tw: eating disorder?? a little i guess. just be safe guys

A/N: also gems have human like qualities???? i guess. like they can gain and lose weight i guess.

Pearl had been close with Amethyst ever since Rose had died. In some way it felt like Amethyst was Rose's last gift to her, but over the years she had learned to love Amethyst for herself and not just her connection to Rose. She learned how she acted when she was angry and how to try to help her. She learned her regular routine and her lifestyle.

It didn't take long before Pearl noticed something wrong.

Amethyst always ate more than needed. It was just something that she did, and something that she did every day. Pearl, on the other hand, had trouble eating most of the time because of her lack of appetite. Amethyst liked to eat, and she always seemed proud about her chub, and happy about her body.

But slowly, she stopped. She stopped eating and she stopped smiling and wore looser clothes. At first Pearl just wait, and watched. Perhaps this would be something that she didn't need to interfere with. She waited with sharp eyes as Amethyst denied herself food, of happiness, and exercised more than ever with almost no energy. She hoped that Amethyst would perhaps realize that it was useless and that Pearl would love her no matter what she looked like.

Amethyst didn't stop.

Pearl kept pushing back the day that she would talk to Amethyst about her problem. There were so many things that could go wrong. Amethyst might get angry at her, or maybe Pearl had just misinterpreted or maybe she just wanted to get into shape, perhaps. Pearl decided to talk to Amethyst exactly two weeks and five days after this started.

Because two weeks and one day after Pearl noticed something wrong, Amethyst stopped eating entirely. She watched as Amethyst went from maybe one big meal a day, to two small ones, to one small meal, to maybe a midday snack, and then watched as Amethyst ate nothing but a few bites ever time she needed to stay alive.

She looked so sick. So ill and unhappy, like her gem and soul was slowly crumbling inside of her. Amethyst didn't even know that Amethyst could act like this, she was always daring and excited. There was little that Pearl could think of that was scarier than what was happening right now.

She talked to Garnet about it for advice. Garnet had told her that she could help, but it probably wouldn't work if she confronted Amethyst. Amethyst didn't have the same type of trust that Pearl had with her. She didn't even want to tell Steven. He was still young and there were big things coming up in his life. He needed to stress right now. She would just deal with it on her own.

Amethyst was sitting on the couch, fiddling nervously with her fingers, trying not to look at the fridge just a few feet away. Pearl walked in, and tried not to show her sadness when she saw that Amethyst had lost well over twenty pounds.

"Hey Pearl." there was a strain in Amethyst's voice like she was fighting something. Pearl tried to ignore how painful her smile looked and gave her a genuine smile back. Amethyst tensed up when Pearl sat down next to her on the couch.

"Hello Amethyst." Pearl's mind had completely blanked on her plan that she had in her mind, including a touching monologue that she took three hours to write, edit, and memorize.

"Is...anything wrong? You look like you have something on your mind." Amethyst asked. She looked a little bit more worried and a little less tense, but Pearl didn't really know if that was a good thing or not. Pearl nodded and looked down at her feet, collecting her thoughts for a few moments.

"I was going to ask the same thing. Is something wrong, Amethyst?" Amethyst opened her mouth, but Pearl gently interrupted her, "And don't say no, because I know that there's something wrong. Just... Can you tell me what it is? I want to help."

Amethyst looked conflicted at best. She looked so torn between lying and telling the truth. She looked back down at her feet, and kept fiddling with her hands.

"Please. I hope you know that I want to help you."

"I know. I know."

"So will you let me help you?"

There was nothing but silence for a moment, and Pearl worried that Amethyst would lie to her.

"Yeah. Sorry, that I worried you so much... I didn't really think that you would notice actually." Amethyst smiled, "It's nice to know that you care, though."

Pearl didn't talk, worried that an interruption might cause Amethyst to go quiet.

"I just...thought I wasn't skinny enough."

"How much is skinny enough?" Pearl asked, simply at out curiosity.

"I don't really know. But then, like, I don't really know what I'm doing. I just... I don't know." Pearl nodded, trying to understand. It was a psychological mindset that Amethyst had, something that wasn't a conscious decision but still in her mind.

"I don't really know what I can do, but I'm here for you, and I hope you know that I love you no matter what you look like. Actually, I preferred before all of this. This isn't healthy. This is scary, Amethyst." Pearl hoped that Amethyst might take her words to heart.

Amethyst slowly nodded, processing her words.

 "You want to go out and eat some dinner?" Pearl asked, slowly testing the waters.

"Is pizza okay?"

"Pizza is perfect."