Adopted by Sophiam ||l.t

Chapter 7

Louis POV

We all go back to the hotel to hangout until the concert. Zayn goes to his and my room but I go to Harry and Niall's. After about an hour of watching football there comes a knock on the door. Harry gets up and opens it to reveal Venice.

"Ah Venice," he replies cheekily. "I knew you would come to me."

She snorts, "In your dreams Styles."

She shoves past him and walks into the room. "I was looking for Zayn but I'll just tell you guys. I'm going out."

"What do you mean you're going out?" I ask loudly. "Where is Liam and Sophia?"

"Um," her face turns scarlet and she avoids all eye contact. "I-I don't know."

From the look on her face we can all tell what they are doing. Harry smirks then starts giggling which only makes her blush harder. I ignore him and continue my interrogation. "What are you going to do?"

"Well," she sighs and moves farther into the room, taking a seat on the desk. "After lunch I was in the room talking to Liam and Sophia about what else needs done in order for me to leave the country and they were being weird so I was going to go for a run. But I don't even have tennis shoes to run in, so then I was going to go swimming but I don't have a swim suit. So that sucks, but I need to do something. I need some sort of physical activity before I die of boredom."

By the look on Harry's face I can tell he is thinking very dirty thoughts from her last comment. Niall only looks a bit amused but is mainly focusing on the game on the Telly. I try to control my thoughts but my mind is reeling. After shaking away the mental images of her writhing and moaning underneath me, I turn and offer a great idea to get closer to her. "I'll go out with you if you want. We can get you a suit and some trainers."

"Oh no. I couldn't ask you to do that," she looks a bit uncomfortable and worried. "I'm just going to go walk around town, it'll probably be a while before I come back here."

She slides off the desk and walks to the door, opening it and looking back at us. "Tell Liam to text me."

Venice POV

I can't let Louis buy things for me, I can barely handle it when Liam or Sophia do. I start to walk down the hall to the elevator but stop midway, remembering I'll have to pass my room to get there and I don't really want to hear that. So I turn around and use the stairwell on the other side of the hall. We are leaving in the morning for Boston and I'm feeling a bit torn with everything that is going on.

"Venice!" I turn and see Louis jogging down the hall toward me. I stop as I'm about to walk into the stairwell and wait for him. "Would you mind if I joined you? It's a bit stuffy in there."

I smile and nod, glad that Louis is trying to make an effort. We start going down the 12 flights of stairs and he is panting. "Damn why didn't we take the lift?"

I chuckle and try to hide my blush. "Come on. A strong man like you who walks, runs, and dances almost five miles, while singing, almost every night should be able to walk down a few flights of stairs."

"Someone has a mouth on them," he comments under his breath and I laugh.

"You would know all about that wouldn't you, Sassmaster," I tease and he blushes.

"Let's not bring that up," he almost grumbles and I laugh. After a few more levels he speaks up again. "We should have told some guards to come with us."

"Come on Tommo," I tease again, really liking the way he rolls his eyes and a faint tint of pink brushes his cheeks under his scruff. "Live a little."

"I'm 22," he retorts and I laugh. "I've lived and I want to continue living by not being mobbed."

By now we are at the bottom and I tell him to stop and peek out of the door and into the hall. The only person out there is a bell hop. Turning back to Louis, I take off my hat and put it on his head, which makes him immediately start to complain.

"I'm not wearing a girls hat!"

"Shush!" I say sternly and he glares at me. "You've never even worn this kind of a hat before so no one will suspect it. Besides you can't even tell, it looks good on you."

He smirks and I fix the hat and his wardrobe so he doesn't look so himself. I then take his sunglasses off his head and put them on myself and ruffle my hair a bit. With that I grab his hand and sneak him out of the side exit and through the buildings next to us.

"Where are we going?" he whisper yells, holding on tighter to my hand. I smile at the contact but don't look at him.

"We can't exit at the front of the hotel where all of the fans are," I inform. "So we are sneaking to the side."

I smile as the song She's Not Afraid comes to my head at my words and lead Louis through the twists and turns of the block, finally coming out on a street. I glance at the street name and know exactly where we are. I try to let go of Louis' hand but he holds on tighter and intertwines our fingers. Smiling to myself, I lead us down the street, in the opposite direction of the hotel. We walk in a comfortable silence for several minutes, I see Louis smile out of the corner of my eye, probably pleased no one has recognized him. No one is actually even paying attention to us.

"Are you sad to be leaving?" Louis speaks up. I turn and look at him, letting him guide me through the crowds.

"A bit," I answer truthfully. "I've never known any place else, but I'm very happy and grateful for how my life is turning out. I don't know if I would have made it in the house."

"What do you mean?" he finally looks at me. I look at him for a second then turn my attention to the path ahead.

"I've terrible grades. I mean they're decent, better than some but I think if I stayed there, if I hadn't got adopted, not even by Liam, just at all, I wouldn't have been able to make anything with my life," I shrug and glance at the ground. "I never put much effort into my studies or anything else. Never enough money or time."

Louis is silent for a while, just thinking this all through. "Does your past make you sad?"

"It didn't used to, and I try to let it not," I respond, feeling very open and honest. "I just thought that's how everybody's life was like. I mean I knew not everyone's mom dies in childbirth but when my dad became an alcoholic, it didn't even faze me. Ya know? I just thought everyone's life was like that. Of course this was when I was really young so I don't remember all of it, just living with my aunt until I was about 5 then she took me to my dad and never returned. He was in a lot of debt or something so we moved here."

City silence surrounds us and I continue, "I don't remember him ever hurting me, my mind must have locked it away but I remember the teacher asking me to lift my shirt, then she started crying. My arms and abdomen were covered in bruises, my lip was cut open I think. The cops came and we went to my house, they gathered all my things and took me to social services who put me in the house."

We've ended up at a Starbucks and are standing in line for a drink. After we get them, Louis paying, we continue our walk and I continue my story. Louis hasn't said a word this whole time, just listening intently like every word I say is the most important thing ever.

"Miss Sally was very good to me. I had a completely normal childhood and as far as anyone could tell I was doing fine. I really was. What happened didn't even comprehend to me. I was just excited to have new kids to play with," I chuckle a bit and take a sip of my iced caramel frappe. "It wasn't until I was older and people would ask me why I was there that I began to realize what happened wasn't okay. The look of pity and sadness and longing in their eyes ... made me upset. I didn't let it get to me though. That's just what happened, everyone has their own story and that was the beginning of mine."

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