I'll Pick You Up

A lot

Gracie's POV:
Once we were sitting down, I put the plate on Kenna's lap as she leaned against me. She didn't pay any mind to it as she continued to watch the show.

'Ken, you gotta eat something. We agreed to something.' I told her.

Looking up at me she pleaded, 'I can't. It's gonna make me sick.'

I sighed, 'I know you don't feel good right now, but I need to know that you've had at least something. We can eat later, after the show, but you gotta have at least something now. It doesn't have to be a lot. Just something.'

She huffed out lightly in defeat, turning back towards the show before looking at the plate. I gave her a moment to gain the courage before watching her slowly reach towards the plate's contents. Picking up a single pretzel rod, she brought it to her mouth even slower than her original pace. I observed the intense thinking and deep concentration she held while eating the pretzel. She cringed slightly but ultimately gave in.

Happy that she had had something at least, I turned to watch the show, noticing as she grabbed a few more small pieces of food here and there for the next twenty minutes. After a couple pretzel sticks, two or three grapes, some goldfish, and two bites of a chicken tender, I felt her push my hand a little, the hand that was holding the plate on her lap. Looking down, I watched and she dusted her hands of the few crumbs, turning into me further as her head moved to rest on my chest.

'You done, babes?' I asked her, receiving a nod of approval in return.

'Ok, thank you for following through.' I expressed. She looked at me almost confused.

'Really. I'm proud of you for trying, Kenny.'I continued. She thought through my words for a moment, her eyebrows furrowing as she contemplated them. Though, she quickly gave up, looking back to me.

I studied her for a second, taking in the dropping of her eyes, and the inattentiveness of her state. She was almost carefree which seemed very strange considering it was the stark opposite of how I'd seen her for the past several hours.

'You tired, baby?' I asked her. She just shrugged.

'What's going on, Ken?'I pushed.

She sighed, somewhat dramatically,'I don't know.'

'Try to explain it then,' I continued.

She hesitated, 'I-it's just...it's well I don't know, but it's a lot.'

I smiled sadly at her, 'I get it. That's ok. It is a lot, I'm sure it's a lot to take in and there's so much going on on top of that. No one could've prepared you, so no one is expecting you to be completely ok with everything that's happening.'

She let out a breath, 'I'm sorry.'

'No don't apologize. You haven't done anything wrong. You're just overwhelmed. There's nothing wrong with that. You're entitled to your own feelings, Kenna.' I stopped her.

She just nodded her head, thinking about what I said.

'I think you're tired too.', I determined,' You should take a little nap. I'm sure you'll have plenty of other opportunities to see the show like this. But your body needs lots of rest to heal.'

She just shook her head, resting it back in my chest as she watched the show practically sideways.

'Kenna, look at me.' I sighed setting the plate on the chair beside us. I pulled her from her spot, turning her to face me as I spoke.

'You're safe in here, safe here. Look, I've got you, Phoebe and Julien and Lucy are over there along with all the other friends of Taylor in here. Henry's guarding the door and his team is actively searching for him right now.' I pointed out, 'Taylor would never let anything happen. You can take a short nap and I'll protect you the whole time. I promise I won't let go, nothing that's keeping you safe right now will change while you sleep.'