"Though my soul may set in darkness, it will rise in perfect light; 

I have loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night." 

-Sarah Williams 

Xiumin kept his promise.  

The following day he and Luhan went to get Luhan's belongings from his relatives' house.  

They went at a time when nobody would be home, so that Luhan wouldn't have to deal with them before he left. After getting the few things he owned, which wasn't anything more than a couple of outfits, books and a dirty old soccer-ball, he left a note on the kitchen-table saying that he was leaving and was probably never going to come back. He also left his phone-number in case they wanted to call him. 

They never called. 

Once they got to Xiumin's apartment, he took the box with Luhans' belongings from him and put it by the bed in his bedroom.  

"I hope you're alright with sharing a bed. Since I live on my own, there are no more bedrooms I'm afraid." 

"You don't have to share your bed with me Xiumin. I'll just sleep on the cough or on the floor. Don't worry, I'm used to it..." 

Xiumin felt his hands tightening into fists with annoyance and anger. Not directed towards Luhan of course, but towards his parents and relatives. How dare they treat Luhan like a dog, making him sleep on the floor?  

"You're not sleeping on the cough and definitely not on the floor, not as long as you're staying with me. If you're that uncomfortable sleeping in the same bed as me, I'll sleep on the cough until we buy another bed". 

"No, no, no, no! You don't have to buy another bed just because of me. I'll sleep in the same bed as you if that's what you really want". 

Xiumin chuckled, and couldn't help but to ruffle Luhan's hair. The boy really was too cute for him to handle. 

"Stop being so cute or I'll get diabetes you hear me? Now let's get some food alright?" 

At the mention of food, Luhans' eyes immediately looked a lot darker than they had just a moment ago. He managed a nod, not wanting to look weak in front of Xiumin. Or cause him more trouble. After all, he had promised Xiumin to eat. 

But promising is one thing. Keeping it is something else. 

Xiumin knew it was a tough road they had ahead of them. He wasn't stupid you know.  

Xiumin knew very well that people with eating disorders didn't magically change over night. It takes a lot of time, stubbornness, will and most of all patience and love. 

Xiumin was willing to give all of that to Luhan as long as it would help him get better. Seeing Luhan so fragile and skinny broke his heart over and over again. But something he also knew, was that this journey wasn't just all about getting Luhan to put on weight, it was also about getting Luhan to understand that he was loved, and not the worthless person his whole family had made him believe he was. It would take a lot of time, but Xiumin was more than willing to do it. 

Once their meals were cooked, he served them on the kitchen-table before going to the bedroom to fetch Luhan. Opening the door, he was met by a horrible sight which actually could compete with the one had had seen in schools' bathroom. 

Luhan mustn't have been expecting him to come in anytime soon judging by the way he flinched when the door opened. Xiumin could do nothing but to look at him with sad eyes. 

Luhan's body was so petite and bony, all of his ribs showing from under the thin layer of skin protecting them. His beautiful white skin was covered in bruises and scars, some which must have been done by Luhan himself. You could see almost every bone on his entire body, and it scared Xiumin like nothing else.  

Carefully, as if approaching a scared animal, he walked towards Luhan. Luhan didn't move, only stood there and looked at Xiumin in shock, before his eyes turned dark and sad. 

Ever so slowly Xiumin reached out his hand and touched Luhans' bony chest, letting his fingers glide over the bruises and scars.  

"Did they do this to you?" 

His voice was barely above a whisper. 

"They and the bullies. They hit and kicked me all the times. Sometimes they threw rocks, when they were to lazy to punch me". 

"And the scars? Are they the cause of them as well?" 

"N-not all of them. Some of them a-are..." 

"You did it, didn't you?" 

Luhan could only nod, but Xiumin understood anyway. 

Bringing Luhan into his embrace, he was almost afraid to hug the boy, scared that he would break if he held him too tightly. 

"No more of that now okay? You've got me to rely on now, so you better talk to me about how you feel. And I don't want to hear any of the 'I'm fine' bull. If you're sad, then you're sad. Easy as that alright?" 

Luhan didn't give him a verbal response, but he could feel him nod against his shoulder. 

"Good. Now let's put some clothes on you and go eat before the food gets cold". 

He could feel Luhan stiffen, but he didn't say anything. After Luhan put on a shirt they went to the kitchen, where upon the sight of the food, Luhan immediately paled even more. 

They sat down facing each other, and so the meal began. 

More like, the fight began. The fight against Luhans' inner demons. 

Ten minutes passed and Luhan didn't so much as touch his food. Xiumin was trying to eat like he normally would, but he soon had to give up. If Luhan needed help, then help he'd get. 

"Luhan look at me. I'm not asking you to eat as much as I do at this stage because I know you can't. All I'm asking of you is that you try your best to eat everything I put on your plate okay? How does that sound?" 

Not even giving Luhan a chance to object, he stood up and got a small plate from one of the cupboards, and filled it with new warm food for Luhan. He then took Luhan's old plate away from him and put the new one in front of him. 

"Is that a bit better?" 

It wasn't. The plate still looked gigantic to Luhan, but he really wanted to keep his promise to Xiumin. He wanted to get better. So all he did was nod. 

"Shall we eat together then? Take your time Luhan we're not in a hurry. Just try your best". 

And tried he did. When he got the third spoon of rice into his mouth Xiumin had already finished his meal, but of course he waited with Luhan at the table.  

Xiumin almost wanted to cry when he watched Luhan eat. The way Luhan's entire body was shaking so badly and how he looked like he was going through the worst of torture. 

Still Luhan kept on fighting, eating spoonful after spoonful of rice and vegetables. 

Xiumin kept on praising him in between bites, telling him how well he was doing and how proud he was of him. 

But everyone has their limits. By the time Luhan had eaten 3/4 of the food, he was clearly struggling even more than before to keep on going. And for Xiumin, it was beginning to become torture as well.  

Luhan was crying as he ate, silent tears falling down his cheeks and onto his food, making him look even more pitiful than he already was. Xiumin bent over the table every once in a while, away the tears with his thumb, only for new ones to fall moments later. 

Xiumin realized that the line for today was crossed when Luhan's hand begun trembling so badly that he dropped the peas he was trying to bring to his mouth four times in a row. Still he kept on trying, but by now, he was whimpering while he chewed and swallowed, his eyes red from crying. It was all too much. 

"Luhan you can stop now. It's enough for today". 

But Luhan didn't stop. Instead, he kept on trying to bring those stupid peas to his mouth, but kept on failing. 

"I-I haven't a eaten everything yet. I promised I'd eat..." 

Luhan was clearly struggling, and when he dropped his spoon all together, Xiumin decided that enough was enough. Moving around the table to the hysterically crying Luhan, he crouched down in front of him and brought the boy into his embrace. Luhan latched on to him, burying his face in the crook of Xiumin's neck, sobbing loudly. 

"Shhh... Shhh Luhan. You did so well. If you only knew how well you did." 

"B-b-but I c-couldn't even f-finish everything as you told me to. Y-you're being so nice to me and I c-couldn't even do that much f-for you". 

Xiumin just placed a kiss at Luhans' temple, hugging the boy even tighter. They were now on the floor, Luhan positioned between Xiumins' thighs. 

"No Luhan, you did so well you have no idea. I'm so incredibly proud of you. You did so much better than I expected you too, and I'm so so proud. Shhh, don't cry, it's alright". 

But Luhan couldn't stop crying, so many bottled emotions bubbling to the surface all at once. In the end, Xiumin brought Luhan into his arms and carried the boy to the bedroom where he sat down on the bed with Luhan in his lap. He leaned against the headboard of the bed and Luhan followed his movement, clinging to him desperately. His sobs didn't stop, if anything they became louder, and Xiumin had no idea how to comfort the crying boy.  

To make matters worse, Xiumin got his first experience with Luhans' panic-attacks. 

Because getting all that food down was only part of the struggle. The other part was to keep it down. And the voices in Luhan's head clearly didn't want the food to stay. 

Luhan began trashing wildly, arms and legs hitting and kicking in every direction, trying to free himself from Xiumin so that he could follow the voices' orders. 

"I NEED IT OUT! I NEED IT OUT! LET ME GO! I NEED IT OUT OF ME!" 

If Xiumin felt lost and scared before, it was nothing compared to this. He tried his best to keep Luhan still, and thankfully he was a lot stronger than the fragile and physically weak Luhan. 

For a while, Luhan kept on screaming while Xiumin told him sweet nothings, and in the end Luhan was too exhausted to continue. He just leaned on Xiumin as he kept on crying pitifully, sniffling and silently sobbing. Xiumin was crying silently as well, letting go of a few tears of his own.  

"W-will I get better? D-do you p-promise me I'll get better? I won't h-have to feel this way anymore?" 

Xiumin pressed a soft kiss to Luhans' hair, it as he replied. 

"I promised you you would didn't I? Don't yu trust me?" 

"And you won't go anywhere? You'll be here with me? I won't have to be alone anymore?" 

Xiumin let another tear fall down at Luhan's heartbreaking words. Leaning down he placed a soft kiss on Luhan's lips before looking him in the eye. 

"I'll always be here. No matter if you want me here or not, I'll stay". 

He was more than shocked when Luhan leaned up, kissing him softly on the lips before sniffling and leaning back on his chest once again. 

"Then I'll keep my promise to you as well. I'll get better, as long as you're here". 

They fell asleep like that, Luhan in Xiumin's arms as exhaustion claimed them both and put them to sleep. 

A/N: So how was it? Any good?  

I'm sorry I haven't been able to update a lot lately, but I'm having my last test of this semester tomorrow so after that I'm a free man (girl). 

I hoped you guys enjoyed this chapter. Please leave a comment with your opinion as well if you'd like. Your comments always makes me smile like a crazy person ^^ 

If there are any sorts of.... umm... scenarios/scenes (?) that you'd like to see in this story in a later chapter, please let me know. I really want to know what you'd like to read about, even though it's my story :D 

See you soon! <3