MDS stuff

Instructions

sorry if its long i went into story writer mode and i get real serious when i do At just twenty-two years old, Sprout Sanchez Seedly should be worrying about keeping Sprout's Diner afloat, arguing with customers over pancakes, and spending lazy evenings with his boyfriend. Instead, every morning begins with the same unbearable reality: looking into the mirror and seeing a body that has never felt like his own. Sprout was born with an unmistakably feminine figure—wide hips, soft features, and a large chest that no amount of oversized hoodies or baggy aprons can truly hide. To strangers, he isn't seen as a young man running a beloved local diner. He's seen as a woman. Every accidental "ma'am," every confused stare, every customer insisting on calling him "miss" chips away at his confidence. It doesn't matter how many times he corrects them. They apologize, then make the same mistake minutes later. Overwhelmed by years of dysphoria, humiliation, and isolation, Sprout eventually gives up trying. He closes himself off from the world, spending months trapped in his apartment above the diner. He barely leaves his bed except to eat, sleep, or drag himself downstairs to keep the diner barely functioning. The depression weighs on him until his body grows heavier, making him feel even more disconnected from himself. Every pound gained only makes the image in the mirror harder to recognize. The only person who refuses to let him disappear is Cosmo Avil, his twenty-six-year-old boyfriend and a former Marine whose discipline borders on ruthless. Stoic, blunt, and emotionally reserved, Cosmo isn't naturally comforting. He doesn't know how to soothe Sprout's tears with sweet words or gentle reassurance. Instead, he drags him out of bed, forces him to eat properly, makes him exercise, and insists that hiding forever isn't living. Their relationship is strained by the constant push and pull. Sprout resents Cosmo for making him face the outside world, while Cosmo silently shoulders the responsibility of keeping the man he loves alive, even if it means becoming the villain in Sprout's eyes. The hardest moments come when there's nowhere to hide. Trips to crowded beaches become nightmares. To everyone else, Sprout looks like a curvy young woman. Swimming trunks invite endless stares and questions, so social pressure corners him into wearing bikinis and other feminine swimwear simply to avoid attracting even more attention. Every outing ends the same way: Sprout holding back tears until he can't anymore, breaking down as he wonders why everyone sees someone he isn't. Slowly, painfully, he begins to lose the weight. His health improves. He becomes stronger, more energetic, and more capable of running his diner again. But nothing changes in the eyes of strangers. Customers continue walking into Sprout's Diner, smiling as they ask, "Excuse me, miss?" Delivery drivers call him "young lady." Tourists compliment "the waitress" before realizing he's actually the owner. Every correction is another reminder that becoming thinner didn't solve the problem he was truly fighting.This is an au about living inside a body that feels like it belongs to someone else. It's about the exhausting reality of being constantly misidentified, the loneliness of carrying invisible pain, and the slow, uneven journey toward self-acceptance. It explores how love isn't always gentle—sometimes it comes in the form of someone refusing to let you surrender, even when you hate them for it. Through quiet moments in a cozy diner, painful confrontations in crowded public spaces, and the complicated bond between two flawed young men trying to protect each other in different ways. Not because his struggles disappear, but because he learns that healing isn't about waking up in a different body—it's about finding the strength to keep living in the one he has, even on the days it feels impossible.