Best Friends Last Forever ✔️

Part 33: Movie night and memories

TW

"It was just 30 minutes Mer... what happened?" he asked, moving a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "I know... that I need help. But I have to be sure about for what exactly I need help. I- I moved the appointment to tomorrow at 11am... I'm sorry I know I said I would get help and that I would get better I'm sorry, I'm a failure. I even fail at getting help I- I can't even decide if I need help or not!" she rambled, tears streaming down her face. "Please don't leave me" she whispered, tilting her head and closing her eyes. Scared of his answer. But he stayed silent. Moving his arms around her.

"You are not a failure, Mer. And I won't leave you. I promise" he said as he felt her relax in his arms. "It's okay that you're not ready yet." He added but she interrupted him by distancing herself from him. "No. It's not. You said you were proud of me for getting help and now I can't get help and I don't even know if I want help." Meredith said panicking slightly, breathing shakily and unsteady.

"Mer, breathe. Slow and deep breaths. I am going nowhere. It's okay. You know that you need help but it's okay if you need another day to think. I understand." He said, trying to smile at her. "Let's go home. I'll cook something. Something light and healthy, but you need to eat just a little at least." He continued, taking her hand as she nodded.

"Uhm- c-can- never mind." Meredith begun as they walked through the corridors. "What?" he smiled as he stopped her. "Could you make bread with avocado and scrambled eggs?" she asked shyly. "Sure" he said with a bright smile which made Meredith smile too. She wanted to try to eat something. It'll be okay.

As they got home Andrew directly went into the kitchen, followed closely by Meredith as he begun to wash his hands and cut the avocados. Meredith hopped unto the counter and watched as he cracked a few eggs and put them into the frying pan, adding spices and herbs while cutting a few slices of protein bread. Surprisingly it helped watching him as he prepared the sandwiches. Watching every single move he made, everything he put into the food. Every bit of it. It helped knowing what exactly was in her meal. There was nothing from what she could possibly gain any kind of weight but it was healthy and had proteins and vitamins. And it would help her dizziness, that seemed to appear more and more often the past few days.

"If you want, you can change into some comfy clothes and we can watch some TV and cuddle while eating" he suggested as he artistically arranged the avocado slices on the bread. "Okay" she whispered before she made her way upstairs. Andrew grabbed the two plates and walked over into the living room, placing them on the couch table before sitting down. She wanted help. Somehow she knew that she needed help. She just wasn't ready to get the help yet.

Five minutes later Meredith sat down next to him, handing him a pair of sweatpants. She was wearing a long, wide jogging pants and one of Andrew's, for her way too big, pullovers. After he put on the sweats he sat back down next to her and laid an arm around her small frame, letting his hand rest on her stomach. Only now he could feel how much she had actually lost. Even through the pullover he could feel her ribs. How could he just notice that now, why didn't he notice that she was way skinnier. Maybe he could have helped her earlier. She cuddled deeper into him as he grabbed the remote and turned on the TV.

"What do you think about 'Can't buy me love'. It was your favourite movie, we used to watch it all the time when we were younger. Are you still in love with Paddy?" he teased, chuckling softly as he saw her smile shyly.

"I remember when you had a stomach flu. I think we were 12 or 13 and you called me and told me you were bored. You asked me to bring every movie with Patrick Dempsey I could find in my mother's cabinet. We watched all of them. We stayed up the whole night and you couldn't stop talking about how much you loved 'Paddy'. It drove me crazy. I was so jealous. But in the end... well who has you in his arms... Him? Or me?" he laughed with and amused and triumphantly smile on his face. It was an amazing memory.

"I guess I still love Paddy" she laughed, the biggest of smiles on her lips as Andrew turned on the film, handing her her plate with the avocado bread and the scrambled eggs. Her smile immediately faded a little which didn't go unnoticed by Andrew.

"It's okay Mer. You can take all the time you need. Your pace. No hurry." He said, kissing the side of her head as she nodded and continued to stare at the food. She took a deep breath and picked up one of the bread slices with the avocado on top of it and took a very small bite, chewing very slowly and long before swallowing.

____________

When the movie ended, Andrew hesitantly looked at Meredith, who was resting happily in his arms. "Yes, I definitely still love Paddy" she chuckled as she pulled her knees up to her chest. "When was the last time you watched it?" he asked, smiling because it felt like she hasn't been smiling a lot lately.

She just shook her head, a smile still on her face. "I couldn't...The last time I watched it was with you... I know this is so cheesy and a total cliché but it's true. I just couldn't watch it without you... It was like a tradition... I watched it with you the first time... and I've never watched it without you." She said, looking at him with a still bright smile.

He looked her in the eyes... and the first time in weeks he could see a slight hint of the sparkle in her eyes. As he looked down he saw her plate, standing next to her on the couch. It was empty. "Mer, you- did you eat all of that?" he asked surprised, full of joy which made Meredith's smile even brighter. "Yeah I- It took forty minutes but- y-yeah" she replied. She wasn't really sure how to feel about it. On the one site she was happy she ate a full meal but she had no idea if she really was happy.

Then she felt Andrew's arms around her. "You're going to be okay Mer." He said with an unsteady voice, clearly crying. "Don't cry. You're way too handsome to cry" she teased what made him chuckle. They were going to be okay.