Help Me

I saw Niall and Caitlin go outside. They think I didn't notice, but I saw them. It'll be about my parents, I bet you. And suddenly, I'm feeling not so good anymore. Pity is nice in small doses, but when it's blatantly thrown at you from every angle, it turns into guilt.

"Hey Brooke, you good there?". It's Liam. I feel sudden tears prick at my eyes as I nod furiously. "Yup, just daydreaming about this 40 pack I'm about to devour!" He gives me a weird look, but I brush it off and dip my head into my paper bag, trying not to let the tears fall. Luckily, there's a knock on the door, and my physiotherapist pokes her head in.

"Brooke, your next session's in 10 minutes, don't forget!" I look up with a nugget poking out of my mouth, and nod as everyone else cracks up. I swallow, and say, "Thanks Megan!" I grab my wheelchair and hoist myself into it, rolling up my paper bag tightly. I glare at Niall, and point an accusing finger. "If I come back and even one of my Chicken nuggets is missing, I'm pushing you out the window first." He holds his hands up in mock surrender as I roll out of the room.

As the door shuts, I hear Harry answer the phone. "Hey, Luke mate, you almost here?" Who's Luke? Probably another guard or something. I shake off the thought and wheel my way down the hallway to the studio where I do my exercises. Megan's already waiting in there for me. "Ahh Brooke, nice and early! Now, we're going to start at the barre today..."

Half an hour later, my legs are aching, but I'm starting to gain a little more mobility in my left leg. "You know what? I think we should prepare a little surprise for all of your friends today", Megan says. She picked up my wheelchair, folded it up, and put it in a cupboard. Then she pulled out a pair of crutches, and held them out to me. "No way? No way!", I cry. She leans over and hugs me gently. "Congratulations Brooke, I think you're ready for these now!" I'm crying now. I guess to everyone else, it wouldn't seem like a big achievement, but for me, it was the beginning of my old life. I pull them over my arms, and take a tentative first hop. It hurt, I couldn't care less. Megan holds the door open for me, and I slowly hop out into the hallway. She smiles at me, and says, "Go get 'em tiger!"

I pause outside the door to my room, hearing laughter coming from inside. I can't wait for everyone to see me walking without the wheelchair!

One deep breathe, and I push the door open. All I hear is, "No freaking way!", and someone sweeps me up in a painful hug that lifts me off my feet. But it's not Caitlin this time. Niall’s blond hair is soft and fluffy against my cheek, and I melt a little bit inside. Suddenly he puts me down, as though he can feel my aching ribs. “Brooke, I’m so sorry, I completely forgot, I just… wow. You’re walking?!” I blush and look down. “Well, not quite walking, but getting there.” He pulls me in for another hug, and kisses the top of my head.

I freeze as I realised what he had just done, but he doesn’t seem to think it’s anything out of the ordinary, so I shake it off. He pulls back, and stands very close to me, blocking my view of the rest of the room. “Brooke, there’s someone we want you to meet.” I try to lean around him, but he grabs my arms.

“Nuh uh, not so fast…” He puts his hands over my eyes, and lets me hop forwards a few steps. I hear Caitlin’s voice beside me. “Brooke I promise, you’re going to love them.” Them?

Niall’s hands are suddenly lifted off my eyes, and I blink a little at the sudden bright light. But then I see the four boys standing in front of me. “No way… No fucking way!”, I gasp. My hands automatically cover my face, and I feel tears in my eyes as I sink down into my crutches. “Hey… don’t fuckin’ swear”, is all I hear before I’m up and launching my arms around the tall blonde Aussie.

“Holy shit… holy shit… 5 seconds of summer is in my fucking room!” Ashton laughs before stepping back and allowing Calum to lean forward and hug me. " I jump up and down in his arms, still not believing what is happening right now. 5SOS are in my room? What is even happening?? Michael and Luke both crush me at the same time, knocking me off balance. But before I hit the floor, a pair of strong arms grab me. "Gentle lads", Liam says. I smile at him before turning around again. "Can I just do this really quick?", Caitlin asks. She grabs my hands and puts them over my ears, and her mouth opens in what must have been a deafening scream.

I wait till I see her mouth close, and then take my hands away from my ears and turn to the Aussie boys really quickly. "Okay, just allow us 2 minutes of fan-girling and then we'll act normal, we promise!" They all giggle, but nod, and me and Caitlin immediately turn to each other. She grabs my shoulders and jump up and down, shaking me wildly.I just stand there, with tears leaking out of my eyes.

There's a feeling you can't describe when you meet someone you've dreamed about for so long. It's just this crazy, stupid happiness that makes you want to scream and cry and grab them and just... never let go. But all I can do is put my hands over my face and cry, while Caitlin has her arms around both Luke and Michael at once. My dreams, one after one, are coming true.

Two strong arms put themselves around me, and I look up to see Calum smiling down at me. How is he even so tall? I drop my crutches and reach my hands up like I'm going to put them around his neck, but at the last minute I grab his cheeks instead. "S-so squishy!" He giggles, and it almost makes my heart melt. He cuddles me closer, and I close my eyes. I hear him say, "I like her", and the 1D boys laughing. He steps back, and lets go of me. Too late, I realize my crutches are on the floor, and I'm falling. I close my eyes, waiting for the floor. But of course, someone's behind me, ready to catch me. Zayn pushes me back to standing and grabs my crutches off the floor. "Finally", Luke exclaims, "someone who's as clumsy as me!" Everyone laughs at me and finds seats while I hop over to the bed and grab my chicken nuggets.

"So Brooke, tell us about you and how you are managing to survive with these five maniacs living with you!", Ashton says. I smile, "Well, it's not that hard, they're pretty average most of the time, I just kind of ignore them and hope they go away." Harry looks at me with an open mouth. "Heyyyyyy!" I giggle. "Nah, I love them really!" Niall nuzzles his face into my shoulder. I grab my bag of Chicken nuggets, and reach in. I freeze, and turn around slowly to face Niall who's trying and failing to look innocent.

"It was only one, I swear!" I grab my slipper and start smacking it on top of his head. "Give - me - back - my - chicken - nuggets!!" Everyone's cracking up as he holds his hands up in surrender. "Okay, okay!! Calm down woman, you can have one of mine!" I throw my slipper at him, it bounces off and lands in Ashton's lap. Niall holds out a chicken nugget to me, and I grab it with my mouth. What? I'm hungry, don't judge me! "Brooke?" "Uh-huh?" I say with a mouth full. "Why is Calum's face on your shoe?" Caitlin speaks up while I turn red. "We give stupid gifts to each other a lot."

"Well I think they're pretty fuckin' awesome! I want a pair!", whines Michael. "Wait, you can buy these? My face? On shoes?", asks Calum. Everyone's laughing so hard I don't notice Niall stealing another chicken nugget.

Notes

Heyyooooo!
Enjoy, I really wanted to get 5SOS in there somewhere ;)

Lots of love,
Half_a_heart x