Demi's POV

Several days have gone by, and I'm still worried about Kenzie. Something just seems so off.

I called Nick to see if he could come over. It's been a while. He said he could make it for dinner. I was hoping seeing him would cheer Kenzie up. She always seems so sad. She smiles, but it's not genuine like it used to be. I just can't figure out what's going on.

I didn't tell Kenzie that Nick was coming over. I was wanting it to be a surprise. When he walked through the door, she put on a smile and have him a hug. It wasn't the big smile I was hoping for. She normally would get more excited.

"Hey, Kiddo," Nick greeted Kenzie as he hugged her back.

We went into the dining room, as the food was already done, we were just waiting for Nick to arrive.

"It's good, Demi," he said.

"I'm glad you like it," I told Nick with a smile. My smile dropped when I looked over at Kenzie, who was spreading everything around on her plate with her fork. "How do you like it, Kenzie?"

She looked up at me. "It's good."

"Have you tried it yet?"

She stared at me with no answer for a while before eating a little of it. "It's good."

She continued to eat slowly. By the time Nick and I were done, she had only eaten a fourth of her plate.

"I'm pretty full," she said.

"Eat your dinner," I told her.

"But Mom-"

"Kenzie, why are you afraid to eat?" I asked, not even thinking about Nick being near. It must be super awkward for him.

"Mom, is that what you think? I'm not scared to eat. I'm just not hungry," she stated. She got pretty upset about my assumption. She put her fork down on her plate. "God, you've been so over dramatic lately. I'm fine."

"Kenzie, do not raise your voice at me," I said sternly.

She scoffed and stood up. "Where are you going?" I asked. Without answering, she headed down the hall. "Kenzie, sit back down and eat your dinner," I called to her. She slammed her bedroom door, leaving the dining room silent. I looked at Nick and sighed. "Sorry."

"It's alright. I've never seen you two upset with each other like that."

"She never acts like that. That's how I know something's going on, Nick. I just don't know what."

"Well what are you thinking?" He asked.

"There's definitely an eating issue. She just won't admit it. She's been eating less and less for a while now. Did you see the way she was trying to spread everything out on her plate?"

He nodded. "But you're doing the best you can. There's not much more you can do until she accepts that's there's something wrong."

"What if she never accepts it?"

"You did eventually."

I scoffed. "I would get so mad at people for making me eat."

"But they continued to do what they did. And you saw a good change. Kenzie will see it, too. You just need to keep up with what you're doing. I believe you know the right thing to do," he explained.

"I'm glad someone thinks that I know what I'm doing."

He got up out of his chair and stood behind mine. He wrapped his arms around me as I put my hands on his. He kissed the top of my head. "She'll be okay."

"But that's not all, Nick. A week ago I found a blade."

He stood silent for a moment. "Did you say anything to her?"

I nodded. "She said she accidentally broke a razor and didn't see that piece when she was cleaning everything up. It didn't seem right, though."

"Did you check for any marks?"

I nodded again. "Yeah, but her wrists are clean."

"And?" He waited.

"And what?"

"Demi, did you just check the wrists?"

I looked up at him. His face was full of concern.

"I didn't think she'd try anywhere else. I would have thought she'd start with wrists."

"Maybe she knew you'd check there."

I felt my face start to get red and my heart beat started to get faster as I realized how wrong I could be for thinking she would just do wrists.

"Nick," I said in a weak voice. "I'm afraid to check. I don't want it to be true." I stood up and turned around she my face was in his chest. "I wouldn't even know why she'd be hurting herself."

He held me tight and rubbed circles on my back. "You need to check, Demi. She's not likely to get better on her own." I looked up at him as he stared down at me. "She needs you, Demi."