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originalfatfiction · 4 months

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Andy's Assistant

“Hello, excuse me.” There was a gentle rapping at my office door that caused me to look up from my computer. “Are you Andrew Reynolds?” I looked at a young guy obviously in his early twenties. He smiled cheerily as he stood in the doorway, waiting for my response. His smile was gorgeous, his teeth immaculate.

“Yes, I’m Andrew Reynolds,” I replied. “How can I help you?” He smiled again before he continued, walking a little further into my office.

“Well, the receptionist at the desk in the waiting area said it would be okay if I came on back.” I nodded, allowing him to continue. “My name is Parker Jeong and I applied for the job as your assistant. We had the interview over the phone early last week. I was in the process of moving to the area.”

“Oh, yes, I remember.” Recent college grad. Moving from California. Could start working immediately.

“I know that you mentioned wanting to meet in person before finalizing my employment.” He smiled again, and even with the wholesome smile on his face, I could see in his eyes that he was nervous. He had beautiful almond-shaped brown eyes, and he did his best to hold my gaze. He toyed anxiously with the crisp sheet of paper in his hand, which I assumed was a hard copy of his resumé. He was probably scared I wouldn’t want to hire him after all. Imagine moving across the country for a job only to be told the position had already been filled.

“I know you just graduated a few months ago,” I verbalized. “But from what I remember you telling me during our phone conversation and what I saw on the resumé you emailed over, you’re more than qualified to work as an administrative assistant.”

“Thank you, sir. I brought a hard copy of my resumé with me,” he said.

“Let me take another look.” He walked closer to my desk and handed it to me. I looked it over, recalling most of the standout credentials. He shifted his weight from one foot to the other.

Parker had majored in marketing with a minor in graphic design. He’d spent his final semester involved in a mentorship program for Asian-Americans interested in working in advertising. He graduated magna cum laude. Hell, he was overqualified for this position.

“You’re sure you want this job?” I asked. “You could definitely get a position as a copywriter at another agency.”

“Hathaway and Associates is the best agency in the entire Midwest. I’ve dreamed of working here since I decided I wanted to go into advertising. The commercials you all put out for Nike were astonishing.” The kid had done his research.

“What about those commercials did you like so much?”

“They had this sense of authenticity that I don’t think we see much of anymore. Those ads gave me the courage to join a gym.” I wondered what he’d think if he knew the portly executive in front of him had come up with the concept that inspired his fitness journey.

“I want more for my career, yes, but I don’t plan on shirking my responsibilities as your assistant. I’ll do whatever it takes to make sure you’re taken care of, sir.”

I was a pretty good judge of character, and I didn’t think Parker would let me down. I liked his honesty. It was refreshing. My previous assistants had never been my choice, often young adults that had some sort of connection to the other executives at the agency. “Well, I look forward to working with you.”

“I look forward to working with you too,” he replied, reaching out to shake my hand. I stood, and his eyes traveled upwards to my face. Maybe he couldn’t tell I was so tall behind my desk, but it seemed like he was surprised by my size. I tended to have this effect on people. I grabbed his hand, and we shook to seal the deal of his hiring.

“Head to human resources and get your paperwork finalized. I’ll see you first thing tomorrow morning. We start at nine.” He thanked me again, clutching his over-the-shoulder bag as he left my office. I bet he skipped down the hallway all the way to HR.

I knew he’d work hard. That was certain. But when it came to how sexy he was, I wasn’t sure what I was getting myself into. I assumed Parker was gay, and he was definitely a little snack I could see myself sinking my teeth into, but I had to remind myself that I was in a position of power over him. Even if I wanted to see what he was working with underneath his exquisitely tailored slacks, flirting with him was a no-go. And besides, that little gym bunny probably had no interest in a grizzly bear like me.

The next morning, I got to work a little early and Parker was sitting at his station right outside of my office. He had a dozen donuts on his desk and two coffees, one much larger than the other.

“Hello Mr. Reynolds,” he said. “Please let me know what I can do to help you this morning.” He handed me the larger coffee and a napkin before smoothly opening the box of donuts. I recognized them immediately. They were from a trendy new spot that had opened a few months ago. They specialized in unique flavors, like maple-bacon and Fruity Pebbles.

“You sure know how to make an impression.”

“I told you that I’d do whatever it takes to make sure you’re taken care of.” I grabbed one of the donuts, knowing I’d be coming back out for another within the next fifteen minutes.

“Let me get situated and I’ll let you know what you can do for me.”

“Yes sir.”

I wondered if he knew what he was doing to me with all this “Mr. Reynolds” and “Yes sir” business. My last assistant was a statuesque redhead who never tried to go above and beyond the requirements of her position. Which was fine, I got it. She did what she was paid for. But sometimes I think she messed things up on purpose so I wouldn’t give her more work to do. I barely got a hello from her in the morning, and she left promptly at five without so much as a farewell.

I shuffled into my office, tossing my bag on one of the chairs opposite my desk. I bit into the donut, savoring its sweetness. It tasted like a Biscoff cookie, and I was almost certain the glaze was made from cookie butter. I took a slightly larger bite before shoving the rest of the pastry into my awaiting mouth. That donut never stood a chance. I already wanted another, but I needed to show some self-restraint. I couldn’t let Parker know I spent my working hours inhaling food three minutes into his first day.

About ten minutes later, Parker was knocking at my door, box of donuts in hand.

“We’re celebrating today, Mr. Reynolds,” he said, walking towards my desk. “I’ve already had two of these. I’m going to leave the box with you so you don’t have to worry about coming back for more.”

“Well, uh, you don’t want to offer them to some of the other assistants?”

“No, sir,” he said, coyly setting the box to the left of me at my L-shaped desk. “This is for me and you, sir.”

Damn did Parker know the way to a big man’s heart. Having the box within arm’s reach, I finished the rest of that dozen by noon.

The donuts were one thing, but Parker was constantly supplying me with snacks throughout the day. He’d brought me homemade blueberry muffins and brown butter chocolate chip cookies. He’d made me buttery croissants, decadent fudge brownies, and Oreo cheesecake bites. I wondered if he was making his way through a cookbook.

“It’s just a hobby,” he said offhandedly when I mentioned he didn’t have to bring me so many treats. “I guess I got carried away.”

“You just always bring so much. I hope you know I’m not expecting you to bring something every single day. I don’t want you to feel put out.”

“It’s just how I unwind,” he said. “Before I moved here, I had three roommates. Now that I live alone, I don’t have anyone else to share them with. I’m really sorry for assuming you wanted them.”

“Whoa!” I interjected. “I never said I didn’t want them.” This made him laugh. I didn’t mind the baked goods. I woke up salivating thinking about what new thing he’d have for me to munch on, but it was never just a sampling of his work. The portions were huge. When he showed up with his reusable containers, it always brought to mind something that would normally be placed in the breakroom for everyone in the office to sample—like a baker’s dozen of white chocolate raspberry mini-Bundt cakes or an entire pan of M&M Rice Krispie Treats.

The baked goods were just the cherry on top of having an excellent assistant. He was definitely the best one I’d ever had, a really fast learner for sure, but his competence as an office worker was second to his ability to cater to my often insatiable hunger. A month of Parker’s special treatment was damaging to my waistline. Being catered to by him turned me on beyond belief, and it was something new for me. In my past relationships, my love of food was never celebrated. Parker’s eyes seemed to light up when I munched on whatever he brought me. “It’s not too chocolatey?” he’d asked, pushing another confection my way. It was never too chocolatey. It was always perfect, just like him.

He greeted me with baked goods each morning and made sure to say goodbye before heading out every evening, carrying with him an empty Tupperware container or pie dish. Aside from the extra thousand-plus calories a day I was inhaling from his delicious goodies, he always made sure to have lunch delivered for me.

He talked to me more than any of my other assistants ever had. Almost like he was trying to get to know me on a more personal level. It had me looking forward to going to work, a feeling I hadn’t had in quite a while. It might have been unintentional, but Parker’s interest, even if it was just platonic, was boosting my ego. My old assistants barely ever looked in my direction, but this guy wanted to know what my favorite movies were and what I liked to do for fun. This attention from him was electrifying. My brain knew being this infatuated with him was no good, but my heart (and my stomach) didn’t care.

Even now, none of the interns or other assistants ever talked to me unless absolutely necessary. That didn’t mean I wasn’t a topic of conversation. They all definitely talked about me. I was big, yes. But I also had a resting serious face. Combined with my intimidating frame, they thought of me as some sort of beast. I once made an intern cry during a pitch meeting because I “looked like I was going to bite her head off.” I now made more of an effort to smile, even when there was no reason to. I also tried to ignore the implications of this, considering I was one of four black men on staff.

To the other execs, I was more of the office joke. I was younger than most of them by fifteen years, so they viewed me as some sort of kid brother. It was always a crack here or a joke there. When I landed the Nike account they all thought it was the funniest thing to ever happen in the history of the world.

“Andy?” one of them had guffawed, barely able to get out what he wanted to say. “When was the last time you saw the inside of a gym? And Nike went with your pitch?”

But it was something I had become accustomed to; all throughout school I was the big guy people joked about or avoided. Adults always thought I was with the wrong group of kids in elementary school because I was a head taller than the other boys. As if I wasn’t already too big, I had another growth spurt the summer before freshman year of high school. At fourteen my dad began teaching me how to lift weights. My body developed rapidly, and it took me a long time to get comfortable with those changes. By the time I was eighteen, I was larger than my father, who was by no means a small man. My weight sort of leveled out in my early twenties, and I graduated college at my current height and 270 pounds.

Joining the workforce was frightening, yet liberating. I had disposable income and the ability to make my own life decisions. I began working where I was currently employed as a copywriter two months after getting my degree. Lots of late nights and hard work helped me rise in the ranks. I was promoted to the executive level three years ago, and had run through five assistants in that time. I was now thirty-two, unmarried, and a little stifled.

I spent most of my time working. I hadn’t had a hookup in literal years, and to be frank, I didn’t see one happening in the near future. I used to be able to lean into being the big, burly guy who’d had one too many beers. I walked the line between dad-bod and straight-up fat guy for as long as I could before I was promoted. Being an executive meant a lot more responsibility and a lot less free time. My tri-weekly lifting sessions were now a thing of the past. I thought I could stand to lose a few pounds then, but now I was over 350 pounds.

Having Parker as my assistant only exacerbated my feelings of loneliness (and horniness). He probably didn’t even know I was gay and very much into his tight slacks and obedient disposition. The last month had been amazing, yet torturous.

“I have your forms, Mr. Reynolds.”

I told him he could call me Andy, or even just Andrew, but he never did. It was about lunch time and I was getting a bit restless. Maybe I’d run off my other assistants with my multiple food orders throughout the day. I seemed to simply exist in a state of hunger. I was also slightly convinced I couldn’t do my best work on an empty stomach.

I looked at Parker standing in front of me. His dark brown hair was short and very stylish. My hair was cut in a neat fade and my facial hair was thick. I’d kept a standing appointment with my barber every Sunday morning at ten for the last five years.

“Thank you,” I said, holding out my hand to take the manila folder that contained the forms from him. Like some cheesy porno with ridiculous circumstances to set up a sexual scenario, the folder fell through my fingers, all the papers scattering on my office floor.

“Oh, sorry!” he exclaimed. “That’s my bad.” He bent over to pick up the documents, noticing there were more papers to gather than he first realized. He then got on his knees in front of my desk and once again I got to take in his beautiful ass. The fabric of his slacks pulled tight against his butt. His back was slightly arched, as if advertising himself to me. What I wouldn’t give to be bucking my hips behind him. I thought about fucking him constantly, and it had become an obsession. I’d definitely gotten the vibe that he was gay, but I had some serious doubts he’d ever want to hook up with me. “Here you go,” he said, hopping to his feet and handing me the papers.

Almost like it was trying to embarrass me and purposely kill my arousal, my stomach growled.

“Sorry,” I said. I couldn’t believe how hot my face got. My stomach growling was only going to draw attention to the fact that I was twice his size. The portion of goodies I received from Parker at the start of the day was on the smaller side, so that hadn’t helped to dull my hunger pains.

“It’s okay.” He smiled. “It’s lunchtime.” I felt my face go hot once more.

“Yeah, I guess I am kind of hungry.”

“You’re a pretty big guy. I get it.” He fidgeted with one of the buttons on his dress shirt. “Do you, maybe, want to take lunch with me today?”

“I’ve never eaten with one of my assistants before,” I said, in disbelief he wanted to spend time with me outside of the office.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I can just pick something up for you if you’d prefer—”

I stood quickly, not wanting to pass up any opportunity to talk to him about topics not related to copies or signatures or meetings. My gut shook a bit with the momentum. The buttons had given me a difficult time when getting dressed, and I needed to get some new shirts.

“I’m free for lunch,” I exclaimed. “We can go now.”

There were a ton of restaurants in the downtown area. I asked what he wanted to eat and he deferred to me, claiming he wanted me to get whatever I was craving. If I were able to get whatever I was craving, it would be the Parker Jeong meal, extra sauce. He’d probably think that was so cringe. I sighed to myself.

“There’s this place called The Coop,” I said, giving my second choice for lunch. “They serve Nashville style hot chicken.”

At the restaurant he got a normal sized portion of food for a normal sized person, and I wanted to be good, but I needed to replace the lust I was feeling with something else, and that something else was two Nashville hot chicken sandwiches, a large fry, baked beans, coleslaw, and a strawberry mint frozen lemonade.

He didn’t even bat an eye, offering to pick up our trays while I waited at the table. I knew he was just being nice to me because I was his boss. I’d paid for the food, so he was probably just still in assistant mode.

“Order up,” he said, returning to where we sat, setting my overstuffed tray in front of me.

“Thank you,” I said, taking in his tray with three tenders and a medium fry.

“Do you like to eat here a lot?” he asked, sipping from his unsweetened iced tea. Coming from someone else, that would’ve felt like a jab, but from him it just felt conversational.

“I do like this place a lot. Especially for the downtown area. The portions aren’t skimpy and it tastes pretty good too.”

“What other places do you like?”

“Oh, well that’s easy,” I said, digging into my first sandwich. “There’s Tripp’s for seafood, Curry House for Indian, Miss Janie’s for BBQ, oh yeah—Sub Daddy has these huge hoagies. Best in the city. And they’re open late!”

“Sub Daddy?” he laughed. “What kind of name is that?”

“Well, maybe they’re leaning into the innuendo?”

“Hmm, maybe,” he said, looking down at his tenders. “We’ll have to eat there together soon, though Dom Daddies are actually more my speed.”

Was that directed towards me? There was no chance. Absolutely no way. He wasn’t flirting. He wasn’t coming on to me. But still—even if his comment meant nothing, I could feel myself getting hard.

I took another big bite of my sandwich, trying not to fuck things up. If I lost another assistant they’d probably open an investigation or something to figure out what I did to keep running them off.

“So, um, how’s your food?” I asked, deflecting.

The vibes never quite got back on track after that. I was too wound up and way too invested in my food. If my inability to hold conversation wasn’t enough to scare him off, me stuffing my face for fifteen minutes straight surely did the job.

We made our way back to the office and finished up for the day. It was a little after five when Parker peeked his head into my office.

“Have a good night, Mr. Reynolds.” He hesitated for a moment. “Oh, and thanks for lunch.”

“No problem. I enjoyed your company.” I did enjoy his company. Even with how poorly I felt things went, it was nice being out in public with him. I had to remind myself it wasn’t a date and only lunch between colleagues.

“About the joke I made,” he started, stepping completely into my office and closing the door. “I am so sorry if I made you uncomfortable. I’ve been thinking about it all afternoon.”

“Don’t even sweat it,” I said, knowing I sent him into this spiral because I was now inept at talking to cute men. Things had been so much easier ten years ago.

“I am gay,” he continued. “I know some people feel a type of way about that sort of thing. I just don’t want it to ruin our relationship.”

“You don’t need to disclose your sexual orientation, there are policies in place to protect people from discrimination in the workplace and I’d never treat you poorly because of something like that because—”

“Because you’re a really good boss, I know. I’m sorry I even thought you’d treat me differently. It’s just—the real world is way different than a college campus.”

I was about to come out to him. What did I even think was going to happen? Were we going to fuck, me taking control as his sought after Dom Daddy? I was being ridiculous. Of course he was concerned about his career.

“Are you going to be much longer?” he asked.

“Yeah, I have to catch up on some work for that supercenter presentation next week.” He started to take off his jacket. “No need to do that, Parker.”

“I can help,” he said.

“No, that’s okay. Don’t ruin your evening,” I said, still feeling embarrassed by this whole debacle. I could use his help. The copy room was unbearably small and I didn’t want to have to keep squeezing in and out of there.

“But if you need my help, I can help.” He smiled. “It’s my job. I’m your assistant.”

I was glad he wanted to help me. He was truly the best assistant I‘d ever had and not just because he had such a fantastic ass. I didn’t want to come across as demanding or difficult to work with, but selfishly, I wanted to spend more time with him.

“Well, okay,” I relented. “As long as you’re free.”

“I’ll order us something from Sub Daddy,” he said, heading back out to his station. “It’s been hours since lunch. You can’t focus on an empty stomach.”

After that, we worked late a lot, and went to lunch together even more often. He was more than willing to try new restaurants with me, always encouraging me to order as much as I wanted. He always offered to treat me, but I never let him. What sense did that make? He only ever ate a fourth of what I did.

His personality was pleasant, which didn’t make it easier for me to stifle my crush on him. Who wouldn’t be into him? He was smart, hardworking, fun, and considerate. He knew how to bake and never made me feel bad about eating what I wanted. I had gotten into the habit of eating more and more when I was around him. I hardly noticed until all the food was gone. I found myself to be less nervous when I was stuffing my face. It felt less likely that I’d say something dumb. When I was 70 pounds lighter, I was way more willing to flirt or say something corny to make a guy laugh. But now I felt like everything I said or did seemed desperate. And so instead of talking, I stuffed my face. In the two months Parker had been working with me, I’d gained ten pounds.

On our late nights, I always told him he could leave but he never did. Not once.

That was enough to keep my delusional fantasies about him going.

He started mentioning clubs and bars, asking if I’d ever want to go with. I figured it was just a gesture, and I was way too rusty to ever take him up on the offer, but maybe one day I could. The more I got to know him, the more I found myself thinking that maybe, just maybe, he was interested in me too.

My pants had gotten even tighter; I needed some new ones. My thighs filled them out completely and my ass was getting pretty big too. I’d never gotten around to getting those new shirts, and now I needed new pants. I had to face it. I was fat, and with my habits, I was just going to keep getting fatter.

It was late October, and one of the other execs was celebrating his fiftieth. His assistant and a few of the interns had organized a little office party for him after lunch. I’d already eaten these really delicious chocolate covered pretzel sticks Parker made me and something he’d picked up for me from The Coop for lunch.

Everyone filed into our largest conference room. There were a few toasts and it was a decent time overall. Then the cake was revealed. It was from a nice bakery near our office that people always used when doing festive things like this.

It was time to admit to myself that I loved sweets, and with Parker’s kind gestures, I had tried tons of things I’d never eaten before.

I moseyed on over to the cake, planning to only have a piece. Just enough to be polite to the planning committee. But it was delicious. It was a strawberry lemon layer cake, the perfect marriage between tart and sweet flavors. The lemon cake layers were separated by a delightful strawberry compote (a term I’d learned from Parker), which was also incorporated into the rich buttercream frosting.

By the time I finished my (substantial) piece, Parker discreetly replaced my empty plate with another that had an even larger slice. He did this three more times while we mingled with others from the office. I must have ended up having a third of that cake to myself.

Returning to my office after the celebration gave me time to reflect. I tried to get some work done, but it was hard to focus, especially with the buttons on my yet to be replaced shirt and slacks straining.

What was Parker trying to do? Was he simply being an attentive assistant or was he subtly making fun of me? Or maybe I was just too in my head and he was attracted to me? He’d never done or said anything that alluded to disliking me because of my size. But that didn’t mean he was attracted to me because of it either. I looped through variations of the same arguments over and over.

I must’ve overanalyzed those different scenarios for a good fifteen minutes before shifting my focus back to work. I’d already sent Parker to the art department to collect some mock-ups we’d need, but I couldn’t move forward in my current task without making some photocopies.

I was going to have to face the dreaded copy room.

Minutes later, I stood outside of the copy room. I paused momentarily to psych myself up before proceeding. The room was not spacious to begin with, but with multiple built-in cabinets full of office supplies on one wall and a line of photocopiers on the other, the only space for a person to move was a narrow strip of floor down the middle of the room. I walked up the aisle to one of the machines in the center of the room.

So far, so good. I made one of my copies, and proceeded to the next. Still good. I moved on to my last document. That’s when the machine jammed.

“Fuck me,” I said to myself, sighing. I took a step back, my ass already brushing against a cabinet. I leaned forward, opening the side panel and noticing the jammed paper immediately. This would be an easy fix, thankfully. I was bending my knees slightly, and I could feel the fabric of my slacks pulling tight against my beefy behind. It might have just been my anxiety, but I swear I could feel the stitch on the rise of my pants stretching to its limit. I made a mental note to myself that at this point some new items in my wardrobe were necessary, not optional.

I removed the jammed paper, made my last copy, and swiftly made my exit from that claustrophobic space. Bull in a china shop, meet Andrew Reynolds in the copy room.

I paused for a moment, as I could hear Parker’s voice.

“I really should be getting back.”

“Come on, Parker. You can’t actually like working with Andy.” I backpedaled before I could be seen. It was Antoinette, one of the office gossips. She’d been close with my previous administrative assistant.

“Yeah, I do,” Parker said, sounding somewhat bothered. “He’s really very nice. And super smart.” Whoa. He was actually sticking up for me. I could hardly believe it.

“You’re gay, right?”

What a segue. Antoinette was likely upset he wasn’t down to badmouth me, ready to move the conversation in a direction she found more interesting.

“Uh, yeah, I am,” he said, his tone slightly more annoyed.

“You don’t like him, do you?” Antoinette pushed. “Because you’re probably barking up the wrong tree with that one. He’s never been with anyone since I started here, and it’s been seven years.”

“Mr. Reynolds might just be a private person. He could have a wife and kids at home. You don’t know.” At this, she laughed.

“I highly doubt that.” Parker likely made a face, as she then said, “Now don’t give me that look. I wasn’t trying to upset you. I hadn’t realized how much you looked up to Andy.” She couldn’t have sounded more sarcastic.

“Like I said,” he reiterated. “I really should be getting back.”

“Okay, wait. I only bring it up because there’s someone else in the office who is interested in you.” She sounded like some sort of matchmaker.

“Toni, please.” He sounded even more irritated. “I don’t think my love life is any of your business, and I don’t need you to hook me up with anyone.”

“Mark is the one that wanted me to talk to you. He really likes you,” Antoinette continued. Mark was a copywriter that had started two or three years after I did. He’d never gotten over the fact that I’d been promoted and he hadn’t.

“I’m flattered, truly,” Parker replied. “But please tell him I’m not interested.”

“Fine, but here’s his card anyway.” There was a slight pause. “But you’ve got to be real with me. Working with Andy must be hard. I heard from his last assistant that he was so demanding, and not about work matters. She spent most of her time placing food orders and picking up his take-out.” She laughed. “Did you see all that cake he ate at Dave’s party this afternoon? That’s why he’s not with somebody. Who wants to date a pig?” I felt my stomach tighten in embarrassment.

“Watch how you speak about my boss,” Parker responded. “This conversation is over.”

“Fine, I swear—” I could hear her heels clicking on the linoleum of the hallway as she walked away from the corner in which they’d been speaking. I could then hear Parker’s steps as he headed towards the copy room.

I froze.

What could I do? There was nowhere to hide. I was in the world’s smallest copy room, and even if there was somewhere to hide, there was no way I’d fit into that hiding spot. I just stood there, ready to face the awkwardness. He turned the corner quickly, bumping into my stomach.

He stumbled back, almost losing his balance. He dropped all the samples from the art department. I could feel that tight feeling in my stomach again, my mouth going dry. He must have known I was listening.

“Mr. Reynolds?” he mused. “I’m so sorry. I wasn’t paying attention.” He knelt down and started picking up the papers.

“No apologies, please. It’s my fault.”

I bent over quickly to help him and there was a loud ripping sound. The same seam in my pants that had worried me moments before gave way. I could tell immediately that my pants had split down the back.

I stood up straight immediately. I could feel his eyes on my face.

“Andrew,” he said softly.

No, not the pity. I could feel it coming, and that would make me feel worse. I pushed past him, leaving him alone in that tiny room to gather the scattered papers. I waddled awkwardly back to my office to grab my jacket. I didn’t want the pants to rip anymore than they already had. I needed to get some new slacks.

Taking a moment, I looked in the mirror on the back of my office door. My blue button up shirt didn’t hide my large, round belly. I’d really let things get bad these last few months. I had completely lost all restraint since meeting Parker. I was happy-eating when he brought me his baked goods. I was nervous-eating when we went out to lunch together. I was sad-eating at home when I thought about how much it sucked to have unrequited feelings.

My love handles sloped away from my torso down over the side of my pants. My pants looked like they’d been painted on my meaty thighs. When did my face get so round? If I shaved my beard how many chins would I find? More than the one I remembered when I started working here ten years ago? I had once had a square jaw, but I knew now it would be backed by a second chin, with a new layer of fat likely being formed behind that. My round cheeks made my eyes look smaller than they were in my youth. I even had a light dabbling of sweat on my forehead from my dash back into my office.

“Mr. Reynolds?” Parker called gently as he knocked at my door. “Are you okay?”

“Yes,” I said, speaking slowly. “I’m fine.”

“Are you sure?” he inquired.

“Yes, I’m sure. I need to head out for an errand, so please make sure you reschedule the rest of my meetings this afternoon.”

“Do you need to go shopping?” he asked.

I could have leaped from my office window—and we were on the twentieth floor. Any chance of ever being with Parker was surely ruined. I needed to rip off the Band-Aid and get this interaction over with. I opened my office door.

“I could help you pick some things out,” he suggested. “I am your assistant. And I know it’s a stereotype, but I have a pretty good fashion sense.” He was trying so hard to be nice to me.

“This is my problem.” I was still speaking slowly, forcing the words out in a way that likely came off as short. “This is a personal matter, not something to do with work.”

He didn’t say anything. He turned and walked over to his desk, rummaging in one of the drawers. He held a tiny sewing kit in his hands as he strode back over to where I stood. He placed his hand on my stomach, pushing me back into the office before closing the door.

“I understand you would rather shop alone, but I’m not going to let my boss walk around with a split in his pants.” What was he expecting me to do? Strip? There was no way.

“Parker—”

“We don’t have to make a big deal out of this, sir,” he said. “Just take off your pants and hand them here. I can mend them in less than fifteen minutes.”

“Really, that’s not necessary.”

He just stood there, looking at me expectantly. I didn’t want to walk around exposed until I could get to a clothing store. It would only take him fifteen minutes. I took a deep breath and unbuckled my belt. It was a brown leather material that matched my loafers, which I’d slid out of before shimmying out of my too-tight navy slacks.

I could see myself in the mirror behind my office door again. Here I was in my boxer briefs, Parker standing right in front of me, and it wasn’t a scenario I’d previously imagined. He crouched down in front of me, grabbing the pants so I wouldn’t have to bend over.

He inspected the rip for a moment. “This is perfect. It’s not frayed or anything.”

“You really think you can fix them?”

“A temporary fix, yes.” He walked towards one of the extra chairs in my office and had a seat. Things were silent for a few minutes as he threaded the needle and got started on the repair. I’d taken a seat behind my desk and watched him work.

His skin was so smooth, his lips kissably full, his nose a little large for his face.

“I can see why these split,” he said, not looking up from his work. His words abruptly hit me and filled the silence in a way that sat heavy on my mind.

“Me too.” He still hadn’t looked up at me. He just continued mending my pants.

“I knew I needed new ones, and I—” The words got caught in my throat. I was already embarrassed, so maybe it was time for me to just speak honestly, but speaking honestly kind of felt like admitting defeat. It felt like I was giving up on taking things in an intimate direction with Parker. “I’ve been putting it off. They probably could’ve held on a bit longer, but I’ve put on some weight recently.”

“There’s nothing wrong with that.”

“Guys like you don’t get it. You could have anyone you wanted.”

“What if I wanted you, Andrew?”

He finally looked up from his work. I must’ve been looking at him stone faced, because his bravado faltered almost immediately.

“Mr. Reynolds—I’m so sorry. That was out of line.”

Parker’s confession allowed me to push past that voice in my head that explained away all the things he did as platonic. He liked me. He wanted me. He’d said so himself.

Before the self-doubt set in, I had to shoot my shot. I’d sulk about my split pants late at night years from now, but right at this moment I refused to return to that negative place. He wanted a Dom Daddy, and that was a role I was more than willing to play.

“What if I told you I wanted to fuck you right now?” His face reddened considerably. I’d never seen him so worked up before, and that made me more confident. “Since the day I hired you, I’ve thought about what it’d feel like to be inside of that sweet ass.”

“Sir—”

“C’mere,” I said in a low voice. He stood, placing my slacks in the seat he’d gotten up from, and gingerly made his way to where I sat behind my desk. He looked down at me slightly as I sat, but we were essentially still on eye level with one another. I could see his chest rising and falling with each breath he took, his lips parted slightly in lust. He pressed his crotch into my gut as he leaned down to kiss me. I could feel his erection through his khakis.

I reached up and palmed his ass, holding a cheek in each hand. He really was stacked back there. He moaned slightly, pressing his dick further into my stomach. We continued kissing, and I pulled him even closer into myself.

I could have kissed him like this for hours, but he pulled away after a few minutes. His palms were pressed against my sagging chest, which sat atop my heavy middle. He slid his hands down my front before resting them on the part of my gut that sat out the farthest. Normally, my first instinct would have been to suck it in, but I realized how useless that would have been. There was no hiding it anymore.

He patted my stomach gently before moving his hands beneath it, lifting it and bouncing it up and down slowly. I could see his hardness through his khakis, so it was clear that he was enjoying himself. If I were to be honest with myself, I was enjoying the belly play too. I’d never had someone focus so intently on my gut before.

I stood up, and he tilted his head back to continue meeting my gaze. I had to play this correctly. I knew he made a joke about liking dominant men, but I wasn’t certain it was actually what he was into.

“Get on your knees,” I said, staring down at him.

“Yes sir.”

He knew what I wanted. He pawed at my underwear until it was around my ankles. My dick bobbed freely now, level with his line of sight. The closer he got to me, the harder I got and the harder it was to see him. He reached up with one hand to hold my belly out of the way and with the other he grabbed the base of my dick.

“Get to work,” I instructed. I grabbed a fistful of his hair as he wrapped his mouth around my dick. It had been a while, but I couldn’t recall a better blow. He was a perfectionist in every sense of the word. His one hand gently massaged the base of my gut as he continued sucking me off. I’d been with people who liked that I wasn’t rail thin, but never with someone like Parker. Everything was adding up. The special treats, the lunches together, the cake at the party this afternoon. He liked me being fat, and I was now fairly certain he wanted me even fatter. “I’m about to cum.”

He didn’t stop his work. He simply slowed his pace, teasing my dick with his tongue in a different way. The switch in sensation caused me to erupt. A heavy stream of cum shot from my dick into his mouth and he made sure to get every last drop. I let go of his hair, stepping back so I could have a seat.

I was panting heavily, my underwear around my ankles, gut rising and falling with each deep breath I took. He looked up at me from his place on the floor. His hair was disheveled and his face was flushed. I could still see his erection through his khakis. Damn, he was the hottest guy I’d ever seen. I could hardly believe he was experiencing such intense lust over me.

“You’re something else,” I said, still catching my breath. “And I can’t believe it, but I’d kill for another piece of that cake right now.”

That had him up on his feet, speed-walking from my office and back to the conference room. He was so out of it, he’d probably run to that bakery to get me another piece if he had to.

This shift in our relationship was going to be interesting.

I wasn’t sure what was supposed to happen immediately following our initial sexual encounter, but we went about our weekends like nothing had changed. After eating one of the final slices of that cake from the office party, I left early to purchase some new clothing items. He texted me, and I replied, but neither of us mentioned what had happened.

So Monday morning came and I had spent the entire weekend eating optimistically. I thought about how much he’d want me to be eating good. At one point, I googled “gay fat fetish” and found there was a whole world of people not only into big guys, but into big guys getting even bigger. Maybe he’d bring it up, but now I wanted to test the waters a little. What sort of things would get him going? I was excited to find out. Monday morning, I was hard the entire commute to work thinking about demolishing whatever Parker planned to put in front of me.

I walked into the elevator, pressing the button that would lead me to the twentieth floor. I noticed Parker making his way toward the elevators. Just seeing him existing in the world made me so fucking happy. I almost didn’t even notice that Mark was right next to him. I hit the door open button quickly, wanting to be near Parker as soon as possible, even if that meant sharing the space with Mark. The doors stayed open, and they both got on.

“Good Morning, Mr. Reynolds.” He smiled up at me. He was carrying a tote bag, and like some sort of sugar-addicted bloodhound, I was almost certain I could smell cinnamon.

“Parker, hey,” I said, covering my crotch with my bag. Just hearing him say my name was turning me on, giving me a semi. “It’s nice to see you.”

“Hello Andrew,” Mark said. To be completely honest, I’d blocked him out almost immediately. He and I weren’t on the best terms, especially after my promotion.

“Hey Mark.”

“Are you still hitting the gym?” he asked. “Since you got that promotion, I’ve noticed a change in your appearance. I’m sure you’re eating well on that executive salary.”

“I do have a hand in that,” Parker said plainly. “Mr. Reynolds is very kind to indulge my personal baking hobby.”

“But still,” Mark pressed. “Sometimes we’ve got to push ourselves, you know? Once you hit thirty it takes more effort to stay in shape.”

“I think he looks great,” Parker offered, turning to look at Mark. He gave him an obvious once over, his eyes traveling from the top of his head all the way to his shoes. “Do you work out, Mark?”

“Yeah, I do actually,” Mark responded proudly. “Six days a week.”

“Really?” Parker inquired. “I’d have never thought that.”

The man was too stunned to speak.

We all stood silent, the whir of the elevator’s mechanisms the only source of sound. The elevator finally stopped on our floor. Parker and I went towards my office while Mark made his way to his cubicle. Parker placed the tote bag on his desk and I stopped for a moment.

“You didn’t have to do that,” I said, giving a knowing smile.

“I didn’t say anything I didn’t mean.”

“You’re something else.”

“I’m nothing special,” he said, removing two Tupperware containers from the tote bag. “So today you have options. You could have some millionaire shortbread bars or carrot cake cinnamon rolls.”

“Or? You act like I’m not going to polish off both of these containers before we head out for lunch.”

“Uh—well, I—I didn’t think you’d want—”

He looked up at me in surprise, like he’d been found out. I’d known Parker for a couple of months now, and I’d never seen him so flustered. It made me weirdly satisfied. He wanted me to eat? He wanted me to put on a few pounds? If he kept blowing me like he had last week, I’d eat whatever he wanted for the rest of my life.

“I bought some new pants, so I can probably keep indulging for a little while. I need my assistant to make sure I don’t go hungry. That’s not a problem, is it?”

“No, sir,” he said. “Not a problem at all, sir.”

“I didn’t think it would be.” I grabbed both containers and went into my office, peeling off both lids and diving into the baked goods with unabashed enthusiasm. Over that first hour of the day, I ate a dozen shortbread bars and six hefty cinnamon rolls.

Once I’d finished both desserts, I sat back at my desk. I felt my chair sag, groaning slightly as I allowed my bulk to settle into the seat. This was so unhinged. What was happening to me? Maybe it was all the sugar, but I was in some sort of stupor. My only thought was how I wanted Parker between my legs again, his hands all over my gut. I leaned forward and put my head in my hands. I must’ve sat there for about ten minutes before there was a knock at my door. “Mr. Reynolds?”

“Come in.” Parker opened the door and walked up to my desk. I watched him survey the scene. I laughed a little to myself at the shocked expression on his face as he took in both containers sitting empty in front of me.

“You already finished the–the–the shortbread bars?”

“And the cinnamon rolls,” I added. “They were both phenomenal. You’ve got quite the talent.”

“Thank you, sir.”

“I only wish I’d had some milk to wash it all down with.”

“I’ll make sure to remember that for next time.”

“There is something you could do for me right now,” I said. He looked back at my office door, which he’d left open. He went over to the door and closed it quietly.

“What can I do for you, Mr. Reynolds?”

“You could get that ass over here, for starters.”

He made his way to where I sat behind my desk, like he had on Friday. We looked at one another for a moment, both taking in the moment. It probably wasn’t smart to fuck my assistant before 10 AM on a Monday, but I’d spent nearly two years involuntarily celibate.

“Get undressed.”

He didn’t question me. He immediately began unbuttoning his crisp, white dress shirt. He tossed it on my desk and then peeled his undershirt off over his head. He shimmied out of his navy-colored chinos. He was in nothing but a pair of stylish briefs. It was obvious he worked out, as his quads bulged with muscle as did his arms. He had well-defined abs, firm pecs.

His body was completely opposite to my own. My legs and arms were large, yes, but not defined with muscle as they had been in the past. I’d never had abs in my entire life. My stomach sat heavy in front of me, packed full of sugary snacks. And even though I’d just eaten enough baked goods for a small get-together, I was already thinking about what I’d be having for lunch.

“What’re we doing for lunch?” I asked. His whole face reddened, all the way to his ears. I reached out to pull him closer, so I could feel his body with my mouth. I kissed his chest softly, enjoying his scent in the process. “I asked you what we’re doing for lunch.”

He moaned loudly.

“Last—last week you mentioned you wanted an—an Italian beef from—” I bit his nipple gently, sucking it afterwards. “Big Beef’s.”

“Fuck that sounds good. With extra hot peppers and a cheese sauce on the side.” He pawed at his briefs, exposing himself to me. He had a nice dick, a respectable size. He was getting off on this for sure. I let go of his waist and began to unbutton my own shirt. He watched me intently, still stroking his penis. I tossed it on the desk with his clothing items.

He paused his masturbatory efforts to help me remove my undershirt. His briefs were now around his ankles and he pressed his dick into my gut. I grabbed at his ass, lightly teasing his hole with my finger as he grinded against me. He didn’t last long after that, coming all over my bloated stomach. He took a step back. Looking down, I could see his cum glistening as it coated the fuzz of my belly. “You’re not done,” I said, lifting my gut to reveal my belt buckle.

A man of excellent intuition, Parker immediately got me out of my pants and gave me some very thorough head.

Oh, and lunch at Big Beef’s that afternoon was stupendous.

We fell into a routine that made every work day well worth it. He was still bringing me his baked goods (beverages now included). We left the office whenever possible to grab a bite to eat during our lunch hour, and when we couldn’t get away he made sure to pick something up for me or to have it delivered. But the best part had to be our sexual escapades. I’d had nearly every part of his body in my mouth at least once. And he was excellent at taking direction. I was pretty sure at this point that he craved it, being told what to do. He was my good boy, doing what I requested, often going above and beyond like there was a chance of being promoted.

From the end of October to the start of the winter holidays, he and I were completely engrossed with one another. Although, even with how intense things had been within the four walls of my office, we had yet to move beyond them.

It was now the second week of December. I was nearing 400 pounds, a thought that was slightly frightening to me. I’d never been this big in my entire life. People around the office had taken notice of my rapid weight gain. It was the elephant in the room. But the food was good, and the sex mind-blowing. I was also intoxicated by Parker’s adoration. With each pound I gained, he seemed to get more and more excited to service me. I wondered how much longer my wardrobe would last before needing to be updated again.

“Excuse me, Mr. Reynolds.” I looked up from the email I was drafting. “I’ve been wanting to ask you something.”

“Yeah? What is it?” I inquired, wondering what it was Parker had been mulling over. He was shifting his weight back and forth, nervously smiling in my direction like the day I hired him.

“Well, my parents bought me these tickets to a musical a few weeks ago, and I know that it’s last minute, but I was really hoping you would come with me to see it.”

“A musical?”

“What can I say?” he offered, shrugging slightly. “I’m as stereotypical as they come.”

“When is it?” I asked.

“Tomorrow.” A Saturday.

Was Parker trying to take things to the next level? This was an exciting development. I would love to spend time with him outside of working hours. I could only imagine how much fun we’d have late into the evening post dinnertime.

“If it’s too much, I understand.”

Too much? Not at all. We both wanted more. It was like a weight had been lifted from me (metaphorically, of course). The office sexcapades were nice, there was no doubt about that, but he too wanted to be more than just a hook-up.

“You just can’t get enough of me, huh?”

He laughed.

“I’m kind of obsessed, can’t you tell?”

“I love being adored,” I said, smiling at him playfully. “And now I’m really looking forward to this musical tomorrow. What’s the runtime? Over two hours, I’m sure. I’ll probably need to eat something beforehand.”

“I’ll make a reservation,” he declared enthusiastically, always delighted at an opportunity to get me eating. I was only half-serious with my comment about needing to eat beforehand, but I wasn’t so sure I’d make it the two and a half hours without a meal prior to the curtain rising. I felt incredibly lucky. We’d be getting dinner and seeing a show (and hopefully having even more fun at one of our apartments after).

Once he made the reservation, he emailed over all the info—the restaurant, the reservation time, the name of the theater, the showtime. I could hardly wait. I’d be counting the milliseconds until then.

The next evening, I dressed to meet Parker for our date. I wore a pair of dark jeans and some Nikes. When I first landed that account, they’d sent over at least ten different pairs. I had lots of dress shirts that fit fairly well since I re-upped, but I wanted to be a little more casual. I found a burgundy crew neck in the back of my dresser that had been a staple in my wardrobe last winter. I pulled it on and found myself shocked at how it fit. I figured there’d be some resistance, but the fabric clung to my plump chest and protruding belly in a way that was much more form-fitting than I anticipated. I tugged at the bottom trying to pull it down to cover the entirety of my stomach. If I moved my arms too much, it exposed some of my brown skin, even though I was also wearing an undershirt.

My first inclination was to change. I wouldn’t have normally wanted to draw attention to my size. But I knew what Parker liked, and I loved pressing his buttons, so I put on my jacket and grabbed my keys, deciding to keep on the sweater. I hoped I wouldn’t come to regret my outfit choice later on.

I was right on time to Haraboji’s, and as I entered the restaurant, I noticed my perfectly punctual assistant had already beaten me to the establishment.

“Mr. Reynolds, over here!” He waved at me from a seat at the bar. I felt silly for being this excited, considering we ate together in restaurants every other day, but this was no work-lunch. This was a Saturday night dinner. A date.

“Parker, hey,” I said, smiling down at my companion for the evening. He was still wearing his jacket, a stylish, olive-green duffle coat. He had on a pair of platform Chelsea boots and dark chinos. “Please, call me Andy, or Andrew—even Drew would be fine.”

“Oh, yes, of course,” he said with a nervous chuckle. “I guess we aren’t in the office.”

“That’s exciting, isn’t it?”

“It is,” he replied. “I’ve wanted to eat here with you for months.”

“I’ve heard this place is really good.”

“Have you ever had Korean barbecue before?” he asked. “I haven’t been to a Korean restaurant since I moved here.”

“I haven’t, but you know I’ll try anything. I trust you to make sure I have something tasty.”

After that the hostess called Parker’s name and we were seated. It was pretty crowded, every table filled. In front of us was a little grilling station. Our waiter came and Parker took the reins, ordering what seemed like a lot of food for just two people. He asked for bulgogi, pork belly, garlic butter chicken, and brisket. He also ordered fried seaweed rolls and tteokbokki. Our waiter brought out a lot of little dishes with different vegetables on them.

“These are banchan—um, side dishes,” Parker explained. “They’re really good with the grilled meats. That one is cucumber, that one is potato, and that one is zucchini.”

“And that one is kimchi.”

“Yes, exactly!”

Our waiter returned with another worker to assist him. One of them held our appetizers, the other numerous plates of raw meat on a serving platter. Once all the plates were set out in front of us, it seemed truly excessive. Parker got to work immediately, oiling the grill and placing meat on it strategically. As things were cooked he piled them high on my plate. Everything tasted great and I followed every suggestion he gave me. “Eat this with that,” he’d say, hyper focused on his grilling. “Ooo, you’ve got to try that with this dipping sauce.”

Halfway through the meal, I noticed that he was no longer eating. I seemed to be his main priority. I was now regretting my earlier boldness when getting dressed for this outing. My sweater rose slightly on my stomach exposing the light layer of dark hair on my underbelly. Parker didn’t stop either, making sure to cook every piece of meat that had been provided to us.

“There’s also Korean fried chicken on the menu,” he said, having just finished grilling the last bit of bulgogi and pork belly. “They come in orders of four.”

I groaned slightly, sitting back in my seat and resting my hand on the top of my gut.

That was when the waiter returned, taking in my gorged state his face reddened on my behalf and he focused his attention on Parker. “Is there anything else I can get for you guys?”

“Yes, we wanted a double order of the fried chicken wings and a bottle of peach soju.”

The waiter glanced in my direction and then back at Parker. He probably couldn’t believe we were ordering more food. I couldn’t believe we were ordering more food, but my date was a man on a mission. We did have about forty minutes before we needed to be at the theater, but I still thought he was cutting it close.

“I’ll put that in right now.” I waited for our server to leave before speaking.

“I’m spilling out of my sweater and you're still shoving food in my direction.”

“Andy,” he said innocently. “You don’t want to be hungry while the show is going on. You said so yourself, remember?”

“How considerate of you,” I responded, sitting up. I grabbed my fork and started in on the last bit of meat he’d put on my plate. “And I can’t wait to thank you at my place after the show.”

After dinner at Haraboji’s, we made our way to the theater for the musical. I’d already parked my Buick Enclave in a parking garage on the same street as the restaurant. He informed me that he picked this restaurant not only because he’d been wanting to try it, but also because it was only a block away from where we’d be seeing the show.

I was so full I didn’t feel like doing anything, especially walking. I was perspiring a little bit so I left my jacket open to air myself out. I could feel a cool breeze on my stomach, but I just ignored it. Parker was leading the way, glancing my way every so often to check me out. If his parents hadn’t gone through the trouble of buying him these tickets, we’d already be halfway to my place.

We made it to the lobby and the worker scanned the tickets on Parker’s phone. There was about ten minutes until the show would start so we made our way to our seats. This was where things got awkward.

Personally, when purchasing tickets in advance, I always tried to get the seat closest to the aisle. But these two seats were right in the middle of a row. Not everyone was in their seats yet, but we’d still need to shimmy past five or so people. Parker seemed somewhat oblivious to this issue, and in his defense, he likely never faced this sort of problem. Being bigger meant anticipating any obstacle. Would there be a lot of walking? Would there be a lot of stairs? How sturdy were the seats? I’d always thought about these things, but having gained fifty pounds in the last five months created even more complications I needed to be ready for.

“Excuse us,” Parker said, making his way into the row. He got by the first person with ease, whereas the man needed to stand up for me and press himself as far back into his seat as possible. Even then, my gut pushed up against him as I made my way past him. This happened four more times until we made it to our seats.

I sat in the chair and it creaked loudly. It was a really tight squeeze. This was not a theater that had been updated this century. It had probably been forty or fifty years since there had been any type of alteration to the seating. The armrests could not be lifted, so I sat there as they dug into the sides of my bloated gut. Fuck, I thought. Maybe we shouldn’t have gone so hard at dinner.

“Isn’t there like a special section for bigger people?” the woman next to me asked the man she was with. She was at least trying to whisper, but considering the fact I was sitting right next to her that didn’t do much to keep me from hearing her. “It’s just, these seats are so small, you know? Even for someone regularly sized.”

I’d been feeling pretty good before all of this happened. I was used to people making comments. But something about this made me really think hard about what I’d been doing to my body. I was already fat. I’d already had horrible eating habits. But should I have let this thing with Parker push me so completely into gluttony? I was the one who had to deal with the wardrobe malfunctions and too-small theater seats.

Parker was a great person and a masterful lover, but he was also ten years younger than me. If this dalliance were to end, he could go about his life unchanged. But me? How much bigger would I be by the time he got bored of me?

“Andy,” Parker said, his hand on my thigh. “Are you okay?”

“Oh yeah, I’m fine,” I lied. This wasn’t the time or place to share my thoughts with him.

“I didn’t pick the seats,” he explained. “Next time, I’ll make sure that we’re on the end.”

“Thanks.” I exhaled, feeling a little better. Him saying that didn’t absolve all of my fears, but it reminded me of how thoughtful Parker was. Maybe he didn’t know what it was like to be my size, but he did try to consider how my size affected my day-to-day life.

The lights dimmed and the show started a few minutes later. It was pretty funny and the music was enjoyable. I never thought a musical adaptation of an 80’s fantasy-horror-comedy would be any good, but I’d see it again if given the chance. After the cast took their bows we waited for our row to clear out before we got up. I could tell he really enjoyed himself, so that made the two and half hours in that seat from hell worth it.

“I Ubered here from my apartment,” he said once we were outside.

“I’m in that parking garage by the restaurant,” I said. “I could give you a ride home.”

“You did say you needed to thank me at dinner.”

“Oh, I know just how to thank you.” It was nearly ten, and aside from the people who were also leaving the theater, there weren’t a ton of people around. I grabbed Parker’s hand and we went to my car. I asked him where he lived and other than that I just listened to all the fun facts he had about the production. We were soon out front. “You’re coming up, right?” he asked.

“Yeah, of course.” I parked and we made our way towards the entrance. He led me up some stairs to his fourth floor apartment. If he lived any higher, we’d have had to call it a night. His place was pretty small, a one bedroom. It was also super neat and tidy. Everything about Parker was that way.

He took off his jacket and hung it in the closet, offering to take mine too in the process. He told me to take a seat on the couch. I sat and realized how little it was. I guess a couch of this size was all he really needed, but it was more like a chair. I filled it up three-fourths of the way.

He carried in a tray with some vanilla oat milk and a container of cookies. He placed it on the coffee table and sat on the remaining one-fourth of sofa. “Consider these as a thank you for a great evening,” he said. “They’re lemon shortbread.”

“You must spend a fortune on butter and eggs.”

“Not at all, I just started buying in bulk when I realized I had someone to bake for.”

“I appreciate getting to eat everything you’ve made for me,” I said, pulling at my sweater, “though I should probably slow down on all the baked goods.” I looked in his direction, wondering how he’d take in that information. He looked a little hurt, a little embarrassed.

“Is everything okay, Andy?” he asked. “With us, I mean. I just thought—”

I could just keep all of these concerns to myself, but that wouldn’t solve anything. It was probably better to have this conversation now instead of later. “I’ve gained a substantial amount of weight since we started sleeping together. I know we haven’t put into words what this is, but I’m pretty sure you’re a feeder—or an encourager—which term is it?” I thought about all the information I found back when I investigated gay fat fetishes a few months ago.

“I think they’re pretty interchangeable.” He wasn’t looking at me. “And I guess that I am, yes.” He actually looked super pale. Was he scared? Did he think I was upset? I figured he was aware that he’d been found out months ago. He was always so focused on my weight and overfeeding me. His preferences were kind of obvious.

“I’m not upset,” I said, trying to sound reassuring. “If I’m being honest, I’m pretty into it.”

He looked up at me, relief overtaking his previously sullen expression. “You are?”

“I think you know I like to eat. And getting bigger is kind of hot when I have someone so into it.”

“I’m into it for sure.”

“My main concern is how serious you are, Parker.” He looked at me intently, waiting for me to continue speaking. “You’re young. You’re still fairly new to the area. When it comes down to it, you’re a hot commodity. Any guy would be lucky to be with you. With how big I was, with how big I’ve gotten, I’m limiting myself. My prospects were slim before, but I’ve probably made the margins even smaller in regards to my marketability.”

“Andrew, I am very serious about you,” he said. “You are the sexiest guy I’ve ever been with. You’re also the biggest guy I've ever been with. Whatever you’re comfortable with, I am willing to do. If you want to lose weight, that’s fine. If you want me to stop with the baking, that’s fine. I just want you. I like you.”

“I like you too. I have since you first started working for me.” Our eyes were locked on one another. This conversation felt so real, so needed. This guy was serious about me. What a relief. “And let’s not be too hasty about the baking. I’ll let you know if we need to slow down, Mr. Feeder.”

This caused his whole face to redden, all the way to his ears. I loved when that happened. It was so funny to see his emotions so clearly. “Now bring that container of cookies over here. I’m hungry.”

Maybe it was reckless of me. Maybe I should’ve taken the out Parker had offered me. But I kept on eating like I had been. I blew past 400 pounds as we entered the new year. He’d flown home for the holidays, so I spent time with my own family. They all showed great concern for how big I’d gotten, but that didn’t stop them from piling my plate high with soul food at Christmas dinner. That was just how my family operated. It’s why I was so big growing up to begin with.

That first Monday back after the winter holidays was nice because we were able to fall back into our normal routine, which included copious amounts of food and a great deal sex. While most people around the office set goals for having a healthier diet or joining a gym, I did nothing of the sort. It was somewhat freeing to know there was no resolution I was bound to break.

Over the first few months of the new year, Parker began spending more and more time at my apartment. Suddenly there was a toothbrush, and then extra pairs of underwear, and then, an item that let me know how serious things had gotten between us, his KitchenAid Stand Mixer.

“You’re here more than at your place,” I said one Saturday evening in April. We’d ordered pizza for dinner, and even though Parker had stopped eating thirty minutes ago, I was still working on an extra-large, tavern-style sausage and pepperoni. I’d already eaten some buffalo wings and a Caesar salad (for balance, of course). “When does your lease end?”

“Well, it ends August of this year.”

“Cancel it.”

“Cancel it?”

“Yeah,” I said, reaching for another slice. “I’ll pay whatever fee your landlord charges for breaking your lease.”

The next week he moved into my three-bedroom apartment. I had more than enough room for his stuff. Even his dollhouse-sized couch fit comfortably against a wall in the home office. This did mean my office baked goods were a thing of the past. They were never able to last long enough after he prepared them to be brought into work. Since meeting Parker nine months ago, I was now 75 pounds heavier.

Parker and I were going to take a long weekend for Memorial Day. We’d both put in for the day off on Friday and we wouldn’t need to return to the office until Tuesday. I’d rented a house up north, about three hours away. The Thursday before we were to leave, Parker frantically entered my office a little after we returned from lunch.

I was positively beached. We were both looking forward to the weekend and he excitedly ordered for me at Rockin’ Sushi. We had purchased enough sashimi, nigiri, and maki rolls for a party of five or six people.

My belly covered my lap almost to my knees when I sat. I normally didn’t dress so casually for the office, but today I was wearing a polo. The fabric was pulled tight around my stomach and I’d been massaging the sides of my gut before Parker came to find me. If he didn’t seem so distraught, I’d have asked him to take over.

“We can’t go out of town,” he said. “We have to reevaluate your accounts.”

“What?” I asked, my eyes half-open. “I have nine major accounts and twelve smaller ones. That’s more than all the other execs.”

“Yes, that’s true, but—” he stopped talking. He probably felt like he’d been overreacting, but I wanted to make sure his worries were quelled.

“Talk to me.”

“I heard from Mr. Monroe’s assistant, who heard from Mr. Otterly’s assistant, that Mr. Otterly plans to retire at the end of June.” John Otterly was well past the age for retirement. His presence at Hathaway and Associates was really just a formality at this point. He’d been an exec at our agency since the mid-seventies. In his prime, for sure, he was incredible at pulling in clients and coming up with catchy slogans for print ads. Now, he had only one major account for a failing brand of novelty gag-gifts. “They’re looking to promote someone, but they want to make the position more robust by taking some accounts from other executives.”

“Bullshit.”

“Agreed.” He watched me heave myself out of my desk chair. “What should we do?”

“Follow me.”

I might have moved a little bit more slowly these days, but with Parker’s help I’d acquired two new clients in the last nine months and strengthened our agency’s relationship with all my original accounts. I wasn’t just some overweight behemoth who didn’t do any work. I was a heavy hitter. I’d recently had a confidence about myself that, shamefully, came from the idolization and devotion Parker gave to me. I was the biggest I’d ever been, but I didn’t feel ashamed of myself. I was already going to draw attention entering a room so I might as well not give a fuck what people thought.

We stopped outside of William Hathaway’s office, whose grandfather had actually founded Hathaway and Associates almost a century ago. We executives kept things running while he received a great deal of the credit, considering he was only in office two days a week. He did hold a forty-five percent share on the board of directors, which was the largest portion of any member. This meant he had a great deal of influence when the board made the large decisions that affected day-to-day operations.

“He’s preparing to leave early for the holiday weekend,” his administrative assistant said plainly. She was also the office manager. Mr. Hathaway’s schedule allowed her to take on more responsibilities, so she helped to organize the tasks for the interns and other assistants. “He doesn’t want to be bothered, especially after the meeting he just had.”

“Martha,” Parker said gently, smiling in her direction. “Mr. Reynolds was hoping to speak with Mr. Hathaway before he left. If he’s not terribly busy, would you please let him?”

“I don’t know. He was pretty adamant that he didn’t want to see anyone else.”

“Didn’t you say your husband liked the chocolate-dipped almond biscotti I made you for your anniversary?”

“Those were divine,” she said, taking more interest in Parker’s plea. I remembered those biscotti. I’d eaten two test batches before he felt confident enough to share them with Martha.

“Weren’t they?” I added. “I don’t know how he does it, but he’s incredibly talented.”

“My husband’s birthday is coming up,” she pondered aloud. “Have you ever made a cake before?”

“Of course!”

They ironed out some details and settled on a tiramisu inspired layer cake. She hopped out of her seat giddily and went to inform Hathaway of our arrival. We got the go ahead to enter and there he was waiting for us behind his desk nursing a scotch.

“Reynolds, you’re bigger every time I see you.”

Hathaway wasn’t one to mince words.

“You’re one to talk. I’m not the only one carrying around a spare tire.” This made him laugh.

“I’m in my sixties, what’s your excuse?” He didn’t stop. “And I’ve got a spare tire, you’ve got a whole Goodyear.”

“Okay, okay,” I said, allowing him to think his ribbing had gotten to me. “I’m just eating good. And my assistant here is a master baker.”

“He is, eh?” Hathaway asked, drinking from his scotch. “You're the biscotti boy?”

“Yes sir. That’s me.”

“Martha, that stingy bitch, only let me have one. Said they were for her anniversary. I’ve got an anniversary. And a birthday.”

“I’ll get those dates from Martha, sir.” Hathaway gave an impressed smirk and took another sip from his drink.

After that, we were finally able to talk business. I asked about Otterly. His retirement was true, a decision “strongly encouraged” by all members of the board. The position being padded with the accounts of other executives was also true. We would be asked in the coming month to choose one or two of our large scale accounts to let go of. When I asked why they didn’t just cut the position, they were concerned about losing their lead copywriter, who voiced concerns about a lack of upward mobility at Hathaway and Associates. He claimed he’d be willing to walk away from the agency unless he was seriously considered for Otterly’s position.

That lead copywriter? Mark.

If it were anyone else, I would have thought twice about my next course of action. But for Mark? I couldn't care less.

“Well,” I started, hoping I was playing this right. “I say cut Otterly’s position. Give his few accounts to one of us execs, and if he walks, he walks.”

“He’s done good work,” Hathaway offered.

“You can save a great deal by cutting the position. Promote one of the junior copywriters to Mark’s position. And for good measure, Parker here can take the open junior copywriter role.” Parker made a sound of surprise but did his best to recover.

“Biscotti boy?”

“He’s got the Andrew Reynolds seal of approval.” This meant a great deal. I had the most accounts out of all eleven execs. I also had the greatest renewal rates. “I’d be losing the world’s greatest assistant, but I’d do anything for Hathaway and Associates.”

“My great-niece did just graduate from Columbia,” Hathaway said. “I’m sure she’ll need help finding a job with a degree in art history.” If I had to deal with another nepo-baby, so be it. I was keeping my accounts and helping Parker advance in his career.

“Just think about it,” I said, ending our conversation. As we left his office, Martha entered. Before the door closed completely, I heard him mentioning that the board needed to convene after the holiday weekend to vote about an important matter. I had a good feeling that things were going to change for my little Biscotti Boy.

We did still manage to make it up to the house I rented. Fortunately, it was somewhat secluded, the houses pretty far apart from each other. They were only really visible to one another from the front yard. Parker had a long list of grocery items he needed, so our first stop after checking into the rental was the local supercenter. He was obviously grateful for what I’d done in Hathaway’s office, and he spent the weekend showing me that gratitude with his culinary skills and physical flexibility. My favorite memory from our trip would be how he’d gotten me on the floor after grilling some brats and making s’mores.

“Okay, so bend your knees,” he said, swinging his leg around my waist after tossing me a pillow for underneath my head. There wasn’t a ton of space between my bent knees and my bulging belly, but Parker fit there perfectly. He looked down at me as he sat atop my waist, sliding all nine inches of my penis inside himself. He rested his hands on my stomach. Their warmth penetrated me to my core.

I reached up to grab at his butt as he rode me. It felt good in my hands, and the thought of what it looked like as I fucked him had me salivating. Always the hard worker, Parker swiveled his hips back and forth rhythmically. His dick was angled upwards, sandwiched between the bottom of my gut and his flat stomach. He leaned forward slightly, his hands sliding up my stomach to my chest. He grabbed my slightly puffy nipples and pinched them gently. That intensified the pleasure I was feeling and I lifted him slightly by raising my legs, pushing myself deeper inside of his ass.

“Oh God,” he moaned, sitting straight up. He bounced up and down like this for nearly a minute before he came. His cum shot up his front, some landing on the floor and on my gut. The look of sheer pleasure on his face was intoxicating. That did it for me too, and had me shooting my load as well.

We stayed on the floor longer than intended. I couldn’t get up just yet, so he covered both of our naked bodies with a large blanket and cuddled up close to me. Losing him as my assistant was going to be tough, but moments like these would make up for it.

Returning to work on Tuesday was fine. I’d have preferred another week in a secluded lake house with Parker, but the real world was waiting for us. Antoinette was in rare form, flitting from assistant to assistant spreading gossip. She was Hathaway and Associates' very own Lady Whistledown, though a lot less discreet.

Before lunch, the board met to discuss the future of Mr. Otterly’s position. Antoinette made sure everyone knew how they voted, openly voicing her dismay that her good friend Mark would not be shifting to an executive role, as John Otterly’s position would be closed and his accounts redistributed amongst some of the remaining executives.

The ball was now in Mark’s court. He could keep his current job or he could quit. I was hoping for the latter, so Parker could shine in the field he’d gone to school for.

We worked all day and at exactly five we clocked out. We entered the elevator and Mark followed behind us. “That’s some shit you pulled Andy,” he spat. I noticed a cardboard box in his hands.

“You’re referring to what exactly?” I asked, feigning ignorance.

“Oh please,” he said. “You get a little ass from your assistant and you’re bending over backwards to get him a promotion. It’s pathetic, but it makes a lot of sense. Why else would he ever waste his time trying to find your dick under that massive gut?”

“You’re out of line,” I said, stepping towards him.

“He’s a sneak and you’re a gullible, desperate, sorry excuse for a professional.” He was upset, understandably, but his job had still been intact. He could’ve continued in his role as lead copywriter, a position I held for over four years before my promotion, and one day he’d be seen as ready to move up in the agency. He’d only been lead copywriter for a year and a half, a role in which he’d been given when the previous lead stepped down to take care of her newborn twins. Mark expected things to be handed to him without putting in the work. Now he was throwing a tantrum, and he wanted to take out his anger on us because he thought we were easy targets.

“Have you ever considered the fact that you just aren’t that likable?” I asked, staring down at him, forcing him into the corner of the elevator. “You’re talented, sure, but you are just so fucking hard to like. Hathaway knows this, the other execs know this. Why do you think it was so easy to encourage them to close Otterly’s position? They don’t want to work any more closely with you than they already do.”

I looked down at the cardboard box. Like a baby, he’d quit when he didn’t get his way. “Or should I say did?”

The elevator stopped on the main floor and the doors opened. Mark looked up at me and then over at Parker. “Fuck the both of you,” he said, pushing past me with slight difficulty. Parker looked pretty mortified, his entire face red with embarrassment.

My little ingénue. He was still very green, and I loved that about him, but I needed him to stand up for himself if he was going to survive in this industry. People made jokes or rude comments. There’d be backstabbing and petty office gossip. At the end of the day it didn’t matter. I was proof of that. There’d been talk about my weight for months, and I was still one of the most successful people on staff.

I’d for sure been in a slump before I met Parker, but I was becoming the man I’d been in my early twenties (metaphorically, not physically). There was a lot less self-doubt and self-loathing. I liked looking at myself in the mirror. I knew that I was good at what I did, and I knew I just needed to carry myself like I had when I was grinding as a junior copywriter.

“That was really intense,” he said. We’d slowed, pausing in a stairwell. We were halfway between the lobby and the underground parking garage. “I would never sleep with you for that. I swear that I would never do that.”

“I know.” I felt myself smiling. It made me feel good that he liked me so much. His first thought was how I felt. He was always looking out for me, and if he did get a new role as a copywriter, no assistant would ever live up to what he was capable of.

“I love you,” he said, looking at me seriously. I couldn’t believe he’d just said that to me. How we’d gotten to this point, I’d never fully grasp, but I was glad that we did.

“I love you too,” I said. We were silent for a moment, and I took the opportunity to joke with him. “And I have to say, what an elaborate scheme you pulled. The baked goods, the lunches, the head. All for a promotion. You’re truly a mastermind.”

He laughed, swatting me on the ass. “And this is only Phase One. Mu-ha-ha.”

“What’s Phase Two?”

“Hmm, I’ll let you know when I think of it.”

“Maybe you aren’t the mastermind I thought you were—”

“Shut up!” he said, laughing. “Now let’s get you something good to eat for defending my honor.”

A month later, Parker was officially offered a position as a junior copywriter. He’d taken me shopping for some summer clothing items—both work attire and casual items. The number of X’s on my shirts and shorts was a little shocking, but he did have a knack for picking flattering cuts and patterns. I may have been over 400 pounds, but I’d never looked more stylish.

“Are you ready yet?” Parker called from the living room. It was the last Saturday in June and all of Parker’s old roommates from California were in town for the last weekend of Pride and to celebrate his promotion.

“Yeah,” I called in response. I walked out of our bedroom. “But you’re sure you want me to wear this to meet your friends?”

“Oh, come on,” he said. “It’s just a pair of shorts and a polo. It’s not risqué.”

The shorts were much shorter than I’d buy for myself, but they did fit me very well. They were a good three inches above my knees. He saw them on some Instagram ad and bought me three different pairs. The polo was much more out of my comfort zone. It was cream-colored and a crochet knit. You could see glimpses of my brown skin through the hundreds of small holes that made up the shirt.

“But it seems like you guys want to dance and that’s not really my scene anymore. Can’t you all celebrate tonight and then we all meet up for brunch tomorrow?”

“Okay, what about we all meet up tonight and go out to brunch tomorrow morning?” he countered in rhetorical fashion. “And besides, if you don’t want to burn any calories, you can just have some bar food and a beer.”

“They have those soft pretzels there don’t they?”

“They sure do,” he said, handing me my keys. “Now let’s go please.”

Fortunately I was able to find a good parking spot not too far from the bar. I parked and we walked the block to Dudes. The day had cooled considerably, which I was grateful for. It’d been in the eighties, but it was only about seventy now that the sun had set. They asked to see Parker’s ID and then we made our way inside.

“Parker!” I looked for who had shouted his name. It was another Asian guy who was about Parker’s height.

“Yedam, hey!” Parker looked at me. “Andy, this is Yedam. Yedam, this is my boyfriend Andy.”

“Oh wow,” Yedam said, taking me in. He smiled, like he was trying to stifle a laugh. “Um, it’s nice to meet you.” He locked eyes with Parker, raising his eyebrows theatrically. Was this a good interaction or not? I was having trouble reading the situation. Two other guys made their way to where we stood, both holding drinks. One of the guys handed a glass to Yedam.

“Mike, Sam, this is my boyfriend Andy.” Mike was white and very blond. Sam was black, a little lighter than I was. Overall, they all had the same vibe as Parker. Very put-together, the same height and build.

“This makes sense,” Sam said, gesturing back and forth with his pointer finger between Parker and I.

“Oh yeah, a thousand percent,” Mike added.

I felt like I was missing something, but I was hopeful Parker would fill me in later. The guys all told me I was very handsome and very large. It wasn’t in a sarcastic way, or a flirtatious way even. They presented it like they were simply stating facts. I ordered my pretzels and a round of shots for Parker and his friends. They were all laughing and joking and hanging off of one another. It was almost enough to make me jealous, but I knew I was what Parker wanted. I didn’t need to worry about his friends.

After another shot Parker pulled me towards the crowded dance floor. “Ready?” he asked, leaning into me.

“I thought I was supposed to drink my beer and eat bar food.” I scanned the whole place; I was the biggest guy in the entire club.

“You’ve got all night to eat bar food. You can dance with me for a few minutes.” He started to move his body and I did too. I wasn’t a bad dancer; it was just something I tended to avoid. He turned slowly, his butt against my crotch.

It seemed like the music got faster and louder, and the entire time I couldn’t take my eyes off of Parker. He was absolutely gorgeous. I leaned down, kissing his neck. He lifted his arms, wrapping them around my neck. I stepped back and felt a foot under me.

“Shit, man, watch where you’re going! You’re gonna break someone’s foot!” This guy was drunk.

“What was that?” I asked. Six months ago, I’d have left the dance floor completely mortified. But now, why would I ever stop living my life because I took up just a little too much space? The world was a big place, and people would just have to make room for me.

“Nothing, nothing,” he said, adjusting his tone. “Just be more careful. Sorry.”

“That dude was an ass,” Parker said, turning to face me, resting his hands on my waist.

“As crowded as it is, I was bound to step on someone’s foot.” I leaned down so I didn’t have to shout this next part so loudly. “Although it does probably hurt a little more when the one doing the stepping is over 425 pounds.” Parker smiled at me, and I think it was a relief to him that I was being a good sport.

“Parker! Andy!” It was Sam waving us over to the bar.

He and the rest of Parker’s friends wanted to do another shot and my pretzels were waiting for me. “They were just delivered,” Yedam said. “And we didn’t want them to get cold.”

The rest of the night went pretty well. Parker was always so reserved and in control of himself, so it was nice to see him having fun and letting loose. They were all pretty toasted by midnight, and Mike drunkenly started talking about getting something to eat.

“Why did we drink so much?” he bemoaned, leaning against Yedam as we left the bar. “We should’ve gotten dinner before the bar.”

“You were the one convinced you were getting laid tonight,” Sam stated, stumbling right along next to them.

“Andy knows a place,” Parker said, leaning against me. “Isn’t Sub Daddy’s second location near here?”

“Uh, yeah, it is,” I offered. “I can drive, though you all better not puke.”

“We won’t!” they all sang in unison.

We made it to my Buick unscathed, and I made sure everyone was buckled up. Looking at Parker in the seat next to me and his three drunk besties in the back seat was hilarious to me. It looked like I’d kidnapped a bunch of intoxicated twinks.

“So did Parker used to bake a lot when you all lived together?” I asked, making conversation as we drove.

“Constantly,” Yedam said, sounding comically exasperated. “We had this neighbor.”

“Oh yeah!” Mike interjected. “Big Idris.”

“Your neighbor went by ‘Big Idris?’ Seriously?” I asked.

“Of course not!” Sam exclaimed, cracking up. “I think his real name was Tyler or something?”

“Tyson,” Parker clarified, his entire face and ears covered in a red blush that I didn’t think was entirely from the alcohol.

“Tyson, right,” Sam continued. “We called him Big Idris because he was hot like a young Idris Elba, but much bigger. I mean, not huge.” There was a slight pause, as if he was second guessing his next statement. “Like you’re way bigger than he was.”

“Okay, so he wasn’t fat-fat, got it.”

“So anyway, Big Idris was our neighbor across the hall. When we moved in at the start of our fall semester junior year, Parker baked little treats for everyone on the floor. Big Idris was the only one who came back asking for seconds.” The three of them roared with laughter. I could see where this story was going. Yedam continued the tale.

“It was just like when we were in the dorms. He didn’t have access to a kitchen, but Parker made sure this guy who lived on the floor above us never went without a snack. Insomnia Cookies should probably erect a statue in Parker’s honor. What was his name? Owen?”

“Yes, Owen,” Parker confirmed.

“So Owen, the ex-football player, ended the year having put on the freshman fifteen.”

“Plus fifteen,” Mike added.

“Plus fifteen,” Sam followed. They all cracked up again. Parker was definitely an anomaly to them. An oddity that made for interesting stories. Their sex lives were probably pretty tame compared to what Parker and I were into.

“Owen was nothing like Big Idris though,” Yedam said. “Those 45 pounds were nothing compared to the almost a hundred Big Idris gained living across the hall from us for two years.”

Mike spoke next, saying, “To be fair, it wasn’t all Parker. This guy liked to eat, and he was always ordering DoorDash or UberEats.”

“But Parker wasn’t innocent,” Sam said. “He baked him a different type of cookie at least three times a week.”

“What happened to Big Idris?” I asked, now extremely curious.

“His girlfriend moved in and Parker moved here to start his new job. She’s definitely helped him change his diet around. You can tell he’s lost some weight, not eating as much take-out. But he for sure doesn’t seem as happy as when Parker was visiting his apartment at two in the morning.”

“That’s a shame,” Parker said. Now that had me cracking up as I pulled into the Sub Daddy parking lot. Of course Parker would be upset to hear that all his hard work was being undone.

We went inside and ordered, and the four of them decided to split two sandwiches, which was funny because I ordered two sandwiches for myself. We sat and ate, the four of them passing tiny bags of chips back and forth to supplement their little sandwiches. After we finished eating I drove them back to their Airbnb. We made plans to meet up for brunch the next afternoon, and I was very interested to hear more about Parker as a sexy coed with feeder tendencies.

Parker was only slightly hungover the next morning. We hung out with his friends again in the afternoon. They mostly shared stories, while I mostly ate boujee brunch food. We said our goodbyes and they made plans to get together again soon. They all still lived in the old apartment, at least until their lease ended in the fall. Overall, the weekend had been a success, and I was sure Parker was excited to start his new position come Tuesday.

Monday he’d be training his replacement.

“So make sure his lunch is ordered at eleven so that he’s able to eat by noon,” Parker stated matter-of-factly.

He had been with my new assistant all morning. She was a nice girl, and I could tell she was already a little overwhelmed by all the things Parker expected her to remember. I think Parker was sad to be shifting to a new position, even though he was really excited to be doing what he dreamed of.

He would be on an entirely different side of the office. It was probably for the best that we had a bit of space from each other. We didn’t want to become one of those couples that couldn’t function without the other.

But still, he knew me better than anyone. I didn’t have to think about my next move because he’d already anticipate it.

“Parker, can I see you in my office for a moment?” I asked.

“Yes, of course,” he said before turning his attention to my new assistant. “Nicolette, we can go over the best times to schedule Mr. Reynolds for a meeting after you get back from your break.” She couldn’t grab her purse fast enough. She was probably going to be updating her LinkedIn and putting in applications on Indeed.

“You need to go a bit easier on her,” I said once we were behind closed doors. “Remember that's Hathaway’s great-niece.”

“I didn’t have anyone to show me the ropes when I started,” he said. “I just want to make sure she knows what to do so things go smoothly for you.”

“I’ll be okay, babe.”

“Fine. I’ll dial it back.”

“So how about a quickie for old time’s sake?” He laughed, but he immediately loosened his tie.

I ended up seated behind my desk with my pants around my ankles. He was completely nude, claiming he didn’t want to chance getting a stain on his clothes. He kneeled in front of me and reached into my desk drawer. He grabbed a tiny bottle of lube. He squirted a moderate amount in his palm before wrapping his hand around my erection. He pumped my dick slowly, covering it with the lube.

I watched him stand with his back to me. I got to my feet, grabbing the bottle of lube from him and covering his hole with some of it, massaging it with my fingers. Being between his fat cheeks was always a pleasure. It was the only fatty part about him, and I loved grabbing his ass roughly in these moments. I bent my knees before angling my dick so there’d be a smooth entry and pushed my penis into him slowly. I leaned my body on top of him, my gut resting on his back as I rocked my hips back and forth. I felt his body relaxing as I found a good rhythm. I continued to thrust my hips and he did his best to stifle his moans.

“I’m your biggest success story,” I said breathily, pushing a bit more forcefully. “I just know your friends are going to be shocked the next time they see me.”

“Uh—” he whimpered, his knees buckling slightly.

“Say it,” I said. “Say that you’re gonna make me bigger.”

“I–I’m gonna make you bigger.” He tugged at his dick desperately. He wasn’t going to last much longer.

“500 isn’t that far off,” I said, not entirely believing it myself. Would he want me to get that big? He did tell me that I was the biggest person he’d ever been with. Could he handle that? Could I?

“Oh fuck!” he panted, doing his best to catch his cum in his hand. I gave a few final pushes before filling him with my cum. I pulled myself from inside of him and we both got cleaned up. He got dressed, looking positively pristine, like nothing lewd had just taken place in my office.

That’s when he turned to me and said, “I hope you’re ready for lunch.”

He had a look in his eye that let me know our sex talk wasn’t just talk. Parker had goals, and I liked a man with motivation.

I sure knew how to hire ‘em.

The End!

#gainer stories #gainer story #gainerstory #gainer fiction #gainer fic #gainerfic #fatfiction #gay feedee #gay feeder #weight gain

128 notes · View notes

equallyshaw · 11 months

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its always been you | jack hughes.

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blurb + social media edit.

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jack hughes x mid size oc.

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Warnings: self esteem issues, low confidence, guys being assholes, some sexual themes. alluding to sex.

Word count: 4.06K

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'it's always been you'

jack was a lot of things you could say, but he was most importantly blairs best friend since he moved to canton years ago. she grew up across the street from the ever chaotic hughes boys, who somehow always pulled her and her brother out of the house.

or at least he was her best friend, once he left for the show; messages and facetimes stopped. her family moved away shortly to san diego after she began her freshman year at university of southern california, double majoring in pre law and political science. she slowly but surely over the course of the years had begun to faze him out of her life, knowing full well he got rid of her too. blair recently graduated from USC with manga cum laude and decided to consider the possibility of moving to new york to start her life. her older brother joey had been out there for 6 years already, with college and now his professional career. and so here she was, two suitcases packed for two full weeks of sightseeing and potential job hunting in the city.

she strolled out of jfk, looking for her brother who stood waiting beside his car and once the two found one another they quickly jogged over to one another. "hey sis, glad you made it in safety!" he said taking the two suitcases from the girl, to put in the trunk. she hopped in the driver side, quickly connecting her phone to the Bluetooth. "couldn't wait 2 secs could you?" he joked, as he hopped in hearing olivia rodrigo blaring. "nah." she grinned, letting her parents know she was with her brother. "coffee?" he mused, and she nodded excitedly. "ya know it." she smiled.

•

she had been here 2 days already and had done some sightseeing with her brother on the first day, and then yesterday explored lower manhattan and had stopped in to see where her brother worked, in the financial district. tonight though, they were going to be going out with some of his friend group and she was nervous. she hated being in a room of people in public no less without meeting them first one on one, but he promised her they were cool and very chill. besides, they were excited to meet the young girl who kept him on his toes. and the one who always had a joke to say. she sat down at the vanity an hour before they had to leave and quickly did some natural makeup and loose waves, before picking out a black crop long sleeve, short black faux leather skirt, black ankle boots and a small green purse. she walked out to the living room greeting her brother's girlfriend who smiled widely. "ouuu yes! i love the outfit blair!" she said genuinely and blair blushed. "you look great, i love it! you are gonna rock it." mogan spoke softer so just she could hear it and blair nodded, and thanked her for the support. she had changed over the course of four years and her body changed drastically. her 5'2 figure took a hit and that in turn lowered her self esteem and confidence within herself. she had been invited over the years to visit two friends at university of michigan but felt so poorly of herself, she never went. she didn't want anybody to see how much she'd change, even went as far to make a new instagram. besides, she had a whole new life out in california and that made it easier for her to never look back. and lets be honest, she didn't want jack or his brothers to see how she looked. she had adored the middle child the three years she knew him and once things started to change, she knew she could never be enough for him.

morgan grabbed ahold of the girl's hand as they walked towards the restaurant in greenwhich village. "have you guys been here before?" blair questioned as they quickly went to their usual seats. morgan nodded, "yeah all the time!" she beamed. the three walked towards the back, their friends all jumping up to greet the sister. "hi I'm jackson, nice to meet the girl who keeps him on his toes!" the dark haired man said causing her to laugh, "ofcourse! blair nice to meet you jackson!" she said hugging him back quickly. "I'm jackie! i work with morgan, nice to finally meet you! heard so much about ya. by the way, i love the outfit!!!" jackie said hugging the girl, and blair smiled thanking her. she moved on to three other people, two girls and a guy and then she sat down next to her brother. "has he convinced you yet to move here full time?" aaron questioned and she shook her head at the tall redhead. "nah not yet, though I'm sure its coming." she giggled, and the rest laughed. the waiter came over to collect drink orders, and she ordered a cranberry vodka and water. "where do you wanna work again?" her brother asked and blair smiled, "either go to law school to become yknow a lawyer or in a government agency. not too sure yet." she said shrugging and the others nodded. "well I'm sure jackson could hook you up, he works for town hall." and jackson shrugged nodding. "yeah, its a nice gig." he said. the group fell into a comfortable conversation, and trying to get to know the girl a bit more.

two hours later, they decided to head up to upper east side to go to a club, and so they made the almost hour treck up from Greenwich village. they ended up at one that the group frequented and once they got inside, joey took blair up to the bar to get drinks. the two stood there conversing as they waited for the drinks. that's when she saw him. no, not jack but the knock off kurt russell who played in california. somehow, she'd avoided him despite her parents living in the same area as him. trevor did a double take to the siblings before clapping his hand on joey's shoulder, causing blair to look up and catch trevors eye. "hey man, whats up?" joey said turning around and bro hugging with him. "good good, playing in the best league is more than i could ask!" trevor said cheekily and joey nodded, turning back to blair. trevor looked at blair as if she was somebody he'd never met before, "is this your girl?" trevor asked somewhat crass. blair shook her head, "no this is blair!" joey said looking at trevor like he was an idiot. "oh my god blair! how are you?! i didn't even recognize you." trevor said now realizing his mistake and blair took that to heart. she swallowed hardly, trying to not cry. she cursed her damn sensitivity. "i-im alright." she said smiling weakly, before looking over and seeing the tray of drinks. "good seeing you man." joey said somewhat crass, annoyed with the hockey player. "yeah, you too! is it true your parents are in newport?" he asked and joey nodded before walking off with blair. trevor stood their for a brief few seconds before taking drink and rushing back to the group.

blair chugged her cranberry vodka, surprisingly fast. joey watched as she did so, and then went to take a shot of tequila. she coughed as it finished going down, and he clapped her back a few times. "I'm gonna get another one." she said and joey wrapped an arm around her, not allowing her too. "no you're not getting drunk..at least not yet." he winked and she rolled her eyes. "come on lets go dance, girly!" morgan said pulling the girl out to the dance floor. ofcourse dancing queen had to be on, and the girl jumped in a circle along with jackie and annabelle the other girl that was jackson's girlfriend.

as soon as trevor reached the group that consisted of quinn, luke, jack, alex, cole, pk and a few other players in their group. "yo guys you wont believe i just saw at the bar!" he said freaking out, and some of the guys laughed. "who?" alex questioned throwing an arm over his shoulder. "joey and blair anderson!" he said breathlessly. "woah calm down their bud." alex joked laughing, as the three hughes searched the crowd for the siblings. once blair left right after the draft to move with her parents to california, joey fell off the face of the planet as well. quinn and joey had been the closest due to age and playing for usndtp together, and so that had hurt him as well. "where is she? i see joey but not her." jack said looking at trevor and trevor searched the crowd too. "she looks completely different, i thought she was his girlfriend." and then he found her. trevor pointed towards the quartet of girls, and jack needed no confirmation of which one was which. the same dark hair that sometimes crept up in his dreams was the same as when they were in highschool. he took in how much she had changed physically and absolutely adored the softness of her hips that peeked out from her cropped sweater. the subtle roundness of her cheeks, with her dimples ever present.

"damn shes changed." cole said and jack could feel the judgeness of his voice, as he finished that statement. "so?" jack said feeling himself getting angry and then cole recognized his mood changing. "like it fucking matters." quinn said hitting cole in the chest, understanding what cole was trying to say. "I'm getting another drink." jack said standing up and walking towards the bar. back on the dance floor, blair craved another cranberry vodka and pulled morgan over with her. "hi, can i please have a cranberry vodka!" blair asked and they nodded, putting it on joeys tab. blair and morgan talked at the bar, not realizing that jack was on the other end of it downing two shots. "thankyou!" blair said taking the drink and shot that was put down in front of the two. the two clinked the glasses together and once on the bar before throwing them back. blair coughed again and laughed as morgan's face grimaced. as soon as jack heard the coughing, he looked down and realized that blair was inches from him. now or never he thought, as she was about to walk off. "blair!" he said but she didn't hear him, he took two big steps and called her once again and she froze, before turning around. who could possibly know me here, she asked herself. she turned around jack and her eyes went wide. "blai-" he said once more, reaching out a hand before she speed off with morgan back to the table. jack caught joey's eye and his eyes went wide as well before turning his attention back to blair. jack stood there seeing if joey would walk over, but he didn't. instead the two of them plus morgan calling it a night.

•

it was the next morning and blair was staring at the ceiling of the guest bedroom. she groaned rolling over, and pushing her face into the pillow. she hadn't been able to get jacks shocked face out of her head the whole night. she had had a nightmare about the summer she left for california with her parents, and he had forgotten her birthday. she didn't realize she was crying until she heard a sob tumble out of her, as her mind with self doubts. she sat up, crying into her hands and thanked the universe her brother and his girlfriend had left for brunch awhile ago. she declined their invitation and said she just wanted to sleep. she wiped her tears, and got out of bed throwing on a sweater and a pair of black leggings and her birkenstocks on. she decided she needed some coffee and a breakfast sandwich to lift her mood just a bit. she walked out of her brothers apartment and headed down to starbucks on the corner. she took in the sights, smells and sound of saturday early afternoon. she thanked the person that opened the door for her, and headed to the line quickly. she got her usual cold brew and sausage sandwich, and sat down at the table by the window. she scrolled through tiktok, trying her very hardest to laugh like a maniac in public.

about 30 minutes into her stay, she felt somebody staring but she pushed it away. not wanting to give anybody her undivided attention. she stood up a few minutes later, and headed towards the trash to throw away her garbage. as she was about to open the door, somebody did it for her. she looked up at the blue eyes she had once adored. she sighed seeing trevor and cole accompanying the player. she walked out quickly, heading back to her brothers apartment. she was close to the door once she heard her name. she rolled her eyes knowing it was jack, and so she slowed down a bit and waited for him to catch up. "blair!" he said finally reaching her and stepped in front of her. her eyebrows creased, looking up at him. all 5'11 of him. "yes?" she questioned, crossing her arms across her chest. he knew that nervous tick she had done from the very first time they met. "uh- how are you doing?" he asked, pushing some hair out of his face. she rolled her eyes, and continued her trek towards the front door of the apartment building. "wait blair!" he said pulling her arm, and she yanked it back. "hi how are you doing? after four years jack, seriously? fuck off." she breathed, turning back. "hey you didn't reach out either, ok?" he said and she stopped looking back at him. "i congratulated you, you ass. i texted you the night you got drafted and never got a response, jack. so that's on you, not me." she seethed, and he realized that he'd been in the wrong. "i cried every night that summer, in a scary and strange new place and you- you didn't even reach out once my parents dropped the move on your parents." she said feeling tears pool her eyes. "all i wanted was my best friend and you didn't care enough about me it seems, which is on me." she said before turning back to the door. "blair please." he pleaded. she opened it and looked back at jack who stood there processing everything. "come on jack." she said holding the door for him, and he quickly took the chance.

•

she set her coffee down on the kitchen counter and placed her hands on her hips, trying to figure out what she wanted to say. "i'm sorry i didn't respond, I'm sorry i never reached out to you or said happy birthday. i know that's on me, there's no excuse for it. i didn't find out you moved until august when we came back to for a michigan game, and my parents told us. they'd kept it from us because they didn't want to tell us over text, but in person. i realized that i had tested fate, thinking you'd be home waiting for me. and - and i guess i was heartbroken that you didn't tell me yourself. i was losing my best friend and somebody i - i had fallen for.. in one moment." he sighed as he paused, biting his lip. blair turned around at his confession, did he really just say that? he met her eye, as she processed it. "it doesn't matter anymore jack, im not that same girl. hell, i haven't been that same girl since i left. things changed pretty quickly for me freshman year, and i-i- im not meant to be in your life clearly." she said pinching her nose. "whats that supposed to mean? why arent you supposed to be in my life?" he asked, stepping towards her and invading her space. he grabbed ahold of her hands, and she pulled them back. she shook her head, looking at the floor. "im not the kind of girl you're supposed to be seen with." she said sadly, "look at me jack. i changed in more than one way when i moved...and have fought so many battles just to be standing here today. one's you can't fathom." she said shutting her eyes, "haven't you realized its always been you?" he whispered and she reopened her eyes to look up at him. "what?" she said barely coming out as a whisper. he smiled softly chuckling a bit, "you are your hardheadedness could never see how hard i was trying to get you to realize i liked you more than as a friend. i was trying so hard, the guys couldn't help but laugh at every attempt. calling me a fool knowing you'd never realize until i said something." he said shaking his head as if he couldn't believe the years he spent pining over her. "wait what?" she said looking into his eyes. "you thought i was just being nice? oh no..I'm not that nice to just anybody" he said laughing and she shook her head blushing. "you fool! you idiot!" she said slapping his chest, somewhat angry and somewhat sad. he grabbed ahold of her hands again and pulled them into his chest, "its always been you bean, i have never once stopped thinking about you, even if you did change your Instagram and slip off the face of the earth. i still never stopped, you can ask my brothers." he said inching closer to her face. she blinked twice before biting the inside of her cheek, "but I'm not right for you." she said frustratedly. he shook his head, "i like this version of you blair, don't sell yourself too short. i know i will absolutely adore you, bean. i promise you that." he said before placing his lips on hers. their lips felt as if they had kissed a million times before. she moved her hands up to his neck, desperate to be as close as possible. he wrapped his arms around her hips before moving to her lower back. they pulled apart, resting their foreheads against one another's, catching their breaths.

tears pooled both of their eyes as they looked at one another, "I've thought about doing that for years." he said cheekily and she grinned, "I've been waiting for that for years too." she hummed before reconnecting them.

•

one last hurrah was planned to michigan before the season started and jack invited her to his and his brother's lake house near where they grew up. she had met up with the three of them the day before they planned to leave for brunch. "i-i don't know." she said leaning back in her chair. "go have fun, ill still be here when you wanna come back." joey said from beside her, "there its been decided." quinn smiled lightly clapping his hands together.

•

jack took ahold of blair's hand as they walked through detroit airport, walking towards baggage claim. "I'm nervous." she whispered to him as they waited. he wrapped his arm around her shoulder and looked at her in the eyes, "you have no idea how much they've missed you hun. everything will be great." he said kissing her temple. she nodded, resting her head against his chest. they made it out 15 minutes later and searched for ellen and jimmy's car. once they heard that blair was coming into town, they quickly volunteered to pick them up. once ellen found luke in the crowd, she saw quinn then jack and then on the girl she had always considered her daughter. jimmy found them as well and smiled at ellen once he saw that her and jack were holding hands. "blair!" ellen smiled widely, wrapping her arms around the girl. blair was transported back to one of the first hugs she had received from the queen herself and melted. "i've missed you so much babygirl!" she whispered before pulling back to inspect the 5'2 girl. "don't hound her." jimmy joked, and blair smiled before hugging him. jimmy had also considered the young girl their daughter, a testament to the amount of time she spent over at the house. blair stepped back, right to jacks side as they all put the luggage in the back. luke hopped in first, with quinn in the back and then jack and her sat in the middle seats. they drove towards the lakehouse.

•

jack gave a tour to blair, and she could only imagine how much fun the three had here during the offseason. it was definitely a bachelors pad, with the amount of boyish and frat items they possessed. "this is your room." jack said opening the guest room door and she saw her luggage. she nodded softly before thanking him. "its late i should start getting ready for bed." she said and he nodded before walking out. she sat on the bed placing her head in her hands. she took in the very clean and crisp guestroom, knowing full well ellen had her hand in here at some point. blair quickly got ready for bed, and then tossed and turned for two hours not being able to fall asleep. especially knowing jack was down the hall, mere feet away from her. the summer after they moved to canton, her and his family went out to new hampshire and spent a month out there living with them. and there were many nights the two fell asleep in each others arms, one or the other not wanting to go back to their bed after talking for hours. jack down the hall was tossing and turning as well, thinking about the same thing. he was about to get up when he heard a soft knock at his door, before it opened. he heard the familiar soft feet of blairs. she had an oversized trojan t-shirt draping over her small frame, as she finally came into view. the moonlight cascading into the bedroom windows, allowing him to see all of her. "i couldn't sleep." she said and he got up, "me neither." he now stood in front of her, and she could feel the familiar warmth of him as he did so. the familiar chest of the hockey player, directly in her eyesight. "i had a feeling you'd be up, bean." he hummed smirking and she rolled her eyes. "what can i say, i missed my twin." she mused looking up at him. "its a good thing i missed you too." he said pulling her in by the cheeks and kissing her. they moved in sync towards the bed, molten with newfound freedom and feelings.

she sat back on the edge of the bed, jack coming in between her legs and then moving her further into the bed. they parted for a brief second, "are you sure?" he questioned and she nodded before she reconnected the two's lips. jack wasted no time in taking her shirt off and then her shorts, but slowly took her all in as if they'd never be in this situation again. "you are a fuckin goddess." he spoke into her neck, planting a few kisses down it. her back arched softly, wanting more of him. she pressed a kiss into his lips as things progressed into more.

•

the two laid in each other's arms, the sun now rising. jack had spent time whispering sweet nothings and sweet words that made her heart swell, for the past two hours. they also spent time talking about what they had missed in the past few years, and talked about their future and what they wanted to do. together and separately. she now had her head on his chest, and was looking up at him. "i want you to come to jersey, i don't care if its fast or careless but i cant go anymore without you. i don't think my heart could handle it." he said softly and she smiled. "thankfully i planned on heading out there." she grinned now, as he smiled. he placed a kiss on her lips once more, entangling once again.

•

@jackhughes: look who showed up just in time for the season.

tag: blairanderson

104k likes, 23.7k comments.

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@_quinnhughes: just like old times 🫣🥹

@lhughes_06: mom can u come pick me up pls

@jackhughes: sorry not sorry

@joeyanderson: I guess all is right in the world

@elhughes: it’s is Joey!

@blairanderson: jackyyyy

@jackhughes: blairrrr

@alexturcotte: missed you blair bear !

@blairanderson: missed u too turcs 🫶🏻

@mattboldy: holy crap it actually happened

@blairanderson: it did !!

@fanone: it’s so dry in here

@fantwo: awe she looks so sweet

@colecaufield: happy for you guys!

@jackhughes has liked comment.

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@blairanderson: i could get used to this

Tag: jackhughes

233 likes, 66 comments. (Private account)

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@joeyanderson: gross

@morgansmith: omg i love this !!!!

@joeyanderson: babe no

@blairanderson: I love u morgs!

@camyork: bean!!!!! Oh my god

@blairandersond hi cam cam!

@alexturcotte: I still bet u could still beat him at cards

@blairanderson: I reckon I could 🤝🏻

@jackhughes: it’s on babe!

@elblue: so glad to have you back in the family sweetie!

@blairanderson: me too!!

@jackhughes: I think we should hang one of these up in the condo

@lhughes_06: pls no

@blairanderson: I have so many ideas !!!

@alexvlasic: blair bear omg you posting again?!

@blairanderson: vlassy yes! Ended my hiatus (:

@brendan.brisson: awe my favs

@blairanderson: 🫶🏻

@trevorzegras: happy for you two!!

@blairanderson has liked comment

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Hope you all enjoyed— please like and reblog if you did!!

Random tags: @huggybug @slafgoalskybaby @cuttergauthier @skatesnstuff @boldysswld @makarhughes @itsnotgray

#Jack hughes #Jack hughes x oc #jack hughes blurb #Jack hughes imagine #jack hughes fic #hockey #nhl #nhl fic #hockey bkurb #hockey fic #hockey imagine #nhl blurb #Quinn hughes

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the-ace-with-spades · 3 months

Text

Tw implied mpreg but it started with the idea of having hangster daughter be a matchmaker for her dumb dads and escalated with a whole backstory of how it got to that

Jake and Bradley meet when they're younger — Bradley just found out Mav pulled his papers and is taking a gap year traveling around and Jake is in his last year in high school when a guy from Cali starts working in his mama's diner. (for the purpose of this idea, the age gap between them is 1, max 2 years). They become close pretty quickly and bond over their goal to enter the USNA/become naval aviators. Soon, they started dating — it was the burn bright and fast romance type but it was genuine.

Come the time when the USNA acceptance letters come and they both get in. They've been together over nine months and had talked about all the things they wanted to accomplish in USNA and in the Navy and so when Bradley finds out he's pregnant, he can't make himself tell Jake — he was so excited about the academy, already basically had his whole life planned, and there was no place in it for teenage pregnancy. He likes to think that Jake would try to be there for them (and therefore resign from USNA since he wouldn't be able to visit or work in the academy) but he's also scared he wouldn't. So he doesn't tell him.

Bradley pretends he's changed his mind, that he's going to enter NROTC and they're going to meet in the pre-flight pipeline, and goes to college to his second choice (UVA) and completely cuts contact with Jake despite the promise. Clean break so Jake can live the life they both dreamed about. Jake turns the devastation into anger but he never really moves on.

Bradley is studying at UVA on partial scholarship, working two part-time jobs, and has everything planned — due date in the winter break, two weeks off, and then back to work and school. Ice and Mav realize he didn’t go to USNA mid autumn semester — Mav hoped them not interfering with the re-admission would be like an olive branch and Bradley’d forgive him. One way or another, they find out where he is — the baby is born the day they visit his apartment, a good few weeks early.

Shit gets complicated, Bradley is off school and off work for a few weeks, gets kicked out of both, basically. Mav interferes, Bradley flies to California with them as soon as he and his daughter are fit, and Bradley starts working part-time again, waiting to return to college in the next year.

Bradley does eventually become a naval aviator, with major help from Mav and Ice. He gets into college close to home and enters NROTC while Mav and Ice take care of his daughter, Angel, whenever he needs to go and promise to take her in whenever he'd need to be deployed in the future. She stays mostly with Ice when he’s deployed, often sitting in his office and going to meetings with him.

Fast forward to years later, Jake finds out Bradley is a naval aviator after all when they meet at Top Gun (he’s a couple of years ahead in his career than Bradley). He's hoping that he can get some explanation on the radio silence years before and the whole romance thing between them can be renewed. He finds out Bradley has a kid first, before they can talk, and he assumes he's moved on with someone who isn't Jake and has a kid with them as well. Cue Jake being a bigger ass than usual, basically giving Bradley the cold shoulder and cutting any of Bradley's attempts to talk (and taste the waters) short. Bradley assumes it's better the way it is and that his decision all those years ago was right — Jake has the life he wants.

When they meet at Top Gun again, not much changes. Jake still has a bit of a grudge but that day at the Hard Deck, Bradley isn't there and when the aviators are chatting, Nat mentions he was deployed and went straight to his daughter when he landed and isn't leaving her the whole day. And Jake makes some sort of remark about how Bradley's kid and partner must be happy about the special detachment and Nat just looks at him weird like, you know Bradley doesn't have a partner, never has, he's been a single parent for years. Jake feels, well, dumb, but he still hasn't figured out that he's the baby daddy and all, he just thinks he could've been a step dad all those years he's thought Bradley had someone.

In the end, Bradley tells him the night before the mission. They're on the carrier and Bradley visits his cabin and they sit down on Jake's bunk and have a talk. And Bradley tells him that he has a daughter, she'll be twelve in November, her name is Angelica but lately she's been telling everyone to call her Angie, that Bradley didn't tell him because he didn't want to mess up his plans and dreams for life. That if he doesn't come back, he wants him to know her and have a chance to be her dad.

[Now, the part that was the first bit that came into my mind.]

Things are awkward between them after the mission. Jake meets Angie and it's not okay straight away (she's got questions, why wasn't he there all those years, why did Bradley not tell him, what will he do now). Things are even more awkward when she asks if this means he's Bradley's boyfriend now and he answers yes, while Bradley says no. And logically, yes, they haven't talked about it and it's been twelve years and he assumed. But this is Bradley and they have a daughter together.

Slowly, they try to acclimate to the situation. First, Bradley goes to all the meet-ups Jake has with Angie, mostly because while he trusts Jake, he knows Angie is a bit wary and he wants her to be comfortable, so they go as a three or spend the time in Bradley’s house. Sure, it’s not all straightforward, Angie is a bit angry with Bradley and it takes some mitigating from Jake (and self-restraint, because Jake is kinda pissed with Bradley as well but he doesn’t want it to affect Angie), but once she forgives him, she starts being carefully enthusiastic about having another dad, and it feels like a family. It’s still summer break so they go to the beach, every tourist spot imaginable, and Angie is currently on a marine biology kick so they go anywhere that has related topics. Jake takes her flying, Bradley stays on the ground, and when Angie says it was fun and she wants to do it again, Jake realizes Bradley let him be the first person to take her up in the air. On the lazier, hotter evenings, they stay inside with multitudes of fans running and Bradley making them gazpacho and sundaes, playing board games and cards.

And you know, there comes a time when Jake is checking that Angie has everything she needs to go to the aquarium and they are at the porch and Bradley gives Angie a kiss and says he’ll see them later and Jake realizes he’s not going. You know, I thought you guys are ready to go alone, just the two of you. Isn’t this what you told me, Angel? And sure enough, Angie agrees that she is okay to go with Jake but you can see she gets really quiet once they get into the car. And Jake is all like, you know we don’t have to go alone if you don’t want to. And she denies it but Jake prods and prods until she admits she heard her grandpa talk to daddy about how he can use the free time to date again. And obviously, Jake is a bit curious so she talks to him about the people who Bradley dated in the past twelve years on the way to the aquarium, and Jake doesn’t get the full picture (she only talks about 3 people and there’s no way it’s all) and has this irrational fear that Bradley is on a date the whole time they’re out. Obviously there’s no date (Angie didn’t hear the part where Mav was making fun of how the only person Bradley wants to date will be on daddy-daughter date…) and when they come back, Bradley is elbows deep in weeding the garden. They have some slushies together and both he and Angie breathe easier but Jake doesn’t stop being kinda bothered that Bradley no longer goes with him and Angie.

Why are you and daddy not together? Do you not like him like that anymore? And how do you explain it all to a kid? Jake tries to go through with the kid-friendly parents don’t have to be together to love their kid and be friendly and she’s like, I’m twelve not five, I know that. So he just tells her the truth, that he likes her daddy very much but sometimes things get complicated and he doesn’t want Bradley to feel pressured. But he’s really happy when you’re around?

The first time Angie calls him dad without prompting/a minute of hesitation, they’re talking about this again when he’s taking her to the cinema at the mall. She asks again why don’t you just ask him out? Daddy always says people need to use their words if they want something and it’s on point and endearing, but he just tries to brush it off and tell her he and Bradley just met again and it’ll take some time. You need to put the work in, dad is what she tell him, all cheeky. I’ll help you.

(Jake doesn’t know this, but any chance she has, she’s prodding Bradley about this as well. And sure, Bradley has a lot of leftover feeling for Jake, but he thinks it’s better if he doesn’t act on them — he still feels guilty about disappearing and he feels like Jake was just a bit overwhelmed at the beginning and that’s why he wanted to jump in where they left. Now that they cooled off and the whole co-parenting thing is working, he’s surely calmed down on the idea. )

Next time Jake takes Angie out to buy her some new shoes for school, they’re all done when she decides, we’re going to buy stuff for your date with daddy. And sure enough, she’s got a whole plan — he needs to buy nicer clothes (You can’t wear another plaid shirt, dad) and get Bradley a gift and some flowers (he likes sunflowers but they never grow right in our garden) and tells Jake he needs to buy a picnic basket and get some nice food when she tells him to.

It’s all set in motion, by Angie. She texts Jake to come and pick her up (daddy will think we’re going to the beach) and take her to Mav’s, where she will stay the night when Jake will put the work in.

He doesn’t believe he’s got himself talked into this by a twelve year old, but sure enough, an hour after he picked Angie up, he’s back at Bradley’s house, sunflowers and Bradley’s favorite chocolates in hand, full picnic basket in his car. And sure enough, when Bradley opens the door, all doubt just disappears.

They go on a date. They talk. Jake takes Bradley back home and Bradley asks him if he wants to stay the night. Things get rekindled.

He stays the night and just kinda, well, never leaves.

(Meanwhile, Angie and Mav make a whole presentation about how this means she should either get a baby sister or a puppy. You know, because if Jake moves in with them, that means they will have the time and energy and the extra helping hands for either — maybe even both. And Mav would love a second grandkid or a puppy, he’s not picky, especially now that he’s retired.)

#hangster daughter being the real one here #im sorry this was long and silly but 🤷🏼#hangster #tgm #bradley rooster bradshaw #jake hangman seresin #bit of a #mavdad #tw mpreg (implied)

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hologramcowboy · 2 months

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The whole Danneel + LSU thing is so sketchy. I can’t find any mention of what year she graduated. We’ve never seen pictures from that time period. She’s only mentioned her college experience a few times (mostly party stories of course). She’s not listed as a notable alumni despite there being a very low bar for who they consider notable. She’s not in the 2001 Gumbo yearbook, the year she would have graduated from a 4 year program. I’ve tried looking at the ones from 2002 and 2003 in case she graduated late, but they don’t have a clear list of graduates. Still trying to find commencement programs from those years to see if she’s on them. Her Wikipedia doesn’t mention any education, only third party/rate websites do (the OTH forum says she majored in Beat Poetry, which is very much not a real major). The closet thing to proof is that she was mentioned on an LSU alumni forum/board back in 2008 when she did her spread for Maxim, and a Louisiana Life article from the same year that says she went for Mass Communications. And those obviously aren’t super reliable sources.

My guess is that she did go to LSU, but she didn’t graduate. At least semester or two because that was what was expected of her, and then she moved to California to try to become famous. Mommy and Daddy will only pay for the Studio City apartment if you give college a try first type of thing. Then to try and counteract her bitchy and promiscuous image, she pretended to be the only college graduate in the OTH cast.

It would also make sense that she went to LSU because her foot in the door to the WB/CW was the show What I Like About You, and one of the creators went to LSU (the same show was also run by several creeps known for their love for the casting couch, but that’s a whole other rabbit hole. Crazy that almost every single role D has ever had can be traced back to a creepy dude who gave her the role in exchange for sexual favors).

If it helps, this is the only mention I found from a more official source The Eunice News or whatever it is called.

For all the articles I found, none showed her actually attending OR graduating. The timeline doesn’t match anyway because articles immediately switch to her career in acting and so it seems she merely enrolled and then moved to L.A.

Notice how her mom talks about Danneel and how even she lies, claiming her daughter has standards ( we all saw what she did with her career)

This article also helps you get a sense how involved she was with Riley, they were building a life together way before Jensen came along.

Since we can see her mom completely lie about Danneel in this article, we can conclude that the apple doesn’t fall from the tree. Religious girls don’t do soft porn scenes, I’ll stop here because the rest is obvious.

[edit] Forgot to mention that Clownana was the first set J and D met on. You do the math from there.

#anti danneel #anti danneel ackles #anti elta #anti danneel harris

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flimflamfandom · 7 months

Text

Flimflamuniverse Character Breakdown!

Have you ever been reading one of my fics and asked something like-

"Whaddya MEAN Freckle has an accent?"

"Why do they end up in Hollywood?"

"Who's Rocky dating, anyway!?"

Well WONDER NO MORE! This post is the comprehensive list for all yer Flimflamfandom character quirk questions!

Essentially all of the changes are character based, but we will be talking about slight setting differences as well.

Let's dive in!

THE SETTING:

Most of the setting is exactly the same - late 20s St. Louis!

HOWEVER -

During later period stuff (anything from 1929 onward) several of the characters have taken up roots and gone to Hollywood! This has to do with various career moves that take place over the duration of the AU

Significant parts of Calvin's story now take place in Cork, Ireland - this will be explained more in depth later.

IT SHOULD BE NOTED that by the time my AU takes place, the Daisy has picked up significantly in business.

THE CHARACTERS:

It's important to note that NONE OF THE CHARACTERS' CRIMINAL ATTRIBUTES WERE REVEALED UNTIL AROUND THE MID 70S, and by then, the shock and horror of this sort of thing were replaced with fascination.

CALVIN MCMURRAY:

1909-1939

Calvin's childhood is the same, up until the nebulous "incident" that gets Rocky kicked out of home. Because of this, Nina gets a bit spooked, and sends Calvin to finish his basic schooling in County Cork, Ireland. He completes his schooling, and comes back home just in time for the "event" at the police academy.

During his time at the Daisy, Calvin becomes very interested in writing, and begins writing for the Times Dispatch about baseball games. He eventually begins writing screenplays when he moves with Ivy to California. He writes 3 novels, 2 short story collections, and 3 books of poems, on top of 4 screenplays. He's a busy guy!

Unfortunately, sometime around 1936, he develops a form of tail cancer. He dies in 1939, just 10 days shy of his 30th birthday.

QUIRKS: -Calvin has an accent! He's a cork boy. He sounds like a Cork boy. -By the time of his death, Calvin has a son, named Finn.

IVY PEPPER:

1909-1999

Ivy's childhood and such don't change much at all. 'Cept a secret that has to do with Mitzi, but shh! It's a secret!

Ivy is majoring in mathematics at college, and she's MAJORING majoring in it. her specialty seems to be advanced algebra - ring theory, nonlinear algebra, stuff like that. She slowly starts to see herself doing less and less in the field, but she always keeps an interest in it, attends conferences, etc.

The thing that REALLY interests Ivy, though, is her theater course. She takes one as an arts credit and LOVES it! She turns out to be kind of a prodigy on stage! She does some more acting here and there, and happens to meet a producer of films in 1929, after she's changed names to Ivy McMurray. She drags Calvin out to Hollywood with her, and stars in at least a dozen films, winning awards for quite a few of them!

By her retirement from acting in the 1960s, (her last picture netted her an award, by the way) she began to help get all of her old things from the Daisy together, and turn them into a museum, called the Daisy Club Museum. She helped run and fund the museum until her death in 1999, just 2 weeks into the age of 90.

QUIRKS: -Won 5 Oscars - 3 best supporting, 2 best actress. -Contributed her skills and research to at least 3 Algebra textbooks, -Never remarried after Calvin - she was quoted as saying "He'll love me when I get where he is, too."

ROCKY RICKABY:

1904-1989

Rocky's time at the Daisy is marred by his failed romances. He swears he must be the most unlovable person on earth! In the AU, I used to have an OC set aside for him, but nowadays I keep it vague and just say he has a wife and kids. ANYHOW, after the Daisy, Rocky manages to recover a tad from his head wound, and, get this - became a comedian. He even had a circuit of all the speakeasies.

Rocky did need a job after all of that though, and ended up, eventually, in broadcasting, which turned into being a comedian, which turned into his own radio show, which turned into a television show in the early days of TV. Rocky moved out to Hollywood and accidentally bought the house right next to Ivy and Calvin's.

A man with a good reputation, even AFTER it came out that he was a serious gangster, Rickaby died peacefully in 1989, at the age of 85.

QUIRKS: -Rocky was a staunch civil rights, woman's rights, and gay rights activist up until the very end. This would often get him in trouble with networks and producers. -Really liked the Beatles when they crossed over to the US -There is a very persistent rumor that he was in the OSS during World War 2 - in fact, he was not, but he did do work for the Signal Corps making mildly funny training films.

MITZI MAY:

?-1980

Little is known of her childhood, or her adolescence before the Daisy.

Plenty is known AFTER it though!

Mitzi, unlike the others, was not headed for entertainment afterwards. She, instead, lived with Sedgewick Sable, and indeed remarried, but never took his last name. As the pressure from the depression started to ease, she managed to turn all that Daisy property (and all of the hidden away stash money) into a hotel! Mitzi became an incredibly successful hotelier, owning and helping to operate no less than 5 luxury hotels by 1956.

By 1970, she had gotten in touch with Ivy Pepper again, and asked about the Daisy Club Museum - she was instrumental in getting it started, as she still sorta owned the caves down there. She had the diea of making it a living history museum, and she also had the idea of making it like a sort of themed resort.

She died in her sleep in 1980. No one was precisely sure of her age.

QUIRKS: -No one really knows her age -She has a secret about Ivy that she's never told a soul, and it went with her to her grave -Mitzi had one known child by Sedgewick Sable - Minerva, born in 1934. Minerva became a costumer.

SEDGEWICK SABLE:

1895-1985

After the depression hit, Sable was distraught and destitu-JUST KIDDING, that paranoid buffoon hid cash in the walls. The WALLS, I tell you! It wasn't a ton, though, and they coasted by until the New Deal came around.

Work projects need work materials, and Wick was able to help provide them. With a new purpose, new drive, and tons of resources, Wick managed to get the company going again, renaming it to Sable Construction Materials, later just SCM. He even had to buy 3 Lake Freighters - the company still operates lake freighters today!

At the age of 90, Wick passed away in his sleep.

QUIRKS: -While Wick and Calvin were never close, both were HUGE baseball fans - Wick was obsessed with the Red Sox. -Wick was a surprisingly involved boss - most employees knew him personally.

MORDECAI HELLER:

1899-1983

At some point, Mordecai returned to the Daisy, to work with Calvin McMurray as a 'fix it' man. Mordecai admired the work, and stayed put until the place stopped being illegal.

After bouncing from job to job, thinking he would end up back in organized crime, Mordecai settled down in New York after finding out the man who wanted him dead had been killed in a car accident. Mordecai became an accountant and theater manager on Broadway - not a STAGE manager, mind you, just the guy who runs the theater. He really quite liked the work!

Mordecai Heller died in 1983 at the age of 84, of lung cancer.

QUIRKS: -Mordecai was a homosexual, and was well known as such. -Mordecai, a seemingly ice hearted man, actually kinda liked musicals...well. Good ones, anyway. -His least favorite show up there was Seesaw. His favorite was Pacific Overtures

VIKTOR VASKO:

1886-1978

After the Daisy became a legal operation, Viktor just...kept working there. You still need someone to lift boxes and tend a bar when it's legal, too! Viktor was actually a loyal employee of Mitzi until 1943, when he left to run a construction firm in St. Louis. He did that, and had a fairly uneventful life, dying in 1978 at the age of 92.

QUIRKS: -Viktor never remarried - but he did reconnect with his wife and daughter sometime in 1935. -Viktor's daughter went on to become a famous operatic soprano, and even served at the Met for a time. -Viktor never outed any of his former associates, even when talks of the Daisy Museum were beginning. He refused, worrying that he'd sully people's reputations.

DORIAN ZIBOWSKI:

?-1954

After the depression, it became harder for clubs to keep full time musicians. Zib was still at the Daisy until about 1932. Fortunately for him, in 1933, his old...work acquaintance? Rocky was running a radio show out of Los Angeles and was asked to help find a band leader.

After a brief stint on this show, Zib began to lead bands at the cutting edge of Jazz music - he considered becomeing an academic, but he never found the time to think too hard about the option.

A lifetime of smoking and drinking caught up to him fiercely, and he died of Lung Cancer in 1954.

QUIRKS: -He's still made outta triangles! -Zib learned to play every saxophone, and every reed instrument he could get his hands on. -Zib's final record was a live recording at the Pershing Lounge in Chicago, Illinois, 4 years before Ahmad Jamal made it famous.

THE SAVOYS:

Nico: 1900-1978 Serafine: 1902-1983

Little is known of the Savoys after their return to Louisiana in 1931. Some say Nico got back into boxing, or that Serafine was responsible for a rash of killings.

The two died peacefully in their homes, and lived to perfectly normal old ages...and yet, it seemed so suspicious when Nico died. He was just...on his back porch. With a note that was written in code...

QUIRKS: -Nico did, in fact, go back into boxing, but left for professional wrestling - the fictional kind. Serafine was, for a time, a voodoo practitioner for hire, who was well regarded in her community -Neither married, but both had several relationships

THE ARBOGASTS:

Abelard: 1886-1987 Bobby: 1898-1975 Elsa: 1900-1975

The Arbogasts lead a quiet, mostly obscure life, save for Abelard, who becomes quite the lit up theologian. He starts a cult in the woods of Missouri, and is found dead after his 101st birthday. The cult, as many do after a leader dies, fell into disarray and eventually splintered.

Bobby and Elsa dropped the funeral routine and moved closer to the city - Bobby became a school teacher and Elsa became a nurse. The two died months apart in 1975.

QUIRKS: -Elsa and Bobby were just about as in love with each other as Calvin and Ivy. -Bobby had severe PTSD from the war, and would often have episodes. Elsa hated seeing him that way, but helped him. -Abelard's Cult, "the new Thinkers", was bizarrely peaceful as cults are concerned. They never ate Fish, though...

LACY HARDT:

1904-1994

Lacy was a loyal employee of Sedgewick Sable for the first year after the depression. Eventually, though, she married Arthur Keane (an OC you can read about here), a guitarist, and moved with him to his hometown of Virginia Beach. There, she lived with him as an assistant to many prominent locals.

Eventually, the two moved again, back to Peoria, to take care of Lacy's ailing mother. This was around 1934. After Lacy's mother passed in 35, she was distraught. So, she decided to find a new hobby - writing and illustrating children's books. She got onto the idea after a phone call with Ivy, who handed over Calvin's agent's information.

When she retired, Lacy moved back to Virginia Beach with Arthur, who died a year before she did. QUIRKS -Lacy won a Caldecott Medal, and displayed it in her home office until her death -Until after her death, it was kept a secret by the McMurray family that Lacy, who was close with them, had been writing Finn (Calvin's son) notes as Mrs. Claus, as well as little stories, which eventually became her 'Rudy Sees the World' books.

THAT'S ALL I'M WRITING FOR NOW!

Again, pretty much all the changes are to the characters - the setting is, for the most part, untouched! I will be writing more about the AU when I get the chance, though!

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hardly-an-escape · 1 year

Text

please note: my fics on AO3 are locked, so you will need an account to read them. if you need an invite please feel free to DM me! I also have a handful of non-Dreamling fics posted there :)

~the polished stuff~ [actual edited fics, posted to AO3]

what's in a name? (E, 9300 words) photographer Hob is on a road trip in California when he meets a mysterious stranger (Dream) in a diner | human AU, strangers to lovers

A Love Story (T, 23000 words) Hob is a voiceover actor, struggling to make ends meet; Morpheus is a literary novelist with a secret | Centennial Husbands Big Bang, human AU, getting together, rom com

Stormy Weather, or: Outside, the Wind (Inside, the Light) (T, 1600 words) Hob and Dream are having a movie night when the power goes out | first kiss, gratuitous use of archaic English

A Close Shave (G, 2150 words) retired and newly human, Dream needs a shave. Hob helps him and has a lot of feelings about it | gen, tooth-rotting fluff

would you go along with someone like me? (T, 1500 words) the 'omg they were roommates' college AU; Hob is a history major, Morpheus is studying poetry, and it's a very tiny dorm room | WIP, getting together, rating will go up

'cause every Dreamlord's crazy 'bout a sharp-dressed man (E, 4400 words) chapter two now up! | Dream enjoys Hob in formalwear at a fundraising gala, and Hob out of formalwear after the gala | established relationship, lovingly described tuxedo

it's warm, the skin I'm living in (E, 2400 words) the one with shapeshifting sex and emotional conversations about Dream's insecurities | established relationship, brief tentacle sex, Dream can have a vulva if he wants

Among the Stars We are Reborn (T, 5400 words) the one where Hob goes to space to look for a phoenix | sci fi, canon divergent, established relationship

First Time (E, 6000 words) after another bad breakup, Johanna encourages Morpheus to hook up with some dudes. Hob is only too happy to help with that | human AU, strangers to lovers

I'm stuck on you (I'm mighty glad you stayed) (M, 8700 words) Hob and Morpheus are stuck on an elevator | human AU, strangers to lovers

Headache (T, 3700 words) the one where Hob has a migraine and Dream ogles him in the bath | first kiss, getting together

Bleach (G, 1000 words) the one where Hob gets bleach on Dream's favorite sweater | established relationship, retired!Dream

it's the perfect time of year (E, 2500 words) spicy beach episode | established relationship

In the February Sun (T, 2600 words) Dream accidentally visits on Valentine's Day and has some feelings about being mistaken for a couple | first kiss, getting together

uneasy is the head that wears the crown (G, 1600 words) the one where Hob was secretly a prince on rumspringa when they met in 1389 | established relationship

let your heart be light (E, 2600 words) Hob and Dream spend Christmas morning together | established relationship, declarations of love

Kind of Blue, a kind of fire (E, 2900 words) the one where they drink whiskey and dance to Miles Davis in Hob's living room | first kiss, getting together

Fridays (T, 3000 words) Hob throughout history | gen, partly epistolary

~the rough stuff~ [little ficlets, extensive headcanons]

road trip prompts 2024 I was a passenger princess on a very long road trip and asked for prompts to amuse myself

all my Fluffbruary 2024 fills

AU idea: The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery

Hob and Dream meet ugly over a laundry argument (human AU)

Dreamling Bingo snippet: preview of would you go along with someone like me? chapter five

Dreamling Bingo snippet: excerpt from The Trenches Have Vanished Under the Plough (shellshocked WWI veterans AU)

at a Shakespeare in the Park performance, Hob misses Original Pronunciation

AU idea: Dream is a famous author with a secret career as a romance novelist and Hob is the voiceover actor who reads his audiobooks

assorted Smurch fills the coffeeshop AU hot and heavy in da club retired!Dream's birthday retired!Dream likes jewelry and piercings small follow-up to In the February Sun

what if Dream retired and he and Hob didn't immediately jump into bed and a relationship?

AU idea: Dream runs a famous haunted house and Hob is a famous wuss

AU idea: Roman Holiday (Dream is a prince and Hob is a handsome reporter)

the unabashedly, purposefully bad sex scene (click at your own risk. but make sure you read through all the additions in the notes.)

Rose takes a picture at a family picnic and Hob has a realization

Hob WILL fight Night and Time

acts of service as Hob's love language (which has art!)

please give me more sci fi in this fandom

~the I-guess-this-counts stuff~ [idk bro it's just random]

compilation of "and they lived happily ever after" (ie fairy tale endings) in different languages

how I would write a Jane Eyre AU if I ever wrote one, which I'm not going to do

what if Hob was actually in a relationship when Dream came back?

actually Hob should be a preschool/primary school teacher: part one, part two

actually Hob doesn't hate Shakespeare and I'm a little tired of that trope

and if you're looking for a real firehose, my writing tag contains pretty much all of the above, plus tag game replies, snippets from WIPs, and other little bits and bobs!

thanks for reading! I love you!

last updated 7/02/24

#about me #I'll link this in my pinned post and do my best to keep it updated!#dreamling #dreamlingweek2023 #dreamlingweek2024 #dreamling week 2024 #my writing

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racefortheironthrone · 1 year

Note

Not that this is the only example, but just watched "Lady Bird" where a major part of the plot is if the protagonist will go to NYU or UC Davis. As somebody who doesn't live in the United States and there aren't any "private universities" here just wondering if state schools are so bad? Why do they have such bad reputations or maybe just I'm just thinking too much of American-made entertainment?

This is a great question, because it allows me to talk about a topic that I find endlessly fascinating: how the cultural politics of class intersect with higher education.

With regards to Lady Bird, I think the first thing to understand is that it's a highly autobiographical film: Greta Gerwig also grew up in Sacramento, her parents had the same jobs as Lady Bird's parents, and Greta was also a theater kid who ended up going to a prestigious private university in New York City because she wanted to have a career in the performing arts. So what we're getting is not necessarily a universal experience, but how Greta Gerwig herself felt when she was a teenager.

Second, state schools are not bad but their reputations are ...complicated. The land grant universities are generally reasonably well-resourced, they have good reputations, and they provide an extremely solid middle class credential that provides a major pathway for social and economic mobility in the United States.

However, there is usually a hierarchy within the state school systems between the flagship campus(es) which are usually nationally ranked research universities - U.C Berkeley, UCLA, Ann Arbor (UMichigan), University of Wisconsin-Madison, UMass Amherst, etc. - and the other campuses in the same system, which tend to be less selective, less nationally well-known, and more focused on teaching.

This sometimes leads to state schools having a reputation among middle-class to affluent families with college educations as being less "aspirational" compared to selective private universities. (This doesn't apply to the flagship campuses, because they are more selective and thus more similar to elite private universities in terms of their reputations.) Kids from those families still apply to (and attend) state schools in large numbers, but the term that's often used for them is "safety schools" - they're the schools you apply to in case you don't get into the highly selective private schools who take 10% or less of their applicants.

Third, NYU versus UC Davis is actually a slightly odd fit for the "state school" versus "private university" comparison. NYU is not actually that selective: it takes in 13% of applicants, which makes it about the 40th most selective college in the U.S. That's surprisingly low down the totem pole, given that the annual cost of attending NYU would be around $84,000 for Lady Bird. (NYU actually has to be less selective than other private universities, because it has a fairly small endowment compared to the selective private universities, and is thus more reliant on tuition dollars for revenue.)

However, Lady Bird's conflict isn't so much about academics generally - it's more specific than that. Remember that Lady Bird/Greta Gerwig is a theater kid who wants a career in the performing arts. If you narrow your focus from which is the best university overall to which university has the best Film Studies program, NYU is the second-best film school in the country, and because it's right in NYC there's a direct pipeline to one of the main hubs of the film and tv industry.

At the same time, Lady Bird probably should have done a bit more research about California's public university system. Because of the legacy of the California Master Plan, there is a robust transfer system within California's public universities that allows students who are really on the grind to move their way up, so that you can potentially start at the least selective community colleges and end up graduating from the most selective flagship UC campuses. So Lady Bird could have easily gone straight from UC Davis to UCLA (because while UCLA takes in only ~11% of applicants, making it more selective than NYU, it takes in about 24% of transfers), which is also one of the best film schools in the country with a direct pipeline to Hollywood, and it doesn't cost $84,000 a year.

(Ironically, Greta Gerwig herself didn't actually end up going to film school - she ended up going to Barnard which isn't particularly known for film, ended up going into English Lit because she was intending to be a playwright, before becoming a breakout actor in the indie film world, and then zig-zagging from there into directing and back into writing.)

#academia #public policy #higher education #lady bird #greta gerwig #film school

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film-classics · 4 months

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Rosalind Russell - The Miracle Woman

Catherine Rosalind Russell (born in Waterbury, Connecticut on June 4, 1907) was an American actress known for playing sassy, wisecracking women in 1930s and '40s comedies. Despite going through postpartum depression, the deaths of her siblings, breast cancer, and rheumatoid arthritis, she thrived as a charismatic actress on film and the stage, earning the nickname "The Miracle Woman.”

Raised in a strict Irish-American, Catholic family. She attended Rosemont College and Marymount College, before graduating from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City, unbeknownst to her parents who believed she was studying to be a speech teacher.

Against parental objections, she began her career as a fashion model and took acting jobs in upstate New York, Connecticut, and Boston before eventually appearing in Broadway.

In 1933, Russell went to Los Angeles, where she was hired as a contract player for Universal Studios but did not appear in a movie. Unhappy at Universal, she moved to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, where she broke through in the classic screwball comedy His Girl Friday (1940), directed by Howard Hawks.

She took a break after giving birth from her career, but made a comeback with RKO Pictures and then with Columbia Pictures. She continued to appear in critically acclaimed movies and Broadway shows through the mid-1960s, including the title role of the long-running stage comedy Auntie Mame (based on a Patrick Dennis novel) as well as the 1958 film version.

After years of battling breast cancer and even getting a double mastectomy, she died at her home in Beverly Hills, California at 69 years of age. Months after her death, she was honored by her acting colleagues with the “Interlude With Rosalind Russell” at the Shubert Theater in Broadway.

Legacy:

Nominated four times for the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performances in My Sister Eileen (1942), Sister Kenny (1946), Mourning Becomes Electra (1947), and Auntie Mame (1958)

Won all five of her Golden Globe Award for Best Actress nominations: Sister Kenny (1946), Mourning Becomes Electra (1947), Auntie Mame (1958), A Majority of One (1961), and Gypsy (1962)

Won the 1953 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical for Wonderful Town and was nominated for the 1957 for Best Actress in a Play for Auntie Mame

Nominated for the 1959 BAFTA Award for Best Foreign Actress

Won the Golden Apple Award in 1942 for Most Cooperative Actress

Awarded the Look Magazine Award for Film Achievement Award in 1947

Covered Time magazine in 1953

Was the namesake of the Rosalind Russell State Theater in her hometown in 1955

Wrote the story for the film The Unguarded Moment (1956) and adapted the novel, The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax, into the screenplay for Mrs. Pollifax-Spy in 1971, under the pen name C.A. McKnight

Won the Golden Laurel for Top Female Comedy Performance for Auntie Mame (1958) and was nominated five more times

Presented with a medallion by the National Conference of Christians and Jews in 1962

Honored for her distinguished service by the UCLA in 1964

Named the Woman of the Year by Hasty Pudding Theatricals, a student society at Harvard University, in 1964

Is the recipient of the Floyd B. Odlum Award by the Arthritis Foundation in 1971

Appointed by Congress to serve on the National Commission on Arthritis and Related Musculoskeletal Diseases during the 1970s

Received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement in 1972

Appeared in John Springer's "Legendary Ladies" series at The Town Hall in 1973

Awarded the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award in 1973 by the Academy for her extensive charity work

Presented her with the National Artist Award in 1974 by the American National Theater and Academy

Awarded the Life Achievement Award in 1975 by the Screen Actors Guild Awards

Hosted by First Lady Betty Ford at the White House in 1976

Honored with the Rosalind Russell Week in 1977 by Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley

Co-authored her autobiography, Life Is a Banquet, in 1977

Is the namesake of the Rosalind Russell Medical Research Center for Arthritis at the University of California, San Francisco, created by a Congress grant in 1979

Inducted into the Connecticut Women's Hall of Fame in 2005

Ranked #28 on Premiere magazine's 100 Greatest Performances of All Time in 2006 for His Girl Friday (1940)

Honored as Turner Classic Movies Star of the Month for July 2008

Inducted in the Online Film and Television Association Film Hall of Fame in 2014

Was the subject of a 2016 exhibit at the Mattatuck Museum in her hometown

Honored by the Berlin Film Festival‘s 27-movie tribute in 2022

Has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in the 1700 block of Vine Street for motion picture

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irrolyphant · 1 year

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Timothy Olyphant, 55, is an actor who starred in Deadwood, Live Free or Die Hard, and Justified. He will star in the FX miniseries Justified: City Primeval this fall and currently co-stars in the Max miniseries Full Circle. He spoke with Marc Myers before the actors strike.

TIMOTHY:

You couldn’t get me out of the pool when I was a kid. We lived next door to a swim and racket club in Modesto, Calif.

I began regular swim practice at age 6. My older brother, Andy, took to tennis, which probably helped us get along. We were competitive. Our younger brother, Matt, did a little bit of everything and eventually became a water-polo player.

I was born in Hawaii, but we moved to Modesto when I was 3. My dad, Bevan, worked for Del Monte and left to work at E&J Gallo Winery soon after we relocated to California. He started in bottling and worked his way up to vice president of production.

My mom, Katherine, was a full-time mom. She was the nurturing type. Whether I won or lost, she’d always talk about how well I competed or how beautiful a swimmer I was, never about whether I won or not. She’s very sweet and encouraging.

Just as I was starting high school, my parents divorced. After they split up, we quickly figured out who was responsible for what. For example, our dad didn’t really know how to do laundry or cook. If we were going over to his place, we’d probably be eating out.

When you’re young, any time your foundation gets rocked, it sets you back a bit. I’d been a good student when my parents were together, but there definitely was a dip after the divorce. I kind of saw what I could get away with and wound up just an okay student.

I wasn’t in school plays. I’m not sure I saw that side of me yet. Instead, I was at swim practice and hanging with my buddies. I also liked to draw a lot, which I suppose is how I expressed myself.

I was a solid swimmer in the Central Valley. I set a CIF SAC-Joaquin Section Record and wound up with an All America Swimming Certificate. By my senior year, I realized swimming was my ticket out of town and certainly the only way I’d get into a great university.

I worked hard. After USC saw the times I was posting, they called to recruit me for the team. When I flew out to USC on my recruit trip, I met with the dean of the architecture school. He said there was no way I could manage both the swim team’s practice schedule and the rigors of the architectural program.

I asked him about the art gallery downstairs. He said it was part of the fine-arts department. I didn’t even know you could get a degree in that. I met with the fine-arts dean and asked if I could be on the swim team. He said we’d work it out.

Majoring in fine arts for me was like winning the lottery. In high school, I’d get in trouble for drawing when I was supposed to be doing schoolwork. Now, in college, drawing was my schoolwork.

After my senior year, I left USC several electives shy of a degree and didn’t finish until the pandemic. But before I left, I met some drama majors who got me thinking about acting.

By then, my college girlfriend, Alexis, and I had married. We moved to Seal Beach, south of Los Angeles, where I coached swimming. To fulfill some of my electives I took an acting 101 class at UC Irvine. I had a ball. It was a language I understood immediately.

I read Stanislavsky’s and Sandy Meisner’s books on acting. I realized that it wasn’t a frivolous pursuit but a craft on par with how artists I admired approached painting and sculpture. I told Alexis I was thinking about pursuing acting rather than a master’s in fine art. She said, “Tim, just do something. Just pick one thing and do that.”

The guy who taught the intro class was a graduate student who recommended I study with Bill Esper at the Esper Studio in New York. Fortunately, Alexis’s dad lived there and let us move into his place.

My career has been many little steps—a lot of one step forward, two steps back. I’m not sure if there was any one role that really changed things, but landing the lead in “Justified,” in 2010, certainly helped things along.

Today, Alexis and I live in Los Angeles and have three grown kids. We moved in 15 years ago and love the house and neighborhood. I still draw and swim.

Breakfast is my favorite meal. I make steel-cut oatmeal in my rice cooker, which has a porridge setting. When I come home from swimming and have my oatmeal, I feel like I’m 8 again. And you know what? That feels pretty good.

—————

Timothy’s Digs:

Full Circle? I play Derek in the miniseries about a kidnapping gone awry and the family secrets exposed.

Blissful space? Sitting in a blue chair in the kitchen having coffee with my wife.

Cool buy? A painting by an artist I’ve admired for at least a decade or so.

Tennis? I play with my brother and oldest daughter. The fact that they play with me means the world.

Youngest daughter? Vivian. She’s an actress in the coming season of Justified: City Primeval.

#timothy olyphant #[.]#[tim]#this reads a bit like an autobiography and I LOVE IT 🥰🥰

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daphnebowen · 10 months

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hsmtmts headcanons :)? also what show would you have them do if there were a s5 :D

oh my goodness yes hsmtmts headcanons! I have some that I’ve been thinking about so apologies if this is a horrific mess that jumps all over the place :) also this is going to be very very long so apologies 🥰

after the whole “Romeo and Juliet announcement” for Christmas they get twin golden retriever puppies, one for each of them, and name them Romeo and Juliet. Juliet belongs to Ricky and Romeo belongs to Gina. Romeo is affectionately known as ro or romey and Juliet is affectionately known as ju or juju. (pretty sure this one has been said by people already but I LOVE the idea of it and i had to add Juliet)

furthermore on the Romeo and Juliet topic after Mack leaves Quinn asks Ricky to step in 😍

this is more down the line but I have a vision for in the future when Ashlyn and Maddox want kids. they want to adopt though, and as soon as they find the perfect little red haired munchkin Maddox immediately goes to the hardware store and buys tons of paint and they redo an entire room in their cute little cottage for their kid. idk why but that just came to me in the middle of the night, I had an image in my head of Maddie FaceTiming jet covered in paint laughing/crying as they finish up the room.

jet asks Kourtney out at the big New Year’s Eve party at Ashlyn’s. Enough said. she giggles and accepts and the two become a power couple and a force to be reckoned with.

ricky and Gina continue to meet in the secret stairwell and he continues to climb up through her window even after their relationship goes public

We don’t know what ej is majoring in (at least I don’t remember) so during the middle of his freshmen year he switches it to education. he becomes a teacher and goes somewhere else (somewhere in the Midwest maybe?) to teach middle school sports.

ricky pursues music through college and ends up becoming a famous singer/songwriter/music producer similar to nini but he ends up writing a lot of the songs and soundtracks for Gina’s movies.

Gina pursues her acting career and ends up becoming a total rockstar but she never changed her values and who she is. her and Ricky attend every premiere together

when Dewey gets too old to run camp shallow lake anymore, guess who he asks to take over? Maddox. she happily accepts and moves her and Ashlyn and their red haired baby (ash and Maddie are not married yet btw - can you adopt and still not be married? Dumb question maybe lol) over to California. and one day as they’re going through each of the cabins seeing what shape everything is in, they stop by the honeycomb bunk. Lo and behold as they walk in is a magnificent beautiful romantic picture before Maddox, with a huge framed picture of her and Ashlyn and tons of wild flowers and all her favorite guitars and things. She turns around… and there’s ash with a ring. Ashlyn doesn’t even get to pop the question until Maddox screams and tackles her, laughing and saying “I have to show you something!” She pulls ash behind her over to the theater barn and there is almost an identical setup on the stage, except all of Ashlyn’s favorite things. and now Maddox has a ring. You can guess how it ends. (sorry this one was super long but once I got started I couldn’t stop)

ricky has always enjoyed doing public things for Gina, as we’ve seen. He’s always shouting about his love for her in public, serenading her randomly as they walk through town, etc. well his proposal is exactly the same. They’re on the red carpet for a movie Gina had been kicking butt in (literally, it’s an action movie). (like everyone else has said, they got married young. You decide what age you want specifically) Ricky had been acting a bit nervous and Gina didn’t know why. once they got on the red carpet, in the very center of all those cameras and fans, Ricky took her hand and got down on one knee. Gina’s jaw dropped as Ricky gave the most beautiful profound speech in the world since “I love you forever” and immediately Gina started crying as she said “yes yes infinity times yes!” and everyone cheered and Ricky gave her the biggest hug of his life and spun her around did not let go of her for the rest of the night. *side note: when a reporter asked Ricky if he was nervous about proposing to Gina since it’s very public and what if she says no, Ricky replied with a “that’s not why I was nervous at all. No, I wasn’t nervous that Gina would reject me. We’ve been dating for so long, it’s just- we just get each other. We complete each other. I promised her forever and I’m never going back on that promise. because I do love her forever. No, the only reason I was nervous is because it’s so loud here and I didn’t know if she would hear the things I was saying. I was speaking from the heart! and because I’m on tv being recorded, obviously, what if I mess up and do something stupid? but no, I wasn’t worried at all that Gina would say no.” 🩷 (this one was also extremely long sorry!)

Saw some other rina headcanons (sorry this post might be a lot about them bc I’m in love with them so yeah) but one of them was Ricky gets Gina mystery childcare’s every Valentine’s Day and she literally knows who they’re from but plays along anyway because he’s adorable

Carlos and Seb continue to be a little on again off again through college but eventually settle down in a far-style version of glamping with a huge fancy central house and then a rusty old barn for Seb to do this thing with the cows and such

they have both boys and girls and Carlos insists on having a quince for every one of them (I’m thinking big family…)

all of the respective couples when they have kids name miss Jenn as the godmother 🥹

kourtney is a cat person. idk why. but you cannot change my mind. she’s gonna be a crazy old fashionista grandma with tons of cats telling her grandkids stories while her is half asleep next to her waking up every so often to say “and then I…” and then falling back to sleep

speaking of jetney, jet needs 60 million pep talks before he proposes to kourt - it takes a LOOOOOOOONNGGGG time

i imagine their proposal to be somewhere like iconic. idk I don’t have any ideas where - maybe somewhere overseas?? Kourtney makes her Sharpay dreams come true

Kourtney becomes a world renowned fashion designer and jet is just along for the ride. they have twin boys and a girl and he raises them while working some boring 9-5 job but he loves raising his kids and teaching them all about music and their mama since she’s gone a lot. But they FaceTime every day after school whenever Kourtney’s away for her job, it’s the best part of any day

jenn and mazzy love New Zealand so much that they end up moving there once miss Jenn retires (don’t worry, it’s not for a long time) and when everyone goes for a big reunion party to celebrate the 25th anniversary of hsm4

mike and Lynn don’t actually get back together… do they actually get back together in canon? Or are they just like more friendly towards each other and not so standoffish? Because I dunno, a divorce is very final and then getting back together just offsets the whole change thing Ricky’s gone through. But anyways, that’s just me

nini goes on tour Ricky and Kourtney’s freshmen year in college and Kourtney comes back from Lewis to see her perform in Salt Lake City. nini gets everyone prime seating - even Emmy and jet and Ricky - and they all go and have the best time ever. Ricky and nini don’t kill each other on sight and turns out nini is the biggest die hard rina fan ever and ends up writing a song for them on their wedding day. her and Ricky go back to being better friends and things aren’t so tense after they have a huge raging private concert between them too where they sing all of the thoughts they’ve ever had about each other and just let it all out. It’s very therapeutic for them and helps them understand each other a bit more (same vibe as portwells lil thing in season four where Gina apologizes to ej)

and I’m out of characters soooo more hc and what show they do on the way!! Hope you enjoy!

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justinspoliticalcorner · 2 months

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Mackenzie Mays at LA Times:

Wearing pigtails, a pleated skirt and a furry heart-shaped purse, Chloe Cole bounced up the steps of the California Capitol this spring, leaned into a microphone and insisted that transgender children don’t exist. For the dainty 19-year-old, to erase transgender children is to erase a part of her past. Cole has said publicly and in court documents that she first began questioning her gender identity when she was 12. She left a letter on the dining room table telling her family that she was a boy. She wanted a new name, like Ky or Chi, and a more comfortable life. With the blessing of her parents, who sought the advice of physicians and mental health experts, the self-described socially awkward kid from the Central Valley received routine injections to suppress her puberty and boost testosterone. She was glad when her voice got deeper and her jawline became more defined. In 2020, at age 15, she underwent a double mastectomy in pursuit of her most authentic self.

But now, Cole identifies as a woman and says she regrets those decisions. And she’s making a career out of that regret — traveling the country as a leader of the controversial “detransition” movement and emerging as a right-wing icon. [...] Research shows that youths receiving the kind of care that Cole did at her age is rare and that the likelihood of transgender people changing their mind is even rarer, with some studies showing as little as 2% seek to detransition.

But while Cole’s experience may be uncommon, her reach is wide. In the last year, she has testified before Congress about being “the victim of one of the biggest medical scandals in the history of the United States of America”; attended President Biden’s State of the Union address as the guest of Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson; and urged lawmakers across the nation to outlaw treatment such as hormone therapy for minors. Half of states now prohibit gender-affirming care for those under 18, including Wyoming, where Republicans christened their ban passed in April as “Chloe’s law.” Major medical organizations condemn the policies that Cole promotes, and LGBTQ+ activists warn that people like her are a danger to already vulnerable youths. They worry that the amplification of her story is part of an organized effort by conservatives to discriminate against LGBTQ+ young people whose access to care is crucial to their well-being, citing high suicide rates among transgender people.

Most of Cole’s critics don’t deny her personal story in the same way that she discredits the experiences of hundreds of thousands of transgender youths. But as her profile rises, they question her motives. Cole, who turns 20 this month, works as a patient advocate for the new nonprofit Do No Harm, a leader of anti-transgender legislation, and charges up to $5,000 to speak at public events about gender ideology, according to the Young America’s Foundation, which represents conservative personalities such as Ben Shapiro. She’s told her story on the podcast of hard-right Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and joined Charlie Kirk, a leader of the MAGA movement, on college campuses where students protest her presence.

[...] The details of Cole’s transition journey are playing out in court, as she sues her medical providers for giving her the treatment that a few years earlier she begged her parents to pursue. Cole — who said she does not use her real last name out of safety concerns — says now that she was never actually transgender, just confused and anxious about puberty. She alleges that her medical providers were too quick to diagnose her and ignored a list of other mental health problems that she believes, if properly treated, could have prevented the medical interventions she now regrets. She has turned her transition process — which she once viewed as the reflection of supportive parents, uncommon for LGBTQ+ youths — into a nightmarish cautionary tale. The mastectomy initially came to her as a relief after spending her days uncomfortably binding her breasts, walking home from school under the blaze of triple-digit San Joaquin Valley summers wearing extra layers to help her disguise. Now, she talks at public events and on conservative media about her surgery scars in grotesque detail, describing infections and mourning that she will never be able to breastfeed her future children.

[...] That question is predicated on recommendations from major medical organizations including the American Academy of Pediatrics that say gender-affirming care is “medically necessary” and potentially “lifesaving” because of the trauma that transgender kids may face. One large study out of Denmark last year showed that transgender people are 7.7 times more likely to attempt suicide and 3.5 times as likely to die by suicide. But Cole’s case has tapped into concerns — on both sides of the political divide — about the right age for gender-related medical treatment. Last month, the Biden administration said it opposed gender-affirming surgery for minors amid debates about the minimum age for different types of care. England recently moved to limit the ability of people younger than 16 to medically transition, and some experts considered LGBTQ+ allies have expressed hesitation amid rising transgender youth rates.

[...] Cole doesn’t just blame her doctors and therapists for her transition. In her lawsuit, she names a long list of other people and factors that pushed her there. She blames the internet and LGBTQ+ influencers she followed on social media at a young age. She blames a boy who assaulted her in the eighth grade by groping her breasts in class — an incident she said traumatized her and made her no longer want to be a girl. She blames being on the autism spectrum, though she does not have an official diagnosis. She blames what she called the horrors of being a woman and the odds of being raped. The youngest of five siblings, she blames being a tomboy who simply looked up to her brothers and wanted to be like them.

[...]

Cole stops short, though, of blaming her parents. She said that she still lives with them and they have “managed to heal as a unit,” but it hasn’t been easy. “This is my decision that I took on. I don’t want to put that on them. I feel like they have gone through just as much grief as I have,” Cole said. “This is something that has brought them a lot of pain. They have a lot of guilt.” Records show her parents filed for divorce in 2019 in the throes of her transition. They did not respond to requests for comment. To chalk up being transgender to a symptom of some disease or as a flaw that needs to be fixed is offensive to the community but is not a new strategy for conservatives. The national GOP platform approved at the Republican convention last week pledges to “end left wing gender insanity” and calls to stop schools from “promoting” gender transition and to “keep men out of women’s sports.”

[...]

One of Cole’s therapists, an expert witness in the case, details the moment that she decided to detransition. She was 16 and had used her chore money to buy LSD. In a state of “bliss and happiness,” Cole heard a voice “telling her that she was lying to herself about being a boy,” according to a declaration submitted to the court. She then became a Christian, according to the declaration, and requested a Christian therapist. When she detransitioned, Cole said she lost all of her friends. She dropped out of high school and took a proficiency exam in lieu of graduating. “It felt like the whole world was turning its whole back on me,” she said. “I was basically a shut-in. I was spending my whole day playing video games in my room.” She also lost her online community of LGBTQ+ supporters. So she found a new one.

Some of the biggest names in the conservative movement have welcomed Cole with open arms, including psychologist and author Jordan B. Peterson, who called gender dysphoria a “sociological contagion,” and activist Billboard Chris, who called gender-affirming care “the biggest child abuse scandal in the history of modern medicine.” Cole’s schedule stays packed. When she speaks at events across the country, she receives standing ovations and the attention of sympathetic audiences. They cheer when she announces she’s suing, and gasp in disgust when she talks about her surgery. That acceptance keeps Cole going even as students have protested her events at college campuses in Iowa, Indiana, New Hampshire and Utah, where she tells her story again and again and holds signs outside classrooms that say things like “children are never born in the wrong body.”

She has more than 20,000 subscribers on YouTube and more than 200,000 followers on the social media platform X. Her supporters make donations to her website to help fund her travel for her advocacy work. Cole, a registered Republican who will soon vote in her first presidential election, has gotten bolder since she began public speaking. Four months ago, she was adamant that she didn’t care about politics.

But as November nears, Cole is using her platform to support Trump. Online, she’s posted a video of her shooting a gun at a shooting range in support of the Republican nominee’s endorsement from the NRA; praised Tesla founder Elon Musk for moving his companies out of California over the state’s new transgender youth protections and called transgender people part of a “self-harm cult.” In her lawsuit, attorneys allege that Cole wanted to transition in part because she “craved the social approval” that transgender kids received from the LGBTQ+ community “that she was not otherwise receiving from her peers.”

The Los Angeles Times delves into how Chloe Cole (whose real name is Chloe Brockman) became a leader in the right-wing political detransitioner movement that seeks to call for bans on gender-affirming care after her experiences with gender-affirming care.

The political detransitioner movement that is led by Cole and few others are a small portion of detransitioners.

#Chloe Cole #Detransitioners #Transgender #Political Detransitoners #Anti Trans Extremism #Do No Harm #LGBTQ+#Gender Affirming Healthcare #Criminalization of Trans Health #Transgender Health #Social Contagion Myth #Erin Friday #Cole v. Kaiser Permanente #Chloe Brockman #Detransition Movement #Detransition

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elekinetic · 2 years

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What are your hcs about the Stranger Things characters’ futures? Like concerning their careers, where they wind up living, pets, colleges, or anything else that you want to talk about!

ohhhh i’m torn. i want them to all end up in the same place. i don’t think this is the canon answer but this is what makes me happy:

the party ends up in california for college. they all go to uc santa cruz, cause they didn’t get a chance to do the whole college application thing while saving the world and owens pulled some strings. el and max are roommates. dustin mike and lucas get put in a triple, but if mike starts staying at a certain party member’s single most of the time…..that’s none of their business. max starts as a neuroscience major until she fucking hates it. she’s at the arcade one night and watches someone repair a broken machine and is like, oh shit. that’s kinda cool. she switches to computer science, then to computer engineering bc CS is for nerds. (dustin does CS.) lucas came in as a political science major, but he realized he was way more interested in helping max with her neuroscience homework. he ends up doing a double major in political science and human health sciences. mike majors in communication cause it’s a compromise between getting a business degree like his parents insist and studying something he’s actually interested in (this is the problem. mike has no clue what he wants to study). will is a visual arts major obv. el switches her major about seventeen different times (zoology, religion, international relations, mechanical engineering). she ends up graduating w mike in communication bc its the easiest to apply her various credits to. el and dustin get really into improv. el also does theatre, and mike ends up getting dragged into the tech scene. lucas plays club basketball and gets involved in student govt. he sets up a lot of food and blood drives. the party goes to a board game club, but will goes EVERY week and makes a bunch of great friends. max learns guitar and starts playing at open mics (el is the only one who knows. and lucas, a little later). they all join the college radio station. first its dustin helping a mutual friend fix radio tech, then its will filling in for a mutual friend’s missing cohost, then it’s will and lucas starting an advice show, and el and max starting a show where max makes the tapes and el just talks about whatever she wants, and mike fucking around in the background of all his friends’ shows and shouting out unsolicited comments. when they all move off campus, mike and will, dustin and lucas, and el and max get their own apartments respectively. lumax starts talking abt moving in together and el is like “i love you both but i am not trying to third wheel in my own home.” thus, henderhop house is born. these two were BORN to be roommates. they become such good friends and are so respectful of each others space and are so so communicative! and they both love to cook. henderhop lives together for like, six years post college. listen, they have two cats together. they don’t want to traumatize them with a divorce. mike and will get a dog when they’re older (late 20s, early 30s). they used to catsit for their neighbor, but mike is crazy allergic. it always sounds like he’s going through puberty again. the party ends up in southern california. el becomes an archaeologist and travels a lot. dustin lives in pasadena and works for JPL. max does some work with him, does some contacts for a few different companies. she eventually becomes a professor and spends her off time doing research. lucas becomes a pediatrician. later in life he serves on city council, then turns to non-profit work. will get a job as an illustration intern at a comic house straight out of college and works his way up from there. mike bounces around office jobs, does some time at a publishing house, and goes back to school for a creative writing MFA. he sells some original stuff but he ends up mostly writing comics for IPs with will. they make a name for themselves in the Star Wars EA and actually get invited to a couple comic-con panels. dustin flips his shit.

#stranger things #comic con panel #stranger things (ella's version)

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genuptoncrane · 5 months

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{ JESSICA ALEXANDER, 21, CIS FEMALE, SHE/HER} Is that GENEVIEVE UPTON-CRANE? A JUNIOR originally from LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, they decided to come to Ogden College to study JOURNALISM & CREATIVE WRITING. They’re THE NEPO BABY on campus, but even they could get blamed for Greer’s disappearance.

OVERVIEW

full name: genevieve marie catherine upton-crane

nicknames: gen, genny, viv, vivs (et all)

gender: cis female (she/her)

sexual orientation: queer (sapphic leaning)

height: 5'9

nationality: american

birthplace: los angeles, california

major: journalism & creative writing

extracurriculars: editor of the school paper, writing club, cheerleading (flyer)

trope: the nepo baby

sub tropes: deadpan snarker, spoiled brat, trophy child, parental issues, famous for being famous, statuesque stunner

relationship to greer: her roommate

ABOUT GEN

The only daughter to Adam Crane and Violet Upton-Crane nee Upton, her surname had to come first of course. Adam comes from the Crane music dynasty and Gen's grandfather set up a record label. Her parents met via her mother's short lived music career, Violet Upton-Crane is a child star turned actress-model and now director-producer who's always appearing in Women of Hollywood write ups and panels. Her current project is a Ladybird style movie about a contentious mother-daughter relationship starring rising star Ruby Flores and no Gen would not like to talk about her mother. Or that movie, which is currently getting rave reviews from film festivals.

Her family, Mom especially want her to be part of the family legacy. Gen however has...not wanted that. She wants to be a writer but isn't sure what form she wants that in but she is in that weird place of wanting to stand on her own two feet and also being a spoiled brat who has barely had to work for anything.

It's debatable whether or not she actually got into Ogden on her own merits considering the sizeable donation her parents threw at the school before her admittance. They are to Gen's embarrassment, pretty active as parents even if they talk at her rather than to her. Her Mom for instance, visits Gen and takes her for a very awkward dinner at Ambrosia every month.

And her roommate/friend (sometimes??? now former considering that Gen has to share now) is now the subject of a missing persons investigation and Gen loves Veronica Mars but she didn't ask to recreate an episode. Thanks.

#ogdenintro

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tumbleweed-writes · 6 months

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Lilies and Thistles: Chibs Telford X OC Fic

This fic is at least a decade old, but I am starting up updating it again. I figured it can't hurt to share the first chapter here.

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Lily Unser managed to stumble out from the rain while keeping a tight grip on her leather camera cases. She knew that if she allowed the slick rain to trip her up and pull one of the cases from her grasp then she'd be screwed.

Cameras and photography equipment weren't cheap and she only had as much as she had thanks to the wonders of hunting for deals through online shopping and Black Friday sales.

She'd long ago developed the ability to maneuver through the rain without slipping. By now she had it all down to a fine art. It was a necessary skill when it came to living in a constantly rainy place like Seattle.

When she'd first moved from Charming California to Seattle Washington she had been looking forward to the rain and cold weather, but now she was missing the warmth of California and the small town atmosphere of Charming.

She guessed that old saying there's no place like home rang true.

Lily was spent just as she always seemed to be after a long afternoon and night of working weddings. Wedding Photography was a pain in the ass, but it paid generously.

It was a good job for her to have over her summer break from school. Doing wedding photography allowed her to fine tune her talents while keeping her rent paid and food in her fridge.

The pay almost wasn't worth the trouble though. Lily had reached her limit for the day of dealing with a highstrung bitchy bridezilla, a snooty mother in law and mother of the bride, drunken groomsmen, and a father in law who'd thought it was a great idea to pinch Lily's bottom.

It had been enough to make Lily wish that she could partake in the flowing open bar. A nice tropical Blue Hawaii or a fruity Mai Tai would have been the perfect drink to take the edge of the day and night right off.

She knew enough though to realize that most brides and grooms weren't too thrilled when their wedding photographer took a break to get tipsy off free booze.

Lily wanted nothing more than to get out of her black strappy high heels, slip out of her black cocktail dress, undo her long dark hair from it's twist, and collapse in her modest twin bed. She was too exhausted to even entertain the idea of grabbing a quick shower and washing the dark makeup from her face.

She knew that she would have to wake up bright and early tomorrow and make it to the darkroom at the art and photography academy she was attending, so she could develop all these photos she'd taken.

The bride and groom she'd worked for had insisted on going with the old fashioned traditional film route over the digital camera route.

It was a pain in the ass to develop the film, but at least it gave Lily some much needed quiet time.

The darkroom had always been Lily's sanctuary. She could go sit in it and put her mind to rest for a moment as she developed film.

She had always loved the process of seeing pictures develop from practically nothing. To Lily the entire process was the closest thing to magic she would ever witness.

She'd spent the past three years of her life attending the Art Institute in Seattle. She was studying Media Arts focusing primarily on Photography, and was loving every second of it.

She'd spent the first year and a half after high school attending a community college in Seattle studying Accounting. It had been her father's idea.

Sheriff Wayne Unser had wanted his daughter to have a good education in a secure field. Accounting had been the perfect career for Lily, or at least according to her father it had been perfect. She'd hated the program and had left a year into it. She'd switched her major a couple of times before leaving school for a little while as she attempted to figure out just what she wanted. She'd worked odd jobs around Seattle ignoring pleas to come home and give a local community college a shot.

Lily's true love laid in art and photography and she'd used this love to guide her future. Yes she was good with numbers, but her heart laid in taking pictures.

So she'd worked hard to get back into school, finish up her core courses, and had gone for her true love in an art program. Her dad hadn't had much room to argue over this decision. As a grown woman nearing her later twenties, her father had long ago had to accept that Lilian Unser was an adult

Lily had always been strong willed and the sheriff knew by now not to get in her way.

The only reason Lily had been able to get into the art institute was because she'd worked her ass off getting every scholarship and every bit of financial aid she could get her paws on. She'd worked hard and she knew that it was all worth it at the end of the day.

Lily knew for a fact that she didn't want to photograph weddings for the rest of her life. She'd only been doing it for a few months; freelancing, and she'd hated every second of it.

The money was what kept her coming back though. She was a struggling photography student with no family nearby, money was something she couldn't refuse.

What Lily wanted more than anything was to be an independent photographer. She wanted to work on her own terms. She wanted her own studio. She wanted to hang her works up in galleries where people would come near and far to view.

She wanted success. To her success meant no more bitch brides, no more drunken jerks pinching her bottom or asking her to dance, and no more being up on her feet in all too high heels while carting around a heavy camera.

Lily entered her dark studio apartment somehow managing to make it to the ringing phone sitting by her sofa, without tripping over any dirty laundry or shoes.

She did her best to hide her exhaustion as she spoke up. "Hello."

Lily widened her eyes stunned to hear her father's voice on the other end of the line. "Hey kid."

Wayne Unser and his daughter weren't the type to have long conversations over the phone. It didn't mean that they didn't care for one another. It was just that talking on the phone had never been their thing.

Long talks over the phone had always been Lily's godmother Gemma's thing. Gemma Teller Morrow spent just about every Wednesday calling Lily to check in on her.

Lily cleared her throat doing her best to hide her shock as she spoke. "How are you? Is everything okay with Della and the girls?"

She cringed a bit at her question. To be honest she couldn't care less about her step mother and her half sisters. Della had never taken to her step daughter and Lily had never taken to her.

Kate and Jade Unser were both a bit spoiled by their mother Della. Lily had always felt animosity for her 24 year old and sixteen year old half sisters.

When Lily was younger she'd tried hard to please Della, but it had become clear fast to Lily that Della and she were never going to get along. She'd tried hard to bond with her sisters but Della had always made a point of spoiling the girls while Lily was lucky if she got something other than hand-me-downs at the start of a new school year.

Lily knew it was cliché but she had always felt a bit like a fairy tale brought to life; a girl whose mother had run off leaving her with her father, an evil step mother and evil step sisters. It was all a bit too much like Cinderella when Lily really let herself think about it.

She shook her head a bit at the Cinderella thought. Life wasn't a fairy tale and she sure as hell wasn't Cinderella.

Lily knew that her step mom was just a bitch who held a grudge against Lily's mother. Lily knew that her step sisters were just rotten. And that this was all just life; life could sometimes be shitty.

There was no dashing prince charming coming to rescue her, and the closest thing she had to a fairy godmother was Gemma Teller Morrow.

She was pretty sure that the Grimm Brothers weren't picturing Gemma when they wrote about Cinderella's magical godmother.

She twisted her mouth a bit trying not to burst out laughing at the thought of badass biker queen Gemma being anyone's fairy godmother. She found herself easily picturing Gemma turning a pumpkin into a motorcycle.

Lily shook her head at the ridiculous thought leaving it all to it just being a long night stacked on top of sleep deprivation.

She turned her attention back to her father as he spoke. "They're okay...Kate's engaged and Jade is getting ready for her junior year of high school. Jadey made first chair with the cello. Della wants you to do Kate's engagement photos. The wedding is taking place this fall...and it's costing me an arm and a leg. I keep telling Katie that she has to leave some money in my savings account for when Jade ties the knot. At least I know I can count on you to stay on budget when you get married."

Lily let out a soft sigh not thrilled at the prospect of dealing with Kate getting married. She had a feeling that her half sister would put most of the bridezillas Lily had to deal with for work to shame.

She hated to think of how bad Della would be about this whole wedding thing.

"I tried to call you on your cell, but it went straight to voice mail." Unser pointed out lightly scolding his eldest daughter.

He worried about Lily being so far from home. If it had been up to him she would have gone to school in Oakland, but Lily had gotten scholarships to Seattle and he'd known that they'd be fools to turn down that opportunity.

Lily sat down on the arm of her old beaten up brown sofa as she reached down finally freeing her feet from those awful heels. "I turn it off when I'm working weddings...Most brides aren't too happy when Ace of Spades starts blaring out during their vows."

Unser laughed at this comment stopping to cough mid laugh. Lily frowned at the cough her intuition sparking at how horrible it sounded. Something was wrong with her dad; she could just sense it.

She spoke up almost not recognizing her voice. Lily found herself feeling more like a child than a twenty four year old woman. "Are you okay daddy?"

Unser took a deep breath his voice sounding so heavy as though he had the world sitting on his shoulders at that moment. "I have bad news sweetheart...It's my colon...fucking cancer. The doctors say it doesn't look good...I'm sick Lil. I need you."

And with that little statement Lily quickly realized that the life she'd known in Seattle was over.

Her dad needed her and she had to be there for him.

-----------------------

Sheriff Wayne Unser glanced across the arm rest onto the passengers seat of his old Ford Pickup truck, where his young daughter sat her arms crossed over her waist as she peered out the window.

Unser was surprised to find that his daughter had changed in her time away. Though she still looked younger than she really was it was clear that she'd grown into her features loosing a tiny bit of the baby-fat she'd held as a teenager.

Her long dark brown hair was pulled up into a high pony tail revealing a youthful pale face. Her big dark eyes were locked on the scenery as it passed them by.

The only things Lily had seemed to inherit from her dad were brown eyes and brown hair. The rest of her was all her mother, or at least Unser was sure it was her mother though some might argue her larger eyes had come from Unser.

Lily's mom had been a pretty young thing whom Unser had met at a bar. It had been a bad time in his life; his dad had just died and his relationship with Della had hit a rocky patch.

Vera had been her name, or at least that was what she'd told Wayne Unser. She'd been an attractive woman much like Lily, average height, a pear-shaped body, a sweet petite smile, an upturned little nose, and big doe eyes.

Unser shook his head still a little stunned at how much Lily had taken after the woman. His daughter had grown into a gorgeous young lady. In her time away it seemed she'd matured losing some of the baby fat she'd held at eighteen.

In a way Unser could admit he found it dismaying to realize she'd grown in her time away. It wasn't as though she'd taken many visits back home or at least her visits with him had seemed so short. She may have come home for the occasional Christmas, but her visits to Gemma Teller Morrow had always seemed to a little less brief than her visits with her father and his family.

Realizing that his oldest child truly was now an adult left Unser feeling a bittersweet sense of discomfort. In a way he had thought of her, in her absence, as the fresh faced eighteen year old who'd left California for Washington years before. She may be nearing 25 but he'd always see her as a child.

He cleared his throat trying his best to make small talk with Lily. "I have a futon in the office set up for you. Kate is staying in her old room while her fiance and her plan the wedding, and Jade is in hers...Della turned your old room into a craft room and she'd skin me alive if I touched anything in there...so the office is just going to have to cut it till I can get you set up with an apartment."

Lily turned to face her father giving him a sheepish smile trying to hide her irritation that Della had taken over her room the second she'd moved out. "That's okay dad...I talked to Gemma last night while I was packing up some final things, and she wants me to stay with Clay and her. They have the room for me so it's no trouble. I can stay in one of their guest rooms till we get me a place of my own. It'll work out...You won't have to sacrifice your office for me."

Unser nodded his head trying to hide the annoyance he felt over Gemma sticking her nose in to this, but he knew better than to be shocked. This was Gemma after all.

He should have known that Gemma would stick her nose into things the second he'd made her Lily's godmother.

He let out a sigh turning his eyes back to the road. He could admit that at times he felt as though he didn't understand a thing about his daughter.

It was his own fault. He knew this.

He'd been so tied up with work that he often hadn't taken the time to really connect with Lily. Della just made everything all the more complicated.

Della Unser resented Lily. She saw the young woman as a constant reminder that Wayne hadn't remained faithful during their rocky patch.

Della couldn't help but to feel bitter when she looked at her husband and his daughter. Della hated the fact that Lily had taken the place in Unser's heart as his first born child; his baby girl.

Unser frowned remembering the day Lily had been brought to his front stoop by her mother. The way Vera had shoved a crying Lily into his arms while a pregnant Della stared on.

Wayne shifted the crying infant in his arms feeling lost as how he could get her to calm down. He sighed when he stared down at her realizing that her little face was as pink as the onesie she was wearing.

The yelling hadn't helped the already fussy baby's temperament. The little girl had already been screeching when she'd been shoved into his arms but Della's screams had only made it worse.

Wayne still remembered the exact words Della had screamed at him as she'd stormed out of their tiny house ''I'm going to stay with my mother. You handle this you prick.''

Wayne sighed guilt flooding him as he remembered the way Della had glared at little Lily. She looked at the infant as though Lily was a cyst on the face of humanity.

It wasn't the child's fault. It was all him, Wayne knew that.

Della and he'd had a fight the night Lily had been conceived. He'd gone off to a bar to drink away his heartache. He'd met Vera that night at the bar. She had been so gorgeous. Her long dark hair had been so long that it had almost almost reached down to her hips. She'd had a mischievous little smile on her face as she'd sipped her beer. The bell-bottoms she'd been wearing had hugged her backside perfectly.

Wayne could remember that Vera had reminded him of Cher; tall and gorgeous.

That night Vera and he'd shared a few beers and talked about the music playing over the loudspeaker. They'd both loved the Allman Brothers and Janis Joplin. They'd gotten tipsy and after a bit of flirting they'd wound up back at a motel where they'd slept together.

He'd spent a passion filled night with Vera unaware that this little life had been created.

The girl's name was Lilian; Lilian Winter Unser.

Wayne was little Lilian's father Vera had insisted as she shoved the screaming infant into his arms.

Wayne had barely had time to squeeze a word out as Vera spoke. ''I'm leaving her here with you. You have a good set up here Wayne. You can give our daughter everything I can't. I don't have anything to give her. I just can't be a mom...I'm not ready to take care of a kid. Please be good to her and tell her I loved her.''

And with that Vera had walked away jumping into the taxi she'd taken leaving Wayne in the dust with a crying baby and a pissed off pregnant fiancee.

Wayne knew that Vera might have a point about him being the more stable option for Lily. He had a nice little home and a good job with the police station. He was normal compared to Vera.

Vera didn't have much from what he knew; though it was the early eighties Vera was still locked in the hippie free love lifestyle. She never stayed in one place too long. She drove from town to town doing whatever it took to survive. She was always on the move like a modern day nomad. Vera was a free-spirit too careless and unstable to be a proper mom to a little girl.

Wayne had done the only thing he could think of at a time like this. He'd reached for the telephone calling the only person in the world he could think to call; his childhood best friend Gemma Teller.

Lily was still screeching as Gemma entered the room her high heeled boots clicking against the wood floor.

She shook her head staring down at the upset infant. "Shit Wayne. What have you done?"

"I fucked up Gem. Her mom is god knows where. She just dropped her on me...I don't know what to do? I mean I could leave the kid with my mom but what about Della?" Wayne spat out shifting Lily in his arms.

Gemma narrowed her eyes at Wayne stepping closer to him. Her voice took on a stern dangerous tone as she replied to this. "You aren't dumping this little girl on your mom. Fuck what Della thinks. This is your daughter. Family is forever Wayne. You can't tell me that you don't feel something for this baby girl?"

He sighed knowing that Gemma was right. The second Vera had placed the little girl in his arms he'd felt something in his heart pull. Despite all the dramatics and chaos Wayne knew he loved his baby girl.

He wasn't going to send her away to his mother's like she was something he should be ashamed of. No her conception hadn't been under the best circumstances, but she was still his child.

He was going to do the right thing; be a dad.

Wayne shook his head his mind going a mile a second. "What am I going to do Gemma. I don't have anything for her...no crib, no toys. There's barely any clothing but what's in that backpack. Anything I have is for the other baby...that's if Della comes back after this mess."

Gemma tossed her purse down on the sofa taking the baby from Wayne's arms as she spoke. "I'll get into my storage locker. I should have some shit left over from Jax and Thomas."

Wayne cringed at this statement; Thomas. Little Thomas Teller had died just the year before of a heart condition. He hadn't been much older than Lily was now.

Gemma didn't let Wayne's look of pity deter her as she shifted the sobbing infant in her arms. "What's her name?"

"Lilian Winter Unser." He remarked still a little stunned that Vera had given the girl his last name.

Vera had left the child's social security card and her birth certificate in the small backpack of things she'd left.

All that was in the bag not counting these two documents were a few purple and white dresses, a white onsie with little yellow ducks on it, a small package of diapers, formula, and a little white teddy bear.

Wayne knew he'd need more than that to raise a child. He needed a crib, a carseat, a changing table, more clothing, more diapers, toys, a stroller, and at least a dozen other things.

His brain ached as he realized just how much it took to raise a baby. His brain only ached more when he realized he'd be raising two babies once Della gave birth that is.

She shook her head at this name. "Well that's no good. Lily...we'll call her Lily."

"Why does she keep crying? I can't get her to settle down...you don't think there's something wrong with her do you?" Wayne blurted out his dark eyes growing wide as he stared at Lily.

Gemma rolled her eyes at just how clueless Unser was; a typical male. She spoke as she patted the infants damp bottom. "She needs to be changed."

She didn't give Wayne the chance to say anything as she snatched up the backpack heading to the back bedroom.

She spread a blanket out on the bed making quick work of unfastening Lily's little onsie. As soon as the baby had a fresh diaper on she calmed.

Gemma smirked a bit as the little girl smiled up at her one of her tiny hands reaching up to play with one of Gemma's necklaces.

She spoke to the girl her voice soft and soothing "You've got a long road ahead of you Lily...that father of yours is a disaster and don't even get me started on his fiancee. Don't you worry bout shit though. No one's going to hurt you as long as I'm around. You have Momma Gemma to look out for you."

Unser let out a huff knowing that he probably wouldn't have made it through Lily's first few years without Gemma.

Gemma had long played a mother role in Lily's life.

It bothered Unser to admit this. After all Della was her step mother and should be a mother to Lily.

Lily and Della had done nothing but fight all their lives though. Wayne hoped that with all the pain of his illness the two would come to tolerate one another and might even learn to lean on one another.

He spoke up knowing the perfect way to maybe start that bonding between his wife and daughter. "Della wants you to come over for dinner next Friday."

"Della want's me to come for dinner?" Lily replied raising an eyebrow at this. She could see straight through that comment enough to see the bullshit.

Lily shook her head feeling a little guilty that her step mother and she couldn't find a common ground. She silently reminded herself that she'd given Della all the opportunities on the planet to be a good mom and Della had failed time and time again.

It was no shock that Lily had moved out of the Unser household and had moved in with Gemma and Clay when she was fifteen.

Gemma had welcomed Lily with open arms and had made sure that Lily was taken care of, just the way a mom should.

"I'll think about it." Lily blurted out knowing that this was the easiest way to tell her father no.

She had a feeling she couldn't avoid her step mother forever though.

Lily felt her stomach roll at the thought of facing Della Unser. No one could drive Lily up the wall faster than her step mother.

Yep No place like home.

---------------------------------

Lily practically jumped out of the truck as it pulled into TM Auto.

She ran to Gemma her arms encircling the woman a soft laugh escaping her lips as she spoke. "Momma Gemma."

"Hey baby. Look at you. You've grown up so much." Gemma replied smiling at the young woman who she'd always seen as a daughter.

Wayne sighed as he exited the truck watching his daughter and his friend together. He could admit he was a bit envious over the way Lily looked up at Gemma.

Lily adored the woman. She always had.

Though Unser was thankful that Gemma had been there for his daughter he couldn't help but to be irritated at the way Gemma was always jumping into things when it came to Lily.

Gemma had given Lily everything her little heart desired; a car when it was time to start driving, new clothing, jewelry, a place to live and hideout when Lily had gotten into a big fight with Della or Wayne.

After a while it had seemed as though Gemma was Lily's parent not Unser.

Gemma only saw this as her being there for Lily. She saw how Della treated Lily. Gemma knew that Wayne was too damn blind to see the truth. Della had always had a hold over Unser, even when it came to Lily.

Unser gritted his jaw as Gemma spoke up. "Come on baby lets get you settled in. I've already looked at some apartments for you and I may have sweet talked Clay into getting you some furniture."

Lily grabbed her suitcase from the back of Unser's truck giving her father a hug as she spoke. "I'll see you later dad. Call me after your appointment."

Unser let out a sigh watching his little girl walk away and disappear into TM Auto's tiny office.

Sometimes he wished he could turn back the clock. Maybe if he could do that he could fix all the mistakes he'd made with his baby girl.

Chibs Telford frowned looking up from the Harley he'd been reconstructing as he saw Sheriff Unser's old pickup truck pull into the parking lot.

It wasn't police business at least Chibs realized. Still though the sight of the sheriff always made his stomach churn, never mind the fact that Unser had been on the Sons payroll long before Chibs had even come to Charming.

He was perfectly ready to stare back at the Harley until the passengers' door on the truck opened up revealing a petite young woman.

Chibs let his eyes scan the young woman's body not helping but to like what he saw. The black jeans she wore showed her hips and bottom off perfectly and the low cut plum tank top she wore under her jean jacket showed off a small but perky set of breasts. He could see three necklaces dangling in between her cleavage; a long uncut rough clear crystal that was wrapped around wire hanging from a chain and two thinner silver chains with tiny heart trinkets hanging from them.

What Chibs liked the most though was her long dark hair. It was pulled up high into a ponytail. Chibs was sure that if she took her hair down it would reach down to the small of her back. He had to admire her smooth pale skin as well. Her skin seemed all the more milky when paired with those big dark eyes of hers.

She was pretty, he'd be a liar if he tried to deny it.

His interests were only peaked as Gemma left the office to be ambushed with a hug from the young woman.

He raised an eyebrow at the words that left the young woman's mouth Momma Gemma.

Chibs was puzzled as he saw Gemma smile down at the girl the same way he'd seen the Queen of SAMCRO smile at Jax Teller.

This was an interesting development Chibs realized.

In the five years he'd lived in Charming he'd never once seen a woman make Gemma smile like that.

Whoever this girl was she was obviously close to Gemma's heart, which Chibs knew wasn't an easy task.

Her closeness to Gemma only sparked Chibs' interest.

He continued to work as he tried to casually eavesdrop on this woman's conversations with Gemma and Unser.

Chibs found himself dying to at least know this woman's name.

He was sure he'd never seen her around town before. He was pretty sure he'd remember a pretty face like that not to mention a body like that.

He widened his eyes as the young woman gave Unser a tight hug. He only caught one word from her mouth dad.

Chibs sighed realizing that he had no place looking at this woman, not when she was a cop's daughter.

Chibs reluctantly decided that he better keep his distance if he knew what was best for him. Flirting with the sheriff's daughter wasn't a bright plan. Following his instincts with this girl was just asking for trouble.

He wasn't sure why he was so damn fascinated anyhow. After all it wasn't like he didn't see pretty girl's every damn day of the week.

The clubhouse was full of sexy women who'd gladly spread their legs for him without him even having to say a word.

A small voice in the back of his head pointed out the obvious though The girls in the clubhouse had been passed around from guy to guy at least a dozen times or more. The croweaters didn't make Gemma smile like that.

Chibs sighed knowing the truth; the truth was he was sick of the croweaters. It wasn't really any fun when you could get a woman without having to put the work into it.

As much as he hated to admit it he missed having more than sex with a woman. Yes sex was nice and all; it felt good and it was satisfying. But the satisfaction never lasted and at the end of the day Chibs was always left sleeping alone.

He was tired of always sleeping alone.

Chibs hadn't been able to move on from Fiona and all that had happened back in Ireland; all that had drove him to the MC and to Charming California.

He had almost gotten accustomed to being alone. It was just that when he saw a pretty girl like that, a girl that made the Queen of SAMCRO smile, his mind allowed itself to dream of maybe having something more than sex with her.

Chibs shook his head at these thoughts.

He knew these were just the thoughts of a foolish man, a man who wasn't getting any younger and didn't have a life that any woman would want to be a part of.

Despite the fact that Chibs knew it was best to just ignore his curiosity and stay back he found himself peeking back at Gemma and the woman as they disappeared into the office.

He let out a huff realizing that staying away would be harder than he thought.

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