Prompt: Taylor develops an eating disorder.
"Drop a few pounds or you're off the squad, Lopez."
The words played over and over in Taylor Lopez's head, swirling around and nipping at her brain as she tried to push them away but every effort was met in vain as the voice seemed to grow in volume within seconds.
"Babe, are you okay?" Sarah asked as she glanced up from her Biology book, tilting her head slightly as she watched Taylor staring aimlessly at her own text book. "You've been quiet all night, what's up?"
"Hmm?" Taylor hummed before shaking her head, her lips turning into a practiced smile as she shrugged lightly. "Oh, it's nothing. I'm just working through one of our cheers in my head, no big deal."
Sarah shot her a hesitant look before nodding slowly as she turned her attention back to her studying, the brunette releasing a sigh of relief as she swallowed hard and turned her attention back to her own book.
For the next thirty minutes, Taylor allowed herself to fake through every laugh that was given to her girlfriend as she shared quick pecks with her before Dani finally appeared in the doorway announcing dinner.
"I'll see you tomorrow, babe. Eight o'clock, right?" Sarah asked with a raise of her brow as she gathered her books together watching as Taylor frowned before shaking her head. "Why? I always pick you up."
"Um, I think I'm gonna go in early and work out," Taylor shrugged as she crossed the room slowly, capturing Sarah's lips before the redhead could question her. "I'll see you tomorrow in home room, okay?"
Sarah gave her a quick flash of a smile before the pair moved downstairs, Taylor waving to her girlfriend as she watched her exit the house leaving the brunette to move towards the sound of laughter coming from the kitchen.
"Hey, little duck." Santana beamed as she caught sight of the teenager wondering into the room, Taylor flashing her a lopsided grin in return. "Your mom made steak for dinner, score for us, right?"
Taylor froze as she turned to see her mother piling said steaks onto a plate, a ball of horror settling low in the pit of the cheerleader's stomach as she tried to force back the urge to run out of the room.
Her captain's words resounded in her head once more as she felt her palms beginning to sweat, her eyes darting throughout the room in an effort to seek a way out of the situation she was currently in.
"I'm um I'm not really hungry," Taylor whispered before a wince flashed across her face as her mother's eyes snapped to look at her with surprise. "I had a huge lunch and I'm still full from that, I'll grab a steak for lunch tomorrow."
"What?" Santana scoffed, her brow furrowing before she shook her head. "I never thought I'd live to see the day when you turn down a perfectly good steak, it's your favorite dinner. Your mom even made mashed potatoes!"
"Yeah, well, you know..." Taylor mumbled as a light blush lit up her cheeks, her hand going to rub at the back of her head before she jutted her thumb over her shoulder. "I'm going to go study for a little bit."
"Okay, sweetie," Dani nodded.
Taylor breathed a sigh of relief as she spun on her heels and moved towards her room, fumbling up the flight of stairs and crashing into her bedroom where she allowed a few tears to escape.
"How the fuck am I supposed to do this...?"
-
It got easier, much to Taylor's surprise. After two weeks, she noticed that the pounds were slowly dropping off her and her captain seemed to have brightened and had complimented her several times on her weight loss.
