first time for everything <3

birthday sickness

*set in 1994*
tw: eating disorder

the spice girls had just had their first hit and everything was getting crazy. soon enough it was nearly geris birthday.

everyone knew geri as the loud, fun, confident one of the band but in reality she was suffering. for a few months geri had been suffering with an eating disorder and the only person who knew about this was the person she felt safest with, melanie b.

geri and mel b have always felt safe in each other's presence but nothing can describe the look on melanie's face when she found out geri was struggling. it was like a shot to her heart, geri was her best friend, in some other world she could be her girlfriend but not right now. either way she meant a lot to her and she couldn't bear this.

*3 august 1994*

it was around midnight and mel b got woken up by multiple calls off geri. she rang her back as soon as her hands got a proper grip of the phone and her eyes adjusted to the light. as soon as geri answered melanie knew something was not right.

'mel please come help me'
'geri what's u-'
'melanie please.'

mel had no idea what was up with geri but she's never heard her sound this worried, like ever. the younger woman jumped up and ran out to her car without a second thought. when she finally got to geris house, she wasn't answering the door. thank god mel had a key.

she ran into the house and started shouting geri hoping to locate her. she was shouting for a good few minutes and did not get a response. mel realised there was one place she didn't check.

the bathroom.

tears choked melanie from the second she walked in.

geri was passed out on the floor covered in her own sick. mel didn't know what to do so she just threw her phone and ran straight to geri, sitting behind her and cradling her head, tears dropped from mels cheeks and landed on geris forehead.

'geri, why.'

there was a moment of silence then melanie heard a faint.

'i'm sorry.'

before silence filled the room once again. geris head stayed in melanie's lap for a few minutes before she woke up. as soon as they made eye contact, the red head started bawling tears.

'melanie i'm sorry i'm so so sorry.'

mel didn't want an apology, she wanted her to be okay. she wiped geris mascara stained face and told her everything was going to be okay.

they walked over into geris room and mel offered to help her get changed and geri accepted. she removed her dirty top and shorts and just curled up on her bed in nothing but her underwear. melanie crawled over to her and lay on her chest.

'you're gorgeous you know.'
'melanie this isn't the time.'

geri was still distraught and mel had no idea where this was coming from.

'geri please tell me what's up and why you did this. i love you so much, i'm so lucky i got here in time. i couldn't stand seeing you passed out like that. please talk to me.'

'birthdays mel. i get so bloated, everyone's just feeding me then i look fucking fat and there's no other way to loose weight this quick.'

'geraldine. you're the most gorgeous woman i've ever met, you don't need to loose weight i promise. i love you too much to see you feel like this, do you mind if i stay with you for a while?'

'not at all, thank you mel. i love you.'

'i love you too, now get some sleep. you're up early to eat breakfast.'

they both fell asleep in geris bed, geri in mels arms.