You drew stars around my scars

Oh, here we go again (part 2)

The next morning, Taylor woke up with a new determination to monitor Jessica. During breakfast, Emmeline conveniently slept through and Taylor sat opposite the teen the whole time "keep eating baby"

Jessica nodded, taking another bite of toast and chewing it slowly. Taylor narrowed her eyes but Jessica avoided her gaze. The teen ate the whole meal without any complaining so Taylor relaxed slightly, knowing that usually there would be arguments when Jessica was struggling. The teen even drunk the whole glass of orange juice without moaning. Taylor started to convince herself that Jessica was actually fine, that there was no problem, that it really was just the fatigue of having a new baby in the house.

Jessica showed Taylor the plate and the blonde nodded "yeah – good job. Go upstairs and get ready for school"

Jessica jumped up, jogging upstairs quickly. As she slammed the door to her bedroom, the baby stirred and Taylor groaned slightly as she grabbed the newborn. Emmeline was even worse this morning, she had kept Taylor up all night and her cough had worsened. Taylor was convinced her temperature was rising so she rung the doctors to schedule an appointment later that morning.

Taylor ran upstairs to tell Jessica they needed to leave 5 minutes earlier so she could get Emmeline to her appointment on time. She would usually knock and wait but in her haste she knocked and undid the door instantly, bursting into the teens room. Jessica gasped and quickly pulled her top down but not before Taylor got a glimpse of the teen's new body. Her ribs and spine were evident and it was clear how much weight she had lost again. Jessica's eyes were wide and she felt frozen as she just stared at Taylor. The blonde blinked "errr...right...erm....I just came to say we have to go soon – I need to get Emmeline to the doctors...."

Jessica nodded, still unable to find her voice and she watched silently as Taylor backed out, closing her door slowly. The teen released the breath she had been holding and quickly finished getting dressed. She knew she couldn't take too long getting ready as Taylor would be waiting for her but she wanted to delay the inevitable talk which would now have to happen.

Downstairs Taylor was trying to keep her breathing even, she kept replaying the image of the emaciated teen over and over in her brain. She looked towards the stairs, trying to work out how to address it when the teen came down. When she couldn't think of an appropriate way to approach it, she pulled out her phone – quickly firing off a message 'Walked in on Jessica – she is skeletal. I don't know what to do. Emmeline is poorly and I have to take her to the doctors this morning. Everything is falling apart. Please help? X'

Just as she hit send, the teen came downstairs slowly. Taylor looked up at her, blinking away her tears "you ready for school?"

Jessica nodded, chewing her lip slowly "Yeah – I'm ready. So Emmeline is really sick?"

Taylor shrugged "not REALLY sick, but I need her checked over. Her appointment is in a little over an hour. Grab your bag and we will get going..."

Jessica nodded, surprised she had not already received a lecture. Truthfully, Taylor didn't know what to say. They headed out the house and Jessica slipped into the front seat while Taylor secured Emmeline's car seat.

The teen began to pick at the skin around her nails anxiously while she waited for Taylor to climb into the drivers seat.

Taylor glanced at the teen, worry written all over her face. She reached over, holding the teen's hands gently to stop her from hurting herself "hey, you're ok. You're going to be ok..."

Jessica bit her lip, excuses ready "Tay-"

The blonde held her hand up "No, I don't want to hear it. We will talk properly tonight, but for right now I want you to go to school and have a good day. You do not need to worry – you aren't in trouble."