"Come on, Bea, don't be weird about it," Mae complained.
"I'm not, it's just...I feel bad. You've already done, like, a lot for me today, Trent," Bea replied.
"I seriously don't mind," he said, "and you could use it. You've been complaining about your legs and your back, this will help, I promise."
"Okay, okay, fine."
She rolled over onto her stomach and he started giving her a massage, just like he'd done for Mae the previous night.
The day had gone really well, from what he could tell. They'd eaten tacos, they'd listened to Linkin Park, they'd talked about a lot of stuff and about nothing in particular. Mae played more Max Payne and then Demontower, Bea read Johnny the Homicidal Maniac, and then they ended up marathoning a bunch of Invader ZIM when he found out that he could get the whole thing digitally for like twenty five bucks.
At some point, Trent had started to feel an itch that he hadn't forgotten about during all the chaos, but was admittedly a little worried about.
The itch to write.
There hadn't been time, and it was a bit distant still, but it was there. It was the first time he'd truly felt it since coming to Possum Springs.
It felt good.
When the night was winding down, they ended up heading to the bed and, after a brief, awkward conversation, Bea agreed to sleep in the bed with them.
And then he'd fucked both of them.
That was still pretty nuts, but he could already tell that he and Bea were starting to relax about it. Mae was clearly just super into it, like polyamorous sex was her natural environment or something, and he found it hard to believe he'd taken her virginity not even a week ago.
"Whoa...dude…" Bea groaned.
"Told you," Mae said.
"Between the sex, the weed, and this, this is the most relaxed I've been in...years. Like, wow. I think I might pass out."
"It's kinda late," Trent replied.
"Losers! It's only one AM," Mae said, then yawned.
"Yeah, loser," Bea said, giggling.
"I'm not tired," Mae replied. She groaned and stretched. "This is something I've looked forward to for awhile now. Hangouts, sleepovers, fun."
"Yeah, grown-up sleepovers," Bea said.
"Yep. With weed and sex."
"And Invader ZIM, not that much has changed," Trent said.
"Yeah-oh! Right there, shit…" she groaned as he began working her lower back.
"You've got a lot of tension here," he murmured.
She laughed, then groaned again. "Sounds like the beginning of a stupid massage porn video."
"Except we already had the sex," Trent said. "Although…" He ran his hands briefly down to her marvelously fit ass.
"I think I need a little bit of a break," Bea said. "I'm still getting used to getting my pussy pounded, let alone more than once in a day."
"That's fine," he said, going back to massaging her lower back. "Whatever you're comfortable with, Bea."
"Thank you. That means a lot. The only guy I did it with, like, I mean, I liked him, but he was kinda pushy about it."
"Guys are like that, I think," Mae said. "Ugh, now I feel bad about that time I fucked everything up for you, Bea!"
"What are you talking about?" she asked.
"You were trying to hook up with that college loser and I fucked it up!" She groaned and reached up, flicking her ear. "Sorry, didn't mean to say you were hooking up with a loser-"
"No, he kinda was," Bea said. She sighed. "Everything you said to him, calling him a rich boy who thinks he's so much better than everyone else, like...you were right. I'd seen him around once before at another party, and like...ugh, he threw up a few red flags, but he was cute. And actually in college. And actually pretty smart. And I was desperate." She groaned. "This is so fucking humiliating to admit. I hope you both are happy. I wouldn't tell this to anyone else."
"I get it," Trent said, "I'm not judging."
"Thanks."
"What'd you do to fuck it up?" he asked.
Mae heaved a big, weary sigh, flopping onto her back and staring up at the ceiling. "I was just so mad at this douchebag, talking about how materialistic you had to be to go to college just to get a job. As if that isn't most fucking people, who don't have the fucking privilege of being a rich, snobby piece of shit who can afford to do that. Fuck. Again, sorry Bea."
"Yeah, yeah, I hear you," Bea murmured. "Don't stop massaging."
"Oh, so now you're enjoying yourself, huh?" he asked.
"You're fucking committed now, dude. You started this."
He laughed and kept massaging her.
"I was just-urgh! It made me so mad! He thought he was better than us! Just because we're from a fucking poor town, and because we weren't in college! Because we actually had to work for a goddamned living." She sighed. "Which, yeah, I get the hypocrisy there. But I can't hold down a job because I was born with a dick in my brain."
"What!?" Bea cried, laughing.
"Eminem. I was born with a dick in my brain, yeah, fucked in the head," Mae replied. "Don't go looking for that song, Bea, it'll gross you out. Like seriously, I'm not joking. Anyway, I dunno, I just fucking hate people who think they're better than everyone else, especially over something stupid like being born into money or whatever. Fuck that loser." She sighed again. "Sorry. But I went off, and Bea didn't tell them-" she paused, then looked over at Bea.
"Ugh, let me just get this embarrassing part out of the way," Bea said. "Fuck. Now this is humiliating: I drove for like an hour and a half about once a month to go to college parties and I pretended I was a student. It helped keep me sane." She paused for a few seconds. "You think I'm a loser now, right?"
"No, Bea. I don't," Trent replied. He pushed on her back and something popped loudly.
"Ah! FUCK!" she cried.
"Did that hurt?" he asked.
"Yeah...no...sorta? Feels better now, fuck, man. You training to be a goddamned chiropractor?"
He laughed. "No. I just have a good sense for this stuff, I guess. But it's okay, Bea, I don't think you're a loser or anything. I don't really...judge. I mean not for stuff like that. If you had to drive for an hour and a half once a month and pretend like you were a college student to just vibe or try to get laid or whatever to keep you sane, then that's fine. I don't know what you've gone through. I mean, you've told me some of it, but I didn't live it, you did."
"...shit, man, I think I'm beginning to really get why Mae's all like 'I love you marry me'," she murmured. "You're kinda freaking me out."
"Why?" he asked.
"Don't worry," she said, "sorry, I shouldn't have said that. It's just-it's what I said earlier, about nice people making me paranoid. You're too fucking nice, man. Too understanding. It's like...what's your angle, you know?"
"He's just nice," Mae said. She yawned again.
"Apparently. Why weren't you, like, rolling in chicks in your old town?" Bea asked.
Trent sighed. "For a lot of people, 'nice' means 'easy to take advantage of'. Also, I was broke as fuck. That always really fucks with your ability to hook up with women."
"It does kinda seem like it's more of a thing, like, guys don't really care if you're broke, mostly," Mae said. "But girls, like, jeez."
"I'm not with you for your money," Bea said.
"I thought you weren't with me," Trent replied.
"Like you said, it's a trial relationship. We're boyfriend and girlfriend right now."
"Oh. Cool."
"What does that make us? Are you my girlfriend-in-law?" Mae asked.
Bea laughed. "No, we're still best friends."
"Okay...dammit, I'm so tired," Mae complained.
"Go to sleep," Trent said.
"Is the door locked?" she asked.
"Yeah, I double-checked."
"And the windows?" Bea asked.
Trent hesitated. Mae had been a bit more concerned than he thought was normal that the doors were locked, but now Bea seemed paranoid about it. "Yeah...should I be worried?"
"No, it's probably nothing," Mae said.
"What's probably nothing?" Neither of them said anything. "Does this have to do with the big incident you won't tell me about?"
"Yes...I'll tell you, I promise," Mae said.
"When?" he asked.
She sighed. "Longest Night? That's in like four days."
"Oh shit, it is," Bea murmured. "Well, more like six or so, but yeah, it's close."
"Okay," he said.
"Thanks...I'm sorry. It's just really big and scary."
"It is," Bea said quietly.
"I gotta admit I'm super curious about what the fuck happened. And kind of frightened."
"You should be," Mae said. She sighed. "I just don't wanna think about it."
"We still haven't even decided what we're gonna tell...well, you know."
Mae groaned. "Yeah, I know. I know."
"It should be a group decision."
"Let's stop talking about it and go to sleep."
"Okay."
They spent a moment getting settled, and he found himself between Bea and Mae. He gave each of them a kiss and told them both goodnight.
"Can you spoon me?" Bea asked. "I've never actually like had someone do that before, and I wanna know what it's like...if that isn't a problem, Mae?...Mae?" A soft snore was the only answer. They both laughed.
"I guess that answers that," Trent said as he settled up against Bea's back. He put an arm over her and she let out a soft sigh of happiness.
"That feels good," she murmured.
"Yes, it does." He kissed the back of her head. "Goodnight, Bea."
"Goodnight, Trent."
"Shit! Fuck! Ugh, how could I do this!?"
Trent opened his eyes. He could tell something was wrong. It was light in the room now. He could feel Mae at his back.
"What's wrong?" he asked, or tried to. He sat up. "Bea?"
"I'm late! Why did you turn my alarm off!?" she snapped groggily.
"Bea-it's your day off!" he replied.
She stopped moving all of a sudden, standing in an awkward pose as she tried to get into her pants. She looked at him for a long moment, eyes bloodshot, then she relaxed. "Oh...shit," she said. "I...completely forgot." She dropped her pants, then spent a moment getting undressed. Once she was naked, she climbed back into bed. "Sorry I snapped at you," she said, yawning.
"It's okay," he said, running a hand up and down her arm, "it's fine. You were kind of panicking, I get it. What time is it?"
"Like nine in the morning," she said.
"Go back to sleep."
"...okay." She shifted. "Wait. I gotta pee. Then I'll go back to sleep."
"Ugh, yeah, me too."
They got up and took turns going to the bathroom, and then got back into bed together. Spooning again, they quickly fell back asleep, and Mae remained unconscious through the whole thing.
The next time Trent woke up, he felt more awake.
Also horny.
"Hey, dude...I feel that," Bea said. She shifted and he suddenly felt a hand wrap around his erection. "Wow, you're horny."
"Super," he agreed. "Could we, uh…"
"Oh my God yes," Bea replied. "I always get horny in the mornings but, like, I can never really do much about it beyond, well, you know. But I finally have a guy in my bed...your bed, whatever. Yeah, let's do it. How do you wanna do it?"
"Doggystyle?" he suggested.
"Fine, just go. Put it in me."
They shifted around and quickly got into place. Trent slipped right on into her, finding her extremely wet. She moaned loudly as he started fucking her right away.
"Oh yeah! Oh my God! Oh that's so good! Holy crap!" she cried.
"How about this?" he asked, and grasped her tail.
She let out a strange, strangled sound and began to orgasm.
"Oh damn!" he groaned, running his hand up and down her tail as she climaxed.
He was turned on and already becoming adrift in ocean of pleasure that was sex with Bea, so it didn't take much more to push him into cumming too. Trent gripped her tail more tightly, grunting as he pushed deep into her.
Then they were laying on their sides, facing each other, breathing heavily.
"Oh man that was good," Bea murmured. "I always wondered. Morning sex is, like, amazing."
Trent nodded. "Especially when you're involved."
She let out that awkward giggle he was beginning to notice was the sound she made when he caught her off-guard with a compliment. That and the blushing. "Shut up," she said, then sat up. "Come on. Let's go shower."
Trent looked over at Mae. She was still out. "Fuck, she is the heaviest sleeper I've ever seen in my life. This is like a cartoon or something, you know where someone's trying to sneak around someone sleeping, and they accidentally knock over like ten things that are all loud as fuck, and the person doesn't wake up, and then they let out a sigh of relief or say something super quietly, and the person instantly comes awake. Except Mae doesn't do that even."
"I didn't realize she slept so heavily," Bea said. "Should we wake her?"
"If it's before, like, one PM then no, we should let her sleep," Trent replied.
"Eh, all right."
They headed into the bathroom. They took turns brushing their teeth, then got into the shower together.
"Something just occurred to me...have you ever seen Mae's room?" he asked.
"Yeah, once," Bea replied. "I had to basically haul her up two flights of stairs the night she got wasted off of, like, three cups of watered-down beer. God, she is a lightweight. Although I guess I am too, but I don't drink really. But yeah, why?"
"She won't let me see it," he said.
"Huh. I mean, I guess I could see why. She's super messy and she lives in the attic."
"What happened that night? She's referenced it once or twice…"
"You should ask her," Bea replied. "I mean, nothing serious. She was just nervous because her ex was there."
"Huh. All right. Guess I'll ask her. I know more about her now, what she likes, why she dropped out of college, her problems...well, most of them, I guess."
"We're still sorting that out," Bea said. "I want to get her to see, like, a real doctor. The closest one I've found that might actually work with someone who has no health insurance is in Briddle. And that's like a good forty five minute drive, maybe an hour. Both ways." She sighed.
"...I think I need to get a car," Trent said.
"Probably it would help."
"I want to help Mae. And if that means driving her to doctor's appointments in Briddle, then so be it."
"That's a lotta gas...but goddamn, you're really looking out for her."
"She said she loves me, like for actually real," he murmured.
"Whoa. Jeez. Already? That's...intense. Uh...how do you feel about that?"
"I mean, kinda awkward? It feels like a lot. But she made a good point: she doesn't really get a choice in the matter. How she feels. And apparently she loves me. She said she just knows. And, I mean, I feel pretty good about her. I don't...I haven't had the best, uh, track record with dating. I've only had one serious relationship, and it wasn't what I'd call great. Mae...is not like anyone else I have ever met. Neither are you, if I'm being honest."
"And now you have two girlfriends," Bea said, smiling.
"I mean we're not exactly dating."
"We are for today, silly," Bea replied. "Right now, you're my boyfriend and I'm your girlfriend and I gotta be honest, so far this is fun. I am genuinely tempted to start dating you low-key."
"Oh, like under the table?" he asked.
She laughed. "Yes. Under the table...I hope you aren't, like, mad about that. I would so be happy to very visibility date you, it's just…"
"No, I get it. Maybe you can fuck me under the table to make up for it."
Bea rolled her eyes. "God, why under a table when we've got a bed?! And that's a comfy bed, man. I love it."
"Dating you is getting me more adventurous."
She snorted. "You must be thinking of Mae. I'm the opposite of adventurous."
"Maybe," he replied. "Come on, let's get some breakfast. I bought bacon and eggs if you're down for it."
"You're for real gonna cook me breakfast?" she asked.
"Well, us, but yeah."
"Yeah, definitely tempted to do the low-key dating thing."
"I mean you know how I feel."
"You'd really be okay with it if we couldn't tell people?"
He sighed. "I don't care about other people. I'd like to be in a relationship with you. If that means we can't acknowledge it or hold hands or kiss in public, then fine. It'd be a bit of a pain but whatever. We'll just make up for it behind closed doors."
She sighed and blushed. "Yeah, we will."
"Why does that annoy you?" he asked as he finished washing up, got out and started drying.
"I don't know," she replied, "it feels like...a vulnerability. And I don't really let people in. I'm sorry."
"You don't have to be," Trent said as he finished drying off. "I get it."
"I just feel bad now. You're really nice, and Mae is really nice, or at least tries to be...she is getting better at it. And it's just met with suspicion and bitter cynicism. I'm trying to get better about that, but it really takes it out of you when your mom dies while you're still in high school, and then you have to give up your dreams to work a job you fucking hate."
"I get that...have you ever thought about some kind of plan to get out of here?" he asked tentatively.
She sighed heavily. "I mean yeah, all the time. But nothing realistic. Ultimately this all comes down to my dad, and him recovering. I mean, I have to admit, him covering for me was a big surprise, but it's probably a fluke. I can't just...leave him here. I want to move to Bright Harbor, there's a college there I could definitely get into."
"What would you study?" he asked.
"I used to think archaeology or anthropology, but after busting ass doing physical labor for two years, like...fuck that dude. And, after learning about just how fucked corporate America is, and how deep capitalism has its fucking claws into everything, like...yeah, fuck that. I'm going into graphic design and website design. I've already looked, they offer courses on both, and a bachelor's in graphic design would be fine. I've seen so many shitty websites out there and I kinda like design, I've been practicing...honestly, I just want something I can do from home, because I've learned that there is nothing quite as soul-sucking as getting up and heading to a building you hate early in the morning for eight or ten hours, hating it the whole time.
"I'm a hard worker. But if I'm gonna work hard I'd rather it be for myself, and on projects that I actually care about and believe in, or at least am not opposed to."
"I understand. I mean it's why I want to be a writer...think you could design a website for me?" he asked. "I'd pay you."
"I could sure try," she replied, then she grinned, finished drying and tossed the towel over the shower curtain holder. "As for payment...I'm sure I could think of something."
"You really liked that oral, huh?" he said.
"Like is not nearly a strong enough word to describe it. Now I know what those chicks are always screaming about in the videos." She paused. "Oh, God, I hoped Mae's parents didn't hear me…"
"They probably didn't," Trent said.
"Super awkward."
"Try not to think about it. Let's great breakfast, and continue relaxing."
"Sounds good to me."