Her Rock

Chapter 19

Chapter 19

Declan's POV:

"Are you okay, Ellie?" I question; her stiff body language just an observation I take into account.

Something feels off; the way she's sitting is the first indication. Her body is super still like she's trying not to move, her arms are glued to her sides, and her eyes won't leave the Tv. She's barely even blinking.

Nervous? Yeah, definitely nervous. Instead of answering me, she nods her telling me she's fine, not bothering to use words. Fine is a funny word because saying you're fine is actually another word for saying you're not okay.

Letting out an annoyed sigh, I turn my head to the Tv but watch her from the corner of my eye. She looks like a statue, so fucking tense. She won't look at me, won't acknowledge me, and if I didn't know any better, I'd call that ignoring.

Rolling over, I take her small arms and pin them above her head, each knee on either side of her stomach. A shocked expression takes over her face. God, she's beautiful, stunning me every time I look at her.

"What's wrong?" I say, scanning her face, wanting an answer.

"N-nothing." She mutters, not meeting my eyes. I swear she looks everywhere but me and it kind of irritates me.

Bullshit, there's nothing wrong. Come again?

"Ella, tell me," I growl.

Can't she just tell me? Did I do something to upset her? I swear if I did...I will be fucking pissed. This girl does things to me I can't explain and her not letting me fix the problem makes the anger boil.

She shakes her golden head of hair and stutters. "I-I can't."

Her extremely blue eyes begin to shine with pent up tears. Did somebody hurt her? I swear if anybody touched my Ellie, I will kill them.

"Did somebody hurt you?" I demand, trying real hard to keep it together.

Just then, the shine in her innocent eyes begins to spill out, sliding down her reddened cheeks. She immediately squeezes them shut, so tightly it's as if she's in immense pain. Oh, Ellie baby.

Discomfort settles in my chest; I don't like seeing her cry, no matter how beautiful; it broke my heart. I did this, I made the situation worse, and now I feel like shit.

Getting off of her, I pull her delicate frame onto my lap. Her body molds right against mine, her head falling onto my chest in a cradled form. My fingers trail down her arms and glide back up as I hum my apology feeling guilty for making her cry. "Shh, I'm sorry."

"I want to tell you, but I'm scared." She murmurs, her voice quiet.

Resting my cheek against her hair, I say, "Ella, you can tell me anything." And I mean it, though she trusted me?

She hugs her thin arms around my waist, her tears dampening my shirt, but I could care less.

"I know, but this is different."

How is this different? What can be so different that she can't tell me? I just want to fucking fix it, to make her feel better. Seeing her like this, I don't like it. I don't like seeing my Ellie sad. It makes me feel helpless.

"Different how?"

I don't want to upset her more.

Then the words come out, words I didn't expect to hear. "B-because I l-lo-love you."

Those four simple words make my body go limp, the world stopping in its rotation. No sound, just the repeated words of 'I love you' replaying a million times over in my brain.