Found

The second I heard that voice, the accent,  felt his hands on my shoulders and the name.. that name sent shivers down my spine. I turned around and looked up, seeing him. He looked almost exactly the same, I felt like I was waking up from a dream.

"Tell them how good it was here."

♡︎♥︎♡︎♥︎♡︎ Mateo's POV

When I saw how her face immediately changed I felt my heart warm up. She started going on about everything she did and accomplished here and we all couldn't take our eyes off of her. When she was done everyone else clapped like how we did for them and the lady hosting this thanked everyone for coming. Before I could even look back down at her Austin was already up and pulling on my arm.

"Come on! I have so much to show you, I showed the others already!"

I looked up at the guys and they nodded, I smirked and followed behind her. Austin brought me to her room first, it was small, shared and really empty but she still seemed so excited to show me it. Then she brought me to the art room and showed me all of her drawings and little clay creations.

"It's me and all of you!" She said, holding up a picture of all of us.

I took it and smiled, they were stick figures but that didn't matter to me, I'm just glad to know she didn't think we just abandoned her here.

"It's amazing, Princesa."

Then after the art room she brought me out to the garden area, it was closed in but I saw a few flowers, she went over to a small pot and picked up one. It was small and just starting to bloom, it was a sunflower.

"I thought these only grew in the summer?"

"Usually they do, but since I did it inside where it's warm it had a better chance of surviving. Mrs. Daisy said that it's like us, it's not easy but if we put in the effort, we grow." She explained, bringing it over to me. "I made this one!"

"Really?" I asked, she nodded. "You did such a good job, baby. You wanna bring it home?"

"Yes please!" She pleaded, I smirked.

"Alright, go bring it to Felix. He'll take care of it until we get home." I said, she carefully brought it inside.

I stood in the doorway, looking around. I guess this was a good idea in the end, but I still wasn't feeling right about all this.

"Austin's reallys good person," I never turned around so fast until I heard that, she held up her hands in mock defense.

I sighed, it was just the lady who was hosting that little group circle thing.

"Sorry, wasn't expecting that."

"It's fine, should've made myself known first." She laughed a bit, standing besides me.

I looked down at her name tag, my eyes widened slightly.

"You're Mrs. Daisy?" I asked, she nodded. "Austin said a lot of good things about you, you helped her a lot."

"Well I would hope so, I mean at first it was definitely a love-hate relationship," She admitted, I looked over at her. "At first, Austin wanted to be anywhere else than here and talk to anyone else but me." She explained, I looked down.

"I'm sorry if she was ever rude." I sighed, she shook her head.

"Don't be, she was just frustrated and hurting. But, she definitely made a lot of progress, probably the most I've ever seen. You boys did the right thing bringing her here, I know how hard it is for not just them but the people bringing their loved ones in." She comforted, I nodded.

"I feel like no one really thinks about that, I mean obviously I'd rather her be better but, it felt like we were abandoning her. Leaving her here in this place with people she doesn't know, having to fend for herself." I explained, actually getting out my feelings.

It just started coming out naturally as I talked to her, I didn't know why or how but I was grateful.

"I know Austin's past, she shared it in a few private meetings and I'm sure that was weighing in on the feeling of abandonment. But you did the right thing, she needed help, and even if you didn't do it directly, you helped her by getting her the care she needed. You did good, Mateo."

She put a hand on my shoulder and for a second I felt tears stinging my eyes, I smiled a bit.

"Thanks.."

She pulled away and looked over at Austin, I followed her gaze. She was talking and laughing with the boys, she was being herself, thriving. I couldn't have been more grateful.

"Thank you, really. You helped bring our girl back."

"She did the hardest parts, now it's your turn to make sure she stays on this path."

That was the last thing she said before she walked away, I took a second to compose myself before walking over to the group.

"Who's ready to get out of here and go get ice cream?" David asked, Austin immediately started jumping and begging.

"Alright alright, let's go get your stuff!" Don said, running off with her to her room.

"What'd you talk about with that lady?" Felix asked, I shrugged.

"She helped me see this was the best decision we could've made." I explained, he smiled and put an arm over my shoulder.

The two came back to us shortly later with her backpack and I saw a little journal in her hands.

"What's that, sweetheart?" Felix asked, she looked down at it.

"Mrs. Daisy gave it to us to help us get out feelings out. Is it okay if I keep it..?" She asked, we all immediately agreed.

"Of course, babe. And you know you can always come to any of us, right?" Don asked, she nodded."Good, let's get out of here."

I took her hand and we walked out, heading to the car. We all got in and she sat in between Theo and Don, we talked and had music playing as we drive to the ice cream shop, she was watching everything pass by in the windows. She hadn't been outside or seen anything other than the rehab in months..

"Let's take her to the park after." I whispered to Felix, he agreed.