haunted

chapter 16

A/N- sorry this will be a short chapter but I promise it's for a reason xoxo

Nathan's pov:

"Wow, son. You were amazing." Mr T tells me, grinning proudly as I leave the locker room to see all the families of the team waiting in the corridor.

"Yes! We are so proud of you, sweetie!" Mrs T exclaims, bringing me in for a hug.

"Thanks guys. Ryan will be out in a minute." I inform them.

"Great. Ryan wasn't the only one we came to see though." Mr T tells me, winking playfully. I chuckle and nod in appreciation.

"Have you seen Ella?" I ask, needing to fulfil my constant urge to be around her.

"No, actually. But I'm sure she is fine, don't worry." Mrs T reassures me. I nod but still nervously look around for her.

Did she leave? Has she suddenly realised that she hates me and never wants to speak to me again? Or is she in trouble?

Fuck. I couldn't help but worry about her.

This worry doubles when I see Lola rushing towards me with a panicked look on her face.

"Nathan, you need to come. It's Bella." She tells me, her eyes wide and sympathy in them.

"Where is she?" I demand, not caring about if I sound rude. All I cared about in that moment, any moment really, was if Ella was okay.

"Empty corridor. Down there, through the door and then the corridor on the right." She tells me all in one breath.

My impatience and determination overtakes me and I begin to run towards where Lola instructed me to go, pushing past anyone in my way.

As I near the corridor I hear loud sobs and gasps for air, I run faster than I even knew I was capable of to reach her on the floor.

"I'm here, Ella. I'm here. You are going to be okay, I promise." I reassure her, sitting down next to her and wrapping my arms around her. She flinched at my touch which angers me but soon relaxes and leans into my body as she sobs.

I felt so guilty for being the reason she came here and the reason she had to face whatever triggered her. I knew she had to leave the house, she couldn't just stay there for the rest of her life. But it's what I wanted, I wanted her to be in a safe and secure place and I knew that her home was it.

After a few minutes of her sobbing she calms down and looks up at me. Her eyes were red and she still had tears streaming down her red cheeks. She goes to get rid of her tears but I stop her hand. Slowly I lean down towards her and gently kiss the spots on her cheek where her tears are.

"Thank you." She whispers softly.

"Of course Ella. Anytime. And I mean that, okay?"

She nods and smiles slightly, it's not a massive grin but I know it is a  real smile so it's an achievement for me, which makes me grin back at her.

"What happened?" I ask, putting my hand on her check and rubbing her gently with my thumb.

"It doesn't matter. It was stupid." She dismisses me looking down to the floor. I bring her chin back up to look at me.

"It can't have been stupid if it upset you, love."

Her eyes dart around my face for a second before she answers.

"It's Kelly B. She-she said something." She nervously tells me. I raise my eyebrow, asking her to elaborate.

"Well, to sum it up. She basically called me a liar and a slut."

My eyes darken at the horrific words that were completely oppositional to the girl sat next to me. But then soon soften at the embarrassed look on her face.

"And I know what she said shouldn't effect me. I know she is jealous that she doesn't have all your attention."

None. That bitch has none of my attention.

"And I know that I shouldn't care what other people say about me. But I do. I care. I liked the way people thought of me. Now all they see is either a weak victim or an attention-seeking liar." She rambles.

"Ella stop. After what you went through you are allowed to have feelings, okay? You can't control what triggers you. And you also can't control what people think of you. Which sucks. It really fucking sucks. But you need to know that not everyone thinks of you as either of those things. I for one think that although you are a victim, you are so much more than that. You are still the same person you were before. You are kind and funny and you make the whole world light up at your smile. And most importantly you are strong." I tell her, only beginning to explain the things I thought about her.

"Nathan, I-I don't know what to say." She replies.

"Don't worry. You don't have to say anything." I reassure her.

"Can we go home?" She asks softly.

"Of course, love" I tell her, standing up and reaching out my arm to help her up. She stands parallel to me for a second, observing, before hugging me and kissing my cheek gently before walking away.

My heart speeds up and my face flushes. When I compose myself I jog after her and take her hand in mine before walking along.

Holy shit. I was so fucking in love with this girl.