A/N: [EDIT: there's an important message at the end of this chapter :)]

Sorry I've been gone for a while but I had quite a big exam to study for so I couldn't update. There goes my record of updating every day :S

I was hoping to add a few more chapters/scenes, but it seemed right to end it there. I might just do a spin-off fic or something.

Let me know of any mistakes, I was tired when I wrote this (and still am, urggh)

This is the last chapter guys, so treasure every word! ;) Hope you enjoy it.

Disclaimer: For the last time, I don't own them. Jeez.

"How did we not know about this?" whispered Donnie, feeling tears prick in his eyes at the state of his little brother. It would have usually been wrong for the three of them to be crowded around Mikey's sleeping form in the middle of the night, but these circumstances were a lot more important than common decency.

"Why?" asked Raph, his head in his hands.

"We've gotta get him to the doctors," decided Leo.

"What would make him do this?" asked Donnie, clearly angry, although not with Mikey, but with himself for not noticing. He was the medical one of the family, after all.

"I don't know" said Raph, clearly distraught.

Suddenly, Mikey groaned and his eyes fluttered open lazily. He looked at his brothers for a couple of seconds and then closed his eyes, before promptly forcing them open again with a gasp. "Guys!" he cried, pulling the covers up over himself. "Not cool!" it was then that he noticed their glum faces, and his heart skipped a beat. "What?"

"Mikey, we need to talk." said Leo, frowning.

"Have I done something wrong?" asked Mikey.

"Yeah bro," said Raph, and although the words were harsh his voice was soft and nurturing.

They know thought Mikey, his heart pounding at a million miles an hour. That's it. They've found out and they're gonna realised what a freak I am. I knew they wouldn't understand!

"Do you..." began Donnie, but stopped as if trying to find the right way to phrase what he was trying to say to his little brother. "Do you think you're fat, Mikey?" Mikey's heart plummeted to the pit of his stomach and his face went pale.

"Why would you say that?" he asked, trying to keep as calm as possible – or at least look it.

"You're thin." said Donnie. "Really thin – unhealthily so."

"What are you talking about? I'm not-" he stopped himself, forcing his mouth closed. The last thing he needed was for them to find out that he knows he's fat. He needed to be perfect, and if there was still fat he could pinch, then there was still fat he could lose.

"Bro," said Raph in a strained voice. "Please."

"Look dudes," said Mikey, sitting up fully and throwing the covers off of himself. "I don't know where you're getting this from, but you're being ridiculous."

"Okay then," said Leo. He had been silent in thought for a while now. "Eat something."

"What?!" said Mikey, "Leo, I don't see-"

"A chocolate bar. Just eat a whole chocolate bar." said Leo, getting up to leave, presumably to get the aforementioned 'chocolate bar'.

"Dudes, this is insane!" said Mikey, turning desperately to his remaining two brothers. "There's nothing wrong with me!"

"Prove it then." said Donnie simply, although it was paining him to watch his little brother panic. "You like chocolate, don't you?"

"Okay," said Leo, closing the door behind him. "Here, Mikey. Eat this." Leo handed his younger brother the chocolate snack, and Mikey shakily took it, although he tried desperately to keep his hands as steady as possible. He carefully unwrapped it, taking as long as possible while trying not to look too suspicious, and looked at the bar.

"Go on Mikey, you love these things!" encouraged Raph. In reality, Mikey's unwillingness to eat was all the proof they needed that there was something very wrong, but they felt like they needed solid proof. They didn't want it to be real.

"Uh, yeah! Yeah, course I do...course I do..." Mikey trailed off as he looked at the chocolate bar in his hand. The guys would definitely suspect something now, if they hadn't come to a conclusion already. Now all that was left was for Mikey to actually try to prove that there was nothing wrong. Just a couple of bites and it was gone...right? Slowly, he lifted it to his mouth, pausing and looking at his brothers' encouraging but impatient faces. He sighed and put it between his teeth, biting off the smallest bit possible. He chewed the chocolate, already feeling the calories swimming around in his mouth. Would they let him purge it? No – they probably wouldn't even let him go to the bathroom. He swallowed, and his brothers smiled, although he could tell he'd given the game away with showing that this wasn't just a case of not being hungry; this was a case of not being able to keep anything down.

Small bit by small bit he gradually ate the bar, trying not to think about all the calories which were contaminating his body with every bite. Once he was finished, he looked at his brothers expectantly, waiting for them to say something like, "well done Mikey, I guess there's nothing wrong with you after all!" or "nice job, bro. You're fine". But they didn't. They just sat – or stood – staring at him.

"What?" asked Mikey finally.

"Mikey, you took ten minutes to eat something about eight centimetres long." said Leo, and he could see Donnie wince as each word left Leo's mouth.

"Ten minutes?" repeated Mikey. It wasn't that long – surely! It was two minutes at the most! "It...it can't have been ten minutes! No way, n-no, I didn't..." Mikey faded off, unable to think of what to say to account for taking this long to eat something so small.

Suddenly, he felt a familiar feeling rise up in his stomach. "Uh, guys?" he asked. "Can I, like, use the bathroom real quick? I'll be right back."

"No, Mikey," replied Leo, and Mikey felt like crying in frustration. "Stay here for a little while longer."

"What, with you guys staring at me?"

"Just so we know that you're fine." Mikey sighed and averted his gaze to the ground, trying desperately to keep the chocolate bar down.

After five minutes, Mikey knew he couldn't take it any longer, and jumped up from the bed, startling his brothers. He ran for the bin, knowing he wouldn't make it to the toilet and clutched the sides before throwing up seconds later, the remains of the chocolate bar ending up in the bin. Once he was finished, Mikey leaned his head heavily against the sides of the bin, and suddenly became aware of a soothing circular motion on his back. Looking behind him, he saw his three older brothers crouched next to him, looking close to tears as they watched their little brother fall apart before their eyes.

"Mikey," said Raph gently. "Let's get you fixed."

It had been a year since his brothers had found out about his condition, and in that time Mikey had managed to eat a whole meal without throwing it back up again. Things were really beginning to look up; he could even manage to eat breakfast and lunch before he felt sick, although they were still relatively small portions.

His brothers had told Splinter about Mikey's condition, and together they had all helped Mikey to gradually get better. He had stopped exercising more than he needed to, and he was slowly but surely improving, although the guilt was still there with every bite. That would take a while to get rid of.

He and his brothers had gone back to school as soon as the term had started again, but Mikey had been excused some time off of school on certain days, as long as he kept up by doing the homework.

Wow. Thought Mikey as he looked out the window of the room he and Raph shared. I'm actually doing it; I'm actually getting better! "Hey, Mikey" Raph's voice brought him back down to earth and he turned to look at his older brother.

"Hey Raph."

"Look, I've been thinking, and I know I've said this before, but I'm really sorry. It's all my fault; if I hadn't made them stupid comments about your weight, then you probably wouldn't be in this mess. I'm really sorry Mikey."

"Raph, you don't know that!" said Mikey, putting a hand on his brother's shoulder. "And it wasn't just you, so don't feel guilty, okay?" when Raph didn't answer, Mikey squeezed his shoulder "Please?"

Raph sighed, "All right," he said with a laugh. "I'll try not to feel guilty, but no promises, Mikey!" he shoved Mikey playfully and Mikey shoved him back, transforming it into a wrestling match. It was a while before they stopped, and when they did, they collapsed to the floor, with Mikey's head ending up on Raph's stomach. Raph stroked the curly hair of his younger brother thoughtfully. "Love you little brother. You know that right? Even though I don't say it?"

"Yeah, Raph – I know. Love you too, big bro." Mikey replied, smiling as he nestled into his older brother. "Raph?" asked Mikey after a couple of minutes.

"Hmm?"

"Can we get some food? I think I'm hungry."

A/N: I think this might have been my favourite fic to write ever

IMPORTANT EDIT: since a lot of people seem to be wondering this, Mikey's self-harm wasn't mentioned because his brothers never found out (note the hoodie was never removed, just unzipped). I purposefully left the ending ambiguous because the reality with these kinds of situations is that there is often not a perfectly happy ending.

Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed it!