Ellie sat on the couch, her head against the couch arm as she read over her script.

Joel watched her from the kitchen as he ordered pizza, smiling softly as she read out her lines.

"You're sounding good kiddo" he smiled at her, Ellie grinned.

"Really?" She asked, surprised, Joel nodded.

"Yeah, you sound amazing" he smiled, walking over and sitting down next to her as she smiled.

"Dinners ordered, wanna talk about earlier?" He asked softly, Ellie sighed.

"It was nothing, they'd been bullying me for a while, but I could deal with it until today" she sighed, cuddling with him.

"Why didn't you tell me? I would of happily taken care of it" he played with her hair.

"I didn't want you to be upset at me for not being able to fight back" she whispered softly, Joel sighed and kissed her head.

"You know I'd never be mad at you, you're my baby girl, my best friend" he hugged her, smiling softly,

Ellie smiled and cuddled against his chest, still reading the script, Joel read it over her shoulder, smiling and following along with each word.

"Looks good, how long do you have till the show?" Joel asked, rubbing her back.

"5 months, we start dress rehearsals in 2 months" Ellie said, smiling at the gentle affection.

"That's great darling, I'll come see it every single night" he smiled brightly at her, Ellie smiled back.

"Thanks dad" she giggled softly, cuddling against him affectionately.

"Course, I've always gotta support my baby girl" he smiled, holding Ellie as she read over the script.

He hated how the meeting that day went, hated that there was some kind of discrimination against his daughter playing a Male role, hated that it resulted in his baby girl getting covered in blood and bruises, hated that the school did little to nothing to protect his daughter.

He hadn't even noticed that Ellie had fell asleep until he heard her soft snores,making him smile.

He picked up the sleeping girl, holding her close and bringing her to her room, kissing her head softly.

He loved her daughter, more than anything, and he'd do anything to protect her.
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Hope you guys enjoyed this, I'm planning on doing a lot of writing over the next few weeks