Two Weeks Without Drew (Emblem3 Fanfiction)

Chapter 2

Day Two:

Wesley still felt like Drew was going to walk in the door at any moment, and for maybe five minutes he'd be able to live in that little fantasy world. And then his mind would butt in with the truth and he'd feel hurt and frustrated all over again because Drew wasn't going to walk in the door. He wasn't coming back. Not for another thirteen days at least.

The whole day he'd bounced between being normal and being depressed, one minute laughing at a TV show and the next curling up and trying not to cry. He'd spend a few minutes wishing he'd never met Drew, then another berating himself for even thinking that. He'd spend about thirty seconds wondering if he and Drew shouldn't have spent so much time together- if they hadn't, maybe Wesley wouldn't feel so fucking lost right now- but then he'd quickly come to the conclusion that that was impossible. They were undeniably drawn to each other, which was probably why this separation was so horrible.

Wesley breathed heavily through his mouth, focusing all his attention on the growling, crawling sensation in his stomach that reminded him he hadn't eaten at all since Drew had left. He was ashamed of it, knew that everyone would be disappointed if they found out, but he couldn't help himself. Being hungry helped him cope. It always had. And hiding it from Keaton helped distract him from his emotions.

His phone went off, a sharp dinging sound that made his head jerk in surprise, and his hands scrambled to pick up the device. The text was from Drew, and he opened it quickly. I'm going to skype you now. Okay?

He sent back a hurried Okay and grabbed his laptop, quickly logging onto skype and waiting. It took a minute, but soon Drew's little icon flashed green and then the incoming call sound started playing. Wesley clicked accept and smiled genuinely for the first time in several hours when Drew's face appeared on his screen.

"Hey, Drew."

"Why the fuck haven't you been eating?" Drew said harshly, looking furious.

Wesley opened his mouth, but nothing came out. The only thing he could think was how did he know?

As if reading his mind, Drew explained. "Keaton noticed, you know. And he told me. Wes, you're being an idiot right now. You know I'm not going to be able to be there for you all the time, and you need to be able to cope on your own. Without starving yourself."

"I'm sorry," Wesley dropped his eyes, unable to meet the blond's disapproving gaze. He instead ran his thumb over the material of his jeans, noticing that it was the same pair he'd been wearing at the Halloween party that had gotten them talking again.

"Wes," Drew sighed, sounding a lot more gentle. "Look at me."

He didn't want to, didn't want to see the disappointment. But Wesley looked up anyway, pressing his lips together to stop them from trembling.

"I want you to take the laptop into the kitchen, and you're going to sit down and eat something in front of the webcam," Drew instructed. His voice was calm and steady, not forceful, but Wesley knew he wouldn't be able to refuse.

"Okay."

He picked up the laptop and stood from his bed, going down the stairs and going into the kitchen. The house was surprisingly silent. His mother was probably still at work, but Keaton should have been home. But no sounds came from the boy's bedroom, or any other part of the house. Figuring the kid would show up at some point, Wesley set the laptop down on the table and moved over to the fridge. "How's your grandparents?" he asked as he pulled out a couple of pieces of bread.

"They're fine," Drew answered, and it was weird to hear his voice and know he wasn't in the room. "I've got a lot of catching up to do with them."

"Do they know about me?" Wesley found himself asking as he quickly put together a sandwich and then sat down at the table, in front of the laptop, and took a big bite so Drew could see that he was eating.

"I may have mentioned you once or twice..." the blond said slowly, before he grinned. "Or a couple hundred times."

Wesley felt himself smiling despite how much he didn't want to eat the sandwich. He raised one eyebrow at his friend. "And what did they think of that?"

"They're pretty determined to meet you," Drew laughed, before gesturing with his hand. "Keep eating, Wes."

Trying not to screw up his nose, Wesley took another bite and forced himself to chew. When he swallowed, he fixed Drew with a half smile. "They want to meet me?"

"Well yeah, you're the reason I'm not such a fucking asshole anymore," Drew said quietly as Wesley continued to eat.

The brunet paused, looking at the other boy carefully. "That was because you went to Haiti, though."

"And the entire reason I let Haiti change me was because I was so guilty over what I did to you," the blond murmured, looking earnest and truthful and so fucking wonderful.

Wesley ducked his head, knowing he was blushing, and took another bite so he could have time to think of how to respond. Talking about their past always made him feel uncomfortable, and he wanted to change the subject, but he wanted to acknowledge Drew's admission as well. "You don't have to feel guilty anymore," he said after a moment, trying not to squirm in his chair.

"Obviously I do if I have to keep helping you eat," Drew said gently.

"Drew..." Wesley said helplessly, wanting to convince the blond that he wasn't at fault anymore but not having the words to do so.

"Oh well, we'll get through it," the older boy said with false cheeriness, clapping his hands once Wesley finished the sandwich. "There, was that so hard?"

Wesley grunted and looked away. He was starting to feel sick to his stomach, and he remembered the time Drew had fed him McDonalds and he'd thrown up all over the floor. It was such a long time ago. For the first time in his life, Wesley had the sudden urge to make himself sick. He didn't like the full and content feeling he had in his belly, because it made it so much easier to feel the pain he knew would come crashing back as soon as the skype call ended. He wanted it gone. He wanted the food in his stomach gone.

"Wesley?" Drew's voice snapped him out of his trance, and the brunet honestly felt a little scared of what he'd been contemplating. "Are you okay?"

"Fine," Wesley nodded once, trying to force a smile. "I'm fine."

Anorexia was one thing, but bulimia was something he did not want to get into. He didn't want another weight on Keaton's shoulders, another reason for Drew to feel guilty. The brunet made a promise to himself that he'd set up an appointment with his old counselor, because obviously he still had problems he needed to work through.

He stayed on the laptop with Drew until Keaton got home, too afraid to be left by himself because of the urges he'd been getting. When Keaton saw that he'd eaten, the light brunet had smiled brightly and hugged him, serving to make Wesley feel even more guilty for trying to starve himself.

"I was hoping you wouldn't relapse but I suppose I expected it," Keaton said quietly when they were snuggled up on the couch, watching some cheesy movie and waiting for their mother to get home.

"This isn't a relapse," Wesley denied instantly. "I just... couldn't handle food. It's not a relapse."

Keaton stared at him for an uncomfortably long time before sighing and shrugging, switching the channel. "If you say so," he said quietly, before perking up at one of the shows that was on. "Ooh, X-Factor. Let's watch this."

They spent the rest of the evening discussing Simon Cowell, and wondering if he was that mean in person as well as on screen. 

OoO

Thanks for the positive reviews on the first chapter, guys! This fic is going to be a little slow, but the build up is needed. Its very likely that by the time I finish posting this, I won't have finished writing the prequel so there might be a bit of a lag while I'm trying to finish that up. This fic will have fifteen chapters exactly, and I hope you enjoy all of them!