~Harry's POV~
A few weeks have passed and we have all gotten to know Stacey really well. I watch Ella when Stacey comes to visit us, she just stands in the corner of the room staring at her. I know she really wants to speak to her again, but Ella said it's best if she doesn't show herself to her, because at some point Ella will have to leave, and I can see that Stacey won't be able to handle losing Ella for a second time. Thinking about it just breaks my heart, I love having Ella around the house, she's always popping up and talking to Louis, Zayn, Niall and myself, Liam still doesn't believe, we've been trying lots of different ways but nothing.
She has become like family and we all want her to be happy. Which she clearly isn't. She might say she's fine but I know it's killing her being away from her parents.
"Harry?".
I snapped out of my thoughts by her voice, a smile instantly formed on my lips as I turned to see Ella standing in the doorway of my room, I sat up on my bed as my smile grew.
"Good morning Ella, how are you?".
I would always ask her the same question every time I see her and she would always answer with a shrug of the shoulders and a 'I'm fine, thanks'. but like every time I know she's lying.
She shrugged her shoulders as she spoke, "I'm fine thanks".
I sighed deeply and before I said anything she spoke again as she made her way over to my bed, sitting herself down next to me, "So, have you spoken to Stacey lately?".
I nodded, "Last night actually, she was spending time with her sister".
"Hollie, she's her twin sister". Ella spoke while turning her gaze to stare out of the window, she let out a loud sigh as she closed her eyes.
"I always loved this time of year, my parents and I would sit out on the decking with a fire lit and we would just talk about random things, even though my parents didn't get along the last couple of months, they always made an effort to make me happy, we would still go out as a family, to the zoo or for a meal, I can remember last Christmas it snowed for weeks and weeks without stopping, we were snowed in completely, me and my dad spent the whole day outside in the snow, we made so many snowmen, we had a snowball fight and my mum came out to join us, I've never laughed so much in my entire life, that was the best Christmas I had, I just didn't know it would be my last".
I just stared at her loving the fact that she could share her most precious memories with me, "Hey, you have this year as well, the boys and I are gonna make it a close second best".
I smiled brightly as she let out a giggle.
"Thanks Harry, but it won't be the same".
"We'll make sure it is! I promise! Hey we'll even buy you presents".
Her giggle became louder as she turned to face me, "I'm dead Harry, you can't buy a ghost presents".
I raised my eyebrow at her as a wide grin formed on my lips, "Oh yea? You just watch Ella!".
She shook her head while rolling her eyes playfully at me.
It was silent for a few seconds before Ella spoke, "Harry? Do you believe in Christmas wishes?".
I nodded once, "Completely, why?".
"Well do you wanna know what my wish is?".
I nodded once again while watching her very carefully, the way she bit her lip while staring back out of the window.
"I wish I could spend just one more Christmas as a living human being". She scoffed before shaking her head, "How ridiculous is that?! I mean i'm dead and there is nothing or no one who is gonna change that".
"I wouldn't stop wishing though Ella, because if I did, I think I would get lost without something to hold on to, you know what I mean?".
She turned to me nodding once before standing up, "Yea I do".
She made her way over to the small window seat and sat down bringing her knees up to her chest, "When I was living, I would sit here all the time and just watch the world go by".
She glanced at me before leaning her head back against the wall.
"Wait.....this use to be your room?".
She nodded, "Yep, I decorated it all by myself, that was the day my parents told me I was adopted".
My eyes widened in shock as I stood up, "What?!......You were....?".
She nodded once again, "Yea, I wasn't mad at them one bit, I was thankful to them for taking me in and giving me a loving home and family, a thing I always dreamed about when I was in the orphanage".
"If you don't mind me asking, what happened to your biologic parents?".
She shrugged her shoulders, "I don't know, I've been in that orphanage since I can remember, I was told my biologic mother had given me up when I was two days old, the only thing I had of her was the locket that was in my basket when I was taken to the orphanage, and for some reason, when I was old enough I put it on and never took it off".
I watched as she pulled a necklace from under her top, she motioned me to come closer and have a look which is exactly what I did.
The locket was beautiful, something you would never dream of losing.
"It's beautiful, did you ever try and get in touch with your birth parents?".
She shook her head, "No, obviously they didn't want me and I was happy here, Maira and Jordan were my parents and they always will be".
I smiled and nodded, "Of course, but wasn't there just a tiny bit of you that wondered why they gave you up?".
"Oh yea, all the time, maybe they just couldn't be bothered with me, or it could have been serious, like maybe they gave me up to protect me or give me a better life? I don't know and now i'll never find out".
"So, you feel guilty for not trying to reach them?".
She sighed deeply, "Maybe, I don't know".
I thought about it for a second, "Well, maybe I can try to find them".
Ella frowned as she turned her body to face me, "What? How would you do that?".
"Well, do you know where your birth certificate is?".
"In the attic with my other belongings".
"OK and is your birth parents names on it?".
She shrugged, "I don't know, I've never seen it, I didn't want to to be honest".
I nodded, understanding where she was coming from, "I could always look if you want me to Ella?"
She just looked at me and I could tell she was deep in thought.
"I don't know Harry, I need to think about it first, I mean once I find out who my birth parents are it might change the way I think and I'm not sure if I want that".
I nodded, again understanding what she means, "OK, but if you change your mind you know where I am".
She smiled slightly, "Thanks Harry, you know, I really wish I could of met you when I was alive".
I smiled big as I sat next to her, "Yea, me too".
~Niall's POV~
I sighed deeply while turning the TV off after failing to find a decent program to watch. Zayn, Louis and Liam have gone out to see their girlfriends, so that leaves me alone, well apart from Harry who's been in his room for hours now.
I stood up and made my way up to Harry's room not even bothering to knock. I swung the door open just to see Harry and Ella sitting on the window seat, a wide smile formed on my lips.
"ELLA!".
I saw her jump slightly which made me chuckle, she turned to me with a wide smile.
"Hi Nialler!".
I made my way over to them and sat on the edge of the bed, "What are we talking about then?".
Harry explained everything to me, about how Ella was adopted which shocked me completely, and which also brought me back to the conversation Harry and I had about how he thinks Ella looks a lot like Gemma and Anne, but Ella couldn't possibly be related to Harry, right?
"Whoa, so why don't you want Harry looking at your birth certificate?".
"Like I said to Harry I don't want anything to change, I don't wanna think about the 'what if's', I was happy with Jordan and Maria, they were my parents and they always will be".
I nodded, "Of course, well the others have gone out to see their girlfriends, so it's just us".
Harry nodded once before turning back to Ella who was now staring out of the window humming a tune to herself, I would love to hear her sing, I bet she has a beautiful voice, i'll make a mental note to ask her to sing for me.
"Oh my god!". I was brought back by Ella's soft but loud voice as she excitedly jumped up and down in her seat as she pointed out of the window.
"SNOW! IT'S SNOWING!". She screamed as she suddenly disappeared.
I gave Harry a confusing glance which was soon replaced by laughter as I saw Ella lying in the snow outside. I motioned Harry to look and once he did he burst into laughter as we both ran downstairs and outside though within seconds we were back inside shaking from the cold.
We quickly ran upstairs and put our coats and gloves on before running back downstairs and outside, the second we reached the front garden we were hit with snowballs.
Ella was stood in the driveway holding another two snowballs with a wide smirk on her lips. Returning the smirk I quickly made a snowball and threw it at Ella before she could even think about throwing the one's in her hand, once it had hit her in the stomach a loud gasp slipped from her mouth and that's when things got crazy. Harry, Ella and I were in a huge snowball fight with no signs of stopping anytime soon. If someone saw what we were doing, they'd think Harry and I were crazy, obviously because Ella is invisible to everyone else.
~Harry's POV~
A week has passed since the snowball fight and I haven't seen Ella since, it's worrying me to be honest, she always comes, every day without fail. I hope she's OK, where ever she is.
I was sat on my bed with my head in my hands and was soon snapped from my thought by Niall shouting up to me.
"HARRY! GEMMA'S HERE!".
"TELL HER TO COME UP THEN!". I chuckled slightly and no more than a few seconds later Gemma came running in the room with a huge grin on her lips.
"Hello little brother!". She jumped on the bed next to me and sat crossed legged as she turned to face me.
I gave her a weird look as I turned my body to face her, "What's up with you?".
She rolled her eyes playfully "Can't a girl just be happy without having a reason?!".
"Not when it's you".
She gasped as she hit my chest, "Hey! Thought I do have a reason".
I chuckled slightly as I waited for her to tell me, "Spill then!".
She giggled as she started playing with a strand of her hair, "OK, I don't want you to go all over-protective like you always do, but l met this guy a few months ago, we've been on quite a lot of dates and just last night he asked me to be his girlfriend!". She clapped her hands together, which she always does when she's excited.
"Really? Well, I'm happy for you, though if he hurts you the slightest then I'll break his neck, and I want to meet this guy as well!"
She groaned as she rolled her eyes once again, "Harry!".
I chuckled slightly, "What?! I'm just looking out for my sister! So, what's his name?".
"Josh, he's amazing Hazz! He's already met mum and she thinks he's really sweet and kind, which he totally is!".
I chuckled at the huge grin on her lips, "Well, I'm glad you're happy Gem!".
She smiled as she straightened her back, "Thanks Hazz! So, what's been going on lately?".
I shrugged slightly glancing down to the floor, "The same really, work, work and more work".
She giggled as she let her body fall back on the bed after a few seconds of us sitting in silence she spoke while looking at me with a confused look in her eyes, "Who's Ella?".
I raised my eyebrow as I turned to face her, "What?".
She sat up slightly leaning back on her elbows as she looked at me, "Ella, who is she? I heard Niall and Louis talking about her just".
"Uh, what were they saying?".
"Just that they haven't seen her in a while and they were hoping she was OK".
I sighed deeply as I fell backwards on the bed, "You believe in ghosts right?".
Gemma nodded as I continued, "And have you heard about that car crash that happened two years ago involving two adults and that young girl?".
She nodded again as she kept her gaze on me, "Well, the young girl who died was Ella, she use to live in this house with her parents, that statue outside in the front garden is her, some family relative had it built in memory of her".
I glanced at her to see her eyes open wide staring at me, "What?! So you're telling me you and the boys have been talking to a ghost?!".
I nodded as I sat up, "I know it sounds crazy and not so long ago I didn't even believe in ghosts but there's just something about her, I care about her so much and I have no idea why".
Gemma raised her eyebrow as she kept quite, obviously trying to take all the information in, "So, when was the last time you saw her?"
"A week ago and I'm getting really worried, she's never stayed away for this long before, I just want to know if she's OK".
"Harry, she's a ghost, she's dead, I don't think anything bad can happen to her".
"I know that but I've still got this bad feeling, you know? And I don't like it".
She looked at in amazement, "Whoa, you do really care for her, don't you?"
I nodded once keeping my gaze on the floor, "I feel so sorry for her, all's she wants is to be with her parents, well adoptive parents and she can't cause she's stuck here and she has no idea why".
"Well if she hasn't passed on then there is obviously something she needs to do or something she needs to solve before that can happen".
"I know but she doesn't know what".
There was a few seconds of silence before Gemma spoke up, "So, she was adopted?"
I nodded, "Yea, she always knew she was but she said she never wanted to know who her real parents were, now I think she's second guessing, I think there's a part of her that wishes she knew who they were, she said her birth certificate is up in the attic, I offered to go up and find out who her birth parents are but she said she needs time to think first".
Gemma nodded once, "Yea I don't blame her, so what does she look like?".
I glanced up at Gemma as I spoke, "Honestly? Exactly like you when you were younger".
"What?".
"I know it sounds weird, but when I first saw her I couldn't believe the resemblance!".
"Oh right, well I wish I could meet her".
I slightly smiled, "Yea, you'd love her, oh and don't say anything to Liam, he is the only one who can't see her, he doesn't believe in ghosts".
Gemma nodded, "OK, well I best get going, I'm meeting Josh soon".
I saw a wide smile form on her lips the second she said his name, I chuckled to myself as she stood up and pulled me up into a tight hug.
"I'll see you soon Hazza!".
I tightened the hug even more, "Bye Gems".
I pulled away and watched as she skipped out of my room, seconds later I heard her shout to the others.
"BYE BOYS!".
They all said or should I say shouted their goodbyes at once as I closed my eyes chuckling to myself.
"H-Harry?".
My eyes shot open at the sound of her voice, my gaze was fixed on her figure that was standing in the corner of my room as I jumped up and made my way towards her.
"Ella! I'm so glad you're here! I was getting worried! I thought somethi......", as soon as I saw the tears in her eyes I stopped dead in my tracks.
"What's happened? Why are you crying?!".
I ran to her so I was standing right in front of her, I didn't know if she would let me touch her so I didn't bother trying, though I wanted so much to comfort her.
She closed the gap between us as she flung her arms around my neck hugging me tightly, I was caught of guard but I quickly wrapped my arms around her tightly
I spoke in a whisper as she hid her face in my neck, "Please tell me what happened".
The only sound you could hear was Ella's sobs, until she finally spoke
"It's Stace.......she-she's dead".