Chapter 2 – Concern
ROSE POV
I inspected the scratch and forming bruise on my cheek and wondered how to hell I’m going to cover this before tonight. Charlotte and Charlie were picking me up in an hour and a half and I had to get dressed quickly. I washed and disinfected my scratch trying to make it less noticeable, sadly no avail. It was a deep cut and I knew I would need foundation to cover this. I had already taken a shower since coming home from the beach and now I was ready to dress myself. I stared in the bathroom mirror and applied some lied foundation hoping it would cover my injuries. I dressed my eyelashes with mascara and was pleased with how my face looked, although the bruise and cut was a flaw. I curled my long brown hair and gave it some volume and then walked to my bedroom to put my clothes on. I wore boyfriend jeans with a long number shirt and wrapped a red flanny around my waist. I matched this outfit with white converse and quickly checked that I looked ok. I checked my phone and saw a text from Charlotte saying that she was coming to my door to get me. As if reading my mind, a knock sounded at my front door. I grabbed my bag and walked to the door and opened it.
“Hey Charlotte!” I exclaimed happily, hugging her tightly. When she pulled away from me, her eyes went wide and I think I know why she had that look; my face.
“What the fuck happened to your face? Oh my gosh Rose!” She screamed worriedly. She put her hand on my face and turned it to get a better look. “Rose who did this to you?”
“It’s nothing, don’t worry about it,” I explained calmly. She gave me a look and sighed,” Fine, my parents were here when I got home and my dad slapped me twice. Second time with a pocket knife between his fingers…” I said, my voice getting lower with each word. She pushed me into her chest and just hugged me. This is why we are friends. “Come on Charlotte, we gotta go.” I told her. We broke from our embrace and we walked fully out the door to the car after locking my apartment.
Charlie waved as I sat in the back, sharing the same look Charlotte did when she saw my face, thankfully though he didn’t as about it, just gave me a shocked and sincere look. As he drove us to the arena the radio was playing softly in the background as I looked out the passing buildings outside. I had so many things on my mind; I couldn’t stop thinking about what my dad did, how he just thought it was ok to just barge into my apartment and repeat my childhood, but then my mind was buzzing with what might happen tonight. Will we even see the boys or will just be like every other experience?
My thinking must have taken up the whole car trip because when I looked out the window next I noticed we were driving behind a building. When Charlie parked the car we jumped out and I followed him to a door. A big built man stood at the door with a clipboard in his, I’m guessing he was a security guard.
“If you don’t have backstage passes, don’t even bother trying to get in.” He said sternly, I can’t blame him, obviously this happens a lot.
“We do.” Said Charlie, handing him our passes I didn’t even know we had. “We’re friends of Louis’.” He explained. The guard let us through and that’s when I saw Louis making his way down the hall to meet us. He smiled and hugged Charlie and Charlotte and his smile only widened when he saw me. When he pulled me in for a hug, I couldn’t help but notice how nice he smells and how nice it is to be hugged by him. He was still holding me when I heard him whisper;
“It’s good to see you again… and don’t think you’ll get away from explaining your cheek babe, may only have met you today but I care about you and this needs an explanation.” He said into my ear before pulling away, kissing my uninjured cheek on the way. I blushed at the word ‘babe’; no one really calls me that. Louis guided us to a room where stood 8 other boys; they were all quite good looking to be honest. “Boys, this is my mate Charlie, his girlfriend Charlotte and this is Rose.” Then he turns to the boys, “This is Harry, Liam, Zayn, Niall, the others of One Direction and that’s Ashton, Luke, Callum and Michael who are an Australian band called five seconds of summer, our opening act.” He explained. We all exchanged our greetings and sat down in the open chairs.
I sat next to Charlotte and Louis on a couch and began to get excited about the show, it would be great to see the boys in their element. Louis and I exchanged small talk as we waited for the start time of the show. At some point he had put his arm behind my head on the couch and I had moved closer.
“What happened to your cheek, it’s worrying me…” he whispered into my ear, sounding concerned.
“Louis… I don’t really think this is the place to discuss this…” I said with a sigh, looking down ashamed. He lifted my chin with his finger and stared into my eyes for a moment before slowly grabbing my hand, intertwining our fingers and guiding me out of the room. He walked us down to a disabled toilet and walked us in, locking the door behind us.
“Rose what happened, just looking at it is hurting me…” he said sincerely, staring into my eyes intently.
I opened my mouth to speak but I couldn’t find the right words, I mean how one describes to another that their own father abused them. “Um-I, um my dad… he did this.” I said shakily, sadness and fear dripping from my tongue. I took a deep breath and began to speak again; “He has abused me before so I’m used to it but it’s been a few years since its happened…”
“Your own dad did this?! Rose, this is not okay, have you called anyone about this?” he asked worried, it was kind of cute how much he cared…
“No I haven’t, but hopefully he won’t do it again.” I reasoned with him.
“Pass me your phone.” He said suddenly. I scrambled to get my phone out of my pocket and handed it to him, intimidated. After 2 minutes he handed it back with a smirk, “If it happens again you are to call me straight away. And if you ever get bored shoot me a text.” I laughed at his cheekiness and moved forward to wrap my arms around his torso. He slowly wrapped his arms over my shoulder and kissed my head. I couldn’t stop the smile and blush that spread across my face.
“Thankyou Louis,” I mumbled into his shoulder, “It means a lot to me.” I further explained.
“Not a problem love,” he pulled away and smiled, “Now I don’t know about you but I have a show to perform and you have one to watch.” He said with a wink. He slowly reached down to grab my hand and walked me down a few hallways until we met up with everyone side stage. Charlotte gave me the ‘give me gossip later’ look and I just blushed and looked down at Louis and I’s hands, still nicely intertwined. I was pulled away from my thoughts with an arm sliding around my waist and a slow kiss being pressed to my head, I looked up to see Louis smiling down at me. “Enjoy the show Rose, I’ll see you later.” He explained as he began to walk away. I quickly gained the courage to shout something before the show started;
“Good luck Louis!” I screamed just as the drums beats kicked in, but I did see his gorgeous smile. The other boys playfully nudged him as the five seconds of summer boys came running off of the stage, finishing their performance. From the last song I heard, they were pretty good. As the show went on, Charlotte and I found ourselves dancing in the wings with Charlie standing beside laughing at me and his girlfriend. The boys came for a few quick changes and then finished their show. All in all it was brilliant! The stage setting, the band and the boy’s voices were beautiful, especially during their slower songs. They really loved their jobs.
We were shown back to the dressing room by a security guard and were told to wait here whilst the boys showered and changed, it was thirty minutes later when Louis and Harry entered the room, Louis smiling brightly as he approached the couch I was sitting on. He drew my body into his side as he threw his arm around my shoulders. I shuffled closer and rested my head on his shoulder. I wasn’t sure what time it was but with his arms around me and the amount of dancing I had done, I was beyond tired and I couldn’t help but fall asleep peacefully.
.....
I was woken up by a shake on the shoulder; I shifted my eyes up and saw it was Charlotte.
“Come on, we’re going to the boys hotel for dinner, you’ve had your little nanna nap.” She winked at me and pulled me off the couch. I rubbed my eyes and stood there waiting for everyone to move out of the room. I spoke to Harry and Niall on the way out, asking about their hometowns and if they enjoyed performing the concert. They were both really great guys from what I had seen. When we reached Charlies car, I hopped in along with Charlie and Charlotte, after receiving directions to the boy’s hotel. I was just about to dose off when I received a text from Louis;
Louis :): Already miss seeing your pretty face :( xx
If I wasn’t blushing before, I certainly was now. He thought I was pretty?
Rose: Aw you’re too kind, I’ll see you soon remember :) xx
I didn’t receive a message back after that because in about 2 minutes we arrived at the hotel, parking the car in visitors parking and going to wait in the lobby for someone to meet us. Hands covered my eyes and I was frightened it was a murderer until I heard the unique voice known as Louis Tomlinson;
“Guess who beautiful.” He whispered in my ear. I grabbed his hands and turned around in his grasp, sliding my arms around his waist nuzzling my head into his chest, smiling to myself.
“Oh get a room you two!” Joked Charlie as he laughed in our direction. I just stuck my tongue out at him whilst Louis gave him the finger, making me giggle quietly. We followed Louis up to their hotel and saw the other One Direction boys sitting on the couch with multiple boxes of pizza, some popcorn and a movie on the TV screen, looks like movie night. Charlie and Charlotte took the available spaces on the couch so I just sat on the ground in front of them. I was surprised when I saw Louis walk toward me with two pillows and a warm looking blanket. He sat down next to me and put the pillow under his bum and offered me the other, me doing the same as him. The blanket was thrown over us both and the lights were switched off. We ate some pizza first before settling back into the couches, or the ground in my case, and watched ‘Just Go with It’ one of my all-time favourite movies. Like before, Louis’ arm made its way around waist and he pulled my body toward his, I set my head on his chest and could hear his heartbeat, it was quite quick… I felt his fingers start to draw circles on my lower back and wondered why he was being so affectionate toward me. I mean we had only met this morning, although it feels like weeks.
“Louis…” I whispered so only he could hear. He turned his head to look down at me, raising his eyebrows in question; “Why are you doing this? I mean being so affectionate…” I asked, curiosity getting the better of me.
“I, um, I like you… I know we only met today, it may seem fast but I just can’t help myself, you’re an amazing girl, I think I’d be worried if I didn’t like you in that way. Is it making you uncomfortable?” He asked, suddenly worried about my response.
“It doesn’t make me uncomfortable, I was just curious… Sorry.” I apologised then turned back to the movie surprised to see it was almost over.
“You’ve got nothing to be sorry for babe.” He reasoned, his nickname causing butterflies to swirl around my stomach and a smile to wash over my face. He could have any girl in the world; literally, I don’t understand why he stooped to me. I looked at my watch and realised how late it was, I had to get home, and I’ve got work tomorrow. I informed Louis of this and turned to Charlie and Charlotte who whined about not wanting to go, but then Charlotte realised her final exam for university is tomorrow and she would need a good sleep. Hugs were shared between all the boys and soon we left to head home. As we drove past the front of the hotel, paparazzi spammed the whole path and a few of the boy’s fans were waiting outside. Come on people! It’s 1am in the morning!
When Charlie reached my apartment building, I thanked him and Charlotte for a great night and told them I’d talk to the soon. I gathered my keys out of my bag before entering my apartment, slightly afraid my dad might just come out of nowhere. Lucky for me that didn’t happen. When I reached my room I carefully wiped the makeup off, careful not to harm my cheek any more than it already is. I quickly brushed my teeth then changed into my pyjamas, hopping into bed. Many thoughts were running through my mind as I tried to sleep that night…
What do you think? Let me know :) xx