Off One's Rocker - Lashton

Chapter Twenty-one

Smiling to himself he looked down at his swollen stomach. Part of him was glad and happy he was here. He'd met Ashton, he'd grown as a teenager. He had become more mature and had learnt a lot.

Yet, what would he do when he does recover if he did. He hasn't finished school and would have to be held back a year. People would ask questions and he might get bullied again.

Sighing he continued to look down at his belly. He looked fat. His stomach was visible through his jumper and he didn't look skinny.

The curly haired boy had noticed that as well and pitied the blonde. He must feel even worse than he did before. Yet the sight brought something into his mind about what Luke said when they discovered his stretch marks.

He mentioned being obese.

"Luke?" Ashton spoke up whilst panting as he continued to row back and forth at a constant speed.

"Yeah," he replied looking up with sad eyes.

"The other day, you mentioned that you used to be obese." He was unsure if he should have brought the topic up as it obviously going to affect him in some way. "Were you actually?"

"Yeah," Luke replied instantly. "Well basically."

"I'm sure you weren't," Ashton told him trying to boost his confidence.

"I weighed two hundred and twenty pounds!" Luke said with a slight chuckle. "I'm pretty sure I was."

Ashton sighed, he knew that the blonde was right yet didn't want to say anything. Honestly, he didn't expect Luke to be that big, he expected him to have a slight belly which may be classed him as overweight.

He couldn't help but wonder if it were Luke's fault. If he really liked the food. His mother seemed nice, from what he heard, and maybe she couldn't say no to Luke eating whatever he wanted.

"So you used to eat?" Ashton asked biting his lip anxiously. He didn't know what to say at all.

"No duh!" Luke laughed slightly. The conversation has distracted him from everything else what was going on and he automatically started to push against the board on the machine. Straightening and bending his legs continuously.

"But like, you ate a lot?" the curly-haired boy asked looking down.

"Yeah. I used to love food. Still, do," Luke admitted. He would demolish a cheeseburger or a pizza if he had the courage to. "Just hate my body," he admits looking down sadly.

"Your body is beautiful," Ashton complimented out of breath. Sweat was dripping from his forehead and he was slightly panting yet he wasn't going to give up yet.

On top of that, he was too into the conversation to notice that the anorexic was using the leg press machine and bending and straightening his legs slowly. Although, the blonde himself did not know what he was doing.

"So did you always know you were like...well obese?" the curly-haired boy asked curious to know about how his boyfriend ended up developing the eating disorder. Or so he and most thought.

"Not really. I always knew I was heavier than others but I never really noticed I was that big." Both boys were amazed by how he managed to speak so easily about a tough topic.