Ship: Jenry, can be seen as platonic or romantic
Requested by:Moondragonice
TW: Negative body image
Henry knew it all. He was short, and not as skinny as he'd like to be. Lia didn't seem interested in him at all, barely even as friends. Liam constantly berated him, even if it was friendly it still hurt.
Drew was Drew, he was alright, he didn't do anything necessarily wrong, like Jake, but his girlfriend was annoying as hell. She was the worst person he'd ever met, and Henry didn't understand what Drew saw in her. He could do so much better than Zoey. She was a cheating skank anyways, but he didn't know that obviously.
It made Henry angry, how in love Drew was with her. It made his blood boil, knowing she didn't feel the same way back, but that's not the point. She teases him the most out of anyone, and she makes him sick. She tells him he's a short stub, chubby and all. It made him look at himself in a different way. He hated that about Zoey. She could make him hate himself in an instant.
He was alone at lunch one day. Jake was with the Music Freaks, Liam was sick, Lia was sitting with other friends, and Drew was probably making out with Zoey somewhere. Or eating. Henry personally liked the second option better.
Sean smiled at Luke as they walked along. "Henry's pretty short huh?" Sean laughed. "Yeah, such a cute little guy. I kind of think it's cure he's chubby. Ge looks so huggable." Obviously, Henry knew this wasn't supposed to be offensive, but it struck his nerves a little bit. Sean grins in return. "Yeah, the fat looks good on him. It adds to his looks in a good way." He said. Luke nods. "Definitely. I like it. Hopefully he's healthy though. He is a little bit too much for such a little guy. It might be unhealthy."
Henry could feel the hot tears, his entire face felt as if it was on fire, he was really red. He puffed his cheeks. Luke and Sean didn't seem to notice. He knew he was a little overweight, but he hated diets. I'll just cover it up with a hoodie. He thought. He nodded to himself.
No one noticed at first. He ate lunch alone, and more of the Music Freaks would comment on his physique every time he did. It sent chills down his spine. Were they serious? Did they think calling someone synonyms of 'fat' is funny? His blood was boiling and he was shaking with rage. Even with his baggy pants and sweatshirts, he was still being made fun of. His doctor said he had a perfectly healthy weight. So, why are they calling hilllm "fat" and "chubby"? He didn't understand it at all. It made zero sense. He was healthy after all, no reason to be made fun of.
One day, Jake sat with him instead of being alone. Henry was too quiet, he was waiting for Jake's friends to come tease him, but with Jake around it didn't happen. He smiled. It made sense, Jake was their friend.
He smiled and Jake frowned at him. He knew it was fake in an instant. "Henry, you know you can tell me anything." Jake said. "Yeah." Henry replied. "What's wrong? You look upset." Jake inquired. Henry's smiled faded and he felt teary eyed. He was soon explaining everything through tears and Jake listened.
Jake was so angry that he was trembling. He couldn't understand why they would say things like that. That's not being funny, that's body shaming! It made him so unbearably angry that he waltzed over to them to confront them.
"Guys. A word." Jake said. They all gave him their full attention. "Quit saying things about Henry. It's disgusting what you guys were saying." Their faces fell. He then walked off and ba k to Henry. He embraced Henry and smiled.
"I'm here. Don't hide anything like this again. I'll always be here for you. "
