Always Okay | (Adopted By Elizabeth Olsen)

Chapter 37

Word Count: 4554

Lizzie's POV

I waited patiently for her soft whimpers to subside before sitting up a little straighter and lifting her chin with my index finger so her eyes could meet mine. "What is going on, Lex? What is making you so upset?"

"I-i don't know."

"I think you do, sweet girl," I replied searching her face for any clues.

"I don't," she replied almost instantly.

"Ok, do you want to skip this conversation and eat then?" I asked raising a cautious eyebrow in her direction.

"No," she whined, "I already told you I'm not hungry. Why can't you listen to me?"

"Alexis, I'm right here. I'm listening to every word you say but you need to tell me why you aren't hungry? This isn't healthy," I informed her.

"I'm fine, Lizzie," she growled angrily.

"No, no you're not," I told her gently.

"I hate you," she whispered.

"Alexis, this isn't something you can do anymore," I sighed deeply, trying to ignore her last comment.

"I hate you," she mumbled again.

"Okay, if you're done talking then let's eat," I threatened, noting that we were doing nothing but going round and round getting more worked up at each other.

"No!" she screamed at me before I even had a second to do anything.

"Alexis, tell me what's going on then, why don't you want to eat? Are you scared or does something hurt?" I asked as her gaze stayed fixed on something far from me.

"I-I I don't want it," she whispered.

"I'm sorry then, because you need to eat, you can't live without food," I told her calmly.

"I have before," she replied quickly as if it was a normal thing. I shook my head at her before answering.

"Well, you're not there anymore. You're with me, so you need to eat at least three meals a day," I informed her.

"I don't want to, this is my choice," she angrily told me through gritted teeth.

"Alexis, I love that you want to make decisions but as your parent, it's my job to teach you about good and bad decisions. And steer you away from the bad decisions," I explained to her hoping to get my point across without crushing her newfound confidence in her decision-making.

"I think it's a good decision, it helps me," Alexis mumbled as her eyes stayed glued to her hands that were anxiously playing with the other.

"No, Alexis, not eating is not a good decision. It's actually very dangerous. You can get very sick and hurt from not eating," I told her in a firm tone, hoping it comes off in a less overbearing way than it sounded in my head.

"That's not true," Alexis pushed back.

"It is, Lex. Your Aunt MK had to go to a special hospital to get help when her anorexia got bad. She was so skinny and sick," I explained, maybe an example could help?

"I'm not sick," Alexis informed me as if that was a valid excuse to continue down this path.

"You aren't sick right now but you remember the doctor telling us that you're more susceptible to sicknesses? Plus we haven't finished getting all your vaccinations which is another concern. You could get sick very easily," I told her honestly, she's a smart kid and she should be able to put it together.