Adopted by Harry Styles

Bathing Suits

(Song: Never Be Alone by Shawn Mendes)
"You guys can get changed in here," I inform Ryan and Evan who are following me into Harry's bathroom.

"Thanks," they reply. I nod my head and walk back to my room.

"Claire is getting changed right now," Rachel tells me.

"Okay," I say and sit on my bed next to her. "I like your bikini, by the way," I compliment when I notice the white and blue striped bathing suit she had on her lap.

"Thanks! I got it a Hollister," she smile. I'm sure she looks really nice in bikinis. She has one of the bodies that basically every girl wants. I'm surprised she's not a model or something.

"Ooh, I'm going to have to go there and look at their bikinis. I don't think I have ever been there," I tell her.

Rachel gasps. "Hollister is like my second home. We'll have to go one day. You, Claire, and me," she says.

Just as she finishes speaking, Claire comes out. Overtop of her bathing suit she has a blue shirt and black athletic shorts. "I heard my name?" She questions.

"Yeah, Rachel was saying that we should go to Hollister one day since I've never gone before," I laugh. I'm probably the only fifteen year old girl who has never gone to Hollister before.

"Oh my god, that would be so fun!" She says.

"Right?" Rachel says. "I'm going to get changed, unless you want to go first," she adds, talking to me.

"Oh, no, you go," I tell her.

She nods her head and walks to the bathroom. Claire takes the place Rachel was previously occupying. "You excited to surf?" She asks.

"I don't know," I laugh. "I'm probably not going to be any good."

She laughs too. "You're going to be fine. It's not like we're pros or anything. It's a stretch to even say that I can surf," she says.

"Good. I don't want to be the only one struggling," I say.

"Nah, I'm in basically the same place as you," she says.

Rachel comes out of the bathroom wearing a white shirt and blue athletic shorts over her bikini. The boys pile in a few moments later.

"You can go get changed. We'll wait for you," Rachel says.

"No it's fine. You guys go downstairs. I still need to find my bikinis," I tell them. Hopefully they'll agree to leave.

"Oh, okay. Well, we'll be downstairs," Rachel says. "See ya in a few."

My friends all leave the room and I hear their feet run downstairs.

I close my door and take off my shirt, looking at my scars on my stomach, which are still very visible.

HARRY'S POV
The guys and I are all sitting on the couches as we wait for the kids to come downstairs. We're all talking about random things, but I can't help but be distracted. Ellie seemed so out of it earlier. Was she mad at me? I don't even know what I did.

Eventually, we hear them quickly coming downstairs, so we all stand up.

"Hey, you guys ready?" Louis asks.

Wait, where is Ellie.

"Where's Ellie?" I ask, confused, before they can answer Louis question.

"Oh, she said she had to find her bathing suits and that she'd meet us downstairs," Claire explains.

"Okay. I better go help her find them. I'll be right back," I say. They all nod their heads and I walk upstairs.

Once I arrive at her door, I just walk right in. She's just looking for her bathing suit, she won't mind.

I look toward her closet, but she's not there. That's weird. Why would she be looking anywhere else?

I look over toward the bathroom and see her in the corner of her room without a shirt on in front of a mirror.

How could I be so stupid?

I knew she had scars on her stomach. This was supposed to be a fun night for Ellie, and I totally ruined that.

"El," I start as I walk over to her.

"Go away, Dad," she whispers as she covers her stomach with her shirt. I notice tears in her eyes as I come closer. My poor El. I caused this pain.

"You know I'm not going to do that," I sigh.

I pull out my phone and text Lou.
'Hey, bathing suits are taking a little longer to find. We'll meet you guys down at the beach.'

He replies within a few seconds.
'Alright. See you in a few.'

I shut my phone off and direct my full attention back to Ellie. "Come here. Come sit down with me," I say, walking to the bed and sitting on the end of it.

"I just want to be alone, Dad. Tell them I got sick," Ellie says. She slides her shirt back on and wipes her eyes with the back of her hand.

"I'm not going to do that, come sit," I tell her, patting the empty part of the bed next to me.

She doesn't budge. "I made a huge mistake, El. Please come talk to me. You can yell at me, I don't care. I know I should have thought more about this," I say.

Ellie shakes her head. "I'm not mad," she mumbles.

"It's okay to be mad, El. I did something terrible. You have every right to be mad at me," I tell her. I'm literally the worst parent right now.

"I'm not mad at you," she says.

I stand up and walk toward her. How could she not be mad at me? This is my fault. "What do you mean, love?" I ask her, placing my arm on her shoulder.

"I'm mad at myself," she whispers.

That's not what I expected to hear. She shouldn't be putting any blame on herself. This isn't her fault at all.

"Why?" I ask her.

She doesn't speak, only shrugs her shoulders.

I direct her over to her bed and she thankfully agrees to come. I sit down first and then she sits down. Her eyes are faced down on the ground and she plays with her fingers.

"Will you talk to me?" I ask.

No reply.

"Listen, El. I know I don't deserve to be talked to right now because I did something so, incredibly stupid, but I know you can find it in your heart to talk to me," I say. I place my hand over her hands and slowly rub circles with my thumb.

"Can you please talk to me?" I ask again.

She hesitates, but eventually nods her head.