Adopted by Harry Styles

Letting Harry In (Part One)

(Song: Weak by AJR)
Harry's POV
We walk inside and Ellie drops her backpack by the stairs. I place my arm around her back and tell her, "Why don't we go upstairs and talk in my room?"

"Kay," she says so quietly that I can barely hear. We walk upstairs and into my room together.

"Come here, love," I say after I sit on my bed, leaning my back on the headboard. She sits down next to me and I pull her close to me. "Darling, Who were they?" I ask, concern filling my voice.

"I can't say," she says, breaking into a fit of sobs again.

"That's not true. You can tell me," I say. "I can't help you put unless you tell me what's wrong, love. Please, just let me in," I say.

Ellie's POV
I can't tell him. Can I?

He will never forgive me if he finds out I have self harm scars all over my body and he'd definitely see them if I showed him the pictures. And then, I'd have to tell him about the drugs. Worst of all, Kimmy would post the photos of me online. I don't know what I would do if that happened.

"I wish I could," I whisper to Harry. I can't bring myself to speak at a normal volume.

Harry doesn't speak for a few minutes and we sit there in silence. "What if... what if I promise you nothing you say will leave this room until we agree on what the right thing to do is?" He says. "I'm not going to think you're crazy or get mad at you, Ellie. You have to understand that."

"Dad... it's so complicated. So much has happened," I say, beginning to bawl again. It seems to me whenever I try to speak, I just cry.

"I have nothing but time, El. Tell me what's going on," Harry says. I say nothing while I think of what I want to do. "What will it take to get you to open up to me?"

"You-you promise you won't send me b-back to the orphanage?" I question. Harry has made my life a thousand times better. I don't think I could live with myself if he sent me back because of drugs or my scars.

"Ellie..." Harry gasps. "Why would you think that?" He asks.

I shrug my shoulders. "I feel like all I cause you is trouble. Your life would be easier without me," I say with a sigh.

"Believe me, I knew what I was signing up for when I adopted a teenager. I adopted a child because I wanted to give someone a better life, and that someone just happened to be you because I feel a strong connection with you. I feel like we were meant to be family, El. I see a lot of myself in you, and I don't want you thinking you're just trouble for me, okay? Because you're not. You could drag me through hell and I still wouldn't leave. I love you, El, and I want you to feel like you can tell me anything," Harry say while gently rubbing his hand on my upper back. I look over at Harry and notice he has tears in his eyes. That only makes me cry more. I always do that; cry when others cry.

"Why are you crying?" I ask softly.

"Because I love you. I don't like seeing you in pain like this. And I especially don't like seeing you in pain because you feel scared to speak to me," Harry tells me, wiping a tear that fell from his eye.

"I...I'll tell you," I say. I can't leave Harry feeling like this. "But you can't tell anyone."

"I promise. You're secret safe with me," Harry confirms, giving me a small, warm smile for comfort.

"The girl goes to school with me... a-and she doesn't like me because I'm dating Kyle. She always puts mean notes in my locker and calls me 'slut,'" I tell him. I look over to see his reaction and he looks shocked.

I sniffle and then continue. Or at least I try to. "Dad, her boyfriend, he-," I stop talking and choke on my sob. I don't even like to think about Dan and what he did to me. I don't know how I'm going to say it.

Harry pulls me onto his lap and starts lightly swaying side to side to calm me down. "Shh..." Harry says. "Take a breath and then continue. There's no rush."

I nod my head once I regain some self control. "He is the one who-," I start but then stop again, starting to sob again.

Harry runs my arm up and down with his soft hand. "What did he do, love?" Harry asks, looking me in the eyes with his warm green eyes. I shake my head. There's no way I can tell him. "Remember, what you tell me stays in here until we decide what to do," he says, reminding me of the promise he made. I guess I can tell him. This is going to come back to bite me later, but I have to tell someone about this.

"He... he r-ra-raped me," I whisper into Harry's chest. His cotton shirt is becoming soaked with my tears.

"Ellie, how do you know it was him? This is serious," Harry says, his once warm eyes now covered with a coat of anger. I can tell it wasn't at me; it was at Dan.

"He told me," I say in between sobs. "And his voice sounded the same." I bury my head deeper into Harry's chest and grab the side of his shirt to release the stress I have built up.

"El, we have to call the cops. We need to get this guy out of your school. He needs to be punished," Harry says.

"No... no, you can't," I say weakly.

"Why not? Love, don't you want him away from you?" He asks, confused and concerned with my response.

"They have pictures of me..." I say, squinting my eyes, cringing, as I remember the locker room incident.