Trigger warning.

"Diet pills," Andy says, "care to explain?

All the colour in Remington's face is completely drained. He can't speak. He stares at the television which isn't even on, and talks. "What about them?" He asks, trying to pretend like he has no clue what Andy is talking about.

"Remington, you know what. Where are they?"

The boy sinks into the furniture. "Don't know," he mumbles, even though he does know.

Andy sighs. He can't get angry at Remington. "Where are they?" He asks, again, sternly this time.

"I said I don't know!" Remington is horrified that he's being asked about it. He doesn't see what the big deal is, anyway. He's fine.

"Yes, and I know that's not true."

It goes quiet. Remington looks like he's about to burst into tears. He probably is. He stands up, puts the book on the table, and avoids looking at Andy, who's waiting for an explanation, too calmly for Remington's liking. The quiet is so scary. Remington doesn't know if he's more scared of himself, or of what this means. Andy knows he's taking diet pills. That means he'll have to stop taking them. That means gaining weight. "I just wanna be pretty," he whispers, finally, and the words melt Andy's stern expression off his face.

"Sweetheart, you are already pretty," he says, "sit. We need to talk about this."

"I don't want to," Remington states, coldly. "You can't make me do anything. I am my own person." He bends down to pick up the book, and when he stands up straight again, closes his eyes tightly while a dizzy spell passes. "I'm fine."

Andy would laugh if this wasn't so serious. "You're fine? Really? You don't look fine. Just sit down, sweetheart, and we can talk."

"I don't want to!" He argues. "Who told you? Who was on the phone?"

"Emerson, but that's not-"

"For the love of-" Remington trails off, and then talks again. "Of course it was him. Of course it was. You know, I actually believed that he cared, that when I told Sebastian he would do what he promised and not tell anyone else. But I was wrong, as usual, because everyone just wants to see me fall. I can't gain weight, Andy, I can't! I need to be thin! It's all I have! Without it, I don't-I don't have anything," his voice reduces to a whisper, and he wipes his eyes with the back of his hand, smearing tears across his face.

Now stood up, Andy softly places his hands on Remington's shoulders, and talks gently. "You have me," he says, "Remington, you have me. You'll always have me. No matter what, I am here." He puts a hand to Remington's cheek and the boy looks at him. "I love you, okay, no matter how thin you are. I love you even when you're angry and shouting at me. I just love you, Remington, and what you're doing to yourself isn't only killing you, but it's killing me, too."

Remington doesn't bother wiping his tears anymore. His head hurts. It has been aching since he started taking the stupid diet pills. It makes everything seem louder than it really is. "I don't want to die," he mumbles, and looks away. "I just-I don't know what else to do, Andy, because-because I can't think about anything else. I keep trying to write songs and every time I try all that I can write about is-is this fucking disorder, and how much I need to be thin, and it makes me so angry! I can't...I can't make it go away. I need it to go away." The last sentence is hardly even spoken at all, and Remington, hangs his head, waiting for Andy to say something, to tell him it's okay. He needs to hear that.

"Sweetheart, look at me," Andy says, so soft and loving that Remington can't go against him. The man rubs his lover's arms, tilts his head to the side. "It's okay," he assures the boy, "I need you to tell me where they are."

Remington hesitates, but then he sees how concerned Andy looks, and he knows he can't hurt his husband like this. "'kay," he whispers, "but-but hug first?"

"Oh princess, of course." Andy holds Remington to him and kisses the top of his head, and can feel the boy tremble against him, and his shirt damp with tears, and he holds him tight, because he knows Remington needs it. "You're okay," Andy says into his hair, and then, "no matter what, I am here."

They hug until Remington is no longer crying, and Andy wipes his cheeks before taking his hand and following him up to where the pills are. Remington opens the drawer and sits on the bed as Andy pulls the two containers from the back. One of them is nearly empty. The boy looks down as Andy sits beside him, and watches the man's hands holding the bottles. "I'm sorry," he murmurs, "I should've told you, but-but I-"

"Hey, it's okay. I promise, it's okay. Stay here, pretty, I'm going to flush all these down the toilet. I won't let you do this to yourself."

Remington wants to protest, to tell Andy not to, but he knows, deep down, that Andy is doing what needs to be done. "I love you," he says instead, "and I literally have to fucking idea why you love me but thank you."

"Now now, we don't think like that. We're going to have a movie night tonight and you're gonna fall asleep in my lap, okay? Sound good?"

The boy nods. "Sounds good," he agrees, watching Andy stand up and take the pills into the bathroom. Remington doesn't move off the bed when he hears the toilet flush, though does feel an empty sensation knowing that the pills are gone. They were his last hope for being thin, and now they're gone.

Andy returns, hands empty, and pulls Remington off the bed and into his arms. "You're beautiful without them," he whispers, "you're beautiful all the time."

"Don't, because you're gonna make me cry." He smiles when Andy chuckles. "Actually, say it again."

"You're so beautiful," Andy compliments, pulling back and ruffling the younger's hair.

Remington kisses his lover. "And so are you," he responds, "thank you for not getting angry at me."

"I would never get angry at you, baby boy. Not ever. You are family and I will always be here, no matter what."

"You already said that."

Andy smiles. "I know. I mean it."

Andy calls Emerson back later on, letting him know that he talked to Remington about the pills, and that he flushed them all down the toilet. Emerson is relieved, and a bit surprised that Andy managed to get through to Remington without causing an argument. The two have so much love and respect for eachother that arguments aren't necessary. They need each other, and that's that.