Elena POV

I was having the sweetest of dreams probably ever, one with Harry in it and one that only elaborated off of those wonderful kisses from yesterday when I was frantically woken up for seemingly no reason. I groaned and slowly opened my eyes as the dream fled from my mind and left me wanting so much more of it, but all I got was the panicked voice of my aunt,

"Elena, Elena wake up! Harry isn't waking up!"

I shot awake at that alone, what does she mean Harry's not waking up?! I looked at her with sudden panic and felt a shot of adrenaline go right through my system as I threw the covers off of me,

"What do you mean he's not waking up?"

I tried to speak calmly, she stammered for a moment before grabbing my hand and pulling me out of bed,

"I tried to yell to get him to wake up!"

Harry's such a light sleeper... why wouldn't he wake up at yelling?! I froze for a moment, in absolute shock and horror as my mind immediately went to the worst possible outcome... please tell me this isn't happening right now! I ran from my aunt's grasp and flew out the door, slamming it on the wall in the process but I didn't care. I ran across the hall and opened Harry's door to see him in bed turned away from the door,

"H-Harry?"

I stammered out, nothing. I trembled and ran towards the bed and gently put my hand on his shoulder and looked at his face. In a frenzy, I felt my muscles tense and spasm which happens sometimes when I'm immensely nervous which was right now. With the spasm, I somewhat inadvertently hit his shoulder where he shot awake and looked up at me. I let out a huge sigh of relief and sank to the floor as I caught my breath.

My aunt peeked in and I simply gave her the thumbs up, she took a large sigh of relief and slowly walked away from the door to give us both a minute to wake up and me a minute to breathe. I put my hand over my pounding heart and took a few deep breathes before shakily standing up again to look at him,

"Goodness Harry, you s-scared me"

I muttered as I leaned on the bed for a moment. He peeked up at me from what I have just now realized is my weighted blanket and calmly and curiously tilted his head at me,

"Huh?"

Goodness, he's probably still half asleep too. I sat on the edge of the bed and took a few more deep breathes,

"My aunt tried to wake you up by talking and eventually shouting and you didn't wake up, she came over to me because she knows you're a light sleeper and gave me the impression that you somehow... passed away in your sleep or s-something"

I said with a violent shiver running down my back. Harry slowly sat up which led me to look back over to him. The normal dark shadows under his eyes were gone, his hair was messier than ever, and his eyes looked very bright compared to normal. He tilted his head at me and untangled his arms from my blanket to grab me and pull me closer to him ever so gently,

"Gods I'm sorry about scarin' ya love, on the bright side I feel... I feel amazing"

I looked up at him and smiled a little bit as I finally caught my breath completely which allowed me to relax considerably,

"You do?"

He nodded and slowly laid back down again, he yawned and curled his arms all the way around me which made me giggle a little bit,

"Mhm... I feel very much alive, took yer advice and wrapped myself in this last night..."

He uncoiled one arm from around me and threw off the top layer of the bedsheets to reveal that he was completely cocooned in the weighted blanket,

"... slept like a baby for the first time in my life"

I couldn't help but coo and blossom into a big ol' happy smile. I mean come on, that's adorable! And I simply feel so relieved for this whole thing to be about Harry getting sleep, like we freaked out because he was sleeping deeply which never happens to him and ultimately him getting into a deep sleep is a super good thing! So the scare was valid, but this is wonderful now!

"Aww slept like a baby huh? Well, that's simply great news! I'll make a mental note that when you have the weighted blanket you are prone to sleep deeper, you're not dead you're just sleeping"

Harry chuckled and recoiled his arm around me which allowed me to fully relax again,

"Seriously though, I had one of the most in-depth dreams I've ever had too... it was wonderful. I mean that and I just felt so safe, ye were right about this thing it does wonders"

Harry said as he took the loose corner of the weighted blanket and flopped it over me so I could have some. I snuggled into it and took a long sigh,

"We should probably be getting up, we have a busy day ahead of us. We have more dance practices, some more arrangements need to be made for the ball, and we need to head into town for your fitting appointment for your suit"

Harry perked up some and tilted his head. I rolled over from being on his chest to be beside him and he simply turned over to completely face me,

"Suit fitting? Aren't suit fittings... really touchy? Just cause they gotta measure everything?"

I sighed and nodded a little bit. Harry looked a little panic-stricken and gulped, he suddenly grabbed the blanket and pulled it up to cover his face and nestled into it with a deep breath,

"I'll be sure to be right in the room during the fitting don't worry, and I've known this designer forever he's very trustworthy. I'll be right there the whole time"

I said as I scooted a little closer to him as his face stayed buried in the blanket. I cooed a little bit as it was kinda cute, him hiding in the blanket and everything that is. I tried to gently tug it down but he only allowed that so his eyes were visible. He peeked up at me and seemed to bat his lashes a few times,

"This blanket smells like ya, flowery tones with prominently lavender"

I snorted and erupted into laughter as that was probably one of the most random things he could've possibly said, I leaned forward and smelled the blanket some and sure enough, it smelled like lavender,

"So I smell like lavender?"

"All tha time"

Harry effortlessly responded in a bit of his sleepy voice as he seemed to grow all drowsy all over again, he's just so dang cute when he's sleepy I can barely help it! I cooed again and admired his casually dozing off,

"Makes meh... sleepy"

He said before letting his eyes flutter shut as he took in a deep breath. I giggled and gently put my hand on his shoulder to get him to wake up again,

"Harry we gotta get going, we have a lot to do today. I know you're comfy, but the blanket will be waiting for you tonight when you go back to bed"

Harry groaned and slowly opened his eyes again before lighting up,

"Oh, tonight can ya sleep with me under the weighted blanket with meh? I wanna see what that'll do"

I playfully rolled my eyes and sat up so he would follow my lead,

"If you get out of bed and get dressed in the next ten minutes I will let you cuddle all night tonight with the weighted blanket"

Harry lit up in a wide smile and shot out of bed and somehow magically unwrapped himself from the weighted blanket and jumped out of bed, he then ran to his wardrobe and began pulling clothes out at light speed which simply made me erupt into giggles, he must really wanna cuddle tonight because gee was he moving rather quickly! I slowly stood up out of his bed and straightened out my nightgown,

"I'm gonna go get dressed too, meet me in the hallway for breakfast?"

I said, Harry briefly turned to me to nod before vigorously throwing a pair of pants onto his bed. I giggled and skipped out of the room to my own room to get dressed for the day ahead of us. All while now that my brain was relaxed, I remembered that Harry kissed my hand yesterday and I gave him a kiss on the cheek, so I smiled ever so brightly because of that alone as I sorted out my dress for today.

We've had breakfast and freshened up as we need, now the first thing we have to go do is get Harry measured for a suit which he seems noticeably nervous about. Breakfast with the family was wonderfully pleasant as always, but Harry was very reluctant about letting someone he doesn't know measure him. So as we walked through the village on this brisk winters morning, I simply kept reassuring him that he was safe,

"You know I would never put you in a dangerous situation Harry, I'll be right there the whole time so I can triple make sure nothing happens okay?"

Harry smiled a little bit and nodded, but besides that, he was simply staring off at the ground, moments like these where he has this look of perpetual doom in his eye just makes me so sad. I wish I could completely understand what happened to him so I could make him feel a little better, but there's so much gray space in his past that I don't know or understand! And when he's staring off into nowhere with this look of fear in his eye and I don't know how to fix it, it really makes me sad!

We approached the designer's shop and I slowly drew us in, Harry got a little stuck at the threshold of the place as he didn't want to go in, so I paused and turned to him,

"Harry, I'm right here"

I calmly spoke. He looked at me and looked down before suddenly grabbing my hand and then coming inside. He's told me he feels a lot more comfortable holding my hand so I easily bent my fingers around his hand and gave him a loving smile,

"Ah Princess Elena! Long time no see!"

The designer spoke as he burst into the room. I smiled and greeted him with a nod and handshake as I always do to those who I'm not as close to,

"Ah, and you must be the gentleman I'm sizing today eh?"

Harry looked at the ground and seemed to tremble a little bit. I bit my lip a little bit and looked at him with a lot of concern, he's never shown this much reluctance to do something with me before. I sighed and looked around to see the rest of the shop was empty, so I very quietly began to speak to the designer,

"Sir? My... friend here is rather uncomfortable with people he doesn't know being in his space or touching him whatsoever so this is a little challenging. Is there any way I could possibly help with the fitting? He's comfortable with me touching him but I'm afraid it may be too much for today to have a stranger do it"

The designer hummed and looked over to Harry who had perked up a little bit and was peeking out at me through his ruffled hair which hung over his face. The designer looked at him for a moment before looking back over to me,

"Ah yes! Well, you could always take my place and perform the measurements yourself! I can tell you what to measure on my own self and you can mirror it with him and simply tell me what you get! It may take a bit longer, but we want the customer to be comfortable first thing!"

I looked over to Harry with a smile to see him seemingly come out of his shell. He looked up and looked at the designer in the eye for the first time before looking over to me with a smile,

"Would you like to do that?"

He smiled a little more and nodded, he does get a little shy around other people so I'm used to nonverbal answers. The designer led us back to one of the fitting rooms assorted with suits of all shapes, sizes, and colors. Harry looked around at all of them and casually but quietly answered any questions the designer had for the actual look of the suit as we walked back. Harry basically said he wants a red and black suit and he didn't want it too blingy, that's pretty much all he gave the designer so good luck to him!

We got to the room and the first thing I did was get Harry settled by taking him around the room and showing him the things around it and let him interact with things. It really helps him if he gets to see a new environment through and through first. Then we worked our way back to the middle for the fitting to start,

"Alright! So I'll simply point out on my body where you must measure and all you must do Princess is follow that and tell me what measurement you get!"

He handed me a measuring tape and I gave him a firm nod,

"Sounds easy enough, Harry? You ready?"

I said in a purposely overly cheery-sounding voice. Harry looked at me for a moment or two before nodding. I already had a plan about how to go about this. I'm gonna tell him before I touch him at all and I'm only going to touch him for as long as I need, then I'm going to ask before I even touch anywhere to make sure he knows he has full control of the appointment. Hopefully, this will run smoothly.

So far so good! Harry's been great through his arm, upper body, and chest measurements so I am extremely proud of him already! My slow and steady tactic is working like an absolute charm, and Harry feels really relaxed so I'm glad! Now it was time for the leg ones, we already have the outer seam measurement done so we're already a step ahead,

"Alright now for the inseam measurement, you must hold the tape from the end of the pant leg up into the very top of the inner thigh"

The designer quickly demonstrated where to measure, and by doing so somehow sent Harry into a panic. He jumped back and immediately looked like a deer in headlights out of nowhere!

"No! No I will most certainly not do any of tha!"

Harry shouted, I simply dropped the measuring tape and slowly walked towards him as he had stepped back a little bit. I was rather worried, where did the sudden panic come from?

"Hey hey hey, Harry talk to me, what's wrong?"

Harry looked at me and nervously chuckled, his face was pale and his eyes were wide as he nervously looked around,

"That is... it's too close! I-I don't wanna b-be touched there.... n-not again... pl-please"

Harry slowly sank from yelling to merely whimpering, and I was immediately taken by a wave of sadness. Moments like this... I feel bad that I don't know why he wouldn't want to be touched there in particular, but right now all I could do is calm him down. I slowly walked towards him with a comforting smile and slowly put my hands every so gently on his shoulders,

"Then I won't touch you there, Harry... I'm never going to do something that purposely puts you in distress, if you don't want me to touch you somewhere I won't touch you there"

Harry whimpered some and looked at me for a moment and caught his breath, he looked genuinely petrified for a moment... I have to see if he'll tell me why later. I just want to understand why these moments happen sometimes and at the level they do,

"O-Okie... t-thank y-ya Ellie"

Harry said as he let me slowly lead him back to the middle of the room. I gave him a warm smile and slowly knelt down to grab the discarded measuring tape and had an idea,

"Hey, I know this is a lot but you are getting through it like a champ! I am already so proud of you for getting through this, and I won't do anything if you truly don't want to. How about you hold the measuring tape right there and I'll do the ankle part so I'm nowhere near there? I am very willing to be flexible here"

Harry smiled and seemed to blush a little bit before nodding. I gave him the end of the measuring tape and let him put it where the designer had told him to, I then slowly knelt down and did the rest of the measurement by taking it to the bottom of his pant leg. Harry seemed a lot more content with that, and as soon as I told the designer the measurement, he dropped the measuring tape altogether. When I did stand up, I gave him a little pat on the shoulder to let him know that I was very proud of him for getting through that.

I took a deep breath, mainly for Harry's sake as the fitting was officially over. He looked so relieved, so content now that it was over and done with. I gave him so much praise and love for getting through it, all the positive words and pats on the shoulder for him! This was a huge step for him, I just know it was!

The designer escorted us to the door before leaving to apparently help with another fitting which left us alone in the waiting room. I watched the designer leave before turning to Harry to ask if he was ready to go and saw that... he was crying. I immediately got more worried and grabbed both of his hands and held them in mine,

"Harry? Oh, sweetie are you alright?"

He looked up at me with a teary-eyed smile and nodded. He sighed and closed his eyes for a moment before suddenly pulling me into him and throwing his arms around me in a tight hug. I slowly hugged him back after gasping from the surprise hug and waited for a moment,

"Th-Thank ya.... for bein' y-ya... what y-ye did back there j-just... just re-really meant a lot. Y-Ye didn't make m-meh get touched b-by someone I don't kn-know... and ya l-listened when I sa-said no.... th-thank ya"

I melted at his words and lovingly squeezed him for a moment, I leaned my head on his shoulder and smiled with a sigh,

"Oh of course Harry, why wouldn't I listen when you said no? And I would never force you to do anything if it truly put you in distress... The last thing I want is to make you uncomfortable or hurt you in any way, I'm just proud you got through that the way you did. I am very very proud of you Harry, I'm just glad I could make that experience a little easier for you"

Harry let out a rouge sob and seemed to melt into my arms, and I simply held him up as he seemed to lose a lot of tension in the moment. It was all slipping away, and I was just happy I could help make some of the pain slip away.

I held him for as long as he needed, then I treated him to a snack from the bakery as a little extra treat for being so brave... and I genuinely am very, very proud of him.

A/N

Hiya! I really wanted this chapter to be a sort of small window into how Harry is doing when it comes to coping with his past abuse. That and well... the guy had to be fitted for a suit XD But really, he made the first step by allowing Elena to measure him instead of the stranger, but of course he didn't like that one measurement, if it wasn't clear enough, because it was too close to his crotch for his liking. So hopefully that was portrayed well, Harry has come a long way but still has a long way to go when it comes to some healing :)

My main question for this chapter is, how did I do? I really just wanna know if I wrote Harry's reactions and how Elena responded to them well, mainly because this sort of writing topic is still a little new to me and all, so please tell me how I did! :D

Remember to stay hydrated and to be kind to yourself today :D

-Brooke