Hi guys! First of all thank you so much for 900 views! That's amazing, you rock! Sorry this took a while I've had a lot of homework, revision and mock exams. I just hope it was worth the wait! xx
ILY
Lexi's POV
I stood up gingerly, careful not to put too much pressure on my bruised, sore body that was throbbing in pain. Ouch. I limped over to my bedroom mirror. I looked appalling... I had a huge black eye and my body was basically purple due to the amount of bruises.
"Just get on with it." I whispered to myself as I delicately tried to get dressed. You know when you break a bone or have a scab and you have to be super careful when you try and put someone on? Imagine that with your whole body. It's not fun. I grabbed a blue striped white short sleeve t-shirt, a pair of denim skinny jeans, a lightweight cardigan plus my converse and sunglasses. I took my pants and balanced on one leg trying to get one leg in and as I am an absolute klutz, I fell over. I stumbled to my feet, clutching my back in agony. I walked into my mum's bedroom and fished out some of her make up since I don't wear any. I hate make up, it makes me feel like a barbie doll but I needed to cover up the purple around my eye. I walked outside in my pajama top just for a second to gauge the temperate, it was quite warm but not sunny... Damn English weather, it's never what you want it to be... So now I would be the idiot in layers and sunglasses on a warm day with no sun. Fan-frickin-tastic.
On my way to meet someone very special! You'd be jealous if you knew :) I tweeted to my rapidly growing 10,000 followers, one of which is Nathan's. Of course I got some wild assumptions and some Tell me now!'s but I said nothing... I'm sure a few of them could put something vaguely along the lines of reality together but none of them seemed to, thank god because I don't think Nathan would be too happy with me if they worked it out though so I decided to stay off Twitter.
I yelped as I leaned over to tie my shoes, my back was getting a lot worse, not better which I hoped it would. I limped into the kitchen and found it empty apart from a note taped to the fridge
I'm going away for the week. I trust you to stay alive whilst I'm gone. See you, Mum.
Typical emotionless, loveless Mum.
I grabbed my keys and headed out the door, my back ached with every movement but I kept walking, moving to the beat of the song blaring through my IPod. (Best song song to walk to or should I say march to has got to be Personal Solider). I got to the bus stop and... No one was there. I checked the time on my phone and I was on time in fact I was 5 minutes late. I sat down inside and let my thoughts run away with me. Did I imagine him? Am I crazy? Or maybe Alex hired him to test my loyalty? Maybe it would just be better for me to leave, for all of us... I stood up in the corner as I heard voices outside
"Do think she stood me up?" Someone said in a familiar accent from the farmland
"Maybe she realised it was for the best." A different voice said
I peaked my head around the corner quickly and saw Nathan pacing slightly and talking to Big Kev
I walked out with my arms behind my back
"No she's not bright enough to realise that." I said, smiling a cheeky grin at Nathan
He turned on his heals and smiled back at me
"Oh hi! Didn't see you there! Let's go!"
"It probably would have been best to look around the area before you start pacing like caged lion." I said, sarcasm dripping through my voice. Nathan skipped over comically and took my arm and linked it with his. I winced a little as he tugged on my bruised arms but smiled through it. He started skipping again and I erupted in a fit of giggles
"Come on! Don't be a spoil sport and skip with me!"
"Oh alright!" I skipped along with him up the road up to a big black car
"Fancy!" I said
I opened the door and sat down on a damn comfy seat.
"So... Where we going Sykes?"
"Well... We're going to a Celebrity only cafe!"
"Ooh! Sound cool! What's the back-story of that place? Those places always have a back-story!"
"So, you know my sister Gabby had cancer right? Well, after she got over it, she went back to school but she'd missed all of her exams or missed all the prep. Well, she was pretty upset. She loves music and she failed her music exam because she missed the final chance. So I met up with her in this cafe to talk about it. Basically, the paps were outside heard the conversation and the next day the headlines were 'I guess musical talent doesn't run in the family' then all of her grades that ranged from U to C. She was devastated. I called my friend Nurul, we couldn't have been closer friends in school, she was always the smart one and I hoped she would do something huge. She opened a little cafe exclusively for celebrities and you have to book it otherwise it wont be open, it's become really popular in the famous community. I'm really proud of her." Nath explained, smiling like a proud mother .
"Ah but... Is the hot chocolate any good?"
"The hot chocolate is spectacular." I squealed melodramatically and high fived Nathan. Then it hit me... I just high fived Nathan Sykes. Millions of girls would kill to be in my position right now. Nathan just makes me so comfortable, like I've known his for years...
"We're here!" He bellowed
He hopped out quickly and ran around the side of the car and opened to door for me like a gentleman, he held out his hand and I leaned on his arm as I jumped down. He led me through the doors a little shop, you wouldn't think much of it from the outside. It was an empty white room, abandoned
"Nathan, what's happe-" Nathan walked forward and pushed on a little part of the wall and pulled me towards it
"I'm really not comfortable with th-" He took my hand and gripped it and the wall spun around like they do in those movies, you know the bookcases that lead to a library that has all the answers. My heart was pounding like crazy, what is going on? I closed my eyes and tried to slow my breathing down
"Hey, it's okay. Open your eyes." He whispered. I opened my eyes and we were somewhere completely different, it was a swanky, modern place that was more of a restaurant than a cafe.
"NAAATTHHHHAANNNNN!" A girl called as she ran from somewhere I hadn't noticed and into Nathan's arms
"Sup Nurul!" He lifted her up and swung her around
"Missed ya Nathy!" She squealed
"You too! I'm going to put you down before I get dizzy and throw up!" Nathan laughed. I was stood in the corner confused and alone
"Nath... Who's this?" Nurul was a very pretty girl, she had blonde hair tied into a small bun with a side fringe sweeping across her baby blue eyes. She was probably the perfect weight. She wore a gray leopard collared shirt with a black pencil skirt and black brogue high wedge shoes.
"This is Lexi... My friend."
"Your friend or your ffrriiieennnnddd?" I chuckled
"We're just friends!" I exclaimed blushing
"I'm going to go order, you look around." Nathan said, smiling at me
I walked around and saw loads of different photographs of Nurul and celebrities with a cup of something or other: Little Mix, The Wanted, Justin Timberlake, Beyonce and Jay-Z, Justin Bieber, Prince William and Harry, Fall Out Boy, Ellie Goulding and Calvin Harris to just name a few! She was unbelievable! I found a glass table with some wooden chairs that looked really comfy and sat down, minutes later Nathan appeared with a tray and he placed a mug of hot chocolate with marshmallows and chocolate that looked amazing and a HUGE piece of cake that looked bigger than my hand! Nathan had a huge mug of tea and some biscuits that looked hand made
"Best cuppa I've ever had!"
I grabbed a spoon and started scooping some of the chocolate off and the marshmallows tasted amazing
"Mmmmm, did you make these?" I shouted out the Nurul
"Freshly made last night in preparation for you guys!"
"They are AMAZING!"
"Glad you like them!"
"Come on, Lexi! Eat some of Nurul's legendary chocolate fudge cake." Nathan said, pushing the small mountain of chocolate towards me. The smell wafted up towards me and my stomach lurched and heaved as a grabbed a fork a scooped a bit into my mouth. Damn, it was delicious, that is until my stomach rejected it. I placed my hand over my mouth and shot up
"One minute!" I ran to the bathroom, which I had conveniently noticed when I walked around, but heard Nathan sighing. I ran into a cubicle and leaned over as I threw up the very minuscule content of my stomach. I took off my sunglasses and wiped away the tears that always came when I was sick and tried to get rid of the make up. I heard someone knock at the door
"Are you alright?" Nurul said
"Yep." I said, plastering of a fake smile and walking out but she gave me a look like 'who are you kidding?'
"Nathan cares about you, you know? I can tell. He can help you."
"Yeah by shipping me off to the next doctor to deal with loonies like me..." I said, looking down at my feet
"Don't call yourself a loony ever, ever again! Nathan would never do that. Never. Please just let him help you." She told me forcefully but gradually becoming gentler. I shook my head and ran out the toilets and sat back down at the table.
"So... You're anorexic?" Nathan said, surprising me so much that I dropped my cup of hot chocolate but luckily caught it without burning myself or smashing a beautiful cup.
"Thought so... Look I can help you." I shook my head slowly
"Alright then, I don't want to do this believe me, but I have to find out... Why are you wearing sunglasses indoors? And why are you wearing a cardigan on a warm day?"
"I don't know... I just am..."
"Someone is hurting you, aren't they?" He said but I didn't reply
"Aren't they?" He asked sternly, I shook my head quickly not trusting my voice
"Take off your cardi and sunglasses and make me believe you." I shook my head again
"Alright. You can take them off now and I'll take you to our band doctor that has no obligations to the police or the hospitals, or I will personally march you down to the nearest hospital and you can be poked and prodded and the police will get involved to find out what the hell is going on. Your choice." I stood up quickly and tried to find the exit, he ran after me and grabbed me by the wrists causing me to scream out in pain and pinned me up against the wall. I whimpered... He's just like Alex, why would I think anyone would ever treat me differently? He reached forwards so close our noses were practically touching and then took off my sunglasses
"Oh Lexi... How?" I shook my head again whilst he looked at my black eye. He released me and looked at me pitifully. I reached towards my cardi with shaky hands and pulled it off. He took a sharp intake of breathe as he studied my battered arms
"Lexi... I will never ever hurt you. And I'm going to help you. I promise you. I will." He said, his voice about as shaky as me. He was standing so close... He wrapped his arms around me gently for a moment then took my hand carefully.
"Nurul! Get over here so I can give you a hug!" Nathan called, a moment later Nurul was running round the corner straight into Nathan which knocked him off balance a bit but he didn't quite fall
"Aww, Nath! I don't want you to go!" She said, fake pouting
"I'm taking Lexi here to see Taraf!"
"Good!" She gave me a careful hug then pressed a bag into my hand
"What? I like knowing I fed people well. Plus, everyone loves a doggie bag! (That's what we English folk call a leftover bag)"
Nathan leaned forwards towards her as if to kiss her but flicked her on the nose instead, she in reply, slapped him in the face playfully. Nathan reluctantly stepped back and took my hand again. He turned and hit the wall to my confusion and then moved me against the wall as we turned back into the small disguise room.
"She's sweet." I said
"Yeah, she is." Nathan said as Kev pulled up in front of us
"So, back home Lexi?"
"Actually no, we're taking her to go see Tari." Kev didn't say much after that, he just drove for about 30 minutes until we stopped outside a tour bus. The Wanted's tour bus. We jumped out and he showed me inside. Surprisingly it was quite big, obviously tight but really long! I couldn't stay on here though, too claustrophobic. Nathan starting walking and I followed him down, he started pushing away curtains until he found... Max lying next to a girl and making out with her...? She immediately jumped upwards and started smoothing down her hair, all the time she was blushing like a tomato. She had black straight hair which was a bit messy from lying down and blue eyes like the ocean, she was undeniably beautiful. She laced her fingers in with Max's and stood up. She was fairly tall around 5ft 7 but shorter than Max.
"What?" Max said, rather annoyed
"Err, Tari will you check out Lexi for me?"
"Oh, do you consider me an actual doctor for once Nath?"
"Pwease?" He pouted
Taraf looked me up and down thoughtfully then pushed Nathan out of the way.
"We'll be at the bottom of the bus. If you come down there I will hurt you, just a fair warning." She joked with a slight truthfulness. She walked down and gestured for me to follow her down then he patted a kind of doctors table for me to sit on
"Right. So... Anorexic and abused... Doubtful whether it is self inflicted." She said bluntly and I think my jaw dropped open
"Y-yes."
"Right. If you want professional help you will have to visit me several times. But for now, I just need to check you out. Any areas hurting in particular?"
"My back." She started checking me out, cleaning any cuts and putting ice on my eye
"Looks like a bruised spine but it is in extremely bad condition. I would suggest that you rest for a while but I'm doubtful you would but it will get worse if you don't."
"O-Okay."
"Phew. I hate going all serious doctor mode! I think if I acted like me no one would ever take me seriously!" She babbled, her serious demeanor bursting like a bubble. I think my jaw just about hit the floor
"I know, shocking right? I kinda love surprising people like that!" I could tell she was chatty so I just laughed nervously
"So, how do you know Nath? He's a total sweet heart but super gullible so he's basically my prank victim." She smiled at me as she sat down next to me.
"I don't really..."
"Does he know about your... Situation?"
"Err... Yes? No? He knows what's up but not the technicalities."
"Well, I'm a therapist. And I have ears." She smiled, pointing to her ears
"Errr... I'm not so sure I want a therapist..."
"Good because I'm off hours. Do you want a friend?" I sighed and nodded
"My boyfriend he... he has been hurting me a lot for 2 years even when I don't do anything wrong... He just wont stop, I feel so hopeless and trapped. And I stopped eating for him and now, even if I want to, I just can't..."
"Have you reported him?"
"No! He-He'll hurt me... he'll kill me."
"Oh hun." She leaned towards me and wrapped her arms around me and hugged me for a few moments as I pushed back my tears. She pulled back quickly when she heard a tiny thud and whisper
"NATHAN JAMES SYKES, WHAT DID I TELL YOU? YOU NOSY PARKER! Well not actually Parker we have one of them. AND DON'T YOU TRY TO SNEAK AWAY NOW, GET IN HERE!" She shouted at the door and a second later Nath peered around the curtain. Taraf jumped up immediately and started hitting him
"I told you not to come down here!" I stood there shocked at her beating Nathan like this
"Sorry!" Nathan laughed.
"Right, I am going to go cuddle with my man since we were so rudely interrupted." She said shooting daggers at Nath
"But maybe you two should talk." She said as she waltzed out the room.
Nath looked up at me
"How much of that did you hear?" I asked
"All of it." I sighed
"Come on." He said softly and he laced his fingers in with mine and lead me out of the room
Well that was long, wasn't it? Hope I didn't bore you to death!
Anyway, 1000 total views and you can have a new chapter, deal? xx
Let me know your thoughts on the book, good/ bad, favourite characters, what you want to happen! xxxxxxx :) ILY