"I'm so proud of you for eating, today." Smackle looked Zay in the eye as she shovelled pasta into her mouth, the African American boy's words causing her to stop.

She swallowed the food before speaking. "What?" She asked, tucking a long strand of hair behind her ear. Zay smiled at her softly before responding. "Nothing, I'm just proud of you."

Smackle snorted, continuing to stuff food into her mouth ignoring the urge to go and puke it all up. "For what? I'm just eating?"

Zay raised an eyebrow before speaking again. "Exactly. I'm proud of you for eating, today. You've come a long way since last year Izzy."

Smackle rolled her eyes, swallowing again before responding. "How? I still have to go to therapy, and I'm not allowed to journal anymore in case I start trying to regulate how much I'm allowed to eat again."

Zay stared at her for a while, before shrugging nonchalantly. He grabbed her left hand, intertwining their fingers together. "You've been recovering for the last 10 months. Before that, if anyone tried to even bring up your eating disorder to you, you'd snap at them. When I found you passed out on the couch at Riley's, I swear Izzy, my heart stopped. You've come a long way from that day."

Smackle blushed, setting her fork down into the bowl. She looked up shyly, her eyes meeting Zay's. He smiled at her, squeezing her fingers as he spoke again. "Like I said before, I'm so proud of you for eating, today."

Smackle smiled, gently removing her hand from Zay's as she picked her fork back up again, a goofy smile on her face as she shovelled pasta into her mouth, Zay's smile making her stomach do flips.