Look After You - A Louis Tomlinson Love Story

Chapter 11: Not So Much of a Stranger

My eyes fluttered open. I was in a car, it was dark, and I couldn't tell exactly where we were. Instantly I felt pain all over my body. I groaned and the person in the driver's seat turned to look at me. "He" must've noticed I was waking up, as he pulled over to the side of the road and stopped the car. I felt his warm, comforting hand touch my shoulder, and I managed to smile a little.

"Glad to see you're awake love." he smiled, and I knew exactly who it was.

"Liam? What, where, huh?" I questioned, he giggled.

"I was coming home from the store, and I saw you in the park, with that guy. It looked like he was trying to hurt you, and I couldn't let that happen. Do you know who he was?"

"That was... he's my ex-boyfriend. I caught him cheating on me before Christmas break. He's on the guy's soc- football team from my area; they played here for the semi-finals in their divisions. I knew he was here, I just didn't expect him to come after me." I sighed.

"Wow, that's complicated. But, I don't think you have to worry about him anymore. I mean, you're staying in a house with five pretty amazing guys that care about you a lot. We will always be around to protect you, Ashley. So don't be afraid to tell us if something or someone is bothering you, alright?" Liam was so sweet.

"Okay. Thank you so much Liam, I don't know what would've happened if you didn't show up."

"No problem. Let's get home so we can fix those scrapes and bruises." He said, touching my forehead. I winced in pain, and he instantly pulled away.

"Liam, can you not tell Louis about this? I don't want him to get freaked out or anything. Let's just keep this our little secret, okay?" I pleaded.

"Okay" he sighed, "But I honestly think you should tell him, it might help."

"No, I can't. Sorry, let's just go home. I'm sure Niall's starving."

And with that, Liam started the car back up and we headed home. I looked at myself in the mirror: I looked like crap. I was covered in blood and dirt. Ew, I really needed a shower. Luckily I barely felt any more pain, so it was just my appearance that would be noticeable to the rest of the guys. We parked in front of the house and Liam ran up to unlock the door.

"I'll get the groceries, you can go ahead inside." He said, helping me out of the car.

"Thanks." I said, opening the door and looking around the house. Of course, Louis was sitting in the living room. He smiled when he saw me come in. I shot him a quick smile, hoping he didn't get a good glimpse of my face. I began to walk over to the bathroom when Louis stopped me.

"Bo, love, are you alright?" he said from behind me.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just need to wash my hands before dinner." I said with my back turned to him.

"Hold on," he said, grabbing my shoulder and slowly walking over to face me. His eyes widened when he saw me, and I could almost feel the pain in his throat when he spoke.

"Oh my God, what happened to you? I thought you were just going for a walk!" He said, caressing my cheek light enough where I didn't feel any pain. Well that plan backfired.

"I- uh- I fell." I lied, really badly.

"Nice one babe, now tell me the truth. Do you want to go somewhere more private?" He said as I turned to see Zayn now entering the room. I nodded and he led me upstairs to his room.

"So, what happened?" he whispered, rubbing my back as I sat down on his bed.

"I was running, and I saw this guy: my ex-boyfriend. He tried- he..." I couldn't finish my sentence. "It's okay, you can cry if you want you know." He smiled.

"No. I can't. I don't cry." I said, wiping a small drip of water off of my cheek: the beginning of a tear. After my break up with Austin I swore I would never cry in front of anyone ever again.

"Okay, so what did "he" try to do?"

"He tried to rape me. I punched him and tried to make a run for it, but he caught up and beat me. Liam saw us and he managed to get Austin to leave."

"Oh my God baby, I... I had no idea, I'm so sorry" he said, pulling my in for a big hug.

"It's okay. I'm just going to stop thinking about it."

"That's good. Why don't we go clean you up?" Louis said, grabbing my hand and taking me into his bathroom. He grabbed me by the waist and set me on the counter. Then he pulled out a washcloth from under the sink, wet it, and put it up against my face. He was so amazing, and I was so helpless. He must think I'm just some girl that can't do anything for herself; great. I looked over at him, his eyes deeply concentrating on one cut at the bottom of my chin. He looked up at my eyes, and I blushed, looking back down at the ground. He giggled and I smiled.

"There, that looks good. Do you feel okay?"

"Yeah. I'm fine now, thank you Lou." I smiled, slipping off the counter and walking out the door beside him.

"Just doing my job" he smiled, intertwining his fingers with mine.

We headed back downstairs and joined the rest of the boys for dinner. No one else asked me about what had happened, so I'm guessing that I either looked okay or Liam had already told them. Either way, I was happy I didn't have to talk about it. I looked at Liam from across the table and smiled. I really couldn't thank him enough, he pretty much saved my life. How lucky am I to have three great best friends, an awesome brother, and a completely amazing boyfriend all looking after me?