Request by AnayaDestouche9!
Tw: Eating disorders, body insecurities, and mentions of fat shaming(that's very breif)
Please note I don't have an eating disorder and this was difficult for me to write, but I tried, i'm sorry if I got something wrong
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It was no secret that Heather Duke had an eating disorder. Nearly everyone in the school knew about it, but no one ever tried to help her get over it.
"Maybe you should see a doctor," Is something she's heard a million times before. She tried to convince herself that she got no sympathy because no one else could understand what she was going through, maybe they didn't know how to help her. Or maybe they expected her to get over it on her own, she didn't really know.
Until Veronica Sawyer came along.
Veronica was different about her disorder, she had suggested a doctor at first, but seeing Duke's discomfort when she said that made her never mention it again. For a while, Veronica didn't say anything about it, but lately Duke realized that she had tried to keep her from purging.
Veronica was always the one she brought with her to the bathroom, she wasn't comfortable with McNamara or Chandler seeing her like that. Every time they went there, she kept pulling her away from the stall and bringing up something else. Sometimes she did it for long enough and the bell rang before they knew it. Duke was confused on why she kept doing this until one day, she straight up told her that she couldn't keep on doing this.
She was making her way to the stall when she felt a hand grasp her wrist.
"Heather stop, you can't keep doing this," Veronica had pulled her towards her. There was a moment of silence as the two just stared at each other.
"Why?" She asked, "Why shouldn't I keep doing this?" Veronica was somewhat startled that she had said that with a hint of aggression.
"It's not good for you..." Duke just rolled her eyes when she said that.
"I know...but does it look like I can afford to gain more weight?" Her voice was softer when she said that. Veronica actually looked her up and down, causing Duke's cheeks to flush a light shade of pink.
"Well..yeah?" She said, confused. Duke wasn't skinny, but she wasn't really chubby either.
She looked away, clearly upset by her answer, "Don't lie..."
"What do you mean?" Veronica felt Duke's hand slip into hers. She didn't respond, so Veronica didn't push her for an answer.
"It's not easy to stop," She said eventually, "I-I've tried..but something keeps me from stopping..."
Veronica wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her into a hug. Duke automatically leaned into it.
"I'm sure we can find something as a substitute..maybe you can talk more about why you feel like this first?" Veronica suggested, "God, I sound like a therapist," Duke chuckled a bit.
"Sure, but definitely not in the school bathroom, can you write a pass for us to leave?"
Veronica nodded and pulled out a small piece of paper and a pen. She always kept them in her pocket in case the heathers wanted her to forge something.
She turned to the wall and wrote the note, saying that Heather had to go home early because she was sick and that Veronica was driving her home. The front desk woman didn't care enough to ask the nurse when the two of them left.
As they made their way to Duke's jeep, Veronica began to worry about her.
'What if she's never able to stop?' Of course, she believed that she could stop eventually, she still worried about that possibility.
She snapped out of those thoughts once they got into the car. Duke was driving of course, Veronica didn't have her license.
"Sorry for making you get out so early," Duke said.
"No no, it's okay, I didn't really wanna go to the rest of my classes anyways," Veronica said, smiling at her.
"Do you think Heather and Heather will care that we left?"
"Eh, not sure, if they ask we'll just say we went shopping,"
Duke gave her a small 'hm', and started driving. The car ride was silent, both of the girls were stuck in their thoughts. Duke was worrying about what Veronica would think about her if she opened up, and Veronica was worrying about Duke again.
"Are your parents home?" Veronica asked after they entered her house. Duke shook her head.
"They're working luckily, probably won't be home until 4:00, but they wouldn't mind if you were here," She said. Veronica had never met her parents before, and she never talked about them either. She wondered what they were like.
"Uh...do you want to go to my room to talk about it...?" Duke asked nervously. Veronica just nodded and before they knew it, they were walking up the stairs.
Duke almost immediately plopped down on her bed and motioned for Veronica to do the same.
It was awkward at first, neither of them knew what to say. Finally, Duke spoke up.
"I guess you're wondering why I feel this way..?"
"Yeah," She could sense that she was nervous, so she took her hand and intertwined their fingers, "Hey, it's okay, I'm here for you," Duke leaned her head on her shoulder.
"Basically my uh..parents used to tell me that I wasn't skinny enough...a-and that I was just too fat...and I believed them.." She sounded like she was about to cry. Veronica didn't know if she was surprised or not. She knew that she issue could have come from someone else criticizing her body, and she didn't know anything about her parents, but she still didn't expect it.
"Oh...Heather..I'm sorry." Was all she could say at the moment. She rested her head on Duke's and pulled her closer than she already was.
"Eventually I overheard that throwing up your food can make you lose weight..s-so I've just been doing that. I-i've tried to stop, I really have-" She was cut off by a sob. Veronica held the poor girl tighter and started playing with her hair.
"Heather..." She wasn't completely sure what to say, "Try not to listen to what your parents say, okay?" She knew it wasn't as simple as that.
"I-I can't- I really believe them.." She buried her head into Veronica's shoulder. Her hand moved up to Duke's cheek.
"Hey..look at me," She says. It took her a minute, but Duke looked up at her with teary eyes.
"You aren't fat, your parents are just assholes..." She said, not sure if Duke would belive her.
"I-I want to believe you...I-I really do but.." She paused trying to make sure she wouldn't cry again, "T-they've done it for so long..." Her head turned to look away from Veronica, but she grabbed her chin lightly and turned her head towards her again.
"U-uh..sorry," Duke said. Veronica ignored her apology knowing she didn't really need to apologize anyways.
"Heather, if you ever feel upset about your body o-or if you feel like purging again, you can talk to me..I want to help you try and get over this,"
Duke was confused for a moment, thinking she could just be joking or something. But when she looked into her eyes, she could tell she was being genuine. She smiled at her and nuzzled against her cheek, "O-okay...even if it's late at night?"
"Even if it's late at night," She assured her.
"T-thank you so much Ronnie, I love you..." She practically melted into her. Veronica felt really nervous all of a sudden. She knew that Heather probably meant it in a platonic way(she didn't) but there was some part of her just wishing that she really did love her.
"I love you too.."
