𝐼'𝓋𝑒 𝑔𝑜𝓉 𝓎𝑜𝓊 [ Adopted by Elizabeth Olsen ]

Chapter 13: "Questions"

⚠️TW:⚠️ Mention of abuse and panic attack

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Lizzie's pov:

Lunch was going well so far, we had ordered our food and we were currently conversing about random topics. Nova was telling me about her horse Luna, and when I say she's passionate about her sport, it's true.

Her eyes just light up when she talks about anything horse related, I could listen to her ramble forever.

Our food eventually came, and we wasted no time in digging in. We both finished our food relatively fast, and soon we were just sitting there in comfortable silence.

She had opened up to me quite a lot, so I decided to push my luck a bit. "So, Mr. Miller mentioned you were an orphan", I started safely. She tensed up right away, but answered nonetheless.

"Yeah."

She didn't make eye contact, she was looking at her hands. Her leg started anxiously bouncing and she was fidgeting with her fingers.

"Am I allowed to keep asking?" I asked softly, noticing she was uncomfortable.

"Of course", she smiled weakly. "Are you sure? Please tell me if you don't want to answer, that's completely understandable", I assured her.

"Feel free to keep asking, it's just a sensitive topic for me", she mumbled.

"Thank you, tell me if I'm overstepping okay?"

"Yeah."

"Are there any other kids there?" I asked.

"There are."

"How many?"

"We're 7. I'm the oldest, then there's Jake, he's 13, Molly is 11, Luke and Griffin are both 9, Lucy is 7 and Maya is 6", she explained.

"Wow, that's a lot of kids, how long have you been there?" I continued asking.

"I was put into the system when I was 9, I was in a lot of foster homes and orphanages. I was moved to the one I'm in now the year I turned 12", she explained.

The question clearly triggered some bad memories. Her voice cracked and her eyes became glossy. She was still looking down at her hands, so I reached across the table and laid my hand on top of hers.

The contact made her flinch slightly, and she looked up at me. "Thank you for telling me, I'm here for you", I smiled reassuringly. "Thanks..." she mumbled.

"Of course!"

Nova's pov:

My anxiety levels were through the roof right now. I had been a bit anxious from the start, but weirdly not as much as usual. Lizzie made me feel safe. But then she had started asking personal questions, and I tensed up straight away.

I didn't want to be rude and not answer her questions, but I also didn't really want to answer them. She had asked me about how long I had been at the orphanage. It may seem like an innocent question, but it triggered some bad memories.

I was put into the system when I was 9 after my father had abused me for years. I was transferred to Greenwich when I was 12, right after I had testified against my own father in court and had to relive all my years of abuse in one day.

It's safe to say I was getting closer to a panic attack. Great. Lizzie must have sensed my discomfort because she reached across the table to put her hand on mine.

I flinched at the gesture due to my fathers actions. I looked up and my gaze met her concerned one. Luckily she didn't say anything about it, she just said that she was there for me. That's a big fat lie, let me tell you.

She's way too busy to care for some random kid. I'm not important enough.

After a minute of silence, Lizzie suggested we get out of here, an idea I agreed to fairly quickly.

"Do you want to get out of here? Maybe I could walk you back to the orphanage?" she suggested. "Sure, if it's not too much trouble."

"Great, let me just pay really quick and then we can leave", she smiled. "It's okay, I can pay", I said. I had brought my credit card because I didn't want to make her feel like she had to pay for my food.

After a bit of bantering, we ended up paying for our own food, and after chatting to the owners for a bit, we started the walk back to the orphanage.

"So, what do you like to do? Besides riding of course", Lizzie asked me, switching to a lighter topic. "Umm... I like working out I guess. I also do some occasional boxing and mixed martial arts and I like cooking, singing and playing piano", I told her.

"Wait, you box?" Lizzie asked me, stunned by my choice of hobby. "I have to say, I didn't see that coming, but it suits you, boxing is fun."

"It is, it's a good outlet of energy, I'll usually go boxing if I'm having a bad day", I told her. "That makes sense, it's a good way of getting rid of some frustration."

We talked a bit about our hobbies for a while and before I knew it, we were back at the orphanage. "Well, we're here", I sighed. "Is this it? It's a beautiful building, I have to say", Lizzie said.

"It is, it's old but in the good way."

"And before I forget, the owner of the orphanage wanted to meet you, she isn't very trusting of the people I hang out with and she doesn't want me to be kidnapped", I said a bit shyly, afraid she was completely going to shut down the idea and say something like "well, this was a one time thing, so she has nothing to worry about."

Lizzie's pov:

She basically just asked me if I could meet the owner of the orphanage! Yess! I had been planning to try and talk to her about adopting Nova, this was the perfect opportunity to start. "Of course, I would love to meet her!" I smiled and she visibly relaxed.

"Great, let's go inside shall we?"

She led me up the stairs and into the foyer. You could see a hallway leading further into the house and a set of stairs leading to the second floor. "I'm back!" Nova shouted while taking her shoes off.

I heard a door open and close on the second floor, and a woman appeared at the top of the stairs. "Novella! There you are honey! I'm glad you didn't get kidnapped", she said. Novella? Is that her full name? I always just assumed her full name was Nova, but Novella? Wow, that's a beautiful name. "What did I say? She's overprotective", Nova whispered to me, making me giggle.

"Miss Riley, this is Elizabeth Olsen, Lizzie, this is Miss Riley, the owner of the orphanage", Nova introduced us.

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Hiya! I actually managed to update today, despite being busy with school stuff.

I feel a need to explain this situation bc it's kinda a weird one so here we go. So, I'm at a math competition with some of my classmates and our math teacher. We had to travel from where we live (which is basically in the middle of nowhere) to the capital.

This is like the semifinal, we got here bc we were the best in our "state", so there are people from all over the country.

We just did a presentation in front of all of the other students plus the jury (yes there is a jury) and my anxiety levels were through the roof. Presenting in front of 100 people is not easy with social anxiety.

But yeah, I got through it ok, even though I was close to a panic attack.

I hope you're all doing well and that you're taking care of yourselves <3

Love, Frida xx