Woahhh, two chapters in one day!

CWs/TWs: eating disorder, mention/implication of sex, needle/injection (it's just the chemo). Stay safe and enjoy!

.•°*°•.

Scar and Mumbo slept on the sofas in the living room whilst Joel, Lizzie, and Grian retired for the day to their bedrooms.

Mumbo yawned and stretched before laying down on the sofa, then he stretched again. "I'm so exhausted."

Scar snorted. "From what? We've been here all day doing practically nothing," he said, pulling the blanket Joel gave him over himself.

"Doing nothing makes you tired, I guess," Mumbo said with a shrug.

"Oh, wait," Scar sat upright. "Are you going to eat? Joel left food for you in the refrigerator."

Mumbo shrugged again. "I'm not really hungry."

"Are you sure?" Scar asked worriedly, getting that adorable, concerned look on his face. "You didn't eat anything at all today."

"I'm fasting, remember?"

Scar looked down. "But Joel said you're still supposed to eat," he murmured. That concerned look wasn't as adorable anymore as he started to cry. "Please don't starve yourself, Mumbo. Grian already does that sometimes and I hate it."

Mumbo chewed on the inside of his lip for a moment, then sighed. "I'll eat it," he said, getting up. Scar looked up at him, not looking as concerned anymore. "Don't stay up for me. You look tired."

Scar smiled softly. "Okay," he said, wiping his eyes. "I love you."

"I love you, too, babe." Mumbo walked into the kitchen and opened the fridge, looking over when he heard the jangling of a dog collar. "Oh, hey, Duncan." He glanced over into the living room, where Scar was already snoring loudly. Grabbing the plate of food, he knelt in front of Duncan. "Don't tell anybody I gave you this," Mumbo whispered.

"Don't tell anybody you gave him what?"

Mumbo jumped and looked up to see Joel in his night clothes, rubbing his sleepy eyes. "Uh-"

"Mumbo," he said, tilting his head and sounding half asleep still. "Why are you feeding Duncan your dinner?" He yawned 

Oh, fuck, oh, fuck- "Um..." He looked down at the happy Saint Bernard, who was licking the plate clean already. "He... looked hungry?"

"He's always hungry, he's a dog." Joel moved his hair out of his face and sat on the floor next to Mumbo. "You could've saved that for the morning, y'know," he mumbled as Duncan finished his snack and trotted away. Mumbo looked away. "Unless you're not actually fasting and there's something else going on."

Mumbo bit his lip, not saying anything in response.

"When was the last time you went home?"

Mumbo looked up this time, staring wide-eyed at Joel. "I-"

"Bud, I know how things like this go," Joel said, using that fatherly tone he used with Grian all the time. "You don't need to stay with her. I will foster you until you're eighteen if you need me to."

Mumbo couldn't say anything as his eyes began to water and sobs threatened to choke their way out of his throat. He knew his situation was bad, that's why he hadn't gone home in three weeks, but he needed his mum. He hated her, but he couldn't live without her.

Joel gave Mumbo a soft look. "It's okay to cry," he said, breaking down every wall Mumbo had built in just four words. Joel was quick to embrace Mumbo, holding him as he sobbed. "It's okay, it's okay," he whispered as he rubbed Mumbo's back to soothe him.

"I- I'm trying so h-hard-" Mumbo cut himself with another round of cries, to which Joel gave more assurances. "But I'm so weak," he wailed.

Joel shook his head. "You're not."

Mumbo sobbed even harder at that.

"You're very strong," Joel continued. "Just for still being here, you are so, so strong."

"It doesn't f-feel like it," Mumbo managed, hiccuping a bit.

"Trust me, a lot of people wouldn't be here right now if they were in your situation," Joel said. "You're very strong."

It took a moment but Mumbo was finally able to calm down, though he fell asleep hugging Joel.

The brunette sighed as he pulled Mumbo up with him to bring him back over to the sofa. "And I was going to try and get you to eat something," he murmured.

.•°*°•.

As Jimmy stared at his sleeping partner, he felt a little bad. Although Scott said they were ready, Jimmy felt like he was hurting them rather than making them feel good. But then again, Scott was ecstatic the whole time, so maybe Jimmy was doing good. But Scott was also exhausted to the point of practically passing out afterward, so maybe Jimmy wasn't doing good. But also, Scott did finish twice and smiled most of the time, so-

"Jimmyyyy," Scott murmured, turning over and opening his eyes a bit. "Come lay down with meeee." He reached out and made grabby hands in Jimmy's direction, making the taller boy smile.

"Gladly." Jimmy climbed into bed with Scott, getting as close as possible to his partner.

Scott giggled sleepily as they snuggled against Jimmy's chest. "I love you so much," they mumbled.

"I love you more," Jimmy said, keeping his voice lower. He laughed when Scott's face went bright red. "Oh, you like it when I make my voice lower?"

Scott stared up at Jimmy. "How are you the most adorable, clumsy, silly guy ever, and then you say stuff like that and you're incredible in bed, I-" He blinked. "You're so... versatile."

Jimmy laughed again. "Versatile?" he echoed, his voice returning to its normal pitch.

Scott rolled his eyes. "You know what I mean," he grumbled, cuddling back up to his boyfriend. "Now, hush and go to sleep."

"Anything you want, my love."

.•°*°•.

The next morning, Mumbo woke up to screaming. Gut-wrenching, blood-curdling, horrific screaming. Which honestly sucked because he really didn't get good sleep. He kept waking up every half hour or so.

"Grian, you'll be fine!" Mumbo heard Joel shout, to which there were more screams and sobs. "It's just a little poke, I promise!"

Scar groaned and covered his head with his pillow. "I love him, but can he shut up? It's, like, six in the morning."

Mumbo checked his phone, yawning. "Actually, it's after nine," he corrected, yawning a second time. He looked at all of the text messages he got from his mother while he was asleep, grimacing at the horrible spelling. She was probably drunk when she sent them.

"I'm not a morning person," Scar deadpanned, peeping at Mumbo from beneath the pillow. "Can someone make me some breakfast?"

Chuckling, Mumbo got up. "Sure," he said, then paused as his head started spinning. He shook himself and ignored the uncomfortable feeling, getting up to walk to the kitchen.

Huge mistake.

As soon as he was on his feet, he was falling onto the floor. He heard Scar shout something, but he couldn't make out what it was through the ringing in his ears. What has happening? And why? He was perfectly fine the previous... oh, wait. He wasn't perfectly fine the previous day. Was it because he wasn't eating anything? Surely not...

"Mumbo, please," Scar begged, shaking Mumbo's arm.

The ringing in his ears had stopped and his mind cleared. "Wha-"

"Oh my god-" Scar pulled Mumbo into a tight hug, squeezing him so hard he thought he might have another dizzy spell. Scar pulled away, but kept Mumbo at arm's length. "Are you okay? Did you hit your head? How are you feeling? Do I need to get Joel?"

Mumbo blinked. "I'm fine."

Scar dropped his concerned expression to stare blankly at Mumbo. "You just fucking fell over and did that blinking thing again," he said. "I don't think you're fine."

"I feel fine," Mumbo said truthfully. He felt totally and completely normal aside from the fact that his arm was sore from falling. "Really."

Scar hit Mumbo lightly on the shoulder. "I'm getting Joel," he huffed, then walked away, leaving Mumbo confused.

He was fine.

Shrugging, he got up to go into the kitchen to find something to make for Scar. He sighed opened the freezer, finding microwaveable waffles. "There we go." He grabbed them, then started to feel dizzy again. Oh, come on... He reached for the counter and missed, falling and hitting his head on the corner of the marble slab.

Ow.

He could faintly hear someone say something along the lines of "Call an ambulance," before blacking out.

.•°*°•.

"When was the last time you saw him eat an actual meal?" Joel asked Scar as they followed the ambulance to the hospital. "Or just, anything at all?"

Scar stared down at his feet, playing with a stress toy so he wouldn't break down crying. "I don't know," he murmured, then let out a small cry and covered his face with his hands. "This is all my fault," he sobbed.

"It's not your fault," Joel said with a yawn. "It's probably stress because of his parents."

"It feels like my fault, though," Scar whined. "I should've said something about him not eating, but I wasn't paying enough attention, and I-" He cut himself off with a sob. "I'm so stupid."

"Stop talking about yourself like that," Joel snapped, making Scar jump. "It's not your fault what happened and you wouldn't have known to look out for him. Stop blaming yourself."

Scar went quiet, sniffling as quietly as he could. "Sorry..."

Joel shook his head. "Don't apologise. And you have every right to cry, so don't worry about upsetting me with it," he said. "Besides, Mumbo's your boyfriend. You can cry."

Scar took the opportunity to let everything out, wailing loudly the entire ride and sobbing about he he could been the reason Mumbo might die, even though it really wasn't his fault. He just felt so shitty.

.•°*°•.

Scott snuck into his bedroom through the window after Jimmy dropped him off at home to avoid seeing his father. Though, that didn't last very long when Nathan knocked on his door soon after he got inside. Sighing, they decided to answer the door despite still being upset.

"Scott, I'm sorry," Nathan blurted as soon as they opened the door, shocking them. "I shouldn't have blown up on you, I know you've done a lot of hard work to be where you are and I'm sorry for invalidating you."

Scott blinked. "I... wasn't expecting an apology," they murmured. "...I think I need a little bit more time to forgive you."

Nathan nodded. "Take all the time you need," he said. "You don't have to forgive me when you're not ready."

Scott nodded awkwardly. "Okay."

Nathan glanced slightly downward and gave Scott a confused look. "Are those bruises on your neck?"

Gasping, they covered their neck with their hands and their face turned bright red. "I- uh- um- they- I-" He paused, then slammed the door shut. "No!"

Nathan sighed and walked away, knowing exactly what they were.

.•°*°•.

"You need to take your chemo shot," Lizzie said softly to Grian, who was finally calming down from screaming all morning. "I know it hurts, but it'll only be for a second. Joel already delayed this for a week so you could have more time to prepare yourself, but we can't wait any longer to do it."

Grian whined. "I hate needles," he said, covering his face with his hands.

Lizzie sighed. "You don't have to look."

"I don't want ittttt."

Lizzie took a deep breath. "Grian Smallishbeans," she said sternly. "I know you're upset, but if you don't take this shot, you will not have any electronic privileges for the rest of the week." I don't like being stern with him, but he needs this. I have to do what I have to do.

Grian looked away. "...Fine. Just count before you do it, please?"

"Of course, baby." Lizzie opened the alcohol wipe and rubbed the spot on Grian's thigh where Joel told her to put the needle, then grabbed the needle. She waited for the spot to dry a bit before beginning to count. "Ready? Three, two, one-" She was quick injecting the chemo so Grian wouldn't have to suffer long, though he screamed for much longer anyway. "All done," she said, putting a small Band-Aid on the spot. "It's all done."

Grian rushed forward to hug her, which made her chuckle a bit.

"It's okay, I've got you, Gri."

.•°*°•.

Grian: gets good/healthy sleep
Mumbo: gets no sleep
Scar: sleeps all the time
It's canon.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter!! I enjoyed writing it :D

Have a wonderful rest of your day or evening wherever you are <33