It was yet another exhausting day for poor Alfred. He'd ended up throwing away half of his breakfast, since his parents thought that it would be a wonderful idea to make fun of his weight gain and criticize the 'mass' amounts of food he was eating that morning. Right after making him lose his appetite, they tried to show how 'concerned' they were for his well-being by informing him of the various health conditions that came with being overweight. Then later scolded him for wasting food after throwing away half of his meal.

His 'friends' were no better. Not that this should've surprised him, as his friends had been amiable enough to give him nicknames such as 'pork chop', 'fattie', or 'cream puff'. They'd even included Alfred in a small competition to see who had the pudgiest belly (and also to see who's stomach was the most muscular), and of course, he'd been declared the fattest. Thus why he decided to completely skip lunch that day.

Instead of doing his homework during class, or paying attention during any of the lessons, he was fixated on poking his belly in order to try and estimate how thick the layer of fat on his stomach was. An inch? A couple of inches? Alfred was afraid to know the exact measurement of the depth of his fat. He wanted it gone. He wanted to be skinny and beautiful as his brother and his boyfriend were. No one ever judged them for eating a bowl of ice cream or a slice of pizza, because naturally, they were thin, and that was why people loved them (even though his boyfriend would often tell him that almost everyone actually hated him, but Alfred was blinded by his own insecurities, so he wasn't able to see that).

Even if he was suddenly over the fact that everyone thought he was fat after lunch, Alfred still would've had a hard time focusing on his school work, due to how little he ate that day. He eventually ended up feeling light headed and shaky; a result of his low blood sugar. That wasn't important though. It meant that he was finally learning discipline. Besides, he figured that he probably deserved to feel the side effects of starvation anyways. He couldn't think of another human being, aside from himself, that would receive pleasure at the idea of seeing him suffer through hunger pangs. Who would care if someone as 'fat' and 'ugly' as him ended up starving to death?

Alfred couldn't have cared less for all of the homework he was stuck with due to the fact that he'd avoided doing his school work. Nor did he care for the fact that he ended up with a zero on one of his quizzes because he'd ended up sitting there and doing nothing during the entire hour in chemistry. All he wanted to do was go to his boyfriend's house, where he would have a lot of privacy with the only person who ever seemed to show him any respect. He didn't care if it was against his parent's rules to stay over at someone else's house during a school night. He was sick of putting up with their ridicule. If he was going to end up being punished for this, so be it. At least he might be able to prove a point to his parents if he didn't even call them to warn them about his plans, so they could spend the night worrying about him. If they called, he was just going to tell them that he was still alive and well, but he wasn't going to return home that night. They didn't deserve to know where he was going to spend the night.

Unlike anyone else that day, Ivan had welcomed him with open arms the moment he set his eyes on him. Then, after letting him into his house, he asked, "Didn't your parents say that you couldn't stay over during a school night?"

"Small visits are fine, not that I'm saying that I won't spend the night here," Alfred explained, "I'm just not allowed to stay here passed eight o' clock. Who cares though?"

"Well, since you're here, do you want some food? My older sister made those cookies that you really seem to enjoy."

"No thanks."

For a moment, Ivan gave Alfred a look of confusion, but eventually decided to shrug it off as the two teenagers made there way upstairs to his bedroom. While in there, they both remained quiet as the Russian tried to finish up his homework real quick so that he could spend some quality time with his boyfriend without having to worry about anything. When he was half way finished with an algebra two worksheet, however, Alfred suddenly blurted, "Ivan, do you think I'm fat?"

Ivan looked at Alfred for a moment, bemused by the question. Then, once he was over he shock, he answered, "Of course not."

"Are you sure? You seemed a little hesitant there."

"Nyet, I wasn't hesitant, just shocked by the question. Why do you think you're fat?"

Alfred grew a sudden interest in the floor as he mumbled, "Because it's true..."

It seemed as if Ivan heard this response, despite the fact that it came to him as a mumble, so he set aside his homework, and strode over to where Alfred was sitting on the soft, carpeted floor. Then, he pulled him into a tight embrace as he told him in a soft voice, "Nyet, you're not fat. Please, don't get so upset over your weight, or listen to anyone who calls you fat. It's not healthy."

Alfred was now on the verge of tears as he nearly yelled, "Stop lying to me! Everyone else said it was true, and even I'm starting to notice it. Just feel my stomach and you'll see how fat I really am."

Ivan did just that, and once he'd made an inference as to how much fat was stored there by gently squishing Alfred's stomach a few times, he stated, "Well, it's a little pudgy, but it's not really anything to-"

"I'm not FAT!"

"Fredka, I didn't say that you were fat, just that your stomach is a little squishy, but so is everyone else's," Ivan tried to assure as his boyfriend began to break down, "Besides, how come one moment you were calling yourself fat, and the next said that you weren't?"

Because I'm in denial, was what Alfred wanted to say, but instead whimpered, "Because everyone keeps saying that I am and I keep trying to deny it, and I'm sick of it! Why can't they ever leave me alone about it?"

"If people think that you're fat, then I'm afraid of what their definition of skinny is. Nyet, you look like you're at a healthy weight, and that's all that should matter. Maybe you could cut back on all of the fat and sugar you eat, since even if you're not getting fat off of it, it can still affect your health, but other than that, you're fine. Even if you did happen to be a little chubby, I would still love you as much as I do now."

A smile made it's way onto Alfred's face as he snuggled closer to his boyfriend. He didn't know how his boyfriend could do it, but he always seemed to know how to make him feel better in a short amount of time. That was one of the reasons he loved him. Ivan decided to take the sudden cuddly behavior as a sign that he'd said the right thing, and held the American tighter in his bout of relief.

The rest of the day went really well for Alfred. He was willing to eat dinner, and ended up having thirds due to how hungry he was from skipping lunch. He'd even had a few of the delicious cookies that had been offered to him earlier. To complete the day's improvement, he was unable to imagine another time he'd felt so comfortable while trying to fall asleep as he cuddled with Ivan that night.