Fattened in France: Chapter 4

Zach placed the last double stuffed Oreo in his mouth, relishing the taste before swallowing. It was the last of his secret stash and he’d soon have to get more. Without notice, he heard the knob to his room turning and he quickly stashed the empty Oreo tray under the bed. His mom stomped inside staring at him suspiciously.

“Enough with this laziness. Why don’t you go pick up your brother from class.”

Zach obliged as his mother left the room. His visit home was nearly over and he was so ecstatic to return to France. He was incredibly bored, starving, and horny. The tryst with Miguel was the highlight of his trip and everything after that felt grey. Zach yearned to recreate it, but Miguel left to San Francisco on a work trip.

He rolled out of bed and headed to the shower. He felt strangely about picking his brother up from his old campus. He hadn’t been there in over two years and wondered how he would feel returning. While lathering his body with soap he continued to scratch the underside of his belly, noticing an intense itch that wouldn’t go away. After drying off he examined himself in the mirror and discovered tiny red stretch marks had formed at the base of his gut. He was surprised to see  this considering the diet his parents had him on. He rubbed his hands over his belly and noticed a slight increase to his curvature. How could that be?

Pulling up his underwear he noticed even more stretchmarks on the inside of his thighs. He was certain those didn’t exist before he flew home. He stepped onto the scale his parents not so subtly left in the bathroom. Surprisingly, he’d gained five pounds since being in the U.S. Zach was shocked and somewhat skeptical. He felt like he was eating less than he was in France, but then he realized something. He didn’t have much access to fast food overseas, instead gorging on expansive but fairly nutritious spreads. The daily fast food hauls he’d been running in secret must have been the culprit for his growth.

He shrugged off the gains and dressed in black joggers and a black tee before hopping in the car and absent mindedly driving to Del Taco. When he pulled up to the menu the cashier immediately knew his order. Had he become a regular in only a few days? He agreed to his usual order, adding an extra plate of nachos. He sat in the car munching away on his greasy midday meal pondering his recent gains.

He felt conflicted about his weight. He fully endorsed body positivity and knew deep down he shouldn’t feel ashamed of his body. Yet something still nagged at his subconscious. Perhaps it was his parents. The one thing he couldn’t quite decipher was how his sexuality factored into all of this. Victor was unabashedly attracted to Zach’s plumpness, incorporating food into the bedroom and lavishing affection on his squishy belly, juicy ass, and overflowing love handles. Zach definitely liked the attention and found himself aroused by Victor’s own weight gains. All of this only heightened the shame aspect, which also strangely made it hotter. He just didn’t know what to think

After filling his gut with his favorite fast food Zach drove to campus. He was far too early and decided to wander around and see what changed, if anything. He visited some of the old buildings he had classes in, along the way admiring the jocks with their freshman fifteen hanging out of tight tees. He missed the freedom and fun of being an undergraduate. He saw more gay couples than when he was in school. Lots of frail twinks holding hands and even one pair of chubby twinks, their pudgy forms awkwardly shoved into fast fashion. Zach missed Victor and couldn’t wait to get back on a plane.

After wandering for about an hour Zach grew bored and hungry. He figured he must’ve burned off some of the Del Taco and stopped at the Student Union for Chipotle. As he settled at a lunch table and dug into his burrito someone familiar caught his eye. At first he was confused and then it hit him: it was Aiden, his twink obsessed ex-boyfriend.

Aiden was a few years older than Zach, with a trim but somewhat muscular body. Despite being  a twink himself, he gave off strong top vibes and had his fair share of waify blonde boys at his beck and call. Zach was with Aiden for about a year and never once topped him. What got Aiden off was bony limbs with visible veins, gaunt faces, and exposed ribs. Zach was his ideal partner back then, but things had certainly changed.

Aiden ordered a salad from Subway and scanned the room for an empty seat. Zach began to panic with the prospect of being sighted. Aiden would surely be disgusted with his new ripened body. Sure enough, Aiden spotted him, cocked his head and walked over.

“Zach, long time no see. Care if I join you?”

“Aiden wow, sure yeah, have a seat.”

“How have you been? Did you finish your Master’s in France?”

“Yeah, I did. I’m returning in a couple days for an internship. It’s been an amazing experience out there. And what about you?”

“Well, I’m an academic advisor now, hence the tie and pants.”

“No way!” Zach half-heartedly exclaimed, wishing he could inhale his burrito in peace.

The two continued to catch up while eating their meals. Aiden was surprisingly friendly, even flirtatious and Zach felt confused. Perhaps Aiden wasn’t such a body fascist after all. Maybe their bond outweighed his excess chub. Zach decided to give in and flirt back, resulting in some heavy sexual tension.

“It’s been so nice to see you, Zach. You know I think a lot about what we had…”

“It’s nice to see you too. It’s awesome you have this position, your own office and everything.”

“You wanna get a peek? At the office, I mean? I could show you…”

Zach agreed and the two stood up from the table. Aiden’s eyes flickered when he saw Zach stand, and he continued to look him up and down the entirety of their walk to his office. After climbing a flight of stairs to the second floor Zach was struggling to catch his breath and made a necessary pit stop at the water fountain. Unbeknownst to him, Aiden observed Zach’s pudgy silhouette from behind with shock and curiosity. They stepped inside the office and Zach was greeted with the familiar smell of Aiden’s favorite Burberry cologne.

“So this is it,” Aiden motioned with his arm. “Just a plain old office I guess.”

“It looks great,” Zach said and closed the door. “I like the plants.”

Zach stepped closer to his ex-boyfriend, his belly nearly touching the tanned twink. The two held eye contact for a moment and Zach took this as his cue to lean in for a kiss.

“I, uh got a lot of work to do,” Aiden said stepping back, “it was really great seeing you.”

Both frustrated and embarrassed Zach couldn’t help but to say, “So why did you invite me up here and flirt with me for the last half hour then?”

“Look, I’m really sorry Zach. I just… you know I’m into twinks and you’ve gotten quite… plump over the years.”

Zach’s face grew bright red, “You were definitely flirting with me but I guess it was just to make fun and fat shame me… cool. Prick.”

“No, I really, that wasn’t my intention. I was actually flirting but, like, when you stood up I saw… all of this,” Aiden cupped his hands and bounced them to demonstrate Zach’s gelatinous new form without saying it aloud.

Zach left Aiden’s office without another word. He was more enraged than embarrassed at this point and it took everything for him not to cuss out his superficial ex-boyfriend. Charging down the stairs and out of the building, Zach headed straight to the campus bakery and bought a chocolate Danish before meeting up with his brother.