Something like Olivia

Chapter 24: More Than This (by One Direction)

Basil sits me down on the couch in Liam's room.  Sophia hands me a tee shirt and sweatpants and helps me into the bathroom.  Lottie knocks on the door and Sophia lets her in the bathroom. I stopped crying at some point on the car ride home. I can't think or even move from the edge of the bath tub where Sophia sat me down.  Everyone is moving and talking around me but I feel like time has stopped.  Lottie unties my cami and slips it over my head while Sophia helps take my pants off.  They run a bath for me and help me in the tub and leave me to wash the night away.

Outside the bathroom, I could hear Niall ask Lottie, "How is she?  Is she ok?" 

I slowly let my head sink under the water; I don't want to hear them talk about me and the horrid details of how Niall found me. All the apologies and questions of where everyone was and how did I end up by myself.  It wasn't anyone's fault but mine and I don't want to hear them take the blame.  It was mine and mine alone. 

I am startled by a knock at the door, it brings me back to reality.  I don't know how long I have been in here but it feels like an eternity. 

"Olivia, its Sophia.  There are some people here that need to talk to you about what happened tonight." 

I mumble, "OK, give me a second."

I get out of the tub and change into the clothes that Sophia lent me.  As I am brushing my hair I can see bruises starting to show around my wrist and a little around my neck from being restrained.  I peek my head out of the bathroom and the first person I see is Louis. 

I quietly call him over and ask, "Can you find me a hoodie to borrow?" 

He grabs one of Liam's that is laying around the room and knocks on the door.  There is so much going on in the room that no one notices him grab the hoodie and come to the bathroom door.  I pull him into the bathroom quickly. 

"Are you ok love?" 

I lifted up my arms and show him the bruises and then I point to my neck. "I need the hoodie to hide the bruises. I don't want everyone to look at me more than they already will."

When he looks at my wrist I noticed his eyes linger and have a feeling that he is not just looking at my bruises.  He is looking at my scar.  I quickly put my arms down by my side.  He slowly walks over to me and gives me a gentle hug. "I am so sorry this happened.  We all love you here and will do anything for you." 

The tears start up again.  I feel like such a baby crying in front of Louis.  He hands me the hoodie and I slip it on over my head and wipe the tears with the arm of the sweatshirt.

He grabs my hand. "Ready?  I will walk you out." 

I look at him, shake my head no and say, "I will never be ready for this."

When I come back into the room it's only Niall, Zayn, Basil, a few people from management and the police.  The others have all left and Louis excuses himself as we leave the bathroom.  I look at Niall and for the first time I get a good look at his face.  He has a black eye and dried up blood on the corner of his lip.  I sit next to him and hug him as tight as I can. 

I kiss him on the cheek gently. "We will be ok, I promise." Even during moments when I am hurt I still want to protect him.  I always put others before myself.  His eyes look down at me and I can feel it inside of me that he wants to say something to me.  In this fucked up moment in front of management and the police, we are having our own personal moment.  He is hurt because he was protecting me just as he had promised.  I know that he wasn't there at the beginning but he was there for me in the moment when I needed him most.

The police officer interrupts us, "Ms. McNair we need you to tell us what happened tonight.  Mr. Horan and Mr. Malik have explained their involvement.  We also need to take pictures of injuries.

I look at Niall.  Please don't tell me they took pictures of him.  That is all he needs.  "Oh my god did they take pictures of you?" I can't stand the thought of pictures being taken of him.  What if they get leaked to the media?

Niall starts to rub my back. "Yes but it's ok. Don't worry about me."

The officer asks everyone to leave the room except me so that I can talk to them privately.  I tell the police everything that happened from the minute we got into the club until Basil put me in the car.  I don't know what happened after that.  After I give the details of the assault Niall and management return to the room.

The officer asks, "Would you like to press charges against Jake.  We do have him in custody but we will have to let him go if you choose not to press charges."

April from management says, "We are going to encourage you to press charges.  It will look better for Niall.  Jake has several injuries including a broken nose and two broken ribs. By pressing charges the public will think that we have nothing to hide and that Niall was defending himself."

Niall stands up in a huff.  "Are you guys crazy?  She was almost raped tonight and you are worried about me and how I will look in the media?  This is ridiculous."

The anger is building up in him and I am afraid what will happen when he explodes. 

"I want to press charges.  It is the truth anyway.  I will do whatever I need to make it easier on Niall.  This is not his fault."

I am super pissed off about there reasons for wanting me to press charges.  I would have done it anyway but their reasoning is just fucked up. It really shows that management only cares about how their client looks even if it will hurt the people he cares about.

After they take photos of my arms and neck, me and Niall head back to our room.  I get straight into bed and pull the blankets over me.  Niall turns on the TV and gets ready for bed. 

When we comes back to the room I ask, "Would it be ok if you turn off the TV and come lay with me under the covers.  I just need to be close to you right now."

He agrees and climbs into bed with me.  He lifts his arm and tells me to come rest my head on this chest.  I slide across the bed and crawl into him and rest my head under his arm and on his chest.  He rests his arm around me.  This spot under his arm was made just for me, I fit perfectly into it.  He takes my hair out of the pony tail I put in after my bath and slowly strokes my head.  He reaches over to turn the light off, kisses my forehead, and starts to quietly sing "More Than Words."

I'm broken, do you hear me?
I'm blinded, 'cause you are everything I see,
I'm dancin' alone, I'm praying,
That your heart will just turn around,

And as I walk up to your door,
My head turns to face the floor,
'Cause I can't look you in the eyes and say,

When he opens his arms and holds you close tonight,
It just won't feel right,
'Cause I can't love you more than this, yeah,
When he lays you down,
I might just die inside,
It just don't feel right,
'Cause I can't love you more than this,
Can love you more than, this

If I'm louder, would you see me?
Would you lay down
In my arms and rescue me?
'Cause we are the same
You saved me,
When you leave it's gone again,

And when I see you on the street,
In his arms, I get weak,
My body fails, I'm on my knees,
Prayin',...

My eyes to start to flutter close and his voice puts me to sleep.