Trying to Communicate

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(Song: A Little Too Much by Shawn Mendes)
HARRY'S POV
I enter Ellie's room and see her curled up on her bed. There's no way I'm letting Michael get away with what he said. I know he's younger than me and most of the other lads, but that doesn't give him an excuse to say immature things around children. He needs to realize that some people are sensitive to certain subject and you can't make jokes out of those sort of things.

I walk over to El's bed and sit down next to her. Her wet hair is covering her face so I brush it out of her eyes, hoping she'll look at me.

She looks up for a minutes before moving her eyes back down to her bed. A few tears slip from her eyes and she turns her head into the covers, trying to hide her pain.

"Sweetie?" I say. She doesn't move from her current position.

I take a deep breathe and say, "I'm going to talk with Michael. First thing tomorrow, okay?"

"Don't," She whispers, her voice shaky and muffled from facing into the bed.

"Why not, Love?" I ask quietly, confused at to why she wouldn't want me to clear things up with Michael.

She doesn't answer my question. All she does is shake her head.

"I need you to talk to me. I know it's hard, but I need to know what you're thinking," I say, but she still ignores me.

"Come on, El," I beg. We're both tired, but I won't be able to sleep knowing El is upset and she won't be able to sleep with all these thought running through her mind. "Let's start by sitting up," I say. When she doesn't voluntarily move, I place my hands on either side of her and adjust her body so she's sitting up.

Her head is now hidden between her legs and her arms cover the top of her head. "Can you tell me why you don't want me to talk to Michael?" I ask.

Again, she shakes her head. I hope she knows I'm not leaving her alone until she talks to me.

"Can you just speak to me?" I ask, patiently. "About anything you want. I just want you to talk with me."

Still nothing.

"What was your favorite part of tonight?" I ask in an attempt to get her to talk. I wait a minute, letting her think, but, as expected, she doesn't say anything.

A few minutes pass before I let out and stand up. I want to stay and talk to her, but I can't force her to. Maybe she'll be more willing to talk in the morning.

"Goodnight, El. I'll be in my room if you need anything," I whisper and kiss the top of her head. I see her nod once and I slowly walk out of the room, just to make sure she doesn't change her mind about not talking. She doesn't, of course, so I quietly close her door and walk to my room.

ELLIE'S POV

Harry leaves the room and I move out from the uncomfortable position I am laying in. Apparently, Michael is right, I do lack common sense. I have no right to treat Harry like he's the one doing something wrong. If anything, he has been helping me more than anyone else in the whole world.

Maybe I should go talk to him. What am I going to say, though? Should I tell him the truth; that I'm ashamed of having an eating disorder and that Michael would find out if Harry brought it up? That's literally the stupidest reason ever.

I rest the back of my head on the backboard of my bed and close my eyes, thinking of what I should do.

It's been about fifteen minutes when I finally decide what I'm going to do: suck it up, and talk to Harry.

I just hope he doesn't find me annoying. If he's asleep, I'd feel really bad waking him up, so I'd probably just have to talk to him in the morning.

Eventually, I force myself off my feet and walk to Harry's room. I walk inside and hear the shower running. He's actually smart and showers after he swims in the ocean, unlike me. I decide to just sit on the edge of his bed and wait for him to finish up.

•~~~~~

The water turns off and Harry opens the door, coming out in a pair of gym shorts which I'm assuming he was going to be sleeping in. He doesn't seem to notice me as he walks to his dresser and picks up his phone.

"Dad?" I whisper, hoping he didn't get too mad.

He jumps a little and turns around. "Oh! Sorry, El. I didn't even see you there," he admits.

"It's fine," I say, looking down and fiddling with my fingers.

He puts his phone down and comes to sit next to me. "You ready to talk?" He asks. He puts his arm around me and pulls me to his side, getting rid of some of my nerves.

I nod my head. "Yeah," I say quietly so Harry could probably just barely hear.

"Well, do you want to take a shower a get comfortable first. It might make you feel a little better," Harry says.

I nod my head. He's probably right. Smelling like the ocean doesn't necessarily make me feel great.

"You can get right in my shower. I can get you some clothes from your room, if you want. I know you must be tired," Harry says. What did I do to get such a considerate father when I'm so terrible in return?

"Okay. Thank you," I say.

"I'll just leave your clothes right outside the bathroom door so you can grab them when you're ready. There are a few towels on the rack that you can use, too," Harry informs me.

"Okay," I say. We both stand up from the bed and I walk to the bathroom as Harry walks to the door of his room.

•~~~~~

I turn on the water to warm it up before taking off my clothes. Ignoring the mirror which shows my fat body, I walk right into the shower. There's no need for me to feel any more miserable about myself than I already do.

The men's shampoo, which was the only one in there, actually didn't smell as bad as I thought it would, so I used some. I wash my body with the bar of soap and rinse out my hair before turning the water off. This was definitely the quickest shower I have ever taken. It only lasted about five minutes.

When I step out, I grab one of the fluffy, blue towels from the towel rack and wrap it around my body, providing my body with instant warmth. I open the door and grab the clothes which Harry had neatly folded up outside.

I close the door again and finish drying off my body. Harry brought me grey sweatpants and a plain, black tank top as well as some underwear.

I quickly get dressed and hang my towel up on one of the hooks before walking back into Harry's room. Hopefully I'll remember to take that towel in the morning. Harry's not going to want to deal with my dirty laundry.

Harry is laying down in his bed with his phone on one side of his bed, so I climb in on the other side. I hear his phone click off and he turns around so he's facing me.

Here goes nothing.

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