You drew stars around my scars

Award show battles

It was Thursday morning and the pit of anxiety was growing quickly in Taylor's stomach.

She had her award show tonight where she was predicted to win for her music video which would usually be very exciting but this week Jessica had gotten sick again. The teen was clingy and grumpy. She has complained of feeling nauseous every day and her eating habits had become 10 x more difficult to manage again.

So far they had spent every meal bargaining, Taylor cajoling her into eating, pleading with her to at least try to finish a meal. Jessica was becoming more and more resistant. It had been 3 days of begging the teen to try and eat. Taylor had tried to get out of the awards show but had been told it was necessary for her to attend.

The blonde knocked softly on the teen's bedroom door, waking her up from her nap. Jessica sat up, rubbing her eyes gently. Taylor sat down next to her "Hey Buddy, how's your tummy feeling?"

Jessica stretched slightly, groaning "still sore. I don't feel as sick though." Taylor smiled softly "That's great then. Listen – we need to talk about tonight..." Jessica sat up fully, nodding slightly. Taylor pushed the teen's hair out of her face as she spoke "My Mum is going to come and stay with you this evening – I will probably be home pretty late so you need to go up to bed whenever she tells you, you need to keep resting." Taylor knew this was a sensitive topic at the moment – as Jessica hadn't been eating properly Taylor had decreased the amount of exercise she was having.

Jessica chewed on her lip slightly "So you're going to be here for lunch, and my snack then your Mum will be here for dinner?" Taylor nodded, smiling reassuringly "Yep, I'll be getting ready so Mum is going to come over this afternoon. Jessica – please please try to eat your dinner. I know it's hard, I know your stomach hurts. But you really need to start building it back up." Jessica nodded "I'll try", Taylor ran her fingers through the teen's hair again "Ok well, do you want to come and watch a movie with me, you can eat your snack? Chill out a bit before lunch?" Jessica hesitated "can we go for a walk instead? I've just had a nap and my body feels sluggish"

Taylor sighed "No buddy – you only had yoghurt for breakfast. Maybe after lunch we can go, if you eat it all?" Jessica grumbled, her face dropping "maybe if I moved more – I'd have more of an appetite...I'm doing nothing all day!" Taylor decided this was just going to spiral into another argument about food so she pulled the girl up gently, dragging her downstairs.

As they settled onto the sofa Jessica's leg began to bounce anxiously, Taylor reached out, placing her hand gently on her knee "Stop that, if you want to go out for a walk later, you need to rest now." Jessica rolled her eyes, desperate to burn off a few extra calories but she complied – resting her head on the blonde's shoulder. Soon enough lunchtime rolled around, Taylor made them both a sandwich and called the girl in. Jessica took a few tentative bites, eating about half before stopping "I can't eat any more – I'm full". Taylor barely had to glance at the food "that's not enough. You need to finish it – it's just a sandwich. There is no way you're too full to eat a sandwich."

Jessica began to whine immediately, "it's my stomach – it hurts! I feel sick. You don't eat when you're sick!" Taylor nodded, taking a deep breath – "you're right, but I'm worried about you. Can you just take 2 more bites? Then we can go for that walk?"

Jessica wanted to protest but knew she wasn't going to get away with this – she picked the sandwich up again and forced down another couple of bites. When Taylor was satisfied the girl had eaten enough she picked up the two plates, placing them in the dishwasher before getting her shoes on.

As soon as they were outside Jessica's mood brightened, she had been stuck in the house for days and it felt great to be out in the sunshine. Taylor kept pulling on her arm slightly, slowing her down "we are out for a walk, not a run – I can't keep up with you!"