Always Okay | (Adopted By Elizabeth Olsen)

Chapter 4

Tw: needles

Word Count: 3978

Lizzie's POV

It has been about four days since our yelling match and they have been painfully quiet. We don't talk, well to be more specific Alexis doesn't. I try to talk to her but she always shut down the conversation as quickly as she can whether by pretending not to hear me, or that she was asleep or by just simply telling me no and rolling over in the bed to face away from me.

I'm luckily on a break from filming as we are gearing up to film Captain America soon, so I've been able to spend all of my time with her. I haven't been staying overnight though, because I'm scared to push her boundaries and cause her to resent me more. She very obviously wants me to stay away, so as a compromise to try and please her, I told her that I'll leave once she's asleep and be back early in the morning. Each night she falls asleep around 9 pm and I head home to work on getting things in order for when she actually comes home with me.

I have been renting a two-bedroom apartment in LA for quite some time now, but I primarily live with my fiance in Brooklyn. I keep the apartment here for when I'm working, visiting friends, or just need a quick weekend getaway. As I've gotten busier, I haven't been able to be in LA as much as I want to but I didn't want to get rid of it, plus it's so much nicer to not have to stay in a hotel every time I visit LA. And even if my relationship with my parents is still pretty much nonexistent, LA will always be my home.

I currently have the second bedroom in the apartment set up as an office, so I've been working on moving things around the apartment so that Alexis can have her own room. It's not overly big but a good size for an eleven-year-old and much bigger than her room in our old New York apartment. I moved most of the unnecessary office supplies and boxes that were stored in the closet out into my garage. I rearranged the desk so that it was smaller so that she could still use it without it taking up too much space. I packed away the old paintings and decor that hung on the walls, and now I just needed to refill the room with her stuff. I bought her some basic room furniture in white so that if she wants to change the color we could easily paint over it. Luckily, I was able to expedite shipping on most of this stuff so it should be there before she comes home. 'comes home' ahh the words I've been waiting to hear forever. My little girl is coming home, finally!

I've been doing my best to hide my joy that she's alive because she currently hates me and I know that if I'm overly crazy, she'll hate me more. I can't help it though, my heart skips a few beats every time the doctors mention her coming home with me. There's still so much up in the air and I haven't decided if I will take her back to Brooklyn with me in a few months, but one thing I do know is that I'm pretty damn excited to take her home.

Earlier this week I tried to get her involved in the decorating process for her room and she was quick to shut that conversation down. It was always the same tactics selective listening, fake sleeping, or just more shouting. Except on the second day, she looked down and studied her hands intensely as if they were all that mattered in the world. Although I was worried that my question about what color bed sheets did she want caused her to be anxious, it still made me smile seeing that her same nervous tick hadn't changed in all these years. She might not be the same Alexis who was ripped from all those years ago, but it doesn't mean she isn't a complete stranger.

Another major thing that happened in these past few days was her giving a complete statement to the police. They did unhandcuff her on the third day after hearing her statement and determining that she wasn't a threat to others or herself, which completely baffled me. No matter how many times they tried to explain to me what happened, I would never understand the reasoning for them handcuffing her to the bed. I had read the full police report and everything, but I didn't see it. The officers described the night so vividly yet so void of emotion at the same time. I could still picture it clearly though and it was heart-shattering to read what they wrote. They had made a few interpretations regarding the events that transpired before they walked in, but without both Josh and her's statement, they couldn't compile any evidence that she wasn't also a threat to herself or others.