Autumn (Chapter 8) (Patreon)

Chapter 8

Mike may not have been much for breakfast, but he made up for it by being a dessert fanatic. With COVID-19 still spreading like wildfire, and a return to work nowhere in sight, he had gotten in the habit of not eating anything during the day, and consuming all of his calories in the evenings.

He liked this routine because it made Autumn less self-conscious about matching him in portion sizes at dinner time, and it seemed to give her a sort of self-appointed permission to indulge in dessert every night guilt free, if for no other reason than the fact that her slim, trim boyfriend was indulging right along with her.

After all, if he was eating it, how bad could it be?

It didn’t matter that they didn’t always like the same things. Mike was a big fan of pie and stuff like self-serve donuts, while Autumn, in her sophisticated way, was more fond of ice cream, chocolate, cream puffs, cheesecake, cupcakes, or any cake for that matter; and although she was consuming a massive breakfast each morning, Mike liked to make sure that she still had her dessert, every night before bed. After all, seeing her gain weight was becoming an obsession, and he wanted more.

Autumn scraped another forkful of creamy cake from her little plastic container and took a bite. “All of these (chew, chew) Planet Earth shows are really just about sex.”

Mike set his half eaten slice of cherry pie down, scooted to his right and put his arm around her shoulder. “Animal instinct I guess.”

It was now July, and they were enjoying another quiet night together in front of their fairly new Philips 65 inch flat screen after a dinner of takeout Thai food. They already burned through their favorite British TV dramas and were left with mostly nature documentaries, travel and cooking shows.

Autumn pointed with her free hand. “The females don’t even have to do anything. Look, see they just sit there and wait while all the males fight over her.”

Mike turned the volume down a few notches then gave her arm a loving squeeze and smiled. “Just like humans.”

She continued to clean the bottom of her container with her fork as if she was trying desperately to get every last morsel of whipped cream into her already bloated looking belly. “Not really.”

“What do you mean?”

She licked her lips, leaned forward and put her now empty container on the coffee table in front of her. “Are you kidding? Girls are always in the gym, trying to change their bodies, all because they’re competing with each other to attract men.”

Mike stared at her like a man in a trance. It hadn’t gone unnoticed to him that she was eating much faster than she used to. Her body had become accustomed to a diet of high glycemic foods which no doubt caused fluctuations in her blood sugar, creating a vicious cycle of a subconscious, yet constant craving for more carbs.

The extra ten pounds or so that she had added to her figure in the past month, was to Mike, very much evident. Dressed in skimpy loungewear shorts and a matching spaghetti strap top, she was leaving little to his imagination.

“Yeah but girls don’t need to,” he said. “ They only think they do because society makes them think that. You know, because society can make money off people’s insecurities and stuff.”

She tossed a wisp of hair away from her face and batted her eyelashes. “Do you really believe that?”

“Yeah, I do.”

“What about me?”

“What about you?”

She curled her legs beneath her butt and adjusted her posture so that she was facing him more directly. “Do I need to workout? Do I need to lose weight to attract you?”

Her thighs were squished together and her shorts were riding up her hips. Mike remembered when those very same shorts fit her the way they had been designed, loose and lax. Now they were so small that the hems were digging into her flesh like a second skin. He  lowered his head and kissed her just above her knee like a man in deep worship. “I think you know the answer to that. You don’t need to do anything.”

“Really?” She slid backwards, placed her hand on her belly and looked at him blankly. “Because I think I’ve officially gained the corona 15.”

He gazed into her eyes, recalling a time not so long ago when she complained of the relationship 15. “You look beautiful.”

“I need to get some exercise.” She unfolded her legs and let her butt plop back on the leather surface of the sofa, causing the cushion to make an airy noise of deflation.  Her belly puckered into overlapping rolls. “Can we go for a hike this weekend? It would be nice to get out of the house and see some nature.”

His shoulders slumped at the idea that she still had a desire to lose weight, but he supposed that was inevitable, whether he wanted it or not. “Um, yeah sure. If that’s what you want to do.” He gawked in lustful admiration at the way her newly developed love handles were poking out and over the sides of her shorts. “You wanna take the car or the motorcycle?”

“Uhhh, car.” She scrunched her nose cutely. “I need jeans for the motorcycle and I still don’t have anything that fits. Another reason why I need exercise.”

“Come here.” He put one arm around her waist, the other beneath her knees and attempted to pull all 209 pounds of her onto his lap. She felt heavier than he expected, but he managed.

“I want a cigarette,” she cooed.

Her big ass dominated his much narrower pelvis and he grabbed the outer sides of her butt cheeks with both hands. He savored the sight and feeling of it. He couldn’t imagine her getting any bigger than she was now, and he knew full well that before long the pandemic would end, gyms would reopen and she’d be back into some sort of workout routine, but goddamn, he was going to enjoy this sense of heaven while it lasted. “Okay baby.”

He took her to Denny Creek trailhead the following Saturday. Just an hour's drive east on interstate 90, it was a popular hike due to its gentle, family friendly grade and the spectacular waterfall at the end.

It was a warm day, but the canopy of the old growth forest kept them in the shade for the most part. Mike found Autumn’s walking pace to be almost unbearably slow, but he did his best to stay by her side and help her along.

After a quarter mile, Autumn stopped and took a deep breath of the clean mountain air. “Mmmm, it smells so good out here.”

Bright green ferns, salmon berry bushes, and pink, yellow, and purple wildflowers surrounded them in every direction while sharp rays of light shot through outstretched branches of Douglas-Firs and Western Hemlocks above.

Mike slapped a mosquito away from his arm, and adjusted his backpack. He looked straight at her. Her brand new Lululemon camo pattern leggings highlighted her alluring shape beautifully, and to him, she looked like a dream. “Yes, breathtakingly gorgeous too.”

She rolled her eyes at him dismissively. “I’m excited to see this waterfall, how much further?”

“It’s not far.”

They continued their slow trudge upward over exposed roots and rain rounded rocks. Autumn had been a fairly decent hiker, at least, she did okay last summer, but Mike was amazed by how different she was now. With no gap between her thighs, her walk had turned into a sort of lumbering wiggle, and she was moving so slowly that little kids, dogs and families were passing them at seemingly every turn, and it wasn’t long before she needed to stop completely.

“Can I (gasp) have some water?” she said breathlessly. She was panting and sweating and her face was flush.

Mike unzipped his backpack and handed her a 24 ounce bottle of Smartwater. “You okay?”

“Yeah, I (pant, gasp) just need to catch my breath.” She took a big drink. “Are we close?”

He shrugged then turned his head toward the traversing trail that zigzagged uphill and disappeared into the trees. “Maybe another mile.”

She fanned herself with her free hand. “Are you kidding? I feel like we’ve (gasp) been walking forever.”

An older couple appeared from around the bend and Mike led Autumn towards a mossy boulder off to the side to let them pass. The couple, a man and a woman, looked to be in their 70s, but they were fit and trim and moved quickly with relative ease.

“Hello,” the older woman said in a cheery voice.

Mike gave her a nod. “Hi.”

Autumn stared at the old woman with what Mike thought was a look of contempt before sitting down on a clean, shelf-like piece of granite. She took another sip of water and watched the couple dissolve into the thick forest ahead. “God, (pant) it’s like everybody has turned into professional hikers all of a sudden.”

Mike gave her a few minutes before he helped her up and they pressed on. He loved walking behind her. She had naturally wide hips, a small waist, and narrow shoulders simply due to the genetic makeup of her bone structure; and now with the extra pounds these alluring features were just that much more amplified. She was extremely curvy without being very strong, and because she stored so much of her weight in her butt and breasts, she was able to maintain an hourglass figure even at high body-fat percentages.

After another quarter mile or so, they reached a wooden bridge that crossed the babbling brook the trail had been following from the beginning. Autumn was visibly exhausted.

“You know, (gasp) maybe I don’t (pant) really need to see the waterfall,” she said matter-of-factly. “This is pretty enough right here.”

Mike put his hands on the knotty log that was the railing of the bridge. “You sure? It’s not that much further.”

She sighed. “I know but my feet hurt, (gasp) and my neck is sort of acting up again.”

Mike looked at her, his eyes kind and sympathetic. Her outfit didn’t hide much of her most recent weight gain, and he noticed that she was constantly tugging on the waistband of her leggings, as if pulling them upward would disguise the fact that she was getting a belly. “Okay, we can just head back I guess.”

By the time they got to the car Autumn felt weak, and completely drained. Mike gave her the bottle of water then took her cigarettes out of his backpack. He placed one between her lips and lit it for her.

Autumn took a puff with a worried look on her face. “Oh my god (cough, gasp) I’m so out of shape.” She leaned against the Honda as if her legs were too tired and sore to support her own weight. She sucked on her cigarette like a lollipop and exhaled repetitive clouds of smoke into the air. “We really (cough) need to quit smoking.”

Mike lit one of his own. “Easier said than done.”

“Maybe it’s just (pant) that my blood sugar is low, I feel a little dizzy.” Her breasts heaved from beneath her low cut black tank top with each labored breath she took and the late afternoon sun beamed across her radiant skin and auburn hair, like nature itself was trying to highlight the rare beauty that she was.

Mike could not articulate the reasons why; but he found himself extremely turned on by the way Autumn struggled so mightily with the short hike, so much so that she was unable to even finish. Perhaps it was all the panting and heavy breathing, or maybe it was just refreshing that such a normally self sufficient woman, actually needed his help for once.

“Drink water,” he said. “We can stop at a drive-through on our way home.” He put his arm around her, she was sweaty and her skin was cool to the touch. “Sound good?”

She gazed at him blankly, then discreetly plucked a wedgie out her leggings and nodded. “Yeah.

Two months later, Sydney was waiting for Autumn to finish her cigarette in a parking lot near Shilshole Bay and Golden Gardens park in the northwest corner of Seattle proper. It was a gorgeous September day, and the sky was so clear that the Olympic mountain range was completely visible beyond the silvery blue water of Puget Sound.

“You don’t smoke in the car?” Sydney said.

“God no,” Autumn said. “It would get all gross and stinky and Mike would probably kill me.” She took a final puff, tossed the used up filter on the asphalt, then stomped out the glowing cherry with her heeled boot. She opened the door to the CRV and climbed in.

Sydney got in on the passenger’s side. “Like I was saying, I think sleep has been the hardest part for me during this whole thing. I’m tired during the day and then I just toss and turn all night.”

Autumn shifted her hips in her seat and shut the door. She started the engine and turned toward her friend. “Mike’s been buying these CBD gummies.”

Sydney stretched the seatbelt over her hips and belly. “Do they help you sleep?”

Autumn flipped down the overhead sun visor, checked herself in the mirror, then flipped it back up. “They work really well actually, you should try it. Helps with my anxiety too.”

Sydney pointed at the bright red warning light shining from the dashboard. “Um, I think you need to put your seatbelt on if you want that beeping to stop.”

Autumn grabbed the metal latch plate to her left and looked around for the buckle to her right. “Yeah I know I just can’t find it.”

Sydney eyes drooped towards Autumn’s hips. She had seen her friend a few times since covid hit, but she was no less surprised looking at her now. She had gained so much weight, one look at her butt and that was obvious. Her purple leggings hid nothing and she was sporting a pretty substantial belly that started just below her breasts and pushed its way onto her lap, and yet it somehow still looked tiny in comparison to her hips and thighs. “I think you’re um, sitting on it.”

“Oh am I?” Autumn tilted her buttcheek up and felt around the seat with her hand. “Let me just…”

Sydney reached in and grabbed the buckle. “Here, got it.”

Autumn contorted her neck, took the buckle and finally managed to click herself in. “Thanks.”

Sydney's eyes darted over her friend’s body and the way it jiggled from the effort. She cleared her throat. “Anyway, yeah, CBD might be good for me. I tend to just pig out on comfort food to deal with my anxiety.”

Autumn backed out of the parking lot. “I do that too. I’ve gotten so out of shape since this whole thing started. Mike took me on what he said would be an easy hike, and I seriously felt like I was going to die.”

Sydney shrugged. “Whatever, everybody is gaining weight these days. How could you not?”

Autumn’s eyelashes fluttered in their typical expressionless way as she took a right on Seaview Avenue. “Gaining weight is one thing, but I’ve literally outgrown my entire wardrobe.”

She immediately felt a little silly for saying that out loud, knowing that Sydney had been overweight her whole life. Out of their little group of friends; Sydney was usually described as the fat one, while Autumn was the hot one, just as Tabitha was the skinny one; and the last thing she wanted to do was to make Sydney feel even fatter by complaining of her own body issues. The reality was however, that Autumn’s own weight was no longer all that far off from Sydney’s. Autumn wasn’t fully aware of this of course, partly because the two girls had such different body types. Sydney was more apple-shaped and top heavy. She carried a lot of fat in her face, neck, shoulders, breasts and stomach, while Autumn was almost the exact opposite, with the exception of her breasts.

“Oh please you wear it super well and you’re so pretty you can hardly notice,” Sydney said. Her face turned sour. “Besides, who cares about that stuff anymore anyway? There was no softball this year, everything is canceled, Donald fucking Trump is the president, and with the riots and people dying all over the world, worrying about weight seems like such a meaningless first world problem.”

“You’re probably right.” Autumn stopped at a red light and rolled her window down a crack. “I just think back to when I lived on the hill, I was walking everywhere, and now I barely even move. Especially with the way Mike’s been waiting on me and treating me like an invilid.”

Sydney raised an eyebrow. “Sounds pretty nice if you ask me. You should enjoy it while you can.”

“I just feel bad for him,” Autumn said. “He’s been so sweet, and he probably expected me to stay the same size that I was when we started dating. I can only imagine what he must be thinking now.”

“Has he said anything?”

Autumn tilted her head. “No, that’s just it. All he does is compliment me. He hasn’t criticized my weight at all, not even once.”

“Of course he hasn’t.” Sydney adjusted her posture, turning herself slightly toward Autumn. “How could he with the way that booty of yours.” She raised her eyebrows and smiled. “He probably loves it.”

Autumn’s eyes widened slightly. “It seems all I do is work, eat and have sex.”

“Really…” Sydney smiled. “I've been meaning to ask you…how is he?”

Autumn gave her a quick glance and pursed her lips coyly.

“Come on,” Sydney said. “Here I am, single and bored out of my mind, the least you can do is give me a few details.”

Autumn sighed, then smirked. “He’s really good. He's really…passionate.”

“Big penis?”

There was brief silence, then Autumn broke into a mischievous smile.

Sydney rolled her eyes. “Oh God. I’m so jealous of you sometimes.”

Autumn turned the wheel and went left onto Holman Road. “Speaking of big penises, do you have time for a Dick’s burger?”

“Omigod, I always have time for a Dick’s burger. I wasn’t going to say anything but all that talk about gaining weight made me super hungry for some reason.”

“Oh my goodness,” Autumn said with a giggle. “We are so bad.”

After dropping Sydney off at her place in the Green Lake area, Autumn came home to an empty apartment. Mike was still out on a motorcycle ride with a friend and wouldn’t be back for another hour or so.

Autumn, still a bit full and bloated from the greasy deluxe double cheeseburger and fries from Dick’s drive-in, poured herself a big glass of red wine and plodded up the stairs towards the master bedroom. She felt heavy and lethargic.

Were the stairs getting steeper?

She drew a bath, and as she waited for the tub to fill she noticed the scale beneath the towel rack in the corner. She’d been ignoring it like it was a parking ticket she had no intention of paying. The last time she weighed herself was in February, back in the pre-covid days when she and Mike were working-out at Anytime Fitness on a semi-regular basis. She was 179 then, but that was a good seven months ago. 179 seemed like so much at the time, and she shuddered to think of what the numbers might say now.

It would definitely be more, she knew that much; the tightness of her latest pair of size 16 jeans was proof enough, and yet she was still curious about what the actual numbers might say in an odd and masochistic sort of way. It was in her head now, and despite constantly trying to suppress and ignore it, weight was always at the forefront of her thoughts and the only cure for that was to face reality head on.

She took a big long sip of her wine, set the glass next to the sink, and stepped on the scale.