It's Just A Diet

Caretaker

Dylan woke up by the the afternoon, still full as hell. He groaned, wrapping an arm around his stomach.

Danny opened the curtain suddenly, holding a bowl of yogurt for Dylan.

"Hey there, ready for lunch?" Danny asked, handing over the bowl.

Dylan shook his head, trying to push away the bowl. "If I eat anymore, I'm going to explode." He said, dead serious.

Danny laughed a little. "I know you're full, but you need to eat more. We need to get you eating regularly."

The Mexican sighed, looking fearfully down at the bowl.

"It's okay, Dylan. It's not going to hurt you, I promise." Danny ran a hand down Dylan's back, smiling softly. "Just eat it? Please?"

Dylan shook his head, trying to push away the bowl. Danny pushed it back onto Dylan's lap, then spooned up a bit of yogurt and offering it to Dylan.

After a minute of staring at the spoonful, Dylan finally let Danny put the spoon in his mouth. Danny smiled, then offered another spoonful to Dylan.

Bit by bit, Dylan finished the bowl. He laid back down, whimpering a little and holding a hand to his stomach. He wasn't used to eating so much, and it was beginning to hurt.

Danny beamed at Dylan. "You're doing so well, most anorexics can't eat that much when they're first recovering."

Dylan turned to Danny, scowling at him. "You saying that I'm eating too much?!"

Danny frantically shook his head. "No! I'm just saying that you're eating well, that's all!" He said, then added, "There's nothing wrong with eating enough, okay?"

Dylan cringed a little, turning away from Danny. Danny sighed. "I'm sorry, Dylan, I didn't mean to insult you."

Dylan huffed. "Just go away.... please..."

Danny frowned. "Are you going to be okay?"

"Fine. Just leave me alone."

Danny pulled a bottle up and placed it next to Dylan. "Alright, but drink this, okay?"

Dylan looked over in curiosity. Ensure. Fucking hell, he'd heard about these things. They had 360 calories each, and they tasted like sludge. Dylan tried to hand it back to Danny, but Danny refused to take it.

"I know, it sucks, but you can't get enough nutrition from just food right now because your stomach shrunk." Danny said apologetically. "You need to drink it, it'll help you recover faster."

Dylan sighed, staring at the bottle.

"Come on, just drink it." Danny pleaded. "It'll make you feel better, I promise."

Dylan caved, finally opening the bottle. He took a sip, then immediately gagged.

Danny reached over, rubbing Dylan's back again. "Chug it, it'll make it easier to swallow."

Dylan followed Danny's advice reluctantly, gulping down the bottle in three swallows.

God, that was gross. Dylan shuddered, groaning a little.

Danny smiled, giving Dylan a quick hug. "See? That wasn't too bad."

Dylan glared at Danny. "That was hell."

Danny offered a sympathetic smile. "Sorry, man. You'll get used to it."

Dylan huffed. "Now will you leave me alone?"

Danny nodded, then walked away. Dylan laid back down, forcing himself to fall back asleep.

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Dylan woke up screaming.

Danny was instantly by his side, crawling into the bunk and hugging Dylan. "It's okay, everything's okay..." He mumbled, rubbing Dylan's back.

Dylan panted hard, talking fast.  "I- I had a dream and you guys were there and I was fat and you were laughing and-"

"Shh." Danny pulled back a little. "It wasn't real, okay? No one's laughing at you."

Dylan was hyperventilating, clearly freaked out. Danny stroked Dylan's face softly. "Just focus on me, okay?" Danny said. "Nothing's wrong, I promise." Danny kept holding Dylan, rubbing his back and occasionally stroking his face, trying to calm him down.

It worked. Dylan eventually calmed down, sighing and curling up against Danny. "Sorry I freaked out...."

"No problem. You're going through a hard time, it's okay to struggle." Danny reassured Dylan.

Dylan sighed, stretching out and yawning. "I'll be fine now...." He said quietly.

Danny smiled, still holding Dylan. "Do you need anything? Like a drink or something?"

"Water would be great." Dylan said quietly.

Danny shook his head. "You need something with calories, not water. How about some warm milk? It'll help you relax."

Dylan huffed. "Fine."

Danny got up, coming back a few minutes later with a mug of microwaved milk. Dylan took the cup, taking tiny sips from it.

"Anything else?" Danny asked.

"I'm fine, just need some alone time, okay?" Dylan said bluntly.

Danny shrugged, then patted Dylan on the shoulder before walking off. Dylan only finished half of his mug before setting it to the side, curling up in his bed.

Dylan thought for a while, mostly about Danny.  The guy was trying harder than anyone else to take care of him, it almost seemed bizzare.

Unless.....

Maybe Danny had a crush on him?

Dylan chuckled, dismissing the thought. Danny could have anyone he wanted, why would he want Dylan?

Dylan was a broken man, after all. Who could like someone like him?