Nate Jacobs always paid more attention to you than anyone would notice.

More than he himself admitted.

He noticed the little things.

Always noticed.

The way you looked away when someone made a very innocent comment about the body.

The way he moved the food on the plate until everything seemed uninteresting.

The automatic smile that appeared when they asked if everything was okay - that smile that he knew was a lie.

The truth was that he saw you fighting.

A silent, tiring battle, against the mirror, against numbers, against expectations... against yourself.

And no one noticed.

But he noticed. He always noticed.

Since school time, when you said you weren't hungry and just watched the others eat.

Or at parties, where you looked beautiful and impeccable, but touched the soda as if that were protection.

Nate never understood how you didn't see what he saw.

For him, you were... dangerous.

Beautiful in a way that defied logic, with that sharp personality that made everyone move away and at the same time want her close.

The only one capable of leaving him speechless - and on top of that pretended to hate him.

It was the favorite game of the two.

He teased, you cursed, he smiled like that... that way that irritated you and made him even more obsessed.

So, when his name appeared on his cell phone at ten o'clock on a Saturday night, Nate knew it wasn't one of the normal games.

When you got in the car... with your hair wet with rain, your eyes red, the huge sweatshirt stuck to your body...

His chest hurt.

A silent anger rose in the throat - not from you, but from whatever had put you in that state.

But, at the same time, something inside him relaxed for the first time in the day.

Because you had called him.

Ran to him.

He chose him.

So, without asking anything, Nate drove to the nearest drive-thru and bought everything he found: potatoes, hamburger, nuggets, milkshake.

He didn't know what you were going to accept to eat - but he needed to try.

The two ended up in the open field where you had already spent so many nights running away from the world.

The rain left the air cold, but the car was hot, and the silence between you was comfortable.

Nate opened the potato package and put it in his hand carefully, as if giving ammunition to an arisco animal.

"Eat a little, princess. - he said in a low tone, nothing mocking."

You hesitated, looking at the snack as if it were an old enemy.

He blinked quickly, drying a tear before it fell.

Nate saw it.

And that broke his heart.

He leaned his body a little closer, his voice coming out almost in a whisper:

"Please."

There was no sarcasm.

There was no provocation.

There was only concern. True.

You took a potato slowly, as if you could still give up the decision.

When he finally took it to his mouth and bit, Nate let out a sigh that he didn't even realize he was holding.

A small smile escaped, brief, but real.

"Good girl... - he murmured, almost unintentionally, with a relief that left his voice full of emotion."

And at that moment, he realized:

No matter how many fights they had, how many provocations he made...

He would always come back to you.

And you... somehow, you would always come back to him.