SavingGrace626

Grace's P.O.V.

I sat on my bed indian style, Dougie's head on my lap as I held ice to his bruised eye. "Sorry this had to happen on your birthday" i tried to laugh, to make things lighter. He smiled and looked up at me through his uncovered eye. "It was worth it I guess..." he said. I laughed lightly under my breath, trying not to blush..avoiding eye contact with him. "But you have to explain to me...why are you HERE? Mike seemed like such a nice guy...." he started trailing off. I shrugged, removing the ice from his eye as he sat up to face me, leaning his back against the wall and swinging his feet off the end of the bed. I frowned and squeezed the cold ice in my hands. "Aren't your parents looking for you?" he asked.

I shook my head. "My parents died a couple of months ago in a car accident" i said coldly, tears forming in my eyes. "My dad was a big gambler..." I started to explain.. "I guess he owed Mike alot of money..... so when him and my mom died unexpectedly in a car crash, I inherited the debt..." I sighed, wanting to curse my parents for leaving me like this. "Well...who were you staying with?" Dougie asked, "Surely you must have gone to live with a relative?" I nodded, "My great aunt Martha" I grimaced, "she's not exactly ALL THERE...she probably doesnt even realize im not around..." i forced a laugh lightly under my breath. When I looked back up at Dougie, he was frowning, staring into my eyes. I threw the ice at him and stood up, walking across the room and grabbing a blanket from the closet, draping it over my shoulders. Holding the ice made me chilly. "Dont look at me like that" i said. "I dont want your pity...." I whimpered, trying not to upset myself in front of him.

He continued staring at me, as though in disbelief. I couldn't take it any more...but its not like i had any place to go. I climbed into the top part of my bed and pulled the blanket up over my face as I pulled my knees to my chest and burried my face into my pillow. I wiped away a few tears on my cheeks and sniffled. I knew he was still there, probably soaking all of it in...I just didn't want to see him looking at me like that...

Dougie's P.O.V.

I sat on the end of Grace's bed, staring at her lump-of-a-body in disbelief. As her body started shaking under the blanket, i knew she was crying and felt bad for upsetting her. I couldn't believe this was happening!! This poor girl who has no one in the world....who is so innocent and kind....being forced to live like this?... It just didn't make any sense..Mike seemed more understanding then that.... Before I knew what I was doing, the words found their way out of my mouth.

"How much?" I asked, almost feeling embarrased afterwards..like it wasnt my place to know.
"20,000" she sniffled from under the blanket. My mouth dropped. That was alot of money... "Well what if I lend it to you?... You could pay me back whenever you wanted...I wouldn't mind...." I started.. She cut me off though as she jumped up on the bed, her tear streaked face appeared from under the blanket shaking her head. "Dougie..that's sweet..but I cant let you do that!!" she exclaimed. I didn't understand why she wouldn't let me help her. I nodded. I guess she probably just doesn't feel comfortable taking money from a stranger... plus...im 18 years old..she probably thinks I dont HAVE the money. "How bout we're friends then?" I asked..hoping this would cheer her up. Sure enough, a smile beamed across her face and she hugged my shoulders lightly. "Thanks..i'd like that.." She smiled and wiped away the remaining tears from her face.

"Don't you want to go back out with your friends?...it's your birthday" she asked. I frowned. It was my birthday...but I just wasn't in a partying kinda mood. I wasn't cynical or mad that I wasn't in a partying mood though. I shrugged, "I'd kinda prefer to ....stay....if thats okay.." I said slowly, trying to read her response : to decide if she wanted me to go or not. She smiled lightly and nodded, leaning over to a small desk and turning on a radio. "Whatever floats your boat" she smiled, as 'The War' by Angels and Airwaves came over the airwaves.

I pulled my phone out of my pocket, kind of surprised the boys hadn't rang or anything. I flipped it open and noticed '16 Missed Calls'. I laughed, realizing my phone was on silent. I had been upstairs with Grace for nearly 2 hours...they probably thought i was dead or something. I decided to call Harry to let him and the boys know where I was and to explain and stuff. "Be right back..." i started, as I opened the door and started dialing as I locked myself outside in the empty hallway.

Harry's P.O.V.

I was sitting around the small round table with the boys, chatting up a few waitresses when my phone started ringing. I picked it up, noticing it was Dougie. We had all called him several times, but none of us could figure out why he wasn't picking up. We hypothesized that maybe he was getting lucky on his birthday. "Doug?" I answered the phone. "Hey Harry... I know it's my birthday and all..but do you guys mind if I call it a night for now?.." he asked. I furrowed my eyebrows.. That's strange... "Uhm..are you okay Dougie?" I asked. I now had the attention of the other guys at the table. Danny yelled behind me, "give me the phone! he cant miss out on this!" making implications to the women surrounding us. I scoffed and slapped Danny's hands away.

"Doug..whats wrong?" I asked again. I heard him sigh on the other end of the phone. "Can I explain it to you guys at home later?.. It's kinda complicated..." he said quietly. This is so shady, but i agreed. I told him we were just gonna finish dinner and then probably go home, stopping maybe to rent a few movies on the way home. "Call if you need anything else okay..and you promise you're alright?" I asked, just double-checking. "Yeah..i'm fine..i'll call if i need anything..see you later" he responded. I closed my phone and shoved it back into my pocket. The other boys were looking at me confusedly, wanting details. I shrugged, "He said he'd meet us at home..." i responded, throwing my hands up to signify that I had no idea what was going on with him.

Piczo