This is me trying

right where you left me

~Everybody moved on, I
I stayed there~

Taylor's version

Grace has been with me for about two months now, and she has warmed up to me a lot. She trusts me a lot more now, her panic attacks have gotten better and she has gotten a bit more chatty. She does have her days, where she had a nightmare or a flashback, and it can feel like we are back to day one. We haven't heard anything back about the trial, which could be for numerous reasons.

Grace is still asleep, I let her sleep in today since she already has her schoolwork finished for the week. We are planning on going to the movies together and maybe even out for dinner, she still struggles with eating, but it has gotten a lot better.

I'm currently sitting in the living room, I've been awake for a bit now, and I have already eaten breakfast. I decide to just catch up on some emails while waiting for Grace to get up

~

One hour later, I hear some movement upstairs, so I decide to go see if Grace is already up. I get up and walk up the stairs. When I get upstairs, I knock on Grace's door "Grace are you awake?" I ask. "Yeah, you can come in." I open the door and walk in.

I see Grace searching through her closet for an outfit to wear today. "Hi, did you sleep well?" "Yeah, I did, you?" "Yeah I slept well."

Grace continues to search for an outfit, when she does, she walks into the bathroom to change while I wait on the bed.

Once she is changed she comes back out "I made breakfast for you, would you like some?" She nods while putting away her pyjamas.

We walk downstairs together and Grace walks into the kitchen to grab her plate. We both sit down at the table, even though I have already eaten, I still sit with her at the table, it makes it easier for her to eat.

"Which movie are we going to see again?" Grace asks "Uhm, the barbie movie." "Right."

I notice Grace playing with her food "Are you not hungry?" She shakes her head "No, I'm sorry." "You don't have to apologize honey, if you get hungry later, you can grab something then." I say as I get up to out her plate away.

When I come back I give Grace a hug, I don't want her to think that I'm disappointed in her in any way.

~

We are getting ready to leave for the movies, Grace is upstairs grabbing some shoes while I lock up all the doors. I hear her coming down the stairs and turn around "Ready to go?" She nods. I stuff all of my hair in a cap and put on some sunglasses, as well as a baggy coat to try and hide myself as good as possible.

We are able to leave the house without any paparazzi being out there.

On the drive there we turn on some music, I sing along while Grace hums along quietly.

We arrive at the cinema en walk in, we already bought tickets online so we don't have to wait in line. We walk over to get some snacks.

"Would you like something Grace?" "No thanks." I look at her "Are you sure? You didn't eat a lot at lunch or breakfast." She nods "I'm sure, just not hungry." She says while looking at the floor.

I decide to drop it for now, but I will keep an eye on her. I get myself a bucket of popcorn, if she does want something, we could share.

We walk into the cinema and get into our seats, I got us the ones in the far left corner, so I can take my sunglasses of and nobody would see us.

~

The movie was very fun, and Grace looks like she enjoyed herself, I would do anything to see her like that. I put my sunglasses back on and we leave the theater.

"Do you want to get dinner, or just go home?" I ask once we get in the car. "I think I just want to go home, if that's okay?" "Yeah sure, we can order in." I keep a calm outside but inside I am freaking out, because this is the first time she talked about our house as 'home'.

We drive back, chatting about random stuff. Once we get home, we order in and flop down on the couch. We decide to continue watching the rookie while waiting for our food to come.

~

The food has arrived, we ordered some burritos. After a while I notice that Grace had barely touched hers. "I know you're not hungry today, but I need you to eat a little more than that honey." She nods, avoiding eye contact. She continues eating her burrito very slowly.

I leave her be for a second, so she doesn't feel to much pressure. "If you really can't eat anymore you don't have to." She nods as she puts the burrito down. Just as I'm about to walk to the kitchen to put the burrito away, the doorbell rings.

I don't think to much of it, people come to my house once in a while when they really shouldn't be here. I walk over to the doorcam and ask who it is. "Hi, I'm Kelly, Grace's New social worker, can I come in?" "Uhm, Yeah, my security will just check if you are who you say you are and then they will being you over to me." "Alright, thanks."

I walk back over to the living room. "Who is it?" Grace asks. "It's your new social worker, but I have no clue why she is here at this time."

The door opens and Kelly walks in, with someone from my security, Ben. "Thank you, Ben, can you wait outside to bring her back?" "Ofcourse." He says as he walks back out the door.

"Can I take a seat?" Kelly asks, she really knows how to make herself comfortable. I nod and look over at Grace to see how she is reacting, and much to my expectation, she looks very stressed. I scoot a little closer to her on the couch and grab her hand.

"I assume you must be Grace? I'm Kelly, your new social worker. Grace you were brought into Taylor's care with an emergency foster placement, yes?" We both nod, I have no clue where this conversation is going, but Grace looks terrified, as if this has happened before. "So with that emergency placement, this house has never been properly checked whether or not it's a good placement for you." We both nod again "Is that a problem?" I ask, expecting am answer from the woman in front of me, but getting one from the fragile girl next to me "Yes, because the still have to check it, which means they will take me away from you and there aren't any promises that I will come back to this placement." She whispers as a tear rolls down her face.

"No, no you can't take her away, do you have any idea what she's been through?" "Taylor, it's fine, it's just what happens." Grace whispers to me. "No it's not fine, noone told me about any of this. Can't she just stay with my mom for the time being or something?" "I'm afraid not, as she doesn't have a Foster licence, it would count as a sleepover, and she would officially still be under your care." I stay silent, it feels as if my whole world is crumbling around me.

Grace gets up of the couch, I presume to pack a bag, and I follow her, I'll take any time I can get with her.

~

The social worker is now actually going to take her away. I pull Grace into one more hug. While in the hug I tell her "Call me any time you need,  text whatever you want, I promise I'll pick up, I'm going to do anything I can to get you back, I promise. I can tell Grace is trying to stay strong for me, she is fighting against her tears.

Her social worker gently grabs her by the arm and pulls her to the car. The second the car drives away, I close the door and break down, Grace has been telling biggest part of my life for months, and they just took her away.

Soo a very sad chapter, but I wanted to get it out before ttpd release. Once again I am very very sorry about the wait, I promise I'll do better, life has just been a little crazy.

I am soo excited for ttpd, mostly so long, London and I can do it with a broken heart.
Stay safe everyone and have a nice release day