CHAPTER FIVE – adventure time

Louis' POV

Looking at Sydney I had no idea why she would do this to herself. She was perfect. She was beautiful, intelligent, and talented. Each scar represented a time she had cried, and it made my heart ache. Did she think she was ugly, did she think she was fat? I hadn't known her more then three hours and yet I was determined to make her better, to keep her healthy.

I jumped as the doorbell rang and my phone started vibrating simultaneously. Sydney pulled her sleeve down and walked to the door, grabbing her purse along the way. She was just about to open the door for the pizza man when Niall appeared. He placed his hand in the small of her back.

"Let me," he said reaching for his wallet.

Sydney thanked him and continued to open the door. She took the food from the pimple-faced boy who was gawking at her. She still seemed not to notice. She handled about six pizzas in her arms. Setting them down, she told us to dig in and then walked into the other room. Everyone was too busy stuffing their faces to notice. I only took one piece and let her be for a while. When I was done, I remembered my phone had rung. I pulled it out of my pocket. New text from: Eleanor 3. 'Hey Lou, I'm sorry about the other day, we need to talk. I'll call you tomorrow.' I replied with a quick 'okay' and pushed it back into my pocket.

I stood up and walked over to the room where Sydney was. She was just sitting there, her eyes closed.

"Uhh, Sydney? Are you okay?" I asked, legitimately concerned.

Her head snapped up. "Yeah, I'm fine. Let's go on an adventure!"

She jumped down from the counter she was perched on and ran into the room everyone else was in. "Who wants to go on an adventure?" She shouted.

"I do!" Harry sprang up and locked arms with her and I.

"I don't think I should," Theresa replied, still looking a little dizzy.

"She shouldn't," Liam responded. "And I'll stay and make sure she's okay."

"It's dark out," Zayn simply responded and stayed seated.

Niall looked conflicted in his decision. He wanted to go, but his stomach told him otherwise. "I think I ate too much."

With that, the three of us walked out the front door. It was still chilly outside and the wind was howling. Sydney must have forgotten this considering she was in shorts that barely covered her bum and a tee shirt that barely covered her stomach.

We walked in silence for a while until Harry, again, finally broke the silence.

"So, Sydney, tell us your opinions on this whole thing."

"Well," she started, pausing for a minute to think. "It's phenomenal, really. One day your biggest accomplishment is getting into a school you can't afford, and the next thing you know you're doing an album and going on tour with a band that's famous worldwide. However, you don't really think you deserve it because there must have been so many other people who would have given their left kidney for this opportunity and you don't even know who One Direction is. You realize, then, that everyone is going to hate you, and that the media is going to eat you alive. You don't know how you're going to handle it all and you'll probably end of having a mental break down. On the other hand, you think you're going to wake up tomorrow morning and it's all going to be a dream."

It was silent for a while as Harry and I took this all in. We had made our way to a park that was completely deserted. Harry ran towards a swing and yelled, "PUSH ME!" Sydney got behind him and pushed him with all her might, though she made little gain.

"Girl, get out the way," I said, picking her up and moving her. Pulling Harry back, I pushed him as hard as I could. Not prepared for this, we flew off the swing and landed in the grass. He laid there for a minute before bursting into laughter. Knowing that he was alright, Sydney and I laughed too.

He stood up and realized he was covered in mud.

"Hey Sydney, how about a hug?" He asked, opening his arms and revealing the brown all over his white shirt.

"Ha, no." She replied. "But I'm sure Louis here would love one." She pushed me towards him as he ran forward. I ran as he tried to chase after me, screaming. It was about midnight and we were screaming like they do in horror movies. Eventually we became out of breath and called it a truce. Harry decided he was going to go home and change, so I went to collect Sydney as he started on his way.

Once again, she was just sitting there on a swing.

"Sydney, we're going home now, Harry has to change." I said, sitting beside her.

"You can call me Syd, you know, everyone does."

"Syd, I like it. You can call me Lou, if you'd like. It's a lot easier."

"Awesome," she replied, giving me a fake smile.

"Syd, there's something I need to talk to you about."

"What is it? Did I screw something up already?"

"No, not at all. It's about what you said earlier, you know, how everyone is going to hate you?"

"What about it? We both know it's true. Those ten girls at school were already giving me dirty looks, and they didn't even know."

"Well, erm. I don't know how to put this, but I saw your arm. I feel like you hate yourself a lot more then anyone else ever will."

She was silent. I took her arm in my hand and examined it. I spoke as my fingers traced every scar, "I don't know why you do this. You're pretty, you're talented, and you're really lovely."

Tears ran down her face as she finally spoke, "You see, this is more then thinking I'm ugly or fat. It's partially that, but it's because I don't deserve to be happy. I know we just met, but I figure I should just tell you now. When I was little, my biological father used to abuse me. He would beat me and tell me how worthless I was. It wasn't until I was about thirteen when I finally stood up to him. We went through counseling and all that, but all he did was tell me how much of a disappointment I was and how he was ashamed to call me his daughter. Eventually, he disowned me. I thought that was going to be the happiest day of my life, but it turned out to be my biggest detriment. You see, I didn't know how to be happy. I guess without him beating me, I have to injure myself. I'm really screwed up and I'm sorry for telling you that."

She stood up and started walking away, sobbing.

"Syd, wait!" I called after her, catching her arm. She winced as my fingers wrapped around her scars. I turned her around and held her close to me, not saying a word. She sobbed into my chest and eventually stopped struggling to get free. We just stood there, only interrupted by the flash of a camera.