Christian's POV

As I thought… she had broken her arm… her bones were too weak to take any collision. At least it was her arm rather than her head. It would have been worse. I couldn't imagine my daughter ending up in a concussion.

Since we left from Natalie's she had been awfully quiet… and it worried me. What happened that got her this way? For sure it wasn't Taylor's unfortunate accident… I could sense some coldness between both girls… and it was strange… they are usually attached to the hip!

It was at around 4pm when we arrived home. She didn't say a word the whole drive. She was still rubbing her casted arm gently… not to mention it was itching her. I picked up a bottle of painkillers on the way. She would need them. I remember when she was younger and she broke the same arm… It hurt her a lot… and I guess it would again… not as it had… but still.

We entered home in utter silence. She didn't say a word… she greeted Ana gently, and also Ana could sense something.

'How are you baby girl?' She asked gently.

'I'm ok…' She simply replied as she avoided our eyes. 'I'm going to my room…'

'No…' I stopped her to a halt. 'You still have to eat…'

'Not hungry dad…' She replied as she made her way up while Ana gave me a worried look and mouthed /'What happened?'/, while I mouthed back /'I don't know…'/

'Sera!' I said again catching up to her. 'You know you can't skip meals… It's time to eat…'

'Dad… I'm really not hungry… It has nothing to do with… with that…' She replied. She didn't say her disorder… this had to do with it, especially as she didn't have a problem on mentioning it before.

'Oh yes it does Sera…' I glared at her. 'Either you're coming down willingly, or else I'll get you down myself… your choice Sera!'

'Dad…'

'Sera, there are no negotiations and no discussions… I have to put my foot down on this…'

'It's for your own good…' Ana backed me up while she rolled her eyes. I took her left arm gently and guided her down. I took her from her shoulders and made our way to the kitchen. Everything was already prepared. We all took our usual seats, however she wasn't so keen on doing so. Ana and I both exchanged looks. We knew something happened that set her off. I knew this was going to happen. I just wished she could talk to us freely.

Ana's POV

We all dug in, however she remained beside me trying to function with her left arm. She's a right handed and it was harder eating with the wrong arm, not to mention that she didn't even try bringing the fork to her mouth. She kept moving her salad around.

'Honey, what's wrong?' I tried as I bought her out of her thoughts. She was doing so well, and one trip to her friend's house and look how she is.

'Nothing mum… I'm fine…' She smiled weakly.

'Then why aren't you eating?' Christian tried again.

'I'm not hungry dad…' She replied again. 'Can I please eat later?' She asked gently.

'No Sera… you know how dangerous it is for you to skip meals…' He started.

'You cannot do that!' I added. 'You need to eat… just take few bites…' I encouraged.

'…but I'm really not hungry…' she begged again.

'Sera… I'm sorry but you have to eat!'

'Dammit! When are you going to understand that I'm really not hungry and that this is not some fucked up excuse to not eat!' She retorted on her last nerve as she pushed her plate away and made a run to her room.

Both Christian and I remained dumbstruck at her outburst. There was something wrong for sure. Christian removed his napkin from his lap in irritation. He was worried as much as I was about this. If we let this start again she will relapse, and John talked to us about this.

'I'll go talk to her…' He replied as he moved his chair backwards and made his way up.

'Christian…' I stopped him.

'Yeah…' He replied.

'Be gentle…' I advised.

'Don't worry about that…' He smiled. 'You eat up Mrs. Grey… you have flight to catch.'

'Do you want me to cancel it? I can stay with Sera and you…'

'We'll be fine…' He smiled as he went up the stairs.

Christian's POV

I knocked gently on her door, but there was no response. I opened the door gently and there she was. Lying on the ground staring at the ceiling.

'Can I come in?' I asked her gently.

'Would it make a difference if I say no?' She asked quietly.

'Nopes… still coming in…' I replied.

'Than why ask dad?' She replied back as I lay down beside her.

'You do know that you have a very comfortable bed right? The floor is hard…'

'It's comfortable dad…' She replied as she rested her head on my shoulder. 'I… I'm sorry for the way I reacted back then…'

'It's ok peanut…' I comforted. '…but please… tell me… what's wrong?'

'It's nothing dad…'

'Sera you don't have to deal with this alone…'

'Dad you would tell me that you told me so and that you warned me… and that both you and mum gave me the orders for a reason… I know how this works…'

'Are you talking about Natalie?' I asked her while she looked away. 'I'll take that as a yes…' I replied gently. 'Hey… look at me…' I continued as I lifted her head from her chin. 'Whatever happened is not your fault… you tried to help and be there for your friend… if she did something wrong, it's her loss not yours…'

'Yeah…'

'Are you going to tell me what happened? Or do we have to play 20 questions?'

'We haven't played that in ages…'

'Stick to the topic Sera… don't try avoiding it… it won't work with me…'

'…and I wonder why you have no board to answer too…' She chuckled.

'There's that smile…' I noticed. 'Now… what happened?'

'It's nothing dad… it's just… Nat said some hard words… and I feel bad…'

'What hard words?'

'Dadd…'

'Sera I need to know to be able to help you…' I encouraged.

'Well…' she started. 'She said that she wanted me with her because she knows that Taylor knows that the little stress would set me off… I… it's not true dad! If anything I know how to handle stress…'

'I know you can honey… What else?'

'…and then she said that I need to put on weight and that her 6 year old cousin looks better than I do… and that I don't actually look fine… and that I was supposed to be in recovery… and she took it against me because I told you and mum about this…' She admitted. 'I swear dad that I don't do this on purpose…'

'I know honey you don't… nobody would want this pain… and I know that this controls you… but you are a strong person baby girl…you've come this far…' I tried. 'How do you feel about this?'

'Hurt… used… I'm supposed to be her best friend daddy, and she's using my…'

'Say it…' I encouraged.

'…my… anorexia… for her to have less of a consequence… it's not fair dad…'

'Honey life is not fair, and unfortunately we're surrounded by people like this!'

'…but this is Natalie we're talking about dad… she was never like this… did I do something wrong?'

'Hey don't blame yourself kiddo! She got pregnant! You didn't tell her to do so… and if Mark doesn't man up and accept the baby than it's his problem and he's not a man… She was angry and she knows that you can take anything… so she took it on you…'

'That's not helping…'

'I know… but you shouldn't blame yourself for her attitude… you are her age, and yet you've never been disrespectful to any of us… she was… and that is not your fault…'

'…but words hurt dad…'

'I know they do kiddo… but that shouldn't be a reason to starve yourself! It isn't your fault Sera…'

'What about Taylor? He said himself that he didn't expect it from me…and by the way… thanks for sticking up for me…'

'Sera, I'm always going to be on your side no matter what… and Taylor was out of line telling you that… You swore to secrecy… it is not your fault baby girl…'

'…but I feel like it…' She replied. 'Dad… can I trust you with something?'

'Of course you can… you shouldn't have to ask…'

'Well… remember that weekend of the chemistry camp?'

'Yeah?'

'Well… Natalie never came to it…'

'What?'

'She spent the weekend in a hotel room with Mark… they booked it as their anniversary month or something…'

'You lied for her?'

'Not exactly lied! Twisted the truth… actually didn't say the whole truth…'

'You never…' I started to ask.

'No dad… I never did something like that… and you can ask all my teachers about that…' She replied while I took a deep breath.

'Sera, she's dragging you down with her… you need to think about yourself first… and this should be your rule… always!'

'…wouldn't that be wrong?'

'Sometimes… you have to do that honey…' I replied as I kissed her forehead. 'You have to tell Taylor about this…'

'…and make Natalie hate me more?' She replied. 'Yeah… right…'

'If you don't tell him, I will! I'm not hiding something like this from him. His daughter is important to him and he needs to protect her.' I explained. 'If you tell him, he will appreciate more…' I suggested. 'You'd be looking out for your best friend.'

'You think so?'

'I know so…' I smiled as I ticked her tummy lightly.

'Dad… stop it!' She laughed as she tried getting away from me.

'There's that smile I've missed!' I replied. 'Come on…' I continued as I got up from the floor and helped her to her feet. 'You still have to eat… one way or another…'

'Dad…'

'No Sera… you are going to eat… end of discussion! Even if I have to feed you like I've been doing a couple of times…' I replied as I dragged her out.

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