So here we are now. In front of their giant house. I'm terrified meeting them and hold onto Dave's hand tightly. He looks at me. "Ready?" I take a deep breath and nod. He rings the doorbell and I hear quiet footsteps coming to the door and not long after the door swings open. A brown haired man with puppy eyes stands there with a huge smile on his face. "Hey Dave! Come in." We walk inside. "And you must be Lexi. Hi, I'm Liam." He says and squats down to my level. I shyly hide behind Dave. "Hi." I mumble. He smiles and stands up again. Dave turns to me and squats down as well. "Lexi, I have to go now. You're safe here." I nod softly, not quiet believing him. He leaves with a last wave and then I'm alone. I nervously look down. "Let's go to the living room yeah? Then you can meet the rest." I nod nervously. He leads me to the living room where four other guys are sat. They all turn to us once they notice us joining them. "Hi Lexi, My name is Louis, I'm 24 and I'm obsessed with carrots." The feathery brown haired says. I can't help but smile a little. "I'm Niall, 22 and I'm in love with food." The blonde with the piercing blue eyes says. "I'm Harry, I'm 21 and I like cats.'' The curly haired man with the green eyes says. ''I'm Zayn. I'm 23 and I love drawing.'' The black haired man says. ''And as you know, I'm Liam. I'm also 22 and I hate spoons.'' Liam says. ''Euhm.. I'm Lexi, 'm 14 and I-I like mu-music.'' I say quietly. ''That's so cool! We like music as wel. We're actually in a band together called One Direction. Have you ever heard of us?'' I nod. ''Yes, my mother was a super fan of you!'' I smile at the memories of her singing in the house whit a broom as her microphone while she was cleaning. Louis ruffles my hair. ''That's great!'' He says. I let out a giggle. Immediately after I put my hands on my mouth. ''Sorry.'' I whisper. Now they're getting mad. Now the kicking starts. ''It's alright. No one's mad. We love that sound Lexi.'' Zayn says comfortingly. I take a shaky breath and nod. ''Let's get to know each other more. We each take turns asking questions and everyone has to answer. Sound alright?'' Harry suggests. Everyone nods so he starts off.

.•°**°•. .•°**°•.

After a few hours Dave calls to say he'll be here in 20 minutes to pick me up. I learned a lot about the guys but mostly I learned to trust them a lot more. I feel comfortable around them and they make me feel loved and cared for. I don't wanna go to Rick again. Niall takes me to the hall. ''Don't you have a jacket? Why not?'' He asks as I shake my head. ''Don't have the money.'' I say. ''Here, take my jacket.'' He hands it to me but I shake my head. ''No, then you'll be cold.'' He shakes his head. ''I've got plenty of others. Take it, please? I don't want you to be cold.'' I sigh but take it. I put it on and it's actually really comforting. I fall in love with the warmth it gives off and the smell of Niall on it. I smile and wait by Niall until Dave arrives. When the doorbell rings Niall opens the door holding my hand. Dave stands in the opening. ''hey Lexi! How was it?'' He asks as he steps inside. ''It was great.'' I say smiling. He smiles back and we walk back into the living room. I'm confused but follow him, still holding Niall's hand. Dave gets greeted by everyone and he smiles back politely. ''So I just wanted to tell you what's going to happen now that you finally met each other. Seeing as it went well and she trusts you already more than the man she has lived with for two years. This meeting was short, but we're gonna take small steps at a time. You get to see each other tomorrow again. Normally it takes another two weeks but we're trying to speed the adoption process so she has a save home as soon as possible. Tomorrow you can pick her up from school. She'll eat dinner with you and I'm picking her up at seven. Then, you won't see her until Saturday. I'll drop her off here in the morning, around 10 o'clock. And she'll stay the night. I'll pick her up again Sunday evening, around 8 o'clock. And then she'll be moving in on Tuesday. The adoption is official after three weeks. Any questions?'' Everybody shakes their head except for me. ''Do I have to go back to Rick?'' I ask scared. Dave gives me a look of pity and I already know the answer. I look down with tears in my eyes. ''Hey it's alright. You'll see us again tomorrow, little one.'' Harry says and he hugs me. I hug him back tightly and begin to cry softly. Harry pulls away slightly to wipe my tears. ''You're gonna be alright, okay?'' I nod softly and stop crying. I take a deep breath and pull away completely to walk to Dave. I say goodbye to everyone and reluctantly walk with him to his car. I wave a last goodbye and then he drives away. ''I wish I could just take you home with me so you wouldn't have to deal with the abuse, but I can't. I'm sorry.'' Dave says. ''And rape.'' I mumble whilst looking out the window. ''What?!'' Dave parks the car on the side of the road. I don't dare to look at him. He steps out of the car and walks to my side. he opens my door and squats down. ''Please tell me, what's going on in that house? Leave nothing out.'' He pleads. So I do. I finally tell my story to someone. And I'm glad I did. It feels nice, like I don't have to deal with it alone anymore. ''This new information completely changes the case. Wait here, Lexi. I have to make a call with my boss.'' He orders. I nod. He closes my door and pulls his phone out of his pocket. He goes to call his boss while I look at all the cars driving on the road. I don't know how long, but it feels like an eternity later, Dave comes in the car again. He turns to me. ''Now that I know he rapes you, we're going to speed the process even more. They will pick you up from school tomorrow, and Friday you'll move in with them. I know this sounds incredibly fast, and it is, but this is only so you're safe. Are you okay with this?'' I nod. I'm kinda relieved, because I don't fully trust the boys yet, but I know they're nicer than Rick. We start driving again. not much later we arrive at Rick's house. ''I don't wanna go.'' I whisper. ''I know. But tomorrow you won't have to go here after school. And the day after tomorrow's Friday so then you also won't have to go anymore. It's going to end, Lexi. The pain's going to end.'' I get out of the car with a last goodbye to Dave and walk to the front door. I bring my hand up to ring the doorbell but the door already opens. A drunken Rick stands there. He pulls me by my hair inside and slams the door shut. The beating immediately begins. He pulls out a knife and cuts me. I scream and begin to see black dots. Then I pass out..

.•°**°•. .•°**°•.

I wake up by the sunlight shining in my face. I softly open my eyes and see I'm still on the floor. The curtains haven't been closed so it lets the sunlight shine on my face. I slowly stand up due to the pain, and I immediately feel he hasn't stopped when I passed out when I feel an agonizing pain in between my legs. I let out a sob and stumble to the bathroom. I look in the mirror and see my lip is busted, my eye is black and there's dry blood under my nose. I think about getting a shower but quickly shake that thought of my head. He will kill me if he finds out. I turn on the sink and pour water on my face to get rid of the blood. I can't shower so I try to wipe away all the blood as best as I can, but in the pain I'm in, I can't really move much without hurting. I decide to pack my bag already. Just to kill the time, but before I do that, I make my way to the kitchen to make him breakfast. Then I stumble up the stairs to my room. Which only has a mattress on the floor with my bag next to it. It's a really small room and it smells horrible. I open my bag and pull out my stuffie. It's a bunny with only one eye and it misses an arm. It has dirt all over it but it protects me and I wouldn't go anywhere without it. I put my remaining clothes in it, which is only a shirt and ripped pants and then I'm done. I don't have any more things. I make my way downstairs again and sit by the door with my stuffie in my hand, waiting for it to be time to go to school. When it is, Rick roughly pushes me in the car. I look out the window the whole ride to school. When we arrive I quickly get out of the car so he can't do anything else. I walk towards the entree of the school and walk to my first class which is history.