Happier (Unexpected) | Dacre Montgomery COMPLETED

022. Me and My Girls - IRL

a/n: double update to hopefully make up for the fact that I haven't posted in a billion years

IRL (still September)

It was a few days after everyone had gotten to LA, and we'd been making the most out of the last few days we'd have to be all together. On this particular night, we'd all just finished having a little family dinner.

"Hey, Ellie's out with Niall, how about we all stay at my place and have a movie night with her when she gets back?" I asked, "Just us girls." 

"I'm so down," Nat smiled.

"I'm already texting my mom," Millie smiled.

"Samsies," Sadie said as she typed away on her phone.

"What about me?" Dacre frowned.

"You can drive us back to my place and I'll see you tomorrow for brunch?" I suggested.

"I get to pick you up for brunch and we get to spend the day together," Dacre bargained.

"Hmm, deal," I smiled, "well half of the day. Harry and I have to go record at the studio later in the day and security is super tight right now."

"Fine," he said. I smiled and pressed my lips to his after making sure no one but us was around.

"Awww," Sadie said, snapping me out of the moment. I smiled and felt myself blush a little. I wasn't quite used to sharing this relationship with the cast quite yet. Even when we were back in Georgia, we'd tired to keep things professional around the cast and in public.

The drive to my house was pretty quiet appart from Millie and Sadie's chatter in the back seat. Dacre held my hand over the console the entire way there, which gave me butterflies. When we arrived, I handed my keys to Nat and told her to take the girls in and I'd be there in a few.

"Is it farfetched for me to think that you're here because you're ditching them and instead choosing to come hang out with me?" He asked after the girls had gotten out of the car.

"Yes," I giggled, "I just wanted to be able to give you a proper goodbye without the little ones watching." He flashed me a smile before I connected our lips. It blew my mind how his lips just seemed to fit mine perfectly and how even now, kissing him took my breath away. "I should go," I whispered as I pulled away.

"I'll pick you up tomorrow at noon," he called after me as I shut the car door. I nodded and waved at him before jogging to my house and going inside.

"Dacre and Ava, sitting in a tree," Nat began singing, earning a laugh from me.

"God, you're worse than a child," I joked.

"Well, someone's gotta tease you a little bit," she laughed.

"You're setting a bad example for our kiddos," I said, pretending to be upset as I wrapped my arms around Sadie and Millie.

After that little back and forth, we made snacks and changed into comfy clothes before putting on a movie. Ellie arrived not too long after the movie started and joined us. It was like the perfect girls night. When the movie ended, we started playing board games and just talking about life. I guess since we were talking about everything, It shouldn't have taken me by surprise as much as it did when the younger girls started asking about my absence from the media.

"Ava, why'd you leave for so long?" Millie asked.

"Yeah, you were everywhere one minute and then you basically dropped off the face of the earth," Sadie added. I saw Ellie open her mouth to say something and I knew she was going to try to shut it down, but I figured it was time to come clean and tell them. Hopefully to stop them from making the same mistakes as I did.

"It's complicated," I sighed, "But I think it's something that, as young women in the business, you guys should probably hear." I took a deep breath before starting my big "speech." I'm sure you both know what it's like to be called a mean name online or just to constantly feel like you're competing with a whole bunch of pretty girls for different roles or stuff like that. And I'm also sure you guys and your parents have talked about how to deal with all that stuff, but I didn't really have anyone who I could talk to about that kind of stuff, or at least I didn't think I did." Ellie wrapped an arm around my shoulders and leaned her head onto mine. "That all just got to be too much for me and I was really insecure for many many years, but I never really did anything about it until my career started blowing up and there was constant media attention on me and my scheduling started getting busier and I started feeling overwhelmed. I guess it was a combination of me feeling like I had no control over my life anymore and people calling me out every time I seemed to gain even the littlest amount of weight," I paused, "I've been struggling with anorexia since 2015 and it's been really hard, but I think I'm finally on the path to recovery. And I'm not telling you guys all this to scare you. I'm telling you because I want you guys to know that you have someone to talk to and who will be here for you if you ever find yourself in a similar situation."

The look on theirs and Natalia's faces were a mixture of a whole bunch of emotions. None of them said or did anything for a while. It wasn't until they all shared a look and lunged to hug me that I knew I'd done the right thing by telling them. They asked a whole bunch questions, which I was happy to answer. They thanked me over and over again for sharing and I felt happy that none of them had judged me.