An hour passed. Then two. Then three.
Trent spent all of it with Mae, and soon found that his job was to keep her from freaking out. It was an odd job to have, given the context. Her dream girlfriend was out there interviewing all her best friends. The strange thing though was that as they each came to talk to her after speaking with Molly, none of them really had anything to say about her life. She wasn't letting anything slip of herself. Where she worked, if she had roommates, what her aspirations were, her hobbies. It was more than a little suspicious.
At one point, while Mae was distracted, he said as much to Bea, and she felt the same way.
Eventually, Molly came back around and wanted to talk with Mae again, and Trent found himself standing with all the others by one of the shelters. The party had at some point swelled to almost a hundred people, but by now it had shrunk to less than half that, and more people were leaving. He kept an eye out for Jen, as he hadn't run into her yet.
"Angus," he said as he looked at Mae and Molly sitting down in chairs beside the bonfire, which was almost dead now, "what's your read on her?"
"Hard to say," he replied. "She's guarded, kind of nervous, but very, very good at hiding it."
"You think she's good for Mae?"
"Also hard to say," he said after a moment. "Maybe. Admittedly, I feel somewhat uncomfortable passing judgment on her, or on anything resembling trying to control who Mae interacts with…"
"We're her best friends," Bea said, "I get that we shouldn't be controlling, but we should get a say. Especially given two of us are dating her and three of us are living with her."
"Yeah," Ann murmured.
"Okay. Gregg?"
"I dunno, man," he replied with a shrug. "I'm not the best person to ask about this stuff. I think Mae can take care of herself. I think she seems cool, like fun to have a drink and chill with, but again, I'm not super great with this stuff."
"Fair enough. Ann?"
"Reserving judgment for now," Ann replied.
"Hmm. All right. Claire?"
She didn't answer right away. When she maintained her silence, he looked at her. She was staring at Molly and Mae in contemplation. "She's hiding something," she said finally.
"Why do you think that?" Bea asked.
"I can just tell, and because I did the same thing. With basically everyone else I've talked to outside of this group of people, I've had to hold back and hide my depression. It was a full-time job. And it became harder if I was talking with someone I actually liked, or wanted to like me. And that was the impression I got from her. I don't know if she's hiding anything fucked up or dangerous, I doubt it, but she's got something she's reluctant to tell us."
"Hmm."
"What do you think?" Claire replied. "You're the main."
He turned to look at her. "I'm the what?"
"The...main, I can't remember the proper term for it. You're, like, the person at the center of the relationship web. Like, head of household?" she replied.
"No I'm not," he replied.
"Who is then? Because that's not the way I've read the situation."
"Uh…" He looked at Bea and then Ann.
"Claire's right, I thought it was obvious," Ann replied.
"Hold on, I feel like this is a completely different discussion we need to have. I was under the assumption that it was a democracy."
"Well, it is but even a democracy is run by someone," Bea replied.
"Wait, do you think I'm in charge of all our relationships?" he asked.
"I wouldn't put it like that, but...kinda? Yeah?"
"How the fuck am I just now hearing about this?! We've been together for six months!"
"Okay...calm down," Bea said.
"Shit, sorry, I didn't mean to, like, cause problems," Claire murmured.
Trent sighed deeply and reined in his emotions. "Okay, explain?" he replied.
"Trent, we're all dating you, that can be said about no one else. We all moved into your house, you didn't move in with us. You pay all the bills. You assume the responsibility. You ultimately tend to make bigger decisions. During the whole-" she hesitated and tossed a brief glance at Claire, "-during our extremely trying times you stepped up and took charge and got us out of that alive."
"Jesus Christ, alive? Was dying seriously a risk during the whole...thing you won't talk about?" Claire asked. They all looked at her silently. She sighed. "I know, I know, I don't want to know. Sorry. Ignore me."
"Okay, so, this is seriously how you both feel about it? That I run your lives?" Trent asked.
"No," Bea replied immediately.
"Trent," Ann said, stepping closer, "it isn't that. In a relationship, one person tends to be the decision-maker. Or, as people traditionally like to say, 'wears the pants'. This tends to be true, I've found, even in polyamorous relationships. Mae has obviously given most control to you. Not all, but most. She wants someone to make decisions for her. In truth...so do I. And so does Bea. We're tired. We're also agreeable. You obviously have our best interests at heart, you're trustworthy, you're intelligent and empathic, you listen to us. You don't run our lives, Trent, you manage our household, and we have consented to this."
"Yeah, pretty much that," Bea said. "You take care of us, and we take of you. I mean, and each other, but...I guess I just thought it was obvious."
"And you're both just...okay with this?" he asked.
"Duh," Ann replied. "I know it might be kind of confusing, because I hated my controlling relationship, but honestly so long as I'm being respected and I feel like I have control over my life, I'm pretty happy to just go with the flow and letting someone else I love and trust guide the broader parts of my life."
"I'm definitely a bit more...take-charge in how I do things, but yeah. Having someone making decisions and dealing with the boring shit like paying bills? Yeah, that's fucking awesome."
"It sure is," Gregg said, grinning at Angus.
He laughed. "I do wear the pants, but you make it difficult because you occasionally steal them and run around laughing wildly...metaphorically speaking."
"Heh. Yeah." Gregg awkwardly looked down into his cup. "I do it less now, though."
"Yes, you do it less now, and it's not...always bad. And the relationship isn't one way. I pay the bills and cook most meals, Gregg reminds me to have fun and, when he's being more responsible, managing our social life. Something I let slip a lot."
"Yeah, see, exactly. The relationships aren't one-sided," Bea said.
Trent was frowning now. "Does that mean I'm not doing my job recently, with the...problems?"
"No" Bea replied. "No, not at all. That isn't what's happening."
"Wait, what problems?" Claire asked.
Trent sighed. "It's...I'll tell you later. It's nothing serious. I don't feel like talking about it here."
"Oh...okay."
"Thanks."
"Trent, you're doing fine. Just-trust me on it, okay? You're doing a great job."
"...all right," he said after studying her to see if she was just trying to placate him. This felt like a lot to unpack, and he was genuinely surprised it hadn't really come up, or at least not in this way before, enough that it was a surprise to him.
Though, the more he thought about it, the more he figured they had a point.
Whatever, it could wait.
They had more pressing issues at the moment.
"Okay, so, back to the matter at hand. Uh...oh yeah, you asked me what I thought. I don't know. I mean, I like her, she seems pretty cool, like she'd fit in with us, and I'd like to give her a shot. And I also trust Mae to know if there's anything weird going on."
"So what do we do?" Bea asked.
"I'm not sure. I've been thinking about it and basically what I've got is: see what Mae wants to do and what Molly might be down for. For now, the ball is in her court."
"I imagine she's used to that," Bea said.
"Yeah."
Claire yawned suddenly. "Ugh, shit, I'm getting sleepy. I'm peopled out. No offense."
"None taken, we've all been there," Trent replied.
"Gregg and I were thinking of hitting our hotel room," Angus said. "We could take you with us."
"I should go with you," Ann said. "The hotel rooms are in my, Trent's, and Bea's names, so one of us has to be there. And I'm also kinda sleepy and peopled out too. You cool with that?"
"Yeah, we can handle things here," Bea replied.
"All right, let's go say bye to people," Ann said.
They headed off towards the largest congregation of people. Trent and Bea sat down at the table within the shelter, just the two of them now.
"You doing okay?" she asked.
"Mostly, yeah. I feel kinda weird about the whole...head of household thing. It feels weird."
"Is it because you're a guy and we're all girls?" Bea asked.
"Yeah, basically."
"Don't let it bother you. You aren't taking advantage of us, you aren't talking down to us, you aren't trying to control us. We willingly relinquished control of portions of our lives to you because we wanted to. If we wanted that control back, you'd give it, right?"
"Yeah, obviously."
"There you go...look, there tends to be a dominant person in relationships, and it just so happened to be that you're the dominant one in our relationship, in your and Ann's, and in your and Mae's."
"It's just weird to think that I am dominate in each of the relationships. Mae's natural instinct is to struggle against any kind of authority. Ann is six years older than me and has, just, so much more life experience. And you, are, well...you. Super hardcore."
Bea laughed. "I know it seems weird on paper and the thing is...I think most people want someone else to take care of them and direct their life. They just don't want to admit it. And I think it also sort of just...works itself out. Like if it was just you and me, I do wonder if I'd be the one in charge, or if you and I had started dating, like, a year ago, because of where you were emotionally and where I was emotionally."
"Honestly, you'd have walked all over me, and I would have been glad for the opportunity," Trent replied.
"Not the best admission, but a fair one, and I think you might be right. Maybe. It's hard to say." She smirked suddenly.
"What?" he asked.
She sighed. "Just...thinking about how we first met. I was initially thinking 'thank God we didn't meet sooner or it never would've worked out', but then I started questioning that, and I don't want to tell you more because it will stroke your big fucking ego."
"I do not have a big ego."
"You do when it comes to me."
"Tell me," he said.
"Make me," she replied.
He reached out, first touching her tail and running his hand up it, making her gasp and shiver. Then he slid higher, up her back, and settled it on the back of her neck. He gripped it.
"Tell me, Bea. Now."
She shuddered harder. "Yes, sir," she managed, then cleared her throat. "I was just thinking...when I first saw you walking in with Mae, I thought two things. The first was 'holy shit did Mae actually get a boyfriend?', and then second immediately was, 'God I hope not I want to fuck that guy'."
"Ha! Knew it."
"This is exactly what I was talking about," she growled.
He laughed and slipped his arm around her, pulling her closer to him. "Does it bug you, for real?"
"Mmm...no," she admitted. "Mostly not."
"I kind of can't help it. You are insanely attractive, for a number of reasons. I really thought that if I ever was lucky enough to date someone as hot as you, I'd have to make big sacrifices. But here you are, hot as fucking hell, tripping over your tail trying to land on my dick. I never thought I'd be that attractive to someone like you."
She laughed. "Okay, fine, fair enough. Look, here comes Jen. I think she wants to talk."
He looked over and saw that Jen was indeed headed their way. She looked almost pensive. He got up and met her halfway between the shelter and the parking lot.
"Hey, what's up?" he asked.
"I'm gonna head out. Going to crash at a friend's house tonight," she replied.
"All right." He paused. "Anything else?"
"Well, um…" She looked down, poking at the grass with the tip of her shoe. "Wanna...ask me, like, for sex?"
He hesitated. "Okay what's going on?" he asked. "The other time we hooked up you were so fucking overconfident that you were afraid of outshining all my girlfriends. Now you're doing...this? What's wrong?"
She was silent for a bit longer.
"Whatever it is, Jen, I'd like to help. I won't be mad."
She sighed and finally looked back up at him. "I am...caught between a rock and a hard place. I'm not sure how to explain it, how I'm feeling."
"All right, um...do you want me to ask you to have sex?" he asked.
"...yes."
"You hesitated. So, would it be a bad idea if I asked you?"
"...yes."
"But you'd say yes anyway if I asked?"
"...yes."
He sighed.
"I'm sorry! I'm not trying to be difficult. I just-I'm not used to feeling this way!"
"Why don't you just tell me what you are feeling, Jen?" he replied.
"Okay, fine. I just...I really like you. But I don't want to date you...but I kinda do. But it would never work! But I want to have sex with you...and I'm telling myself that we can just fuck and be friends...but I may be lying to myself. And I just can't date anyone right now, I'm not ready for a relationship. I'm especially not ready for a relationship with you, and I never will be. I can't...share. Not romantically." She stopped speaking all at once. "Sorry," she murmured.
"Don't be, it's not your fault," he replied. "What I'm hearing is you want to stay sex friends, but you're worried you won't be able to maintain romantic objectivity."
"Basically yeah."
"I understand. We should stop having sex."
She groaned. "I don't want to! It's so good and fun and I'm really horny right now."
"So am I."
"Yeah but you've got three girlfriends to go fuck."
"I know, but I also really want to have sex with you. You are so fucking hot and honestly, you're right, you're really good at sex."
She got a small smirk on her face. "You miss this pussy?"
"I miss that pussy. A lot."
"So it's hard to tell me to stop having sex with you."
"Very."
She was silent for another moment, then groaned. "This fucking sucks."
"It does," he agreed.
"Mmm...maybe we could try sex again."
"Jen, go to your friend's house, masturbate in the shower, and sleep on it. And, to be completely honest, if you really started pushing for sex...I'm not sure I'd be able to say no after a certain point. So keep that in mind."
"Does this mean no more sex between us forever?" she asked.
He sighed heavily, flashing back to what it was like to having her nude and riding him, and how fucking phenomenal her pussy was.
"I...don't know," he admitted. "If you're really concerned that you won't be able to stop asking, and I know I won't be able to resist you forever, we could get Mae, Bea, and Ann involved more directly, and they could basically...keep us apart." He thought about it. "In truth, if even one of them forbade me from hooking up with you in any capacity, that'd do it. I can't break that."
"Yeah, I do get that impression. Even if I threw myself naked at you, if any one of them said 'you can't hit that anymore', you'd turn me down."
"It'd be really mean, though, if you kept pushing."
She laughed. "Yeah, okay." She sighed heavily and ran a hand down her face. "You're right. I'm going to just go masturbate and sleep. And I...need to figure this out. Can we still be friends, though? I think you're neat."
"Yes, Jen. We can still be friends. You want a hug?"
"Yes." She hugged him tightly, then kissed him on the mouth as they were part, then she sighed. "Shouldn't've done that. Whatever. Okay, I'll see you sometime later. I dunno when. My head will be clearer once I finish this semester...prolly. If I figure it out, and I feel like we can just settle on being sex friends, is that still cool with you?"
"Obviously," he replied.
She laughed. "Okay. Later, Trent."
"Later, Jen."
She walked away, looking a little defeated. He knew how she felt. He'd kind of been hoping to invite her back to the hotel room and fuck her brains out. Especially after learning that Molly was a no-go. But it was the right call, just not the fun one.
He turned as he heard people approaching and saw Bea, Mae, and Molly walking his way.
"Hey, uh...everything okay with Jen?" Mae asked.
"Sorta," he replied. "She's, uh...we're taking a break."
"...from sex?" Mae asked.
"Yeah."
"Why?"
"She's catching feelings."
"Knew it!" Bea said. "I was so right."
"That's gotta be awkward," Molly said.
"Kinda, yeah. Sucks. I was really looking forward to...well, whatever. It was the right decision. What's up?" he asked.
"I want to walk somewhere," Mae said. "Well, actually, I want to drive somewhere, then walk somewhere, and...I dunno if it's going to be a good thing or a bad thing, but I have to do it."
"All right, I'll drive you," Trent replied.
"I'm in," Bea said.
Mae opened her mouth, then closed it and turned to face Molly. "I told you I wanted things to be, like, really honest. That's how we are with each other. And...I've got a really messy history, and it broke me, and I'm still kinda broken, and I probably will be forever. And I think that's only fair that you know this if you get involved, even casually."
"I respect and appreciate that," Molly replied. "And I'm down to hang."
"Do you have a car?" Bea asked.
"I do, but I was given a ride here, so I'm good to go, and I'm okay with seeing some ugly stuff."
Mae sighed softly, looking back down the long, dark road they'd initially come down. "Okay...let's do this. I want to get it over with."