The Writer (AU)

Chapter Twenty One- Don't move

Harry's POV:

"Katie," Ellie plastered a fake smile on as she walked toward our table. Her hand tightened around mine and I knew she was nervous.

"Ellie," Katie smiled. "Harry. I came over because I heard from a little Birdy that it was your birthday today."

"It is." Ellie was holding herself together surprisingly well.

"Well I got you a little present."

"Thanks," Ellie replied flatly, taking the envelope from her.

"Aren't you gonna open it?" I had a feeling Katie was up to something.

"I'll probably open it when I get home."

"I wanna see you open it," Katie urged, keeping her same smile. Ellie rolled her eyes and turned the envelope over.

"Here," I offered. "Let me open it."

"I've got it," Ellie whispered. Opening the envelope, everything was fine, Ellie pulled the card from the envelope and quickly read over the front. Opening the card, a large stream of red paint splashed all over her outfit and Ellie gasped. All Katie did was stand there and laugh.

"Happy birthday," Katie trilled before walking away. Ellie just sat there, her eyes closed, still like a statue. Watching Ellie wipe her eyes with a napkin and standing up, she bent down toward me.

"I'll be in the bathroom," she sighed and I could tell she was on the verge of bursting into tears. Following behind her as she made her way toward the bathroom, I walked in behind her, not caring who saw.

"Get out," I snapped at the two girls smoking a cigarette. They quickly stomped their cigarettes out and walked out of the bathroom, giving me dirty looks along the way.

"Ellie," I murmured, looking at her as she tried to get the red paint off of my shirt. Tears were streaming down her face and she didn't pay me any attention.

"Ellie," I said, taking both of her paint covered hands in mine. She began to sob and her face contorted in hurt. Fervently rubbing the wet napkins together against the fabric of my shirt, she bashed her hands against the counter and I only pulled her closer to me.

"Hey," I whispered. "It's okay." Her makeup was smeared across her face and all I could do was hold her. She cleared her throat and untangled our hands before beginning to wipe at her face.

"Here," I said, taking my plaid shirt off. "You can wear this." I had on a plain black shirt underneath and I knew it would make her feel better not wearing something covered in paint. She pulled my shirt off, not caring that I saw her bra and pulled the plaid over her shoulders. Luckily, only a few drops of paint had gotten in her hair and she had successfully gotten those out without messing up the curls. Her face was flushed and she had gotten all of her makeup off, looking as beautiful if not more than she did when she had some on. Taking a deep breath, she put her nose to the collar of my shirt, inhaled and smiled.

"It smells like you," she beamed, her eyes closed as she wrapped her arms around my waist. "It smells like home." Kissing her forehead, I held her for a few more minutes before the bell rang, signaling us back to class. Walking back to our class and sitting down, I watched as she pulled her makeup from her backpack and managed to look even better than before. I stared, almost aroused at the way she drug the deep red lipstick she used across her bottom lip and then smiled. No trace of anything Katie had maniacally done to her at lunch was left other than the scattered paint droplets on my favorite t-shirt. Although, right now, that was the last thing I was worried about.

Making it through the rest of the day until seventh period, we sat down with a smile and I grabbed her hand.

"Harry, Ellie, Mr. Salvatore needs to see you," Mrs. Hunter told us after class began.

"Do we need to take our stuff?" Ellie asked.

"You might want to. He said it could take a while." Walking through the class as the other kids stared at us, we made our way into the hall and I grabbed her hand.

"It's definitely about what happened at lunch," she sighed as we made our way toward the principal's office.

"It'll all be okay. You didn't do anything wrong," I comforted and kissed her temple before we walked into his office.

"Good afternoon, Ellie. Harry, y'all can have a seat," Mr. Salvatore greeted in his thick Brooklyn accent. Katie glared at us as I took the seat between her and Ellie so nothing would have arose.

"I'm sure you all know why I called you here. It seems that at lunch today, Miss. Lauritzen gave you a birthday card that splattered you with paint. Is that right?" he asked, looking at the two of us.

"She gave it to Ellie," I sighed. "It's her birthday."

"You were there as witness, correct?"

"Yes sir," I nodded.

"Now, I just want to let you know, Ellie, that I am very sorry that Katie pulled this incredibly crude and childish stunt."

"It's okay," Ellie replied quietly.

"Now, as for you, Miss. Lauritzen, a week suspension and you owe Miss. Adams an apology."

"This is-" Katie lashed.

"We can make it two," Mr.Salvatore threatened.

"Fine," Katie seethed. "Sorry,Ellie." I simply looked over at Ellie who was looking at her hands.

"It's okay." Was that all she could say? It wasn't okay. Katie had been a horrible, rude, bitch to her and Ellie wasn't going to do anything? I bit the inside of my cheek to keep my temper under control and smiled politely once we were allowed to go. Once back in the hallway, I pulled Ellie aside.

"Why do you never stand up for yourself?" I asked bluntly.

"I'm not a violent person," she weakly replied.

"It has nothing to do with being violent, Ellie. You need to stand up for yourself more often. Not let people walk all over you."

"I don't let people walk all over me," she sighed.

"Yes you do! Katie is a prime example."

"That's not her walking all over me, that's me just being used to her bitchy behavior."

"You shouldn't be used to it. Jesus, Ellie, people don't treat other people like this in the real world! When you do get into college, you're going to have to have a backbone. If you don't find it now, you're never going to find it." My voice had become angry and I attempted to calm it back to a normal tone at the end, but failed. Looking in her eyes, I knew she had crumbled on the inside and I immediately regretted my words.