Alex walked into the house, dropping her jacket on the coat racks. She dragged herself to the steps, struggling to walk up them. "I'm going to go shower."
"Sweetie, let me help you up the steps." Theresa offered, rushing by her daughter's side.
"I'm fine." She said frustrated, but both her and her Mother knew she wasn't making it up the steps herself. She took a deep breath, making it onto the first step. But, as she stepped on the second step, her legs shook and her hands slipped. She collapsed on the steps, sliding down to the wooden floor. She broke into tears, feeling so helpless. Dean ran over, rubbing her back.
"Shh, don't cry baby. It's okay." He helped her up, wrapping her arm around his neck, and wrapping his arm around her waist. He supported her up the steps and into her room. "How did you shower at the hospital?"
"I took baths. The nurse would help me in and out."
"Why don't you shower in the downstairs bathroom? Get your stuff and I'll help you back down." Dean watched his girlfriend gather the items she needed, before starting for the door. Dean immediately ran by her side, supporting her, as he helped her back down the steps. Victoria turned to see her daughter, before returning to help her husband make grilled cheese.
"Max, can you set the table?"
"I guess." He muttered, still feeling sadness take over his body. He hated what had been going on. He hated that the family was going through a rough patch. He just wanted to get over the depressing weeks and get back to their normal, happy lives. But he knew the weeks of recovering and helping Alex heal would feel like forever.
"Sweetie, I know you don't like what's going on, but I promise everything will be okay." It was like his Mother had read his mind, but he realized his frown made it obvious of what he was thinking.
"This is all my fault." Dean spoke up, wanting to collapse to the floor and sob.
"Dean, why would you say that? This is nobody's fault, but that boy's." Theresa felt the same way as her son did, but she had to stay strong.
"But I'm her boyfriend. I should have figured out what was wrong with her. And I should have told you that I knew something was wrong with her."
"I just…I just…Hi Alex." Theresa paused on her sentence as she saw her daughter enter the kitchen. "We're almost done making lunch"
"What' are you making?" Alex pretended to not have heard the conversation she had been listening to earlier. Instead she took a seat next to her boyfriend, pulling her sweatshirt away from her small stomach. She stared down at her stomach, disgusted by what she thought was fat. She bagged her sweatshirt out again, trying to hide what she hated.
"Grilled cheese."
"Oh." Alex nervously replied, staring at the melted cheese in each sandwich her Mother placed on the plates on the table.
"You only need to eat half though, sweetie." Theresa added in hesitantly, as she watched her daughter search for an excuse. Everyone was now seated, quietly beginning to eat their sandwich.
"Okay." Alex said softly, taking a bite into the sandwich. She stared at it, horrified of what she had just done. She took another, before quickly swallowing it. She quickly finished half the sandwich, before excusing herself from the table. "I have to go to the bathroom,"
Everyone sighed, before exchanging look with one another. They all knew what Alex was doing, but didn't know how to approach the situation. Dean pushed back on his chair, standing up. "I'll be right back." He made his way to the bathroom, resting an ear against the door. He hated what he heard, but he didn't know what to do. Just behind the door was his girlfriend, forcing herself to vomit, because she thought she was fat and she was being abused. Dean quickly stepped back as the door opened, Alex becoming worried.
"Look, it not what you think."
"Then what was it? I'm so tired of this. I'm so tired of your stupid lies and all your crap! I'm done. I'm done with trying to get you to eat, because I don't know what to do anymore. You know what the doctor told us? She told us if you go another day without eating, you're going to most likely die!" Dean's words furiously slipped from his mouth, without thinking twice about what he said.
"What's going on?" Theresa inquired, as everyone began to enter the tragic scene.
"Nothing. Nothing at all. It doesn't ever matter anymore." Alex wanted to run upstairs to her room so badly, but she knew even if she tried, she wouldn't be able to even make it past the hallway.
"No it's not nothing! And it does matter!" Dean snapped again, regretting the harshness in his voice. He calmed down, before gently whispering. "Alex, if you don't stop, you're going to die. Please don't do this to me. Please don't leave me. I love you more than I could love anyone or anything else in this world. You are my world."
"I love you too, but you don't understand! I want to die!"
Review! (Sorry for delay!)