Bellflower Part 49 (Patreon)

In this in installment, Holly feels self conscious about her seemingly ever-spiraling weight, while Rachel tries not to beat herself up for overeating. And a surprise reunion leads to more yummy snacks regardless.

Long time coming. Sorry for the delays. I got in my own head with it & wanted to set up something kind of significant for the next chapter. But I got a little hung up on how to try & get there. And because of that, whenever I was in the mood to write, I started tackling other stories first. But I knew I needed to get back to this. 

There’s a lot of angsting over weight in this one. Ultimately, I did enjoy writing those & the interactions. And next chapter is 50, which will be kind of a heavy one. Gonna start immediately, & while I think it should be easier to write, it’s a pretty dense one. So be ready!

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49

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Holly had no idea what had possessed her.

While she continued to angst over what was going on with her weight, once she had started driving, she seemed to once again operate on autopilot. And despite her stomach still feeling quite full, that teensy bit of room that was available ended up being just enough to make her unable to help herself. Mindlessly, she had already placed her order for a box of tendies, a side of curly fries, & another soda, with a car in front of her, a car behind her, & rows of curbing locking her in on either end. Only now it had even dawned on her, the fact she was ordering even more food while also, ostensibly, panicking about her size. Mercifully, while she got the larger count, it was still only just the one meal this time. Though she actively had to tamp down the small, devious part of her in that moment, aware of everything & still wanting to see if she could still tack on another extra value meal at the window.

The remaining selection of curly fries were scant, at best, by the time she pulled into the Bellflower’s garage. With her chubby digits, mostly fumbling against empty cardboard, only to eventually pick out a meager semi circle of salty potato. But even the final scraps were so damn good though. The right amount of salt & greasy fried perfection.

At the same time, as Holly heaved herself out of her seat, the disappointment really started to set in. She had initially set off with such high hopes for her big day off. But instead of a nice, long, serene walk through nature, all she did was eat some shitty fast food, in her car, worry about how fat she was, & still manage to return with a large order of chicken. What a failure, she thought with an audible sigh, puffed sharply through slightly pouting lips. Though slowly, the closer she got to the elevator, the more she did look forward to that chicken consolation prize. Her thoughts swirled. Maybe there was no fighting it. Maybe this was just who she was now. Destined to be… large. The elevator dinged upon her approach, without her even having to press a button. She took one more  heavy step inside.

No! She told herself, mentally. That “destined to be large” nonsense was just quitter talk, & even being capable of having those kinds of thoughts scared her. Sure, she might be big. Maybe even bigger than she wanted to admit, or, more frighteningly, possibly even realized. And yeah, maybe today didn’t go entirely as planned. But it was still one small step in the right direction. One of those baby steps Rachel wouldn’t shut the fuck up about. As much as she hated to admit it, it was becoming increasingly more clear that her younger sister may have been on to something. The elevator doors met again, offering a vague, hazy reflection of herself as she wondered whether or not there was a way to maybe broach the topic with Rachel without overtly admitting she was ever in the wrong.

As always the ride was slow. And for as little as she had ultimately exerted herself, the notion of collapsing on her couch beckoned her like a sirens’ song. She could plot & ponder things a lot better, she thought, once she got off her feet.

‘Hope you enjoyed your big day out, Miss Holly.” There was some snark to Penny’s tone she didn’t quite care for as it chimed from the panel.

“Um… I did.” Holly lied, confidently not giving her computer an inch.

“Well that is wonderful.” Penny almost seemed to sneer. “I hope you do not mind me taking the liberties to resync your new phone, based on your previous backup.”

“Oh,” Holly slowly responded, trying to not let it seem like the whole phone matter had completely slipped her mind. “That’s… that’s great, actually.” She admitted, almost sorry for giving Penny an attitude. She imagined that if it were entirely left up to her to figure out she’d be fumbling with it until dawn.

“Yes.” Penny followed up. “It is waiting for you on the counter.”

“Th-thanks.” Holly, a little fatigued, slowly smiled a genuine smile.

“Of course, Miss Holly!” Penny purred.

It was another minute before the elevator let out another ding & Holly had reached her floor. A wave of relief hit her, easing out a gentle sigh after a swig from her soda. She shuffled off the elevator & around the corner, only to see a large figure standing near her door. A bit puzzled as to why there would even be anybody, it took a moment for Holly to register their features. She didn’t immediately recognize the person as she slowly advanced a bit further before addressing them.

The woman was big all over, to the point that standing seemed like quite the chore. She was bulging in & out of a very light pink hoodie & sweatpants combo a few sizes smaller than she really needed, leaving a band of pale, exposed upper midriff. Longer, caramel wisps of hair ran down her shoulders & back but long black roots gave up the ghost of it being her original color. Her back was more to Holly than not, as she held a small tray in one hand & knocked on her condo’s door with the daintiest little knock with the other.

“Hello?” She cooed, with a sing-songs lilt. “Either of you home?” A few more steps & Holly could smell the unmistakable aroma of a strange, but also pretty pleasant melon-scented perfume, nice & sweet. There was only one other girl in the whole building that she remembered wearing anything like that.

“Regina?” Holly finally asked only a few steps away at this point & a bit confused herself. Last she had seen her, which was admittedly a little bit, her flaky young Asian friend was fat, sure, but not… well, this fat. Despite that size, the figure jostled at the sound of Holly’s voice, seemingly startled into almost dropping the precarious tray. With something of a waddling step, a surprised Regina turned to face Holly. Both stared at one another for an extra beat, both seeming to silently register the recent… changes in the other’s appearance.

“Oh! My! God! Holly!” She eventually gasped with a growing smile, her face reddening a little. “You snuck up on me.” She extended the arm of her knocking hand as if she wanted to go in for a hug.

“Sorry,” Holly blushed, smiling, & awkwardly trying to maneuver her own bulk in to facilitate that hug. It was quite the odd sensation. There was so much of each of them, pushing into one another, even with their arms reaching as far as they could, & yet they still didn’t even close enough for a proper embrace. “How are you?”

“Oh… you know…” Regina trailed. “It feels like it’s certainly been a while.”

“Yeah, for sure.” Holly nodded, pulling back, taking an extra step to right her balance. “It’s been a minute.”

“Well, a lot more than that!” Regina flakily taking her literally. But she continued before Holly could interject. “My Penny told me that you had a really bad day yesterday. And said you took a day. And I’ve been doing so much baking lately. So I just figured…” She presented the tray, pulling back the covering to reveal a dozen or so frosted cupcakes.

“Awww!” Holly gasped. At first, she greedily wanted to accept them, & slam the whole tray in the hallway, right then & there. In all fairness, they did look marginally better. A step up from the last few times Regina attempted to bake something for Ladies’ Night. Maybe all the practice was finally paying off. Somewhat. But with her worries all day, part of her wanted to push back a little. Even if well-intentioned, keep them well away. Ultimately, for the sake of social niceties, she landed on “You really shouldn’t have!”

“Oh, please!” Regina snickered. “With all the practicing I’ve been doing, trust me! It’s better for me to give some batches away. Keeps me from pigging out on all of them myself!” As if it were a caloric game of hot potato. One Regina had seemingly been losing. Her face was much puffier now, her already slight features getting further lost behind rounding cheeks & so much extra chin. It left Holly at somewhat of a loss.

“Uh, um… you want to come in?” She asked, gesturing with her bag of chicken. Almost on cue, Penny opened the door pneumatically.

“Oooh,” Regina cooed. “Well… maybe just for a minute.” Her eyes holding fast to her tray. As if even though she was gifting Holly the batch, she’d still be offered one or two. Or four.

Rachel not only felt disgustingly full, but utterly disgusted in herself as well. And right now, almost as if through some kind of karmic justice, she felt every single bump the usually smooth shuttle seemed to hit, vibrating uncomfortably through her turgid gut.

It was bad enough the day started off on such a sour note, finding out she had officially set a new record: her fattest. But between Trudy’s donuts & Cami’s lunch, there was no way of not getting hit with an absolute barrage of food. Already a terrible day for her, but exacerbated by the nagging thoughts that persisted after her very disquieting conversation with a nihilistic Marissa.

Did she have a point? Were they all  just spinning their wheels? Only making themselves miserable trying to delay an ultimately inevitable fate? It felt so defeatist. And yet, without actually picking up & physically leaving the Bellflower’s orbit, there didn’t seem to be any evidence of them actually avoiding it. And even then, she remembered the strings that seemed to be pulled to keep her from leaving, the way the place held its grasp over her.

Another shuddering bump made Rachel’s eyes flare wide, forcing a tiny grunt of discomfort. Camille’s Burger Palace order was sitting in her stomach like a block of lead, even hours later. Well maybe it was more the fries than the burgers. Both had grease levels off the charts. Somehow, while she was downing it, Rachel had these deluded hopes of going home, wriggling her widening ass into some gym shorts & going on a jog to burn some of it off. But she didn’t anticipate feeling this trash. In fact, it’d probably take everything in her right now to even avoid a nap. Fortunately they were close.

Stepping off the shuttle slowly, Rachel slung her bag a little higher as delicately as she could. Trying not to jostle herself too much. But her pace didn’t seem fast enough for another resident. Darker skinned, she was a South Asian woman she’d seen around the building somewhat frequently during her commutes. And considering how she seemed to double in size in such a short period of time, Rachel thought she might have some sympathy for a fellow fatty with her tender tummy, Not so. Rachel couldn’t sidestep out of her way fast enough. Not to avoid an impatient “tck” of her tongue. She stepped past her sharply, with purpose. While the rudeness wasn’t lost on her, Rachel didn’t take it personally. She could tell the girl was hungry. And desperate to get upstairs to keep eating. Just like the two other rounder girls that passed by her at the same pace. She knew this, because sadly, even with her full stomach, her own nagging peckishness seemed to increase as she approached the Bellflower’s wide doors. That sickening sensation that her hunger was completely detached from her stomach’s capacity. While she might’ve been one of the first off the bus, she was the last through the door by something of a wide margin.

As she stepped off the sloth-like elevator & shuffled toward the condo, senses of both relief & trepidation hit her. While it might’ve been the source for all her problems, after a long hard day, it was still home. She couldn’t wait to peel her too-tight work clothes off. She just hoped she had pajamas that would still be stretchy enough to accommodate her stuffed gut. Maybe there was something Holly had from twelve sizes ago she could borrow. And speaking of which, she hoped that Holly’s fat ass wasn’t taking up the entirety of the couch. Leave her just enough room to curl up into a plump, little ball. That food coma she had been desperate to avoid in place of a workout? It was slowly growing much more appealing in her head at this point. And yeah, everything in her belly would probably immediately metabolize into more blubber if she did that. But at least she’d be safe knowing she wouldn’t be tempted to keep eating for that brief duration. If she could just get through today without any more calories. It was at that point that Rachel became keenly aware of the giggling emanating from Holly’s unit. A warm, not too unpleasant laugh that definitely wasn’t her sister’s. And dashed her hopes of a nap.

The giggles were cut by the hiss of the door.

“Oh, Rachel must be home.” She could hear Holly announce.

“Hello?” She called out weakly, just a few steps in the door.

“Rachel!” The other voice exclaimed. That’s when a large, backlit figure thunderously started barreling down the narrow hallway towards her, compelling a sharp yelp out of her. There were only milliseconds between slowly recognizing this bigger woman to be Regina & getting flabby arms wrapped around her for a hug. A hug a very stuffed Rachel desperately wanted to avoid, but couldn’t. “Long time no see!”

“Oooof!” She winced at first, “Reg-Regina… please… I’m… I feel like I’m gonna-“ It wasn’t even that tight or constricting a hug, necessarily. Rachel’s current condition just made it feel so unbearable. “My stomach…”

“Ohh,’ Regina backed off, loosening her grip upon noticing Rachel’s pekid appearance. “I’m sorry! I don’t know my own strength.“ She seemed super self-conscious about her added bulk. While Holly may have outpaced her, Regina was no slouch. Her gains were steady & very noticeable.

“No,” Rachel tried to wave it off, struggling to recover her bearings & the unexpected surprise. “No, no!” She tried to take a deep breath & plaster on a smile, despite her discomfort. “Just… I had a big lunch. Hi Regina. It’s- -ulp-… wonderful to see you. But can I-” She almost said “get in the door first,” but realized it might’ve been a little rude. She chose to let it just let it trail. Luckily, Regina seemed to catch the drift.

“Oh, of course!” Regina recoiled, almost a little embarrassed. “Of course.” The flaky girl seemed to grow a bit more sheepish & shy with her size. Rachel seemed to notice some reserve in her characteristic bubbliness. And as she backed away, Rachel got a better look at the added weight, straining her athleisure wear.

“Regina brought cupcakes.” Holly announced from the kitchen, with a mouthful, of course.

“And Holly had some chicken, & it smelled delicious so we ordered some more. Should get here any second.” Regina gleefully added. Rachel huffed, slowly reaching the point where the hallway widened into the kitchen.

There was Holly, shoving a cupcake in her mouth despite chicken apparently being on the way. The way her bulging frame was perched on a tall, somewhat narrow stool, almost seemed comical. But that’s when Rachel noticed something of a forlorn expression on Holly’s plump face. The sister’s locked eyes for a brief second before Holly’s shot down to what looked like her new phone. So much for trying to limit her exposure to the signals, Rachel lamented with a sigh.

“Here!” Regina presented Rachel with a strawberry frosted cupcake on a tiny plate. And to Regina’s credit, while it didn’t have the machine precision of the ones Penny had done for her in the past, it was a huge step up from the ones she brought to lady’s night. It looked quite nice even. But queasily, Rachel once again became very aware of her stomach’s contents.

“Um…” She winced politely. “Thanks. But like I said…” She laid a hand oh-so delicately on her jutting tummy. “Camille & I did lunch together. Sort of… overdid it.”

“Awww.” Regina swooned, in a way where Rachel could quite tell if she thought it was great her & Cami were hanging out together, or disappointed she wasn’t interested.

“They’re actually really good.” Holly chimed in, faintly frustrated in a way only her sister could discern. While things might’ve been terse between them lately, Rachel could tell there was something on her mind. Something Holly didn’t really seem to want to say in front of company. But then, the heavyset blond smooshed the remaining third of the one she was holding into her mouth, before sucking the excess frosting off her fingers. “Regina’s gotten a lot better.”

“Aw!” The bubbly, bubble of a girl cooed, her eyes almost tearing up. “I’m just sooo happy you like them!” She picked her own plate back up with another. “And I was telling Holly,” she said, spinning to Rachel. “There’s plenty more where these come from! I’ve been baking up a storm lately. If you like them, I could totally drop off more!”

“Oh.” Rachel tried to hide her wince, still trying to channel her indigestion to prevent her from scarfing down her cupcake. Despite still feeling so full, her appetite seemed to increase like fivefold, just walking in the door.

“That is so very neighborly of you, Miss Regina.” Penny spoke up. “Is it not, girls?”

Both sisters could only manage something of an acknowledging grunt, as Holly seemed lost in her phone & Rachel, despite her best efforts, gave in to take a bite. More just to appease Regina. At least that was the initial excuse.

Fuck it, Rachel thought, grabbing a seat at the counter with the other two to join their little impromptu pig out party. All things considered? Looking at the gains both Holly & Regina had made in such a short time? Even as much of a chubster as she was becoming, she was tiny in comparison. She was usually so good. Had so much self-control. And usually, had a decent knack for weaseling out of these kinds of situations. Today? Not so much.

But, she rationalized, that was ok. She was entitled to give in, just a little. Not much! Not to where she got as big as Regina, or Holly, or Marissa. But there was, no pun intended, some amount of cushion before she would ever reach that size. A margin of error. She wouldn’t make a habit of days like this. But she decided she wasn’t going to beat herself up over them either. Her already stuffed, gurgling gut was already punishment enough. And would only get worse, she reckoned, as she sucked the frosting off her fingers, having almost mindlessly consumed the cupcake.

“Delicious, Regina.” Rachel sighed, earnestly.

“Oh I’m so glad!” She giddily clapped before tucking her plump hands to the side of her fat cheek.

“Your delivery has arrived.” Penny announced. Blankly, Holly slowly lumbered to her feet & waddled to the door, as Rachel tried to mentally prep for the ensuing caloric onslaught.

“Chicken & cupcakes,” Rachel sighed.

“Can’t wait!” Regina cooed, with an excitement & blissful naïveté Rachel was suddenly very envious of.

Between three hefty girls with big appetites, the feeding frenzy didn’t last very long. Even despite such a large order & so many cupcakes. The whole spread was gone in less than a half hour. To the point that Regina was able to take her tray with her, as she started to excuse herself. She had only intended to drop the tray off, after all. Not stay for dinner.

“This was so much fun though!” She said with a somewhat sated sigh. “We have to do this again! Soon!”

“-Urp-“ Rachel was a mess, barely able to stand. “Not too soon.” She muttered. “Good to catch up though, Regina.”

“Eh, Lightweight.” Holly scoffed at her sister’s expense, as she saw Regina to the door. Rachel, too far gone for a proper rejoinder, staggered towards the couch, the place she wanted to collapse since walking in the door, only far worse for wear.

She was so stuffed, she had trouble bending. She couldn’t lower herself to sit gently, as not to shake things up to much. But her legs were weak. It had been such a long day. Unceremoniously, she just decided to plop, & cross her fingers she didn’t just explode.

“Unnnnnngh.” She groaned as things churned uncomfortably for a second. Still in her work clothes, she swore a button or two may have popped, but she couldn’t be bothered to even check. Slowly, she looked down to a food baby that almost looked to be to term. Painfully taut. She hated feeling this full. Beyond even just knowing the consequences for it. She cursed herself for thinking for one second it was okay to give in. While it spared her a modicum of angst, feeling like a whale, ready to detonate like this? In this moment, it felt a lot worse.

“That was nothing.” Holly mocked as she returned with her swaying gait. Even though she had the lion’s share of the food, she seemed completely unphased. But mercifully, she lowered herself onto the couch in a considerate way that didn’t cause too much vibration for an ailing Rachel.

“That was on top of a huge lunch.” Rachel exhaled sharply, her tummy audibly gurgling. “I ate like you all day!” It was a jab. And Holly’s brow reacted in kind. She adjusted herself that seemed innocent, but with a bounce, shaking the couch & causing Rachel to wince. It only seemed intentional given how much care she took in sitting in the first place. But looking straightforward, Holly huffed.

“Tried going for a walk today. In nature.” She had things on her mind but needed to ease into them.

“Oh yeah?” A beleaguered Rachel tried to show interest. Maybe if Holly was telling her this at any other point, she would be interested. But right now?

“Didn’t get all that far though.” The older sister admitted. Unsurprisingly.

“Oh.” Rachel said, letting it lie.

“You’re right.” It just hung in the air for a second between the two sisters.

“I’m… right…?” Rachel repeated, questioning the context.

“I think… Well… Maybe…” Holly stammered. She wanted to pick the right words. Now, in person? With the ongoing rivalry the two had though, she didn’t want to give Rachel too much credit. “Something’s definitely maybe… up.”

“I-I can’t hand- -urp- -andle you being… vague right now.” Rachel impatiently managed. Holly sighed.

“We’re both getting… fat.” She finally blurted, sinking back into the couch. A lot less taut, her belly still somehow managed to dwarf Rachel’s.

“… you think?” The usually accompanying “captain obvious” dig implied in Rachel’s tone. The irony of Holly having this realization today, of all days, was not lost on the younger sister.

“Well like… too fat.” Holly clarified. Sighing again, she added a “More me than you.” But looking over, she almost felt compelled to poke at Rachel’s recently returned tummy. “Although…”

“Stop!” Rachel exclaimed seriously, slapping Holly’s finger away, but in the process, moving a little too carelessly. “Ooooof.”

“Sorry.” Holly tried to regain her seriousness. “It’s just that… well… yesterday? Today? I… I-“

“What?” Rachel pressed. While this was maybe not the best time for her to have it, she could see the concern written all over Holly’s face.

“I…” Holly once again attempted. She brought her hands up & spread her fingers out in a gesture to reset herself. “This is going to sound a little nutzo maybe. But there were these times where like… I saw a reflection of myself? And I was like… substantially…bigger. A lot bigger than I was expecting.”

“I mean…” Rachel tried to muster up a supportive tone. After almost being ready to write her off, she was glad Holly suddenly seemed somewhat mindful about these things. But she needed to tread lightly. Subtly. And right now, she definitely wasn’t in the best mindset herself. “It happens.”

“No… but like… you don’t get it.” Holly inched in slightly, as if she wasn’t already taking up a good share of couch space. “Substantially bigger.” She took a deep, centering breath. “Like… don’t get me wrong. We’ve talked about it. Yeah, you’ve brought it up a bunch. Maybe too much. But I get it. I… I let myself go. And I know I’m… fat.” Her eyes wandered back to her own expansive frame. “But not as fat as… what I saw.” She exhaled sharply through her teeth. “Looked like a friggin’ sumo version of myself.”

“I mean…” Rachel couldn’t find the words, but wanted to express her own concern. For weeks, Holly had seemingly just turned into this… eating machine. She was quite literally swelling up. Rapidly. And frankly, yeah, she was somewhat in sumo-fighting shape these days, if she was being honest. But that’s when Holly’s phone chirped. A different notification sound than either sister was used to. Holly pulled it out, causing the wheels in Rachel’s head to start to turn. “These times you saw yourself? Bigger than you thought? Were they… without your phone?”

“Well I had it on me the first time.” Holly responded looking puzzled. “Yesterday.”

“Before or after it died?” Rachel pressed.

“Well like… as.” Holly thought back.

“As it died?”

“Yeah.” Holly nodded before her brow folded downward. “Why in the hell would any of that matter?”

“Um well…” Rachel started to try to articulate it, but as she did, another voice chimed in.

“I hope you would not mind, Miss Rachel,” Penny interrupted. “But I can tell you are not feeling your best. So I prepared some tea & crackers. It should help to settle your stomach.”

“Ech.” Rachel groaned. “Fuck off, I’m not consuming more! I’ll fucking pop!”

“Aw, thanks Penny!” Holly answered on her sister’s behalf, taking them from the mechanical arms. She rolled her bulk forward to set the tea down on the coffee table, but mindlessly stole & began nibbling on one of the crackers.

“Tomorrow, after work,” Rachel started, “Wait… you’re going to work right?”

“I suppose.” Holly anxiously puffed.

“Afterwards,” Rachel continued, “I think we should go on a little ride.”

“Huh? Where?” Holly asked, dreading it being a gym or something. If she couldn’t handle a nature walk on her day off, she couldn’t imagine any sort of actual workout after a whole day at the office.

“You.. trust me -urp- right?” Rachel struggled to ask.