirt up. Everyone gasps when they see the cuts, bruises and blood that I wasn't able to wipe away. "I think it's better if we shower her first. So you can clean the cuts better and stuff." Harry says. Everyone agrees. Zayn takes my hand and brings me upstairs while the rest stays downstairs. He walks us to the bathroom. "Do you wanna shower or take a bath?" He asks. I shrug shyly. He decides a bath is more convenient. He runs the bath and then turns to me. He helps me strips me of my clothes. I don't really care him seeing me naked. I just hope he doesn't notice the cuts I made myself. He lifts me in the bath once it's ready. "Do you wanna sit in it and play or just wash and get out?" He asks. "Just wash." The temperature is so nice! I haven't had a shower or bath in so long. I can't even remember the last time. Rick never let me. At first, he would let me shower for two minutes in a cold shower. But then he found that to expensive as well. So I wasn't allowed to anymore. He himself though, took a long bath every day. Zayn grabs a washcloth and pours some soap on it. He then starts cleaning my body. I can see all the dirt that comes off my body and I can tell you it's disgusting. When my upper body is fully cleaned, he has me stand up to clean the rest of my body. When that's done, he pours shampoo on my head and rinses it out. He does that once more and then he's satisfied with his work. He lifts me out of the bath and wraps me in a warm fluffy towel. "I don't exactly have clothes in your size.. But you can borrow some clothes from Louis, since he's the smallest. You'll have to wear his boxers though." I just nod. I don't really care. As long as I have clothes. Their clothes are so comfy. Zayn dries me and then takes me to a bedroom which I'm guessing is Louis's as it has carrots everywhere. Zayn opens a door that leads to a walk in closet. He grabs a pair of boxers and a hoodie. He hands me the boxers and I slide them on. Of course they're way to big but who cares? "I'm gonna wait with the hoodie because Liam's gonna pull it off to clean the cuts and wounds anyway." He explains. I nod and walk in only boxers with him to the rest of the boys. They smile at me and I nervously lay down on the couch. Liam starts doing whatever he's doing and I focus on the rest of the boys who are trying to distract me. And they succeed. I don't really notice Liam doing anything. When Liam finishes Niall puts the sweater on me and Harry walks to me with a brush. He sits behind me and carefully starts to brush my hair. My hair basically consists of tangles. I don't have a brush so yeah.. It takes a lot of time but eventually he's done. "What would you like to do with it? Just a pony tail? Or a braid?" He asks. "A braid please." I answer. He nods and starts braiding my hair. I love the feeling of someone touching my hair. I always have. When he's done it's almost half past 6. Liam and Louis go to the kitchen to make dinner. I sit in Zayn's arms on the couch with my legs on Harry and Niall. I have never felt so good in my life. My wounds and cuts have been taken care of, my hair feels amazing, I'm clean, and most of all I'm loved. My eyes go to my bag again. Something they've done a lot of times. I wish I could have my stuffie. It's named Flufs. Niall spots me watching my bag. "Do you want something that's in your bag?" He asks. I shake my head. I don't want them to think I'm a baby. I look away from my bag to watch tv again. Only to find my eyes glued to my bag seconds later again. Niall suddenly stands up and walks to my bag. He opens it. "No!" I wanna stand up but Zayn holds me down. "No, let me go. Please!" I try to break free of his hold on me, but he's way stronger than me. He shushes me but I don't give up. Niall looks in my bag. I let out a sob. He walks to me. "Hey it's alright. You wanna have your bunny? It's okay to have one. We don't think anything less of you." I look into his eyes to see nothing but honesty, so I nod. He gives me my stuffed animal and I hold it close to me. I nervously look to Zayn and he nods reassuringly. I relax into his hold and watch tv again, my stuffie pressed tightly to my chest. We sit like that until Liam yells us for dinner. I bring my stuffie with me and sit down at the table.