The umbrella academy: In which Five gets all the love he deserves

Untitled Part 84

The others noticed. Because of course, they did. They are more observant than his previous family. And while normally he would feel warm that they care so much about him, now he feels annoyance.

"Five. You seriously can't say that you are full after eating a few bites" Ben said after Five excused himself from lunch after he said that he was not hungry anymore. Five looked at his plate. He had eaten 2/4 of his food. In his opinion, he thought that he had more than necessary.

"Well I'm full, "Five said as he walked out from the kitchen. It's not his fault. He was used to eating so little because of all his time in the Apocalypse. And while he knows that there's a lot of food here and they won't lack in it not even a day, his traitorous brain keeps reminding him that if he eats too much then he would not have any food for other days.

It happened more than once. The first time it happened after a few days since he got stuck in the Apocalypse. He was used to eating a lot and three times per day. So when he had finally found some food that was still edible, he had eaten it all at once, without bothering to think that he would not be able to find more food. He regretted it afterward when he realized that there was no more food. He hadn't managed to find anything to eat for a week. And he had to resort to eating bugs for the first time if he didn't want to starve. Even though since that time he had been careful how much he eat to make sure that he has enough food until he finds more, there had been days when he had eaten way too much than necessary because he was too hungry. And when he started he couldn't stop anymore.

And now when he's back he did it again. He had done it with his siblings too. Though there had been only a couple of times when they all eat together. But they either didn't observe it or didn't care. The Sparrow are different. And they didn't notice when he barely eats and they try and coax him to eat more, despite his protest. While he was glad that they care about him, he wants fo them to stop forcing him to do something that he doesn't want at the same time.

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Five may be annoyed with them. But the Sparrow are nothing but concerned about their little bird. Five is part of their family. He was their precious little brother. And they are very worried about him when they saw that he barely eats. He's already skinny enough. Even more and he would get admitted to hospital for malnourishment. 

"Do you think that he has some eating disorder?"Marcus was the first one that broke the silence.

"Ben. Fei. You are the one closest to Five. Did he tell you guys anything about his eating problem?" Alphonso asked and both Ben and Fei shook their heads.

"He barely talked about his family. Even that was because me and Fei pestered him about it. But about eating. Nothing"

"When we first got Five here, I brought him food. And he eat it all. But then again. Wuya was with him and there's a chance that she had eaten half of it"

"Alright. This is serious and we need to do something about it" Marcus said. He wonders if the Umbrella knows something about it. But no. He doubts that they even care enough to pay attention to him.

"I know what can we do. Sloane. You go and talk with him"Jayme said.

"Huh? Why me?"Sloane asked confused. "Why not Ben or Fei? They are the closest with Five"

"Because my dear sister. You like to act like a mother. Five's a child. So.. Go and be a mother"

Sloane groaned. "Alright. I will talk with him. But if he kills me because of that, I'm going to hunt you all forever"

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Sloane didn't talk with Five immediately, because when she went to search for the boy, he was not home. So he must have gone out. Five tend to go out a lot these times after their confrontation with the Umbrella. In the beginning, they were worried. They thought that the Umbrella had gotten to him or he decided to go back to them. But Five always comes back to them and he's always happy. So the worry had died down. Who knows. Maybe Five had made some friends and he was spending some time with them. That was good. But this time around he didn't return home happy anymore. He returned even more annoyed than when he had left. He even ignored the Sparrow and went to his room without saying a word to them. Sloane feel Jayme nudge her and she stood up and walked after Five. 

On the other hand, Five was annoyed. He thought that if he would spend some time with Klaus his mood would be lifted. But it was the opposite because that was the moment that Klaus choose to be observant as well and start making him if he eats. And no matter how much he tried to tell him that in fact, he does eat, he didn't believe him. Said that he was more skinny than he was when he come back and shit like this. So Five got angry cut their meeting short and returned back home, hoping for some peace and quiet. 

"Five?"Sloane said as she opened the door and walked inside the room.

"What do you want?"Five asked annoyed. Gone was his peace and quiet. Really? No one in this house doesn't know how to knock.

"Are you alright?" she asked worried,

"I'm fine, "Five said. And of course, he said that. That was his default answer even when he was not fine.

"Five. We need to talk about something serious" Sloane said and Five looked confused at her. "About your eating problem"

"I don't have any eating problems"

'Five. You barely eat something at every meal. Hell. Even Wuya eats more than you"

"Good for her then"

"Five. This a serious matter. You can get in the hospital for this. You need to eat more. Or else we will take you to a doctor"

"I'm not going to any fucking doctor," Five said angrily trying to mask his fear. The last thing he wanted is to be near any doctor or medical person. Not after his bad experiences with medics when he worked for the Commission. "I'm not fucking ill"

"Then tell us why you refuse to eat more" Silence. "Please Five. We are worried about you. You get skinny each day and we are worried that one day you would pass out from it. Please"Sloane pleaded. Five refused to look at her but when he finally did it, it was a mistake as he saw the worry on her face and the teary eyes. Fuck.

Five sighed. "I'm not sick. I think I'm not. But I'm used to eating so little"

"Why? Did your siblings?"Sloane feels sick at the possibility that his family had starved their little brother for some reason. She like the others had seen what type of people they are. So it shouldn't be a surprise if they did it. But it was still sick.

"No. My siblings didn't starve me. For a period of time had been stuck in a post-apocalyptic world"Five started and Sloane kept quiet as she listened to him patiently. She didn't push him when he stopped talking. She didn't rush him. She was patient because she knew that it must be hard for him to talk about it. "Food and water were the hardest things that you could find there. A few days after I got stuck there, I finally found food that was not molded and ate it. I ate it like a stupid", he chuckled humorlessly "I didn't think twice that I couldn't find any food for a long period of time. Or at all. And I was right. I couldn't find food for a week. I had to survive from cockroaches and worms. There were times when I made that mistake again. And now"

"You don't want to make the mistake again. Right?"Sloane asked and Five nodded. Sloane walked to Five and she wrapped him in her arms. Five tensed in the beginning because no matter how many times they have done it, he was still not used to affection and physical touch that meant no pain. But then he relaxed and hugged her back. "Five. You don't have to worry about remaining without food. We have more than enough and when it runs out we can buy more. We would never remain without food"

"I know that. Believe me, I know. But it's just too hard sometimes"

"I believe you," She said rubbing his back. "Don't worry. We are going to help you"

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They did help him. Little by little everyone was there for Five after he had told the others as well, to assure him that they would never run out of food. They didn't force Five to eat more than necessary. They made sure to give him small portions and sometimes he was pleased about it and eat it all. there were times when after finishing he looked at the others who still had more food on their plates. When one of them caught his look they asked if he wants more. In the beginning, he said no. But after a while he accepted. Sometimes to assure him that they had more than enough food, they even opened the fridge and cupboards that were stocked with food. Five did learn to eat more. But there were times, like bad days, when he couldn't make himself more. And the others understood. And they never pushed him to try and eat more. And Five was grateful for that. He was grateful to have them as his family.