The Battle Across The Universe

Chapter 37: Isabella Finally Does It...

[Author's Note: This chapter deals with anorexia a bit. Viewer discretion advised.]

When Isabella was no longer on the phone with her sister, Elizabeth, Fawn looked up and smiled at her. "Everything okay with Elizabeth?"

"Yeah! Yeah, all good. She just has some personal stuff going on that she wants to keep private. Nothing bad. Just private."

Fawn shrugged. "Okay. I can understand that." Fawn stood up and walked over to stand in front of a sitting Isabella. "Did you eat today?"

"No, not yet. I haven't gotten up."

Fawn grabbed Isabella's hand. "Come on. Come to the kitchen with me to pick something out."

"Mi amor. I'm fine. I'm not hungry."

Fawn let go of Isabella's hand and crossed her arms in front of her chest. "Well tough. You're gonna eat."

"Fawn —"

"Bella." Fawn gently put her hands on either side of Isabella's face. "You know your anorexia is something you're going to have to keep dealing with time and time again. Though most of the time you're doing better I think that this week you've started showing signs of that not being the case. And I'm going to help you through this. Okay? You don't live with your family anymore; you live with me. This isn't something you can do on your own. I'm always going to be here to help you. If it seems like I'm being tough on you it's because I care." Fawn kissed Isabella on the forehead.

Isabella exhaled, her shoulders dropping. She put her arms around Fawn and pulled her into a tight hug. "Gracias, mi amor. I needed that..."

Isabella couldn't help but smile as she hugged her girlfriend. They both had been through some rough times throughout their relationship, and they stuck by each other no matter what. Isabella remembered the first time that Fawn noticed she wasn't eating as much. They had just gotten back home after the Battle of the Races fiasco. They were hanging out together. In the room it was just the two of them; Fawn's mother and Isabella's father were in the next room over talking. Fawn's mom had brought out a ton of snacks since she expected the two of them to eat a lot. Fawn ate a lot; Isabella didn't eat at all.

"Hey," Fawn had said. "You're not eating."

Isabella turned to Fawn. "It's fine. I don't need to eat..."

Fawn was suspicious of this, so she asked a question: "When's the last time you ate?"

Isabella froze. "Oh, I... It's been a little while. I just haven't been hungry recently. I'm sort of doing this diet thing."

Fawn nodded slowly. "This diet thing, huh? Like...where you don't eat?"

Isabella shrugged. "Sort of. It's really a portion control thing, but I can never get the portions correct. I don't want to gain more weight. I'm fat enough as is."

While Isabella continued to watch the television Fawn looked down at Isabella's body. She was rather skinny; Fawn would say about average, maybe even skinnier than average. And she wasn't wearing skin tight clothes, which wouldn't have been a big deal if Fawn hadn't seen Isabella wear that outfit before. The last time Isabella wore it it was a skin tight outfit.

Fawn looked up at Isabella's face. She could only see her side profile, but she couldn't help but think that she was the most beautiful girl in the world. And she was going to love her and care for her in whatever way she could. This was the girl she wanted to marry, after all. Even back then.

"Will you eat if I ask you to?"

Isabella, who was only half paying attention to what Fawn said, replied, "I would do anything you asked me to do, my love."