The doctor stared down at Nathan’s BMI results.

“Well.” She started. “You’ve definitely lost weight.”

“No shit”, Nathan wanted to say.

“Is it a lot?” He asked.

“It’s a bit.” She responded. “Though I should point out how you are no longer in the ‘overweight’ range.”

Nathan furrowed his brow.

The doctor sighed. “If you want, we can do a blood test. We can get the results back pretty quick.”

“How quick?”

“About a day.” She answered.

Nathan’s gaze turned to his arm, examining how much thinner it had become.

“Yeah, let’s do that.”

***

A quick sample of his blood was taken and Nathan was on his way. During his drive back, he couldn’t stop thinking about how the doctors seemed completely apathetic to any of his concerns, almost as if they were annoyed he even considered them concerns at all.

It wouldn’t be the first time.

At least he got the bloodwork done, that was all that really mattered.

Nathan parked his car, getting up to head to his and Astian’s apartment. And he swore that the second he opened the apartment door, he suddenly needed to take a dump. A very, very bad dump.

He ran to the bathroom, his intestines feeling like they were exploding as he expelled the sudden barrage in his gut. The pain and pressure of it made him drool.

It took a few minutes, but he did eventually finish, and as he was washing his hands, he took notice of something as the toilet was being flushed.

For lack of a better term, his poop looked weird. It was almost like it was covered in subtle shades of bizarre colors. It could’ve just been the lighting and angle he was looking at it in, in fact it probably was, but the events of the past week had put him on edge, to the point where every little thing was enough to make him paranoid.

Nathan stared at his face in the mirror.

“Stop worrying so much.” He told himself.

He took another look at the toilet, seeing that not everything had been flushed out.

He turned the handle again and left the room, trying to ignore how he was still seeing those shades.

***

A knock was heard on Nathan’s bedroom door in the midst of his game.

“Nathan.” Astian called. “I got pizza.”

Nathan paused the game and took his headphones off, brushing his hair out of his face as he did so. He’d been doing that a lot recently and it was getting kind of annoying. He really needed to get a haircut.

Nathan walked toward the dining room, the fresh scent of oven-baked pizza exciting him more than it had any right to. Astian was already there in the room eating a slice.

“Do you really need two boxes?” Nathan asked him while grabbing a plate.

“Do you really think I don’t know who I’m living with?” Astian said back.

Nathan let out a particularly scornful snicker as he got his slice and took a seat. Even though he had been getting into cooking, and was able to make some pretty good meals, Nathan still ordered way too much takeout. Every week at his old apartment, he ordered pizza at least once, sometimes twice. It was the main culprit of his weight gain and mediocre health. That alongside his excessive alcohol consumption. It certainly didn’t help that for him, pizza and alcohol went hand in hand. Whenever he got a pizza, he always needed some wine or vodka to wash it down. He had spent countless Friday and Saturday nights just eating pizza and drinking while playing a game on his computer. If nothing else, he was not a man that took much to be pleased.

Nathan hadn’t had one of those nights since he moved in here, mainly because he didn’t have to order anything when Astian cooked basically every meal. Also, Nathan just wasn’t in the mood for alcohol these days. The stress of, well, everything was just turning him off.

“So… Nathan.” Astian caught his attention. “I might as well tell you this now, we’re gonna have another person moving in.”

Nathan abruptly stopped chewing, staring up at Astian incredulously.

“I know, I know. I’m not a fan of it either, but I don’t have any other option. I have to help her.”

Nathan swallowed. “Help who?”

“My sister.” Astian answered. “She’s been having a rough time.”

“I thought she was doing well, what happened?”

“She doesn’t want to talk about it.”

Nathan paused momentarily, then nodded.

“Okay.” He said. “But where will she sleep? We only have two bedrooms here.”

“We’ll figure it out.” Astian replied. “Anyway, I should also mention that she’s going to be moving in slowly. So we’re gonna be getting a little of her stuff like her clothes each day. I’m not sure how long it will take, but she’s expecting it to be about two or three weeks.”

“Why the hell would she move in like that?”

“Again, she doesn’t want to talk about it.”

Astian’s stern look deterred Nathan from asking any more questions.

“Alright.” He said. “Just… I mean, you’re already supporting and trying to help me. Adding another person into the mix seems like it’ll just be a mess. I don’t want you to overwork yourself.”

“Oh trust me, I don’t mind. I like helping people, it’s what I do.”

Astian looked into Nathan’s eyes with an infectious smile, causing Nathan to chuckle. He hadn’t noticed it before, but Astian had a very nice smile. So nice that just looking at it made Nathan instantly feel better.

“Well…” Astian gestured to the pizza boxes. “I’ll let you have the rest of this. Consider it my treat for you. I know you’ve been having a rough two weeks.”

Nathan sighed. “That’s an understatement.” He said.

“Yeah, I know.” Astian replied. “I’m sorry.”

“Thanks.”

Astian nodded and walked over to the trash can. “By the way,” he said, “do you have her number?”

“Whose number?”

“My sister’s.”

“Oh.” Nathan said. “No, I don’t. Will I need it?”

“I don’t think so. I’ll tell you if you do.” Astian answered.

Nathan nodded. “Okay.”

Astian was about to leave the room when suddenly he spoke up again. “Oh and Nathan, I have to say, you have a nice blush.”

Nathan’s face fell as Astian left the dining room and laughed. Gulping, he quickly checked his reflection on his phone camera. Shit, had he been blushing? He needed to watch that.

Wait, what? Why the hell would he need to “watch” that? What was he watching for?

Nathan put the phone down and grabbed another slice of pizza, as on edge as he was earlier in the day. He ate quickly and stressefully until suddenly, he felt himself growing tired and cold very quickly. He lifted his hand to his head to attempt to stave it off. It didn’t work.

He then heard Astian come into the room again, laying his hands down on his shoulders. Nathan turned his head to face him, but he couldn’t see anything. It was as if the dining room around him was fading away, leaving behind nothing but black.

Despite not being able to see anything, Nathan felt Astian come close to his ear. He shuddered upon feeling his breath on his face.

“You’ve been developing very nicely.” He whispered. “Don’t worry, I won’t let anything happen to you.”

Nathan opened his eyes and sat up in his bed, shivering in the darkness with his face becoming wet with tears.