A/N: Lance is such a self-sacrificer. Don’t worry, he’ll get his reward in the end. Review!

Chapter 2

I stroke Falconor’s hair encouragingly as he tries to choke back the bowl of cereal I gave him. It’s a small portion, I know he won’t be able to eat more. It’s not even so much getting him to eat that’s the problem, it’s getting him not to throw it up. He doesn’t even try to escape from me long enough to binge anymore. Once his finger is down his throat, there’s nothing I can do. Once he starts a binge, he can’t even stop himself.

I kiss him on the cheek as he finishes. “There. That wasn’t so bad, was it?”

“It was worse.” He says weakly, falling sideways to lean against me.

“Don’t you dare throw that back up. Don’t you even dare put your hand near your mouth.” I mean it, and he knows that.

“I feel so disgusting.” He whispers, running a hand down his stomach, a stomach which is now beyond flat and bordering the realm of concave.

I’ve had about enough of this. I pull him out of the chair, and drag him to the full length mirror in our bedroom. “You are disgusting!” I turn his head so he has to look in the mirror. “Look at yourself!” He won’t do it. He can’t stand to see his reflection. “Look at yourself, dammit! You’re barely more than a skeleton!” I pull his shirt up so he can see his own ribs, each one standing out with disturbing clarity. “You need to gain weight! I don’t know how to make this stick in your head! You need to gain weight. I can’t tell you how important this is! Your hair would be thicker, you’d actually be full, you’d have better self confidence. You’d be healthy! I know you haven’t been taking your weight suppliment pills. You’d better start!” He’s crying by now, high, thin sobs escaping him.

“Why are you being so mean to me?” He sobs, his crying becoming louder. I release his head, finally letting him look away from the mirror. He drops to the floor and curls into the fetal position, typical for his mental breakdowns.

“You know I wouldn’t be harsh with you unless I really meant it. I’m sorry, but all of that was true. I’m really worried about you, sweetheart.” I stay standing above him, not comforting him. He needs to learn this lesson. “I’m worried because I love you. Please understand that.” Then I walk away. It takes every ounce of willpower I posess, but I walk away. His sobbing tugs painfully on my heartstrings, but I know I have to do it. He’s like a child, throwing his tantrums, he wants attention. He wants to be fawned over and soothed.

But this is something he needs to learn. Something he needs to think about. Something he needs to understand. As soon as I’m out of his line of sight, he starts shrieking loudly, trying to bring me back.

I don’t say anything. I don’t move. I sit down on the couch and wrap my arms around me, trying not to listen to him. It’s hard. I’m screaming inside to run to him and hold him until the crying stops.

But I can’t.

He’s screaming that I don’t love him, that I’ve never loved him, that I abuse him, that I in fact hate him. Each word, each sob is torture, making my stomach twist and knot. It hurts me just as much as those cuts he puts in his arms.

It seems like hours before he stops, but it’s probably more like thirty minutes. I still can’t go to him. I’ll wait for him to come to me.

It’s another few minutes before he shuffles out, chewing on his lip tearfully. I raise an eyebrow at him. “You were just saying- no, screaming- how much you hate me. I gathered that I abuse you and do all sorts of terrible things to you. I have no idea why you want to see a horrible person like me.” I say cooly. He just gives me big watery puppy eyes, pouting, his lip trembling.

I reach out my arms to him. “Come here. I know you didn’t mean it.”

He collapses into me, his bony body digging into mine. I kiss him on the top of the head. “Do you understand, hunny? I’m worried about you.”

He nods against me.

“Alright. Your counselling starts again on Thursday. Right now we have to go meet Sarah.” I say. We meet Sarah every morning. She’s our best friend, and Falconor’s favourite person next to me. Meaning he tolerates being looked after by her.

I lift him off of me, and go to grab our jackets. He whimpers as I move away from him, reaching out his thin little arms. It’s going to be one of those days. I wrap his light jacket around him, tying it tightly around his slim waist. Then I lift him to his feet, and he clings to me in the way he always does, begging comfort. “It’s alright. It’s going to be ok. Come on now.”

I start to walk towards the door, with Falconor more or less tucked under my arm. He doesn’t really like leaving our dormroom. We’re in collage, and now we have to go to class, which is why we have to meet Sarah. His first class is with her, so I have to hand him over. She watches him for me.

He whines softly as we leave the room, clinging tighter to my waist. I whisper gently soothing words in his ear as we walk down the hall, rubbing his shoulder. He starts shivering violently as soon as we get outside. That’s another side effect of his extreme thiness. He’s always cold. It’s late fall now, the air nippy and cold, leaves fluttering from the trees. Our feet crunch on the dead leaves scattered across the path we walk on. Falconor is looking around nervously, being his usual parnoid self. I kiss the top of his head. “Don’t be afraid, sweetie. I’ll protect you.” I whisper, holding him as tight to me as I can, trying to stop his excessive shivering.

I see Sarah standing over by the fountain that marks the middle of campus. She’s waving energeticly, jumping up and down. She holds her backpack down with one hand. She settles down as we approach her. Her mess of wildly curly brown hair is in an attempted ponytail, a wooly hat jammed over her head. She adjusts her scarf with cranberry colored mittens, wrapping her arms around her brown suede jacket. She’s pretty in a perky, ordinary way.

“Lance! You’re late!” She whines, placing her hands on her hips.

“I know.” I reply, jerking my head towards Falconor. “Tough morning.”

“We’ll all be late for class now!” She moans. “Come along, darling.” Falconor moves away from me to take her outstretched hand, obviously wanting to stay at my side.

“See you soon, sweetheart.” I let my hand linger on his back for a moment before dashing away to get to my first class.