Chapter 3 – Denial and Acceptance
The holidays had come and went quickly Rachel thought as she returned to the Blackwell campus after the winter break. Her first few days in class had been a painful reintroduction to the workloads she had mostly ignored during her time off, or at least to the stuff that hadn't interested her enough to keep up over the holiday period.
But it was finally the weekend again and she had decided she needed company since she'd barely seen Max and Chloe since before she had been whisked away to her Grandparents over Christmas. With her goal in mind, she'd managed to drag Max out of her comfort cave that was her dorm and across the hall into her own.
The stark difference was evident between the two in terms of how their personal spaces looked. Max's was calm and light, photos and happy memories adorned the walls along with various indie band posters, whereas Rachel's room was painted darker red tones. There was an almost chaotic balance to the decoration, punk bands and interesting looking charms or statues lined the shelves beside her books.
But Max was used to chaotic spaces having shared a room with Chloe many times as a kid and still now any time she stayed over. So, she happily made herself at home on the small couch while Rachel rambled about whatever topics came to mind as pulled various items of clothing out of her closet throwing them on the bed.
"Uh…" Max started to ask at the fifth pair of jeans Rachel had growled at before throwing on the bed, "Did your jeans do something to offend you?"
"Besides not fitting me anymore, nothing really." Rachel sighed and folded her arms, "Ugh, why did I let myself eat so much these last few months."
Max being the more empathetic of the trio hummed in conciliation, she understood the predicament all too well. "If it's any consolation you're not the only one. If you hadn't noticed I've been keeping my hoody zipped up to hide how my shirts are fitting these days."
"Oh, really," Rachel gently probed, her focus turning to Max and the wardrobe ignored for now, "How bad is it?"
"Um, I mean they still fit, its just kinda obvious I've filled out a bit." Max responded.
"Show me?" she asked, her curiosity peaked. She'd spotted Max had been gaining some weight but hadn't really had the opportunity to see just how much damage was being done to the waistline of normally slim photographer.
"Fine, but only if you keep it between us," Max warned as she stood up from the couch unzipping her light grey hoody.
It was fairly obvious that Max had widened out around the middle, nothing substantial, at least not compared to Chloe these days, but there was a clearly new roll of fat lower on her middle from love handle to love handle that was pressing out against her shirt. It was difficult to tell but Rachel couldn't help but wonder if Max was nearly the same weight she had been when they had met for the first time, albeit they obviously carried it differently, Rachel's weight more evenly spread between her belly, thighs, and ass compared to Max's wider middle.
With that question begging to be answered Rachel grabbed the scales from under her bed.
"Want to compare?" There was a slight teasing smirk as she began to remove her shirt and jeans, much to Max's initial objections. "I just want it to be accurate besides not like I haven't changed in front of you before."
Max rolled her eyes before responding "Fine, but I'm not stripping off any further."
"I'll take off a couple of pounds so it's fair then." Rachel offered, clearly not bothered by such trivialities.
Quickly hopping up on the scale the mechanical arm spun, flickering as Rachel adjusted her position before settling on 185lbs. It wasn't surprising in the slightest but definitely confirmed just how much her increased appetite was affecting her, even if had been trying to cut back and get some more exercise.
"Ok, your turn." Rachel called out as she stepped down, joking as she quickly throwing her clothes back on, ignoring her jeans in favour of a looser pair of joggers for the moment.
Max knew she had gained a fair bit of weight but surely she wasn't anywhere near that big already, maybe in the mid one thirties at worst was her assumption. But when the needle came to rest, she couldn't help but blush.
"Let's say 145lbs if we take of 2lbs for your clothes," Rachel commented seeing the figure, "unless you have anything heavy in your pockets you want to take out first, that is."
"Wowser," Max breathed out, she hadn't realised how quickly those 30 pounds had snuck up on her.
"Looks like all those dinner dates with Chloe are adding up," Rachel teased, she knew that Max had been spending more time with Chloe over the holidays. The two were inseparable at the best of times anyway.
"N-not dates," Max stammered, her mind catching back up to the conversation, "We aren't-"
"And why not," Rachel interrupted, "I've told you to go for it. Me and Chloe aren't a thing, for good reason, and I don't have an issue with it."
"Yeah, I know, but," Max started, "I don't know if she feels the same and I don't want to ruin what we have now by saying anything."
"Max," Rachel chuckled softly, speaking gently "She's been in love with you since before you left, you know that right?"
"When I first met her, you were all she talked about for months. Even when we were dating, I got the feeling that you occupied her thoughts more often than I did." If she was honest that's part of why she had pulled away from Chloe, she hadn't wanted to be a replacement for a girl that at the time may as well have been a ghost in her lover's head.
Max looked guilty even though it wasn't her fault.
"I'm not telling you this to upset you or hurt you. It wasn't your fault, nor Chloe's," Rachel had made peace with this since getting to know Max and seeing just how well her and Chloe fit together. "The two of you are made for each other. But I know one thing you need to understand…"
"What?" Max was all ears.
"She'll never make the first move. As much as she talks a big game, it's all talk." She explained. "If you want things to change you need to be the one to open that door."
The lazy start to Saturday got under way as Max and Rachel wandered over to the car park to find Chloe who was there to pick them up. Given there wasn't much movement in and out of campus on the weekend she was fairly easy to spot leaning against her truck smoking while she waited on the pair.
Seeing her from the distance it was clear just how much bigger the winter break had made her. Her gut was stretching out her xl tank top which was plainly visible since she never zipped up her leather jacket even though it was the middle of winter. But the way she carried it made her look solidly built, her gut packed hard rather than the softer look that she and Max had developed.
Rachel couldn't help but think It kinda fit with her punk look, as she looked more the bruiser she fronted as at times now, although she was still worried about just how quickly the punk was growing, having put on nearly twice as much as she had in the same time.
When they got close Chloe stubbed out the butt of her cigarette and quickly swept Max up into a hug causing the girl to blush, especially with the recent conversation running around her mind, but that didn't stop her from enjoying the embrace.
Rachel unable to help her snarky side called out from the passenger side of the truck as she climbed aboard, "You two done with the love in? Let's go already!"
The evening had been yet another filling dinner at the Price household courtesy of Joyce's amazing cooking, although for Chloe it had been her second meal of the evening as she'd insisted on stopping for a burger on the way home as she couldn't wait until dinner time to have something.
In Chloe's room post dinner, the trio busied themselves with talk of planning a road trip for them to get away together, maybe to Portland or even further afield. Chloe recalled the last trip her and Rachel had been on, just to get out of town for a while, where they had slept in the bed of her truck but somehow that didn't appeal too much in the still wintery months. Thankfully though, Rachel had some money aside for hotels and such so at least they could get a warm bed this time round.
The conversation then turned to what places they could go and see/hangout, but that quickly turned into what places they could eat at as Chloe brought up a few food stops along the way she remembered they'd gone to that she wanted to revisit.
"I can't believe you can still think about food after that meal," Rachel shook her head in disbelief.
"Maybe, I shouldn't have had that last bit of cake, fuck I feel stuffed." Chloe grumbled from her place on the bed, wriggling as she tried to get comfortable. Her jeans looked like they'd leave a mark on her gut with how tight they were around her waist. So, Chloe did the only thing she could to relieve some of the pain and unbuttoned them, pulling the zip down a touch as her belly filled the space instead.
Rachel chuckled at the punk's obvious discomfort but noticed that Max looked a little red in the face while biting her lip. Was it possible that Max was actually into this somehow? She made a mental note to watch Max's reactions to Chloe more closely, and her mind quickly got to thinking about how she could maybe test her theory.
"I'm going to take these downstairs," Max suddenly squeaked out drawing the attention of the other pair. Grabbing the plates used for their deserts that they'd brought upstairs with them Max extracted herself from the room. Now Rachel was sure her theory had some validity to it.
"What was that about?" Chloe asked, confused as to the events that had unfolded following her clothing issues.
"Are those the new jeans you got last time we went shopping?" Rachel asked, avoiding Chloe's question for now, she already knew the answer but felt like poking the bear as it were to make her point. Plus, she could always try and direct the conversation to her other goal.
"No," Chloe lied, obviously still not wanting to admit her weight was an issue.
"You're lying," Rachel calmly pointed out, "Those are totally your fat jeans you're getting far too big for. You've been cramming your fat ass into them for weeks now, Price."
"Fuck off Rach," Chloe frowned and bit back, "Like you haven't had to replace half your jeans too."
"True," Rachel shrugged, she wasn't going to deny it, which just made Chloe grumble more since she didn't get the rise out of her that she'd wanted, "But the difference is most of my clothes still fit me fairly well despite that. You on the other hand are literally lying there with your beer gut bulging out because you've eaten too much."
Despite her attempt to remain somewhat calm she couldn't help but feel a little frustrated as she continued. "Besides it's your fault Max and I have been putting on weight too. Every time we're with you there's constantly food around, every meal is fast food-"
"Not like I'm forcing you to eat it though." Chloe argued cutting her off, feeling on the defensive about being blamed for everything.
"I know," Rachel conceded, "that's why I'm frustrated, I know I'm the one making the choice to eat but just look at how much fatter all of us are already. It's kinda ridiculous don't you think?"
"I dunno, I never really thought about it. Not like I really care about what anyone else thinks." Chloe claimed, shrugging off the question but the blush to her cheeks said otherwise but Rachel let it pass, she'd gotten the discussion she'd wanted out of this back and forth.
"What about Max?" she asked, directing the focus to what she had been aiming toward. Her eyes narrowing as she observed the reaction.
"Dude, keep your voice down!" She hushed Rachel conscious that Max could return at any moment. Her heart racing as she tried to keep her feelings in check. "What about her?"
"Seriously Chlo, don't play dumb." Rachel just stared her down knowing that Chloe would roll over right about now, "I'm serious, stop pining away and making yourself miserable like it's never going to happen."
"What the fuck would she even see in me anyway," Chloe's negative side was clearly in firm control of her feelings when it came to Max.
"Just open your eyes, you might realise that how you see things isn't the reality of the situation." It was one of her more astrology-based philosophies that came out on occasion but right now it seemed to be what was needed as the punk contemplated her words.
Her keen hearing told her Max was about to return as footsteps could be heard at the base of the stairs through the silence that had fallen on the room. Feeling there was opportunity to let the two have the moment they needed she decided to excuse herself as Max returned, nearly bumping into her at the door.
"Bathroom break," she called out to Max's confused look leaving the pair alone as Max sat down on the bed next to Chloe.
With nothing to distract them and Rachel's words repeating in her mind Chloe looked at Max with her eyes open for what felt like the first time. She saw the depth of affection in Max's eyes, but that had always been there even when they were younger, but now she also saw something more, something she hadn't even realised she needed to see returned.
"You ok?" Max asked seeing Chloe look a little shaken.
"Yeah, I, uh…" Chloe started, trying to gain some footing she deflected as had become second nature at times, "just Rachel being herself I guess, complaining she's put on weight like it's my fault she's been eating more."
Max knew Chloe well enough to know that wasn't the whole story, something else had been said. She reached out taking her hand in hers to encourage her to continue.
Chloe sighed but felt her heart skip a beat as Max took her hand, seeing the soft smile and reassurance in her look she continued, "She even blamed me for you putting on a few pounds, like that even matters if you have, you're still amazing either way. But you'd tell me if you thought I was being pushy right?"
"It's more than a few pounds it seems," Max pointed out with a chuckle she lifted her shirt to show Chloe the soft roll of fat that had grown in recent months, giving it a cursory rub, "But it definitely isn't your fault."
"Not like this though right," Chloe admitted reluctantly as she indicated her own overstuffed gut. "I know it's kinda gotten a bit out of control-"
"You're beautiful, Chloe." Max smiled softly at her speaking honestly.
"Hey, listen to you Miss Suave," Chloe dismissed trying to not get her hopes up despite what her eyes, ears, and heart were telling her was happening. "You don't need to say that just because you're my best friend, I can handle the truth."
"I'm not saying it because I'm your best friend," Max realised Rachel had been right, she needed to be the one to make the first move here. "I'm saying it because…"
She felt her stomach do flips as she made the decision to lean in, it felt like an eternity but eventually their lips met. The kiss was awkward, in part due to how unexpected it was for them both and Max's apparent inexperience. But when they pulled back both of them could barely believe it.
They let themselves fall into each other again, gently testing the waters before the kiss became more passionate, hands moving to reach out for something they'd denied themselves til now. Max's hands roaming over the rounded mound that was Chloe's belly, as the punk teased poking at the build up of flab on her own waist.
It was then that they remembered that it wasn't just the two of them there that night as Rachel poked her head round the door, calling out from around the frame, "Is it safe to come back in or are you two fucking yet?"