Hi ya'll! Sorry for taking so long with this story, here it finally is!
I've been busy since I just moved and I had my 18th birthday so things have been really crazy.
On to the story!
Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail. No joke.
Important note:
I have never had an eating disorder of any kind. I can only try to imagine the horrors of what it truly feels like and if I do not express the feelings of having an eating disorder correctly, I can only apologize for that.
This story will explain in very much detail how eating disorder possibly feels like and I do not recommend reading it if you have ever had an eating disorder or feel like you are very self-conscious.
As I said before, I have not had an eating disorder. However, I have and am suffering from depression and at one point I was very self-conscious about how I looked, causing me to avoid going to school or even outside the house. I was so terrified about showing myself to other people that I became physically ill because of it any time I was about to leave the house.
I can only use my own experiences and what I know about the eating disorder from various sources. I'm sad that I have had to witness too many people creating this cage for themselves and live in such horror daily as they got thinner and thinner by the day.
For the last part of my long note, I wish that every one of you reading this will take eating disorder very seriously. If you have a feeling that you might have an eating disorder, please consult someone professional.
Thank you for being here, I hope that you will still like the story even though it will be heavy reading.
–
"-Yeah, and the girl I met last month- you should have seen her! I don't think I have ever seen such impressive curves. And that rack she had, just.. perfect." Gray kept bragging, taking a sip of his drink before he continued his story.
Of course, there weren't any girls around to listen. There were only men sitting at the table in the corner of the guild but it wasn't situated far enough to prevent their loud voices from resounding through the hall. Everyone at the table was either very drunk or slightly so, and most of them were having a blast, laughing and clapping as they told stories about their adventures of one-night-relationships.
There was one person who was however sulking at the end of the table. Natsu was not amused at all as he listened to Gray's "amazing" sex stories.
They were so fake! Definitely. They had to be. Right? Natsu wondered as he emptied his second drink at one go. He was feeling a bit pissed for some reason.
Sure, Gray was good looking and all but surely he hadn't had that many one-night-relationships?
"OI, Natsu!" Gray's voice made his head snap up to find the older grinning at him in a mean way. "I bet you've never had sex with anyone!" He said and laughed at the pink-haired boy, making the other drunken men laugh too.
Natsu knew that no one was in their right mind so they would laugh at anything currently. He wasn't really bothered by all the laughing but he did feel embarrassed and he found himself growing a bit read in the head and he turned away in an effort to hide his red cheeks.
Gray's laugh stopped at the action, before his laugh roared even louder than before and Natsu could almost hear the amused teardrops leave his eyes.
"W-waha-! Y-you-!" He was laughing too hard to form a proper sentence. Natsu turned to look at him in anger, as if warning him not to say a word more. Gray was laughing so loudly that the entire guild could not block his voice from their hearing.
"Y-You've never had sex with anyone?!" He shouted so loud that everyone in the guild definitely heard.
Natsu shot up from his seat, his cheeks red both from anger and embarrassment and grabbed Gray by his collar.
Everyone around them was laughing, not caring that a fight between the two was about to break out.
"You damn exhibitionist! At least I'm not a man-whore like you!" Natsu shouted in anger.
"Huuh?" Gray snarled in annoyance. "Do you have such a hard time accepting that I'm popular while you-" Gray paused as he pinched Natsu's cheek hard, "-are a baby-faced virgin?!"
"Damn you!" Was the only thing that Gray got as a warning before Natsu threw a punch at his face. The hit landed, sending Gray flying.
Gray was back on his feet right after he landed, and he rebounded to land a punch of his own on Natsu's now-red cheek.
As the two kept throwing punches and kicks at each other, everyone, especially the men at the corner table, kept laughing loudly.
The fight was eventually stopped by the angry women in the guild who were looking for some peace and quiet for a change.
–
In bruises and bad mood, the two young men who had just fought sat across each other at a table near the front of the guild. They were both looking at the opposite direction of the other and didn't even try to hide their sulk.
"You damn ice-freak. Why do you always have to start a fight?" Natsu said angrily as he finally looked at the older boy. The other turned his head to look at the pink-haired one with similar anger on his face.
"Me?! You're the one who punched me, remember?!" Gray shouted in his defense, only adding more fuel to the fire.
"It's your fault for calling me a baby-face!"
"A baby-faced virgin." Gray reminded, making sure to draw the last word out to annoy the younger even more. It worked like he had planned and the other was on his feet, ready to fight some more in less than a second. Natsu opened his mouth to say something more, but before he could, someone punched his face to the table with such force that it left his head spinning.
Natsu couldn't lift himself up at first and he was forced to listen as a strong voice of a certain red-haired woman scolded them.
"Seriously you two-!" Natsu turned his head to see his rival at the other side of the table having also got his head punched with the same force. The other wasn't looking at Natsu, and the younger just hoped he had gotten a stronger hit. That would teach him.
"-Are you listening Natsu?!" Erza shouted, making the said boy jump in his seat. When he recovered, he instantly started acting like usual.
"It's this stupid stripper's fault!" As those words had left his lips, another force beat him down on the table, making sure that the pink-haired boy would have a headache for the rest of the day.
Erza could only sigh as she walked away from the two young men. They would never learn. And she was right as the two were once again fighting after only a couple of minutes had passed.
–
After the day had mostly passed and the air outside cooled, also the inside of the merry guild calmed.
Natsu had just realized that he hadn't eaten anything but breakfast that day and so he decided to help himself to a good meal. The guild might have not had the town's best meals, but at least there was enough food for someone with a big appetite and to Natsu's luck, he had a good money situation and so he was able to buy himself a feast for a change.
The plates were emptied with the same speed as the new ones arrived as Natsu hogged the various types of meals down.
Lucy had sat down at his table after finding nothing else to do and now she just leaned to her hand and watched the other eat.
"I'm still baffled how you can eat all that." Natsu was about to answer her but he realized that he couldn't as his mouth was filled with food. Fortunately, or unfortunately for Natsu, there was someone who filled the silence.
"No wonder you have such fat cheeks when you eat so much." Natsu stopped his munching and gulped down what he had in his mouth before he turned to look at Gray.
"..What did you say?!" Natsu shouted. Lucy threw her hands up, getting up and leaving the table, mumbling: "I have had enough of you two for one day."
Gray crossed his arms and wore a cheeky smile.
"I said that you are going to be a virgin forever if you keep eating like that...fatty."
And as could be expected, Natsu threw a punch at Gray but the older was ready this time and avoided the fist with ease before he landed a strong kick on Natsu's stomach, sending him crashing to the wall.
Gray only laughed as the other glared at him as he got up.
"What's wrong? Did you eat too much?" The raven-haired said and tried to hold his laughter.
Natsu, however, wasn't amused. He knew that if he opened his mouth it would only cause the two to brawl more and frankly, Natsu didn't want to fight him any more today. He only glared at the older as he waited for some kind of answer from the younger.
"Would you just quit it?! I don't know what your problem is today but leave me out of it!" Natsu shouted a bit louder than he intended, silencing the people around them. He didn't really care. He just wanted Gray to quit his anger venting on him. Of course, the older saw no reason for it.
"Oh, so not only are you a fatty but you act like a girl too you-!" Before Gray could finish, a splashing sound was heard, cutting the man off.
Natsu was a bit surprised to find Lucy holding an empty bucket in her hands, having emptied the contents on the raven-haired.
There was a moment of surprised silence before Lucy spoke.
"Gray, cool off." The said man opened his mouth to argue but he snapped it closed, still looking pissed.
After that, the topless man turned towards the guild door and ran.
Natsu sighed and got up, brushing his clothes for any dust or dirt. He didn't know what had been going through Gray's head just a moment before but he would be lying if he told that he didn't care. He did in a way. Not enough to ask him about it, but enough to take the insults. The idiot was just having a bad day. It wasn't the first time. It would pass.
When he returned to the table he noticed that his food had become ruined as the water had splashed all over it.
Natsu sighed and decided that it was the time to head home. He called for his best friend and waited until the blue cat flew on his shoulder before he walked outside.
It was strange that Natsu couldn't focus on anything the cat was babbling about on the way home as he was only thinking about how Gray had acted that day.
Realizing who was occupying his thoughts, he shook his head and stopped.
"Hey Happy, how about we buy something good from the bakery?" The mage suggested as they stood just before the bakery. The cat tensed in excitement.
"What?! Really?!" The cat almost shouted. Being happy how his friend reacted, he walked inside the shop.
"Yup. Choose anything you want!"
After taking some time the two found pastry which pleased them they paid the kind-looking woman and walked out the shop.
Munching happily his fish-bread the blue Exceed flew ahead of the pink-haired boy, seemingly his only thought being about what he was eating.
Natsu was deep in thoughts. Gray was rarely so cruel towards him. Sure, they insulted each other and would punch each other if they got pissed enough but the way Gray was today.. It was different.
Natsu walked silently and watched the various shops passing them by. One shop had big glass windows and Natsu stopped when he saw his own reflection.
Why would Gray ever call him fat? He had a lot of muscles which made his body bigger but there wasn't any fat. Then the slight pain on his cheek reminded him of the new nickname he had gotten, 'baby-face'. Natsu found himself pinching his own cheek and stretching it out. His cheeks were definitely rounder than Gray's were. Was it so bad?
Natsu then remembered how Gray had been calling him a virgin for several times and he found himself feeling all embarrassed again.
"Heey, Natsu! Come on!" A voice shouted from ahead and cut off Natsu's thoughts. Happy was waiting impatiently for the mage who had stopped suddenly.
Natsu found a smile warming his face and he ran to his friend.
It was no use thinking about such things. Gray just had a bad day. Tomorrow everything would be better again.
Right?
A/N:
I won't lie, the next chapter will take some time.