Pretty Girl

And slowly but surely I gained some weight back until I was at a whopping one hundred pounds. Luckily Teddy was there the entire time, helping me with the process and loving me when I thought I was becoming too ugly to love.

But now it's time for me to pack my bags and take the two hour journey to a private medical center that specializes in eating disorders. Thankfully, Teddy convinced my mom into letting him take me.

So we sit in his car, my clothes and personal items shoved haphazardly in a two duffel bags in the backseat. Teddy hums along to an old song on the radio, his fingers drumming along with a melody on the steering wheel.

This facility was a good thing, I kept telling myself that. I was going to get better. I was going to finally be able to be happy with myself. I only wished that it was closer to home.

Teddy looked sideways at me and gave me a familiar smile; I returned his smile by scooting closer to him, resting my head against his shoulder.

"I'm surprised that Adria let you drive me," I say truthfully. She hasn't been the most understanding about the situation I put myself in, the situation that I put Teddy in. This caused a riff in their relationship, and secretly I was happy about that.

"We're having some problems," he admits.

"Oh really, what about?" I smirk into his arm.

"Turns out that she doesn't like you as much as you don't like her."

"That's impossible, there isn't enough hate in the world for the both of us to despise each other equally."

"Why do you hate her so much?" Teddy asked me, but I thought that the answer was obvious.

"She stole you away from me, duh."

"I thought we sorted that out, we'll always be best friends. It's always going to be Claire and Teddy. No significant other will change that."

So maybe it wasn't obvious. "No, she stole you away from me."

"What do you mean?"

I let out a large sigh. It was time to come clean. It was time to tell Teddy everything I found out while watching him live his life without me. "You know how all girls plan out their wedding?"

"Yeah?"

"They know where they want to get married, the dress they're going to wear, the song to their first dance, who's going to be the bridesmaids. Sometimes when girls picture themselves walking down the aisle to the man they want to marry, it's to the face of their boyfriend, or some famous person, it may even be a blank face, waiting to be filled. But not me, I see someone entirely different."

"Who do you see?"

I give him a dumb look, for being as smart as he is, his common sense skills are lacking. "I see you Teddy. I see you standing there in a tux and that goofy smile of yours and I picture you so happy, and that always made me happy."

"Why do you see me?"

"You've always been there. I figured that we'd graduate and you'd go off to some smart person college and I'd follow you, and we'd get an apartment together and eventually the love we have for each other would turn into more than just reassuring kisses. I'd eventually see that you're the best thing that has ever happened to me and you'll give up on looking for the perfect girl and settle for me, and we'd get married."

Teddy is quiet for a moment but shortly he pulled hi car off onto the side of the deserted road. I watched as he took the keys off of the ignition and then took off his seat belt to turn and face me. "I would never settle for you." I am taken back by this, tears form in the wells of my eyes and Teddy smiles and gives a small laugh. "I would never settle for you because you are the most amazing girl on the plant, and if anyone was to settle it would be you settling for me."

"She took that dream away from me. Adria made you happy in a way that I couldn't, and it made me sad."

Teddy kissed me. Not another one of those kisses he gives me when I'm sad or lonely. No, this kiss held much more meaning than that. It was reassurance that Adria didn't steal Teddy away from me. He was still me, and always will be.

"Promise me that you'll get better okay? I really need you to get better."

"I will, I'll get better and I'll stay better."

Two of the nurses were waiting for us in the entrance way when we arrived at the treatment center. Teddy wasn't allowed him so I had to say goodbye to him at the front door while the nurses watched with careful eyes.

Teddy kissed me again, lovingly. It made me feel like when I got better that we could start our life together as a fresh start. No one to distract us, just the two of us, finally able to be one.

"I love you, okay?" Teddy whispered. It held so much more meaning now than when he would say those words before.

"I love you too. I'll see you soon."

He kisses me hastily before retreating to his car and the nurses ushering me inside and through the double doors where I would live for the next several weeks.