(Warning: This chapter contains mentions of purposely not eating and self-esteem issues. If you're not comfortable reading that kind of stuff, proceed with caution... or just skip this one. Whichever one you wanna do 🙃)

Wither's POV

I've been really worried about Skeleton lately. Summer vacation started today, and the last week of this school year he hadn't eaten anything at lunchtime. I always offered to code food for him, but he always declined and told me he'd eat later.

I've had a crush on Skeleton for several months now, and him not eating anything was really worrying me. I kept wondering if I should use my hacking powers and check his hunger bar, but I didn't because I didn't wanna risk Skelly getting mad at me.

Right now I was on my way to his house to check on him; as I said before, I've been really worried about him this past week.

I hope he's okay...

As I reached his house, I knocked on the door.

"Who is it?" I heard him say from inside.

"It's Wither."

"Oh..."

"Can I come in?" I asked.

"Not right now," he said, which shocked me. He always told me I could come in, no matter what.

"Why not? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," he said, but he sounded tired.

"You don't sound fine to me," I said. He didn't respond.

"Skelly?" Still no response, but I heard him sigh.

"Skeleton, let me come in or I'll come in myself," I said. I hardly ever call him Skeleton, so that compared with the tone of my voice let him know I was serious.

"Alright, you can come in..."

I opened the door to find him sitting on the couch, staring at the switched-off TV.

"Skelly?" I said, which made him turn his head. His pale brown eyes looked tired.

"Hey, Wither."

"Are you okay?" I asked.

"I'm fine," he said. Right then I noticed that his shirt was a little baggy; as if he had lost weight. That wasn't a good sign.

"What have you eaten today?" I asked.

"What?"

"What have you eaten today?" I repeated.

"Oh, I had... a pumpkin pie shortly before you came," he said. Something told me he was lying, so I took the risk of upsetting him and checked his hunger bar.

It had 2 out of 10 points...

"You're lying, Skelly," I said.

"How-?"

"I checked your hunger bar; you're down to 2 points," I said, making the concern clear in my voice.

"Okay, so I forgot to eat today. So what?" He said.

"Forgetting to eat for one day doesn't make you skinnier," I pointed out.

"What- How-"

"I can tell you're thinner, Skeleton," I said. Yes, skeletons ARE naturally skinnier than other mobs, but he seemed thin; even for a skeleton.

"I'm not thinner," he insisted.

I put a hand on his side, and felt his ribs. I could feel them well.

"Why are you so thin?" I asked, looking back at him. I couldn't tell for sure, but I think he was blushing.

"Um, I'm a skeleton?"

"Even skeletons aren't this thin," I said. He looked down.

"Skelly. Skelly, look at me," I said, my tone gentle yet firm. He looked at me.

"When was the last time you ate?" I asked. "And don't even think about lying to me, because I can look into your mind and see if you're lying."

"...Yesterday morning," he admitted.

"Yesterday morning?!" I exclaimed. It was about 1 o' clock in the afternoon; he hadn't eaten anything since then? "And what did you eat?"

"One cookie..." he mumbled.

"All you've eaten since yesterday morning is one cookie?!"

"Yeah..."

I looked him in the eye. "You're not avoiding eating on purpose, are you?"

He looked down at his feet, refusing to answer.

He was doing this on purpose; I didn't need my hacking powers to know that.

"Skelly, why?" I asked. He stayed silent.

"Skelly, you'll starve to death if you keep avoiding eating..." I said.

He mumbled something, and my eyes widened when I heard it. I really hoped I heard him wrong.

"What?" I asked.

"So what?" He repeated.

"What do you mean, 'so what?'! You don't care that you could die from not eating?!"

"So what if I don't?" He snapped, making me recoil a bit. He looked regretful, and looked down at his feet again.

"Are you saying you deserve this? Are you saying you deserve to die of starvation?!" I asked, hoping the answer was no.

"Maybe..."

"No."

"No?" He said, confused. I leaped forward and wrapped my arms around him, making him blush.

"Don't say that again! Don't ever say that you deserve to die!" I shouted before he could say anything. "I care about you more than anything on this earth, and knowing that you think you deserve to die breaks my heart! I hate seeing you like this... I hate seeing you in pain..." I sobbed, clutching him tightly to my chest. He started to cry as well, breaking my heart even further.

"No... please don't cry, Skelly..." I begged.

"I can't help it," he responded, burying his face in my shirt. My shirt started to become wet from his tears, but I couldn't give a shit less. "I hate seeing you in pain, and it makes me feel worse knowing that your pain is because of me!" He sobbed.

"My pain is not because of you... My happiness is because of you..."

He looked up at me. "W-What do you mean?"

"When I met you, Skelly, I was a wreck. I was just existing, having nothing or no one to make me happy and think that life is worth living," I told him. "If it weren't for you, I'd still be living like that."

"What I'm trying to say is... I love you, Skelly..." I confessed.

"Why me?" He asked.

"What do you mean?"

"There are plenty of other mobs out there... Why do you love me? I'm just a normal skeleton-"

"Bullshit," I said. "You are the most amazing person I've ever met, and I don't want to be with anybody else but you! You're funny, smart, handsome, and too many other things for me to list! You're the light in my life, and you're the reason I'm still around."

He started crying again, which made me upset. "Please don't cry again..."

"No, I'm crying because I'm so happy," he said. "I didn't know you felt about me like that. I never thought you could love me back..."

"Love you back? D-do you love me too?" I asked, my heart speeding up.

"Yes, I do..." he answered, looking up at me with his beautiful pale brown eyes.

My eyes darted to his lips, they looked so perfect...

Without thinking, I leaned in and kissed him. Even though he had told me he felt the same, I was still surprised to feel him kiss me back.

Unfortunately we both had to breathe, so we eventually had to pull apart.

"I've waited a year to kiss you," I admitted.

"So have I."

"Now will you please eat?" I asked.

"Oh yeah... I forgot about that..."

"Will you?" I asked again.

"Yes."

"Good, otherwise I would've fed you like a baby," I said, smirking.

"S-seriously, Wither?"

"Yup. What do you want?"

"I don't really know; you can choose," he said.

"Alright then," I said. I used my hacking powers to create a sub sandwich with lettuce, mozzarella cheese, roast beef, turkey, and mayonnaise on French bread.

When he looked at it, he started to tear up. "Wither, this is my favorite..."

"I know; that's why I made it," I said, smiling. "Now eat it. I know you're hungry, but don't eat it fast or you'll make yourself sick, and I don't want that."

He smiled back and ate it as I watched, happy that he was eating. After several minutes, he ate the last bite.

"Do you want anything else?" I asked.

"No, but thanks," he said. He leaned in and snuggled against my chest, which surprised me and made me blush, but I still held him close.

"Skelly?" I asked.

"Hmm?"

"Do... do you want to be my boyfriend?"

He looked up at me, and smiled. "I wouldn't want anything else."

"Then can I kiss you again?"

"Yes please," Skeleton said, so I leaned him and kissed him for the second time that day.

"I love you, Wither..." he said.

"I love you too, Skelly. So damn much."

/——\

Still Wither's POV

A week had passed, and Skelly had started eating properly again. Every day I went to his house and conjured a meal for him. He always thanked me for it, and I told him, "You don't need to thank me, I'm happy to do it."

Seeing him happy made me happy as well.