(Ali's POV)

I followed the boys out to the car and before I could climb inside the massive SUV, Louis and Harry began to fight over shotgun; Liam started to yell at them for a moment before halting mid-sentence and making the executive decision that he would be the one in shotgun. Louis and Harry huffed in annoyance before developing mischievous little smiles.

"LiLi, it was myyy turnnn," Louis mocked at him.

"Daddy Direction, that's not very fairrrr," Harry sing-songed back.

Liam ground, "Stuff it you two." Louis and Harry snickered but ultimately climbed into the back with the rest of us.

The back of the SUV was designed interestingly; instead of having two rows of seats all facing forward, the two rows faced each other instead so that Louis and Harry were facing Niall and me. Zayn was the one in the driver's seat with Liam. I didn't have much experience with cars but I figured this had to have been some sort of custom design and if that was the case, these guys must be loaded. The car shuttered as Zayn turned the ignition and then we were off. Louis and Harry were trying not to stare at me but, considering the way the seats were arranged, it was proving difficult and, though I didn't turn my head to check, I could feel Niall burning holes into the side of my face.

"How ya doin'?" the awkwardness in my voice was evident and I bit the inside of my cheek.

Luckily it was clear I wasn't the only one feeling awkward seeing as the three guys all tripped over their responses as a string of "Fine, yeah" "Good, good.. you?" and "Yep, all good here" tumbled out all at once. 

I took a breath, "So what was with all the screaming when you guys got to Mrs. Baillie's? Seem like a lot of hub-but for a couple of guys." I looked around at all of them expectantly. I saw Zayn glance up into the rearview mirror almost like he was perplexed and Liam shifted in his seat uncomfortably.

(Zayn's POV)

She doesn't know who we are? That's a first. The other boys seemed surprised too at least from what I could see in the rearview. Liam and I look at each other briefly almost like saying 'How do we go about this one?'. Liam shifts in his seat and then turns his head towards the back of the car. This is definitely weird explaining who we are and why we're famous to someone the age of our general fan base.

"We're One Direction. Have you ever heard our music?" Liam asks hesitantly. I glance in the mirror at Ali once more and almost laugh at the confused look on her face. 

 "Um, what the hell is One Direction?" she asks.

"Hey! Watch the language, you're too young to be talking like that." Daddy Direction says. 

Oh, the good old days, back in the X-Factor. Before we were... This.

"Whatever. What's this One Dimension thing?" Ali asks clearly waving Liam's comment off but a glint - very similar to the one Lou and Harry get right before pulling a prank - shimmers in her eyes making me question how much she likes being told what to do.

"Direction. One Direction. We're an international boyband called One Direction. We got started on this television series called X Factor," this time I'm the one to speak up. 

"Oh, well in that case... Why take me in? Some sort of publicity stunt?" There was a hint of humor in her voice meaning she meant it as a joke but an air of guilt hung over me and most likely the rest of the boys.

There was a beat of silence. Then another. Realization dawned over Ali's face and the hint of humor was gone, her face dropping. "Holy shit, it is. You've got to be f*cking kidding me." Liam straightened up as though about to correct her language again but his mouth stayed shut. He knew now wasn't the time. "You know, I thought it was f*cking weird a bunch of twenty-something guys would want to adopt a kid. I figured it was some polyamorous same-sex relationship thing maybe and that'd be all fine and dandy but seriously? I'm just some freaky little prop to make you guys look good?" 

Ali seemed so quiet and shy back at the group home but now she was mad. Scratch that, she was pissed and the red blush across her face only confirmed that further. On the one hand, I didn't like being disrespected like that and I knew none of the others guys did either. On the other hand, Ali was kinda right; even though we made the collective decision to do it, this whole thing was motivated by publicity. 

"It's not like that, Ali. I mean it kinda is but not -" Niall started but Ali looked at him and she clearly didn't want to hear our excuses.

The rest of the car ride was silent, only the faint hum of the radio filled the SUV. I felt terrible and I was positive that Liam, Lou, Harry, and Niall were all feeling similar. After Ali's outburst, it would be hard not to feel crappy about it all. I turned down the street that our new flat was on; Simon had the address sent to us with a little message that read "So you can all stay together while this is going on. Glad you went through with it."

(Ali's POV)

  Sh*t. This whole thing is so messed up. I can't believe I'm being used... Again. I also can't believe I let myself explode like that at them. A bunch of guys I barely knew and I'm out here yelling at them like that's ever worked out in my favor. None of them gave me the vibe that they'd be violent but I've learned that people can't be trusted no matter what kind of vibe they give off. 

 The car slows down and I look out the window to a gorgeous two story house with dark red shingles and pale grey-blue walls. This must be where they live. They all began to unbuckled themselves and Zayn and Liam opened their doors. I grabbed my stuff quickly and hopped out of the car before any of the guys sitting in the back with me could. Heading straight for the door, I sent up a silent prayer that the door would be open. It wasn't.

"Hey! Ali, wait up," Liam jogged forward, "Listen, I know it sounds awful but I promise it's not as bad as it seems. If this is gonna work out, you've gotta give us some respect and we'll do the same for you. We can explain the situation a little bit more-" I was tired of listening to him and the anger from earlier started to bubble over again.

"Whatever, I couldn't care less."

"I'm trying to reason with you here. Come on, Ali!" Liam closed his eyes for a moment and took a breath. He was clearly getting frustrated. He lifted his hand up and I flinched backward. Hard. 

I closed my eyes, bracing for the impact of his hand. It never came. I opened my eyes and instead of anger, all I saw was concern and hurt. 

 "You... you thought we would hit you?" Louis was the one to speak up this time and I realized they had all caught up to us by now.

 "I..." I didn't want to explain myself. I didn't want them to know anything about me or my past. "Can we just go inside? I want to unpack considering I have to live here now." 

***

We got in the house and I almost fainted at how big it was. Intricate patterns were etched in the wall boarders and the ceilings were three times my height. A smell of pine needles and cinnamon infiltrated my nostrils and I had to hold back a sigh from the almost comforting scent.

"Do you want to pick your room Ali?" Louis asks me hesitantly, clearly concerned by what happened outside. He was acting as though I was fragile and I hated that. 

"Yeah, why not." We went up the stairs and looked around until I saw the most beautiful room.

It had blue and white walls, a walk-in-closet and a bathroom, though that was like the rest of the rooms we'd seen. The bed was bigger then my half of the room at the group home and white furniture accentuated the rest of the room. The rest of the room was relatively bare, it was clear that it hadn't been decorated or anything. That didn't matter though, it was beautiful all on it's own and had a massive window which let in tons of natural lighting. 

"This one. I like this one." I turned to Louis, "If that's ok."

"Of course, Ali. You get first pick of the rooms. We want you to feel at home." There was an awkward pause. "Well, Harry should be down with dinner in a bit. He used to work at a bakery, ya know, so he does most of the cooking. You can unpack and we'll shout when it's ready."

 "Ok, sounds good." 

"Tomorrow, if you're up for it, we were thinking about heading down to the mall. We've got to get some stuff for the house and you can pick out some stuff to decorate. Get some clothes if you want." Louis took a breath, "We're also gonna have to talk about what happened. Eventually." 

I didn't respond but Louis didn't seem to mind as he headed to the door anyway. After he left the room, I decided to unpack the few things I have. Since I had to pack to soon, a lot of my clothes were dirty or crumpled. I put the clean things away and balled the dirty stuff together and went to find a laundry room. Louis mentioned that it was downstairs somewhere but I didn't pay attention to where. I saw a white door and opened it; I'm pretty sure all the bedrooms were upstairs anyway.

"Oh, sorry, Zayn. I was looking for the laundry room," I was wrong about the bedrooms all being upstairs because I've just opened the door to find Zayn, shirtless, and clearly in the middle of changing. I feel my cheeks grow hot and tingly and I turn away. In a completely non-creepy way, Zayn is... rather attractive. 

"That's alright. I'll show you where it is. It's kinda hard to use too so I'll show you how," Zayn slips on a clean t-shirt and ushers me out of the room, closing the door behind him. 

I mutter a thank you and follow him to a small room at the end of the hall. He shows me how to use the washer and explains how to use the drier properly. 

"I'm sorry again about barging in on you. I thought all the rooms were upstairs." 

"It's no problem. Technically my room isn't supposed to be a bedroom, it's more so a lounge but I'm not a great sleeper and, between you and me, Louis and Harry can be pretty inconsiderate about letting people sleep in. See you at dinner." With that, Zayn walks back down the hall leaving me to my laundry. 

While I wait for the washer to finish, I take a tour of the house making sure not to open anymore doors without knocking. As I wander, I realize that the house isn't as big as I'd initially thought. At least, not when considering it's going to be inhabited by six people. There's a living and dining room combined, the kitchen which I don't actually enter but I can smell garlic and tomato wafting from inside and I hear Harry humming faintly. There's a recreational room where I can hear Louis and Niall watching a football game from and the only reason I know it's football is because Niall shouts "Goal! In your face, Lou!" as I'm walking passed. 

Most of the bedrooms are upstairs including one empty one which I'm assuming was originally meant to be Zayn's. However, there's also a library slash study and, while not many books fill the shelves as of now, I can tell this will become one of my personal favorite rooms. There's also a kind of music room which I'm sure is for the guys to be able to work on their songs and such while staying here. There's a couple guitars and a piano but not much else as of right now. That's one thing I've noticed; most of the rooms are relatively empty but there also aren't any boxes to indicate someone unpacking anything. I find it odd considering six people, five of which had very full lives before this, are currently moving into this new flat. 

I find myself back at the laundry room at the end of my self-guided tour and I switch my load into the drier. The timer says sixty minutes so I head back to my room which is suddenly feeling a lot bigger now that the sun has fully set and there is no longer light pouring in through the window. I flick on a lamp and fall into my bed. The comforter engulfs me entirely and my eyes grow heavy. The faint sound of someone yelling "dinner's ready" travels to me but I'm already far too gone to go down now. To be honest, I didn't want to eat anyhow. Instead, I allow myself to fall effortlessly into another dreamless sleep. So soft.