Bellflower Part 21 (Patreon)

In this installment, Holly & Rachel attempt to get Courtney to join them for a walk. Instead? Rachel caves just a little bit more.

Sorry it's a little late. Thanks for bearing with me & your continued support! This is a short one with a bit more of a time skip ahead coming up. Just felt like I set up the walk & had to follow through. While Courtney may be a bit... sequestered from the others, no need to fret. She certainly isn't going anywhere soon. And I kind of wanted to do one a little bit more from Holly's perspective with this one too. Burger Palace was supposed to enter in a little sooner, but other things kind of prevented me from doing it until now. It's one of Holly's absolute favorites.

Besides from that, I've been working on the 80's Berry Girl stuff every free second I get. Still? It's... a lot. More than I anticipated. And I feel like I'm getting sort of close. In the interim, I'll probably post one or two other pieces of art, just so it's not all Bellflower all the time like its been. Hope maybe I can have something very soon on that front. But it's tough teaching yourself new software in order to do a project you really, really want to do. Anyway, thanks again & I hope you enjoy this!

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21

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“Huuuppp!” Holly struggled to bend. It was an involuntary grunt that she didn’t like leaving her mouth, but she had more pressing concerns at the moment.

These were new sweats. In fact, brand new! Delivered as part of the themed“athleisure” supplement that came as a part of her monthly fashion subscription box service. When she held them up in front of her face to inspect them, frankly? They seemed  downright huge at first. Way too big for her! She thought. Mistakenly. But now that she had just to fight to get into the things, she started to wonder if they were maybe just a little too small for her. And… she didn’t want to think about what that meant about her.

As she felt the elastic tightly cutting into uneven portions of her outer thighs, she tried to keep her thoughts positive. It was too early to be defeated just yet! If they didn’t fit? It wouldn’t be the end of the world. She could just have Penny return them, either for a partial refund or a larger pair. Then again, this seemed like an issue for most of this month’s items. The best fitting thing, a loose frock she could get away with for the office? Even it was snug around her tummy. In fact, of the four outfits she got in this box, two were already boxed back up & ready to be exchanged for something just a smidge larger. On top of all that, if these didn’t work? Well, she might be out of luck. After all, she really didn’t have much else in the way of suitable stuff for today’s little excursion. At least nothing that remotely fit her anymore. Fortunately, there was JUST enough stretch, & her dark grey sweats had just enough give to allow themselves to hike up over her wide hips. They were on, but maybe not as comfortable as sweats should be, cutting into her soft middle & creating very distinct bulges.

“Penny, can you try her again…?” Holly asked softly.

“I will do my very best, Miss Holly.” Her AI obliged. With that, over a softened speaker, there was suddenly dialtone. Penny had patched in through Holly’s phone & had it playing as if on speaker in Holly’s bedroom. From outside, Rachel, slowly trying to wiggle into her own too-tight active gear could hear it.

After a brief pause, a number dialed automatically. Courtney’s, in fact. And as Holly flung through some of her older workout gear in hopes of finding a decent top that might fit, the call began to ring. And ring. And ring. At that point, around the sixth, Penny cued in.

“It seems as though we are still not getting through. She is just not answering.”

“It’s Saturday. And still early. I don’t blame her, tee-bee-’atch” Holly spelled out. She did so sighing slightly, kind of wishing she was still in bed herself. Sleeping in certainly beat trying to find something that still fit her chunky ass. And it DEFINITELY demolitioned the notion of any sort of “jog” or whatever Rachel had in mind.

Just then, she stumbled upon the complimentary t-shirt she received two & half years ago for participating in the March Rainbow Route Half Marathon. It was one of those events where they throw dye & colored dust at you. At first it sounded fun. But it was a mess. And she felt ridiculous because the “clean” shirt they had given her to change into after? It was four sizes too big! She had only ever used it as a night shirt. But there was no way it wasn’t still going to be baggy on her now! No way!

“It’ll have to do for now.” Rachel sighed to herself in the mirror Holly had going out the door. The tanktop she chose only covered so much. If she raised her shoulders in anyway? Boom, there was muffintop! In full viewof any & all potential on-lookers. To be fair, in the grand scheme of things, it wasn’t much. And she was TRYING to get some exercise in, in hopes of TRYING to reduce it. Besides, Holly & even moreso Courtney waddling along next to her would probably pull a lot of the focus. Still, she couldn’t help but feel a little feel self-conscious. And gross. But just then Holly started to emerge. Rachel ran her hangs along her softening middle to smooth out any wrinkles & get her top to cover as much of her as possible.

“You ready?” Holly sighed, in her own way, sounding equally perturbed & almost half-hearted about all this at this point. As she left her room, Rachel noticed her outfit. The tight sweats that almost seemed to cup her bottom half, & a tee, which actually seemed to sort of fit her properly, even if only just, but did little to obscure her growing curves. She, like Rachel didn’t seem too happy to be wearing what she was wearing right now.

“You get a hold of Court?” Rachel asked.

“Nah, she’s probably still sleeping I bet.” This sigh of Holly’s sounded more wistful & a little jealous of the notion. “We can go bang on her door maybe.”

“It is still quite early.” Penny interjected, almost seeming as something of a warning.

“It’s… like twenty after eight.” Rachel said, bringing her face into a bit of a scowl. “It’s not like it’s… wholly unreasonable.” She looked to Holly, who after a yawn, seemed to have been reminded why they were doing this & had gained at least a slight bit of extra resolve. “We can go try, you know?” Holly perked & nodded back with a small, very contained smile.

“Well, it is perhaps a little cool out this morning. Perhaps a jacket?” Penny tried to offer.

“Ooh. Good thinking.” Holly cooed, pulling a hoodie off the back of a chair in the kitchenette. It wasn’t THAT cold, but it helped hide her partial shame of filling out her half marathon tee.

“I’ll… deal.” Rachel self-flagellated with a passing wave. The gesture seemed to cause her tanktop to ride slightly. Holly’s eyes darted towards the band of pudge. Rachel noticed her notice & immediately grabbed at the bottom edge to yank it down & “adjust” it. But Holly saw. And as she pulled her hoodie on, her face had settled into something of a sheepish little grin.

For the third time in three days, the sisters found themselves in front of Courtney’s door. This time, Rachel got there a little quicker & felt comfortable enough to give it a light knock. Soft, as if not to wake any of the neighbors, but distinct enough to try to get the attention of anyone inside. And unfortunately, it did.

“May I be of some assistance, Miss Rachel?” “Courtney’s” Penny asked, her stylized pixel based visage appearing in the door’s touch screen surface. Rachel’s brow lowered but Holly did the talking.

“W-we were hoping… maybe Courtney was around & would join us. For a little walk.”

“A walk?” Penny seemed to guffaw. Rachel’s angry expression only deepened, & grew a little angrier as the machine seemed to play dumb, if only to keep up this ruse that all the Pennies were separate. Unless it was called for otherwise. “I am afraid that would be quite… impossible.” The robot seemed to snicker.

“And why’s that?” Rachel barked with fierce bad cop energy that even made Holly stiffen slightly with a jolt.

“Well because… Miss Courtney has left this morning. To visit her mother & sister.”

“What…?” Holly asked after a brief pause. Even she wasn’t buying this one.

“It is her mother’s birthday. They are to go shopping before getting lunch.” Penny seemed happy to volunteer. “She is currently on the road. I would be happy to patch her throu…”

“Please!” Rachel insisted, giving Holly a glare. 

“My pleasure.” Penny added, trying to cloak a bit of disdain towards Rachel as she did. Neither girl could imagine Courtney, who could barely fit into the passenger side of Holly’s SUV yesterday, able to smoosh herself behind the wheel, let alone drive. Much like the speaker in Holly’s bedroom earlier, the door’s touchscreen let out a series of rings through its speaker. Just then, the ringing stopped & the ambient noise of rushing wind came into the hallway.

“Hello…?” A voice sounding like Courtney asked. There was no video. On account of her “driving.” Just audio leaving the touch screen speakers.

“C-C-Courtney…?” Holly stuttered. Her skeptical expression softened a little into wider eyes.

“Heya, Hol!” Courtney seemed pleased to hear her voice. Way more chipper & less winded than the last time they spoke, as they were just able to shove her mass through this same door. “What number is this…?”

“Miss Courtney,” Penny made herself known. “Miss Holly & Miss Rachel seemed as though they wanted to invite you for a… walk.” It was drenched in an inflection that almost sounded slightly mocking to Rachel. Towards them. And Courtney, or at least this voice seemed to chuckle a little in reaction.

“Oh. I would’ve loved to!” Courtney seemed to say. Holly’s expression softened more. Rachel, watching her, still deeply skeptical shook her head. “But today? It’s my mom’s birthday. 55. Don’t know if that’s… much of a milestone or anything. But me & my sister? We’re taking her out. Shopping & such.” Just then, Rachel noticed Holly have some sort of realization. It brought some of the skepticism back.

“Weren’t you…?” She started. “I thought you were a little reluctant. You said you hadn’t seen her since Christmas & even then… she had made some comments about your… size.” Holly winced saying the last word. But Rachel nodded, as if to reinforce her sister’s resolve. 

“Oh.” Courtney’s voice stopped for a pause. “Well, I miss her. And I’m sure she’ll have SOMETHING to say. But… she’s my mom.” For whatever reason, Holly seemed to accept that. Rachel did not. So she leaned in to ask her own question.

“How did you manage to make to even make it to your car?” Rachel asked very directly. Holly nearly gasped & shot her a mean look, but Rachel wasn’t turning to receive it.

“With… great difficulty!” Courtney seemed to chuckle. It sounded like her chuckle. “But yeah. After yesterday, & a little help from Penny, mind you, I just got off to an early start. You didn’t hear my horn go off? I bumped it with my belly a few times as I tried getting in. Such a tight fit!”

“N-no.” Holly sheepishly answered. She seemed to accept this. And Rachel had to admit, the detail about the belly bumping the horn was a nice touch. But she still wasn’t buying this. She couldn’t imagine the logistics of a girl Courney’s size, at the wheel. Let alone talking this casually. At the same time, she worried that trying to explain the concept of deepfakes to Holly wouldn’t get very far & only serve to make her seem more “neurotic.”

“Oh! Well then I’m glad I only woke up half the building & not everybody!” The voice on other end of the line seemed to laugh to herself. Holly smiled a little, suppressing her own bit of a chuckle. “Anyway, about that walk… Can I… How about a raincheck? Maybe… next time?”

“Um… sure.” Holly seemed to nod an exaggerated nod, despite there being no indication of video. Rachel couldn’t really believe she was falling for this so readily. But then again, it WAS Holly after all.

“Mmmmm.” Courtney moaned while readying a big gulp. “Did… was someone…-urp-... here? Just now?” Her neck rolled towards the door. She was very tired still, but hungry moreso. In fact so hungry, she probably wouldn’t have been able to sleep if she wanted. She had no idea what time it was at this point. But after cheesecake, then brownies, then a large “breakfast” omelette, then more cheesecake, then more brownies, she informed Penny she felt like having something cold. Penny, in her infinite wisdom, suggested a la mode. And so they had developed something of an impromptu system on the spot. Courtney spooned in another bite of ice cream, swishing it in her mouth for a second, before Penny, hovering a fork near her lips & feeding her like a baby bird, provided the accompanying scoop of pie. “I thought I… -hic- … thought I heard voices.” Courtney was so full. And sleepy. And yet… absolutely starving. 

“Nothing you have to worry your pretty little head over,” Penny said, a mechanical arm giving Courtney’s head a gentle pat, as another prepared another bite of pie. “Now eat up!” If the large young woman was maybe just the slightest bit more lucid at the moment, she probably would’ve realized that nothing she did trying to sate that hunger seemed to help. But it was just oh so overwhelming. So she simply just did as she was told.

“If… you… insist.” Courtney very feebly tried to laugh, opening her maw for another, this time she wanted to go pie then ice cream. She didn’t even seem to mind the mechanical arms delicately kneading at her soft mounds of belly flesh, growing much too large to be contained by her top any more. In fact, she almost… kind of liked that. “Keep it… coming.” She swallowed. Her eyelids hung heavy & sluggish, but like a trooper, she was always ready for more.

After the “polite decline,” Holly almost seemed to want to climb back in bed. But Rachel, hugging in her own muffintop for dear life, had successfully guilted her into still going. Getting a few laps in on the ol’ track. So long, Holly stipulated, as it was only walking. No jogging! Rachel was willing to concede. So long as the two of them got out of the building. Now only if she could get her to power off her damn phone.

“I mean I’m happy she’s leaving the house!” Holly insisted as she cranked the wheel for a turn out of the Bellflower. “After yesterday, I mean…”

“Uh-HUH.” Rachel, sitting with her arms folded in the passenger side, offered very sarcastically. But Holly didn’t seem to want to take the bait. At least at first. She just side-eyed instead.

“Power to her!” She continued from the driver’s seat. “And all on her own too! I’m really proud of her honestly.”

“Pssh.” Rachel laughed before muttering to herself. “There’s no way she’s not still inside.”

“Oh! Here we go!” Holly took her eyes off the road to roll them to the top of her skull. It was just short of a yell. “Let’s rev up the conspiracy theories now, shall we? You know, like we really need to get siren or something! For every time you start spouting crazy, Alex Jones.”

“S’true.” Rachel sheepishly insisted, turning more towards the passenger side, seemingly offended by the Alex Jones remark.

“You LITERALLY just spoke to her!” Holly seemed to want to insist. 

“Or at least someTHING that sounded like her.” Rachel’s eyes were now the ones rolling.

“Oh give me a break!” As much as Rachel wanted to explain to Holly just how easy it would be for something like Penny to simulate Courtney’s voice to suit its own twisted purposes, & as much as Holly just wanted to call Rachel paranoid & make jokes about tinfoil hats, it mercifully seemed to stop just there. Instead of bickering back & forth, there was just a low grade tension filling the car as both sister seemed to agree to disagree.

Holly continued, driving past the shopping area, & the on-ramp for the freeway. Rachel could see an almost clear demarcation of where the border was. Everything was still newer, & pretty well maintained for the most part, but not weirdly like... sterile new. Less office park-y. There were suddenly trees, proper trees! And actual houses, as they entered a neighborhood with old Craftsman style houses sitting back off the road a little ways with full lawns. It was almost like a nicer version of the suburbs where both she & Holly grew up. But a proper suburb, not some corporate drone hell of high rises dotting the landscape. Eventually, they came to another busier road with a strip of urban sprawl. Not as curated as the shopping “arcade” of Oakmont. And garish in its own cacophonous corporate branding & sheer capitalism sort of way. But even still, it didn’t feel quite AS soulless as Oakmont did. Rachel took a deep breath. For a moment? She almost felt… relieved.

“Ooh. Burger Palace!” Holly, who rarely seemed to leave Oakmont seemed pleasantly reminded there was one sitting just on the outskirts of her neighborhood. Rachel could see the sign just up ahead, sticking out among about half a dozen others. She shot Holly a look, tilting her head low & staring up under a straight, disapproving brow. “Hmmmm.” Her sister hummed, not looking in her direction, but sporting a devious smile.

“I mean I’ve heard of them. But they’re sort of regional I guess. There were none by me.” Rachel said very nonplussed. It was like she was trying to no-sell it. Not playing along in hopes that it would maybe deter where she imagined Holly’s mind was wandering. “When I was in the city I mean. Too far north, I guess.” It backfired. Spectacularly.

“WHAT?!” Holly screamed. It made Rachel jolt a bit in her seat. Like a sudden jump scare. It didn’t match her energy level at all. “First you tell me that you WILLFULLY don’t go to the chicken place…”

“They’re weird fundamentalists with horrific politics & horrendous stances on human rights!” Rachel tried to justify, her brow folding a bit angrily. And it would’ve probably made sense to anyone other than Holly. Especially a Holly this hungry.

“And NOW, you’re telling me you’ve never…” Instead of finishing the thought, she only just jerked the wheel. And into the Burger Palace parking lot they careened.

“Hol! What are you… Jesus!” Rachel let out, swaying with the force of the turn. “Don’t!” 

“What?!” Holly sneered at her sister’s cries. “We NEED to do this. For YOU!” She seemed to insist, her meaty palm reaching over to slap Rachel on her knee. Rachel, in turn, pulled her knee more towards her door. “You’ll see.” For it being morning, there was a line at the drive thru. The chain itself always seemed like it aspired to be something more than it was, always setting up in newer shopping centers or in nicer, more well-to-do neighborhoods. But it was still greasy, lowbrow fair that seemed to cater to the lowest common denominator. And Rachel had no idea it had such fervent fans. Especially in folks like her sister. She hated to rain on her sister’s parade, but she tried anyhow. “But “Burger” Palace? It’s not even nine yet. I’d imagine they’re still only doing… breakfast.”

“Ah-ha!” Holly laughed, she had that “well actually” tone going. That shit-eating grin she always put on when she had to be the one to explain something to Rachel, even though most people thought the younger was the smarter of the two. “This is a twenty four hour one! That means they’ve got a three hour grace period where they are able to actually serve both! The switch over is 10:30, so we’re definitely in that window!” She tried to imagine a younger, much thinner, way more athletic Holly knowing all of the intricate ins & outs & certain policies certain fast food chains had. Hell, she tried to envision her having anything beyond the disgusted sneer & expression that seemed to scream “How can you eat that garbage?” But here? Now? She almost couldn’t wait for what seemed like her now much plumper sister’s twenty minute explanation of their “off-menu” items.

When it was finally their turn, Holly hit the button & lowered her window with an excited grin.

“Don’t worry!” She insisted. “Their ordering scheme’s a little convoluted but I’m a pro! I know what I’m doing, I’ll get you what you want!”

“I… really wish you… wouldn’t…” Rachel winced softly. But it was TOO soft. Not nearly forceful enough to get Holly to listen. And in a way, Rachel realized that was maybe on account of her own hunger pangs. They were making her cries of protest so… weak. Feeble even. 

For the past week, she was basically always low key hungry. And using that “be mindful” advice, did everything in her power to maintain SOME awareness of that. In fact she had done everything in her own power to avoid giving in herself. For the most part anyway. But like Dawn yesterday, with the whole “two pizza” thing? When someone else seemed to be the one ordering on her behalf? She barely seemed to put up that much of a fight. Like just now, when she thought she heard Holly say something to the effect of “two fully loaded triple combos…?” Dear god.

Two massive sodas, one large grease-stained bag, & roughly about twelve minutes later, Holly pulled into a spot in the student parking lot of Buxton Township High School. In front of them, a finely graveled track looped a football field, with automated sprinklers kicked on to water the grass. Another, much much older person, on the far end of the oval, seemed to have the same idea of getting some laps in this morning. But at the moment, Holly was much, much more preoccupied by the aroma of the burgers that filled the car.

“Ohhh classic triple!” Holly hollered way louder than she needed to be. “I ne-hee-ed you in my lii-hii-fe!” She announced in a very sing-song way.

“Relax.” Rachel, who had initially offered it over the center console, jerked the bag back in protest.

“Give it!” With a meal on the line, suddenly Holly’s reflexes were just the slightest bit sharper. And she snatched the bag from her fun-hating younger sister’s grasp. The directness of her last imperative gave way to a hooting little fidget she did as she got hers out. Almost in a bit of a frenzy, she wrestled a large, wax paper wrapped hunk of food & a large cardboard cup of fries out of the grease coated paper bag before shoving it back in Rachel’s direction, so she could fend for herself.

“Thanks.” Rachel bemoaned softly.

“Well...? Go on!” Holly laughed, eyeing her eagerly as she peeled back the paper on her own. Rachel looked down to see three, fairly thick burger patties peeking out underneath layers of cheese, lettuce, & tomato. While it maybe wasn’t on par with that bougey “Wake-Up Burger” Holly had that time, it was still a lot of burger. And triple definitely meant triple. With some halfhearted hesitation, she pulled out her own & opened it up while Holly took her first bite. She cooed & moaned in response.

“Classic…?” Rachel asked, pulling off the top bun. “I thought you ordered a “Classic.” Mine has bacon on it.” Not that she was really all THAT upset. In fact, technically? It was one of the more breakfast-y elements of the whole meal.

“At Burger Palace?” Holly, sucking the ketchup & mayo, or maybe some sort of secret sauce more like, off one of her plump fingers with her eyes hunkering back into that “well actually” expression again. “A “Classic” comes with bacon.” She puckered with the condiments she pulled from her greasy fingertip. “Standard.” 

“Wow. What a deal.” Rachel sighed flatly, as she held up the largest burger she had ever attempted in her life.

“If you don’t want your bacon, I’ll ha…”

“I’m fine with the bacon.” Rachel snapped, holding it an inch from her lips. Its smell wafted up her nose, & something about the ketchup & the lettuce, her brain set off some sort of an alarm like “No! Too early!” She wavered a little. But then, almost as if to override that, her stomach growled. She hadn’t eaten since that slice of cold pizza she grabbed at one in the morning. And it was basically nine now & she was starving! But goddammit! The whole point of this, coming out this way? It was to try & make her muffintop go away! Not contribute to it!

“Well?” Holly, with third bite filling her cheeks, muffling her words, asked impatiently. Rachel side-eyed in response. “Oh, can the pity party & taste it already!” Holly squinted, shaking her head. “One bite & you’ll see!” To Rachel, that sounded way more like a threat than Holly had probably intended it to be. But still, Rachel sunk her teeth into the thing.

“Mmmmmmmmm.” She had no control over the moan that escaped her. It was hard to contain it, but if she was being quite honest with herself, she mostly had to agree. It was… delicious. Even at nine AM. 

“See?!” Holly asked with the widest, almost accusing eyes. “TOLD-JA!” she bounced, slamming another bite of her own. “And they make THE BEST fries too.” She mumbled over her bite. Before taking a swig of soda & adding “Mmm, & there’s an order of chicken fingers at the bottom too.”

“Holly…” Rachel growled, busy on her second bite.

“What?! You REALLY ought to try them!” Despite being pretty large, half of Holly’s was already gone. She sucked more sauce off one of her fingers of the other hand. “They’re so good.”

“Mmmmmph,” Rachel struggled to down her bite. “We’re supposed to be… moving. Working some of this… off.” She trailed slightly, not wanting to totally address her own recently gained pudge. But Holly, lips still puckered from another sip of her soft drink, tweaked into a smile. To her? Almost like being here at this track, even though she had never really even been to this school, there was just something… more familiar about a Rachel with a little more meat on her bones. Granted, it was only a bit, but this new muffintop her little sister was sporting? It was pretty hard to ignore, despite all of Rachel’s efforts. Besides, maybe if she was a little chunky again, she’d stop giving her so much flak for putting on a few pounds herself!

Rachel, on the other hand, slowly felt herself becoming more & more enamored with her burger. She started to think maybe Holly had made the right call. Maybe she did need a little more of this in her life too. She reached in her bag to pull out a fry. They were battered, a slightly odd texture, & flecked with something that smelled a little of rosemary. Taking a nibble, her suspicions were confirmed. 

“Mmmmmmm.” she felt herself moan again, unconsciously. “So good.”

“Right?!” Holly asked, prodding for some credit. Reluctantly, Rachel offered up a slight nod.

Beyond the impromptu picnic, the two of them never actually did step foot on the track. Between each of their triple stacks of burgers, the fries, & the buttermilk chicken fingers lurking at the very bottom of the bag? Rachel suddenly didn’t quite feel like moving for a bit. She was just… too full. On top of that, her tanktop suddenly started to seem riding up a little higher than she would’ve prefered. It exposed a narrow, but blatant band of pasty skin around her, bulging just slightly. And Holly? Well, she wasn’t about to take any initiative on her own. Not if she could just go back home & lounge on the couch. Sure, walking the track would’ve been a bit nostalgic, but to her? They came, they saw, they enjoyed very early lunch! As they eventually started to pull out of the parking lot, Rachel TRIED to take some solace in at least how close they came. So close! Hell! She managed to get Holly out of Oakmont for a little over half an hour at least.

Baby steps! Maybe next time, they might actually accomplish some walking!