Trigger warning again not too bad :)

It's the crash of thunder that wakes Remington. He wishes he could sleep through it, but ever since Holly, he is unable to sleep through noises. His brain is alert at night. That's when she would do the most damage.

Remington sits up and rubs his eyes. Andy is still sleeping. He slides out of bed and opens the curtain to peep outside. It's pouring with rain, and a flash of lightening takes him by surprise. "Come back to bed," he hears, and turns to look at Andy.

"Mm, I am. It's really stormy out there," he says, half asleep, motioning to the window.

Andy opens his arms. "Good thing we're in here, then."

Remington gets back in bed and shuffles up to Andy. "Hold me," he whispers, even though Andy already is.

It's still stormy in the morning, and when Remington wakes, Andy is hanging up clean washing. "Good morning, beautiful," he greets, glancing at his lover, who pushes hair from his face and yawns. "Can you go the shop? I need to call Lonny."

"Sure. Can you give me Lonny's number? I wanna be his friend." Remington gets out of bed and drapes his arms around Andy's shoulders.

"Absolutely. There's a list of what we need in the kitchen."

Remington gets dressed and kisses Andy before leaving for the shop. He picks up a basket on the way in and walks straight past the sweet isle without looking at anything because he knows it'll make him feel sick. There isn't too much on the list, and Remington drops a coquet of flowers I the basket as he passes them, because it's become a routine for whoever goes to the shop to buy a fresh bunch of flowers for the kitchen. He looks at the list, and goes to find the first thing on there.

Someone bumps into him and he apologises even though it was their fault, and reaches for a box of strawberries. "Oh my God," the person says, staring at Remington.

"I'm sorry?"

The stranger shakes her head. "What is you secret?"

Remington drops the strawberries into the basket. "Sorry?" He questions, confused.

"Your secret. You must be an extra-extra-small. How? Green smoothies and veganism? The gym every day? You have to tell me."

Remington wishes he had put on a hoodie this morning, and not a t-shirt. He was feeling good about his body this morning, for once, and someone confronting him like this destroys his confidence. "I-"

"You must be a vegan, right?"

The boy doesn't know how to respond. He wishes Andy was here to remove him from the situation. "No, I'm not vegan," he says, and turns to walk away.

"So what is it? What do you eat to be that skinny? I need to know. I've been trying to lose weight for weeks."

"This is really inappropriate," Remington says, uncomfortable, "join weight watchers or something." He cringes as he says the word 'weight'. He hates thinking about it.

"You must have a secret, though, right? No one in weight watchers is that thin." She gestures to him dramatically.

Remington frowns. "Look, you can't go up to strangers and ask them about their weight. I'm anorexic, okay. I stopped eating, and I'm trying to recover, and being asked what my secret is does not help. No one wants to lose weight the way I did. It ruins your life. Have a good day." He turns on his heel and walks away before she can say anything, and looks for the next thing on the list.

"You're not anorexic," the same woman says, coming up behind him. "Only girls get eating disorders."

Remington doesn't say anything. He picks up a loaf of sliced white bread, and jumps when she grabs his wrist. "What the hell are you doing?" He asks, rudely, because he's startled by being touched by a stranger. "Let go of me."

"Just tell me your secret."

"I don't have a secret! I starved myself because I'm anorexic. That's it! No super foods or gym sessions. I'm not healthy! I was in hospital with a feeding tube because I collapsed and I hardly eat anything and you do not want this. Let go of me before I scream." She does, thankfully, release his wrist, which he knows is bruised because he bruises ridiculously easily. "Think before you ask something like that. Recovery is hard enough as it is. I don't need some stranger commenting on how thin I am," he says sharply, and pushes past her.

He isn't in a good mood anymore, and grabs things off the shelves without really paying attention. What he doesn't understand is how someone could be so shallow as to go up to a stranger and ask how they're so skinny. It only makes Remington feel worse about having anorexia because apparently only girls get that, so that means that his diagnosed disorder isn't even valid. At checkout, he shoves everything into a bag, swipes his card on the machine, and leaves the shop.

When he returns home, Andy is talking on the phone, so Remington puts away the shopping and then manoeuvres himself into his husband's lap, sighs, and closes his eyes. Andy can tell something is bothering him, and plays with the younger's hair as he talks to Lonny.

Remington is still in his lap when he hangs up, and he puts the phone down on the table. "What's wrong, kitten, something happen in the shop?"

The boy lifts his head up. "Some woman asked me what 'my secret' is for being so thin. I told her I'm anorexic and she didn't believe me because apparently men can't have eating disorders, so now I want to die." He sighs loudly.

"You know that's a loud of crap. You've been diagnosed by a professional, sweetheart. Listen to Abigail, not some vain woman you don't even know."

"I hate people," Remington whines, "can you make pancakes?"

Andy hums. "If you want pancakes, I will make pancakes." He waits for Remington to get up off his lap and stands up, running his hands down the boy's arms and kissing his head.

"I'm never going to the shop again." Remington watches Andy make pancake batter and opens a box of raspberries. "What do you say to someone when you love them but-like-you love them more than just saying 'I love you?"

Andy chuckles. "Who do you plan on saying this to?"

"Why? Are you jealous?"

"Depends. And I'd say 'I absolutely adore you with all my heart and even if I hate everyone else, I still love you.'"

Remington smiles. "Okay. I absolutely adore you with all my heart and soul and I hate everyone else."

Andy pours some of the mixture into a frying pan. "I don't think that's what I said."

Shrugging and eating a raspberry, Remington watches his soulmate concentrate on the pancakes. "But I do hate everyone," he insists, only half-kidding.