Zayn’s P.O.V
I watched as Charlotte quickly got out of the car and walked to the beach. I followed her out of the car and saw her standing in the sand looking around. When she didn’t see anyone she lifted her face to the sky and screamed. The scream was full of all the pain that she endured, and anger she had. It was painful to watch her be in so much pain. I ran to her side as I saw her collapse to the sand. I held her in my lap and she buried her head in my chest and cried.
I closed my eyes and did my best to soothe her. She had just told me her story. How she was diagnosed with cancer, how her best friend cut herself for Charlotte. She told me how that girl had committed suicide, and then left her a note. She basically had the note memorized and repeated it to me, how they met because of the Cheetah Girls, and how she was offered the program here and took it as an opportunity to move on. I felt a few tears escaped from my eyes, no one should ever have to go through any of that, and dealing with all of that seemed unbearable.
I promise that I will always be there to help her. I will be there for her every step of the way, as her brother, friend, and supporter. I will do everything in my power to help her. I silently promised this to myself. I knew that I would have to tell her this so that she knew, but I needed to promise it to myself first.
We sat there for 15 minutes until she had run out of tears to cry. She lifted her head and looked up at me. I could see all the pain in her eyes, but I could also see how weak and tired she was.
“Come on, let’s get you home, you need to sleep.” I gently said as I carefully helped her to her feet and supported her as she walked to the car. I helped her inside and made sure she was buckled before I ran to the driver’s side and hopped in. I started to drive home before I realized something.
“Niall still thinks that you are at the hospital, he will want to come pick you up.” I pulled over, “Here let me see your phone and I will text him from there.”
She silently gave me her phone and I sent out a mass text to all the boys, even my phone.
(To all) Hey guys, I’m done now, can someone come and get me?
My phone beeped a few seconds after and I quickly texted everyone back.
Im only a few minutes from the hospital, ill pick her up and bring her home
I knew Niall wouldn’t be happy with me, he was really looking forward to seeing her again, but I knew she didn’t want anyone seeing her right now. I could tell she was still hesitant to have me see her like this. I put away the phones and started to drive again. We pulled up to the building that we both lived in and I looked around to make sure none of the lads were around. They had been at Harry and Lou’s when I left so I assumed they were still there.
I hopped out of the car and helped Charlotte out. Together we walked to the building and into the elevator. I was constantly checking to see if any of the lads were there.
“Which floor?”
“5.” Her reply was short but I could still tell how upset she was. I was also surprised; I lived on the fifth floor too. I punched the 5 button and waited as I felt the elevator jerk upwards. Charlotte was still leaning on me and I had an arm around her back to help support her. “What number?” I was trying to make her talk as little as possible; I knew she was tired and upset.
“510” I steered her out of the elevator and cautiously rounded the corner. None of the lads were in the corridor, thankfully. I helped her down the hallway, and a few doors later I found 510. I gently grabbed her purse and dug around in it until I found the keys. I unlocked the door and helped her inside. I led her into the bedroom, the layout was similar to mine so it was easy to find. I laid her down on the bed and contemplated what I should do. I decided to take off her shoes and her hat. I didn’t want to take off her jeans, even though I knew she would be more comfortable without them. I could tell she was already half-asleep, so I pulled back the sheets and laid her under them. I was about to walk out when she grabbed my hand.
“Zayn…I’m sorry…” She choked the words out. I sat down on the bed.
“Don’t be sorry, none of this is your fault, you needed to get everything off your chest, to not have anyone that you can talk to about all this must have been frustrating, but I will be here to talk whenever you need it. You can tell me anything. I promise.” She smiled and started to tear up, but I knew it wasn’t out of sadness, but happiness that I understood. “Goodnight.” I placed a short kiss on her forehead and got up. When I reached the door I turned around.
“Thank you, Zayn.”
“You’re welcome.” I shut the door and turned off the door. I went into the kitchen and found some paper. I then wrote her a short note.

I have your keys, I wanted your door to be locked tonight. I am in room 523, come get them as soon as you wake if I am not here before that. I will come check on you once I get up.
~Zayn xx

Charlotte’s P.O.V.
I remember Zayn taking me back to my flat, promising that he would always be there for me, and the smell of smoke. I remember telling Zayn everything. It was a relief, knowing that he promised he would always be there. I opened my eyes and slowly adjusted my eyes to the brightness of the room. I pulled the covers down to see I was still in my jeans, I was glad he hadn’t taken them off for me, I only just met him and wasn’t comfortable with that yet. My hands reached down and I pulled off the jeans, feeling the comfort of free legs. I wasn’t that tired any more so I got up out of bed to go get breakfast. Before I left the room I grabbed a pair of loose sweatpants and put them on, when I looked up my eye caught the clock and I saw that it was 11:30! Jeez I slept in late! I guess I deserve to sleep in late though, that treatment really tired me out. Feeling slight soreness in my arms I glanced down to see the bruises on my arms. They didn’t look any worse, but they certainly didn’t look any better.

My stomach rumbled loudly so I slowly made my way to the kitchen. I saw a note on the table and scanned it.

I have your keys, I wanted your door to be locked tonight. I am in room 523, come get them as soon as you wake if I am not here before that. I will come check on you once I get up.
~Zayn xx

Well that was nice of him. I decided I would make myself some toast, seeing as that is all that I had bought for breakfast so far, and then go and see him. I popped the bread into the toaster and hummed to myself while it cooked. I put some butter, sugar and cinnamon on top of the bread before putting on some slippers, and slipping on a loose jacket to cover the bruises on my arms.
I walked out of my flat, closed the door behind me and tried to find his flat. It was just around the corner so it only took me a few seconds to get there. I knocked on the door, hoping he would be up and able to hear me. After a few seconds the door was flung open. Zayn was standing there with nothing but sweats on. He didn’t have a shirt on, which I didn’t mind because he had a GREAT 6 pack. He invited me in and then zipped a jacket halfway up. He led me into the kitchen and put the kettle on.
“How are you feeling?” He asked hesitantly, as if afraid that I was going to get mad at him for asking.
“A lot better than yesterday. I want to thank you, for listening to me, for not saying everything was going to be ok, for not showing sympathy, for your promise…I haven’t really talked about any of this except with my parents and Kylie, and you are the only one I have talked to this freely about Kylie. It feels really good to get that all off my chest, and have someone to talk to. So, thank you. And thank you for taking care of me last night, I know I was pretty messed up.” He listened to me ramble silently.
“I will always be here for you from now on, and you’re welcome, and I’m glad you trust me enough to talk to me about this stuff. I respect that you want to keep this quiet, but I do think that you should tell the lads if you start to get closer with them, which I hope you will. And, I was wondering if I can start calling you Lottie?” My smile grew through his mini speech; it made me feel really welcome. I chuckled when he mentioned that nickname.
“Of course you can! My brother calls me that too since Charlotte is such a long name. Call me Char or Lottie-your pick!” I smiled and laughed. I couldn’t wait to start getting to know the boys better. The tea kettle started to whistle at the exact second that Zayn’s door flew open. All the boys stumbled through it as Zayn started to pour two cups of tea. He handed me one and I gladly took it as all the boys were staring at me in surprise.
“Mornin’ lads.” Zayn said ever so casually.
“Wha…did she sleep here last night?” Liam asked in disbelief.
“Whoa, no I didn’t! Zayn brought me to my flat last night and took my keys so he could lock the door, and I came over a few minutes ago to get them and we started talking.”
“Oh, ok. How was the doctors?” Harry asked as he went over to the fridge and got and apple out. I looked at Zayn before hurriedly replying “Uh, it was fine, I hate needles though, so it was kind of a downer.”
Niall came up to me and gave me a small hug. I gingerly wrapped my arms around him, trying not to bend my arms too much because of the bruises. “Sorry I wasn’t able to come pick ya up last night! Zayn beat me to it!” I laughed at his cheeky remark, but silently thanked that he hadn’t seen me last night. He smiled at me when he let go. “Want anything to eat?” He asked as he made his way over to the pantry. “Ya know I am in the mood for some chocolate pancakes…” My mouth practically started drooling at the thought.
“WELL THEN LET’S GET SOME PANCAKES!” Lou yelled and he hopped off the stool he was sitting on and ran to the door like a little kid about to go for ice cream. I laughed and ran after him. “LET ME GET MY PURSE, THEN VAMOS!!!!” I yelled right back at him as I ran out of the flat and led the way to my flat. I burst into the flat and soon all the boys followed suit. I ran into my room, grabbed my purse and then a hair tie. I was coming out of the room and putting my hair in a ponytail and saw them all surveying the rooms.
“You really need to decorate this place!!” Lou exclaimed, staring at all the white walls.
“So even though I only moved in two days ago I should already have it decked out in decorations?” I said sarcastically.
“Yes, yes you should!” I laughed at his response.
“Well then, that will be my plan for the day—pimp out the flat.”
“I wanna help!” The boys chorused and I giggled at their enthusiasm.
“Breakfast first, decorate later!” I skipped out of my apartment and looked back to see Zayn locking the door. He smiled at me as I thanked him and handed me back my keys. We all piled into the elevator next to a man in a suit who looked at us like we were crazy. I exchanged looks with all the guys before bursting into laughter; we looked like a bunch of adult children in our pjs at 11:30 talking about chocolate pancakes.
I was the first to step out of the elevator and the guys followed suit.
“Where we goin’?” I asked as we skipped down the road.
“There’s a café down the road that makes THE BEST pancakes you will ever eat in your life!” Niall said as he practically sprinted down the road.
“Wow, he really DOES love his food!” I laughed as Niall ran back to where we were all walking and tried to push us all into going faster.
“MOVE!!!!!! 1-I’m hungry! 2-I see paps!” Niall and Zayn both grabbed my hand and started running down the road. However, I was still really weak and stumbled after a few steps. Zayn understood and quickly picked me up piggy back style and ran with me down the road. I was laughing at the rush of running from the papas and was slightly disappointed when we ran into the café and hurried to the back of the shop. We all bent down and caught our breaths while a waiter handed us menus and led us into a more secluded section of the café, well you couldn’t see the windows from that section which mean the paps couldn’t see us.
I looked at the menu and scanned the page for chocolate chip pancakes. Niall seemed to know what I was looking for and pointed them out to me. I scanned over the description and saw that it only came with three pancakes. I frowned,
“What’s up?” Niall asked over the noise of the other guys messing around.
“It only comes with three pancakes…I want more than that…no I NEED more than that!” I said in all seriousness and the whole table shook with laughter as the guys cracked up. “What?”
“Just get two orders!” Lou said in a well duh voice.
“But that is only six pancakes…” Niall had a goofy grin plastered on his face as everyone else exchanged looks.
“I have never seen a girl eat more than six pancakes!!” Harry exclaimed.
“Well, better get used to it with me! I LOVE my food!” They all cracked up again, but all seemed to end smiling at Niall, each with a different type of grin on their face. Niall didn’t see their looks though; he was too busy looking at me with a huge smile on his face.
What will it be today lads…and lady?” The waiter asked, surprised to see me there. Everyone looked at me expectantly.
“Can I have three orders of the chocolate chip pancakes?” I asked as he took my menu. “Oh and some water please!” The waiter nodded as he wrote down my order.
“I’ll have the same as her.” Niall said, rubbing his hands together like he couldn’t wait to dig his hands into the pancakes.
“Of course you will Niall!” The waiter joked and it became obvious that the waiters knew the boys well because they probably came here a lot.
“Waffles with a side of strawberries.” Liam piped up.
“Same here.” Harry said.
“Pancakes with extra whip cream!” Louis spoke, acting like a little kid.
“What?! They have whip cream!? I didn’t know that…” I spoke in a pouty voice as the waiter walked away.
“Hey, Carson! Can we get a LOT of whip cream?” Niall called down after the waiter.
“Sure thing!” He called back.
“Thanks Niall!” I smiled gratefully at him.

Notes

So sorry I haven't updated recently! I will try to post another chapter tonight to make up for it!
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