Big Man on Campus | Principles of Design (Patreon)

Big Man on Campus | Principles of Design

One Saturday morning, Hayden jumps out of bed, showers, and puts on a pair of shorts and a tight muscle shirt, showing off his body. It doesn’t matter because he will either lift weights or stay in the apartment. Weekends are boring because he only wants to hang out with Ted, but now things are different, in fact, awkward. Ted said he didn’t regret what happened between them, but Hayden still feels crushed by his crush and feels like Ted does regret the decision.

Hayden sits down at the kitchen table and opens his book. He might as well get his homework done. Hayden throws himself into his studies and the gym these days to keep his mind off Ted and burn off some of his frustration about the situation. He doesn’t want to cry over a taken man anymore.

Fifteen minutes into his study session, Ariana waltzes into the main room with Ted behind her. “We are going to the mall! You’re free to come with us, Ted,” she says while looking into the mirror. She applies her signature bright red lipstick.

“I’m not sure Hayden wants to go with us,” Ted says awkwardly, trying to make Hayden’s decision for him. After the morning Ted broke Hayden’s heart, a new type of tension formed between the two young men. Neither of them told Ariana what happened that night.

“It’s been months since you’ve been anywhere except class or the gym,” Ariana asks with slight concern.

“I really don’t think he wants to go, Ariana.”

Ariana crosses her arms. “Theodore! Let him speak for himself!” She only used his name when she was frustrated.

“No, Ted’s right. I don’t need to be tempted to be around things I can’t have... but maybe I don’t need them anyway,” Hayden says coldly, implying his situation with Ted. “Besides, I’m going to sit here and read my book for class.”

“Ted, you’re reading a Biology textbook.”

“It’s a real page-turner.”

“Are you not going to hang out with us anymore? Can’t you go to the mall and at least try to have a good time instead of reading about evolution and cells? Wouldn’t you rather be trying on Jeans than reading about genes?” Ariana thinks she’s brilliant.

“I’ve been busy,” Hayden mumbles.

“Busy doing what? Moping around? I want you and Ted to be friends. You all haven’t hung out in forever.” Ariana is completely oblivious about the consensual affair. “Don’t you like us anymore?”

“Fine! I’ll go, I’ll go!” Hayden jumps and puts his shoes on. They head out the door together to Ted’s vehicle.

Once at the mall, Ted discovers that the equivalent of running a marathon is walking the mall. Ariana drags the men to two stores before Ted gets tried and has to stop at a bench.

Walking around that long is challenging, but standing while Ariana spends a lot of time trying on clothes makes Ted weak. Whenever he finds a bench, he collapses onto it, showing off his girth. After several stores of Ariana shopping and Hayden watching Ted struggle in the mall, Ted’s stomach growls. He stands up.

“Can we get a quick bite to eat?” Ted asks with puppy dog eyes. They all agree and go to the food court with extra effort because Ted slows them down. Hayden and Ariana both think Ted will go to the Chinese restaurant or the burger place in the food court. Ted bypasses both of them and waddles his fat ass up to the Cinnabon.

Ariana and Hayden quickly get their food. Ariana goes to Saladworks, and Hayden just goes to Starbucks for an iced coffee. They all meet back up at a table. Ted crashes down onto a seat at the table, his face red from waiting in line. How is he so out of breath from minimum tasks? Going to the mall shouldn’t be so strenuous. Ted rips open the packaging and withdraws a Cinnabon classic roll. He takes a bite like he hasn’t eaten in a decade. The icing is still somewhat gooey, indicating the pastry is still fresh. Hayden laughs at the thought of a warm gooey Cinnabon dripping down Ted’s face like he’d just given a blow job. Ted devours his first roll like a ravenous wolf and pulls out a second.

“How many did you get?” asks Ariana.

“Fowah,” Ted mumbles through a mouth full.

“Four?” Hayden clarifies that he heard Ted right. Ted could only nod and swallow as he pushed more into his mouth.

“Aren’t those, like, 880 calories?” Hayden asks, looking at the menu and nutrition facts on his phone now. “4 Cinnabon classic rolls is just over 3500 calories!” Hayden hides his erection under the table for his friend’s unhealthy choices. It’s highly improbable, but Hayden realizes if Ted ate four a day, he’d be bed-bound in almost no time. If only it were him telling Ted to relax and pushing him down onto his many rolls of back fat, cramming pastries into Ted’s greedy mouth.

Watching Ted struggle to walk through the mall and then rewarding himself with an insane amount of Cinnabon calories start to unsettle Ariana. “Are you okay, Ted? You’re really struggling today.”

“Good luck getting me back to the car later,” Ted says jokingly between sticky lips.

“Those look good, but maybe you should save some of those for later,” she suggests.

“It’s just a small snack of some cinnamon rolls and a soda. It’s really nothing at all,” Ted tries to reassure Ariana.

“What do you think about his weight, Hayden? I’m worried about the cinnamon rolls,” Ariana asks.

“I agree with Ariana, Ted. You’ve put on a lot of weight,” Hayden says sharply as if he didn’t feed and sleep with Ted while imagining him the size of a house.

Ted shoots Hayden a dirty look. “Why are you both fucking attacking me!?” He asks before licking his sticky fingers and putting his hand back in the bag.

“Shhh. Keep your voice down. It’s not an attack. You know I love you. I’m just worried.” Hayden almost gags at Ariana, but he also knows it’s not her fault.

“I thought you liked me fat, Ariana,” Ted retorts. He wants to call out Hayden, too, especially for that stunt of turning against him, but he also doesn’t want Ariana to know his housemate got him off. Hayden sips his iced coffee, trying to hide his smug face from the drama.

“I don’t want you to be unhealthy or immobile,” Ariana states.

Hayden starts to wonder if this is the day Ariana has too much. He never considered if Ariana is happy with how fat Ted is getting, especially so fast. The conversation suggests Ariana has a limit, and Ted might be approaching it. For a moment, Hayden thinks about what will happen if Ted becomes a bed-bound burden. If Ted gets too big, will Ariana throw her hands up and decide she’s too young to be someone’s caregiver? It almost feels like Hayden has to sabotage their relationship. He imagines Ted becoming extremely out of shape and ruining himself with sweets until he’s a sea of blubber. How big will he let himself get if four cinnamon rolls are considered a small snack and if Ariana was out of the picture? Eight hundred pounds? Nine hundred? One thousand? Hayden’s member grows in his pants. Shit! That needs to go down. Hayden decides to change the topic. “I kind of want to go to Build-A-Bear, next!” He blurs out.

“Oh, I haven’t been there since I was a child! That sounds like a lot of fun! Let’s do it!” excitement shines through Ariana’s voice.

“I’m not a bear, but I have enough bear DNA inside me to be considered one,” Hayden jokes, hoping to make Ted jealous and slightly uncomfortable.

“That’s...that’s funny but also really gross, Hayden,” Ariana says as she stands up. The young men take that as their cue to also stand up. Hayden has no problem, but Ted lets out a heavy sigh and pushes himself up. They make their way to the store. Hayden follows Ted while Ariana runs to the other side of the store. The two young men hang out by the clothes rack.

“Look at this cute little green football jersey. Who does it remind you of, Ted?” Hayden asks.

“I don’t know. It’s just a Jersey. People collect them.”

“Do you think they sell tiny jockstraps for bears too?” Hayden asks with a smirk.

“Stop it, dude. You’re acting weird and embarrassing me,” Ted lowers his voice so no one else can hear him.

“You broke my fucking heart,” whispers Hayden.

“I told you I was with Ariana. What do you think this was?” Ted whispers back.

Ariana walks over to the two men. “I think I found the perfect stuffed animal. Look at this bunny. I can get a cheerleader outfit! This is so exciting! I feel like a kid again!” She excitedly walks over to the machine to pump the rabbit full of fluff.

“Are you fucking kidding me? That’s the girl you want to be with? Why? The way you looked at me. The way you acted around me before we hooked up. Everyone can see that you’re in love with me except you. You’re trying to make a relationship work that clearly won’t because I’m the one that is right for you.”

“I don’t know if you are right for me. I do like you, but I’m also happy with her, and she was here first. I’ll never break up with someone just because I have a crush on someone else. It’s not fair to her.”

“Neither is being in love with and fucking your roommate only to abandon him.”

“Keep your voice down! You’re not fair to me either. Besides, I told you, she’s fine with me sleeping with men occasionally.”

Hayden hears enough. A sinking filling in his heart and abdomen continues to make him feel weird, but it also emboldens him. He notices an empty brown bear on one of the stands. He grabs it and quickly takes it toward the stuffing machine. The machine is left unattended. He pulls out one of the artificial hearts and puts it in the bear, and puts the stuffing pipe into the back of the bear. Hayden starts pumping the bear full of stuffing as Ariana and Ted walk closer to Hayden.

“What are you doing, Hayden?”

“I’m stuffing this teddy full until it’s about to burst like a balloon.  His body belongs to me. It’s as if I’m shoveling calorie-loaded snacks in him until his stomach is ready to explode and his heart is suffocating under all that fluff. He is getting what’s coming to him,” Hayden says maniacally.

“What the hell. Stop acting like this.”

“Look at him! He’s a hungry bear! He loves to be stuffed!” Hayden says. Ariana and Ted watch him have his episode. “Look, I got him so full his clothes hardly fit. Doesn’t he look a little like Ted?”

Ariana becomes visibly upset as Hayden has his mental breakdown in the middle of build a bear. Where are the employees to stop this? “Are you making fun of me for dating a bigger man?”

“No, Ariana. I’m not making fun of you,” Hayden sneers. He wants to tell her he’s making fun of Ted. Hayden wants to let her know he’s madly in love with Ted and had a great time getting off with him. Hayden stops himself before he causes a scene in front of children and their parents. Ted would never forgive him.

“Maybe I like big men too,” Hayden sighs after talking himself off the ledge.

“Oh, Ted! Maybe you can set him up with one of your other friends! Ted has a lot of chubby friends,” Ariana says. “He’s hurting and lonely.”

“I don’t want to be set up with some chubby guy,” Hayden says.

“Why not?” Ariana asks.

Hayden doesn’t want to say it. Ted will be pissed if he tells her. However, he’s also sick of the secrets, even if it breaks Ted’s trust. Does it matter if Ted doesn’t love him? Is it revenge? He lets himself say what he shouldn’t. “I love Ted, but he chose you. Ted chose you, and I don’t understand why he doesn’t care about me back. We’ve had the best sex I think either of us has had, and yet he still wants you. Why are you even with him? Everyone thinks you’re faking your attraction to him.”

Ariana stands in the middle of the store, speechless, while Ted’s eyes bug out of his head. Tears form in Ariana’s eyes at Hayden’s lashing out at her. She throws her semi-stuffed rabbit at Ted and runs out of the store. “Ariana,” Ted calls. Ted shoots Hayden a dirty look before trying to waddle after his girlfriend.