Always Okay | (Adopted By Elizabeth Olsen)

Chapter 46

Word Count: 5365

Lizzie's POV

It's been a little over a week and a half since we got home and things have been going okay. Just okay. She's been doing a lot better with meal times and as far as I know, she's been sleeping pretty well at night. But then again, I thought she was doing well at night before our NY trip also. I tell her every night when I tuck her in and at every nap, come get me if you need me, but she never does. I don't know if that's because she actually doesn't need me or if she's lost all the trust I've worked so hard to build back. I've heard her a few times but when I go to check on her, she's back to her same old tricks. It's frustrating, especially since I know we made progress while in NY. I just don't know what caused this new wall she's built up. 

We typically spend most of the day at home but I try to get her to go out on little daily outings with me. Going shopping with her is pretty hard, she gets very tense around crowds or just in stores in general. I try to take her at times I know will have a low flux of people, but we usually can't stay for long because she has a tendency to work herself into a panic attack. I thought we had worked through that crowd fear in minor settings, but like I said coming home has caused us to take a lot of steps backward. I wanted to take her on a hike last week but it was fairly warm and she refused to wear some breathable hiking clothes. I didn't want her to overheat, so we elected to go for a long drive instead. However, I am very glad that she has grown out of the motion sickness because that was a bitch of a thing to deal with. It just added to her stress even more and then I'd get stressed. Then we'd both be anxiety-filled and overwhelmed while trying to go out and do something fun. 

I'm currently finishing getting ready for the day before my first therapy appointment and a few late morning meetings. I haven't scheduled an appointment for Alexis because I wanted to talk to her about it first, and seeing as she hasn't wanted to hold a conversation deeper than what we're having for dinner, it's been hard. Another big thing, I have to talk to her about is school. With her eagerness to return to school, I decided to enroll her in an online class that slowly implements more and more face-to-face interactions. It took a while for the paperwork and grade equivalency to transfer, especially with Josh enrolling her as Allie May. 

Alexis isn't allowed to come with me to these work meetings due to the nature of the NDA I signed for them, so I'm dropping her off with Clay who has graciously offered to hang out with her for the morning. Once I finished getting dressed, I wandered into the kitchen where Alexis was nose deep in her newest book. "Good morning," I greeted her with a kiss on the head.

"Hi," Alexis answered me quietly.

"How'd you sleep?" I asked while going to the pantry to pull out something to eat for breakfast.

"Okay," Alexis brushed off the question as she returned to her book.

"What do you want for breakfast?" I continued trying to get her to hold a long conversation with me. This is how it's been for the past week, she only talks to me if I say something first. I want to say that it's my mom's fault but the longer this continues the more I worry it could also be something I did. I did talk to her about my mom and her visit and she seemed to be okay with it. I thought we came to the same conclusion, that Alexis was safe with me and my mom wasn't going to take her away, but I'm not so sure anymore.

"I already ate," she told me bluntly, which made me turn around quickly giving her a questioning look.

"What'd you eat?" I pressed, she hasn't had a meal alone since we've been home. It was mainly because I was concerned that she wouldn't be eating.

"Cereal," she replied.

"Which one?" I questioned.

"The cheerios."