The Help~(Completed♡)

Healed to Break

Damon's P.O.V.

"My best is never enough. My best is never enough.", I heard Ellie muttering to herself from her room. I'd heard the words the past few weeks, at first thinking she was being optimistic about constantly trying harder, but now I wasn't sure.

"Els, why don't you take a break?", I asked softly.

"No. It's not good enough.", she whispered. I sighed,

"Ellie, Jake starts tomorrow. Take a break for today."

"No."

~~~~

Jake looked up at me strangely as Ellie whispered her mantra,

"Ellie, what does that mean?" She looked up,

"W-What?"

"'My best is never enough'. What does that mean?"

"I'm never gonna be enough. Not smart enough or pretty enough or anything. I'm not enough."

"Ellie, how long have you been thinking like that?", I asked sitting next to her. She shrugged,

"A few weeks? Why? It's normal. I'm being optimistic."

"That's not optimism. That's low self esteem. You are so much more than enough and I'm sorry I ever let you believe different."

"I've been trying my best and you and daddy still say I'm not trying. If my best isn't enough for you guys, it'll never be enough for anyone."

"Baby, why didn't you tell us that? With all the missing assignments and zeros, we thought you stopped trying. You know we'll always listen if we're wrong. Your dad and I are not always right, we make mistakes too."

"Like adopting me.", she muttered. I grabbed her chin, gently but firmly,

"Don't you ever say something like that again. Ever. Adopting you was the best decision I've ever made. If we hadn't adopted you, we may not have continued fostering or adopted the twins. I know you don't believe me but you brought so much love and happiness into this house. We had a lot of bad stuff happen and then you came and it all got so much better. You completed our lives."

"Then why did you adopt the twins?"

"Because even if you complete your life, you can always keep adding and it can always get better." I paused, "I need you to explain your grade if you're truly trying your best."

"I just got stuck on assignments and trying to understand and then I'd get behind and confused and do the same thing with the next assignment."

"So... you need more time to understand the lessons?" She nodded. "Sweetie, that can be arranged easily. You just have to tell me."

"I need more time to understand stuff."

"Okay. I'll talk to your teacher tomorrow. No more hiding shit and no more of that mantra stuff. You are, always have been, and always will be more than enough."

"Okay.", she smiled softly, "I didn't tell you guys 'cause you were both already mad."

"Ash had a bad day, yes, but I wasn't mad and even if we are, you can still talk to us about stuff baby. Always."

"Okay."

"We will be having a separate talk about being mean to yourself later."

"I'm sorry."

"I know. But you've been doing it more often and I'm done with it."

"Yes sir."

"Get back to work."

Ellie's P.O.V.

"Do they get upset like that often?", Jake asked me when D left. I shook my head,

"No. Sorry. That's been kinda building for weeks now. If something's going wrong, we kinda hide it and then eventually it blows up a little like that and we're fine."

"So they don't get mad often?"

"No. And he wasn't mad. He was just upset, which happens more often."

"What'd they get upset about? You seem like a good kid."

"It's not always me. Sometimes the others do stuff. They mostly get upset when we're mean to ourselves, which happens a lot."

"That's what my dads used to get mad about." I looked up at him,

"Dads?" He nodded,

"My family is a lot like yours. But it's just me and my twin sister and our little brother and sister. I think the system tries to line up tutors with kids they can relate to in hopes they get along better." I shrugged,

"We get along."

"Of course we do! I'm a blast." I rolled my eyes, looking down at my paper,

"I think I'm done."

"Lemme see." I handed it to him as he went over the math paper before smiling brightly, "Yup. This is all right."

"Really!?"

"Yup. Good job kiddo." I smiled, putting it back in my folder and then in my bag. "Wanna go get ice cream? I'll buy."

"Really?" He shrugged,

"Progress deserves a reward." I nodded,

"Yeah."

~~~~

"So, do you know your bio parents?", Jake asked. I shook my head,

"I never met my dad and my mom left when I was six. I don't really remember her and I don't want to. I have a family now, I don't need her."

"Sorry if that was a touchy subject. I just got curious." I shrugged,

"I don't care. I'm kind of an open book. Ask away."

"Did your dads get you when your mom left?" I shook my head,

"I was in the system for six years but I had pretty steady homes. I... don't really know why they took me out of my last home. But I'm glad they did
If they hadn't, I don't think I would have found my place." He nodded a little. "What about you?"

"We still talk to our birth mom sometimes. She was a druggie who killed our dad and then went to prison so we went into the system at like two. We got split up for a long time and dads found my sister Kiera when she was five. They tried really hard to find me but it didn't happen until I was almost ten. By that time the system had really fucked me up and I was in therapy for a long time. Sometimes I still have to go back."

"I'm sorry. D talked about therapy but I don't think I need it. I mostly talk to them about stuff unless it's something that happened because they were mad. Then I think bringing it up will upset them again."

"I get that." He paused, "Do you remember any of the homes?"

"Not really. There were a lot of kids and I was too busy being optimistic." He smiled softly,

"I know."

"You know?"

"I was there."