The son of Aladdin and Jasmine

Chapter 20

Warning for self-deprecating thoughts and eating disorders

Now listen, I know that Xavier might come off as a bit manipulative in this chapter, especially since he's really playing into Aziz's habits of wanting to make people around happy as well as not wanting to worry anyone, but it's for a good cause I swear.

There was a knock on the door, drawing their attention. Kanin had put a hand on his shoulder, attempting to keep him sitting down as Xavier went to open it.

"I'm fine," He mumbled, shrugging his hand off.

"You keep saying that," They responded, rolling their eyes, "You don't seriously believe your convincing, do you?"

"I'm not-"

"Hey, Aziz," Jay said, cutting him off.

Aziz glanced over at him, giving him a small wave.

"I brought you some food," He said, handing him a bag, "I'm not expecting you to eat all of it but, you could at least try."

Aziz stared at the bag for a moment before shaking his head, quietly mumbling an "I'm not hungry."

He felt another sharp pain in his stomach, his body protesting his statement. 

"Aziz, if you don't eat something, I'm going to start shoving food down your throat," Xavier snapped, sending him a glare.

"Hey, Xavier, relax," Jay said, putting a hand on his shoulder, "He's got a point though, you haven't eaten anything this week."

"I'm not-"

"If you say you're not hungry, Aziz, I swear to Allah-"

"Xavier," Jay said, before approaching the bed, "Aziz, why aren't you eating?"

"I told you already," Aziz said, not quite being able to bring himself to look at anyone, "I haven't had much of an appetite."

"Are you sick?" Kanin asked, gently putting a hand on his forehead, "Doesn't feel like a fever."

"I'm not sick," Aziz asked, not having the energy to pull away from the touch. 

"Aziz, you know we care about you, right?" Xavier asked, his tone noticeably gentler.

Aziz nodded, not trusting himself enough to speak. He could feel the guilt welling up inside him from the tone alone.

"Good," Xavier said, "Well right now you're worrying all of us."

"I didn't mean to-"

"Well you are," He said, cutting him off, "We're all so worried, and all you've been doing is lying to us."

"Xavier, guilting him isn't-"

"Just a few bites," Xavier said, sitting on the bed next to him, "That's all I'm asking of you. Think you can do that?"

Aziz hesitated for a moment before nodding and picking the bag back up, fishing out an apple. He tried a bite, doing his best to keep the sick feeling at bay as he ate it. He refused to look up, not wanting to see their faces.

"Thank you, Aziz," Xavier hummed,  putting a hand on his shoulder, "Now do you want to answer Jay's question?"

"Jay's question?" He asked quietly, finally bringing himself to look up at them.

"Why you're not eating," Jay said, keeping his voice as gentle as he could, "I know it's not because you're not hungry."

Aziz bit the inside of his cheek, looking down again as he felt tears welling in his eyes. He felt so pathetic. He must look pathetic to them. He felt a hand on his back, gentle and rubbing small circles.

"Aziz, please," He heard Jay say, "We only want to help you, and we can't do that if you don't tell us what's wrong."

"I don't deserve it," He forced out, his voice barely going above a whisper.

"You don't deserve it," Xavier echoed blankly, "You don't deserve food?"

Aziz could feel a blush spreading across his face, the shame almost suffocating. He could faintly register the feeling of arms wrapping around him, pulling him close to them. His own arms came up, automatically following Kanin's. 

"Who put that in your head?" Jay asked him, "Who made you think that?"

Aziz shrugged absentmindedly. What was he supposed to tell them? That the asylum had starved him whenever he misbehaved? That he thought, as a result, that whenever he caused people stress he didn't deserve food? They thought he was pathetic enough, there was no way in hell he was going to admit that.

"Eat some more Aziz," Kanin said gently, "Please?"

Aziz nodded, reaching for the bag again and fishing out another small piece of food.

"Hold still," Xavier hummed, reaching for Aziz's leg, "I'm gonna fix this up for you, alright?"