Can't fight this anymore....

"There are better ways to do that, Alice. Therapy, counseling," Blake suggested.

"No!" Alice pulled away and shook her head staring at him with wide, red, teary eyes. "No you don't understand!" She wrapped her arms around herself, her body shaking. "They use me, they use me and I-I have to get them out. I have to." Her voice became a strangled whisper again. Where was the knife when she needed it?

"They're not going to use you anymore, Alice," Blake said gently. "I'm going to keep you safe."

Alice looked at him, her cheeks wet with tears. "P-promise?" She asked, not sure she totally believed him.

Blake nodded, smiling slightly. "I promise."

"N-no one will touch me?" Alice took a step back towards him, settling back in his arms. She had gotten use to him touching her. He could touch her....mostly...

"No one...but me," Blake said with a chuckle, trying to lighten the mood. "But," He added quickly. "When I do, I won't hurt you."

Alice gave a small nod, her body still tense in his arms. She at least was in his arms though. She was letting him hold her. That was saying something. "Do I still have to eat?"

Blake sighed. "You should eat if you're hungry. Why don't you like to eat?"

"It comes back up," Alice murmered, looking up at him. Her eyes searched his face.

"Why?" Blake asked slowly.

Alice looked away, her eyes looking pained and scared slightly. She didn't say anything, though her arms wrapped around her stomach a little protectively. She hated it.

"Are you belemic?" Blake asked. Eating disorders scared him a little. But then again, Alice was pretty jacked up, so he wouldn't really be surprised.

Alice looked at him confused. "What?" She asked as she watched him. "What's that?"

"It's an eating disorder where you throw up your food," Blake said. "But if you don't know what it is, then you probably don't have it."

Well....she didn't say anything. She just looked at the ground. What he didn't know wouldn't hurt him...right? She tried to think of how she was going to get away with going to the bathroom after every meal that she was only going to eat to make him happy.

"Okay then," Blake muttered when she didn't answer, continuing on their walk.

"Is your aunt nice?" Alice asked after a long moment of silence, now tucked into his side, her hair falling slightly in her face. Hopefully his aunt was nice.

Blake looked down at her and nodded. "Pretty nice...she's better with me than Bonnie, though, because Bonnie's her biological daughter -- she's more worried about her because of that, and because Bonnie is younger."

"And her g-girlfriend?" Alice again winced at the word. It wasn't that she had anything against them. If you found love, you found love no matter with what gender. It was just...her experiance with her father's wife and her girlfriends.

Blake frowned. "Miranda's nice...are you a homophobe?"

"A what?" Alice looked up at him, again confused. "I don't mind people having girlfriends if that's what you mean."

"Oh, okay, then you're not," Blake said in relief, running a hand through his hair.

Alice watched him and sighed, rubbing her arm. "It's just that...Father's wife has girlfriends...and they weren't...nice." That was a very mild way of putting it.

Blake's brow furrowed. "his wife...has girlfriends...does he know? And do they hurt you?"