Just Like Old Times

Chapter 17: Eating

Tom's p.o.v

Shoot, Edd knows something!!! I dished up the rest of my meal a prayed that I didn't look as panicked as I felt. I put the last dollop of disgusting noodles and dragged Tord by the arm to the bathroom,
"Be right back guys." I yelled quickly.

"Ok, why did you drag me here?"
"You know when I fell?"
"Yeah?" I rolled up my arm and inwrapped the bandage.
"Damnit."
"That's not the worse bit..."
"What?"
"Edd must've noticed something because he signalled to his arm."
"DAMNIT!"

"Tord,"
"Yeah?"
"I-I'm scared,"
"I'm scared too."
"No, I mean I'm scared of everything, I'm scared of waking up in the morning, I'm scared of dying. I'm scared of my anxiety, I'm scared of my thoughts. I'm scared to be with people, I'm scared to be left alone. I'm scared to talk, and to be silent. I'm scared to eat, scared to starve. And, mostly, I'm scared of being forgotten, of being alone, of breaking. I'm terrified, absolutely terrified." I looked up from my feet and felt Tord wrap his arms around me,
"Tom, you don't need to be scared of anything, I'm here and I won't forget you. I promise."
"Ok, ummm, your hoodies kinda getting stained."
"It's ok, it's red anyway, but we probably sort that out."

He looked around for bandages, while I sat on the toilet and held some tissue paper on my cuts. He finally found some and held it up triumphantly.
"I found it!"
"Well done, Lara Croft, now can I have them?"
"Lara Croft's fit, so I'm ok with that."
"Eww, and aren't you gay?"
"Well yeah, but look at her body."
"True, can I have the bandages now, pleeeaaaassseee"
"Ok, since you asked nicely." He kneeled down at my side an started applying them.
"You're such an idiot."
"Yeah, but I'm your idiot." I smiled as he finished, "there, done."
"Thanks," I gave him a quick kiss and went back to Edd and Matt who were in the lounge eating whatever they ordered.

"Oh hey guys, omnomnomnommon-"
"Edd, finish your mouthful then tell us." I interrupted him, and heard him swallow extremely loud.
"Ok, your and Tord's meal are in the microwave, so they don't get cold."
"Thanks Edd," Tord ran out and I followed behind him.

"Tom, please," Tord begged as I looked at the sickly meal he brought out from the microwave.
"It looks so gross,"
"Tom, this used to be your favourite. Please try it."
"Fine," I grabbed the lukewarm plate from Tord and sat down in between him and Edd.

After one bite, I already felt ill,
"This is so good," Tord exclaimed,
"Really? It's just Chinese." Matt questioned,
"Better than street food,"
"Oh yeah, I forgot you lived on the streets," I admitted while staring at the fork I haven't moved since the first bite. I looked at the surrounding plates: Tord was finished, Edd was having his last mouthful, Matt had about five, maybe six, spoonfuls of rice left and I still had my whole meal in front of me. Sighing, I took another bite. Tord had moved closer to me and had glanced at my amount of food worryingly, multiple times. After the third bite, I was done. I ran to the bathroom and threw up everything I had in my stomach. Tord stood behind me, rubbing my back. Slowly, I stood up and looked into Tord's eyes.
"I-I can't-"
"Please try again." He gripped my hands and brought them to his chest. "Please,"
"It hurts, so much."
"Tom, it'll get better, please eat."
"O-Ok, I'll try again."
"Good." He kept hold of one of my hands and pulled me back to the couch.

I picked up the fork and carefully wrapped noodles around it, took a deep breath and shoved the fork into my mouth. The same greasy taste filled my mouth, the same awful texture of food. Swallowing it I looked up at Tord, completely ignoring the other two. He smiled and looked proud, so I took another bite, it hurt like hell to swallow, but I did. Soon I felt really ill, staring at an about half empty plate. I pushed it away, knowing that if I take another bite, I'll puke. Tord looked satisfied at the amount that I've eaten and took my plate to the kitchen, I followed close behind.

"I'm so proud of you!" He practically jumped onto me.
"Thanks,"
"You ate, you actually ate!"
"I know. I know." I smiled, I did eat, I kept my promise.

(Time skip to about 23:00)

"It's getting pretty late, we should probably head home." Tord stood up, look at Edd.
"Ok guys, talk to you in the morning."
"Bye," I mumbled, still feeling kinda ill from dinner.

Edd's p.o.v

As soon as I closed the door behind Tord and Tom, I dragged Matt to the living room.
"Oh my god!"
"What?" He gave me a confused look, tilting his head to the side slightly, looking extremely cute,
"Tom's arm,"
"What about it?"
"Matt, your lack of memory amazes me sometimes."
"Just tell me!"
"When you fell into Tom-"
"-his arm started bleeding." He looked shocked at how quickly his memory came back,
"Exactly. He looked really panicked,"
"He did rush to the bathroom with Tord."
"And you heard what he said about not eating."
"Do you think something's going on,"
"I hope not."

I looked down at the floor, on the verge of tears, what if something IS going on? What else is happening? I was pulled from my thoughts by the familiar sent of vanilla and a dash of strawberry shampoo.
"It's ok, Tom will be ok." He wrapped his arms around me, resting his chin on my shoulder.
"I guess your right, I worry about him though."
"I know, your heart is too big for this world."
"Heh,"
"But your heart is the right size for my Edd's world." He mumbled.
"Edd's world?"
"Yeah, it's my favourite world."
"Heh, Matt, that's super cheesy." He nodded and pulled me closer, and connected our lips, "I like cheesy," I smiled as he pulled away from the kiss.
"I know,"
"We should probably get to bed."
"Yeah it is pretty late," he stood up and went to leave.
"Matt?"
"Yeah?"
"Wanna crash on the couch?"
"Sure." He flopped down and Ringo curled up on his stomach.
"Night Edd,"
"Night Matt."